tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296178972011-10-12T14:34:53.617+01:00I've left my home in Oxford, UK to live and work for a year in a little city called Chipata in Eastern Zambia. Here you can follow what I get up to; the ups and the downs, the sunny days and the rainy ones. Find out about my work with three HIV peer education project and youth communities in Chipata. And I'll do my best to let you know how you can get involved to improve the lives of those living with HIV in Africa and beyond.Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-82634830255113540862007-09-25T13:35:00.000+01:002007-09-25T14:07:53.356+01:00

Two things I’ll definitely remember about our trip up to Tanzania: transport and food. We used almost every mode of transport you can think of – sleeper trains, minibuses, dalla dallas (riding in the back of a canter Zanzibar style), hitching on the back of a truck, bicycle taxis, taxis, coaches, ferries and a catamaran made out of mango tree and of course out own two feet.And, as for the food –

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-48477580173582678382007-09-06T15:34:00.000+01:002007-09-06T15:44:16.852+01:00

We’ve spent much of the past year reminiscing about the UK and making top ten lists of things we’re going to eat (mushrooms, Coop apple and cinnamon English muffins), see (Home and Away) and do (a proper pint at a proper pub.) We’re now counting down the last month in Zambia and it’s started to dawn on me that there actually might be things that I miss about Chipata. Multi-cultural dinner

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-82921030125567835692007-07-23T12:41:00.000+01:002007-07-23T12:48:48.875+01:00

As part of the VSO deal, Youth for Development volunteers are expected to carry out a ‘Global Education Project’. Back in October 2006, I started my project at St Mary’s Primary School in Oxfordshire. Thanks to the lovely Mr Slatter, I got to ask the eight and nine year olds of Ash Class what they knew about Zambia and what they thought the lives of their peers living on the other side of the

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-51099363921811109182007-07-06T11:06:00.000+01:002007-07-06T11:15:00.307+01:00

I’m Sally-Anne’s cousin, Lucy and am currently on a gap year before starting uni. After doing a whole lot of nothing for the beginning of my year I thought I had better do something worthwhile, so I came out to visit Sally-Anne for a month in Zambia.I’ve done a lot whilst I’ve been here, from horseback riding at Lake Malawi to visiting Victoria Falls in Livingstone. I have loved being a tourist

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-6080590708711843602007-07-06T10:56:00.000+01:002007-07-06T11:06:05.664+01:00

(A Zambian expression usually made by someone you see everyday meaning: “Hello, I haven’t seen you in a while. What have you been up to?”)For the past two months we’ve been distracted by a few visitors hence the lengthy silence. I apologise.Visitor No. 1Hanna turned up unannounced on May 1st, my birthday! Bless her! She came bearing gifts, not one, not two but three jars of pesto, kirby grips,

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-87767240556117570852007-04-23T12:53:00.000+01:002007-04-23T13:03:09.091+01:00

Last Friday I sat in on a group discussion that one of the peer educators had organised with a bunch of young people in his compound. They chose to focus their discussion on HIV & AIDS which initially I was a little disappointed about. The very fact that they’d chosen to take part in the discussion, I assumed, meant that they were more aware of the issues and possibly behaved more responsibly.

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-2297775809588646752007-04-11T08:45:00.000+01:002007-04-11T08:57:31.038+01:00

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-73368901914895756722007-04-05T15:22:00.000+01:002007-04-11T08:44:08.165+01:00

I realise I haven’t written for a while and I’m not sure whether it’s because nothing much has happened or that I’ve just been feeling lazy. Actually, I’ve tried to upload some photos a few times but connections have been a bit slow recently – something to do with the end of the rainy season?!?Anyway, here’s a quick round-up of what we’ve been up to over the past month or so (hopefully

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-50033405718851400142007-03-14T14:03:00.001Z2007-03-16T07:47:56.220Z

My last blog mentioned in the title that I’d started to see some action at work but I forgot to elaborate. Basically, doing some activities at N’cwala ceremony seems to have sparked motivation in the peer educators and I’ve been trying to keep up with them ever since.It’s become difficult to work in the Tikondane offices because the group are always hanging around eager for something to do. You

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-4560820560168524572007-03-06T06:18:00.000Z2007-03-16T07:56:10.594Z

Last Saturday, Feb 24th, was the N’cwala ceremony, the annual gathering of the Ngoni tribe. To be honest I’m not entirely sure what the official purpose of the gathering is but it’s something to do with the tribal leaders and Ngoni people paying tribute to their paramount chief and welcoming the end of the rainy season. The latter is a little redundant nowadays as the rainy season has got later

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-63776695685366015512007-02-26T10:51:00.000Z2007-02-26T11:16:40.220Z

