A Typical Example

A quick post on what is apparently not uncommon. We had a visit yesterday from some representatives of a community close to where I have visited in Kafue. They have been issued with an eviction notice by the local authority. This is a community of over 1000 people who have lived on this land for 37 years and are there beause that is where the local authority put them. They have farmed and looked after the land which of course now makes it valuable. The local authority want to sell it, who to remains as of yet unclear. One of the Forum's staff has gone there todate to speak to the local authority and try and get legal aid organised. These people have nowhere to go and no other means of supporting themselves. I'll find out later where the local authority stand on this.

5 weeks down, 3 to go

A busy week last week as I have been trying to speak to Board members on the future strategy of the organisation and ended up pulling together the 2012 budget and delivery plan for them in a couple of days as deadline had been missed.

Tuesday morning I visited the Mitengo Women Cooperative Society (MWCS) around 40km east of Lusaka. The visit was two fold. Firstly to see what they are doing and meet individuals, and secondly as their Chairperson is on the Board to discuss with her the future direction of CFHH. Went very well and I was asked to help them write their strategy and see if  I could  source a fixed asset register for them. Thanks to some help from Helen in Newport produced a model for them over the weekend that will hopefully help them out.

Wednesday and Thursday was spent on the 2012 plan and budget. First went through the plan looking at the activities (72 of them) and the timings (by month) – did it make sense or was there too much being done at certain times, any duplication of effort, was activity necessary and would it support delivery of the overall outcome being sought, and then costing them all. First cut came to just over Kw1 billion!  Still cant get my head around the currency - paying Kw10000 for a coffee and drawing a million or two out of the cashpoint. Thursday morning was spent going through both the plan and budget with the team to make sure they were happy and “owned” it. Afternoon spent doing sensitivity analysis on both with various options to reduce the budget by upto 50% just in case. These were presented Friday to the funder and the modeling wasnt in vain. Need to reduce by Kw500m. So on Friday afternoon thats what I did – slash and burn! Not very satisfactory.

Friday morning I had a very productive discussion with the CEO of the Peoples Process on Housing in Zambia (PPHZ). He is chair of the CFHH board and therefore essential I get his views on the strategy. Again quite satisfying as not very far at all from what I had already produced. He has asked me to spend two or three days with PPHZ before I leave looking at their structure, aims and strategy. He also wants me to present the strategy and facilitate a Board discusion before I leave that should be interesting.

On the weather front rainy season arrived in earnest. Huge storm earlier in the week saw a lot of structural damage with several large walls collapsing that does beg the question on the quality of construction – if I can I’ll get a photo of the wooden scaffolding being used on a new office block – frightening. Storms every day now each with heavy rain. Lots of flooding especially Friday. It has already triggered the germintion of the dormat seeds in what was bare scorched earth, and there are many more insects (with mosquitos on the way no doubt). Feeding frenzy for the birds. Seems to have also triggered a desire in some very large toads to take to the swimming pool where I am staying – no idea why they waited for the rain before doing that.

The government still looking to tackle alledged corruption by previous ministers. Apparently Kw2.1 billion was found this week in two trunks buried at the ex-minister of agricultures’ farm. He has no idea how they got there. Comes to about £300,000 (I said earlier £3000 - got confused with all the zeros). Has had to compete for coverage with the death of the first embalmer in Zambia who died of a heart attack last weekend. His funeral was shown on national TV on Saturday.

Most important thing though is that I have found the satellite box that controls the TV channels for all the rooms where I am staying. We now watch the premiership all weekend and not very badly dubbed south american soaps. I am sure everyone here is much happier with that and appreciates my efforts in making sure it stay on channel 223.

Anyway last three weeks now. Hopefully will get some things finished in the next week so not a last minute rush, not that I have a tendency to leave anything to the last minute of course!

A little on local wildlife

Sitting here in the garden of the lodge where I am staying I thought I would just say a little on the wildlfe around here. I’ll skip over the rather large cockroaches!

