Radiotherapy Shirt 6 of 20

 

This is another bright chitenge shirt made by Ireen.

Chitenge material has a variety of uses. The most common is as a covering ladies use to protect their dresses. The material is just wrapped around their dress and tied . When ladies gather they usually sit on the floor which is a dusty soil for most of the year. The chitenge can be easily washed while leaving the dress clean.

Chitenges are also used to carry babies. The babies are held close to the mother in the sling made by the chitenge. It is very easy to swing the baby to the front for feeding. It is lovely to see mothers carrying their babies in this way.

Finding suitable accommodation in Monze has been a bit of a challenge. Thankfully I have a number of friends in the town who will search for me. I need somewhere that is furnished, I want to be able to cater for myself and to have space to welcome friends for coffee or a meal. I also like to be close the town centre so that it is easy to pop out to the market and local shops where I often meet friends that I have made over the past 20 years.

Recently I have been staying at “Truckers”. This meets all my needs. The drive leads to the main road on the northern edge of town - about 15 minutes from the market.

In this picture I have a chitenge hanging behind me on the wall – yet another use! This elephant chitenge was a present for my wife from my landlady at Truckers - giving presents is an important part of the Zambian culture.

Please use this link to find out more about Transformation Through Education and support PIZZ School.

Chris

Radiotherapy Shirt 5 - Drums

 

I like to pick up chitenge material that is bright and fun! The 5^th shirt is covered with drums.

Drums are very important in Zambia, as well as providing the backing rhythm for music they were traditionally been used to pass information between people – particularly in the rural areas. I remember once hearing drums as I wondered in the bush and thought that maybe my presence had been noticed. On one occasion my wife Dilys went out with a group who were sensitizing people to the issues around HIV/AIDS and encouraging people to get tested. In order to get people together they used the drums and gradually a crowd gathered from the surrounding area.

During church services I attend, drums are invariably used to encourage and support the singing and dancing. Attending Sunday Mass at Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church really is a celebration!

PIZZ school has drums to assist with celebrations and is used to support traditional dancing. They are considered essential pieces of equipment.

 

Please continue to support PIZZ school by following this link. Transformation Through Education

Thanks,

Chris

Radiotherapy shirt 4 of 20

As I write this short blog the rain is falling. We are having problems in the UK with flooding. In Monze it last rained in January. Getting water and food is becoming an increasing problem. My friend Diven has bought a drum so that, on the few occasions during the week that he can draw water from his tap, he can fill the drum to provide water for his family for the other days.

The impact of Climate Change is affecting us all, but the porrest are impacted the most.

The children are back at PIZZ school after the August break. Please help us to continue to ensure that the children can get their school meals. Find out more and support us at Transformation Through Education

 

Chris

Radiotherapy shirt 3 of 20

 This is a fairly traditional shirt. One that I have had for a number of years. My life has changed dramatically as a result of my relationship to Zambia. I have contact with friends there most days.

The drought this past rainy season has had a huge impact. Not only is food , particularly maize, more expensive but it has been very difficult to buy in any quantity. I heard today that Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Monze has just managed to aquire 50 bags of maize from the Zambian Food Reserve Agency – this has taken many months to arrange. The food will be distributed to the most vulnerable parishioners.

PIZZ school also had a challenge to acquire maize to provide school meals for the children – all students get a free meal each day when they at school. Eventually the supply of maize was also agreed by the Food Reserve Agency. It costs about £15 to provide daily school meals for a child for a year! Of course with 600 children that adds up!

Please check out our website and donate if you can.

Transformation Through Education

Thanks,

Chris

Radiotherapy Shirt 2 of 20

This is a shirt made from chitenge material I bought from Monze market. (I still don't know what the shapes represent!).
One of my joys is wandering around the market buying food and talking to the stallholders. I would like to say that the chitenge material is made in Zambia, but like so many products they are imported. Some from other African countries such as Nigeria, but more often from India or China.

PIZZ school was founded in 2008 with classes from grade 1-9. It’s so much more than a school! We have extra pastoral care with peopler able to follow up on any children who might be missing school. They might be having to look after parents who are unwell or they might be the oldest and are the main carer to there siblings so can’t make it to school.

We are there to make sure they can still get a education! And enjoy being a child!

Please help us support the children and give them a life they won’t have without our help.

