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!