Blog Post 25 – Closing Remarks

Agenda:

Prayer and Introductions

Group Register

Vegetable trainings

AOB

Closing Remarks and Prayer

Typical IDE agenda. You start with a prayer, then take a list of everyone present. Do the important stuff, any other business, and then turn to the makuas and guests too add some words of wisdom. Finally the chairman can give a little speach. And then someone prays. Interestingly enough, it seems that of all things, the closing remarks are always transcribed word for word in the minutes. Notes of the trainings themselves are usually quite limited.

So lets ask the makua: what are your closing remarks? How did it go? Was the placement a success?

Well, IDE is an NGO. They serve farmers, which is to say farmers are the clients. And the farmers want me to stay, so my work with IDE was a success.

EWB is an NGO. At EWB we serve field staff, which is to say Willard is my client. And he wants me to stay, so my work with EWB was a success.

Mike is not an NGO. But he had a pretty sweet time in Zambia. He got to explore an African country that not many foreigners go to. He built a solar dryer, spent time teaching kids C++ at the secondary school, lived in a small hut in a village for about 2 months and had his own garden and spent time every day farming. He tasted good food, and terrible food, and ate so much, and then tried to work it all off pedalling my bike through a sand bog every day to work. He got to learn some Tonga, and see the confused look on old ladies' faces when he greeted them in the morning. Transcribe that into the minutes, and call it what you like, but Mike is calling it a pretty sweet success!

Blog Post 24 – Busy??? (Sunday August 9)

Busy is not a word I use often, especially not on a Sunday in Zambia. But today was busy! Ahh I love busy days!

Started off the morning with a little gardening – we were transplanting onions today. All in all, I think we have transplanted about 3000 over the last week, which is a pretty impressive feat. And a good core workout too, when you are bent over double, feet spread about 1m apart, digging holes with a stick and shoving tiny onion plants inside.

After this, I washed, had breakfast and expressed my intent to build a solar dryer. Thinking it was a simple matter of cutting some branches, tying them together and covering it with plastic (you can even see the plans in my notebook), I was surprised when Morrison insisted that his younger (12 year old) son Talent would be helping me. So Talent and myself headed off into the bush, and with broken English, Tonga and sign languages we managed to find some suitable trees.

This solar dryer was not good for the environment. We chopped at least 6 sizable trees (~3 inch diameter) for the frame, and carried them back. Sorry, I should say Talent cut the trees, I watched, feeling a bit ashamed that a 12 year old boy knew way more about this stuff than I did. It became obvious that twine or string was not a local material, so we went back into the bush, cut a few more smaller trees, and got 'fibres' for tying these logs together.

To get fibres, you first cut down a tree (about 1” diameter). Then you trim off the branches, and find a place the tree forks. Here you stand on one of the forks, and pull the other, to split the tree in half. Then you pull off pieces of bark, getting thin strips. Then you peel the bark off, leaving just a thin fibre, that can be up to 2m long, if done properly. We got about 12 of these fibres, and took them back to the house, leaving them in a bucket of water to soak.

After constructing the frame, it became apparent that my design was terrible (thanks ENSC SFU for never teaching me any civil) but a couple cross-members seemed to help things. Everything was tied together with these fibres, and it seemed to be holding. Ugly, but it was a frame. At this point, most of the family was standing around watching Talent and myself building. I grabbed the clear and black plastic that I had bought in town, and we tied it on too, using these fibres. Clear plastic on top to let sun in, and black on the bottom to absorb the heat. Design complements of a sweet DAPP book my friend Deg bought at the Ag-show in Lusaka.

Biggest problem we saw, was at the present we had a tent with open ends. Ideally a metal screen of chicken wire would keep out birds and goats, but we had no such thing. Morrison came up with the idea of using old sacks, which still allowed plenty of airflow, but could keep out animals. An old fishing basket was laid on the black plastic to keep the food elevated, and the dryer was complete.

So does it work? Seems to be OK so far, but further testing is required of course...

