Botswana and Chobe National Park

Being placed in Livingstone means we are fortunate to be a short drive to the borders of 3 other countries- Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. A real novelty when you come from Australia!

A few weeks ago we took advantage of our close proximity to Botswana and took an overnight trip with other volunteers to the town of Kasane and Chobe National Park, renowned as an elephant park. Our goal: to see as many elephants as we could!

Chobe National Park, Botswana

I won’t blog too much on Chobe, as I think the pictures mostly speak for themselves. However I will say that it was a truly amazing experience and one that anyone who loves wildlife should come to experience.

Sunset Boat cruise

The boat cruise is where we saw the most elephants as they come down to the water to drink. Hippos and crocodiles were also abundant. Sadly we also saw a dead elephant, a victim of anthrax.

So many elephants!!!

Mother and her 2 week old baby 

Crocodile: Perhaps a bit too close

Hippo: One that is actually out of water

Dead Elephant: Was not pretty to look at and yet difficult to look away.
Vultures really are horrible birds!

Beautiful sunset

Early morning Safari

The morning safari required a bit more patience than the cruise when it came to animal spotting. It really is all luck. We were fortunate enough though to see a lioness taking it easy under a tree, plenty of game and baboons.

Lioness relaxing away from the morning under a tree

African Fish Eagle: Also Zambia’s national emblem

Kudo

Baby Baboon



World AIDS Day- 1st of December 2010

World AIDS Day (WAD) is a big occasion in Zambia, given the impact it has on the country. Working for a HIV/ AIDS focused organisation meant I was able to take part in a couple of the events which took place, all to raise awareness and present messages on prevention and advocacy for those living with HIV/ AIDS.

On the evening before WAD a Candlelight Ceremony took place in Livingstone, beginning at one of the local churches. The evening was filled with song and dance, advocacy messages and prayer. A minute silence was held prior to our candles being lit and a procession from the church up the main street of Livingstone. Unfortunately my candle kept going out, but it did look impressive when looking back down the main street.



Candlelight Procession down

Mosi-oa-Tunya Road



WAD began in Livingstone with a march down the main street to the showgrounds. Various NGOs, businesses, churches and government agencies participated, many dressed up in t-shirts and hats prepared by their organisations for the day, making an array of colour

World AIDS Day in Livingstone: 1^st December 2010

World AIDS Day March: Lots of colour

World AIDS Day March

The march lasted about 45mins before the gathering at the Livingstone Showgrounds and a 3 hour event of more song and dance, advocacy messages, prayer, poetry by local school children and viewing some of the stands that has been set up for the day.



World AIDS Day Event: Villa Ground



World AIDS Day: Song & Dance

WAD in Livingstone was very telling of the impact that HIV/ AIDS has on Zambia, especially when hearing the stories from those infected and affected by the virus. I wonder if the messages that were presented here on WAD are remembered all year around? I guess time will tell. Nonetheless it was a great event to be apart of, especially so early on in my placement.

HIV and AIDS and Zambia

Given I’ve been sent to Zambia to work for a HIV/ AIDS focused organisation and we are only days away from World AIDS Day on the 1st of December, I thought it was timely that I fill people in on the illness and it’s impact on society.

I’m assuming that most people at home were probably much like me; they know a bit about what HIV & AIDS is, some of the ways you can become infected, it’s epidemic status particularly in Southern Africa and may even remember the “Grim Reaper” scare campaign that was used in Australia in the late 80s and early 90s. ( Australian TV Commercial for AIDS )

What is HIV?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It infects only humans and attacks the body’s immune system which protects it against illness. Most people who become infected with HIV do not notice they have been infected and can remain healthy for many years with no sign of the infection.

A person with the virus but no symptoms is “HIV positive” or has “asymptomatic HIV disease”. If symptoms develop the person is said to have “symptomatic HIV disease” or “advanced HIV disease”. At this stage they are likely to develop opportunistic infections.

What is AIDS?

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is the clinical definition given to HIV infected people who have a CD4 cell count of below 200 or one of a number of specific infection including tuberculosis, rare cancers and eye, skin and nervous system conditions

Livingstone Cemetery

The HIV & AIDS impact on Zambia is devesting. The prevalence rate is estimated at 16% for ages 15- 49, Zambia’s most productive members of society. In Livingstone where I live it is estimated at around the 29% mark, so nearly one in three people. I still find that difficult to comprehend when I look around.

Zambia’s life expectancy is one of the lowest in the world, in 2007 estimated to be only 44.5, largely a result of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic

Livingstone Cemetery: Running short of space

Economically HIV has the obvious strain on the country’s health system (or lack of) but it also affects the country’s work force through absenteeism and deaths both for those infected or affected by the illness, and taking away some of Zambia’s brightest and most educated. With 65% percent of the Zambian population living in poverty (i.e. less than $1.25USD a day), HIV and AIDS are making it much more difficult for the country to fight high levels of poverty and for households to effectively provide for themselves.



The truck queue for Zambian immigration across the Botswana border. Trucks may take up to 4-5 days to move through the border due to inefficient immigration processes and the pontoon used to cross the river separating Zambia and Botswana. A bridge is yet to be built despite the large prevalence rate of HIV amongst truck drivers and this border contributing to the epidemic.  



