The End of my Zambian adventure...

As I think this will be my last post, I'm going to list my top ten points of being in Zambia:

1. The weather - blue sky every day until October.

2. The people. - Very friendly, happy and welcoming people.

3. Drive through green grocers on many main roads - Just buy your fruit and veg while in the car. 

4. The many kinds of fruit that can be grown here. 

5. Lorry drivers indicating if it's safe to overtake them or not

6. Double-decker shopping trolleys in the supermarket.

7. Plastic paper plate holders (not seen them in UK anyway!)

8. Game reserves full of great wildlife

9. Being able to hitch lifts on lorries (and generally get as many people on the truck as possible!)

10. .... well OK, maybe I can't think of 10 things, but 9 is good!

Well, it's the end of my Zambian adventure, and I was kept on my toes right until the end as you'll read further on. I'm in Tanzania now, visiting my friends Neal and Sarah. I had hoped to take the train there, which takes around 2 days (if it doesnt derail - which is a common problem!) to get from Kapiri Mopshi in Zambia to Dar es Salaam. However, you have to have a visa before you travel, which can only be obtained from Lusaka and so in the end this was too difficult to arrange. If you fly, you can just purchase a visa on arrival. So it came to be that I was sat in Ndola airport departure lounge waiting for my plane, when a plane came too close to the building and the wind created by the propeller engines ended up blowing the windows through. Big chunks of glass just missed me by inches, and stuck into a wooden table. I was fortunate that it was not my body instead, which would have been the case if I'd been sitting in the seat to my right. Close shave, but I guess those prayers for safe travel also included just being in the airport itself! Slightly shaken I boarded the plane 15 minutes later. Nobody from the airport staff came to see if I was ok, but plenty of passengers came over and help take shards of glass from my hair and clothes! Anyway I'll write to Zambian airways and see if I can get any compensation, or at least get the pilot a severe warning for his crazy antics! I think he'll probably get some sort of a warning given the fact that the departure lounge was wrecked, and they'll have to replace a lot of glass.

So that's all from this Zambian adventure. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed hearing about the adventure over the past few months.  I look forward to catching up with you soon.

Next time on the blog.... Well maybe there will be another Zambian adventure in the near future, but until then it’s goodbye from the blog. 

Rainy season scuppers plans for the first time

Yesterday Ruth and I were due to go to Kapeshi to visit the school one more time, but unfortunately are attempt was thwarted by the weather. We started off a little later than planned after saying goodbye to Jon and family, as they headed to Lusaka to catch their flight back to London. However on reaching the point where we were due to meet Joel, there was no sign of him. We were 15 minutes late, but he had not arrived yet. This was very unusual, as Joel is never late. I decided that we should go up the dirt road where he will cycle down, thinking we can pick him up and save time. However 10 minutes down the road, we found parts were flooded. Not having a 4x4 vehicle, I decided not to attempt going through the water, as we’d been stuck once before. So I decided to turn the vehicle round in the narrow road, using 10 or 11 point turn (Austin Powers style, if you’ve seen the bit where he turns the car round in the tunnel). Anyway, I put the back tyre slightly off the road into some mud, and immediately it stuck. We got out, and I realised this would need people power. Now in rural Zambia, although breaking down can be a common occurrence, you do at least always seem to have people willing to help who appear out of nowhere. A family came out and the son dug the wheel out, while his father chopped up a log. We then layed the log down so the tyre could grip. After paying them a few kwacha, and the usual long saying goodbye shaking every family members hand, we were off again, well reversing down the track until I found a drier place to complete the turn. On arriving at the main road again, we waited another hour for Joel. His phone appeared to be off (later we discovered it was because it was out of battery) With no electricity in people’s homes in the bush, you have to take it to a mobile phone charging kiosk. They charge the phones from a car battery, which they in turn charge up in the town. This is quite a lucrative business for those who run the mobile phone charging kiosks. We were due in Kepeshi to also see those preparing the land for planting the crops for the school project, and they would only be there in the morning, so with time pressing on, we had to make the decision to go without Joel, and leave a note for him at the roadside shop. – Leaving notes for people is common place, and because Joel is well known in the area, there is no chance he wouldn’t receive it.


