6th February 2014
Looking through my last blog I notice that I promised reflections on
my last trip. Apologies for not fulfilling this promise.
A lot of time has passed since I arrived back in England. I have
kept in regular touch with my friends in Zambia talking to several
each week and keeping up to date with the current situation.
Last year's trip was too short, so I hope to make a longer visit this
year. No dates have been set but I am thinking about making a return
trip before very long.
The effect of last year's poor harvest is now being felt. Maize is in
short supply so the prices have risen. An e-mail from Jennipher
recently simply said that people were dying and asked for any help I
could provide. Christmas gave me with the incentive to support a few
of my friends and those who depend on them with a few Christmas
presents – I am sure my family and friends will forgive me for
diverting some of the resources they might otherwise have enjoyed.
Our Christmas was dampened by the sudden death of Dilys sister on
Christmas Eve.
I met with Martin Horwood, my Member of Parliament, to discuss the
issues around the refusal of Jennipher's visa. He sympathised but
seemed to hold out very little hope that a future application would
succeed. Looking at the original refusal a couple of days ago I
realised that is wasn't only Jennipher (or her “agent”) that were
confused by the change in the kwacha. The refusal document correctly
stated that Jennipher claimed to earn 20,000 ZMK a month (about
£2.50) – why then did they expect her to have this income paid
into a bank account!! They claimed that the exchange rate was 8.5 ZMK
to the pound. In fact by this time the ZMK had been replaced by the
ZMW and the rate they were quoting against the now obsolete ZMK
should have been shown against the ZMW. The point I am making is that
they can hardly refuse to accept that Jennipher could be confused by
the currencies, when they too had become confused and mixed them up!
In the UK we have had a very wet winter with widespread flooding.
`Few people are still denying that climate change is happening, yet
our government still believes it is a good idea to extract yet more
fossil fuels through fracking. This is bound to accelerate life on
our planet to its final destruction.
At the moment climate change is causing major suffering for some of
our citizens. In other parts of the world – such as Zambia - people
are already dying from its effects. I hope that before it is too late
those in power will take action. I believe that unless we stop
determining our actions on the basis of money and think in terms of
people there is little chance of solving the world's problems and in
particular our biggest challenge which is climate change.
My time in Africa makes me realise that we are wasting so much of the
world's resources – particularly its most wonderful and beautiful
resource – its people. We should be ashamed that so many of the
citizens of the world don't achieve even a small proportion of their
potential. In Zambia many children will die before their 5th
birthday; a large percentage will receive no education; very few will
obtain a university degree or a technical/professional training –
what a waste!
I have made another attempt at writing another blog concentrating on
the chance of heart I believe necessary. I am finding it difficult to
make progress, but in essence I believe that we need to heed the
message of the ghosts of Christmas and be converted in the same way
as Scrooge. If we don't I doubt whether there is much of a future –
the extreme weather events of the last year are a very small sample
of what is to come in the very near future, unless significant
changes happen.
In December the children of PIZZ school took their exams. 19 children
passed their grade 9 exams but unless they are supported they will
not be able to complete their secondary education. Given the chance
these children could escape the cycle of poverty, but surely
something is wrong with a world where children such as these depend
on charitable donations in order to obtain a basic education. We need
all the talent in the world to resolve the worlds problems, they
certainly won't be solved by the few billionaires who have the same
wealth as the 3,500,000,000 poorest people in the world.
Best is coming to the end of his university course. He has recently
been on a placement in another part of the Country and is waiting for
another. We need many more people like Best to be given the chance to
reach their potential.
There is a lot of activity at Kaliyangile. The 450 new layers have
started to produce eggs and the incubator helped produce some guinea
fowl chicks. Some cows are pregnant which should soon lead to extra
milk production. The piggery is awaiting a pregnant sow – swine
fever permitting! A number of local people have joined 20 students on
a bee-keeping course and soon the hives should have their new
residents.
The rain was late this year but the pattern has generally been good
leading to some optimism about this year's harvest.
I will try to bring some more details of life in Zambia over the next
few weeks and will keep you updated about preparations for my next
visit.
Chris
