arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Campus California TG is a new non-profit  organization that train and  send Development Instructors to Africa.  The DI’s work at development projects in Africa in direct cooperation with Humana’s People to People Movement. CCTG is located in the wilderness of Northern California, where live, work and study for 6 months, preparing ourselves for the upcoming work in Africa.  Below is news from our sister school in Denmark.  Their March 2001 Zambia Team has finished the 6 months of training and have been in Zambia, Africa for over three weeks now.  Here’s their story…

If you are interested in being a part of CCTG or would like more info please check out our website at www.cctg.org or email us at info@cctg.org.

Enjoy…

Hello from The Zambia Team!
It’s March 2001 and we have been in Zambia for just over three weeks.

Warmth of Zambia was welcome after six months in Denmark
An eventful three weeks to say the least. A festive farewell party was held at the school in Denmark on the evening before our departure. We received gifts for the projects and wishes of good luck. With only a short nights sleep and a few hours to get ourselves sorted we were off. Unfortunately on arriving at the airport we were informed our flight had been delayed at least two hours due to poor weather conditions at Schiphol (the Netherlands). This completely threw our schedule. Luckily things improved quickly and with delayed flights at Schiphol and Nairobi we made it to Lusaka.

Total delay - half an hour. Not bad considering the circumstances. Otherwise the trip was rather uneventful. The warmth of Zambia was a welcome change to the six months of cold in Denmark. Water bottles in hand we were packed into a minibus like sardines and shipped off to Ndola. A bumpy five-hour ride resulted in saddle soars all-round.

First impressions?
Beautiful countryside, people bustling and vending their wares (oranges, wood carvings, some kind of rat that they eat, etc.) along the roads, things started and not finished, poor maintenance of buildings and dirty towns. However, with 70% of the population living under the poverty line these things are hardly relevant. The people are trying to etch out a living in very difficult circumstances.

After a day or two of rest, acclimatisation and a small walkabout we saw Martin, Majella and Rahma off to Mkushi - a village in the middle of the bush where DAPP (DAPP stands for development Aid from People to People, and is a part of the Humana People to People Federation) runs a Child Aid project.  More on that from the people themselves later. The rest of us were introduced to some of the projects’ operating areas within the compounds (townships) of Ndola. For all of us there were many impressions. Too many to absorb all at once. The fact that a group of musungu (whites) would turn up at one of the compounds was of course a crowd puller. Especially for the children. Within minutes we were surrounded. If we pulled out a camera there would be a mad rush to squeeze into the picture and all of them shouting, "remember me". 

The squalor in which some of these people live is shocking, however, they seem to be able to maintain a sense of self pride and dignity. A remarkable achievement. Feeling too much like tourists we subsequently left our cameras at home (here on the left you see one of the few we took). We are here to help and there's a right time and place to take photographs.

Unaffordable medicines
  At the HOPE centre - where we are stationed - we were also introduced to a group of HIV infected people. Just normal people like us. As medicines are unaffordable they were following a Positive Living Course (PLC for short). The course teaches them to maintain, and if possible strengthen, their immune system through better nutrition, physical exercise and mental exertion. Mercy - a housekeeper at the centre - is one of the advocates of this course. She is living proof that it can work. She was diagnosed, together with her husband, some 16 years ago and is still going strong.

680 000 kilos of shoes for sale!
The second week was already hands on for the Peters: Peter Wolf is working in the DAPP clothes sorting centre, Peter Nielandt works in the retail organisation (the shops) of DAPP; they both work along with the local workers and on top of that analyse the work processes, do research and come up with ideas to improve the work. Their projects are responsible for an important part of the funding of all the DAPP Projects, like Hope and Child Aid.

Peter Wolf  tells that the job is being underestimated; the funding that the wholesale brings is incredibly important for the org . The wholesale centre sells to other shops all over Zambia, in bales of 5, 10, 15, 45 and 50 kgs. Both to DAPP retail shops as also to other shops and marketers.
Peter N. works in the retail org, that coordinates all the 23 DAPP clothes/shoes shops in Zambia. This also includes a lot of ongoing market research, so that the price- and quality policy is always up to date. Also advertisements to promote the sales.

The wholesale centres did more than 350.000 kgs of clothes and over 680.000 kgs of shoes. All the profits of this DAPP fundraising project form the motor for all the Development Projects.

