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!

Blog Post 20 – What is Mike Actually Doing?

So I hope we have another chapter phone call coming up, as the first was a ton of fun, and there were tons of great questions and stuff. But no one really asked what I am actually doing here, and I don't think I've ever written about it, so here goes my attempt at accountability to my donors :)

Office work:
I can't lie, IDE is remarkably understaffed and I spend a lot of time putting out fires. Like today Willard was in Monze and I was in the office so I explained about and sold 4 treadle pumps, helped a new co-operative type up their constitution and in between managed to spend time typing up a proposal for our new workshop. I have been helping with our monthly report, and budgeting and timetabling for next month. We are hoping to run a large workshop focusing on business planning, marketing issues and record-keeping for farmers in early August, so this is a big focus for me: planning, proposals and arranging for this to happen. When farmers meet nearby for market committee meetings, I have been helping them and reporting to Willard what is going on.

Fertilizer Training at a Demo Plot

Field work:
Sometimes I am able to go to the field by myself. We have 3 nearby areas within 5km that I can easily ride my bike to, so I like to go to these farms and see how they are doing. In addition they all have demo plots which are good ways for IDE to show farmers the proper way to grow vegetables. I can offer the farmers help with growing techniques and spacing (sometimes), and more often help with farm planning and business and record-keeping type stuff. A good portion of the farmers are able to speak English so its not a big problem communicating.

Sometimes I go to the field with Willard. This is usually when we give treadle pump manufacturers or buyers tours of the area. Then we hold small training workshops to groups of farmers. Normally these are conducted in Tonga so I have to find a translator if I want to get anything that is going on.

I think this man likes treadle pumps!

A couple times I have been able to run my own workshops. One was unexpected, Willard was busy in a meeting so he sent his nephew to get me and a pump and take me to the meeting. I showed up and demoed the pump and then answered questions about IDE and treadle pumps until Willard showed up just in time to add closing remarks to the meeting. A second was a gong show because I thought I was talking to experienced farmers and helping them elect a new board, while none of them knew what IDE is. The third was a workshop I designed on credit and loans and this one went sweet. All the farmers drew pictures of their gardens and determined how much each crop was worth. Then they budget each crop's profit to be used for things like clothes and food and school, and this helped them see what they could afford to take out as a loan and still be able to repay. All of these workshops definitely need translators, or else about 90% of the farmers would have no idea what was going on. But attendance is usually good, I think because they like the idea of a Makua presenting.

Community work:
I have been trying to spend some time helping out in the community. Recently I've been working with the computer teacher at Pemba High and teaching a class of students about computers during their extra time. Not many of the students know much about computers, but I feel like we are getting somewhere, and the fact that they are coming even though it is exam season is pretty encouraging. Even the staff want some C++ lessons as soon as exams are over so that's pretty exciting.

Capacity Building:
So the official terms of reference said I should be doing some capacity building stuff. I definitely agree that most of the things I mentioned don't have much to do with Capacity Building of the IDE Field Staff, but I think it depends on how you view it. Given Willard and I are working together most of the time, we are constantly working together to develop new ideas on how to improve the marketing situation in Pemba. Our new scheme is to have farmers grow maize and beans now (as opposed to during the rains) since the prices are about twice the usual and the local markets are huge. We are working on getting local agro-dealers to stock treadle pumps and sprayers. And for the first time we have been offered credit for our farmers. I feel like his innovative streak and initiative are considerably higher than they were when I first came, and I like to think that I have had something to do with it.

All in all, a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far, and I just wanted to let you know what I am up to, and will continue working on, for my last couple weeks here in Zambia

Full steam ahead,
Mike

Blog Post 19 – Livingstone

Wow! Livingstone, rafting and cruising on the Zambezi, visiting a couple beyond swank hotels and seeing Victoria Falls, all in a couple days. My body and mind are quite shocked (and relaxed too). Its definitely not at all like the village life I've been living for the last couple months.

First day we arrived we went to the curio market. Here I got to use all my bargaining skills I've been building up and still probably got ripped off. These people have some scams I've never seen before, like trying to get me to trade my socks for their stuff. Of course once you take off your socks, then they try to get you to add more money on top. But I learned that putting your socks back on and walking out of the store gets the price down faster and further than any other method. Should have tried to trade him my underwear.

