Bird Watching and the Difference an Early Cup of Tea can make

Tuesday 26^th November

Power came just after 10 pm on Sunday night – sort off!! It wasn't very powerful power!! In fact it was only strong enough to illuminate a few lights – others failed to come on. The same was the case throughout the Curia (and probably all that part of town with electricity.) The sockets seemed to be inactive – so no tea!!

             BECOMING GREENER

Monday morning I had a visitor at just after 7 am. He was a guy called Kelvin who had apparently asked me some years ago, when I was staying at Homecraft, whether I had contacts who could give him a job. I am sure that I will have disappointed me then. Some people think that I might work with an NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) operating in Zambia. Kelvin told me that he has social work qualifications, but has yet to find a job that uses these qualifications. In Monze there is little scope – especially at the moment. He is currently working in the laundry at Monze Mission Hospital as a General worker. His wife is studying to be a teacher, but needs to find 350 ZMW (£20) or she will not be allowed to take the exams at the end of the year. I don't usually provide support unless I know a person reasonably well, however he had obviously gone to some length to seek me out and no doubt needed courage – another alternative Christmas present!!

I had nothing planned for the rest of the day. I have no formal role in Zambia any more. I could come for a holiday! However, I feel guilty if I am not busy – and you will see from my blog that most of the time I am pretty active and rarely alone! However, we cannot make positive decisions without periods of quiet contemplation. There is a tremendous amount to think about here in Monze – especially when so many are hungry.

I sat under the veranda and did a little bird watching. There were a couple of starlings in the garden. If the light catches European Starlings they are beautiful birds. However in Africa the starlings are painted in metallic greens or blues. This couple were iridescent green – spectacular birds! I saw a Village Weaver or two. A couple of black birds with spectacular yellow gapes were doing a courting dance. Large yellow dragonflies are very common this year. I walked around the garden and took a few photos.

                                                                                                        A REAL MANGO

“Power” returned at about 16hrs. It was a little stronger. I found that I could eventually boil a kettle full of water and made a cup of tea. It was not possible, however, to use the cooker. So another cold salad was the order of the day. At least the laptop and the phone were recharged.

After an hour or two the power left again! By 23 hrs I decided to turn in for the night feeling a little drained despite such a quiet day.

I woke around 7 hrs and was astonished to find we had power! Not since I arrived in Monze has the power been present in the morning. It wasn't full power, but surprisingly after some time I was able to boil the kettle and make some tea. Suddenly life was great!!

I realised however that the power being low meant that my fridge hadn't been operating for two days, I bought some meat a few days ago. Some sausages have been in the fridge section and some 'steak on the bone' in the freezer section. The vegetables etc. I am not so worried about.

However, I headed for a meeting with Mrs. Sianga with renewed vigour. I was enjoying the walk, the hallos and children waving and greeting as I passed. Unusually I had to wait for a train at the level crossing. A little further on a group of school children gave me high fives all ten of them!!

I met Mr Sianga along the road and he told me that his wife was waiting for me.

We talked for about 4 hours!! Last time I came a friend gave me a donation to give to the school. I agreed with Mrs. Sianga that this should be used as an emergency fund were money is needed immediately – and that she should then try to get it reimbursed from Hands Around the World. There are many occasions when money is suddenly needed. The Education Department often institutes fees which need to be paid w ithin days or severe penalties are incurred. PIZZ School has not had funds available in the past but for the past few months these demands can be met. In the end this saves money for the charity as well. Unfortunately the photocopying machine is not working. It should have been replaced before the exams were imminent. The cost of a new machine would not have cost much more than has had to have been spent on photocopying outside. Everything is made worse by the lack of power. There is much demand for photocopying for school exams and the providers need a generator!

The current situation brings huge challenges. The lack of electicity also means a lack of water – so drums of water need to be fetched to Mrs. Sianga's offices and the pre-school to use in the toilets. Maize which was bought for the children's food needs to be ground. The nearby grinding mill needs electricity, so a more distant machine is used which runs on solar. All these operations add to the cost.