The fundraising thus serves two purposes: on one hand cheap clothes are made available, because Zambia is a poor country with 70-80% people who live below the poverty line and with an unemployment of 60-70%. On the other hand the surplus of the sales is used for valuable Development that comes to the good of the poorest and the HIV pos.  

They are both being confronted with the difficult situation of trying to maintain a good profitable business in a country like Zambia. Sales can drop from 100 to almost 0 in a few days when the prices and quality are not right. They are involved in solving problems like this. The next day, because of their efforts the sales must go up again. They come up with many innovative ideas in fields like customer relations, customer loyalty, savings through a better efficiency in the workplaces and marketing strategies etc. All this with the objective to earn a constant flow of money for the development projects. The job they do is a constant challenge in a fluctuating market, and takes a lot of brainpower as well as physical power.

As you can see these jobs demand a lot from a person; nevertheless they are enjoying the jobs very much, the colleagues are great, they meet a lot of nice people, on the market, in other shops, on the street. The positive attitude of all they meet, in spite of the poverty in which many live, is a motivator for a constant input. You see, you cannot get them tired in this way!

Partnership with UNICEF and US-AID
Peter Boonman will mainly work on Partnership in Development, which means getting funding for both existing and new projects through partnerships with other organisations, mainly international, like Unicef, US-AID etc. but also some smaller ones.

DAPP Zambia is in the process of starting a Partnership in Development office, the idea is to professionalise the cooperation with other organisations, to use the expertise of DAPP to educate people and organisations and

He works as the Project Leader’s right hand, which also entails taking part in meetings with other organisations in the Ndola-district to get a better cooperation among the organisations in the communities. This is then also to the benefit of the Outreach project. , improve efficiency at the centre by developing new management tools, offering courses to the staff at the Hope centre and so on.

Myths and disinformation
Jan, Marie, Drake, Mwansa, Charlie and Alfred are working in the Outreach Programme of the Hope Centre, involved in the fight of HIV/AIDS directly in the communities. After a week of training, where they gained an insight into African myths and disinformation about HIV/AIDS, we were let loose on their townships. Their counterparts (Most in the Outreach are coupled to a local volunteer) being their guides. Some townships have not seen a volunteer for over a year. It was therefore important to determine the current situation with regards to Youth Clubs, Community Task Force and Church activities with regards to HIV/AIDS. Trying to absorb all this and form a strategy is a challenge and requires patience and flexibility. If it rains, a meeting will start late, if it starts at all. Having said that, the local enthusiasm to better their communities is extremely motivating. It's our job to structure and guide these efforts. The main problem is that of resources. There are just too few.  In this we also have our own problem in that we have been unable to set up our website as planned.

Learning to speak Bemba! 
On a lighter note. We are all learning Bemba - the local language. Trying to get our tongues around some of the words has been quite hilarious at times. We've tasted the local cuisine - not only Nshima (maize meal), but also pumpkin leaves, guava, cassava and even roasted termites. Unfortunately the grasshoppers they eat (the green variety) were out of season. Such a shame! Cold showers - unthinkable at home - are also something we look forward to after a day away. Time to pass the buck to a colleague. 

Marie has been charged with cooperating with the Ndola Demonstration Project. This is a pilot project of several collaborating institutions. The project aims to strengthen maternal and child health services, including encouraging women and men to go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) as well as providing HIV-positive and HIV-negative women with counselling care and support on infant feeding.

Ndola Insight
Just to give you a small insight into the problem. In Ndola - where we are located - 28.9% of the population is HIV positive, with more women than men infected. Among the women the highest rates are in the age group 25-29 years. Encouragingly, recent surveys show those rates of infection in women aged 15-19, who attend antenatal clinics, are falling. Nevertheless, the implications for the health of childbearing women and their infants are still very serious.

The rate of mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in Africa varies from 21% to 43%. Most of these children acquire the virus before birth, during birth or through breastfeeding. Unfortunately resources are limited; as a result antenatal services are at present unable to offer the necessary routine counselling on maternal health, infant feeding or VCT. Health workers therefore face many challenges in trying to implement strategies to prevent MTCT especially in areas where most families are poor.

Some of the ideas proposed include:

·         VCT for women attending the antenatal clinics

·         Infant feeding counselling for women attending the antenatal and Mother Child Health  (MCH) clinics

·         VCT in the community for spouses or partners of women attending antenatal clinics and for other community members

·         Community-based HIV counselling and referral for mothers and their spouses or partners

·         HIV/AIDS care and support for mothers and their families living with HIV/AIDS

·         Infant feeding counselling and support for mothers from mother-support groups in the community

·         A referral network between these different services.