I thought I had malaria that night. I had fever, dizziness, chills and all that good stuff. But I took 4 of Tony's Malarones that night and next morning I felt fine. That day was a 'work' day, so we went to the fee paying park (no joke, you pay about Kw1000 to get into parks in Livingstone). But as long as you use the free toilets a couple times you get your money's worth because fee-paying toilets are about Kw1000 also. I should confess the park was nice, complete with waterfall and pond. And no people because who would pay too use a park?

In the afternoon we visited Maramba market, which is a bit out of town and had no Makuas. Prices were sort of fair, and I bought 4 sweet looking chitenge cloths, which I shall make into shirts, a hoodie, and (if I can find someone willing to make it) very colourful underwear. Also if you want tobacco, this is an ok place to go, for 1000 (about 25 cents) you can buy about a ziplock bag full, and for K5000 (1 dollar) you can get a ziplock bag full of “the other type” of tobacco.

Friday was rafting day. We started with a great breakfast, and then a ride out to the gorge. Here we grabbed paddles, life jackets and helmets and learned the techniques I never thought I'd need to know. Like if someone fall out of the raft, but is hanging on the side, you first push them underwater, and then pull them in. Or if you overturn and are under the raft, grab for the rope on the side. Or if you are a long way from the raft, face downstream so your legs can push off any rocks. We climb down the cliff face on a sketchy wooden set of 'stairs' which was pretty fun. Then get into the boats, and start off.

First few rapids were tons of fun. We started off with the “Creamy White Buttocks” which quickly became our team name, beating out our other favourites like “Eeway” and “The Minibus.” Then we approached the “Three ugly sisters” and “The Mother” and our guide started cleaning the throw bag which is used for helping people who are out of the raft and a long way away. The Sisters were no problem, but then we hit the mother and capsized pretty good. I ended up under the raft, forgot to grab for a rope and about half a second later was about 50m from the raft. It was a pretty exciting ride down the 'Mother' and at the other end another boat picked me up. Absolutely unreal experience floating down on my back with the massive boiling waves around me.

That night we went for the Booze Cruise on the Zambezi which was really fun too, but not as exciting. Saw some hippos, crocodiles and a really nice sunset, had an OK dinner and drank some Castle and Mosi, (as in Mosi-oa-Tuna or “The Smoke that Thunders”). Asked for Chibuku but seems they didn't have any on board, I guess it was a bit classy for that.

Saturday morning was pretty relaxing. Went for breakfast at the Zambezi sun, which was the biggest buffet I have seen in my life. I just kept eating partly because there was so much food I could never get in Pemba, and I had paid a month's rent for breakfast so I though I'd better make good use of it. Walked into the bush nearby and saw some zebras, impalas and giraffes. Yeah, thats right, just went on a stroll and saw some Zambian wildlife. Well actually it was kinda disappointing because they were feeding the giraffes and zebras out of some big sacks of food, and the trainer was standing there, but it sorta felt like we were observing wildlife in the bush. Also there was a baboon that kept opening people's sliding doors on the porches. It would shake the door to unlock it, then slide it open and walk inside. It was funny but the guests were not too impressed. Next to the Zambezi Sun was the Royal Livingstone. This was in a class of its own, the staff even dress up like Colonial Age workers, while driving you around in golf carts. We went for drinks on the patio, which was cantilevered over the Zambezi and you could see the smoke from the falls in the distance.

Giraffe in the Wild

In the afternoon we went to the falls. These were pretty remarkable, even a few hundred meters away and above you still get soaked walking by. And apparently 2 months ago you got even wetter, and could barely see the falls from all the mist! We walked down to the bottom to the “boiling pot” which is at one of the gorge's switchbacks and the water forms a big whirlpool. Also saw some more monkeys and the biggest rat I've ever seen. This one was fatter than the bunny's at UVIC!

Mike and his 'stash taking a well deserved break on the patio

I should also give an honourable mention to the food we ate, from Greek the first day, Chinese the second, and Indian the third. And also an honourable mention to the Mazhandu bus company which is the only one that actually runs on time is decently comfortable. Unbelievable all round trip, and I took over 200 pictures and movies so don't forget to ask me about it.