Nyimba East and Mnyazi - 25-06-14

Today was turbulent, in more ways than one. We started in Nyimba, visiting Nyimba East Primary School. Nyimba East is something of an NPAC success story. They've been supporting the school for many years now, and it is thriving. The kids are happy and well set up to learn, the school playing fields are such good quality that other schools in the area come to practice there, and the choir is entering competitions. They insisted upon giving us a perormance and it was plain to see why they do so well. 

A portion of the pupils at Nyimba East. It was impossible to fit them all in frame!

After Nyimba we set out for the banks of the Luangwa river to the camp which would provide a home for us. The road left much to be desired, and although it was only a two hour journey it was mightily uncomfortable. Cat and I were in the back bouncing about and bracing for impact, which was fun at first until the air conditioning (windows) malfunctioned (had to be closed to stop the tsetse flies getting in) which meant that we arrived at Nyamvu camp hot, dusty, sore and tired.

This is the view which greeted us.

Suddenly I'm not so tired anymore.

After the sun had set and the bonfire had been lit, our estimable and generous host, Mr Gulam Patel informed us that there had been a lion kill the day before, not 500m from the camp. We piled into the open topped jeep and set out for a night safari hoping for a pride of lions. I suspect we would have been happy with one motheaten moggy, but it was not to be. All we saw was a very shocked elephant right in the middle of the road. I guess that had to do.

"What is this light? Do I charge? Do I run? Is it aliens?"

I learned a lot about elephants on this trip. For instance, if you see an elephant at night you should turn your lights off. Elephants don't like unnatural light at night and it makes them cross. Also, elephants and lions are rarely seen in the same area. If elephants see lions hunting they will chase them away to protect their intended prey. Hooray for Heffalumps!

Leaving Lusaka - 24-06-14

Not much to report today. We spent all day bouncing along in the back of a jeep, on the way to Nyimba, where we'll spend the night. Zambian roads are largely non-existant, but the main roads between towns are surprisingly good, so Cat and I (designated boot-dwellers) managed to snooze away the trip. I kept waking up and looking out to see increasingly wild country. Lusaka is a city, and I do not do well in cities, but this landscape was far more appealing to me.

The view from our chariot.

This is real Africa. Mountains and plains and forests and forest fires and rivers and villages and people. It was interesting to see the different faces of this country.

Endings and beginnings

Here we are home again, after a long and busy fortnight. I'll try and keep you updated by day with what we did accompanied by lots and lots of photos. The trip is over, but NPAC's work still continues. If you'd like to get involved with helping in the warehouse, loading containers, or maybe even going along on the next trip, do have a look at the NPAC website: www.npac.org.uk.

MYCEPA's "Grand Opening"

Yesterday we split into three groups. The four of us, myself, Dad, Hilary and David S, went to Lusaka as you heard. David F, Myra, Catherine, Rita and Joan went to the girls' school at Chipembe that David and Myra's church supports. They had a lovely day and came back bearing gifts and joy from a school which has been educating young women for 100 years. Carolyn, Marion and Jan went to MYCEPA to help set up for today's grand opening. They definitely drew the short straw. 

We returned last night to find them anxious that not only was the opening not ready, but the clinic was not finished! Work had been delayed so much that there was just a framework where there should have been a fully equipped CP clinic. The decision was made that the ceremony today should just be an awareness and progress event, so with willing hands we all set to work. Except for Dad, who is still in Lusaka pulling teeth. He probably had an easier time of it than us! We arrived to find a red tarpaulin in a field and not much else. 90 people were turning up in 5 1/2 hours and we had no shelter, no food, and no seating. Myra was quickly dispatched to 'find some chickens' and came back 5 hours later with all the fixings for a brilliant braai (Zambian BBQ). 

The lovely ladies of the braai.

In the interim we wrestled with a 30x40m tarpaulin covered in possibly chicken poo in high winds. Which we didn't end up using. The idea was that this would provide cover for our important guests, while the MYCEPA kids and their parents could be comfortable in a gazebo to one side. Sadly, it smelled of chicken poo and took 9 of us to unfold it, so there was no way it was going to be suitable. After we abandoned that plan and went to plan Q - possibly; we have many plans - we started putting up the tents kindly lent to us by Fringilla lodge. These large army tents were more than adequate for the assorted dignitaries who started trickling in around half an hour after kick-off.

Setting up the army tents. Why do balloons always make things festive? These were ones we found in a container. Joan thought they were ones sent over two years before, so we had balloon roulette, taking the chance that they would blow up as we blew them up.

I learned something today. I had been told about African time keeping, but never fully appreciated it until today. Time is an illusion here, to a greater extent than Ford Prefect could ever comprehend. We gave the starting time as 14:00, but we didn't start until 15:00. The event was to be two hours of speeches, music and performances but only lasted 20 minutes. Everyone seemed to enjoy the free food though.

