Oh what a night!

I am beginning to wonder if I’m cut out for life in the tropics! As time passes, I seem less and less able to cope - physically or emotionally!!


Everyone is being bitten, Francis has around twenty bites per leg, bless her however, she is coping well and has tiny dots to mark out where she has been bitten. I have, thankfully, very few bites but those I have start off with a little spot which progressively spreads …and spreads. The one today takes the form of a circle on the inside of my lower arm and measures 4” in diameter. I am also suffering with bad headaches, dizziness and nausea.

None of that though, compares with last nights little episode…..

It is very, VERY quiet here at night. After bedtime, all there is to listen to is the sound of guard dogs barking in the distance, the sound of the house creaking, insect or snake noises outside the window ….and my heart pounding in fear! Occasionally, I hear Alan snoring in his room which I find extremely reassuring.

Last night, I went to bed to read. Francis and Alan had also turned in so I was, as ever, deafened by silence! With the light still on, I began to doze off. Suddenly I heard, what sounded like a spider wearing stiletto heels scuttle under my bedroom door and run across the floor to the corner of the room, under my clothes rack. I sat bolt upright in bed and even though I was terrified to look, I began adjusting my vision to see what creature was causing this noise. As suddenly as it started, the noise stopped! I was incredibly scared and imagining all manner of beast lurking at the foot of my bed. As the seconds passed, I started to wonder if I had in fact dreamt the noise – I have a habit of dreaming all sorts of nonsense. As my pounding heart began to return to a normal beat, I saw it…..

I have seen many cockroaches in my time here but by far THE BIGGEST cockroach I have ever seen was crawling up the outside of my mosquito net ....not six inches from my face!!!
....I panicked!!!!
....I screamed!!!!
....I picked up my torch,( which I always sleep with) and whacked it off the net!!!

It landed with a thud on the floor under my bed (that’s how big it was!). I had no idea what to do so did the only thing I could think of and screamed for Alan as loud as I could.

Alan & Francis burst into the room, clearly thinking I was being attacked by a lion…! I could barely speak, I was so terrified but through my gibberish, they realised I was telling them about it being under the bed.

Just like Superman, Alan sprang into action with his trusted can of Doom!  A long squirt but still the horrible bug lived on..! It staggered out from under the bed and zig-zagged across the floor, all the while pursued by Alan who, after one final squirt, despatched it to the afterlife!

When it was properly dead, Alan removed it and they left me to recover.

Sleep did not have the decency to take me…! Hours passed with me conjuring up images which were only marginally better than imagining I could feel it crawling on me!!!

It was, without doubt, a most dreadful night.

If only I could have yelled out the words I’M A CIVIL SERVANT, GET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEEEEEERE!!!!!

In the groove (at last!)

My placement here comes at a cost… personal sacrifice by me and financial considerations to WAG. A few weeks into the job, I was feeling quite disheartened at not being utilising fully. Hence, the beginning of last week saw me having a ‘frank and open’ discussion with my employer.


I turned up for the meeting wearing my VSO t-shirt, a symbolic gesture as it states across the front “Sharing Skills – Saving Lives”. I delicately explained my ideas on how best we could utilise all of our time better and share skills. I was careful in my choice of words and of course, kept everything in the Zambian context. Little use comparing worklife here with that at home but, that said, I am here for a short period and want to make the best of my time. Notwithstanding the resource and financial constraints, there is a great deal of time wasting.

My boss, to his credit, was very receptive to my ideas…so much so that I now have full responsibility for planning and delivering an improvements programme that will easily take twice as long as I have left here! I embarked on the programme with great gusto last week and am delighted at how enthusiastically it is being received by my colleagues. I’ve also managed to squeeze in a few IT training sessions for the young volunteers, which been extremely rewarding, they devour every single piece of information with huge fervour.

Apart from work, my Zambianisation is coming along nicely. I have twice managed to cook nshima, and am a dab hand at it (if I say so myself!). When I tell the locals that I served it with a concoction of tomatoes, onions and pumpkins, they all howl with laughter – to them, the combination is like us eating carrots & peas with custard!!

I have also invested in a made to measure traditional outfit. I used all of my western bargaining skills and paid exactly the asking price! My local colleagues tell me off, saying I pay too much, but the cost of 100,000 kwacha, inclusive of material and making, works out around £21..! Look out for me wearing it out on special occasions…Mother of the Bride outfit, maybe?

