Vivi in Zambia :)

When I Thursday morning started writing this update, I didn’t know that the day would turn out to become a special one. Yes you are right, the elections were hold on that day and the ruling party even won (so people were celebrating happily) but what I didn’t know and didn’t expect to happen was that my host dad was released from prison!!! Yep, you read correctly. He is free :) He wasn’t even supposed to appear in court on Thursday! But somehow, they must have thought that keeping him in prison for 6 months without having proper evidence, is enough :)

I was so happy, when I came home to the compound, after a good yoga workout and having had a nice dinner at the Golden Leaf with Iris, Marco and Brigitte :) Now my host mum just have to come home (she has been in South Africa since the 7th of March) and then we are going to celebrate the family reunion! I’m really looking forward to that day :)

Celebrations in town

Happy people in the compound :)

(from the left: Patrick, me, my host dad, Iris, Brigitte and Marco)

Iris and me in my garden

You maybe wonder, why I have chosen this headline. Well, it’s not that I want to give you a lecture on faith or on how you have to think or behave. No! I just want to point out for you, how impressed I am of my host family and their way of thinking during the last 6 months! They never stopped believing in that everything is going to be fine again. Together we were strong and made the best out of the situation :)

Now, let me go back to where I stopped last time.

My last update was right before the International Women’s Day and when I still had the hope of participating in the walk through town. Well, since lack of money I’ve the whole time been told that Kwenuha Women’s Association is not going to participate. I thought it would be a shame, if we don't participate and I couldn't understand, what we need the money for...yes I know, we kind of need an uniform and a banner but why can’t we just wear the same colour of skirts and t-shirts and take the regular banner, which doesn’t have a date on it? We can and Thursday at the meeting that was our final decision. Nevertheless, the majority in the last minute decided not to participate…the reason? No money, no food, no energy…

You can’t imagine how frustrated I was…I think it’s a pity that a Women’s Organisation (which by the way deals a lot with HIV/Aids) isn’t capable of participating in the Women’s Day (and also not in the World Aids Day).

Whatever, as mentioned in the last post, Friday the 8^th and the 12^th of March were holidays and since I took the 11^th off, I had 5 days in a row off. Nice :)

So what were my plans? Honestly, I didn’t really have a plan. Since I hadn’t been further up in Zambia than Lusaka, I had an idea of travelling to northern Zambia. However, it turned out to be a bit difficult to plan a trip up north. It was impossible to get information about the bus timetables etc. on the Internet and to figure out how to reach different places, when you don’t have your own car. But yeah, I really wanted to see and experience something new :)

Hence, I was Friday morning on my way to Lusaka, still with no plan though :D

I kind of had the idea that I wanted to travel to a place called Shiwa Ng’andu. Well, while sitting in the 7 hours bus to Lusaka, I started realising that it wasn’t realistic to reach the place and to be back in Livingstone by Tuesday night. In addition to that, it would have cost too much money…Damn, I had to make a new plan or rather get a new idea :D

I opened my Lonely Planet and had a look at what else is an attraction in the northern part of Zambia and which is not too far up north. Hmmm…somehow I ended with Mutinondo Wilderness.

“This is perhaps, the most stunning place in northern Zambia: a beautiful 10,000-hectare wilderness littered with whaleback hills or inselsbergs – huge, sweeping hulks of stone in varying shades of black, purple, green and brown. The landscape here feels unspoilt and somehow ancient."

Didn’t sound too bad and was only another 7 hours bus away from Lusaka :) Right, next questions: How do I get there? Where do I stay? I called the owner of the lodge and what I later found out was that I had been very lucky to actually get hold of him (the reception is REALLY bad) and that there even was a free bed for me :)

After a nice dinner with Johanne and some deliberations about, if I should go on this trip on my own or not (yep, I went on my own – my friends either had to work, were not feeling well or wanted to stay in Livingstone), I bought my bus ticket for the 6 a.m. bus to Mpicka next day. Still a bit doubtful on what I was doing, I tried to get some sleep Friday night. However, at 4:30 a.m. I already had to get up again, to go to the bus station. A bit delayed, the bus left Lusaka and this was the beginning of my adventures :)

5 a.m. = Vivi ready for her trip

Bus journeys in Zambia are always exciting both in a good and negative way :D Besides enjoying the nature and all the funny and weird things you see happening next to the road, while listening to the loud gospel music in the bus, you never know if the bus will be on time, how the person next to you will be like, if the bus is going to break down in the middle of nowhere or when the next toilet break will be (they don’t have toilets in the bus) :D Lucky me, I managed to sleep a bit and after 7 hours the bus even dropped me, where I asked him to drop me. Well, I have to say, that place was in the middle of nowhere :D Just have a look

Kalonje Railway Station

Luckily, the next transport (from the road to the lodge) was already waiting for me. I have to admit that I was a bit impressed and positively surprised of that everything worked out as it was supposed to do :)

What did I do in Mutinondo Wilderness?