A couple of weeks ago a little boy from a few houses away turned up at our gate with a skinny little three month old puppy with a gammy leg. Some big doses of TLC and a couple of trips to the vet later and she’s a crazy little pup that growls when she wants attention, has tried to eat 1000 Kwacha notes, whilst refusing to chew her dog bone and gets so excited when we come home or wake up in the

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-77242704676439205462007-02-12T11:38:00.000Z2007-02-15T08:16:13.171Z

During our first month or two in Chipata I thought that weekends were going to be pretty boring. I was worried we’d have a bit too much time to contemplate what we were missing from home. But, with work getting more and more frustrating our sleepy Chipata and our ‘empty’ weekends are turning out to be exactly what the doctor ordered.This weekend was no exception.We were in bed on Friday night by

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-45367049542201853792007-02-08T06:17:00.000Z2007-02-08T06:21:07.057Z

…not that I’m counting but it’s definitely time for another rant.So what do I have to show for the past four months?One of the first things I decided to do when I arrived at my placement was a baseline survey/needs assessment kind-of-thing. It was obvious that the peer educators had huge potential but they lacked focus. They choose the activities that they think are most effective and deliver the

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-89200206203516401472007-01-20T09:36:00.000Z2007-01-20T09:50:51.754Z

Since arriving in Zambia over three months ago, Henry and I have had endless conversations and more than one disagreement over whether there really is any hope for Zambia? Henry sees things more positively than me, perhaps because poverty in Africa is less visible than he’d imagined. We’ve mulled this question over with each other, with other VSOs and with our Zambian colleagues – and every time

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-64810294657511327832007-01-04T10:23:00.000Z2007-01-04T11:14:30.709Z

The traffic lights in the centre of town haven’t worked since mid-November so there was little hope for bright lights in the shape of the latest Disney flick this Christmas. Luckily, Shoprite sells red and green crepe paper so we got to work on some homemade decorations – making paper snowmen and Santa in his winter togs when it’s approaching 35degrees outside did seem a little strange, but I

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-25947015356168502372006-12-18T11:25:00.000Z2006-12-18T09:47:42.441Z

Last Friday I heaved a long sigh of relief as a training course that I’d organised for the peer educators came to an end. Looking back it was pretty successful but first I’ll have a little rant…We kicked off on Tuesday morning behind schedule as expected but by 10am fifty peer educators were crammed into a hall no bigger than the average British classroom. My first task was to explain that there

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-44897630301541363312006-12-09T11:27:00.000Z2007-01-01T16:06:11.616Z

Last weekend we finally left Chipata and tagged along with some other volunteers who were driving over to Lake Malawi. We pitched a tent literally three metres from the beach and next door to the cocktail bar (think Tom Cruise in ‘Cocktail’). We couldn’t believe our luck – all for £2 a night.We were awake by 6:30 the first morning and jumped straight into what felt like the biggest swimming pool

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-65546054262761876012006-12-01T07:59:00.000Z2006-12-01T08:02:40.619Z

Lots of you have been asking for an address to send things to. I can't really receive post at home in Chipata so if you send things to the VSO office in Lusaka I can pick things up/get them forwarded from there.Here's the address:Voluntary Services OverseasBritish Council building4th Floor, Heroes Place,Cairo RoadLusakaPO BOX 32965

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-10541275568818858802006-12-01T07:43:00.000Z2006-12-29T17:27:05.357Z

I was a little apprehensive about starting work with the third organisation I’m supposed to be attached to. There seems to be so much to keep me busy with each of the other two on their own but I was really excited when I turned up to Kwacha Kum’mawa and noticed boxes of condoms strewn across the office. Finally, a youth education project with a realistic grip on the situation.I was even more

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-50194624975559882952006-11-28T06:16:00.000Z2006-11-28T06:50:49.834Z

There’s not all that much to do in Chipata in the way of entertainment. So thankfully the weekends seem long here and in contrast working weekdays seem to fly-by. We’ve been exploring the hills that surround the town these past two weekends, Chipata occupies a bowl-like valley overlooked by hills in every direction – plus a scattering of mobile phone masts! Here are a few photos of our

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-71298045998028365472006-11-20T11:17:00.000Z2006-11-20T11:20:24.643Z

If you thought we’d be eating Nshima (a hard porridge made from maize eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner here in Zambia and much of Southern and East Africa) and tomato relish everyday for a year you’d be pretty mistaken. I’m definitely surprising myself by my new found fondness of the kitchen. Before coming to Zambia my baking habits just about stretched to carrot cake, banana cake and some

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-66984828388074852782006-11-15T06:26:00.000Z2006-12-18T09:51:15.965Z

It's hard to believe that we've been here a twelfth of our stay already, this last month really has flown by, which can only mean things are going well. We've been feeling really positive this past week in particular. Here's a 'little' run down of our last week.Monday night we played host to our first dinner guests; Matthew and Kristin, a young Canadian couple who are here for another