The honesty that a half-shared language brings is amusing. When the skinny young girl at the dressmakers was checking how the skirt fitted, I quipped that I am a little heavy around the midriff….”yes, you are fat” she replied very matter-of factly. I like to think it was not intentionally that she destroyed my self esteem in one fell swoop!

Will finish now but MUST acknowledge the work of colleagues at WAG for incredibly restoring my laptop to full use. Work here is difficult enough but when the laptop failed, I was really up the Swanee and worried that I’d not get anything meaningful done until my departure. I was staggered to receive a call from a guy in ICT! He told me to take the laptop to an internet café and he would fix it remotely. To be honest, I thought he was nuts, how could he be in Wales and fix a laptop in Zambia?! But he did just that!! Other than our call today, I don’t know him… but thanks very much Rob!

The REAL Zambia...

What a weekend I have had....   I had wanted to get out of Chipata to see the real Zambia so asked the young volunteers at my work if anybody could take me. They said they would think about it and let me know.  So there I am at 8am on Sunday, sitting in my pyjamas, eating an orange picked from the tree in our garden when Jacob rang me to say he was on his way to collect me, he arrived 3 minutes later!   A Toyota pick-up truck was our mode of transport.  Jacob's mother and elder brother were in the cab with Jacob, his younger brother and me standing in the back looking out over the cab.  What a drive....!  It took about an hour in the blazing sun - I had no hat or sunglasses as I had not expected to be exposed to the elements but it was awesome!  The beautiful, bumpy red roads of Africa surrounded by lush greenery were a joy to travel along.   I was clinging on for dear life as we sped along - it was a like a bucking broncho ride at times as we would suddenly veer to avoid a pot hole!!!  I kept thinking if only Nat & Soph could see their mother...!

Amazingly, miles from anywhere, we encountered easily 100 people who were holding a procession to celebrate Palm Sunday.  It was a brilliant spectacle, all were dressed in their best clothes, carrying crosses or  reeds to represent the palms.  We stopped to allow them to pass by, the singing almost made me cry with how wonderful it was

When near the village, we left the red road and drove off-road for about a mile - through all manner of bush and grassland ...it was fabulous!   Finally, we arrived at the village, which is called Msubazi.  A traditional community of small scale farmers.  I have brilliant pictures but sadly as my laptop is still out of action, can't post any.  The homes are traditional round structures with lovely thatched roofs, there are corals made of branches of trees containing cows.  Pigs, goats and chickens roam freely...as do lots of children!  The villagers were very welcoming ...making a huge fuss of me. Everybody came to shake my hand - there is a special 3-stage handshake here which I have finally mastered!  After all the introductions, we all sat under a tree to chat.  I had brought along my little photo album which they all loved looking at.  They were stunned at the pictures of my parents.  It was all so lovely.  Village life is hard, none of the trappings of modern life we have come to expect like running water and electricity.  The farmers work very hard to make enough to feed their families but life there seems idylic.  There is a bore hole nearby from which to collect water, the children walk 2km to school every day ...and community spirts is palpable.

At the end of my visit, I was presented with a LIVE CHICKEN to take home!!! 

Best weekend ever :-)

Technology...aarrgghhh!!!

Having MAJOR IT problems!  My laptop has stopped working ...as has my Hotmail a/c.  I did manage to read a few recent emails but don't think I can access it any longer!

Sorry to use the blog as a messaging portal but needs must I'm afraid....

Hope & Aid Direct :

Best wishes to all the Easter Convoy team!  Wishing you all a safe & successful trip.

John Desty : When you deliver the welding equipment to Branka, please give her and her son ALL MY LOVE and take lots of pics!!  Thanks xx

Graham Crame: Arrive back at Heathrow on 17th April at 17:30 - More than happy to hand over Albert Edward for what seems like the trip of his life!!!  Please give your mobile number to Maggie Beecher so that I can get in touch when I land. 
Maggie, can you get Grahams mobile number to Geraint please?  Johnnie has his number if you don't.

Johnnie Evans:  CONGRATULATIONS on becoming a grandad!!!  Please give my love and best wishes to Jonathan & Louise (and baby Dylan of course).  As you are my 'convoy husband', I wonder if this makes me a Granny?  Hope my other 'grandchildren' Tilly & Roo are not too put out at the new addition!!! 