I went hiking, enjoyed the swims in the so-called “paradise pools”/in the river (most places in Zambia you are not allowed to do it because of crocodiles or hippos in the water, so I REALLY enjoyed that), relaxed with a good book and a drink, enjoyed a lot of good food, meeting new people, the campfires, playing cards and just enjoying life :)

Here are some pictures from my trip

Enjoying the amazing view of the landscape, while listening to the sounds from the animals

This was what I saw, when I woke up my first morning :D I didn't know that there were horses going round freely

The bathroom

The Myense hill

(it's the highest one in Mutinondo Wilderness)

The dutch girls and me trying to figure out the way to the top of the Myense Hill

We made it!

Beautiful view

Picknick time :)

Of course I had to take a jump picture :D

This lovely butterfly somehow loved my arm

Nice waterfall

The afternoon hike to the paradise pools

Enjoying the swim in the paradise pools

Luckily, I didn't have to go through these spiderwebs

Some impressions of the nature

My bed

My house

I’m really happy that I did this trip. I had an amazing time and enjoyed it a lot :)

Monday morning it was time for me to start to head back to Livingstone. I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about the thought of the two 7 hours bus drives (Mutinondo Wilderness – Lusaka, Lusaka – Livingstone) and the fact that I had to trust the first bus to pick me up in the middle of nowhere.
At 8 hours I was standing at the main road, waiting for the bus to pick me up (I had been told that the bus would pick my up in the time scheme 8-11). Well, after standing alone in the rain and in the middle of nowhere for an hour, the bus actually showed up! I have never been so happy to see a bus :D

Yeah, the bus showed up :)

And from there on, my trip went very smoothly ;) I had three seats for myself, enjoyed reading my book and the music wasn’t even too loud :) Late afternoon I finally arrived in Lusaka, had a quick but nice dinner with Lina and I even managed to buy some of the nice things you can’t get in Livingstone, before I was sitting in the bus again. Unfortunately, this bus wasn’t one of the nice ones. The gospel music was way too loud, I was kind of glued to the window (luckily I didn’t had to sit in the middle :)), I couldn’t sleep and the bus was badly delayed. However, I arrived safely :)

Tuesday it was time for relaxing, doing household things at home, recovering and spending time with friends and my host brothers :)

Jonathan and me making the pizza

Nice purchases in Lusaka :)

The last days have been very quiet. Due do the elections, I had the day off Thursday and otherwise I have just done preparations for the tournament we had on Saturday. This time we only wanted the women (not their children) to participate. I was quite excited about that, since the women are the main target group in Kwenuha but since one year, they have been struggling with participating in the trainings and tournaments. So I was pretty enthusiastic, when I was on my way to work Saturday morning :) We were able to do this tournament and get the women to show up, because the charity organisation "Happy Africa" had chosen Kwenuha to donate some jerseys and shorts to. Hence, we invited 44 women to take part in the football tournament, where each would receive a jersey or a pair of shorts at the end of the tournament.
After spending the first two hours with sitting and waiting for the women to show up, we were able to form 6 teams and start the games. As soon as we started, the women were very motivated and into the games. I really enjoyed seeing the women having so much fun and lighten up. It's sad though that they are not participating more often and only, when they are getting something...and you should have seen both my sports captain and the women, when we distributed the clothes. One thing I really think is sad and a bit annoying is that they still complain even though they are getting things for free. It's crazy...But yeah, this might be a result of the whole development problematic...whatever, we had a really nice day with a lot of fun :)
Just have a look

Go Stella!

Mavis relaxing in the goal

Tusole vs. Nakatindi

Some of the sports captains, players and me

The sports captains trying to figure out how to distribute the clothes. At some point my patience needed a break, so I let them do it :D

All the participants

The rest of my weekend I enjoyed with having a nice time with friends :)
What is going on this week?
Well, right now I just know that I have to write a report of the tournament we had, represent Kwenuha at the meeting with the Livingstone Sport and Development Network on Wednesday and that we are having a club competition on Friday. Doesn't sound too bad :) And on Friday Lina is coming to Livingstone with her family. I already look forward to seeing her again :)

Take care and have a lovely week!

Last time, when I left you, I was on my way to the first club competition of the year and I was really looking forward to it. Well, when I reached Libuyu (the compound where we were supposed to have the club competition) and no teams had shown up after having waited for 30 minutes, my excitement had slightly decreased…The African time wanted to challenge my patience again :D Luckily, I was prepared, so I took out my book and read until the teams showed up. This was my waiting spot:

I sat next to my bike :)

When it started raining, I shifted my waiting spot to this place

Even though I’ve now been here for exactly 7 months, I still get surprised of, how interesting and fascinating African children think white people are and especially a girl sitting next to her bike, reading a book next to the sports field :D The 40 children who’s school just finished, while I was sitting and waiting for my teams to show up, let me really feel their fascination about seeing a white person in the compound :D It was quite entertaining though :)

After approximately an hour, two teams finally had shown up and we were able to start the match.