Ladies queueing for the braai. The lady in blue was very enthusiastic!

We left the clean up for Esther and her workers, I'm afraid, but we were exhausted from setting up and wrestling tarpaulin. You know those parachute games you used to play at preschool? This was nothing like that.

When we got back to Fringilla we all had a grateful beer and tiny bananas which you can buy at the side of the road, before having a wee tour of the farm here. All the food they serve in the dining room is grown and slaughtered on site so it is super fresh and delicious, and we had a look around before dinner. This country is really beautiful.

Also pigs.

P.S. We're heading out into the wilderness tomorrow, so there will probably be some radio silence until we come back into the world. The NPAC twitter feed might still be functional occasionally, so check @PoliceAidConvoys (Mum, get Bethany to show you).

Clinics, cases and KK

The main function of today was to start setting up the dental clinic at Makeni, but we had to pause for lunch with a very important man. Kenneth Kaunda was the first president of the newly formed Zambia 50 years ago, and as the country developed and the people called for democracy he changed the law which caused his own election so that a truly democratic election could take place. His party was defeated and a new party came into power. Thus was democracy brought into Zambia in a creditably sensible way. Now KK is 90, and he still attends democratic functions, although usually these days he is being honoured rather than honouring. Today he honoured us with an invitation to lunch with him. There are people we meet through our lives who will stay with us, and Dr Kaunda is just such a person. We arrived to find a jam session in progress with KK singing what was something of a campaign song for his term in office.

 

The lyrics roughly translate to "let us walk together, let us strive towards freedom, let us bring freedom to our land" and that is exactly what he did. KK is still a strong man, commanding the attention of a room when he speaks, and is still so full of life and joy that his gleeful laugh is quite infectious. My father was delighted to finally meet a man he has memory of from when he was a young boy. He was just four years old when KK came to stay with his parents, my grandparents. At that time KK was building power and momentum and surely doesn't remember a small boy hiding in the skirts of his nanny, but my father remembered him, and today they finally met over 50 years later. Both KK and my father have strong connections to Scotland, KK's father having been a missionary for the Church of Scotland, so Dad presented KK with a vase he had made in the colours of the saltire.

KK laughs at something David S has said, and between them is Dad's saltire vase and a stack of KK's books which are no longer in print, but David managed to search them out for him.

Here we are with KK. Dad may have left his anti-malarial pills in the luggage which went missing, but at least he had a tartan tie to wear. Phew.

I was told before we left that if I brought Dad back with malaria my grandmother would haunt me all my days. I'm pretty sure she'd understand that packing his malerone in the wrong place is all his fault! Fortunately all the missing cases were returned today, to much rejoicing.

Makeni

Today we're heading out to the Makeni Islamic Centre to set up the dental clinic. Our suitcases arrived at the airport so we're able to do some preparation today. We'll stay in Lusaka tonight and carry on with some treatments tomorrow morning before coming back to Fringilla Lodge in Chisamba for the opening of Esther's MYCEPA clinic which helps children with cerebral palsy. CP is a big problem here, since a lot of the mothers have cerebral malaria during pregnancy. If a child is born with CP they cannot feed or move without help, because the connection between brain and muscles is compromised. Esther's fifth child was born with CP, and luckily enough there was a local nurse trained in physiotherapy, which allowed her to teach Esther how to deal with her son's CP. This young man is now almost 30 years old and a champion for equal opportunities for disabled workers.

You can see more about Esther's story here: http://youtu.be/X5ljpQrMOPE

Chisamba

We made it! And only four hours late. The flight from Heathrow was delayed so we missed our connecting flight. This also means that we've lost all our luggage, but hey, we made it!

Zambia is a lot more colourful than I thought it would be. From the plane it looked mostly yellow with a few muddy bits, but down on the ground it's full of reds, yellows, browns, greens and purples. The shadows from the setting sun colour the grass and earth with dusty blues, and bright orange and pink flowers sprout from seemingly every shrub. As we were driven away from the airport I spotted a fallen tree which had been overgrown with beautiful lilac flowers. I would have got a photo, but we drove past too quickly. We were being driven by Little Isaac, as he introduced himself, possibly to differentiate himself from Isaac, who has guided NPAC on previous visits. 

We got to our accommodation for the night in Chisamba, and it is beautiful. A 36 hour day will do wonders for your appreciation of a shower! Tomorrow we are going to the clinic at Makeni with David S and Hilary. The rest of the group are splitting up to visit other projects, like the school that David F and Myra's church support, and the childrens' clinic that Esther has laboured on for many years. I'll be sure to give you all an update on NPAC's valuable work, but that's all from me for now folks, I'll look in again as soon as I can.

Here's the lovely group we're with. David F and Myra met us at Chisamba, but they are also lovely, so that's alright.