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-48484284291155384972006-11-10T09:34:00.000Z2006-11-10T09:46:22.378Z

After all the hullabaloo of carrying a motorbike helmet on the plane over here it’s been most useful in propping the door to our wardrobe open (it’s really scary if we close the door as you never know what creepy crawly will be waiting to jump put at you!). Apparently there’s no money in the kitty to give me a bike with an engine so I’m making do with a engine-less, gear-less, helmet-less

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-90972234637674984212006-11-07T10:37:00.000Z2006-11-07T10:38:16.272Z

For those of you wondering how Henry’s getting on he’s writing a blog at http://positivelyzambia.wordpress.com. It’s aimed largely at P&P groups as part of his Global Education Project but he’s including diary entries and his own comments on Zambia. We write quite different things so you should find it pretty interesting.

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-16693918631186290202006-11-06T12:29:00.000Z2006-11-07T10:33:14.073Z

I’ve spent the past week trying to get to grips with what it is I‘ve been employed to do here. My official job title is Peer Education Coordinator, working with behaviour change programmes attached to two home based care organisations – Chisomo and Tikondane (the offices in the picture). In addition, I’m told I’ll be working with Kwacha Ku’mawa another organisation concentrating on peer

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-72859427024192306892006-10-28T13:35:00.000+01:002006-10-28T13:46:02.888+01:00

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-1569200198789359882006-10-28T13:19:00.000+01:002006-10-28T13:33:33.768+01:00

After spending most of the day shifting furniture back and forth on the roof of Richard’s Landrover, we finally moved into our very own house last Thursday. The excitement of our new found independence quickly vanished as we noticed every room came complete with a resident creepy crawly and we’d forgotten to buy bug spray! I think our ethical concerns might temporarily go out the window when we

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-34598334029595098172006-10-25T07:26:00.000+01:002007-01-01T16:08:43.318Z

Mwauke Bwanje... (Good Morning)The last few days of the In-Country Induction went pretty smoothly. I felt like I was back at uni when we were taken through the political history of Zambia – it’s unbelievable that a country playing host to over 70 different tribes has managed to avoid descending into civil war especially since at least five out of its eight neighbouring countries have experienced

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-9850962369509216482006-10-20T10:18:00.000+01:002006-10-20T10:22:05.132+01:00

If my entire family were Zambian I’d have a total of 10 siblings! The nuclear family, inclusive only of parents and children is an alien concept to Zambians. Here, as in much of Africa the extended family including aunts and uncles, cousins and mother-in laws all form part of your immediate family.My Zambian family looks something like this: Mum, Dad, and brother Matthew. My Mum’s sister, Nadine

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-49535815525606306052006-10-19T16:53:00.000+01:002006-10-19T17:17:24.877+01:00

I did end up packing everything bar the kitchen sink and somehow managed to get away with being 7 kilos over the limit – and that was after transferring everything I could into Henry’s bags – he’d chosen to take the minimalist traveller route!After a pretty uneventful flight and stop over in Jo’burg we arrived smelly and shattered in Lusaka International Airport, Zambia. And immediately we were

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-91909757045861153132006-10-06T20:06:00.000+01:002006-10-06T21:01:22.372+01:00

This time next week we'll have been in the air for almost an hour - hopefully having avoided any delays or fines for trying to pack everything bar the kitchen sink as they say.Am I prepared? ummmm I'm getting there. I quit my temp job last Friday and my brain has slowly begun to recover from a summer's worth of numbness. I'm still a little frightened to start packing my bags in fear of finding I

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-45739062231368009882006-09-27T21:36:00.000+01:002006-09-27T21:39:33.361+01:00

Corruption and the well-trodden issue of tax appeared to dominate the airwaves in the run up to Zambia's general election. It will be the fourth election since the return of a multi-party system in 1991 following 18 years of single-party rule under Kenneth Kaunda.Tomorrow an estimated 4 million Zambians will cast their vote and choose between five presidential candidates. The race is said to be

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-1158415383368855722006-09-16T14:26:00.000+01:002006-09-18T20:57:07.260+01:00

Challenge #1: Learn to ride a motorbike.According to my job description I'm going to be riding around on two wheels when in placement. When I first found this out I thought great! - it's all part of the adventure, but as the reality of having to wear heavy duty gear, gloves and big black boots in 35degree heat plus a huge helmet on my usually curly head, the mini-adventure appeared a little less

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29617897.post-1158168237363511502006-09-13T17:59:00.000+01:002006-09-13T18:34:28.400+01:00

Now the count down really can begin. If all goes to plan one month from today we should be boarding a plane to Lusaka. So, this seems like a pretty good time to explain how exactly I found myself waiting to be shipped off to Southern Africa. My 12 month (hard-worked filled) adventure has been organised as part of Youth for Development or YfD, a programme run by Voluntary Services

Sally-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11042090820526365087noreply@blogger.com0