The Zambian Alliance of Women

ZAW is a well respected and prominent NGO in Zambia. It's mission is to empower women. By empowering women ZAW also empowers the children of Zambia.

ZAW operates a number of projects that promote sustainable development. One such project has recently been undertaken in Choma in Southern Province. Representatives of ZAW visited a small village a few kilometres from Choma. They brought with them a few bags of seed and their own knowledge and expertise. Through a series of workshops the village women were taught how to cultivate the seeds to ensure a bountiful harvest. Each woman was then given seeds to plant at her own plot.

A year later the ZAW represntatives returned to the village to see the results of their labour. They found fields awash with Maize. In return for their help and support ZAW requested that each of the women whom had been assisted gave back a cup of seed to ZAW. This seed was then bagged and taken to another village where the same process took place.

ZAW operates on a shoe string budget. This particular project was funded by members of the Union of Catholic Mothers based at Christ the King, Childwall, Liverpool . The UCM raised £200 which Mrs Rosina Mhlanga, the treasurer of ZAW, collected during her visit to the UK in 2004.

ZAW exists on the smallest of budgets and only succeeds because of the determination of its members to empower their neighbours. ZAW has no full time staff and all the work carried out by ZAW is done by volunteers.

The Zambian Alliance of Women & Home Based Care

All profits made through the charitable side of the Thembinkosi Foundation are shared between a number of organisations we are associated with in Zambia. Later we hope to venture into Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa but as for now we are a growing organisation and we know our limitations.

We are supporting the work of the Zambian Alliance of Women (ZAW). ZAW exists to promote the interests of women and children. It is committed to empowering women and does a wonderful job on a shoestring budget.

We are also supporting a number of 'Home Based Care' projects. Many Zambians carrying the HIV virus do not have access to treatment and certainly cannot afford hospital care. Home Based Care projects, often staffed by individuals who are HIV positve themselves, exist to support the weak and vulnerable in their own homes.

Back to Africa

I'm heading back to Africa for the first time in over a year this summer. I can't wait! My wife, son and I are flying into Jozie before heading up through Bots and in Zed. We may venture into Zims but that will depend on the 'situation.' I would like to see how things have changed in the three years since I was last there. I know it'll be heartwrenching and I'll hear dreadful stories about peopleI've known well. The trouble is that when we used to travel to Bulawayo regualrly we had a bakkie but this time we will be relying on buses and lifts from friends. If we do go the Bulawayo then we have to have maize meal, sugar, cooking oil, salt etc. The people need these commodoties more than anything.

Everywhere we go I will be armed with my camera. I want to take hundreds of pics to publish with the stories that go with them. One of my regrets about my time living in Bots is that I never took enough photos. I will take photos of development as well as poverty; of people happy and prosperous as well as poor and repressed. The negative images of Africa that the Western media peddles sicken me. Of course there is poverty, sickness and repression across the continent but this is the only image of Africa most Europeans/North Americans have. I love showing my students at school pictures of modern Johannesburg and asking them where in the world do they think this city might be? New York, Chicago, Rome or Berlin are common responses. When I tell them that it's Johannesburg in South Africa their jaws drop!

A typical week in Botswana

I just found this e mail in a draft folder. I wrote it a couple of years ago whilst I was still living in Botswana. I though I'd publish it as it has some interesting insights into life in Africa from an outsiders perspective.

'Hello there. Well, I'm finally back in Francistown following my five week trip to Zambia, the UK and Zambia again. I am now back at work so life is returning to normal. And normal in Botswana means funerals and hospital visits!

On route from the Zambian border we were overtaken by a South African car being driven by a Zambian guy I'd been chatting to at the border. He was shifting somewhat but that is par for the course in Botswana. About 50KM's after he'd overtaken us we came across his car in flames at the side of the road. He had swerved to avoid some cattle and had lost control of the vehicle. Fortunately, another Zambian guy and four Zimbabweans were quickly on the scene and managed to cut the man and his wife from the wreckage before the flames caused the car to blow. Being in the middle of nowhere police and/or paramedics were not an option so the Zambian rushed the patients to hospital whilst Betty and I packed up all of the couples belongings (which had also been rescued) and followed to Francistown.

The couple are now stable and will eventually be okay (a rarity in such circumstances over here) and we are visiting them twice a day to keep them company and to wash them, bring them food and drinks etc. The nurses here are worse than useless and are toatally uncaring. Patients are left for days on end and there is no guarantee that they will even be given prescribed medicines! The doctors at least are good and are aware of the nature of the majority of nurses they work with.