WAG :

Judith : Thanks for trying to sort out my laptop problems ....no doubt you thought you could take a well earned break from sorting out my issues?  As the saying goes, just when you thought it was safe to pick up the phone....!!!  

Merthyr Office : Can't believe I'm writing this but I'm missing you and am ready to come back to work now please!

Thats it for now.  Hopefully I can get my laptop up and running soon.

Be it ever so humble.....

Ours is one of three houses in a walled compound with 6ft steel gates.  It sits at the foot of the most beautiful hills:

The area we live in is called Moth, not sure why, somebody said it was an acronym for Men of Steel Hats but I’ve not been able to find out why. Moth is in the most prestigious area of Chipata; our neighbours are all wealthy business people, mostly Zambians of Asian origin. Sadly, I have yet to meet any and probably never will. They live behind high walls, only venture out in large 4x4’s and most have big signs on their gates warning of guard dogs or armed security!

By UK standards, our Chipata home is very basic however, in comparison to the large majority of Zambians, we live in total opulence! We have a lady, Brenda, who comes in twice a week to clean and do our washing. Myself, Francis and Alan thought long and hard about doing our own washing but decided that with unemployment running at over 80%, we would be far better employing somebody. As it turns out, Brenda’s husband is too sick to work so without her job, they would be unable to pay the rent or buy food. She is wonderful and has quickly become a friend. She tells us so much about local life and has an almost insatiable thirst for knowledge about our lives. I was telling her that my daughter is marrying in Aug 2011 – she finds it incomprehensible that it takes that long to plan a wedding! It takes two weeks here! There are no taboo subjects with her, she takes delight in asking me all sorts of questions!! When discussing the wedding, she wanted to know much I had been paid for my daughter. When I come home, looks like I need to have a word with Stephen! ‘Bridal Money’ is a fee negotiated for girls and is to compensate the parents for any money they have invested in her education etc.
The homes in our compound share the services of a night security guard, Mr Lunghi. He is a man of few words who doesn’t seem to want to become a friend. When I offered him a cup of tea he replied simply, “Madame, let me work”. We didn’t have to think too long about employing him, we were told it is a real necessity as burglary is rife. I certainly sleep better knowing he is outside, keeping watch!

The house itself is great although the plumbing and electrics would be condemned at home. An electrician came to repair a broken wall socket. When finished, he mixed up some mud from the yard and used it to stick the socket in, no screws here!!

For the budding plumbers (and one in particular), here is the outside of our bathroom – this is how to plumb a bath in, Zambian style:

When I think how afraid of spiders I used to be.  Until very recently, I used to plug the bath overflow holes with cotton wool. Now I sit in the bath and can see straight outside where there are hundreds of spiders and snakes lurking!!!
My Dad would love our garden.  We have the neighbour’s guinea fowl and chickens running around.  They come onto our veranda to poop!  We have trees offering up all manner of wonderful fare. Some we have not yet identified but of those we have, there are oranges, avocado, paw-paw & cashew nuts. Picking an orange off the tree to have with breakfast is definably one element of Zambia that I will sorely miss!

One step forward, two steps back!

The more observant may have noticed that I rarely talk about work on this blog. It’s not because there is nothing to discuss, believe me there is. I have to respect my colleagues, who are working in the most difficult of circumstances, and for me to recount amusing stories at their expense would be unfair. However, worklife trials and tribulations encountered this week cannot go unmentioned….


Monday morning: I set off for work, cycling happily in the direction of my office. I was feeling particularly pleased with myself as, despite a few set-backs on progress last week, I had decided on a strategy that would bring improvements to the normal snail-pace progress. So, there I was on this beautiful morning, feeling good and fully integrated with the many people walking along the roads. (Another great thing about Chipata is the entire community commutes to work on foot or bicycle).     What could possibly go wrong?
 
I was brought to an abrupt halt when, out of nowhere, my colleague Sam called out to me. He wondered where I was going. Since he knew full well that I was on my way to work, I wondered why he wondered where I was going. He casually informed me that today, we were moving to a new office. A new office?!! A new office?!! Nobody told me about a move to a new office!! Considering that we are a small team of five at the most, to say I was surprised is an understatement! After finding out more of the move, I believed the story that the opportunity to move had only come about late on Friday and accepted the office move with relish. It did, after all, mean we were to leave our humble premises and move to a new building that is fifty thousand times better! (No, that’s not an exaggeration!)