As you would expect there is an abundance of bird life. It is strange in mid-November to see swallows flying around but there are loads! Each morning a flock of parakeets  fly over  and one of the bushes here is a favourite for humming birds – unbelievably small. The same bush contains quite a number of nests as in the photo. I thought these were the humming birds’ nests but this morning saw what looks like a large Goldfinch repairing one by threading a bamboo leaf in and out. There are also greenfinches, some small black very fast birds and larger ones around the size of starlings with  black cap/tufts on the tops of their heads. And the occassional parrot in one of the trees making as much noise as it can.

There are a huge number of dragonflies of every colour and the butterflies are magnificant. Very large and colourful but too quick to get photos of. The lizards are all over the place and again very quick! With the rains the amount of flowers has already increased and with them the insects, and so hopefully over next couple of weeks should see even more birds in particular.

On the way back from Kafue did see a small herd of Zebra and if I can fit in hope to get out to the Lower Zambezi reserve for a couple of days to get to see some of the lager game.

First half completed!

I am now half way through my time here with just another 4 weeks to go. It has gone by very quickly. So what do I think of it so far? To be honest I would like to get hold of the whole country and give it a good shake to wake them up. It is a country with abundant natural resources in respect of copper, it has land, it has water and people who want to work. What it seems to me to be lacking is a strategy or plan (I like a plan – how can you expect to get anywhere if you havent got a route map to get there?).

The new government has set its budget and has committed itself to tackling corruption in both government and the civil service. From what I have heard it would appear to be a problem at every level, both centrally and locally. An ex-minister was arrested last week with more arrests on the way so the government seems to be making a start at sorting out but it is the civil servants that really need to be looked at by all accounts. Procurement is not surprisingly where the greatest issues are apparently being found. Not sure if the UK is going to help with  sending specialists over to look at the way procurement is done, or the National Audit Office to train auditors but would certainly be a good thing in my view.

The other thing driving around Lusaka is the number of international non-government organisations and charities here. Again all looking to help and I am sure all contributing in some way (if nothing else by employing local people and spending money day to day) but not sure how coordinated it all is. Again I think it comes back to whether there is an overall plan. I will have to try and find out.

Anyway enough of his thinking; the sun is shining, the birds are singing and I have my washing to do!

A Brick Oven

I Love the Wheelbrrows!

How can I make fertilizer?

While visiting Kafue, the Zambia Compound and the Southern Province last week a number of things struck me. Firstly the amount of rubbish and waste. Fish gut/waste just dumped, the amount of animal horn and bone piled up attracting vermin and swarms of flies, the blood from the abatoir just poured in the ditch  (some of you organic gardeners may already see where I am going with this). Secondly the reliance of small scale farmers on purchasing nitrogen fertilizer for their crops and the difficulty of getting the cash to do that. Is there perhaps something that could be done to tackle all this at once?

Blood, fish and bone is a well tried and tested organic ferilizer readily available in the UK. So is bonemeal (made by crushing bones) and fish meal. All very good ways of replacing man made fertilizers. All the raw materials are available here at no cost (it is all thrown away) and there is a ready market. So what about looking at setting up a small scale production site to have a go?

The Bwalo Global Development Trust a charity I have met a couple of times are very interested in this idea as they look to promote the knowledge of communities and see this as a possible win-win situation all round. Just one problem – how do we make it?

I have my brother Rob on the case in the UK and he is doing a great job researching all he can on the way to go about this, how to sterilise the bones before crushing, boiling up the blood  etc. He is in contact with organisations in the UK and in Paris, France about how to do it but we need some help. Does anyone have old gardening books that may have “receipes” for such fertilizer? Not just blood,fish and bone but anything from fish or waste products. Or better still do you know someone down the local allotment site that makes their own fertilizer? Please either e-mail me or add a comment to the blogg with whatever you can find.

I am also looking at composting as that does not seem to be widepread (actually havent seen anything). I really need a good simple guide to composting ideally with pictures using items that can either be made or scavenged. No way could we buy nice plastic compost bins. This can form part of a study circle to teach people how to go about it. May not be the answer to everything but may make a bit of a difference.

Thanks for reading this, hope you can help.

