Second week in Choma

Rosemary's grandchildren playing

at their home

This week was all about Jane meeting more people with Rhoda while Paul was getting more into the swing of life on the site, or the plot as it  is called. There was a public holiday on the Thursday for International Women's Day, so a short working week.
Since we arrived the weather in Zambia has been very very warm, around 30 degrees Celsius or sometimes more, and we would have rain showers sometimes, and fairly frequent dramatic thunderstorms.  Whether these are connected to the power cuts we are not quite sure, but they were coming three or four times a week, just as dinner had started to cook usually!  

Paul in the crowd  at
International Women's Day

It was my first walk to town on my own on the Monday, just a little scary, not for any good reason though - lots of people selling fruit and vegetables in the street usually with their wares laid out on the ground, but they often approach to try and make a sale - very persistent sometimes!  My visits that day included Barclays Bank, PEP rather like Quality Seconds, and the essential Spar - where would we be without it!  We are trying to get our fruit and veg from the street stalls wherever we can and support them, and they are all pretty inexpensive) but otherwise it's all about Spar, Spar, Spar!!!   Our single allowance means we have to be quite careful, but we are managing well, keeping within our budget each week. Some things we need to buy are more expensive than at home, such as dairy products like milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt, but the basics such as fruit and vegetables, bread and eggs are not expensive.  Most tinned and packaged foods are a lot though, and fruit juice, from all the fruits around us, is the most expensive at around £1.20 per litre!  There are not convenience foods, and the biscuits etc are not what we are used to (No chocolate digestive here!) so I am baking much more than at home - home made pizza and quiche a lot, and biscuits and cakes too.  The trouble is we eat them all up too fast!

This is as far as we can drive to Rosemary's -
on foot from now

I am taking over the running of Chodort Crafts from Rhoda, which means buying suitable fabric from Choma or Lusaka, getting craft products such as bags, table mats and wall hangings etc made by ex students of Chodort who have set up in business, and then taking them to the Museum Craft Centre to be sold.  Rhoda took me to visit Josephine and Theodora who are the tailors she uses - they work hard on hand sewing machines, and will make anything you want!  No patterns are used, you can just take along an item of clothing and they will make you another one, must try that soon!

Rosemary cooking the nation's favourite - nshima -
made from ground maize flour

On the Tuesday we had a memorable day - Paul and I, Rhoda and the UCZ committee had been invited to lunch by a caregiver called Rosemary who we met the previous week.  She has such a low income, heaps of children to look after (ranging from her own, her grandchildren and several nieces and nephews) and still she put on an enormous lovely lunch for us.  So generous, it was a very special occasion we will always remember.  

This is how you do it

Lusford, 17, shows us the proper way

All our lunch was cooked on the open fire, everything from the fried chicken, Irish potatoes (just potatoes) green beans and the 5kg of rice that Rosemary cooked for us (I think the family followed).  The only thing we couldn't handle was the green vegetable ochre ...

Rhoda's and Mr Mundemba's turn

It was hard to believe that the two delicious sponge cake (with very very bright green icing) was also cooked in that way - ingenious.  I had a lesson in how to cook nshima, ground maize flour mixed with boiling water.  Mmm, all Zambians love it and it is served with every meal for it's stomach filling qualities.  We are not so keen - reminiscent of somewhere between Smash potato (remember that!) and flour glue.  Yum!


Before the guests start their meal they are always offered some water to wash their hands, a tradition that is so welcome.  We were not sure if the water was going to be boiling out of the kettle, but no, it was fine.

Now the Chittys!

I was given a chitenge to wear for this event - Rhoda and Auntie Monica wore one too - part of the tradition when visiting for a meal.   These 2 metre lengths of cotton material are for sale all over Choma, and are worn on top of women's clothing, as well as on the head or to carry babies around on your back - they are everywhere -  babies as well as chitenges.



There was some time for a few photos, these are just a few of them of course...

 Rosemary's house
 where we had our lunch

This is the proper way for the women to say thank you -
 don't ask me!

Auntie Monica, Paul, Rhoda and Lusford

Edward lends a hand for a photo of the visitors

Our turn for lunch

.

Farewell from the children

A memorable day, what a lovely, enormous family.  

Smart polished leather second hand shoes from the
UK and the US

Later that week I went to the market with Rhoda and the rest of the UCZ Orphans and Vulnerable Children's Committee to spend their budget on shoes for some of the children.  They go every week with the sizes they need to buy, and they also provide uniforms, books and mathematical sets to the children, which are all essential items needed to attend school. This was my first market visit and I have made several since, as they need at least three people present to account for the cash which is spent, and also to find the matching shoes!

International Women's Day 8th March

There was a march through the centre of Choma to celebrate International Women's Day, ending with a display of music, dancing and drama held at The Boma, in front of the District Council Offices.  These were performed to large crowds and the singing was tremendous.  