After lunch, I went with Olice and Amulonga to prepare to make chibuntu. Chibuntu is Tonga “sweet beer”, which has 0% alcohol content. The first step is to head into the bush and find the mukoya root. Luckily Olice had seen some previously, so we just had to dig it up. This was accomplished using the massive shaka hoe, and was actually the first time I was allowed to use the tool. Next we went to these ladies' house to use their grinding mill. We ground a 5L bucket of maize, and it took about 20 minutes! Now I see why they use hammer mills, and don't try to do it by hand for mealie meal. Of course they also fed us, and all the necessary conversation that you have when you visit someone.

It was interesting though, because it was the first time I have gone visiting other farms with Olice (normally I go with Morrison) and I would say that there is much more pompousness when Zambian men visit each other than women. Zambian men must always show each other their gardens, and discuss how hard working they are, and ponder all the problems of this world. Not exactly sure what the women talk about (though I hear the word makua a lot, so I assume I'm a part of the discussion) but it seems to be a bit less arrogant.

Finally in the afternoon I went to Pemba Secondary for another computer class. I am quite impressed, school ended last week, and still students want to learn about computers, and C++, and the computers teacher is happy to come and open the door for me to use the lab. So far we have done lots of work with printf and are finally moving into variables and if statements. Looks like we have one more class on Wednesday so I may try to cover for loops. Biggest barrier is their lack of general computer knowledge and fear of breaking the machines. Half of them won't even try to compile unless I'm sitting with them at the computer. But hey, with time they are getting a lot better, I even have one or two start students, who actually seem to understand what is going on.

And now its time to start off a busy week. Monday some meetings, and hopefully a chance to go see Chikuni mission and their solar dryers and vegetable programs. Tuesday to Mbabala, which involves traversing one of the worst roads around. Though every time I say this, I have a sneaky suspicion that if I headed off 200km into the bush, the roads would be way, way worse. Wednesday some business with pumps. Thursday we are running a big workshop for record keeping, planning and marketing. And Friday is my last full day in Pemba town, so that one is set aside for knowledge transfer type stuff. Ahh busy days, but I like it that way.

Blog Post 23 – As tu Paiele

“As tu Paiele, Mike.” Ok, so if it was meal time, I would expect to hear this. “Let us pray” usually comes before we eat, not at 9:30 on a Saturday morning. “As tu Paiele ku Church.” Ahh, now I get it, she is asking me if I will come with her to church. Knowing my limited Tonga, and her even more limited English, it was a clever way of putting it, that's for sure. So I raced to my room, put on my nice pants and choose the blue dress shirt, black shoes and a pair of clean socks (it was a wonder that all these were clean enough to wear to church) and we started off.

Conversation on the way was limited to “So this church, it is at Pemba Secondary?” I asked. Something between “Eeee” and “ahhh” was the reply. I assumed correctly that this was yes. We arrived late (I think), because there was already biblical discussion going on, though others arrived after us, so I didn't feel too bad. It was a small group of about 10, and I had met the leader previously, as well as one of the other men in the group. He was also alternating between English and Tonga, which was nice for me, and I was even able to contribute to the discussion. We were debating how you tell if someone is a false teacher, and is not spreading the true message of Christ. Half of the people had textbooks that they were working from, and one person lent me his so I could follow along. At the end, they rang a bell, and the leader looked at me: “Brother can you pray?” “As tu paiele...” I began.

After, the other discussion groups, of all different ages came together into one room and we did some songs and prayers. The message was fun to watch, the speaker (pastor?) got really into it, and there was a translator who was mimicking his actions, and I wished I had brought a camera (though even if I had, I probably would have been scared to use it). After there was some time for fellowship and then we went back home. Not having been to many churches in my life, I am very unqualified to comment, but I think I like the SDA, they have a good system of open discussions, and it was a very easy environment for me to go into. Now I just need to get myself a Tonga hymn book, and I'm ready to go.

Going to church did make me think of a number of other religiously related things. Like are these imported, missionary religions helping Zambians? Sure the Mission schools are nice, but it seems to be playing havoc on the minds of many villagers, especially with the already strong traditional influence. There's a strange mix of God, Satan, and Witchcraft that seem to underly many stories and beliefs.

And what about the attendance? Why is there such a high religious following here, much higher than Canada from what I can tell. Do people here need the Church to give them comfort? Are the churches here more fun so people go for the fellowship and singing? Is it because they have nothing better to do on a Saturday or Sunday? Well I can't offer any answers, but they are fun questions to think about.

