Allowances

Despite now being in Zambia over a year I can still find the allowance culture frustrating and annoying. In brief, rather than people making claims (at cost) for Government / Development related work allowances are given out which may cover things like transport, food and drink, accommodation, sitting or meeting attendance and so on. In principle this makes sense and is fairly easy to administer, but does lead to significant abuses. For example, there are occasions where senior officials will attend meetings when the allowance is deemed large enough (for their presence) but send juniors along when the amount is not enough, or only attend if there is a sitting allowance on offer. Similarly, people will go chasing allowances by seeking to be part of certain committees or as happened last year wanting to be part of the Census teams because of the sizable allowances available. I have been told that the forthcoming Presidential elections will be even worse. For many people allowances are being used to supplement their income which is either pretty meagre, or inconsistent in supply. However, more often than not it is the people who are already at the top of the food chain who then tuck into the large allowances.

None of this is unusual or unique to Zambia, and I know other volunteers could point to much worse, but hey one example just got a bit too much for me today sitting in my hot, sweaty Mazabuka office. An international organisation was using a couple of Zambian Government staff to collect some general information from Government bodies.  I was politely asked to go a nearby office to answer a few questions on HIV and AIDS. Afterwards and for my 30 second walk I was offered a transport allowance of ZMK50,000; approx £6.50 but a pretty decent amount here. Initially, I refused but was then informed by the visitors that returning with the money would be very awkward for them. So I relented, accepted the money, and will give it to Stella and family.   Rant over for now. 

Easter is the new Christmas

Never give up hope or good things come to those who wait. Either of these mottos could refer to waiting for the post to arrive out here as two parcels that had been long forgotten, and assumed lost somewhere in Africa, turned up this week; and only five months since they were first posted. The t-shirts were very welcome, the two books less so as they are now duplicates as their replacements came long ago but they will still be well received by friends. Sadly the waiting goes on for my Easter chocolates to arrive from home.

Nshima making night

Nshima is a strange white, almost mash potato like, substance which Zambian’s have a never ending appetite for eating. When it cools slightly after cooking the Nshima is moulded into palm sized balls using your hand for eating alongside meat or fish and some vegetables and beans. Nshima is a cooked porridge made from ground maize – using either breakfast meal maize which is very refined and starch like, or with roller meal which is less refined, maybe not as attractive presentation wise but with more nutrition so healthier. Both types are very filling. And the nshima even comes with its own special wooden stick. So the girls, and our neighbours Abigail and Ingrid, gave us a lesson on how to prepare nshima, expecting that we will take this tradition back to our home countries. It was tasty meal though if I ate it daily like a Zambian my weight would double.

   

Reviewing HIV and AIDS

For much of this week I was at VSO HQ Zambia as part of the team reviewing the work of volunteers working in the field of HIV and AIDS over the last 12 months. We poured through reports, picking out activities, achievements and challenges that fellow volunteers had listed. The breadth of our HIV and AIDS work in Zambia is significant, ranging from treating patients in hospital wards and hospital management to fundraising and advocacy roles for NGOs and CBOs. I hover somewhere between all of this trying to coordinate many of these activities at the district level in Mazabuka; in technical terms called ‘response management’. Aside from attempting to neatly summarise all of the volunteer efforts, we had to identify recommendations for VSO to take forward. A number of representatives from placement organisations carried out a similar exercise and then we came together to agree our combined recs. The differences were minimal in our views. Of the areas that we settled on the ones most relevant to my work are: strengthening the relationship with the Zambian National AIDS Council (NAC) drawing on our own volunteer experience of working with NAC; and reintroducing the HIV and AIDS advocacy function at VSO focusing on issues such as inconsistent sex education in the school system.

Party #2: Phyl and Judy

A double, or was it really a treble celebration? – birthdays for fellow Mazabuka volunteers Phyl and Judy, as well as a house warming for their new home, which is much improved compared to their last place where very little actually worked and it was opposite a noisy bar. Yet again the males were outnumbered 4 to 1 by the ladies of Mazabuka which is always good! And as ever the food was tasty, there was a drink or two, silly dancing and amusing photos.  A happy Saturday night out.