It is hoped that by developing these new services and linking them to existing ones that it will lead to more pregnant women and other community members using the HIV and MCH services and therefore reduce infant mortality and morbidity due to HIV.
As an assistant to the project, appointed by HOPE Humana, it is Marie's task to support counsellors in recruiting respondents for surveys, organise a support group for the counsellors, update the referrals system and assist in the production of questionnaires.

Time now to hear from the bush people!
Majella, Martin and Rahma.

After an eventful minibus ride we arrived in Mkushi town. Although not big by any standard, it was not the bush we expected. Little did we know what was in store for us. We spent few days introducing ourselves to the head people in Mkushi and having meetings with the project leader (Mr Sitali) and other members of the DAPP Child Aid project.
We were informed that we would be working in a new area called Lilanda, which is 50km from Mkushi. So it looked like we were going to see the real bush after all. The Family Program had just started with 500 families and our main task is to have 2500 families at the end of 6 months. A daunting task to say the least!

Oil burner and Candles
So, after buying supplies we packed the Land Rover with our new bikes, chairs, table and everything we needed to start our new home. A bumpy two hours later we arrived. Now culture shock really set in. Our house used to be the headmasters office and we were introduced to the well about 100m away, to our outdoor kitchen and shower and the (ahem!) toilet that we would use until we built our own. Our lighting would consist of an oil burner and candles and we would cook with charcoal on a thing called a brazier. We were quite shocked at the conditions at the school. Just three classrooms (with no windows and only a few desks) and three teachers for approx. 250 pupils from grade one to seven. So the Land Rover departed and we were all alone! Kenny, a leader for another area in the district would stay in another building and would be our guide for the following week.

Sewing tablecloths
We spent the next day sorting out our new home, after which we began to settle down a bit. Our first week was spent visiting each of the six villages where the Family Programme has started. Our transport is a bicycle and our area has a 23km radius. We will be very fit by the end of the six months! Kenny introduced us to the Chief Trustees and family co-ordinators explaining why we are here. Family co-ordinators are local people who each have mobilised between 20 and 40 families in their area to join our program. They also act as translators as many families do not speak English. We also met some of the Women’s Clubs. Here we try to organise the women to create an income-generating project for themselves using the skills they have. For example sewing tablecloths, which they sell to then, buy sunflower seeds, which they grow to produce oil. They then sell this oil to pay school fees for their children.

Too much rain and failed crops
We returned to Mkushi at the weekend to make a two week plan and to get food supplies. Back to the bush and it is now up to us. We visit 211 families with the co-ordinators during the next ten days to analyse the situation. Most families are very poor and grow only enough food to sustain themselves. This year there has been too much rain and many crops have failed. The program has just begun and we are trying to encourage the families to build a pit toilet, a well, a bathroom, a dish rack, a compost- and refuse pit and to cut their grass to cut down on Malaria, which is a big problem. The standard was generally poor and there is a lot of work to be done. Last Thursday we held our first family co-ordinators seminar. We gave lessons on The Model Village, Hygiene, Diarrhoea and Malaria. The co-ordinators will now give these lessons to each of their families during the month of March.

New Preschool
We now have 600 members and have made plans to start up in two more villages and to contact two white farmers to begin the program with their workers. One new preschool started last week with another starting this Monday and two more the following week. Three more Women’s Clubs will also be starting within the next two weeks. Within the Lilanda area, Martin is starting a boxing and Tai Chi club with the help of Majella and tomorrow we will buy a volleyball and football in order to encourage sports among the children. Rahma is starting a volleyball club. We are also starting HIV/AIDS classes in the schools and plan to build a simple playground (starting this week) in each area because the children here have no toys and have very little to occupy themselves with after Preschool/School. Adult literacy is also a problem so we hope to start some classes.

  Overall the people, the work and the countryside are wonderful and all three of us really love it here.

Rahma, Majella and Martin, taking off to Child Aid Mkushi.

Many greetings from Zambia!

Peter and the Zambia Team
from The Travelling Folk High School in Tvind

Hope you enjoyed the story!!

Visit www.cctg.org  and www.humana.org for information regarding the Development Instructor program and stories from others all over Africa J