Odd and ends

Some bits and pieces of everyday life

1.    Power cuts – three in three nights last week.  Ranging from a couple of nights to the whole night.  I made a resolution one night to get all cooking done in daylight.

2.    Nshima.  This is the national staple food. A maize based thick porridge (slightly more stodgy and firm) which is served with two relishes (often pumpkin leaves) and eaten with the hands.  I have tried and am not a fan. Personally I think it tastes and texture of cardboard, however the making of it is considered an art form and as one taxi driver said to me today ‘my stomach needs it three times every day or it will be the end of the world’. Zambians love their nshima.

3.    Religion. Zambians like to know which church you go to.  I have been asked the question many times over the past couple of days, so I try to explain that I don’t and this is not usual in England.  They find this hard to contemplate so often follow it up with ‘But you do believe?’ or ‘Who made you?’.   Religion is a intrinsic part of daily life here, with people wearing their best clothes attending Church on Sunday for 2 to 4 hour services.

4.    ‘Muzunga’ – (white person). Whenever I am walking to work, or back home, going on my recent morning runs or going to the local shop all children like shouting muzunga as a greeting followed with ‘how are you?’. You cannot walk anywhere without getting this greeting and no response in required – just a smile and a wave.  You are then treated to one of the highlights of Africa – a smiling child face followed by laughter.  I am learning to catch them out by saying ‘ ‘ which means ‘I’m okay’ in the local dialect.

5. Nigeria films and soaps are the new Bollywood - (actually known locally as NollyWood!).

What a girl has to do……………….

OK to celebrate my last birthday of my 20’s a girl has to do what a girl has to do.  Eat chocolate and drink wine to celebrate the age of 30 now being less than 362 days away.  So that is what I did – cooked  chocolate brownies and enjoyed a glass of white.  Maybe that is not part of the authentic African experience.

End of my first week

This might be slightly tedious for those of you who are not accountants but as I set this blog up for other willing accountants I should write to a certain degree about what I am actually doing.  To be honest this week has been a slow first week , mostly because it has taken to time to get my head about the complexities of Bwafwano.  It is an organisation which has offers a comprehensive range of services and programmes, and in the past has been funded from a range of donors.  However at present it is only receiving funding from Cecily’s Fund in the UK for the education of vulnerable children and Comic Relief for a TB programme.  It has taken a while for them to talk about the present and not the past.  I do feel like I have made some small achievements in the first week  - teaching them about backing document up and creating  a new process to produce the  donor payslip. 

The Neighbourhood

A couple of pictures for you to picture my local neighbour -  a lot different to Liverpool Street!

Mrs Chikoti’s

I am now staying at Mrs Chikoti’s which is about a 15 minute walk to work.  Mrs Chikoti is used to having volunteers stay with her and therefore I am privileged to a level of comfort I was not expecting.  Large bedroom with double bed, hot showers, cable TV with BBC entertainment channel.  This is meaning I can watch Dancing with the Stars as a replacement for Strictly Come Dancing, and I can still indulge in my guilty secret – my love of the programme Border Force (Sky programme for those who don’t know)!

And here are the stars of the show………………………………………………

Meet the finance team

Patricia – the accountant

Regina – the assistant accountant

Haxley – accounts clerk

In the next couple of posts I will endeavour to let you all know how my first week has gone.  Sorry about all posts coming at once but tried doing lots of this in an internet café and yesterday and everything kept crashing. So news is going to come in piecemeal chucks!

And so it begins.........................

Maybe it is about time I actually told you a bit about why I am here.  I am spending the next 6 weeks volunteering with a small community based organisation ‘Bwafwano’.  They are based on the outskirts of Lusaka  in a community called Chagza.  It was created in 1996 by Mrs Breatice Chola as part of the response of the HIV / AIDS epedicie in Zambia.   Their overall aim is to improve the lives of people who are suffering from HIV / AIDS and TB, primary carers and children who are affected by these diseases. 

They are achieving this by running a number of programmes from one site in Chagwa, and similar sites in 3 other districts in Zambia.  They provide training to community volunteers to act as care givers as part of home based care for suffers.  This program has 5,400 AIDS / HIV patients and 325 TB patients, 2,253 patients with advanced HIV/AIDS infection on ART. The program conducts trainings for community volunteers as care givers in home based care, palliative care, TB/ART treatment supporters, counseling as lay counselors and provides HIV prevention Education during their home visits and during support group meetings.  They have also established a community clinic which provides health care to all sufferers and has a community laboratory for testing.   The Orphans and Vulnerable Children program provides educational support to children up to grade 4 who have been affected through the disease through the Bwafwano  Community School and sponsors children through the rest of their education at government schools.  They have also established a community sexual and reproductive health education program where young people are actively involved in being peer educators.

I have spent most of the day asking question after question after question to understand how Bwafwano operates at a strategic level right down to the day to day posting of individual transactions.  I have found that this will task will probably take a while to complete!  In the meantime they want me to work on – training on Pastel (electronic accounting software package), organisation wide budgets, and training on excel.  I am honestly say I am not an expert in any of these areas having never actually used an accounting package before (result of only being an auditor!) and only using basic formulas in excel.  I have a feeling it might be time to reach for my CIPFA study guides again.

Photos will be added when I have figured out how it happens!  Cx

First weekend antics!