Comments

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Photos Friday afternoon

Friday part 2

Friday afternoon we went firstly to Zambia Compound still in Kafue, and then onto Southern Povince around 45km further south. Zambia Compound is a shanti town on the flood plain of the Kafue River built between the river and the railway track.

The compound must house I suspect many thousnds although trying to get an accurate estimate is very difficult. It is a community and operates on a self sufficent basis in the main. There is a large open market with in the order of 1000 “stalls” selling everything you can think of and reusing every type of container possible to hold the produce; old paint tins, flower pots, old wine/drink bottles. There are sections of the market selling cooking oil, a section for beans, one for dried fish, one for vegtables and so on. The fish is caught from the river. Apparently the local authority have legitimised the the market but you woulnt know it. No basic facilities, pigs roaming free (and very unfriendly), piles of rotting rubbish, including animal horns and everything else you can think of. The council since recognising it have started charging  for each stall (and this includes just having a few things spread on the ground) at Kw1000 per day. Thus they can get up to Kw1million a day by my reckoning. No receipts are given  and so wide open to abuse. And what do they get for their money – nothing. There are no signs of the money being collected being used to improve whats there at all..

The houses are all unplanned with some better than others. The worst ones were appalling – I hope the photos are clear enough. Most are made with mud bricks fired in home made kilns – dont look safe at all. The kids got very excited to see us though and all ask “how are you” and their standard response when I ask them the same question is “fine”.

Southern Province was a quick visit to meet with a community of about 1000 households spread over a large area who were I think all farmers/smallholders. Their problem is that because of crop failures they dont have enough money to buy fertilizer or animals. If a household could raise Kw300k (about £40) they can take advantage of a Government discount scheme to get what they need at affordable prices. They need a micro finance initiative to help (they want loans not hand outs). This is something I hope the Forum can start arranging through partners. Again when we saw them we were welcomed by the Headmen and elders, with dancing and singing. They were so appreciatitive of people making the effort to at least listen to what they had to say. Hopefully we can do a bit more than that.

Friday morning no.3

Friday morning No. 2

Photos From Friday Morning No.1

My third week already!!

Now at the end of my third week and I finished the week off with a return visit to Kafue. This meant another trip by minibus that proved to be everything I thought it would be!

Once we arrived we were greeted by Francis Phiri who runs the Bwalo Global Development Trust. He covers a huge area and is very well respected by the communities he deals with as someone who gets things done. He had arranged for the Headmen of the local communities to meet us to hear about the Civic Forum and for them to tell us their issues.

What struck me again was they dont want charity handouts. They want help with education, basic facilities and infrastructure so that they can help themselves. Access to micro finance would seem to be a key tool that could make a great difference. Something I will be looking into more.

We were greeted as honoured guests and I was introduced to and sat with the Headmen. The procedings started with welcome dances from a local drum and dance group who are financially supported by Francis’ organisation. They were fantastic and drew a good crowd of youngsters in particular to watch. They use song and dance to educate the young (and not so young) on issues such as aids/HIV, alchol and drug abuse. They also encourage youngsters to get involved both in their own group and in other activities such as football (at least they would if they had a football – something as basic and simple as that can make all the difference – something that will sorted next week).

The meeting itself went very well with alot of disussion and issues being raised. The same ones keep coming up:

            Not enough water bore holes

            No sanitation

            No basic infrastruture – drainage, rubbish collection

            No committment from the local authorities to address problems

This last point is where the Forum need to take the lead and engage the appropriate senior people to get things done. To do so they need to have a clear idea of how to address the poblems not just say it needs to be fixed.

Anyway a good morning that ended with lots of photos (everyone wants to meet the white guy – their words not mine). A great deal of expectation both on me and the Forum. Some quick wins are needed to show progress. Perhaps getting some bore holes in place, again something I need to look into next week.

More on the afternoon to follow plus as many photos as I can get up. Oh and a word on my spelling – I have no spellchecker on this machine and the letters on the keyboard dont always work!)

Week 3!

Although we have had a couple of thunderstorms the expected rains still havent arrived. Personally I hope they hold off for as long as possible as at the moment it is  a very pleasent 28 degrees with blue skies and light winds. We are suffering with regular and quite frequent power cuts particularly first thing in the morning  - dont know what the reasons are.