Please consider a donation and spreading the word. Click the link below:

Transformation Through Education

Thanks,

Chris

Radiotherapy Shirts - Day 1 of 20

Since 2004 Ireen has made me at least one shirt each time I have visited Monze, Zambia. Usually I choose the material, however this shirt is an extra one that Ireen gave me as a gift.

Over the years I have come to know Ireen and some of her family and I always get a very warm welcome when I return to Monze. Ireen has struggled over the years to pay school fees for her children.

PIZZ school provides an education for many children whose parents cannot money for school fees. Please check out the website at Transformation Through Education

Chris

At the beginning of this year I took some tests, the outcome of which was that Prostate Cancer was detected. As part of the teatment a course of radiotherapy was recommended. The course comprised twenty sessions taking place on consecutive weekdays. To add interest (and hopefully raise something for the charity), I decided to wear a different Zambian shirt for each session. My granddaughter Amy took some photos and videos and posted them on Facebook and Instagram.

I thought that I should use the opportunity to share them with you on my blog and reach another audience. Over the next few weeks I will post the photos and videos of the 20 shirts, together with information about PIZZ school and some more of my exploits in Zambia.

PIZZ school is an amazing project providing opportunities for some children who would never have an education otherwise. Many of the children from the school gain the confidence and qualifications which enable them to transform their lives and that of their families. This project relies on Transformation Through Education

to pay its teachers, provide school meals for the children and cover other costs. If you are able please support this charity. Please share the details with others. Thank you.

2004 marked my second visit to Monze. I decided to spend 4 months helping at the hospital working with local staff to develop computer systems.

I was joined during my visit by a physiotherapist – Emily. She worked as a volunteer at the hospital and at a centre nearby, providing support for children with disabilities. During this time there was also a surgeon who had come from the US with his wife.

Well Emily and the surgeon's wife decided that it was time for me to embrace the local style of dress. They found a tailor and brought her a piece of material from the market (known as Chitenge). Ireen took measurements and before long I had what was to become one of many shirts she would produce for me. Unfortuately this shirt no longer exists – except as a patch in an old backpack! However many others are still wearable!

The photo above was taken before mobile phones could be used for selfies – even selfie sticks didn't exist! Like most photos – especially those taken in Zambia there is a story.

The photo shows John and his family in 2006. John told me one day that he wanted to dig a well.

He only needed a spade and a pick-axe and he could do the job himself. I appealed to my friends and he bought the implements.

All was well until he had dug a hole about 6 feet deep! The problem was how to get out of the hole and remove the soil!

The answer was a rope, a bucket and a windlass ( A pulley system that sat on top of the hole and allowed the bucket to be lowered into the hole.)

Oh, and someone to operate the windlass!

So I borrowed equipment and agreed to pay for food for John's friend to ensure that he kept near the hole!

All continued fine until the hole was about 20 metres deep – I didn't want to think of John 70 foot down a hand dug hole! John was concerned that the rope was fraying!!

So a new rope was purchased!

The well is considered deep enough if, in the morning, at least one full drum of water can be extracted from the bottom of the well!

At 30 metres the hole was found to be suitably waterlogged! So job complete – well not quite!!

John is worried that the sides of the well (which he has been working in daily) will collapse!

2,000 bricks plus sand and cement were purchased to line the well - from bottom to top!!!

Open wells are very dangerous. I knew of one child who fell down a well and died.

So the well was covered and a rope pump purchased. Now my work really was finished!

Oh then John decided to move!!

I had never expected to get away with providing just a pick and shovel – so I wasn't too surprised at the outcome.

I learnt a lot during this exercise and came to know John a little.

I have met with John now and again over the years, but for the past 10 years or so I hadn't seen him, until this year when I came across him again. I was delighted to see that he was still going strong. He has always been a bit of a rogue, but he is a real character and someone I always remember fondly.

Best wishes,

Chris

Even the trees seem to be distressed

 

Zambia is very dependent on farming and in particular it's maize crop.

For Zambians food is nshima which is maize flour boiled in water – though to be honest the process is a lot more complex and requires constant attention to provide the correct result.

When the maize crop fails everyone is impacted. This year the crop has failed in the southern part of Zambia spectacularly.

Water is of course vital to life, but in Zambia it is also by far the main source of electricity. Hydro-electric power is generated from the dams and in particular the huge Kariba Dam. Sometimes after the dry season – in October or November – the water levels are low and electricity needs to be rationed. This year rationing was introduced in March! There are suggestions that before the end of the year there will be no mains electricity for Zambia.

