When the Dili Diaries End and the African Adventure Begins
First Impressions |
Now that we have settled into Lusaka, it is time to start a new blog. Life is full of extremes again but different to Timor. Lusaka is far more developed, spread out and, in ways that reflect the character of Zambians, more relaxed. We have two large shopping centres to choose from, and even a cinema in town, where we saw the latest Harry Potter film for the equivalent of three dollars each.(Read more) |
Our Home Life: Our life is incredibly comfortable, far more so than in Timor-Leste, which just makes the differences seem even more extreme. We have inherited a big house on a large block of land - there is a lot of land in Zambia! Apart from a few fruit trees, the block was previously neat but unproductive. We are creating a huge vegetable garden which Danos, our wonderful gardener/dayguard, is enthusiastically planting out. We should be able to contribute fresh produce for his entire neighbourhood soon with tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, beans, lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, bananas, papaya, avocado, mango, lemons and strawberries! A chook house is under construction. Danos is using Permatil's superb book on permaculture from Timor-Leste. He thinks it is the best book ever and wants a copy of his own. He says that it could really help farmers in Zambia to produce more food and look after the land better. Photos or see the snake! |
| Visiting the Smoke that Thunders: We drove seven hours South to Livingstone to see the truly amazing Victoria Falls. It is far more spectacular than you could ever imagine - it is huge - note the person standing at the right of the falls - and it is three times as high as the photo shows and hundreds of metres wide. Known locally as Mosi oa Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders), the spray soaks you to the skin - which is just so much fun. Some groups don large yellow capes to protect themselves from the spray but they miss out - it feels great to soak up the sights, the sounds and the feel of the place - to become part of it just a little... Local legend has it that you add three years to your life by visiting the falls - we believe it - it's so good for the soul. Photos |
| Visiting projects: We have now been to Chadiza in Eastern Province, and Mansa in Luapula Province to see Tim's work projects. It was particularly good to see communities coming together to provide their own pre-school and early childhood care and development programs. Also inspiring was a Village Savings and Loan Scheme that allowed people to pool savings, then lend it out to each other, sharing the profits among the group. Despite charging 30% interest per month (no Reserve Bank rates here!), they were proud of the businesses they had created and the stuff they bought for their families. photos |
Stones in the Sand: In Chadiza as we drove between projects, we asked the Program Manager about HIV in Zambia. She said that stigma is a still a big problem in Zambia, with many people refusing to be tested and missing out on life preserving drugs. But HIV affects everyone here. She described an exercise they did with all the staff, where everyone collected rocks to represent members of their families who had died from HIV/AIDS. It was not long before every one was surrounded by rocks. (read more) |
Meredith's New Job! : Work Permit permitting, I will start a new job in the next few weeks as Program Manager for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health for Africare Zambia. I am so excited! It is a big job but a clear one, with one major donor, strong direction from the Ministry of Health but huge challenges to address in order to reduce Maternal Mortality in the communities that Africare works in. Witchcraft and Taboos impact heavily on Birth Plan decisions here (read more) Afri-Katie. It has been particularly nice to have our daughter Katie with us here. She is studying via distance learning at Deakin, getting involved in some volunteer projects here and generally making the most of a chance to live in a different culture. She is also great company for us. If you would like to see some of Katie’s reflections, go to www.afrikatie.wordpress.com. She is a better writer than either of us. |
Why Muzungu Musings? In Timor-Leste, we were malae, foreigners. Everywhere we went, particularly on bike rides, children called Malae, not in a rude way, more as aform of identification. Here foreigners are Muzungu. Someone said it means ‘The tribe that wanders around a lot’. If so, it probably fits us well. As for musings, after three and a half years on the road, it seems that we know less about how the world operates. But we are excited to be living here, experiencing the wonder of everything, enjoying new sights and meeting amazing people. We are grateful that we can experience something of the dignity and energy that people in developing countries bring to their struggle for life and a better future. We remain convinced that we gain far more than we contribute; learn important stuff everyday; and despite the tensions of trying to live with a foot in two worlds, benefit from this rich experience. |