Furthermore, we arrived back to hear that Betty's friend, Ruth (one of our bridesmaids) had lost her mother. Now, as is the tradition, we are visiting the 'funeral house' on a daily basis. What with work, hospital visits and mourning I am a very tired man! Actually the funeral house isn't too bad as we just sit around chatting with our friends for a couple of hours.'

The world's duty to eradicate HIV/AIDS

As well as treating those who are infected by HIV/AIDS the global community has a duty to reduce and ultiamtely eradicate the spread of the virus.

It sickens me to see the response of my own government and other governments in the modern industrialised world to health scares such as Avian Flu and a SARS. The reason for the dramatic over-reaction to SARS and more recently to 'Bird Flu' is because it might affect 'us'! Us being the citizens of the 'developed' world.

If only the same sense of urgency would be put into finding a cure/treatments for HIV/AIDS, Malaria, sickle-cell anaemia etc. That's the world we live in!

HIV/AIDS - The Global issue!

I sometimes feel that discussions of HIV/AIDS sometimes miss the point. The emphasis in public debate too often is exclusively on HIV avoidance rather than the treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. The world has a duty to care for its sick. We have a duty as a global community to to those who are infected with HIV/AIDS as well as ensuring that transmission of the virus is reduced and one day eradicated.

The focus of HIV/AIDS discussion and debate differs immensely between the rich developed countries where HIV/AIDS is still to have an impact on pandemic proportions and those countries of the developing world, and especially Sub-Saharan Africa, where everybody is affected by HIV/AIDS. In Sub-Saharan Africa treatment of HIV/AIDS is of paramount importance as well as the advocating of strategies that reduce transmission rates. In much of Europe and North America the domestic agenda is focused on the avoidance of HIV/AIDS rather than its treatment.

Will HIV/AIDS be taken more seriously by northern hemisphere politicians when white heterosexuals are infected their own countries? Hell yeah...

A father's graveside tribute

Hundreds of people swelled around the grave where Mary was to be laid to rest. Several Pastors lead the mourners in prayer before Mary's father was called upon to say a few words about his daughter.

His words were profound and touched me deeply.

He lavished praise upon his departed daughter. His pain was evident in his words and was engraved upon his face. After speaking so highly of Mary he then turned his attention to the rest of his children and family memebers gathered at the graveside. He began to rebuke them. He told them in no uncertain terms that they had lost a remarkable sister - a sister who had provided for all the family whilst her siblings had sat at home comfortable in the knowledge that Mary would not let them go hungry. He reminded them that now with Mary gone they would have to fend for themselves. They would have to get up from their chairs and go out to work.

His words were passionate but not harsh. He spoke out of love - not just for his departed daughter but for her siblings. He desparately wanted Mary's life to be an inspiration to the rest of her family.

I felt that his words were brave. He spoke the words that many fathers had left unsaid. I hope that his words were heard by his children and by others gathered there - and that they inspired some to act and not just be reliant on one or two family members to support everyone else.

Mary's Funeral

On the morning of Mary's burial we travelled to Mary's family home in order to assist with providing transport to the church. Several dozen people clung to my bakkie as we made our way through the pothole filled roads of the locations. The funeral party wound its way through the streets until finally we arrived at a modern church a few kilometres away. The church was newly built and was clearly thriving. Mary had been a Pastor at the Church and thus the building was full to beyond a comfortable capacity.

Mary's body lay at the front of the church in front of the altar. Behind the coffin stood an array of Pastors - each of whom would play a part in the service. The most moving part of the service for me was its climax when the congregation filed passed Mary's open casket. Watching her mother and father and especially her son saying goodbye to their daughter/mother has heartwrenching.

After the service we returned to the bakkie and again filled up with people. We then followed the hearse and funeral cars to the cemetry.

The cemetry in Lusaka is the size of a small town. It is vast. The mounds of earth that mark each grave are stretch far beyond the horizon in every direction. In order to accomodate the dead the authorities have had to dig graves in between existing plots and thus the graves are incredibly close together. In fact it is difficult to walk through the graveyard without stepping on the side of some of the mounds.

The driver of the hearse struggled to find the plot where Mary was to be buried. We drove in a snake-like convoy through the cemetry for a worryingly long period of time before the plot was found. In other circumstances the scene might have been almost comical. It goes to illustrate just how vast the cemetries are in Southern Africa.