Sat writing this on a sunny veranda with a cold mosi  in my hand - (Zambian beer).  Found my first weekend a conflict of emotions.  At times I have been excited at the prospect of the next 6 weeks in Zambia and everything I will get the chance to do.  Other times suffering the first blues of the trip with feelings of loneliness and that life at weekends appears to be quiet, and battling with the expanse of time I have to fill.

It has been a fairly quiet weekend with time spent relaxing at the backpackers hostel I am staying at until Monday, been exploring local markets and shopping Malls, been on a township tour and tasting the local floor. The backpackers hostel does appear to be a place where people pass through relatively quickly as Lusaka does not have many sights to see.  There has been company around in the evenings but I have already had the same ‘where have you come from? Where are you going?’ conversations night after night.  I don’t mean to sound jaded but has made me look forward to living in a community and making some real friendships.

The backpackers hostel is an area of tranquillity in the heart of Lusaka.  I upgraded my booking to my own room for first couple of nights.  A luxury I don’t think I can afford for long!  The Hostel has cooking facilities, swimming pool, bar, wifi and satellite TV.  I think I have spent more time watching premier league football this weekend than at all since the season starting again.   Maybe I should be taking part in the Audit Commission fantasy football league for the year – it could help fund my adventures!

Lusaka has a number of large shopping western style shopping centres which are very busy at weekends with families and groups of teenagers.  Facilities include a cinema showing all the local blockbusters, shops filled with stock which has a aged look to it, and lots of restaurants.  Many based on the fried chicken theme! Spent a long time in large shopping centres which beat my local tesco for selection of products however items don’t appear to be as cheap as I expected.   I will update you later with my eating habit once I have started cooking for myself next week.   However the sandwich I had at lunchtime does require a special mention.  Reading you would have been impressed.  It was an Mexican spicy chicken open sandwich with salsa, jalapenos and lots of melted cheese. Yum yum yum. 

I have been told repeatedly this weekend it is not safe to be out in the dark and to get taxi’s everywhere you go.  The Lonely Plant Guide’s description of Cario Rd (main road in Lusaka) make you think ‘’It would be foolish to wander the street after dark……….has a bad reputation for robbery especially from cars at a standstill in traffic . Keep your windows up and doors locked.’’   It appears to me that evening activities are pre planned and maybe not the result of spare of moment decisions or that you stay in one place for the evening.   You will be pleased to know I am listening for once in my life and am following this advice.  It has made me think about how I do take it for granted living in a relatively safe city where you are able to walk and use public transport at whatever time , and how much this freedom means to me.

Anyway tomorrow I am moving into Mrs Chikoti’s guesthouse which is near the offices of Bwafwano. 

Take Care CCx

Arrivals and first impressions

So hello to you all!

I arrived in Zambia yesterday on a BA flight.  

For those of who don’t know I am just taken a year long career break from work.    First point of call is Zambia.  At the moment I am about to start a 6 week volunteer placement through the organisation Accounting for International Development.  I am working with a community based organisation called  Bwafwano  who are based on the in Lusaka (capital of Zambia).  Anyway, more on Bwafwano on Monday after my first day in the office.

I arrived in Lusaka on Thursday morning after a 10 hour luxury flight courtesy of BA.    Wow – how my travelling habits will change in the future now I have seen how the other half live.  As much free red wine as you want, Sex and City 2 on TV, yummy chicken curry and the additional option of tasting early sundowners in the form of Bloody Mary’s! No more Easyjets and Ryanair flights for me!

I was collected from the airport by the driver from Bwafwano after a long quene for visa’s and customs where they checked you had picked up the correct bag by checking tags on the bag against the ticket you were given at check-in.  I was grateful I had saved mine and not thrown it away with all the other rubbish in my bag.  Before coming to Africa I have been warned about the crazy driving so was prepared for this on my drive into the city centre.  However I have been surprised at how safe I felt.  No experiences of near head on collisions from dramatic taking over moments or having to grab to the side of the vehicle for my life were encountered.   However this might prove to9 be wrong!

First impressions of Zambia – hot hot hot!  I have arrived in the hottest month just before the start of the wet season.  I cannot wait for this rain, and even thinking the Lakey D land wet grey skies are appealing.    From the drive in I can say the environment and landscape does meet my expectations from the photos of Africa you see at home.  Flat barren dry bush landscape which is broken up with  small patches of green from thornbushs.  Lots and lots of people working alongside of the side raod carrying everything and anything – infants, chickens, barrels.  Local blue minibuses crammed full of people- I probably think they should fit about 10 peop0le in each but appear to have at least 20 in each.  Woman wearing brightly coloured Africa material.   Small roadside shops made from wooden frames covered in cardboard with tin roofs selling everything (esp mobile phone credit).

Lusaka is quite different to what I expected.  It is much less built up, and even building right in the centre have a lot of space around them.  Each building is typically in a compound with gardens and space for parking inside which are then surround by a high wall and gates with security man.  It is less chaotic, busy and polluted compared to cities in Asia. 

I am spending three days staying at ChaChaCha’s backpackers over the weekend.  Will update you on my activities on Monday. Bye for now.  CCx

P.S  I will add photos as I get some but people who know me well know I’m not that great at taking them and espically not in appearing in the