Reflection: Volunteering and my time in Zambia

One year and six months in Zambia as a VSO volunteer; six months less than originally anticipated but the work I set out to do is more or less completed!

Before leaving Australia and starting out as a volunteer we are told about the ups and downs of volunteering and living in a developing country. And as much as you try to prepare for this, there are still moments when you wonder why you did it.

I’ve said before that volunteering in Zambia is like being on a giant rollercoaster and I have to say now, that it really is. There are some great highs such as meeting new people and forming friendships, visiting new and fabulous places, new experiences that you know you would never get at home and being challenged in a way you never thought possible. At the same time there are big lows. The obvious one, missing family and friends from home; really bad days at work when you question why you bother, the volunteer allowance which doesn’t allow you to do much at all and the unreliable services that come with being in a developing country (e.g. water, power).

Following on from my post on development aid, I must say that for many of my days in Zambia I have felt like I am exacerbating a problem just by being there; that being the reliance on foreign aid. I don’t believe that Zambia really has any excuse for the position it finds itself in given that it is one of the few countries not to have been impacted by civil war. It has plenty of resources such as copper, lots of fertile land, parks and animals, not to mention the beautiful Victoria Falls. It has been victim to poor government and public mismanagement as well as struggled with HIV and AIDS. Nonetheless, it is one of only a few countries to have actually gone backwards in the Human Development Index over the past 20 years with the other notable mentions being the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.

I’ve given my time as a volunteer in Zambia a lot of thought and decided that I would list the things I will miss about Zambia and volunteering and the ones I won’t.

What I will miss:

• The terrific people I’ve met! The friends made in Livingstone as well as other VSO volunteers. And my two puppies, Rambo and Simba who were great guard dogs
• The über red, ripe tomatoes found in local markets; the avocados, bananas and mangos, all super cheap and tasty
• Freedom to make decisions or better put as absence of the “nanny” state, meaning being able to have 3 instead of 2 beers and then being able to drive home; not having high fences around something as beautiful as Victoria Falls to stop stupid people from getting too close to the edge; and being able to drive in parks with really cool animals
• Assisted pumps at the petrol station. I love this, I know I’m super lazy but I love being able to sit in the car on those wet or super-hot days while someone fills the car with petrol for me
• Being only hours away from safari!

What I won’t miss:

• NOT being able to drink water from the tap (we are so lucky in Australia)
• Smelling the meat at the supermarket to make sure its ok for purchase, or even worse, blocking my nose as I walk through the meat section
• Sporadic and unreliable water and electricity
• Poor customer service. We complain a lot about this in Australia, but just try banking in Zambia after working for a bank in Australia! Me: “The ATM just returned my card and receipt without the cash”. Standard Chartered Bank Staff: “Why don’t you just come back tomorrow and check then to make sure you have the correct balance”. Me: “No, how about you fix this for me NOW”. Standard Chartered Bank Staff: Blank stare……
• The vinegar tasting wine that South Africa exports to Zambia. I know South Africa has some great wines and that demand for it is probably still low in Zambia, but do they really need to send the garbage that they do?
• NGOs and aid everywhere! For the reasons already mentioned

I’m not sure what will happen to Zambia or where it will be in 10 years’ time. I do feel sad for many of the people that sit at the bottom of the heap and are relying on those at the top to simply do their jobs to help improve their situation. Last year a new government took over the leadership of Zambia and although not off to a flying start, I hope they can start to bring around some of the much needed change that Zambia needs.

As for me, I’ve learnt a lot about myself over the past 18 months and from my observations and interactions with people in Zambia, an awful lot about human nature, all of which I hope will have made this experience worthwhile. 

Lusaka: Nearing the End

Only a week to go till I officially finish my VSO placement!