These issues have a knock-on effect . The crop failure means that farmers have no money to spend in the shops, so the small local traders have no business and they too have no money to spend with the marketeers – and most of the people in Monze seem to be marketeers.

The lack of power makes it difficult for all sorts of businesses to operate. Grinding mills which should be operating 24 hours a day cannot grind enough maize, adding to the shortages. The prices of maize meal has soared, resulting in a lot of hunger. The water supply also relies on electricity. In some areas of Monze the mains water supply is very little if at all and often people have to get up in the middle of the night when the pressure might be enough to collect a small supply.

Even the trees in the garden here look to me to be distressed.

The situation can only get worse until decent rains return to Southern Zambia.

The weather here has been relatively cold, with maximum temperatures generally around 20ºC. We have had a couple of cloudy days, but generally the sun has made up for the air temperature.

I am trying to see how we can address some of the challenges at PIZZ School. I met a couple of students last week who had passed their grade 12 exams and have been offered places for further training – one as a nurse and the other in agriculture. The computer science teacher is frustrated that the lack of power means that most of his practical work cannot be done. He would like a solar system installed to allow the students to learn. Soon they will be preparing for exams.

Transformation Through Education is a new charity which is funding the school, but it will take time to ramp up the fundraising to meet all these needs. It is very disappointing that money already raised for the school is not being passed on. You can find out more about the charity at www.transformationthrougheducation.org.uk

I attended mass on Sunday which was back inside the church now sparkling with it's false roof and a fresh coat of paint. it was good hear the singing reverberating throughout the building and there was a celebration to welcome the improvements.

Chris Barrell

The impact of the Drought

I am once again in Monze.

Unusually this year I am not alone. John, someone who contacted me after reading details about my visits on the church noticeboard, has joined me to experience life in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I had intended to come out a bit later this year, but circumstances dictated that I make use of this slot in June/July. The visit will last a little less than 6 weeks and I will return to England on July 15^th.

On our flight from Heathrow there was a man who was being forcefully deported. From what I gathered he was being taken to the Congo where he said that he knew nobody. Not surprisingly he was not happy at the prospect and made it clearly known. It was obviously distressing for this man, who was being physically restrained. It was also upsetting for the passengers on the plane who witnessed the scene. I was surprised that the plane took off despite the man's protestations. One of the officers said that he would calm down once we took off. In fact, after we left the ground the man was silent – I was not certain what brought about this change. He seemed to be sleeping when I passed by him on the flight.

Everything went smoothly until we arrived at Lusaka airport. Immigration was swift – and the immigration forms, which we hadn't filled in, turned out not to be needed! I didn't expect this new form of bureaucracy to last long, but didn't imagine that it would be dropped before we got through passport control. I seem to remember one of the forms from twenty years ago when I first came to Zambia. Maybe someone had found an old stock and thought that it was a shame to waste them!

We headed for the baggage reclaim and John and myself each collected one of our bags. We had both brought two bags. We watched to see our remaining bags appear. After a while the bags on the carousel all looked rather familiar - they circled again and again. One of the staff said that there was no point waiting any longer because no more bags would be coming off the aeroplane.

This was the first time in all my visits that I had problems with my luggage at Lusaka. We headed to report the lost bags. Now it so happened that I had seen my missing bag get loaded onto the plane at Nairobi. I told the man at the desk and suggested that if wasn't in the baggage hall it must still be on the plane, which would soon be leaving for Harare.

Eventually a member of staff went to check and found some bags had been taken from the carousel and our bags were among them. So the panic was over.

Next job was to get some Zambian Kwacha from the ATM. I usually collect money at the airport, although I carry sufficient from previous trips to get me to Monze. However, on this occasion I had only a small supply of the local currency with me. The first ATM was dead! The second and third were not dispensing money!! There wasn't a fourth!!!

Earlier we had engaged a taxi driver. When we told him our predicament, he suggested that he drove us to a shopping mall on the way to the bus station and we could pick up cash there. So I put my card in the ATM at the mall and once again was refused any money. The next 3 or 4 machines were either not functioning or just not providing cash. They accepted my card “Hallo Mr Barrell” - but kwacha I could get none!