Stella and me

The two teams playing

Mevis, Stella, Doreen and me

(two sports captains and my sports coordinator)

It's always fascinating to see women carrying things on top of their heads, while having their child on the back

The weekend was one of the more calm and relaxing ones, with having a braai, dinner and a relaxing time with friends. The boat club in Livingstone right next to the river was the new location for the braai. It was amazing!!! Just have a look at the pictures :)

Perrin, Vicky and me enjoying the sunset from the boat

Nice sunset :)

Having a good time

Last week started calm and easy as always with work at the office. Writing reports, planning the monthly sports captain meeting, field visits, the participation in the Women’s Day and the tournament on the 16^th of March, were some of the things, which were on the programme that Monday. At that time I didn’t know that that week would turn out to become a bit special.

Tuesday was still fine and I enjoyed the field visit. What am I actually doing at a field visit, you may wonder? Well, I go to the different sport clubs in Kwenuha, visit the sports captain and supervise the training. Together with the sports captain I enhance the training and try to find solutions for the challenges they face in the club.

The unexpected thing in that week started Wednesday. I knew that on Thursday the 28^th of February they were supposed to have the Livingstone parliamentary by-elections. Just to let you know, this is the third time they were having this election…the first two times the right person just didn’t win…and this is called democracy...Anyway, because of the elections we were only working half day Wednesday and having a holiday on Thursday. Sounded good to me :D
However, it turned out to become a bit more complicated, than just enjoying having the day off. People told me it would be better to stay in the compound during the following days. Apparently, being in town wouldn’t be safe, since they expected a lot of riots and violence because of the elections. When I knocked off Wednesday I was still a bit doubtful about, if I really should believe what people were saying. Could it really be so bad or were they just exaggerating? When a lot of cafés closed early Wednesday, so their staff could manage to reach home before 18 hours, I kind of started thinking that it might be better for me to cycle home as well. Furthermore, I found out that Monday evening one of the ruling party Patrotic Front (PF) had been hacked to death. That explained all the police in town and the big concerns. Hence, I went home. What came a bit unexpected (at least for me) was that all the concerns were useless, since it ended with a postponement of the elections to the 14^th of March. What is the exact reason for this postponement? Well, I’ll let it open for you to decide. Maybe it’s because of the violence, maybe it’s because the ruling party might have lost…I don’t know...

Here are two links, which can give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

http://www.lusakatimes.com/2013/02/26/death-of-pf-cadre-following-political-violence-in-livingstone/

http://lusakavoice.com/2013/02/27/zanis-copy-violence-switches-off-by-elections-in-livingstone/

All in all I can say that these elections have been and still are very interesting to follow, as long as I’m safe of course ;) We'll see, what is going to happen on the 14th of March.

Friday the 1^st of March it was time for the second club competition, this time in Mwandi. On my way to the sports ground, I kind of already could feel that this club competition would turn out to become an even bigger challenge than the first one. Even though they have fixed the road to Mwandi compound, it still is TERRIBLE!!!!

All the stones made it impossible to cycle

It was impossible to cycle on it even with a mountain bike. Hence, I had to walk all the way. After spending 45 minutes walking in the afternoon heat, I finally reached the sports field. Luckily, this time I didn’t have to wait alone. Angela, one of the sports captains kept me company. However, this doesn’t change the fact that only one team showed up and we weren’t able to conduct the club competition. After 11/2 hours waiting for other teams to arrive, Angela and I left. And believe it or not, it even became better...when I had reached the road, where I finally was able to cycle again, I realized that my front tyre was punctured :D Hence, I had to walk all the way home to Morelight Extension and believe me, it's a LOOOONG way!!!

Even though I was completely exhausted and my ability to say T.I.A. and take everything with a smile had slightly decreased, I still was in a good mood, when I reached home and had to face the fact of the power cut…yeahhh...T.I.A :) Anyway, the reason for my good mood was that I in the morning spontaneously had said yes to join some friends for a trip to Lake Kariba. I’m quite sure that you would have said yes as well: Spending a weekend on a houseboat, on a lake, just relaxing and enjoying life. Doesn’t sound too bad, right ;)

That's why I Friday night took the night bus to Lusaka, where we Saturday morning started off to Lake Kariba :) Spending the weekend on the houseboat was absolutely amazing!!! I was so happy that I had said yes to this spontaneous trip :)

I think I’ll let the pictures speak

Our bus

Some goat meat? It actually tastes good :)

Our beds

The pool on the boat

The view from my bed, when I woke up

Preparing the lunch and drinks

Our boat

The private island we visited

One of the many spiders on the island

Nice view from the island

Nice view :)

Having dinner and drinks at the beach

Enjoying life

Nice view

Sunday late evening it was time for me to take the 6-7 hours bus back to Livingstone. Monday morning I was ready at the office again, a bit tired though :)

The main topic of this week is the walk on the Women’s Day on Friday the 8^th of March. Since Kwenuha is a Women’s Association I really want us to participate. However, the organisation doesn’t have any money to provide a uniform or food. Hence, it’s going to be a challenge to motivate the women. However, I’ll try my best to make it happen :)

What else is going on this week?

Work wise the planning of the Women’s Day is on the Programme. Besides work, I might go travelling from Friday afternoon to Tuesday. Tuesday the 12^th of March is a public holiday (International Youth Day), so it’s a perfect opportunity to use the long weekend for experiencing the country :)

Some of my enjoyments in life