Blog Post 22 – Mike goes to Lochinvar

Sunday afternoon I visited the internet cafe, and even managed to get free internet. The owner was so happy that I had a free anti-virus on my flash (yay Antivir, glad I downloaded you before I left) that there was no charge. Before he could only protect 3 computers because of the Norton license, but now they are all safe. Stayed with my counterpart Willard that night, and at 5:00 AM we got up to go to Lochinvar.

We reached the gates about 7, he paid the regular price and I paid the tourist price (about 4 times higher) and in we went. We took the road to the Kafue river and on the way we saw Zebras and a herd of Impala crossing the road. At the road we met a friend of Willard's who took us to see the hippos. Apparently it was safe to get close because they were in the water and we were on land... but I was still not convinced and kept my distance. Because it was a Monday, the people from the islands (about 3km offshore) were coming on boats with fish, and people from Monze were coming in trucks with food and drinks and ice and clothes. Transactions ensued, boats were overloaded, trucks were overloaded and everyone went their way.

Possibly more interesting was the Ila people (a Tonga tribe) bringing their cattle to cross the river. There are greener pastures on the other side, so they bring the cattle by the thousand to the edge of the river and then some men beat drums really loudly. Some people pile into boats, others grab the tails of their favourite cattle and the cattle all swim about 12km to the other side. Supposedly this happens once each year, so I was pretty lucky to see it given I didn't know about it until the cattle arrived en masse.

On the way back to the main lodge, we saw more impala. Willard remembered a great view from the lodge, but now it is pretty run down, and the trees are too big. Instead I managed to find a suitable view from the top of the water tower, it was a pretty magnificent outlook over the park. We also checked out some local hot springs (sorry no pics, the bathers may not have been too happy) and found hundreds of baboons running around. All in all a really cool visit, and I got to go on a Safari in Zambia, which is pretty sweet.

Blog Post 21 – Mike Goes to Lusaka

I have decided to split up this post into 2. Originally it was going to be “Mike's Long Weekend”, but since my experience in Lusaka was so different than Lochinvar, we now have 2 blog posts. Anyway, enough rambling, on with the heart stopping excitement of Mike's African Life.
I think I have discussed mini-buses before, so just to recap there is a driver and a conductor. The driver drives and honks the horn, and the conductor yells out the window “Lusaka, Lusaka” and knocks on the door frame when someone wants to 'drop'. He also collects the money and bargains for the fares. I was boarding in Monze, so I found a half-full bus going to Lusaka, arranged the fare and sat down. I insisted that I wouldn't pay until we actually left (good business when there is no driver yet and the bus is only half full) and about 40 minutes later we did leave. Chilled with my IPOD and 'dropped' in Kafue about 3 hours later.

Met my friend Deg and stayed at his place that night. His host family is really nice, though Deg's 'brother' talks way too much. I am now an expert in the cotton industry and the industry of selling blankets imported from Botswana. Next morning we got up and went to check out the fairly new Kasaka roadside market. We arrived around 10:00 and observed that even though it was market day, and about 80 people had built stalls in the first few weeks, there was exactly 1 person selling. A bit disappointed, I am sure to tell the market committee in Pemba, which is arranging a similar market, that there could be problems in the near future for them too.

Kasaka roadside market is very empty

Then we went to Lusaka for the Agriculture Show. This was impressive, even by Canadian standards. There were so many booths, arenas with horses, motocross, and bands, and tons of agricultural displays. Even light engineering and metal work companies were there, with proper welders, torches and valves. I was disappointed to see that the combines were made in China and only assembled in Zambia, but still it is better than being build and assembled in China I suppose. I got to talk to people interested in Uranium mining and had sent a research team to TRIUMF in Vancouver to learn about radiation. There were displays with mining and gems. Zamshoe, Zambeef, Zamchick and Zamfeed were all there. I was even able to find seeds for basil, chives and parsley which I bought for Morroson who loves to experiment. It was a very impressive show.

Checking out the massive combine harvesters

On the way back I came very close to being pickpocketed. As I was boarding a bus back to town, and was walking up the stairs, I felt some guy's hand in my pocket. Luckily of all the pockets he could reach for, he choose the one with nothing in it. Close call! Next day I visited Lusaka again in the morning, and then went back to Monze for part 2... Lochinvar!