My job

So, for those of you that think I'm just here on vacation, that is in fact not the case, despite my previous posts.  This week I spent 3 days "in the field", which meant a 6 hour drive with 3 colleagues to Livingstone, where Care has projects in nearby Kalomo and Kazungula.  Quick tourist note - don't plan a trip to Vic Falls in September when the water flow is down to a trickle.  But I digress.
I got to visit three different rural villages, where life is really beyond belief coming from the sheltered West.  But the work Care is doing to help people improve their lives is very impressive and impactful.
For example, NGOs like Care have been setting up Village Savings and Loan Associations in many villages over the past decade.  Where people previously lived week to week or day to day, they now pool their savings and lend it out to each other, so they can afford to send their kids to school or buy a generator or buy fertilizer to grow crops.  Just about all of the borrowings are for "income generating activities" so they earn enough to pay back the loan with interest.  But here's the kicker: at the end of a "savings cycle", the VSLA pays the members back all the principal they have saved as savers and all the interest they have paid as borrowers!  How would you like it if your bank gave you back your mortgage interest at the end of the year?  Pretty sweet arrangement actually. 
It was amazing to see - indescribable really, but here are a few photos of one of the villages we visited to give you an idea.
Bruce

Weekend #2 - Kamwala Market and the Sugarbush

This weekend featured both ends of the Zambian economic ladder, starting on Saturday with a visit to the Kamwala Market.  The market is located in the center of Lusaka, near the railway tracks and is apparently not the scariest market (that's the Soweto market) so we thought we'd start there.  Still our guidebook advised us to take no valuable - but I brought my camera anyway.
The market is a crazy maze of shacks and shops that form tiny rows and alleyways along with a couple of major sandy/dirt thoroughfares.  After our trusty cabbie dropped us off, Kat and I plunged in.  It didn't take long for us to realize that of the 5,000 or so people there, we were the only 2 muzungus!  Pretty much everything was on sale there, including strings of women's underwear and bras, cell phones, piles and piles of shoes, bags of charcoal and everything else in between.  A lot of the clothes donated in your local used clothing box end up in these market, so who knows, I could have bought one of my own shirts.  We combed through some alleys, but got a bit worried that we would be lost inside and never emerge, so we tried to keep sight of daylight.  A new Chipolopolo golf shirt was the only purchase made.  . This picture was taken seconds before a guy gave me "tsk-tsk - no more pictures" and wagged his finger at me.  The camera was put away forthwith!  Having survived (and even thrived) on that adventure, our next market stop will be Soweto (but with a Zambian and without a camera)

On Sunday we took a 10km trek out of town to a place called the Sugarbush, because we heard it had nice crafts and a great herb garden.  That was a slight understatement.  It felt like we were in the English countryside, with a gorgeous craft / leather bag shop (with north american prices), backing onto a gorgeous cafe/garden with amazing food.  Check out www.jackalandhide.net to see what I'm talking about.  It was a little weird, because I could swear I wasn't in Zambia at all.  We loaded up on herbs, freshly picked lettuce and cherry tomatoes and had a very civilized dinner when we got home of Kat's famous roast chicken and the freshest salad I've ever eaten. 

Nsima

pronounced "nshima" or just "shima".

This is the national food of Zambia and people are crazy about it - almost religiously so.  The eat it every day for lunch and supper and sometimes for breakfast and praise it throughout the meal.  Think mashed potatoes, but a little more dense, maybe like cookie dough.  It's made out of white corn meal called "mealie meal".  You take a chunk of the large half moon shaped piece you are given and begin rolling it in your hand to make it even more dense.  Then you use that to pick up something else (like chicken or beef stew or trotter) and stuff the whole thing in your mouth.  Like eating lentils with injira for those that have been to Ethiopian places.  Quite the experience and I am no longer a nsima virgin!  Once you are done eating, you sit there wondering how to get all the food off your hands.

Work started to today - Care's office is located in a big old rambling concrete house on the outskirts of Lusaka, sort of in the middle of nowhere.  It has many rooms, hallways and nooks and crannies and stays cool in the heat (well, cool-ish...it's 35 out today and maybe only 27 in the office).  The place does have A/C units, but they all seem to be turned off...

Anyway, my project launched today, so I will get busy quickly with a trip to Kalomo likely in the very near future...