So we travelled on without Joel. (Annoyingly he would arrive just 5 minutes after we left. – Joel had suffered his bike chain coming off 3 times, as a result of having to cycle through mud in places. Before this he had to carry his bike as he walked through a river (which by January can mean walking through waist deep in water ). Some time later we started off along the Mibila road, and after 2 minutes Ruth said that it was good so far in terms of lack of surface water on the road. I suggested that we’d be fine until the mibila bridge, but this could be a problem, and where we got stuck back in August. However within 5 minutes we hit water in the road.
Photo: Mibila road filling up with water already



Being a wanabee rally driver, this was no problem! You have to go fast through the water or the tyres will get stuck, however, as the car started to go into skid, followed by skid, and I was only just able to avoid the small trees at the side of the road, it became apparent that we were not going to reach Kepeshi, and had to turn back. The problem again though, was finding a place to turn. Knowing the problem a couple of hours earlier, I needed to find a dryish bit of road that was also wide enough. So some 20 minutes and after going through numerous areas of submerged road, we turned round, and prepared to do it all again! Anyway, we arrived back safe, although a little disappointed not to have got there, but it highlighted to me the problems the people face, and this is after only 1 week of the rainy season proper.

Next time on the blog…. The adventure comes to an end and I'll tell you my Top 10 things about Zambia!

The 4-day rural conference

It was around 2am, rain was battering the tent, which was lit up periodically by the lightning, and loud claps of thunder echoed around the landscape like louder than I've ever heard before, a lorry trundles along the nearby road and a pig grunts as it brushes past my tent, while goats could be heard bleating not too far away. I was camped in Sekela village at our rural conference.

Photos: Piglets arrive at the conference!

The conference seemed to be a success. We had around 50 delegates of which around 40 were from rural areas and 10 from Chingola itself. Jon led sessions talking about the ‘Life’ concept, and we also had a guest speaker Cornelius, from Luapula province. He has been leading the rooted in Jesus discipleship programme in various parts of that province. There were many workshop sessions too, which also resulted in some amusing sketches which each group had to perform - more amusing if you're fluent in Bemba, but roars of laughter came from the delegates, so they seemed to enjoy it! Through what they had learnt many leaders at this conference now felt empowered to do so much more. They now had a new confidence and direction, which they had lacked before

Photo: Group discussions at the conference

Photo: Cornelius involved with one of the workshops

People slept in the church, some in houses in the village and others in tents. Unfortunately on the first night, the heavy downpour caused one of the tents to flood, and some guests woke up to find their bedding soaked. The rainy season began properly on 1st November, and we’ve had thunderstorms and torrential rain each evening/night since. Apart from this though, the thunderstorms did not cause any other problems for the conference.

I took a practical session on how people could help in their villages. I demonstrated how you can make fly-traps out of plastic bottles and also how you can make a tap to wash your hands out of a large milk carton. The people there were really excited about this, and it seemed to catch their imagination, with almost everyone wanting to make them. Unfortunately we ran out of bottles, such was the demand, but at least they know how to make them now.

Photo: Making flytraps from plastic bottles

Jo did well at organising the women who were cooking the food, and people were very happy with the food, which was nshima (ground maize called a different name whereever you go in Africa, but essentially the same thing) and cabbage with either chicken, fish or beans. For breakfast they had rice. This wasn’t Jo’s menu choice of course. However, she’d been tipped off that this food would go down well, and it did!

Photo: One of the women prepares cabbage

With only 4 bathrooms (sorry bamboo and straw fenced cubicals) the washing process took a while, but it gave a good chance to chat while you were queuing up, waiting for the next metal tub of hot water to arrive for you to wash in.

Photo: The openair bathroom!

There were also a lot of children around where we stayed, and the excitement of the conference coming to their village, was too much to miss, so they needed to be entertained too.

Photo: Zambia's future cricketers in the making!