The new office is a 12ft x 12ft room on the second floor of a four storey building. It’s a kind of managed office block. There are many and varied other business tenants within, each with a room roughly the same size as ours.
When I arrived at this, our ‘new office’, it was still an empty room. My colleagues assured me they would be moving the furniture over that day and said I should come back tomorrow to begin work afresh. I did manage to squeeze in a meeting with a funding organisation and visit to the internet café before returning home …frustrated that my efforts to actually do some work were thwarted, yet again! Still, onwards and upwards I thought ….tomorrow is another day and with the office move complete, it should be a good day. I had several training activities lined up for Tuesday.    What could possibly go wrong?
Tuesday morning: Up early and ready to leave home when I received a text from my boss advising me to “come at 11.30, we are still shifting”. Grrr, more delays! Still, at least they are “shifting”, that’s a good sign. I arrived at the new office at the designated time only to find the office door locked. Grrr, more delays! Finally, after 1pm my boss turned up to tell me that the vehicle that they had hired to do the shifting had been impounded by the Police for having no insurance.   You couldn’t make it up!!!!

We did manage to get some chairs transported in my boss’s car but the rest of furniture was too big. In desperation, I called upon another local VSO volunteer who has a pick-up but unfortunately, he was busy. The only solution left was for me to lend my boss some money to hire another vehicle to move the furniture. In this context, ‘hire’ means paying somebody with a big enough vehicle to do it. At 4pm, I was sent home and told to await a text message in the morning advising me when to come in…!!

Wednesday morning: I am at home, writing this blog. It is a little after 10:30am and, so far, no text…! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr………!!!!

To be continued……

Special personal message...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNIE ONE TAFF!!!!
Thinking of you xxxx

Introducing Albert Edward......

Hello everybody, my name is Albert Edward. I am a knitted Lifeboatman from Clacton-on-Sea with a fondness for world travel.


My escapades began a few years ago when I turned up in a box of aid in Kosovo with the volunteers of Hope & Aid Direct. Knowing that one their regulars does a great deal of RNLI fundraising, I was ordered to report for duty to a certain Mr Graham Crame.

Graham and I shared a happy journey back to his home Harwich …where we got to know each other very well indeed.

Since then, amongst other adventures, I have voyaged aboard the MV Discovery to the Arctic Circle and have abseiled down Southwold Lighthouse.
Now I am accompanying Tina in Zambia. I am both proud and delighted that she has made me an honorary VSO volunteer:

I must admit, it has been something of a culture shock for me to be in such a hot, and land-locked, country. There is barely a light breeze here most days and I find myself yearning for a decent Force-9 gale!! Oh well, there are some great tropical rain storms for me to splash about in.

Tina has introduced me to the delights of Zambia’s own local brew, Mosi Beer. Of course I don’t normally touch alcohol while on duty but as there don’t seem to be any ‘in peril on the sea’, I indulge in a bottle of the golden throat-charmer at the end of a long hot day. It tastes just like my other favourite, Peja Bier!

There are other delights on this trip too, but I’m far too much of a gentleman to go into detail ….suffice to say, Sleepie-Buns is not as quiet as she looks!!

I am always trying to raise funds for RNLI and have a few adventures lined up for when I return from Zambia. If you are interested in taking me on an unusual expedition, please get in touch with Graham at gjcrame@btinternet.com – For a small donation of £25 (and a picture for my album), I will happily consider most things… a climb up Everest, a Polar exploration or, for the real adrenalin junkies, a trip around Liverpool!

Thanks for reading about me, hope we meet up soon,

Albert Edward

* Interested in finding more out about the convoys to Kosovo:  www.hopeandaiddirect.org.uk

Responding.....

Just a quickie to say thanks very much for all the brilliant comments.  I'm not able to respond to each, sorry but want to say please keep the comments coming, I love them! 

PS.  Fi, book your flight!!!!

Wha's Occurrin....

