Manic Month of May!

With three days to the end of the month, I was alarmed to see that this is only my second posting during May. Apologies to those who visit regularly - you must have thought I'd given up blogging. I would love to spend more time writing the blog and posting photos, but my schedule has been somewhat crazy recently.


We have had a house full of guests for two weeks, so my domestic duties have increased. Each evening I prepare a meal for five hungry men, who have huge appetites. I can barely keep pace with them emptying the fridge and store cupboard. I often have to ring Andy to bring in more groceries and I make frequent trips to the farm for fresh produce.


When I do have time to get onto the internet, I usually try to catch up with emails. Our connection is still very slow, so the best time for me to go 'on-line' is either very early in the morning or late at night.


However, I have a small 'window of opportunity' now, as I don't have to prepare a meal this evening. In Lusaka, there is an excellent takeaway called 'Curry in a Hurry!' We have tried it a couple of times, so tonight Andy will pick some up on his way back from town. The food will need heating it up, after the hour-plus journey from Lusaka, and it will be thoroughly mixed by the bumps, but I am really looking forward to the treat - and no sticky pans to wash up afterwards!


One of our guests, Stuart, from the UK, will hardly be able to stand the journey with the aroma of curry filling the car, so I hope they don't let him nibble on the way home.


Since my friend, Sue, left on 6th May I have also been very busy with two huge projects:


The first has been ongoing since October, but is almost complete now. I have been taking an Open University course called Creative Writing. I have been able to send in my assignments via email and I am linked to about 20 other students in an on-line conference site.


I have really enjoyed the course and learnt a lot in the process. Now, I have one week to go, for the Examinable Component Assignment to arrive at Walton Hall (OU HQ). Bizarrely, this assignment cannot be sent by email, it has to be sent by 'snail mail' or hand delivered. I therefore have enlisted the help of a friend in the UK to print off my assignment and post it for me.


No, I haven't sent it yet, and perhaps I should be using this time to complete another draft or finish the commentary which has to accompany it. However, I felt I needed a break, and after all, I would normally be preparing and cooking by this time (6pm), so I feel justified in spending the time blogging.


The other large project I have been working towards, is a trip by a school in the UK, to Zambia in July. I was asked to take over the programme planning and organisation of the trip, back in March, so recently the project has been gathering speed, with me communicating closely with the staff and organiser in UK.

I have especially enjoyed putting the programme together, thinking of the range of visits and activities they can do whilst here. The trip occurs during the final weeks of the UK summer term, so all the activites need significant educational value. The eight students and four staff are linking up with two Zambian schools; the first is the Christian Vision Academy, based on this site.

This is part of their building:

The other school is Kings's School, Mukobelo, a village about an hour's drive from the CV site:

I visited the school recently to discuss our visit in July. The Principal is Sue Chapman, from the UK. She is an amazing person, known locally as 'Pastor Sue'. If you want to know more about her pioneering work in Zambia go to www.dayspringafrica.co.uk

Here is Sue outside their new secondary school (which they have been building for three years!):

When I approached Sue, she suggested that the UK students might like to paint the inside walls. This is an excellent idea, which really fits in well with some the trip's objectives. She too has a July deadline, having set her launch for 26th July, but the students have already moved into some of the rooms, with the builders working round them.

I'm afraid I couldn't resist taking this photo of their toilet facilities:

Well, Andy has just phoned me to say he is leaving Lusaka now, so I'd better lay the table and warm the plates, ready for the 'hungry hoad'.

PS: I hope you've noticed a spot of alliteration in this posting!

Out and about around the site

I now have a bicycle, so I have been riding to different locations of the Christian Vision farm, here in Zambia, taking photos.

First of all, the farm, where maize milling is now taking place. The process, from field to plate is as follows:

It starts with storing the dry cobs in a barn:

Then, the kernels are removed by machine (I missed that one) and spread outside to bake in the sun.

Then the winnowing takes place, as the kernels are tipped from one bucket to another, for the wind to remove dry husks, before being stored in sacks:

Then, the grinding process begins to make maize flour, known locally as mealie meal. The kernels are fed into a very noisy machine...

...ground into flour and packed into sacks:

The sacks are then stored ready for selling onto the Zambian market.

Of course some is kept on the farm to make nchima, the staple food:

The farm is also the hub of vehicle maintainence:

...and the place where farm workers depart from. They were going up to a top field to repair fences, that day:

The cattle are scattered around the farm. These just happened to be passing through when we were there:

Two milking cows come in twice a day to be milked by hand:

Here is the expert milker, who filled a gallon bucket in about five minutes:

It took my friend, Sue a little longer...

...and I was almost a none-starter - I was laughing so much!

The mother of this month old calf, died just after it's birth , so it is being raised by hand:

Besides hundreds of chicken, there are two other animals on the farm. Two orphan sheep, which Farm Managers', Gavin and Mary Anne, are rearing in their garden. They've given them the names, Samson and Tara:

Next, to the current radio station, which was built in a mango orchard:

There are eight separate buildings, like this one, which I think houses the technical department:

The gardens have matured over the past 14 years, making a very peasant working environment:

Even the generator building has a mango tree:

The only problem with having separate buildings connected by paths, is in the rainy season. Presenters moving from the Production Building to the Studios often get soaked!

The other 'technical' site is set on a hill, called 'Mount Zion':

Mount Zion is the site of a transmission tower, currently sending the FM signal to Lusaka. When the studios are relocated, the transmission tower will receive the signal from Lusaka and forward it onto the main transmission site for rebroadcasting on Shortwave. I like this photo because the clouds forming in the background create an unusual effect:

Hills can only really be appreciated from a distance, but I hope this photo of the steps leading up to Mount Zion, convey it better:

Mount Zion is also a great location to watch the African sunset:

The little blip on the horizon, immediately to the left of Sue's head is Sanjay Hill, several kilometres away. This rocky outcrop of iron ore is on the western boundary of the farm.

Towards the southern boundary, not far from the Kafue River flood plain, the fields become very marshy in the rainy season. This is a storm lake, which will probably dry out in the coming months:

Another area is the 'compound', a residential area for farm and maintainence workers on the site:

They are small one and two room homes, with running water, toilets and electricity, where people can grow their own vegetables and raise 'village' chickens, where children play in the sun and women sit and cook outside on simple African fires. I'm still waiting for an invitation inside...