Socially HIV & AIDS is changing family structures; where previously the notion of the “extended family” stood strong in Zambia, HIV & AIDS is gradually reducing families to the “nuclear” family. No longer can families afford to take on nieces and nephews as parents die, thus creating orphans, or meaning that those children who are taken in by family are required to give up school in order to work. And so the poverty cycle turns.

The impact is much greater than I have outlined above and there are many, many issues and impacts to Zambia and all countries highly impacted by HIV & AIDS. To find out more about this epidemic please refer to some of the below websites and of course I will say more in future blog posts.

·             Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

·             World Health Organization (WHO)

·             International HIV/AIDS Alliance

·             The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

My New Organisation and Role for the Next Two Years

I will be working with a local HIV/AIDS focused NGO in Livingstone, Zambia for the next two year. My role is Program Manager and Fundraiser or in NGO terms, Resource Mobilisation. I am learning fast that NGOs speak their own language, a little like banks really, with a million different acronyms to remember.

   

 



The front of our building

My organisation is quite interesting, made up of 7 faith based organisations (4 Christian, the Islamic Council of Zambia, the Baha’i and Hindu communities in Zambia). I’m not especially religious, however I do appreciate the uniqueness of our structure in that it is able to bring together such diverse faiths and beliefs for the greater good of the Zambian people.



Our office building



My desk- Where I spend my days

I’m still learning a lot about what we do, but some of the key programs in progress at the moment include the establishment of “Self Help Groups”, the basis of microfinance for women; Income Generation Activities which have provided training in tailoring for a number of local women and brought in a contract to make school uniforms for some of the local schools; Youth education on HIV/AIDS; and material support for community based schools with Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

The team

 

Income Generation Activities in action

  



There are 6 members of my organisation. There is another volunteer from Japan whose focus is Income Generation Activities; the Regional Manager, two Program Support Officers and the Office Assistant.

It’s still early days and I’m still working out what I should be doing. Included in my Placement Agreement (yes, I have KRAs here too!) is a Fundraising Strategy, Donor Mapping, Capacity plan for ZINGO and lots of involvement in programs and site visits.



My first planning workshop



Results of the workshop- Plenty to work with!

  

I have run my first workshop with the team here and was very impressed by the work done to date and the vision they have.

Now, where to start??



The Royal Livingstone Hotel

A couple of Saturday evenings ago we went for a couple of quiet drinks at The Royal Livingstone Hotel. We had been told so much about it, but even with everything we had been told I still wasn’t expecting what we saw.



The Royal Livingstone Hotel at night





The Zambezi River side bar on the grounds of the Royal Livingstone



The Royal Livingstone Hotel is amazing with its large green lawns, beautiful cream/ white colonial feel buildings, big leafy trees, clear blue pool and location, right at the top of Victoria Falls. As we enjoyed cold beer and Chardonnay at the bar on the edge of the Zambezi River we could see the mist off the falls. Spectacular!

Enjoying the sunset over Victoria Falls

The view over Victoria Falls

And just to top it all off, Zebra move about on the lawns behind us.

                                                            



Zebra by the pool

Zebra enjoying the Royal Livingstone grounds

               

Victoria Falls- The First of Many Visits!

On Saturday one of the volunteers from our intake had come down to Livingstone for a couple of days and so we decided to make out first visit to the amazing Victoria Falls.

The falls are approximately 10kms out of town which provides us with the opportunity to make numerous visits and observe how the falls change over the year. At the moment we are in the middle of the dry season, so the falls were quite dry relative to what they will be like in a couple of months when the rainy season is in full swing. Regardless of the season however, the falls were still incredible to see. I think I am best to let the photos tell the story!

 Views of Victoria Falls

We also came across families of baboons (they kind of freaked me out, particularly how close they were prepared to come to us) as we made our way down through the "Boiling Pot" towards the Zambezi River. 

 Baboon staying cool in the "Boiling Pot"

Down the bottom of the "Boiling Pot" looking at the Victoria Falls Bridge over the Zambezi River

And on the way home, along the side of the road heading to Livingstone, we saw three elephants grazing on the roadside scrubs. What a perfect end to a great day!

 Elephant grazing on the road back into Livingstone

Perfect day: At the top of Victoria Falls for sunset

Arrival in Livingstone

After a very long car ride of approximately 7 hours from Lusaka to Livingstone, we finally made it to our final destination and home for the next two years. It had felt for sometime like the day would never come!

Our house in Livingstone is pretty comfortable with 3 large bedrooms (so plenty of room for visitors) and a basic kitchen and living area.

Our house comes with a few other features including a dog Simba (he actually belongs to our landlord but spends a lot of time lounging on our front porch), countless geckos and “flat spiders”, all harmless and incredibly fast and red dust absolutely everywhere. I don’t think I am going to have proper clean feet now for the next two years.



We have only been here a few days and have found electricity and water to be a tad “sporadic” however the water issue should disappear once the wet season begins in about another month. In the meantime good preparation for unscheduled events will hopefully get us through.

Mike and I were both very fortunate to get up some time off from our employers to settle in and take care of a few logistics. Our first couple of days were mostly spent cleaning our house and buying some of the basics. Then we had some time to sort out internet, phone, a local bank account, etc. Some of the logistics have been a little frustrating to complete, some are still in progress, but I guess we’ll get there! However I am going to have to work on my patience a little more.

We have also been incredibly fortunate to have the hospitality of another Australian couple also volunteering here in Livingstone. They have so far cooked up a couple of great dinners and given us further advice on work, local life as well as travel.

So far, I think I am going to like Livingstone.