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.
|
From
left to right: Peter Nielandt, Majella Canning, Peter Wolf, |
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