At the end of the conference it was a slightly sad time as we had to say our goodbyes to the pastors, apart from Jo, who will be out here for another few weeks. Ironically it was Jo that was crying though! Of course Jon plans to be back, and I hope to be too, so it's not goodbye forever.

I said I'd mention reaction to the election, well there hasnt been too much. Rupiah Banda came from behind to win in the end, with 40% of the vote to Sata's 39%. Rather close. Sata has claimed that the election was rigged, but the international community seem to be happy that it was carried out ok. Although many in the Copperbelt region where we are voted for Sata, there has not been any trouble over the result. Just some minor trouble in the capital Lusaka.

Next time on the blog…. The rainy season makes for an eventful final road trip into the bush as we attempt to visit the school in Kapeshi.

Planting seeds for success

I write this blog, as the country of Zambia is eagerly awaiting for the result of the presidential elections held 2 days ago. Around three-quarters of the results are in, and so far Michael Sata is some 13,000 votes ahead of Rupiah Banda, so in other words it’s very close, as in a national vote this is hardly anything! It’s likely that the town will get very noisy later on when the final result of who the new president will be is announced.

This week we have bought and distributed fertiliser and cabbage seed for the short term project, which will enable each of the pastors we’ve been working with to support themselves and the "Life" discipleship programme as it goes forward. Fertiliser is very heavy, and after carrying a lot of it this week, we're all quite tired, and there is still no end to the hot weather, as the country awaits the start of the proper rainy season, as apposed to the odd thunder storm which has been it so far this month.

Photo: Vincent and Ponde carry the heavy (50kg) fertiliser bags

Photo: Packing the bags into the car.

Not only did we get all of the fertiliser and seed, we also had to distribute it to them, which took some time, but it was also good to go to their homes and meet their families. Each showed us their houses and gave a tour, extremely short though this was, with only 3 or 4 rooms at most, and all very compact. Children sleep often 4 to a room, and some often dont have a bedroom, but just sleep in the main sitting room. The larger tour however happened, when we were shown their land, which is extensive. It's here that they try to support themselves by growing all sorts of different crops. This is how rural Zambia lives. It's a sustainable existance, where every day is hardwork. Joel showed us his land, where as well as trying to grow crops, he also has tried to rear fish in a dug out pond, which takes water from a nearby river, when the rainy season starts. However, he explained that monitor lizzards ate many of the fish last year, so he is hoping that a tall fence will stop this. I wasnt sure if this would help though, as I'm sure they can climb, but it may deter some preditors. He also keeps goats and pigs. We were introduced to Joel's brother who is a carpenter, blacksmith, and allround craftsman. He showed us how he makes wooden cups, egg cups and many other high quality items using lathes and other crafting machines powered by riding a bicycle. Genius!

Photo: Ranger Selelah with 2 of his 12 children (he has 4 sets of twins!)

Photo: Joel Mwanza with his wife Catherine and his children


Photo: Joel talks with his brother surrounded by goats

We also had the chance to take some maize seed to Kepeshi school, as they look to start an agricultural project for the community, which will fund the school over the coming years. The head teacher Alice was delighted to see the seed arrive, and said the local men in the village will continue to work on the land next week, and plant the seeds in the coming weeks in time for the rains.

We also visited a couple of friends Moses and Sunday, who together with their families are busy getting ready for the rains, and preparing their land for planting.

Tomorrow (sunday), marks my final week in Zambia as we head to a rural village called Sekela, where we'll be putting on a conference for rural leaders and Jon will explain the life discipleship programme. There will also be a number of practical workshops and we hope the 4 day conference will be a real encouragement to the people. We'll also have a number of people attending from Chingola, who felt that they may be called to rural ministry, and it will be a good chance for them to visit the rural communities, which many rarely get to see. So please pray this conference goes well, and people get a lot out of it, and are encouraged greatly. We hope that like the cabbage and maize seeds that will be planted, the conference will also plant many seeds in people which will help them and their communities to grow.

Next time on the blog.... News from the conference and reaction to the Presidential election results.