On Friday of last week, we finally received the new pop-up banners which advertise Dancing Around Zambia at the Sun. I will take a picture to post but for now all I can do is describe them. They contain the collage of pictures and description of our show and stand over six feet tall. Now, we finally have something to draw the attention of tourists. They have been placed in the lobby of the Sun, the Royal Livingstone, and the activity centre at the Sun. We are also looking at the feasibility of erecting a poster at the Airport.

Okay, the  next pictures and video are courtesy of Marilyn. On Thursday, Nov 05 we had an amazing ‘bug invasion’ at our house. The insects are called ‘flying ants’. They don’t look much like an ant but their tiny bodies are supported by large paper-like wings which eventually fall off. For the Bemba and Luvale tribes the juicy bodies are a delicacy to be enjoyed in a variety of dishes. They came by the thousands and we were quite glad that I installed screens on our windows a few months back. As it was, we still got several in the house when I foolishly opened the door for just a few seconds.

Here’s a picture of the wings left behind under our porch light the next morning.

Some of the children from the compound on our farm are coming now on a regular basis with their school work and Marilyn is spending a lot of time helping them with their math. After they finished with Marilyn, I got our the ‘pig skin’ I brought from Canada and we had a little game of Canadian Football with some improvised rules.

We are busy packing to move out of our house on Maramba Farm. We haven’t decided where we will live but there are several possibilities in more integrated neighbourhoods which is what we prefer. We also have to get ready to return to Canada for our Christmas vacation which means making sure everything can run smoothly while we are gone. Kelly and Tiika will share the duties and are gradually taking over some of our work.

It has been quite hot in Livingstone and today I’m taking Mwamandilla and Judy for another swimming lesson.

Livingstone has a downtown but the bulk of the population live in various districts in compounds. Further out, but still close to the city limits, are lots of villages where the traditional way of life continues. The compounds, made of small cement block structures all resembling each other, have their own market.

The various districts range from the very poor to the emerging middle class. In the villages, people construct mud huts and have no electricity or infrastructure. Each has their own charm.

Discarded tires are often become popular playthings

Many people who move to the city eventually return to the serene and tranquil villages. In part, this is because they never make enough money to create savings or a better life. On the other hand, many long for the quiet life where growing their own food seems far superior to slaving every day for some white man and still going hungry.

Malone Village on the outskirts of Livingstone

Family has a very different meaning in Zambia from what is familiar to most living in the western world. People introduce their ‘brother’ or ‘papa’, yet this is just as likely to mean a friend or elder who is significant to them rather than a blood relative. Uncles, aunts, and grandparents are often raising many nephews, nieces, and grandchildren who have been orphaned. When a member of the family finds work, he/she shares the money with many others.

The slow tourism market has made it difficult for us to pay the kind of wages to our own staff that we had hoped but  we did give them a raise starting November 1st. They now earn $120.00 per month which compares favourably to the many unemployed (65%) and even those who earn as little as $50.00 per month for a 48 hour week. Out of the K600,000 many of our staff pay K350,000 for rent of a small flat which leaves them little for food and other necessities.

We are currently performing three nights per week and work one additional day for rehearsals. We’ve encouraged our staff to use their ‘off’ time to find ways to supplement their income. Jane, who just turned 19, has lost both  her parents and lives on her own. She is such a mature young lady. She is smart, talented, and always gives 100% to everything she does. Her mother used to run a small clothing boutique in Dumbwa Central and Jane came to me to ask my advice about her opening it again to make some extra money.

Jane's Store

Marilyn and I went to see the shop with her on Sunday morning. Dumbwa Central is a poorer area of Livingstone. We also loaded up a bag of soccer balls for our trip. We often see young boys playing along the roadside with balls made of plastic bags wound together and thought we’d give them out if we came across some of these children.

As soon as we arrived at Dumbwa Market, there were a group of boys playing soccer with just such a home made ball. They were quite excited to receive the new ball and surely must have wondered why we were giving it to them.

Jane’s shop is small but actually one of the nicer looking buildings in the market. In the past, Jane has traveled to Namibia or Lusaka and bought clothes which she has then sold. We meet many people to buy products outside Zambia where items are much cheaper. Unfortunately, this kind of business is wrought with problems. Many of these young entrepreneurs fail to calculate the cost of travel into their overhead and often have trouble collecting money owed to them from their sales which are often sold on credit “until I get paid at the end of the month”. If we are going to help Jane, I want her to understand how to run a cash or lay-away business and also assist her to calculate all her expenses.