First weekend

It was great to arrive on a Friday, so I had the weekend to figure stuff out and get organized.
Groceries: The store that is a 1 minute walk from Shakespeare Court is a small-ish grocery store, which has a little bit of everything, including a good selection of mostly South African wine and various beers.  The Zambian beer is callied Mosi ("as powerful as the Mosi-Ao-Tunya" - that is the Zambian name for Victoria Falls), other brands are Windhoek (Namibian) and Castle (South African).  I got some Mosi and some Windhoek.  The "mall" (think outdoor plaza) also has a small electronics store, a post office, two banks and a pharmacy.  The cuts of meat are pretty sparse, which is why the beef shopping will now take place at "Zambeef", although the recent formaldehyde scandal is a bit of a deterrent...
On Saturday we practiced walking to work (we have a taxi arranged for us, but can walk it in about 30 mins).  There are SO many people walking everwhere, or alternatively jumping into "buses" which are really rather old minivans with about 17 people crammed into them.  I asked our driver today what they called those buses and he said "public transport".  There is no paved or gravel shoulder at all, so one walks in the red dirt along the shoulder and your shoes are pretty much red in 5 minutes.
On Sunday, we took a taxi to a big shopping plaza called Arcades, which has a Sunday craft market, so we could start our bartering practice.  I love bartering, so that's fun.  I bought a couple of batik paintings and a Zambian soccer shirt - Go Chipolopolos.

First days in Lusaka

After a 7 hour flight from Dubai, I arrived in Lusaka.  First impression is looks very much like the Caribbean.  Similar climate, similar looking people and similar infrastructure.  Just missing the fancy resorts.  The airport was basic - walk across the tarmac style - and after paying my $80 for a dual entry visa, I picked up my bags and headed outside where Kat was waiting for me!  It was so awesome to be met by a familiar face.  She had the taxi drive that Care hires for her, Issac, with her and we hopped in his Toyota and headed the half hour drive to our place, Shakespeare Court.  The usual signs of developing country were present - hot and sunny, diesel clouds billowing from huge trucks, many dirt roads and small shacks and people walking down the road everywhere!
The shoulders of the roads are just dirt, and it is red, like PEI.  So red dust kind of infiltrates everything you have on when you walk anywhere, which we generally do.
It made it so easy on me having Kat already here, knowing her way around and having some contacts.  She took me grocery shopping for basic provisions at the Spar grocery store which is literally next door and I began settling in.  More to come...

Dubai

Muli Bwanji all,
My flight left Toronto and arrived in Dubai with no problems at all.  Emirates is a really nice airline to fly overseas with!  I got a solid 5 hours of sleep during  the 12 hour flight and arrived in Dubai at 6 pm.  The Emiraties sp?) working customs were very funny as they clearly don't give a shit as they gossiped among each other and occasionally served a customer.  Rami was waiting for me outside customs and it was great to be picked up.  He had the evening all planned.  First he took me to this fake souk (a mall built to look like a souk but which was actually indoors and air conditioned - not necessarily a bad thing when it's 42 out.).  We had a great Lebanes dinner outdoors on a patio overlooking a fake lake with the sail shaped Burj al Arab in the background.  That was to be our next stop.  Rami had made reservations for the sky view bar, on the 27th floor overlooking the Gulf.  It was a gorgeous hotel (7 stars apparently) and a very cool bar.  After 2 $30 dollar cocktails and after beating back the Russian call girls with a stick, we headed to Rami's house in the burbs of Dubai.  It is a very nice place, though the plumbing doesn't work and there's no water in the pool.  Good thing Rami is the kind of guy who just lets that stuff slide...  ;).
It was a great night and I was dropped off at teh airport hotel around midnight.  the next morning I was on my way to Lusaka! 

Day 1

Day 1 starts early as I make the last minute call to just go to the airport at 1 pm rather than wait for my 7 pm flight with heavy t-storms in the forecast. Air Canada bumps me to the 3pm flight - hope I beat the weather!  A quick pint of Guinness in the lounge and leg 1 is ready to begin....
Made it to Toronto and beat the storms. Next stop:Dubai where Rami has arranged for drinks at the Skyview bar at the Burj al Arab (the hotel shaped like a sail)