I
have to say that I’ve never been a big fan of the roller-coaster. When visiting
theme parks, the show, etc. I’ve never been one of those people who rush for a
ride on the rollercoaster, mostly because I don’t really like the whizzing
around, up and down. So I have to say that it will be nice to eventually get
off the rollercoaster that is being a volunteer in Zambia. However until then,
I continue to ride the ups and downs, with this entry being a bit of a summary
of my ride over the last few months.
To
work first.
This
has undoubtedly taken me on the down, down part of the rollercoaster ride. In a
post prior to our big Southern Africa trip I mentioned that I had worked with
the team to put together a plan of things that needed (urgently) to get done. I
even went to the effort of enlarging it and printing it in colour so that it
was a visible daily reminder! However as anticipated little got done in my
absence. In fact, I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say NOTHING got done the
entire time I was away. So much for organisational plans!
So,
my return to work was frustrating. Donor funded projects had been left wayside
and my first 6 weeks back were spent trying to get things back on track (more
for the donors than my organisation). I have dealt with complete selfishness as
work that was supposed to be done on behalf of our beneficiaries just didn’t
get done, so the beneficiaries just miss out (and the donors get the blame!).
I’ve also dealt with foreign donors who fly in to Zambia, spend maybe 4 or 5
days here, spend 2-3 hours with my colleagues and then tell them how wonderful
they are and to keep up the good work. They completely undo all of the hard
work of me and my Japanese colleague, reinforcing bad behaviours based on their
5 minute observations! Argh, aid! It feels so completely dysfunctional sometimes!
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| Partner's Forum Meeting for a Sports Advocacy project being run by my organisation |
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| Public Forum on Sport's grounds in Livingstone |
I
also became aware that through a partnership with a USAID funded organisation,
my colleagues had been completing training and being put up in 5 star hotels in
Lusaka. Why I don’t expect that they need to “slum it”, I find this to go
completely against the objectives of aid money, when you think about how much it
is costing to put up approximately 30 people per training for usually 5 days,
food, transport refunds and daily allowances! How much impact could the same
amount of money have in a poor community in Zambia as opposed to putting up
middle income “aid workers”, who I might add, in the case of my organisation,
have done absolutely nothing with the training they have received. Completely crazy
and I doubt that US taxpayers would be especially pleased about this.
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| Workshop with our Board Members to define their roles and responsibilities |
One
win that I appear to have is in setting up a partnership between my
organisation and the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA). The ZDA offer some great
services to Small and Medium Enterprises and have agreed to run Business
Management training for free for
some of our Self Help Group women. The training will be only very basic,
teaching them simple business concepts such as costing inputs, calculating
profit, etc. Simple, but concepts that I’ve discovered many of our SHG women
don’t understand and as a result are making losses on their Income Generating
Activities. ZDA also provide links to microfinance and larger businesses who
may be interested in sourcing their products from the women.
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| Discussion with some of our SHG women to better understand what they need to improve their economic security |
Another
up on the work front is that it is looking extremely likely that Mike and I
will be relocating to Lusaka. Mike has been working hard to gain support for a
stakeholders system he has built on behalf of the National AIDS Council in
Zambia, and has managed to obtain funds for its implementation. A huge win and
very much deserved! So it seems we will both have new jobs, as Mike goes to
work on his system implementation and I find a new organisation to work with in
Lusaka. More to come on this……
Away
from work
A
little bit more up on that roller-coaster ride, although feeling the effect of
living in a small town with not much to do and a struggle through the hot, hot,
hot October heat.
We
have managed to keep ourselves relatively occupied, with yet another trip to
Chobe NP a month or so ago, a trip to Siavonga (on Lake Kariba) to visit other
VSO volunteers, braai’s and dinners with friends and Mike also gave white water
rafting a go. We have also started the monumental task of researching our east
Africa road trip. So much to read about and plan, but at least it is fun, even
if it still seems like forever until we go!
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| On the road back from Siavonga: This is a very common sight |
Siavonga
was lovely, very pretty and it was great to catch up with Joibelle and Vinod,
fellow VSOs who were in the same intake as Mike and I. There’s not a lot to do
there, but that didn’t matter too much as it was roasting! I thought
Livingstone got hot, but it has nothing on Siavonga. I’ve decided that I’m glad
I didn’t get placed there! Anyway, we checked out the Dam, which was quite low
on water, had a bit of a look around town and spent a bit of time at the
various lodges eating and drinking. It was a bit strange being in the lodges
who charge crazy prices and then to look out and see the rest of the town on a
hill side and their shanty little houses. The divide between the haves and have
nots pretty much stares you in the face. Nonetheless, definitely a place worth
visiting.
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| The Kariba Dam: Low on water |
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| Looking out at beautiful Lake Kariba |
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| Lake Kariba in town |
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| It seems there are many uses for the lake, including clothes washing! |
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| Roadside village |
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| Lodge in Siavionga: Hard to see, but the hill behind it houses many of the people in Siavonga |
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| The hill of houses |
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| More houses...... |
Chobe
NP, which never disappoints, brought us wild dogs this time. Amazing and super
exciting as they were one animal on my list that I can now tick off. A bonus
too was seeing a smallish elephant chase the dogs away. Who would have thought
that wild dogs in a pack could be so timid?
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| Wild dog: How cute is he? |
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| Wild dog being chased away by a "huge" elephant :-) |
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| Wild Dog |
We
also had our dog Rambo castrated, an interesting and slightly discomforting
procedure to be taking place when handled by a Zambian veterinarian, but it
seems to have gone well (from our point of view anyway, not so sure about
Rambo’s). I don’t think that Rambo particularly appreciated the blue bucket on
his head either, but it did work in preventing him from biting at his stiches.
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| My doggy "Rambo" with his bucket head. At least he doesn't look too unhappy |
Lots
of braai’s and dinners with friends! Looking forward to the coming Christmas
weekend as we spend a “German” Christmas with our friends Marion and George and
their son Leonard on the 24th, and then an afternoon of yummy
Christmas food on the 25th with our friends Brett and Claire at
their beautiful lodge on the Zambezi River.
And
to all of my wonderful family and friends at home, wishing you all a very Merry
Christmas and a safe and happy start to 2012. xx
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| Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in 2012!!! |