Inside Jane's shop

We also met one of Tiika’s sisters at the market just outside Jane’s shop. She was mixing a big pot of nchima  which is made from corn (maize). It is a staple of the Zambian diet and most people eat it every day even if they have a choice of other foods.

Tiika's sister mixing nchima for sale at her restaurant

When we were in Zambia in  2008, Humphrey, our farm manger, gave us the news that he and Audrey had a baby boy. A few weeks later, he asked me if I would give his son his English name. This is an honour usually bestowed upon the grandfather but Humphry asked his dad, whom we had met a few times, if he minded and his father agreed that I should name their son. Marilyn and sat that night to discuss a name and quickly decided on the name William. Marilyn has a brother William and so do I. My brother Bill died over twenty years ago at the age of 40.

Humphrey, William and Audrey at the office

Last Tuesday, I saw William for the first time since 2008. That’s because he lives with his mother in a town called Monze several hours outside Livingstone. What a little doll he is. He came immediately into my arms and then spent time playing with a dump truck I had in the office. Between pushing the truck around the floor he would come and sit on my lap.

We also hired a new staff member to take over for Marilyn when we return to Canada for a Christmas holiday. Kelly has been the manger of the Book Bus in Livingstone which closes down for the rainy season. She loves Zambia and wanted to stay and we are certainly glad of that. She and Tiika will have to stear the ship while we are away and there is no doubt it will take both of them to manage.

A guest at the show with Kelly (r)

October 24th was Independence Day in Zambia which celebrates the day Zambia became a free country no longer under British colonial rule. It was a peacefull transition which makes the celebration even nicer. We didn’t partake in many of the celebrations but enjoyed watching all the women get dressed up in their best chitenges for the occasion.

Humphrey's siter Khosani (c) and two other workers at the Sun

We had a performance on Independence Day at the Sun in the evening. About 4pm it looked like rain so we moved into the conference centre. It’s a good think we did because the skies opened up around 7:45 and it rained all night. The rains have come early this year, which is good for the farmers but bad for us since we perform in an outdoor venue. Fortunately, the conference centre has been available for us on the two performance nights we have had to use it so far due to rain. It is a worry that we will be forced to cancel our shows on some days as we need the revenue and really can’t afford to have cancelled shows. Our audiences are usually smaller on rainy days since many guests choose not to venture out of their rooms.

Inside the Conference Centre

Finally, let me tell you about our two cats. They aren’t actually ours but they have adopted us. Monique, who lived in the cottage behind us moved back to South Africa a few weeks ago and just abandoned them. It didn’t take long for themto seek out other humans and we were chosen. They are nice cats and we have been feeding them and they now stay out on our porch. We are trying to find them a home.

We don't even know if they have names

Back in June when we contracted to have the borehole drilled, it all seemed too easy to get the job done. Weeks went by as I tried to sort out the problems. Last week I knelt before the school headmaster in a gesture of humility and asked for his forgiveness. Owen is a great guy and we had a good laugh as he took my hand and lifted me to my feet.

Problems seem to become compounded in Zambia and one roadblock leads to another. After we had the borehole drilled, the teachers and students cleared a large plot of land at the school and planted a garden in anticipation of having an accessible supply of fresh water. In the end, they gave up trying to water it by hand and the crop of vegetables slowly dried up. It brought a tear to my eye when this happened and in some way I was angry at those who sabotaged the project and at myself for not seeing it coming. All the effort had gone to waste.

Wasted effort as the vegetable garden dried up

The whole ordeal is a chapter for a book but I am pleased to say the project is back on track. Although this next series of pictures tells a fun story a little explanation through text is required.

The first problem occurred when the person coordinating the project decided to use the money for the water tank to further his business. This is a common practice as a ‘businessman’ here will see it as a way of getting ahead. The fact that it jeopardizes another person’s schedule is not really factored into the equation and the days drag on. Finally, I decided to purchase a water tank and worry about collecting my money at a later date. The good news was that I was promised one at a very good price from a man I met one night. The bad news is that it too never materialized.  After receiving many assurances that the tank was coming I finally gave up waiting and decided to go and buy one at the regular price. Another month was lost.