Mourning for Mary

After learning of Mary's death we travelled to the home of her parents to pay our respects to the family. The family house was in one of the locations not far off the Great East Road. It was a very simple house and the family were obviously quite poor. In fact Mary was the only child of her parents who had been working. Her parents and her siblings had all been completely and utterly depenant on Mary for everything. Mary's death brought the family heartbreak and trauma but also economic ruin.

At the funeral home Betty went into the simple two room structure that was home to Mary's family and I joined the men in the yard. As in Zimbabwe and Botswana a bonfire was buring and all the men were sat around it. Many came and went. Some sat in silence whereas others chatted in Nyanja. Mary's father made me welcome and despite his grief ensureed that I was made to feel comortable at his home. I was almost embarrassed to be given the most comfortable seat in the tard whilst he himself sat on a battered old stool. I knew that to refuse his hospitality would have been to insult him so I accepted his welcome.

Mary's father and I chatted for some time until Betty emerged from inside the funeral house. He told me about Mary and how unselfish she was. She had worked incredibly hard and Hybrid and had reached middle management. Her career was the second most important thing in her life - after her family.

Mary left one young son. He was in his early teens. He was a well balanced and well rounded young man. He was bright, articulate and evidently well educated. Mary had been a single mother so her son was now an orphan. Tragically as well as losing his mother he would have to come to terms with other dramatic changes to his life. With his mothers passing away there would be no one to pay his school fees. The loss of a mother is tragic for any child but the implications of this loss would were immense.

Visiting an old friend in Zambia

It was just before Christmas three years ago that my wife Betty and I decided to visit Betty's old friend Mary whilst we were in Lusaka. Betty and Mary had worked together for many years and although they hadn't seen much of each other since Betty moved to Botswana they were still incredibly close. I'd only met Mary once and that was at our wedding so I was looking forward to spending time with her.

To catch up with Mary we went to the Hybrid Poultry Farm where Mary still worked. Betty went in and asked for Mary. We were told that Mary was unwell and that she had been admitted to the University Teaching Hospital. Betty was not unduly concerned though as she was reassured that Mary was recovering from her illness.

It was a couple of days later that Betty and I travelled to UTH to visit Mary. We'd have gone sooner but we had many people to see during our short time in Lusaka. The hospital was a vast building not too dis-similar to many post-war hospitals in the UK.

We knew which ward Mary was admitted to so we made our way straight there.

Upon arrival at the ward Betty asked for Mary. The nurse she spoke to asked us to wait one minute whilst she went to speak to the matron. The nurse soon returned with the matron to give us the news that Mary had passed away during the night...

Betty was obviously in deep shock. I was dumbfounded. Betty thanked the nurses for their assistance and we walked back to the car in silence.

Water pouring from their TV screens!

General Pervez Musharraf the President of Pakistan commented recently that the people of the developed world were touched by the Asian Tsunami of 2004 because they could see the water pouring out of their TV screens. I think that the President had a point.

The British media, and I suspect the media in many other so called 'develped countries', has not stopped reporting Tsunami related stories over the past week or so and no doubt they will continue to do so well into the NewYear.

Meanwhile...

40 000 people die daily because of poverty - most of these being children;
malaria claims hundreds of lives of a daily basis;
millions are affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic;
earthquake victims in the Kashmir are freezing to death;
the genocide continues in Daffur
the Common Agrcultural Policy and other farm sudsidies prevent the world's poorest farmers from competing with their richer neighbours

One or two newspapers in the UK do keep some of these issues in focus but on the whole they are not 'news-worthy'.

I pray for a new world order based upon justice, peace, solidarity and love.

LT was devastated by his wife's betrayal. He put a brave face on things but it was evident that he was hurting inside. He put a lot of energy into his work and although at first hopeful that a reconciliation might be reached he gradually began to accept that his marriage was over.

LT had always been a fit and active man during the time I knew him but as time went by hebecame less healthy. LT began to lose weight and his energy levels dropped. I remember clearly that during our Christmas holidays LT called me to say he had been hospitalised. I was at Hwange National Park, in Zimbabwe, when he called. He sounded terribly weak on the phone and he told me that he was in Nyambgewe hospital on a drip. He was struggling for breath and had no energy.