Party #1: Andrew's Big Day

This was the beginning of the birthday bonanza with four Mazabuka friends all getting a year older within a week of each other. The celebrations kicked off with my housemate’s (Andrew) birthday and the usual feast of great food. As a slight variation on the standard braii the party guests had DIY kebabs to make and barbecue with meat and lots of veg as choices for their skewers. Then came the traditions. First up was not one, but two, birthday cakes, equally tasty but very different; chocolate brownie vs. sponge and sugary sweet icing. Second was what Zambians see as very traditional which is where the birthday boy or girl must get soaked with water. And when Andrew was least expecting it a bucket of water was thrown over him, which he took very well.

Working with the Disabled

Some days things fall into place: the workshop starts on time; the commitment and involvement from the people present is inspiring; time flies; the mobiles do not ring too loudly; and everyone leaves with a smile on their face. Today felt pretty much like that as we ran a training session for the Mazabuka Network of People with Disabilities. The group lacks any form of support whether it be funding, structures, roles, plans and so on. During the day 10 people from the Network talked through things like what they are supposed to be doing, the issues that people with disabilities face in the district (including ones related to HIV and AIDS which was our main interest), and what activities can be carried out to address these problems. None of this is rocket science but the Network was missing a guiding hand to kick start their thinking and work. The vote of thanks at the end was very touching. For now the meeting was a small step in the right direction for this neglected group of people who more often than not are ignored by most stakeholders; HIV and AIDS are at fault here too. And I suspect there will be more frequent knocks on the office door as they ask for more help and advice.  

The importance of religion in Mazabuka

Admittedly very briefly (as this is a blog not a research paper), I want to try and capture the how strongly religion features in daily and working life in Mazabuka with the following examples:

• Meetings, workshops, training sessions and many other gatherings always start with a prayer and more often than not end with one. Commemoration events such as World AIDS Day or International Women’s Day can involve two or three prayers, and sometimes the orators compete with each other in terms of words, actions and volume 
• Faith Based Organisations are vital to the fight against HIV and AIDS, though they can also be at the heart of the problems. Such organisations step in and provide key services, particularly home based care, palliative care and support for orphans and vulnerable children, that the Government does not have the funds to deliver; without such interventions many more people would be suffering and dying. Yet, sometimes, the messages given out by different churches can cause confusion and misunderstanding amongst their congregations, and be in conflict with what Government or other agencies are doing. However,, given the large number of people that regularly go to church, any HIV and AIDS strategy or programme must tap into these congregations in order to be effective
• As a Mzungu (white person) you will regularly be asked about your religious affiliation in terms of which church you belong to, how often and when you go to Church. At the same time people in a very friendly manner will try and entice you to come to their Church
• Churches are a key part of the social fabric of the town.  As Mazabuka lacks what we might see as general amenities (parks, playing fields, youth clubs, sports halls and so on) the main meeting and social places outside of work are churches (discounting the bars and clubs)
• The landscape of the town is dominated by churches – one street has three churches that stand side by side (each a slightly different denomination) and close by a mosque sends out a call for prayer. Since I have lived here at least three more churches has been built. Also economically the Church dictates with some shops and businesses being closed on Saturdays due to the owners and/or workers being Seventh Day Adventists
• People see themselves as good people because of their faith, going to church and being a Christian. They are very dedicated and devote even though the reality of daily life is much more challenging and means that their own behaviour may conflict with their beliefs.   There is a very the strong belief amongst church goers that their church and their denomination is the right one. For example, within Mazabuka there is under the surface a simmering tension  (which then did rise up during the recent riots) between Christians and Muslims. This level of intolerance is expressed to each other by both sides.

On your marks, get set, go .... sushi rolling time

To celebrate a Japanese friend's birthday she trained us all (or at least tried to) in the art of making sushi. This meant rolling out our seaweed mats of nori, wetting our hands, spreading out the sticky rice and then happily staring at the wide range of ingredients to fill the sushi rolls. Whilst there was no traditional fish, we were not lacking in tasty ingredients. For the record I think I managed to squeeze in some strange combination of rice, beef, egg, carrots, mushrooms and beans. The super Japanese chef kept a close eye over her trainees, especially when we began to roll out the sushi. Then it was a case of adding the finishing touches to the sushi rolls with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauces, and sesame seeds. If that was not enough to fill our bellies, the birthday girl had also made a Japanese style beef curry to further feed the partygoers. So the feast of wonderful food continues and just gets better and better – stranger things will happen but making sushi in Zambia could be one of them.