Getting ready to raise the tank

On Monday, Tiika rented a small truck and we delivered the tank to the school and placed it at the bottom of the tower we had constructed months ago. Standing at the bottom of the tower, we all had a variety of ideas about how to raise the tank and none sounded easy. As far as anyone knows, there is no crane in Livingstone which would have made the job easy.  On Tuesday, I gathered up some ropes and tiedown straps which I’d brought from Canada and a group of grade nine students and their teachers gathered to lend a hand. At first we wrapped the tiedown straps around the tank and fastened a long rope to my Pajero. It took only a few minutes to realize the tank wasn’t going to survive the pressure and down it came again.

A second attempt

As you can see from the picture above, the tower has two steel advertising panels which are very sharp and the other two sides have railings which jut out from the platform. We knew we couldn’t raise the tank high enough with just the pull of the Pajero and it would take some manpower to lift it the final distance over the railing. Little did we know how difficult this was going to be.

So far so good

At the top of the tower, the boys were able to push the tank out and move it up to the top of the railing but that’s as far as it was going to go. After much pondering, it was decided we would need to cut the railing away and a hacksaw was summoned.

Pushing and pulling

For more than a few minutes, we honestly thought we were going to get close but not be able to make it all work. The boys were determined, however, and with some pushing with a ladder and others pulling on the rope, the 5000ltr tank was finally in a position to slide onto the platform.

Almost finished

With a final effort, the boys were able to stand the tank upright and a loud applause went up from all the spectators. All in all, the job took two and a half hours.

Standing tall

We have the pump and control boxes and all that is left is to get a plumber and an electrician. I can only hope this takes days and not weeks but this is Zambia and one never knows.

It looks majestic in the setting sun

Living in Africa is very different from a vacation. We have become part of the fabric of the community. We have made new friends, become an employer and shared the joy and tragedy with those we have come to know and love.

If I were asked for my opinion by someone planning a move to Africa I would honestly have to say that I have none- at least none that can be capsulized. Each and every day is full of surprises and I know that Zambia is different from other African countries in the same way that Canada is different from the United States.  I would gladly share our story but I know it is only our story, influenced by the type of work we are doing, the house in which we live, the city we call home, the many individuals both black and white who have touched our lives.

One thing I do know is that I would recommend a visit if you can possibly manage it. If you venture out  into the heart of the community, you will encounter friendly happy people who find strength in adversity. You will find many orphaned children being cared for by aunts, uncles, and grandparents and fall immediately in love with them and the strength of the family unit. You will experience wildlife right out of National Geographic in a way that can sometimes be intimidating when you encounter a loan bull elephant at night on a dark road and know it can smash your vehicle to pieces.

Above all you will form your own impressions. Some visitors will undoubtedly be appalled by the sights of street vendors selling goods late into the night with a baby feeding on a mother’s breast. If you hang around, you will see that they meticulously clean any garbage from their area of sidewalk before they retire for the night.

Others might be annoyed by the persistence of those who target tourists in an attempt to sell a carving, a bracelet,  a necklace of beads, or currency. When you come to know their stories and greet them with a phrase or two in their native language, they quickly become people who can help you with your way around.

“Is it safe?”  It is a common question from the tourists we meet at our shows and a concern expressed by our friends before we moved to Livingstone in January. Marilyn and I agree it is. I am even trying to convince the Tourist Association that it should be how Zambia is marketed to the world as a tourist destination. Currently the tag line is “Zambia-the real Africa”, whatever that means.

There is so much to write about when adapting to a lifestyle that is so different from a country such as Canada. Zambia is a country of contradictions and contrast. Many people in the western world say Africans are the cause of their own problems and must find their own solutions. There may be an element of truth in this but it denies the stain of history brought by the European settlers and missionaries and suggests the only solution is to become like the west. Those who rebel against foreign ownership of African resources are soon labeled troublemakers.

I read an article today in an African magazine which says 80% of Africans, whether muslim or christian, continue to hold many of the beliefs of their ancestors. I see this as a sign of hope.