Chipata life continues slowly but steadily. The temperature is easily in the mid 30’s, with no breeze and there has been no rain for four days. The heat combined with being at an altitude of 3,600 metres makes the slightest exertion very tiring. Walking slowly has become second nature to me ..as has sitting out on the veranda for breakfast each morning :-)

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Friday saw ANOTHER public holiday, this time for Youth Day. Ordinarily, I would be delighted with so much time off work but with so little time here to make an impact in my job, I found the three day week more frustrating than anything. There was not as much fuss about Youth Day as International Women’s Day either so the day passed without too much excitement.

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It has surprised me quite how quickly I have become accustomed to the sights and sounds of Chipata but I did stop to take the following photo for Carys…

These little girls were walking along, chatting happily amongst themselves as, all the while, they were swinging live hens ...they were, I was informed, taking them home for dinner!

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As my journey to work is quite a distance, VSO have funded a bicycle for me which I bought Thursday. It’s a second-hand jobby but seems to be in good working order. I certainly hope so as I have noticed that there are absolutely no consumer rights here.

One of the internet cafes I use also sells new and reconditioned electrical items; TV’s, radios etc. There are large signs advising customers:

“Check all items are in working order before leaving the shop as afterwards,

NO Refunds
NO Guarantee
NO Warranty”

When you consider the extremly high cost of goods and the very low earnings, this seems particularly harsh!!

I went out for my maiden cycle ride on Saturday …after less than 30 minutes, I almost fainted with heat exhaustion. Fingers crossed, my fitness and acclimatisation will see improvements soon!!

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For me and most of Chipata, the water supply is turned off around 6pm daily. Am quite used to it now and part of the daily routine is to make sure there are filled buckets of water in the loo for flushing! Friday though (and maybe it was because it was a public holiday) saw us without water for half the day too. My delight at having the water back on late afternoon was tempered slightly by the fact that the electricity went off! About three hours was spent with the whole area in darkness. Apart from the fact I couldn’t cook our dinner, it was not without merit; the stars in the sky were absolutely amazing and while myself, Alan & Francis were gazing up in wonder, we saw a shooting star!!! Also, the darkness in our yard meant we could sit out on our veranda, sipping a beer, watching fireflies… Africa is awesome!

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AND FINALLY….

Those unfortunate enough to have holidayed with me previously will know how much I suffer with mosquito bites which often become infected. Therefore I have been very proud of the fact that my strict regime of applying DEET spray before putting a foot outside was paying dividends and, two weeks in, despite there being a veritable swarm of mozzies around me most of the time, not one mosquito bite had I encountered. That was until Thursday when I seem to have suddenly become dish of the day! I was bitten quite badly around my calves which surprised me a little as it happened during the day, while I was wearing trousers. Anyway, the bites quickly became inflamed and my legs swelled up nicely. After two days of applying afterbite cream the pain was lessening and it now looks more like blood clots and bruising (mmm, nice!). I showed the bites to some veteran VSO’s who informed me that they are not mosquito bites (hoorah) but are in fact spider bites (ew!!!) No permanent damage I’m sure but when I get home, if I suddenly start swinging across buildings on fine thread …you’ll know why.

The Feast, The Festival and The Fall

The days here begin very early, hence Saturday morning, instead of a nice lie-in, I was up at 6.30 getting ready to go to watch a Youth Debating Competition being held in the council chambers. Thoroughly enjoyed it too, the motions being debated were serious issues and the standard of those taking part was very high.

Afternoon/evening was spent waiting for a delivery…Earlier in the week, Francis & Alan had ordered two tables (a small kitchen table and a full size dining table) to be made by a local carpenter and they were to be delivered that evening. Two hours after the delivery was due, the guy finally phoned to say he was close by with the delivery. Alan and I went down to open the gates ready for the delivery vehicle. We waited patiently for about 10 minutes wondering what could have been taking so long when we saw, coming up a steep dirt track ahead, two men carrying one table each above their heads!! Fair play to them, practicalities such as not owning a delivery truck doesn’t deter them..!

