Monday 5 February

Arrived safely in Lusaka, despite a long delay sat on the plane on the tarmac at Lilongwe (Malawi) because all air traffic was cancelled at Lusaka due to the arrival of the Chinese President. This made what should have been a 2 hour flight into 5 hours, but never mind, this is Africa!

Garrie has a couple of business meetings today on behalf of RIPA International in London.

Managed to fit in meeting with a small group called "Hope Against Aids". Their aim is to provide some care for the HIV/AIDS infected and terminally ill men, women and children living at home.

We have agreed to go on some visits with them next week.

 

Tuesday 6 February

Another day of business meetings for Garrie.

Margaret managed to find an internet cafe that had a connection that was working.

Met up with 3 people from a UK registered charity called Harvest Help, who do work in Zambia and Malawi. Proved to be a good contact for other local charities and referrals by Helping Africa 100 for those with the need for agricultural help.

 

Wednesday 7 February

A long journey to Mongu in the Western Province, a straight road for 7 hours.

Several miles out of Lusaka and everything changes, just a string of mainly thatched huts in small hamlets and villages.

Arrived in Mongu to find an isolated, small, under developed town. This is a remote and extremely poor area that relies heavily on nothing but subsistence farming.

It's the rainy season so sat having a meal under a thatched shelter with continuous blanket lightening, thunder and pelting rain all around. Heard on the local news later, that Zambia seriously affected by unusual flooding and serious damage to crops washed away by the heavy rain.

 

Thursday 8 February

Introduced to Imwambo Women's Support Group, who visit the most vulnerable families affected by HIV/AIDS. We are told that 64% of a local community are infected by the virus. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the staple food is maize and their diets lack the nutrition essential to maintain a decent blood count that helps resist easy infection of disease. We have agreed to visit some of the homes tomorrow.

Went on to meet another women's group, The Sesheke Group , which is made up of 20 widows trying to support over 70 children. They are looking for some income generating work, but their main concern is how they are going to feed their children, today, now the crops have failed.

Made a brief visit to another small group called Hands of Compassion, whose main aim is to alleviate poverty. We agreed to visit one of their projects involving some young people trying to become sustainable by growing vegetables and rice.

We both realise the problems here are overwhelming us and decide that we can do no more, at the moment, than go to the market and buy some bags of maize and rice to help some of the people we have met today.

 

Friday 9 February

Visited some families with Imwambo Women's Group. The people are warm and friendly, but it is clear that they struggle every day just to survive.

We meet a group of orphans, just a few of the hundreds in the area who are mainly living with grandparents. It seems that nearly a whole generation has been wiped out by HIV/AIDS.

Re-visited the Sesheke Group with a proposal to buy a sewing machine and some materials so they can begin to make school uniforms and clothes for themselves and to sell. They are so very grateful for the food that your donations have helped us to buy. Their parting words "please don't forget us".

Met a group of young men who have decided to try carpentry to generate an income. They need tools and wood to get started. They deserve our help, but no tools are available in Mongu and we're not sure of their ability, just an example of something to come back for.

A brief visit to the Hands of Hope Community School which has now joined with a disabled school because of lack of funds. Everyone was excited to see us and was delighted that we left them with a supply of teaching materials.

Visited the farming project being helped by The Hands of Compassion. How pleased they were to meet us and take us to their vegetable garden and rice field. We were so impressed by the work this group is doing, we gave them a small donation to help them continue.

Saw the devastation to the crops, fields of dead maize caused by the floods. Ended the day at the market again to buy more maize for the people we have met today.

We have decided to take a few days off to reflect on what we have seen and the people we have met. Your donations have helped us to help them and even though it may seem small to us, to them it makes a big difference.
We are staying in a lodge in the Kafue National Park until Tuesday 13 February, when we will travel back to Lusaka to continue our research of charities there.