The past month has felt rather long. I have been working mostly for an organisation called Room to Read, helping out their local Zambia office with fundraising research and putting together case studies for some of the programmes. It has been interesting and at times a tad stressful, but more than anything it has been good to see a clearly functioning organisation with actual beneficiaries and outcomes. The staff at Room to Read work hard and seem to always have the recipients of their programmes at front of mind. They are also one of the few organisations that I would be prepared to assist or give money to in future. The statistics for education in Zambia are appalling and I’ve heard stories of students in grades 8 and 9 that still can’t read! And then there’s the wide gender gap in education, something I’ve become super passionate about. Improving the situation for females in countries like Zambia is priority and will go a long way towards its development.

Room to Read in Zambia

Apart from Room to Read I’ve continued to support my Livingstone organisation and help out here and there with other VSO partners. It’s been challenging and great to learn about what others are doing, but also tiring. I’m really looking forward to finishing up and catching up on sleep!

And while I’ve been busy at it, Mike has been kicking goals on his National AIDS Council (NAC) project. For the past week and a half he and Rob, another VSO volunteer, have been delivering training for a new stakeholder mapping and data collection system to in excess of 100 NAC staff from all over Zambia. I’ve heard about the challenges they’ve encountered daily in the lead up to, and during the training which has made me tired (and frustrated) just hearing about it. However, the project and training has so far been a success and it is now really up to NAC staff to make the system a complete triumph by entering data and using it to its fullest potential.

At one of the training sessions for Mike's system

Learning and sharing

Lusaka has been a change of pace as well. Slightly crazy, horrendous traffic, rainy and dirty, I have really missed small and quiet Livingstone. And the begging is something I’m still not used to. There was a bit of that in Livingstone, but mostly people just left me alone and if they did ask, if was a half attempt and they’d walk away as soon as I said “no”. But not in Lusaka; they’re at the traffic lights, at the shops following me around and worse, at my house. I get begging when I take the rubbish out or walk down my driveway! And I do feel bad, but at the same time once you start giving money to random strangers, you would never stop. I know that begging is something I’m going to have to get used to as we travel through East Africa, as I’m sure it will get worse. Still, it’s just something else to have to manage on a daily basis in Lusaka.

Nonetheless, despite all of the downsides to being in Lusaka, there have been some good ones too. I have been absolutely loving the coffee shops, variety of cafes and restaurants (when we can afford them), the abundance of vegetables and I have been able to stock up on broccoli, a real treat; and we even discovered an Asian shop close to our house selling curry pastes, noddles, etc. Super exciting! The regular Wednesday dinners at Mahaks Indian restaurant are also a highlight, giving all Lusaka based volunteers the chance to catch up and vent over a beer (or two).

Mike & I at "Plates" restaurant in Lusaka

And in March Mike turned 30, so special treats were in store with a nice dinner at a restaurant called “Plates” and a bit of a gathering the following night with other VSOs. Not exactly the same as spending back in Oz, but a temporary escape from the norm.

Red wine and smiles for Mike's 30th Birthday

And dessert!

Cocktail hour

More birthday celebrations

Planning for our trip is coming along well, although slowly given we haven’t had much time to dedicate to it. But Gorilla viewing and our Kilimanjaro Climb are booked and we have a few fun trips planned in Zambia before we leave to Kaufe National Park, South Luangwa National Park and a return visit to Livingstone; I can’t wait!

The planning wall for our big trip

At the end of next week it’s the end of a topsy turvy 18 months and full steam ahead as we finally hit the road for the next stage of our Africa adventure.

From Livingstone to Lusaka

Our return from South Africa brought us back to complete craziness in Zambia. For the last couple of months of 2011 there was talk of Mike and I moving to Lusaka so that Mike could work on the implementation of a national database for the National AIDS Council. Momentum gathered in December and we thought that by the time we returned from South Africa we would have some clarity around this. But Zambia being Zambia, of course this was not the case.

So the remainder of January was spent sorting our move out, only to have everything happen in the space of literally two weeks. A frantic two weeks! The car needed repairs, Selina (our cleaner) needed new work, Rambo needed a home, I had to work out a forward plan with my organisation and that was on top of packing and two trips to Lusaka (500km away) to move our stuff. Glad that’s all over!