Sunday morning I was once again up at stupid o’clock! This time to accompany Sampson, one of my YDF colleagues, to church..! There are many and varied churches here, this one was St Pauls. It is a traditional Anglican church building which would be far more suited to an English village and looks ridiculously out of place in Chipata! However, the service was fun – apart from the fact I had to stand up and introduce myself to the congregation! The whole event was filled with wonderful, vibrant, enthusiastic singing and clapping …one of the hymns was Bread of Heaven so I felt very much at home.
The Feast
Sunday afternoon, Rosie, a Chipata based VSO of one year, held a tea-party in honour of us newbies where we all feasted on biscuits & cake ….My gosh, she’s got some contacts. It was like the United Nations there with people from Italy, Germany, Finland, Holland, Brazil & India. Most if not all are working as volunteers in some capacity. One guy, Marco from Italy, was amazing. He has set up a school for orphans out in a remote part of Chipata. He was here about 7 years ago, saw that there was no schooling provision for orphans…so he established a school. What a hero!
The Festival
8th March is International Women’s Day, it’s a public holiday here so we went along to the Women’s Day March in town. There were hundreds of women marching and signing, all in colourful traditional dress ….a fabulous sight to behold. The march ended up at the Golf Course where a festival of singing and dancing ensued. Great stuff..!!

The Fall
Being totally engrossed in the Women’s Day March and trying to get good photos, I thought it was a good idea to walk backwards while looking at the picture viewer on my camera. Next thing I know, my feet are flying up in the air while the rest of my body is hurling itself to the ground!! The pain of cutting my leg on one of the randomly placed rocks at the side of the road (!!) was nothing compared to my embarrassment as a group of concerned locals flocked to my aid. I immediately jumped up (as you do), insisting to all that I was fine. In reality, the cut hurt, the blood trickling down my leg was making me feel queasy ….and I wanted to cry!

Oh well, that’ll teach me!!

Blog for Carys (All please read)

Hello Carys, its Aunty Peanut sending you a message all the way from Africa – I’m sure your Mammy will read it to you…. I know that your school is teaching you about Africa at the moment so I thought you would like to know all about my visit to a school in Zambia yesterday.


Nearly 600 children go to the school called Nadalisika Community School; the youngest children are a little bit older than you at 7 years and the oldest is 19 years. The school is in a part of Chipata away from the town centre, the surrounding area looks very much like where you live in Wales; there are beautiful green mountains all around. There is a big ‘play yard’ which has lots of room for the children to run around, because it is the rainy season, there are lots of muddy paths running through patches of grass. There are only three classrooms in the whole school so the Head Teacher has to split the school-day into three sessions; the oldest children go to school 7am - 10am, the middle children go 10am - 1pm and the youngest go at 1pm - 4pm. This means that each child has only three hours of schooling each day and there are over 50 children in every class.

The classrooms are much too small for the number of pupils and don’t have enough desks for every child and the teachers work very hard to give the children a good education but without any equipment it is very difficult for them. The only learning aids are on the walls of the classroom. The teacher had made signs and posters which he had put up on the walls to help the children. I made a note of these for you…

Literacy Corner:  The alphabet was listed

Numeracy Corner: Roman numerals were listed

English Corner: Punctuation marks were described on a sheet of paper

Integrated Science Corner: Hand drawing detailing the structure of skin

SOS Corner: List of Human Rights and a hand drawn map of Africa
Many of the children at the school are orphans, which means they don’t have a Mammy or Daddy to look after them, instead they are looked after by their grand parents or aunties. Some of the children don’t have any grown up relatives to look after them so the oldest child in their family has to look after the younger ones. This is very difficult because they don’t have any money. Also the grown-up relatives of the children are very poor so the children do not have any toys or other nice things …in many cases they don’t have shoes on their feet. Lots of the children are poorly, they have a disease called HIV/Aids which is a very big problem in this part of Africa. The saddest part is that most of the children don’t know that they have this nasty disease so they are not taking medicine to help keep them healthy.
The nice people that I am working with in Africa are called YDF (Youth Development Foundation), we were at the school to deliver their ‘Taking Power’ programme to the children. YDF is made up of young people, most are volunteers, who think that by telling the children about the nasty disease and teaching the little boys that they should treat the girls fairly (gender based violence), when the children grow up, they will have a much better life. You would have loved it Carys, all the children were singing African songs and playing games at the beginning, then they spent some time learning before ending with more singing. The children enjoyed the session very much and took part in the games and the discussions very enthusiastically – I think they enjoyed it so much because it was being taught by young people in a friendly way. I was very impressed by YDF …they are amazing!