Agnes and her mother came to see us. Agnes is a girl I have seen over the years. She is one of the children who have a UK sponsor. Recently while she was staying with her uncle in Kafue – between Monze and Lusaka – she became pregnant. She is only fourteen. She says the boy came from the Copperbelt and she knows little more. Mrs. Sianga would follow this up with the police, but there is nothing to go on.

Life in Zambia is very complicated and I don't try to make sense of much of it. Poverty makes life very difficult. I am sure for many there is little hope in their lives. They would like to have nice clothes, good food – and water at their house and electricity is a dream! Anyway I am sure there are lots of temptations for a young girl. In any case we have a situation with a young girl who will soon become a mother. Mrs. Sianga and Killian were concerned about the sponsor and their reaction if the girl was to transfer to Kafue as she would like. My response was that they should do whatever is best for Agnes and her child. Sponsors need to understand some of the realities of life in Zambia. There are many reasons why a child will move from a school and relocate. Sometimes parents or guardians die and they move to be with other relatives. Families break up for other reasons. Life is complicated everywhere, but here the children at PIZZ School live in the most fragile of circumstances.

I am writing this blog with minimal power. Sometimes the laptop detects a little power – at other times it doesn't. I started with no battery power and have hovered around 10 – 15% for the past half hour or so. The power is nowhere near enough to boil water, run the fridge or more to the point to pump water into the tank which supplies the Curia and my house. Water ran out at tea time!! Fortunately a tap outside is lower and I realised that I could fill bottles and a large bowl. This should keep me going for a couple of days if necessary. I just have to implement a few severe water management rules!!

MY HOUSE FROM THE GARDEN

Mrs. Sianga received a call this morning from a nephew. So many tragic incidents, but the loss of three members of the family like this is horrific. Mrs. Sianga told me that a niece of hers died in childbirth a few months ago leaving six children. She is worried that the baby who survived will not live long. The environment into which she has been born will make it very difficult to survive. Where there are relatives who can look after the child the prospects can be OK, but it seems in this case the grandmother is very old and lives in a very rural area. I have been privileged to have been able to support some such babies with a supply of dried milk for a few months and the children have done well with their adopted parents – in a couple of cases that is Jennipher!

There are always huge challenges providing for the developing community of PIZZ School and its Alumni! As the school has developed and thrived, its success brings more challenges. The school was established by Mrs. Sianga primarily to keep the children from going on the streets. The problem is that with little industry and work opportunities in Monze, children who complete grade 9 without progressing to secondary school or some other form of training are likely to do just that – end up on the streets. In my former role as Project Co-ordinator I fought hard to support at least those that had managed to pass their grade 9 exams to move on to secondary schools. Further success at secondary school has equipped children with grade 12 certificates. Perhaps in Lusaka this might get them a reasonable position, but in Monze many will again be left with nowhere to go. In the UK moving into higher education is looked on as a right if the grades are reached. Though admittedly a student now has to accept a lifetime of debt as a result!! In Zambia the costs are beyond most and certainly beyond any who attend PIZZ School. I wonder whether a group of professionals could be persuaded to band together and provide a fund to give the opportunity they had to those in Zambia less fortunate. Zambia desperately needs more good professional people, doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, computer specialists etc. We cannot just say that the challenge is too great – rather let us see how we can give these children and through them the wider community a much better future.

Returning from my meeting I called into Diven's house. He was saying that he didn't believe that he would ever make his business pay in its current position. He told me that he can sit in his hop all day and receive only 10 Kwatcha (55p) or 20 Kwatcha (£1.10) This is only enough for food, but not enough to renew his stock. He usually goes to the market and can make perhaps 50 Kwacha. As always there is a lot to ponder. I am very glad that I decided to come at this time. I am learning a lot. The reality of climate change and its very wide ranging effects can be seen here in Monze now! The whole economy is devastated. The farmers have no crop, they are hungry! They have no money! The marketeers of Monze (almost everyone who isn't a farmer!) have no customers, they have no money and food prices are higher – they are hungry! The businesses cannot operate because they need power which only comes on for an hour or two during the day. Butchers that have no generator are closed!

At least I don't think I am doing any harm. I am spending a little money with the marketeers and putting a little more into the economy here and there. I have no illusions that I am making any real difference. I hope that the fact that I care means something.

With my love and prayers,

Chris