Shirt 9

 

As we move into 2025 I recall some of the challenges of 2024. Personally I have tried to turn my cancer treatment into an excuse to publicise Transformation Through Education - the charity that I established during 2023.

This chitenge in this video is one of those that Ireen told me was suitable to turn into a shirt. However, to be honest I cannot remember her telling me of one that wasn't suitable – even if I presented her with two, three or possibly more. Hence I have a lot of shirts!! Chitenge material is used for a number of purposes. The ladies wrap it around them to protect their dresses. It is also used uncut to form a sling for a baby - this is beautiful. The baby is kept warm, close to the mother's body and it can easily be swung around to enable easy feeding. And of course they can be made into shirts.

Moving forward we have great ambitions for the charity. Our eventual aim is to support every child who enters PIZZ school until they have the education and training they need to put them in the best place to obtain employment. The challenges for many of these children are enormous, we want to give them hope that they can achieve a future where they and their families can escape the cycle of poverty. Some have achieved this over the past 20 years of PIZZ school's existence – we want all current and future students to be able to follow their footsteps.

We have a long way to go, but 2025 will be the year that we hope to make great stides towards this ambition.

If you want to join us you can find out more and donate on our website Transformation Through Education

Hoping that you had a Blessed Christmas and wishing you all the best for 2025.

Chris

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

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

What a Privilege

I am very fortunate. I have had the opportunity to spend the past 20 years visiting Monze and making friends. I feel very comfortable walking around the streets and through the markets. Everything is familiar. Cattle in the High Street is far from an unknown feature! At this time of year the cows seem to be allowed to wander in search of food. Today they found some nice green grass at Truckers!

The odd shower of rain has fallen in recent weeks. Here and there a few blades of grass have appeared. Usually this happens at the edge of the dust path. If more rain falls this grass gradually encrouches and if it continues it eventually becomes hard to realise that there wasn't a grass path all along!

Stalls are beginning to sell mangoes, but as I said to a boy eating one the other day “ if it doesn't cover your face with yellow juice it isn't a mango!” - he knew what I meant! The mangoes are not yet ripe – they are white inside and hard. I will wait awhile and get my face properly covered!

The sun is high at this time of year – at midday it is almost directly overhead. A little light rain has cooled the air this evening. Lisa switched on the hot water the other day which was a bit of a surprise. The cold water tap for the shower doesn't produce much more than a drip! The hot water is too hot, so showering is now quite an art! I told Lisa that I was happy to just have cold water, but apparently the switch for the geyser also controls the security lights! The solution seems to be get everything I can from the cold tap and then enjoy a couple of minutes before the hot water comes through, then almost turn the hot water off and finish with the dribble from the cold tap to cool me back down! Here you learn to adapt to the facilities!

I have a steady stream of visitors. Unfortuntely Jennipher showed some of her clients where I live and some call around. It is never a good idea to have people calling around, hoping for money. Unless they are people I know well I try to avoid giving cash. This can be very difficult, because I know that most are in real need. I have an added problem this year, because my funds are being used to support my major project and there is little or nothing spare. So even good friends in need are having to go without.

Euphrasia came earlier. She used to work at PIZZ school many years back, but became sick. She is much better now and she makes woollen mats for sale. She always gives me one as a present. I have a collec tion of mats around the house at home. I have bought a few to bring back for stalls in the past, but there doesn't seem to be a market in the UK.

Nelson is about to sit his final exams at the university of Zambia where he is taking a degree in social work. He is hoping to find sponsorship to do a masters degree in the UK or possibly Canada. So far he has done very well, getting excellent marks. He works when he can to try to cover the university fees. He came from Lusaka for the weekend to see his mum and say hallo to me.

I have had the delight and privilege to see a number of young people develop and get qualifications enabling them to move forward in life. With a bit of encouragement and a little support here and there, I hope that I have been able to make a positive difference. Not many people have been given the opportunities I have and I am very grateful.

I left a couple of pieces of chitenge material for Ireen yesterday to make into new shirts for me. She has made me at least one shirt everytime I have visited since 2004 – that's a lot of shirts!!.

The way that babies and young children are carried in Zambia seems eminently sensible and suits both mother and child. A length of chitenge material is wrapped around the child and tied around the mother's waist providing a secure fastening for the child keeping the bay in close contact with the mother (grandmother or sister) Our slings and carriers are no match. The baby can easily be moved from back to front for feeding and it is obvious that the babies are very content to be carried in this way.

Tomorrow I will visit Soloman in Pemba - about 30 Km from Monze and hope to catch up with Emmanuel, Obadia and Maria – children that Jennipher had adopted.

With love and prayers,

Chris