Weekends are quite football orientated. A couple of TV stations show non-stop football from the Premier League, German, French, Italien and Spainish leagues. Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are the main supported teams here – no one has heard of Pompey or Cardiff for some reason.

I think I am finally starting to make some headway the charity. Yesterday I ended up organising and then chairing the interviews for a new accountant here (thanks to Nic and Angela for the scoring sheets – they worked really well). The position is actually more of a book keeping role as it is to manage the imprest account (everything is done in cash). I think it is indicative of a problem they have in that they “talk up” the position to make it sound attractive but then once the individual starts and finds out the reality they leave. Staff turnover has been a real issue for them this past year. Hopefully this time our choice of candidate will last a little longer. Quite pleased with my influencing skills on this and generally the way it went. Seems to have struck a chord with the Coordinator (the lady heading up the Forum) as  we now have a much better relationship.  Anyway now we are finally going through the strategy and other papers I have prepared and start tackling some of the underlying issues.

This Friday I am back to Kafue which means the dreadful minibuses again. Several more groups have asked to meet with us with a view to joining which is good but it does mean there are alot of expectations on the Forum to deliver something meaningful. Next week I will be attending a series of legal workshops on land rights. This is key to the Forum and where they can add real value by advising on the legal routes that must be followed and challenges that can be made when such a process isnt followed. Should be fun!.

and a couple more

A couple more of the village

Another picture

A couple of Photos from the Village

A few things on Zambia

A few things I have found out  and things I have seen in my first two weeks:

·         The currency  is the Kwacha and the exchange rate is 7500 to the GBP.

·         Cashpoints allow you draw out a million at a time (about £133). A very wierd feeling when you first do it

·         There are no coins – all paper

·         The smallest note is the Kw50

·         Supermarket and petrol station tills  have to round down to the nearest Kw50

·         When you go to a supermarket it is like going back in time. You can get Stork margarine, OMO washing powder, Lifebouy soap, all glass bottles have a deposit on them

·         No self service petrol stations – all attendant operated

·         Diesel is around £1 litre

·         Driving through Lusaka you can buy anything along the way from guys in the road. Kitchen day when there are sink plungers, fly swatters, sink plugs. Games day when it is Monopoly, Scrabble, drafts. Electrical day for phone chargers, radios, toys.

·         Everyone has a mobile phone and if you get a call it takes priority over everything no matter where you are or what you are doing; driving, in a meeting, in a presentation whatever. A little annoying.

·         Top up phone cards available everywhere from Kw500 to Kw50000

·         The biggest and most overloaded trucks I have ever seen and the most broken down!

·         The buses consist of a small Toyota minibus designed for 9 people into which they squeeze 18 (have done this and it is not great!)

Second week - Out and About

Monday to Wednesday this week has been hotter than ever, neccessitating the organisation here purchasing an air conditioning unit – result!

On Wednesday I visited the Matuta Memorial Project in Kafue, about 20km outside of Lusaka. This community of 90 households had been removed from their original land by the local authority and placed on land next to the main road heading into Lusaka. They were allocated 27.8 hectres but received no infrastructure support even though the local authority is legally obliged to provide it as they relocated them. As a result they have no sanitation, drinking water is drawn from two hand dug wells that are not only dangerous but the water is appalling, and all washing is done in a nearby stream that in the dry season (i.e. now) is just semi-stagnent pools.

This is issue is typical of what I am seeing here. Because they do not have any title to the land either as owners or leaseholders they cant get any help. Sorting out land acquisition for communities is key. The people there were great. I was met with a welcome dance and song, introduced to the Head Man and village elders, and then the children. This was followed by a tour of the community and lots of discussion on the problems being faced. Hope to load pictures soon but the internet connection here isnt great.

Wednesday night saw what we all thought was the start of the rainy season with a massive thunder storm that caused flooding in some parts of Lusaka. Proved to be a false start with Thursday and now Friday morning so far being clear blue skies. The rain certainly  cleared the air though making it much more bearable. What it did show again was the huge problems they are going to face here when the rains come for real.