Fortunately John had a few pounds sterling and I had a few dollars. The situation was eventually resolved after queuing for twenty minutes at the bank where we changed our notes into kwacha.The taxi driver also agreed to accept the fare in dollars.

The Lord has a way of messing me about! Usually when I think that I am in control and particularly when I am showing others how clever I am. I often need cutting down to size! Still these interventions usually come in threes. I warned John that the challenges might not have ended. We now had to go straight to the Intercity Bus Station.

By this time the taxi driver was getting anxious. We had delayed him by at least half an hour and he had another client to collect from the airport. I had told him that we needed to catch the Shalom bus because I don't trust any other company to go to a schedule and carry us safely. So when we arrived at the bus station I expected him to take us to the Shalom booking desk. However he told us that the bus station was too congested and he proposed to leave us, with all our luggage, outside! A guy had come up to the taxi and told us that Shalom were not running any more coaches that day, but he offered to take our bags. Because the taxi driver assured us that this guy and his mates were trustworthy, and there didn't seem to be another option, I paid him and we chased after the guys who had set off with our bags. First we went to the Shalom office where it was confirmed that no further coaches would run this day. We were told that another company had a coach about to leave for Monze and they were reliable.

As we reached the next booking office we were surrounded by guys trying to relieve the “porters” of our bags. One guy grabbed me and tried to wrestle my backpack from me. Fortunately the attackers were seen off and our luggage was still intact. We were soon on the bus, our luggage was stowed away and we were on the move, albeit slowly!

In the past after the Lord has messed me about for the third time, I have experienced some lovely gifts – perhaps the most memorable being an unexpected holiday in Barcelona! But that's another story! Watch this space!

It was a raw introduction to Zambia for John. I found it unpleasant, but once on the bus I could easily move on – at least when I was clear that we were heading in the right direction!

Despite all of this “excitement” we arrived in Monze at about 16.30 - which is the time I had expected. Getting t monze at any time while it is still light is good in my eyes.

During these past three days in Monze I have been sorting myself out and trying to do some contingency planning for when power and water fails. There is a schedule which allows for cuts to the electricity supply of 12 hours each day! Sometimes we are lucky and we have power for much of the waking day. When the electricity has been off most of the day and returns at 23hrs (11pm) only to go off again at 5am for a further 12hrs, it is a bit more tricky!!

Julie, my landlady, has been very good, as usual, and has provided extras such as water containers and a vacuum flask. I certainly consider myself very privileged when I realise the hardship that so many around me are suffering at this time. Mrs Sianga informs me that many more children are now coming to PIZZ School hungry. You can find the latest update on the school at www.transformationthrougheducation.org.uk

I have spent sometime in the garden and have seen almost no birds other than pied crows – which are abundant – maybe one reason why other birds are not around. About six weeks ago I ordered a new bird book – Birds of Zambia. It arrived on Thursday!! Yes, in the UK. Another little joke no doubt!!

By now I have met a few of my friends. I spent some time with Mr and Mrs Sianga on Friday catching up with the challenges they face, including transporting a drum of water each morning for the pre-school and grade one children each morning. These children learn at the original school which relies on mains water which rarely flows these days. The main school is supplied from a borehole. This uses a solar pump to lift the water to tanks which feed the toilet blocks and standpipes. It is from here that the drums are filled.

One good bit of news is that some money that the school has been waiting for has just arrived. There are always huge challenges running PIZZ school when funds are not really sufficient. Any delays in the transfer of money can cause real difficulties, especially at times like these when costs are so high and many families cannot afford the basic necessities. However, I am confident that, working in close partnership, PIZZ and Transformation Through Education will develop even more opportunities to the children and restore hope to the community.

As I expected, my friends are discovering my presence back in Monze and I am pleased to see them again. Raymond found me on Thursday and Diven joined me for supper last night – both have had exploits since we last met!! They were able to bring me up to date. On Friday, I bumped into Captain in town. He had his car boot open. It was filled with fresh maize cobs, so I asked him where he got them. He told me that he was now a farmer – though he also continues to do building. By working on both he can continue to earn a living. (Captain was in charge of moulding the concrete blocks for the hospital ICU when I first came here in 2003.)

I showed John around the market today, Saturday, and I met a few friends in the process! It will take a while for John to adjust to the very different environment here in Monze and the very different way that Zambians see the world.

Take care,

Chris