I was thinking of you Carys while I was at the school and it made me feel very sad to think that these little children, who are every bit as precious as you are, have to live such poor lives.

Settling into Chipata life...

Not much excitement to report today …I guess the N’cwala Festival at the weekend will take some out beating!

My journey to work is a 30 minute walk and for my first day, to help me learn the route, I was accompanied on the journey by my new colleague Sampson …AND TORRENTIAL RAIN! I was wearing my wellies and a waterproof poncho (with grateful thanks to Gaynor and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo!) but still got absolutely soaked. It’s the wet season here and though it’s hot and humid, we get LOTS of rain which, when it falls, makes the Merthyr ‘sideways’ rain look like gently drizzle.  Also, as I have to be prepared for every eventuality, rain, sun, thunderstorm (!), I have to carry a full rucksack everywhere.  That plus the laptop makes for gruelling walks in this heat.  I tell you, the SAS don't train this hard!!!!  I am one of the lucky ones though as by far the largest majority of Chipata folk do not have raincoats or umbrellas; they continue their day-to-day activities in the rain ….drenched through to the skin!!

My new employers are great people to work with and they are managing to do some amazing work with their VERY limited resources. Coming from such a resource-rich working environment, it IS a huge challenge for me but I am slowly adapting to new ways of working. A good example is that yesterday, I needed to see an advertisement for some EU funding that we potentially could apply for – simple enough you may think. In reality, it meant me walking nearly a mile through mud and over makeshift bridges to another organisation who, being slightly better off than us, had a photocopy of the add that they kindly gave me…!
That type of occurrence, coupled with the lack of internet and no office paper to print on makes me have to consider every action carefully and devise other ways of achieving it. One thing I know for sure is that at the end of this placement, I will not take for granted how fortunate we are in our workplace. (Look out WAG colleagues, the sermons will no doubt start as soon as I’m back!)

On a personal level, all is very well. ‘TAF’ have settled well into a daily routine where we go off to work, come home, cook supper (we take it in turns) and then sit in our little home chatting about our respective days activities before turning in. Its early days I know, but so far, have not missed the TV or radio one iota…!!!

We don't really have any alcohol to speak of at home but I have introduced Francis & Alan to the concept of 'Wine Night' so we are all very much looking forward to tomorrow!!!

Two for the price of one...

Just realised I didn't give my last post a title, sorry!

Life in Chapata is VERY different to Lusaka.  I have no internet connection in my new job (which I will tell more about in the next post).  There are internet cafes but they close for two hours at lunchtime and again at 5.30pm - as these are the only times I would be able to come use them, not very much use at all...!!!

I queried why they close at the exact times that they are needed most and was told that only businesses can afford to use them so they operate during business times only.

Oh well, will overcome somehow I'm sure.

Thanks for all the comments being posted, really does help knowing there are some back home who are interested in my endeavours.

Johnnie - Some of your posts are not very polite!  I wouldn't expect anything different from you but do you realise that everybody can see them?!!!   Be nice!!!!

Missing everybody.... Tina xx

I discovered that the public transport system in Zambia runs on economical lines rather than schedule timetables. Therefore the 10am bus sits at the bus terminus until it is full and I mean full..! Every available space is filled, the seats are filled with the travellers, the overhead storage is crammed full of anything from suitcases to vegetables and the aisles by carpets, giant fans, sacks of grain …basically anything that the travellers are transporting to Chipata. So the 10am bus finally pulled out of the station a little after 2pm! The eight hour journey to Chipata was, at long last, underway. My immediate travelling companions were Franklin, my new colleague at YDF and Jackson who is a volunteer at YDF when his studies allow. The driver, who to my knowledge, had been sitting at the wheel for four hours then drives for a further 8 without a break and, in an obvious attempt to lessen his own journey time, he drove like a maniac! Out of respect for my hosts in Zambia, I won’t discuss the ‘toilet’ break en-route, nor the unwelcome crawling ‘guests’ that accompanied us..! About halfway into the journey we passed an upside down articulated lorry that had clearly just gone off the road and was lying in a ditch …its wheels were still spinning as we sped past. Many locals seemed to be rushing to the accident on foot which will probably explain why our bus didn’t stop (!!)