LT recovered from this particular illness and was back at work in the New Year. He talked of his illness but there always remained, and still remains, the unspoken. LT was able to confide in me about many things but there was still a bridge too far when it came to telling me exactly what was wrong with him.

I guess that my assumptions that LT is HIV positive are to some extent unfounded but when someone suffers from poor health in their 30's in Botswana one does tend to jump to conclusions.

Before LT returned to work after being hospitalised the principle of the College called me to her office. She asked about LT's health and said that she was deeply concerned about him. Although she would not openly say 'I suspect he is HIV positive' she did ask me to talk to LT as a friend and advice him to take every test available. She also added that the College would 'look after' LT whatever was wrong with him. We both knew what she was talking about but we stuck to talking in code. That's Botswana!

LT's world falls apart...

As I got to know LT he began to confide in me about aspects of his home life. The idylic home was little more than a charade. The woman whom he loved and adored did not recipricate his feelings. The marriage gradually disintegrated before my eyes. Things reached a finale when LT's wife told him that she had never loved him and only married him because she wanted to prove to her sisters that she could find a husband. Furthermore, she told him that she had been seeing another man during their marriage. LT was devastated. He asked her to accompany him to marriage conselling and begged her to give their marriage a chance. It was a lost cause. Before long she left him. LT was heartbroken but his broken heart was probably not the only consequence of his failed marriage...

LT - the man had it all!

I stayed in a small self contained one bedroom flat on the campus of the college. Each lecturer had their own flat or house on campus. Lecturers with families might have 3 bedroom houses whereas single guys like me, at the time, had small flats. In fact the set up was the same for schools across Botswana. Every teacher was entitled to heavily subsidised accomodation - whether Motswana or ex-pat. No wonder I feel neglected and under-valued as a teacher back in the UK!

LT had a lovely 3 bedroom house that he shared with his beautiful young wife. I say young she was in her mid 20's whereas LT was around 30 at the time. LT worshipped the ground that she walked upon. As I grew disheartened by the way many guys treated women in Bots (and I don't just mean the local guys) I grew in respect for my friend. He seemed to have it all. A lovely wife, a nice home and excellent career prospects. Most importantly he was a genuinely nice bloke!

My friend LT

LT was one of my best friends in Botswana. He was Bakalanga. That is the minority tribe in Botswana. The vast majority of the people are Tswana. Botswana the land of the Tswana - even the name Bo-Tswana has this meaning. The official indiginous language is Se-Tswana (Setswana) - thus the Bakalanga are a arguably to some extent disadvantaged living in Bots!

Anyway, LT was a great friend. When I arrived at the college to take up my post he welcomed me with open arms. We worked in the same team - both as Lecturers in Religious Education - and we quickly bonded. I had heard that some of the 'locals' might be a bit resistant to someone from overseas (or even from other African countries) - and especially a white man - being recruited by the college but LT certainly wasn't of this mindset. There were perhaps one or two of the Batswana who resented the fact that the British and Irish lecturers had additional contractual benefits and to be honest I didn't blame them at all. I had taken a 75% pay cut to work in Botswana but none of my colleagues would have known that and they would have seen that the perks of being an ex-pat worker were good. I think that many of the Batswana realised that their country could afford to pay for overseas professionals to mentor local colleagues and that this was in the main a positive thing. On the other hand too many of the Brits enjoyed the status of being 'a white man in Africa' too much and did not endear themselves to their Batswana colleagues. (see my entry 'Bob plays Russian Roulette')

So LT and I became good friends. We still keep in touch today.

Going home in a casket!

I remember being out for a few drinks one evening with a couple of my Batswana friends. As we chatted over a few beers a commotion broke out nearby. I asked the guys what the fuss was all about. They translated for me....

A few Batswana were teasing their Zambian colleague that he would return to Zed in a box like all of his brothers (Zambian compatriots rather than biological brothers.) They poked fun at him saying that he would certainly not leave Botswana alive because he wouldn't be able to resist the beauty and charms of the local women. I have no idea what happened to the Zambian guy but I know that in thier cruelty the Batswana were not exaggerating too much!

Even more tragic is the fact that many men who are forced to work outside of their own countries and end up in Botswana (South Africa or any other copmparatively rich neighbour) end up infecting their wives with HIV. These men take chances with their own lives by indulging in one night stands or uncommitted sexual relationships but they also pass on the virus to their wives as well as their young or unborn children.

