Letter from Zambia

Hello Sisters,

I miss you all but trust you are holding up. This week I find myself in the landlocked country of Zambia. The place is hot and one wonders if ever the time will come when Africa is going to harness this God given resource that is so abundant everywhere on the continent. Zambia actually feels and looks like Ghana in some sense. The country side looks so much like Ghana, the way they build their mud houses is so similar to the architecture we have in Northern Ghana. In fact some suburbs in Lusaka are very similar to some suburbs in Accra.

My colleague Grace and I took a few trips to cities outside Lusaka. Some of these trips can be heart wrenching you know, setting off very early in the morning to be able to accomplish all the goals you have set for yourself and returning late at night. But the sisters in the communities make it all worth it.

There is nothing so picturesque about the Zambian country particularly on those roads we used. However those trips outside the capital, Lusaka, gave me a nostalgic feeling. There are so many similarities with some scenes in our beloved Ghana. The bags of charcoal lined up for sale on major highways and the way they are bagged is so similar to the Ghanaian scenery. In fact the new vogue of bagging small quantities of charcoal for sale in polythene bags in also in vogue here in Zambia. Charcoal burning I am sure is a major challenge for the authorities in Zambia as they are in Ghana, it appears to be a dominant business for communities along the highways. (I did not see sachet water in Southern Africa, I am sure they are not allowed or something to that effect, it is so strange).

There are so many similarities in the way women ply their trading activities along the various highways in Zambia. The selling techniques, display of their products, pitching of their products etc are so similar to what pertains in Ghana. Their tomatoes looks so much like those tomatoes we grow in the North of Ghana, popularly called “Bolga Tomatoes”

The consequences of structural adjustment programmes are very evident in the town of Ndola where we visited one of our partners. All these big industries including copper mines closed down with its consequent loss of jobs which has lead to increased poverty and high rates of HIV&AIDS. The town of Ndola has an HIV&AIDS prevalence rate of 24%, the national prevalence rate is 16%. A combination of poverty and HIV&AIDS has left the women and children of Ndola very vulnerable that is why the nutrition centre of Ndola Nutrition group, an AWDF grantee, is extremely critical. The women in the community are provided with counseling and nutritional supplements. Support groups of women were at their best again, resilient as ever, with income generation activities and the spirit of sisterhood binding them together.

You think the drivers in Ghana are innovative? Well they cannot beat their Zambian counter parts. Leaves are very much in use as warning triangles to warn oncoming vehicles of broken down vehicles on the highways. And why do they always have to conveniently forget to remove them from the roads after they have finish whatever business they had to attend to? I think Zambia beats Ghana again in the number of road blocks one encounters on the highway. On a four hour journey we met at least six road blocks and they are so ingenious. The road blocks are mounted with barrels (filled with cement I guess) painted black with a red band at the top and police inscribed on the red paint. That is ingenious, one needs to be creative to stand out and survive you know.

Another notable feature is the number of haulage trucks that ply the highways. The Zambian highways are full of haulage trucks and trailers, in fact for every ten cars we met on the high way six were likely to be these heavy duty trucks, some of them heading towards DRC hauling badly needed food items especially fish from South Africa.

I am sure you heard that Zambia recently lost its president and just at the beginning of the month of November held a by election so the country streets are still covered with billboard of the various candidates and parties and it makes me wonder what is happening with our own elections? I hope we are on course. All the best and

See you soon
Beatrice
HIV/AIDS Programme Officer/Acting Grants Manager