Finally at 10pm we pulled into Chipata where I was warmly greeted by my new boss, Chinoya. Arriving at my new home in the dead of night, I was a little apprehensive. It’s a very basis three bedroom house and has, by way of furniture, only two beds, two small sofas and two lounge chairs. Nothing and nowhere to empty my cases into so I’m still not able to unpack  There is a sink in the kitchen and that’s it. I immediately discovered that VSO has supplied a mosquito net but nothing to hang it with. Franklin was a star and using an old sack we found outside, managed to make string and an improvised hanging device was implemented!! I hung curtains in my bedroom; two towels held in place by bottles of water on top of the pelmet …who says this is not a learning experience!! My first night in Chipata was me, a bit scared, in an empty house …but at least I was under a net. Being very tired, I wasn’t too terrified about it, especially as I knew that fellow new VSO’s Francis and Alan (a married couple from Oxford) would be joining me the next day - we are to house share.

Saturday morning I got my first daylight glimpse of Chipata and my home. Its in a walled compound, we are one of three houses – the other two are occupied by Zambian families. The ‘friendly’ cockerel from next door tried to wake me a 5am but I was having none of it! Franklin came by to show me around and help me buy some essentials from the shops. The shops have pretty much everything anyone would need, however, as I am living on a volunteer’s salary, other than basics, luxury’s such as shampoo is way too expensive.

N,Cwala Festival

My arrival in Chipata coincided with N’cwala, an annual thanksgiving festival which is an important part of Zambian culture. It is attended by many tribal Chiefs, and Politicians…. Franklin and Jackson insisted that I go and although I was thinking it would be better if I stayed home and got settled in, I am so glad that I went. It was incredible! There were easily 50,000 in attendance. Many are dressed in traditional tribal dress, most as warriors in animal skins. Central to the event is an arena which although jam packed, we were lucky enough to get into. The public are seated and standing around the arena, the tribal Chiefs are seated in special areas. VIP’s, one of whom was Zambia’s First President, Kenneth Kaunda, were all there to watch the events unfold. Speeches from dignitaries were followed by amazing tribal dancing – many different groups treated us to wonderful sessions of dancing and singing …these ritual dances are 100’s of years old and I am privileged to have been there to watch it.

The next bit is not for the faint hearted ....

(Natalie, Sophie & Caitlin : skip to next highlighted section,  please)

While the anticipation and excitement of the crowd grows, a traditional Warrior takes centre stage in the arena and kills a bull by twisting its horns until its neck breaks. Accompanied by much cheering, the bull is stabbed with a spear and his blood collected in a large wooden bowl which is ceremoniously carried to the seated King who drinks it. After drinking the blood, the King gives thanks for past and future harvests. Because I was there, I almost forced myself to watch but must admit that when it came to the actual ritual killing of the Bull, I didn’t look – it was quite easy not to as all around me was a frenzied with everyone jostling for a decent view. On reflection, I liken the whole event as being similar to our Harvest Festival with the addition of tribal dancing and a ritual killing!!

Natalie, Sophie & Caitlin can join back in now...

Saturday evening was, by contrast, a much quieter affair… Francis and Alan had by now arrived at our house (yay!!) and we were invited out by five other VSO’s who live and work in Chipata. A pleasant evening was spent at a local restaurant where myself, Francis & Alan quizzed the experienced volunteers to within an inch of their lives!
Loving acronyms as we do, we have decided that Tina, Alan & Francis shall be known as ‘TAF’ (I believe there is a nod toward my Welshness there too, but could be wrong!). Anyway, Sunday morning saw TAF learning how to turn ordinary tap water into drinking water. After our struggles with a five minute rolling boil followed by the ceramic candles of the filtration system, I shall forever-more grateful for the luxury of the simple action of turning on a tap and being able to drink the water! There are many and varied challenges in my new environment. For instance, as we don’t have a washing machine, sorting out the dirty clothes is a task and a half. After taking a bath, I used the water to hand wash my clothes (bonus points for our sustainability though, eh Brendan?!). The heat (around 30˚) makes these simple tasks totally exhausting so we treated ourselves to a slap-up lunch of boiled egg butties – well, we are still getting used to cooking on our two ring/grill/oven combo!
TAF spent the rest of Sunday relaxing, showing our respective family photos to each other, recalling happy home memories and crying…big ahhhh please!!!