Second week in Zambia

Farewell lunch for Roland at Choma Museum
(L to R) Rhoda, Roland, Richeal, David, Ben and Paul

During the first week in Choma, David had a lot of people for us to meet and places to go - some official some not so much.

We started the week with visits to the Immigration Officer, our UCZ (United Church of Zambia) Bishop Mutanuka and his wife, Reverend Silawenga and his wife the Deaconess, the District Commissioner, Barclays Bank, the Traffic Licence Centre and later on the Police Station, to introduce us to the local community and make an official start to our stay.  We were welcomed most sincerely, and provided with cold drinks of Fanta, Coca Cola and 7Up at the Reverend's.  One of our engagements was lunch at the Museum, which is the best place to eat out in Choma.  (Only place ...?)  One of our number, Roland, was finishing his VSO placement here so it was a good opportunity for a delicious lunch out.  Ben is about half way through his 2 year placement, and Richeal came from Dublin in our group to work with VSO in Zambia too.  

Chodort Training Centre from the road -
you can just see the roof of St Stephen's

We were introduced to all the staff at Chodort, who include the Vice Principal and the Chief Accountant who will be in charge until a new Principal is found, and also the tutors of the carpentry, tailoring and computer classes.  On Tuesday mornings there is a short service in St Stephen's Church, which is located inside Chodort premises, so we were welcomed formally there by the staff and students.  The services there always include the most wonderful singing - on Tuesdays by the choirs of the tailoring and carpentry classes - these youngsters really raise the roof and have the most beautiful voices.  Fabulous!


We spent a lot of time in that first week visiting people and trying to remember all their names, as well as being fed and watered a great deal by David and Rhoda in their beautiful house.  We knew this would be our home too for a while, so it was the 'light at the end of the tunnel' while we lived at the much less comfortable first house.  With all these visits going on and being on our best behaviour, as well as the constant heat, we would usually be shattered by the end of the day and would go to bed super early at around 8 or 9pm. 

Some of Rosemary's family in front of the kitchen hut

We had an insight into what Jane hopes to do during our time here.  Rhoda took me (Jane) out with the UCZ Choma Consistory Orphans and Vulnerable Committee, now there's a mouthful.  I had no camera with me that first day, but I will never forget the visits we made to these extended families.  In Zambia if a child loses one or both parents, more often than not to HIV/AIDS, they are taken in by a grandparent, uncle or aunt, something they do without question but can rarely afford.  Children are identified by the congregation as being in need, then the committee visit and see what is to be done.  Primary education is free in Zambia (not secondary), but the children must have shoes, uniform, books and a mathematical set of their own, so the committee buy these for the children so they can attend school.  


The families we visited only live a few kilometres from Choma but it is another insight into the district.  The 6 of us left the 4 x 4  when we could no longer drive on the roads, and set off on foot through the long grass.  (Just like a public footpath in high summer in England.) We were met by a lady called Rosemary, a "caregiver", who was looking after countless children it seemed; her own, her grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  She was full of cheer, took us past her grass hut kitchen to lay a large sack under a tree for us to sit on and discuss the matter in hand.  This was her 17 year old grandson who needed shoes, so he was asked to put on his uniform so that we could see if it fitted etc (two large rips in the elbows, such a boy) and answer a few questions about school.  We visited two more families with Rosemary's help, and eventually rolled up back at home. We had so generously been asked to lunch the following week, so more of this later, when I had the camera.


On the Friday of this week the Africa Cup came to Choma!  It toured the whole of the winning ountry of Zambia, and was here for only an hour or so.  There was a huge crowd all around it but was of course hugely popular for everyone to see.  We missed it by 20 minutes, the one moment so far that Africa Time was not in operation!


On the Saturday we were introduced to the Choma Sports and Tennis Club - after walking for ages in the wrong direction - towards Livingstone instead of Lusaka!  We had an interesting few games with Ben, Wycliffe (our VSO group, from Uganda), Richeal and Rahem (she lives in a cottage in the garden of our new house and is a volunteer with an American charity).  We sampled the local beer, Mosi - no not Mozzi - and walked home single file along the main roadin the dark in the beginning of a thunderstorm.  Not ideal!

Tobacco growing on the farm next door

 to Anne and Roland

On the Sunday we had a treat - lunch out in the bush, in the home of David and Rhoda's friends Anne and Roland, from Newcastle and Germany respectively.  We drove about 15 km into the bush, passing lots of tobacco farms and their drying sheds - learnt more about that some time later.

Lunch on the verandah - Paul, David, Wycliffe and Richeal

The view from the verandah was across the trees on their land to the dam - all farmers build one we are told, for their own water supply.  The view was .. well ... so African!

Out of Africa or what!!  Richeal and Jane by the dam

We had a lovely lunch with smoked wild boar (caught by Roland) to start, and then roast lamb with chocolate cake to follow.  We needed to walk all this off, so visited the pigsty with its residents and the dam nearby.  A very hot walk, we soon retreated back to the verandah!