Thursday 25th
June
Yesterday
I went with Mrs. Sianga to High Destiny School which is a private fee
paying school in Monze. We were visiting to see their computer lab.
The computers were provided and installed by Camara an Irish
organisation who provide them at subsidised prices. I was impressed
by the set-up – the room has about 20 computers, each with a socket
for the monitor and CPU.
The
machines come loaded with Ubuntu software. I was delighted to see
someone using Ubuntu! However, I was told that the Minister of
Education insisted on Windows software being loaded! So the plan was
to add it. However, not surprisingly, the computers now also needed a
hardware upgrade – and will also need Micro$oft Office. This will
increase the cost significantly and in the years to come further
expensive upgrades will be necessary.
Ubuntu
can cope well with the syllabus and can be upgraded without any cost.
It is less extravagant on computer resources and the current
computers would perform well. It is also far less susceptible to
viruses. It is a pity that the government don't recognise its value.
Though they are far from alone in thinking that if you have a PC it
must be Micro$oft. (I am not using a Micro$oft product to write this
blog!)
Since
PIZZ will have to try to prepare the students for computing exams in
December, I have offered to do a few sessions with the teachers,
while I am around. Many of the teachers here have had little exposure
to computers. I am no expert but I have been using computers for more
than 40 years!
Today
Best rang me early and picked me up. His family have owned land on
the edge of Monze – just off the road to St. Mary's - for several
generations. We called on his aunt briefly, just to greet her. In
2011 when Dilys and Amy came to Zambia, Best's family provided us
with a meal at this house. We left his aunt and cousins and he took
me just a little way to another part of the land, which Best is
developing as a small farm. He has a two roomed house, but has
started digging the foundations for a 4 bedroomed house next to it.
He is planning to marry and settle here with his wife and child.
The
custom in Zambia is that if a man wants to marry he is expected to
provide a “bride price” to the brides parents. This is quite
considerable and as a result marriages seem often to be delayed.
At
the moment the area in which Best lives is surrounded by fields,
however Monze is growing rapidly. PIZZ School which used to be in the
countryside is now almost totally surrounded by houses. I enjoyed the
current peace of the area and watched as the eagles patrolled the
skies effortlessly using the thermals.
I
left Best in town and went to pick up my replacement SIM card.
Unfortunately the cards had not arrived, but they will definitely be
there by 10 hrs tomorrow, Friday! (I seem to remember that they would
be here by the end of last week!)
I
have been a bit irritated by being charged 25 kwacha (about £2.50)
for every transaction this year at the Barclays ATM. In recent years
I have been charged by my UK bank for withdrawals abroad. This has
amounted to over £100 some years. So this year I changed my account
to provide free access. To find that, for the first time, I was
incurring charges at this end was particularly galling. When I first
came to Monze there were no ATMs in the town. The nearest was in
Mazabuka, about 50 km distant. Obtaining money involved lengthy
visits to the bank to change currency or travellers cheques. I
remember one memorable occasion when I needed to provide money for a
project and spent several hours in the bank signing travellers
cheques and waiting for a large number of small denomination notes to
be counted. I left with a backpack half filled with notes!! Zanaco
was the first to introduce an ATM in Monze and my life was
transformed (I gained several days that year – otherwise used in
bank visits!) Barclays soon followed with an ATM and I had choice –
except after a year or two Zanaco refused to give me money. Finance
Bank ATM arrived and the ATM would say welcome Mr Barrell and allow
me to go through the usual processes before telling me they couldn't
give me cash. So for the past 5 or 6 years I have been restricted to
Barclays ATM for cash in Monze. However, today the Zambia Finance
Bank was pleased to dish out some kwacha and didn't impose charges. I
am happy!! I would much rather use a local bank anyway.
I
popped along to Ireen who has started by cutting out a shirt from one
of the chitenges and I returned picking up a few bits and pieces
from the shops en-route.
On
the way home I received a call from an “unknown” number. At the
moment MTN seem to be pestering me with unwanted calls and I wondered
if this was another. In fact it was Fr. Tino – our Burmese friend –
who is visiting the UK tomorrow, after his three year course in Rome.
He will be in the UK until the beginning of September, so I will have
an opportunity to meet him before he returns to his homeland.
Our
lives have been greatly enriched by our association with Tino over
the years. He was about two years old when we started communicating
with his mother. As he grew he started writing back himself and
sending us work that he had done. We had been corresponding for about
25 years before at last we met him in the Philippines. By this time
Tino was studying in preparation to becoming a Catholic priest. We
were privileged to take the place of his parents at the graduation
ceremony, where we dressed him in his gown. We were also embraced by
a community of Burmese people – many of them priests, nuns and
seminarians- some of whom we have come to know better over the years.
We were able to join the wonderful celebration of Tino's ordination
in Lashio, Myanmar (Burma) and recently attended the consecration
ceremony of Cardinal Charles Bo – the first Burmese cardinal – in
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Cardinal Charles was formerly Fr.
Tino's parish priest and looked after us very well on our visit to
Myanmar.
It
was good to link my life in Africa with the Burmese, through that
telephone call today from Rome!!
I
spent the afternoon talking to another thirteen sponsored children
individually. These were mainly children I met last year. Many have
tragic stories to tell. It was good to meet some who last year
responded very little and had very little energy, but now were much
brighter and exhibited the familiar Zambian smiles. Some had clearly
benefited from receiving a reasonable meal once a day. It is a
scandal to think that there are still many children going hungry
throughout the world. For a few their difficult lives had become even
tougher. Another parent had died and they had joined the family of an
aunt or grandparent, who already had children of their own. The grief
and upheaval is very difficult for the children to cope with. The
school does its best to understand the family situation and help
wherever possible. Building friendships with other students going
through similar difficulties also helps the healing process and
allows the children to develop. You can find out more about the
school by following this link : PIZZ
School providing a caring environment for disadvantaged children
We
finished a little before 17 hrs so I called on Diven and we headed
for Tooters. Diven has had problems with one leg ever since I met
him. At that time someone had used a rock to smash his ankle and it
was in plaster. A week or two back he twisted his foot and has since
had a lot of pain – he was therefore liming as we made our way to
Tooters.
We
enjoyed a meal together and I had a couple of bottles of Mosi. Diven
doesn't drink alcohol so he had some cola. I have been told that
Zambians either drink no alcohol or can't stop until they are drunk.
Unfortunately my observation seems to back this statement.
Being
after dark (and aware of Diven's bad leg) we took a taxi back home. I
expected Diven to drop off near his house but he continued to mine
and chose to walk back! (About the same distance as the walk from
Tooters would have been!) I was at least able to give him some
painkillers and lotion for his leg.
Chris
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