In such circumstances the man will often die first. Ironically he will often die in his own home after months of nursing from his faithful and loving wife. Soon after the widow will fall sick and be nursed by her eldest child (more often than not her eldest daughter - who will drop out of school to support the family.) The cycle of sickness and poverty continues as the eldest child raises her siblings. These children may be fortunate and be cared for by an Aunt or Grandmother but all to often there is no one for them. Or worse they may end up stigmatised and discriminated against due to the fact that their parents died from Aids related illnesses.

The guys who were joking about the Zambian going home in a box might not have laughed so much had they thought about the grief and suffering that HIV/AIDS causes!

Life and death in Botswana

When I was living in Botswana I worked in a College of Education near the City of Francistown. I worked as a lecturer in Religious Education. The students in my classes were primarily between the ages of 18 and 21 although some were slightly older. When I first started lecturing at the college I knew that one in three were likely to be HIV positive. I remember trying to work out which ones might be positive. There was no way of knowing though. Over my two and a half years of working at the college several of my students went off 'sick' - sometimes for weeks or months. Most returned after a time but not all. Many died and many more have subsequently died.

Giving with one hand, taking with the other!

Gordon Brown’s speech was tremendous in terms of his commitment on behalf of the British government to aspire towards universal free education for all primary aged children and to a universal system of health care for the poor of the world. Mr Brown promised that Britain would continue to play a key role in changing the hearts and minds of key allies in order to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY. I, like my students, was inspired by the Chancellor but I did have one question that I was itching to ask him...

I wanted to know how the British government can justify the recruitment of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, in some case professionals who have trained for up to seven years at the expense of their own people, from the developing world in order to prop up the NHS? Isn’t that immoral? Isn’t it the case that our society gives with one hand and takes away with the other? Unfortunately I did not get to ask the Chancellor my question.

The Christian community and beyond , including our schools & local parishes must play a key role in keeping the pressure on our governments to ensure that Trade Justice, debt relief and better overseas aid remain the focal point of the international community until the time that poverty and injustice is not just reduced but totally eradicated. Jesus made the observation that the ‘poor will always be with us’ but this was not a policy mandate but a challenge to Christians to work tirelessly to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY.’

The Chancellor of the Exchequer - Making Poverty History?

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.”
Nelson Mandela’s challenge to us at start of this year’s make poverty history campaign.

On Thursday 17th November seven of my A level students and I joined parishioners from a local parish and CAFOD activists to go to Manchester to listen to the Chancellor Gordon Brown speak on the theme of ‘MAKE POVERTY HISTORY.’

One of my students wrote the following for our school newsletter:

‘MAKE POVERTY HISTORY is a campaign I have followed with interest and I looked forward to hearing the opinions of such a major political figure. As a student of A level Politics and Religious Ethics it was a fantastic opportunity to hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer speak about one of the major issues of 2005.

I went to the speech expecting to hear a fair few untruths and reasons why actions could not be taken.

However, when listening to Gordon Brown’s speech, he seemed really passionate about the cause and wanted to see action taken to help the world’s poor as much as his audience did. He was pro-active in seeking change for the developing world and urged the current generation to be the generation to make a difference rather than the generation that had the opportunity but missed it.

Overall it was a very impressive speech which inspired me and encouraged me and hundreds of others to continue the fight to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY.'

Whether or not Mr Brown is true to his word I hope and pray that the interest of my students in MAKING POVERTY HISTORY is sustained. They have so much hope for the future and the future is in their hands! They can be the generation that makes the difference!

Why won't you wear a Red Ribbon sir?

Despite the great success of some of my colleagues and I in getting hundreds of our students to wear Red Ribbons last week I was still shocked by the reluctance of some of my colleagues to wear one.

I work in a Catholic school. I am well aware that some of the teachings of the Church are controversial, to say the least, on the issue of artificial contraception and HIV/AIDS (this is atopic for future!) but one of the parts of Catholicism that I love is it's Social Teaching. The Church advocates the principle of Solidarity. Standing up for one's brother or sister, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world's poor and oppressed, not resting until we live in a fair and just world. The analogy of the 'Body of Christ being sick' is one that as a Christian I embrace the cocept of 'The Body of Christ has AIDS' and all members of the Christian community and beyond have an absolute duty to ensure that all parts of his body are respected, receive compassion, are granted justice and are permitted to live in hope!

So why did the Headteacher in my school refuse to wear a Red Ribbon last week? God only knows!!!