About our week:

Last Friday, a couple Marilyn met at the Zimbabwe Market, came to see African Shoes at the Capitol Theatre. They are from the UK and are volunteering in Zambia. They brought along another couple of volunteers from Canada and it turned out to be Brian and Cathy, two people I wrote to last year when they were asking for some assistance with their trip to Africa. They live in Collingwood and got my email from our friend Gary Clegg.

They are great people and after I met Brian at Maanumbwami Community school where he is helping to construct a classroom, we made arrangements to get together for an afternoon. We played darts (my first game in Africa), had a few drinks, and drove out to Tjisse’s lodge for some dinner. It was really nice to spend some time with them and we hope to get together again before they leave.

Tiika and I were at Maanumbwami Community School for the second time in a week. We donated clothes and school supplies the first time and brought along a lot of children’s shoes on our second visit. The children needing shoes were identified by the teachers and lined up for their turn to pick out a pair. To be honest, it wasn’t all that satisfying of an experience and both Tiika and I think there is a better way to provide assistance. Hard to explain but just part of our learning curve as donors.

Finding the right fit

This next picture haunts me in some way. The young boy standing in doorway is next to receive his shoes but the pile is dwindling and their may not be a pair his size.

Tiika with two boys

Maanumbwami Community School was started by Pastor Smoke Chewe and has grown from 6 children to over 120. Smoke wants to build two more classrooms to accommodate another 150 children (mostly orphans) from Lebuyu community on the outskirts of Livingstone. The school provides a bowl of porridge for the children each school day.

Lunch Time at Maanumbwami Community School

Smoke Chewe outside the school

The new classroom being built

Marilyn and I also visited a small orphanage this week. It is run by Jeanette and Agripa, whom Marilyn met through one of our staff. They started out with three children but have grown to nine. Just this week they received three boys from the border town of Kasengula whose mother drowned.

Jeanette was out shopping for groceries but we spent some time with Agripa and got to meet all the kids who were having an art class and later sang a few songs for us. There isn’t any money in taking care of orphans in Zambia and this couple do it out of love. I can’t even imagine this level of committment and dedication.

Anyway, we are happy that we have some clothes for small children left from our container shipment to donate to help them. We are also going to give them two small bicycles and some toys to share.

Children at Kwathu Children's Orphanage

While Marilyn was at the curio shops at Victoria Falls, she met a young stand owner named Josi from Mukuni Village. As they got talking, he mentioned there were acrobats at his village whom he has been teaching various routines. We drove to Mukuni Village on Thursday and watched them perform along with a group of dancers. The acrobats have some fearless moves and we want to help them develop it into an organized show so they can market themselves.

Acrobats at Mukuni Village

It has been incredibly hot this past two weeks. Fortunately, we have the pool at our farm to help us cool off. Some of the children from the farm compound, who visit us regularly for play time and school lessons, asked about learning to swim. Unfortunately, these children are not allowed to use the pool that is right here so I made arrangements to take two of them (Judy and Betty) to the pool at a small lodge named Zig Zag. Lynn, the owner is someone we’ve come to know quite well and she generously made her pool available to us which is usually reserved for guests only.

This past Thursday, I took Judy and a young boy named Wamundila to Tjisse’s pool. They are still totally not over their fear of the water but have learned to breath into the water, kick their feet, and float. They love it and some other kids at Tjisse’s pool joined us. Judy was shy about appearing in her new swim suit in front of the others. Wamundila and another boy swam in their underwear and two other girls jumped in with their clothes on.

Kids splashing in Tjisse's pool

We had a really good crowd for our Saturday show and we also had a special guest. Chief Mukuni, whom we’ve been trying to get out to see the performance, came with his wife the Queen.