Leaving Livingstone has been difficult. Although it is a small town, sometimes a bit too small, we had met lots of great people and made some wonderful friends. Fortunately we had the opportunity to see most of them before we left at a small gathering at the Royal Livingstone Hotel where we had sundowner drinks followed by a lovely meal at Olga’s. Very Livingstone!

Mike and I with beautiful Victoria Falls behind us

Livingstone Farewell Drinks:
The people who have made our time there so much more
enjoyable than it might otherwise have been

We also made one last quick trip to Victoria Falls, definitely a highlight from our time in Livingstone. Super wet and now a tad cold, it was great to see them one last time.

Pretty Victoria Falls- I will miss you!

On the edge of the falls

Trying not to get wet

I did manage to find a home for Rambo; he is staying with his dog friends and our landlord in Livingstone who will make sure he is fed. I felt particularly lucky that our house was receiving two new volunteers, two lovely girls, one who reported she loves dogs. They were also able to take on Selina as their cleaner, which gave us some piece of mind.

Late January and early February were also filled with football fever as the Africa Cup of Nations took place. Think World Cup but on a slightly smaller scale, but nonetheless exciting. Zambia did make it to the final against Ivory Coast and against all the odds won! The atmosphere was amazing with people dancing in the streets, car horns, whistles and vuvuzela’s everywhere.

Taken during the Zambia v Ghana semi-final at VJs in Livingstone.
Obviously Zambia won

Happy, happy Zambians

And now we are in Lusaka. Our new apartment is located in an area called Kabulonga, a nice area with a great coffee/ cake shop, handy supermarket, a few nice restaurants and bars. 

Am I still in Zambia????

The Tuesday Market: A highlight of being in Lusaka with lovely
fresh vegetables, fruit, herbs and even tofu!

One of Mike's favourite road rules, the four way stop sign
intersections; a case of first in, best dressed- SERIOUSLY, that is
the rule!

Our apartment hasn't been quite as nice; it probably could be if we were going to be here longer than April and willing to put money into it, but we’re not, so it’s ok for now. Our biggest beef has been the bath/ shower. We don’t have a shower as the water pressure is so lousy so a bath/ bucket bath it is! And to top it off, the bath tub had been painted just before we moved in, but with the wrong paint, so sometimes we come out worse off than when we got in. Not the ideal set up especially with long hair but I’m managing (just).

Our new apartment in Luaska, top floor

Our new lounge. Not super homely but loving our giraffe "mummies"
in the background

Dining area/ study

Our awesome bathtub.....

.....and the even more awesome paint job they did!

Mike’s project has finally taken off with funding and location issues sorted. When he is finished, Zambia will have a national online database of all organisations working in HIV/AIDS throughout the country, as well as a way of capturing data to monitor progress against the AIDS Council’s national targets in prevention, impact mitigation, etc.

My situation has taken a bit longer to sort out. I still continue to support my Livingstone organisation who seem to have finally gotten things together. Just before moving we’d received $5k of office equipment and had two donor field assessments, having passed the desk assessments, each for $100k (Still awaiting the result of these). In addition to supporting my Livingstone organisation I’m also supposed to be working with another VSO partner in Lusaka, the terms of this still being sorted as I write. I also managed to get the opportunity to work with a large NGO here in Lusaka that I’d had previous contact with in Australia. They work in the area of education, especially for girls, something I’m quite passionate about and looking forward to helping them with when I start next week.

The second of the two field assessments conducted at my
Livingstone organisation before I left. Only 6 representatives at this
one; the first had 8 people assessing us

My Livingstone colleagues; hopefully they've learnt something
during my time there!

And so the days to leaving Zambia are going down slowly. The planning for our East Africa trip is now in full swing along with the realisation that we need to get super fit pretty quick if we want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in June.

Hurry up April!