Chief Mukuni and his wife being greeted by Tiika's wife Tembi

These Jacaranda trees are in full bloom in Mulobezi

We went to Mulobezi at the request of Chris Rogers who is the owner of a teak sawmill in that region. The sawmill was once a major industry as the area has huge tracks of teak forests but it shut down several years ago. As a result, Mulobezi went from being a bustling town/village to one of extreme poverty and desolation. Chris and his partners have restarted the mill and have begun employing a lot of workers. Chris is interested in how to best serve the community and asked me to do an assessment of needs.Our neighbour, Monique, and her son Martin came along for the drive. We left early in the morning and apart from one stop at a fishing camp, we drove straight for 4 hours. When we arrived, we toured the teak sawmill operations and then I began my work. We went to the school and the clinic, and walked around the village.
Getting the mill up and operating has been a challenge for Chris and his partners. The teak forests spread out over the land of two tribes and therefore two chiefs who are disputing about the boundary. Local villagers and people living in the bush also harvest honey from the numerous bee hives located in the trees. Unfortunately, there primitive approach to smoking the bees so they can retrieve the honey also causes bush fires and the destruction of new growth. These are just two of the challenges of operating such a business in Zambia.

We stayed in a camp which is occupied by Norman and Denise. Norman is the sawmill manager and both he and Denise were born in Africa and love living in the bush. They are contructing a small home but for the past 18 months they have lived in a tent. Several other tents on the property are used for visiting owners of the mill and this is where we stayed overnight in Mulobezi.

The village/town itself shows signs of its vibrant past. There are numerous houses owned by the sawmill but most have been occupied by ’squatters’. Other buildings are in a poor state of repair. Some of the borehole pumps don’t work and the villagers gather water at those that do and carry it to their homes.

The mill holds the promise of new prosperity for the people of Mulobezi but it is a tangled web when trying to decide how to best assist the community. Each part of the community has its own priorities and their is a complexity to unravel which is both political and cultural in nature.

I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with several people in the village and discuss their thoughts and ideas. Doing such an assessment and ultimately writing a report for Chris made me feel young again. This is the type of work I did back when I was in my twenties. Age brings a sense of confidence in doing such work and my past experiences in human services makes it all so much easier than when I was starting out in my career.

The Police Station

The Medical Clinic
The Maternity Ward (Delivery Table) Abandoned Rail Engines and Cars (the rail line is still operating but has derailments two or three times each trip from Mulobezi to Livingstone)
The Camp where we stayed
Our TentsDenise’s Vegetable Garden
School Toilets

The School

The School is overcrowded and has few desks for the children. This is interesting considering the main industry in town is all about wood. It operates classes for Grades 1 to 9. When a student from Mulobezi graduates, the only high school is approximately 17 km away and transportation is limited. Some children walk but many just quit school after Grade 9.

At night we had a fire using teak wood. When something is in plenty of supply it is used, but it was still hard for me to see such beautiful wood being burned in this way.
We had a lot of other interesting things happen this past week but I think that is enough for now. I’ll try to post again later in the week with the other news. On top of the list is the fact that we performed at the Sun to an audience of over 100 international guests on Saturday – our biggest audience to date.

I immediately started backing up while the elephant looked straight at us. It was very dark and impossible to turn around.Finally, I reached a small lane and backed up slightly angled to see if the elephant was going to come towards us. In the end, it crossed onto the other side of the road and disappeared into the bush. Cautiously, we headed back down the road and made it safely home. Sorry, no time to take a picture of either the elephant or the sweat on my brow.We also saw elephants on Thursday when all our staff went on a boat cruise. On Tuesday, we joined the garbage clean up organized by the Livingstone Tourism Board. It is tourism week and as a reward for helping we all got to go on the boat for the afternoon with drinks and snacks.On Saturday, with a good size crowd at the Kingfisher at the Sun it started to rain just a few minutes before our show. I had the most horrible sinking feeling as I worried that we would have to refund all the money from ticket sales. It is most unusual for the rain to come so early as it normally arrives in November. Anyway, it only rained for a few minutes and we went on with the show. It is a concern, however, that we may have shows canceled once the the rains come.
During our show on Saturday, we had a few members from our audience get up and dance with our cast. It is a common thing for local residents of Zambia to just join in and our staff are excellent at how they handle this.

I met with some individuals involved with tourism in Livingstone as part of a consultation with the Deputy Ambassador of the United States Embassy who was Livingstone to open a new US funded wing of the local hospital. We discussed possible assistance from the Embassy and there is a fund to support tourist related projects. The US government only funds NGOs and doesn’t give money directly to the government of foreign countries. We had two young men come to our house this week. They are hip-hop singers who have been doing AIDS awareness songs in the schools and they heard about us. We are going to see if we can help them get some funding for their efforts.

Enjoy!

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