Zambian Explorations: September 2012

This week I've been attending an Alternative Technology Workshop in Solvwezi with a counterpart from my village. Total there were ten of us: five volunteers and five counterparts and our two facilitators. Check out the pictures below for a bit on the projects we built, learned about, and will bring ideas of back to the village.

We jump started our brains with a maize stacking challenge. Rules: two pieces of paper, stack as many corn cobs as possible. Our team won with 7 corn cobs.

Teamwork

Contemplating

What is this machine you ask? Why a groundnut sheller. The metal one is from the capital - around 3 million - ie 600 USD. So we made a wooden one in my group - price likely around 20 USD.

Close up of our groundnut sheller. How's it work? Add groundnuts and pull handle back and forth. The nails on the bottom break groundnuts and they fall through the slots between the wooden dowels. Final step separate shells from nuts.

Clay pot inside another clay pot. Sand inbetween you add water to. Damp cloth on top. Cassava or your choice of something kept cold. Yep that's right it's an evaporative cooler. The clay is porous and draws the moisture away from the veg or whatever you add to your pot therefore making it cooler. Store in the shade.

Northwest Province does not have a clay pot market. Instead take a large jerry can and small jerry can, add sand inbetween, dampen a cloth, and cement the inside of the small jerry can. The cement has similar qualities to the interior clay pot. Mission accomplished.

Another group completed a drip irrigation project. Take two used bicycle tires, attach them together, and then attach that to a jerry can, make small holes at the correct spacing for your garden and then add lollypop sticks to the hole. Drip irrigation at its best. They did another project with bamboo and water bottles inverted in them that accomplished the same idea.

Hard at work - building a solar dryer frame

You can use a zam-bike and the blue metal machine... creating a cycle powered maize shelling machine

The mesh top of a homemade smoker (used mainly for fish smoking)

And this project wins most creative. What do you think this is?

(Wait for it... hah.. will tell you at the end of this post)

Everyone loves a bit of pyromania.

Even better when it's saving the environment. That's right folks. Burning corn cobs in that metal drum. You then crush the carbonated corn cobs and then make them into brickettes using the corn cob ash and a mixture of cassava goo. And cutting down 0 trees in the process. Which is great because Zambia is one of the leading countries in deforestation.

There were a couple other project we worked on that didn't make it in here - mostly no photos. Will keep you updated on which projects we decide to try in the village. And did you figure out the swinging jerry can contraption? That's right it's a honey press. We didn't have honey comb so couldn't test it's effectiveness - but at least makes a fun game.

My chalkboard countdown started... mmm... probably 70 days out - slightly premature but heck excitement does that to a person. So finally the countdown dropped to the single digits and it was time to leave the village for solwezi, and then on down to Lusaka to pick up the parentals!!!

I made friends with a taxi driver, Wilfred, and so we arrive at the airport an hour early.. turns out to be WAY early - more like 3 hrs when you add in customs and baggage claim. Not an efficient process here in Zambia. Acquired my parents and then took them on an adventure right off the bat! Another volunteer had recommended Pioneer Lodge as a great place to stay... which it was; but a fair bit off the beaten track as well. So Wilfred in his two wheel drive vehicle takes us down this dirt track that just looks shady as all heck at midnight... and just when I was beginning to wonder if I was just leading them down a bad two way track leading to pure wilderness when we arrived.

We spent the next day in Lusaka visiting the Sunday Market for souvenirs, enjoying a lovely lunch, and stocking up on groceries before heading to the village. Monday we drove village side with our great driver Choonya. It was also my birthday so we enjoyed some brunch on the road and when we got to solwezi introduced my mom to Indian food (which she was trying for the first time - crazy).

This first bit of the blog is picture-less because we recorded life on my mom's camera....

Highlights of the village
* Dad had great fun with the children. He was quite excited when he asked the kids if they knew four square and they responded yes. Little did he know, but quickly did he find out, that none of his question was understood because the little ones have very limited english.
* Girls Club: Mom brought a sewing box arts and craft project using mint boxes, fun foam flowers, magnets, and sewing supplies. The girls loved it. Reminded me of my girl scout days when my mom led our troop.
* Teacher Dinner: That evening we attended a traditional zambian dinner at the school. They hooked up the classroom with a couple light bulbs and sound system using a borrowed generator. Mom and Dad tasted nshima for the first time, enjoyed some fried chicken, and vegetables. At the end of the evening we were gifted a whole deep fried chicken and a nice chitenge (colorful fabric) for my parents to make their own Zambia outfits when they return to America.
* Village Party: The girls pretty much made the Zambian meal after I was deemed incompetent at mostly every task, even my cabbage cutting was critiqued. So thank you girls! We had nshima, chicken, beans, cabbage, and rape (green vegetable). The whole family came over from the compound I live on so we had at least 40 people. Following dinner I introduced the kids to s'mores and got them all on sugar highs followed by some zam-dancing. I even got my host grandmother to dance as well as my mom and dad. A definite yet exhausting success of a village party.
* We visited Mwinilunga, about 2 1/2 hrs from my village to the west. We stayed at a nice lodge right on the Lunga River. Dad made friends with some crocs at night with their noises and in the early morning hours when he attempted to become crocodile breakfast. On that trip we also visited some falls along the way, the Nyambwezu Falls by the proposed site for a hydroelectric dam. Although bit of a hitch that you have to walk over this village made bridge of small logs. Needless to say mom was not a fan and opted out after the bumpy ride of about an hour to get them. The rest of us carried on and enjoyed a picnic lunch by the falls. In Mwinilunga also brought the parents to the market. The market in a main town is full of different vegetables, fish, chitenge, clothes from the congo, maize, etc...

Post village James met up with us and we headed back to Solwezi for the evening before heading off early the next morning for Lusaka and REUNITED WITH THE SISTERS AND MATTHEW!! And then the whole family was back together. A bit tired but all in the same place. Heck who would have ever thought the whole Moehle family would be together in Africa? Not I said the fly.

Victoria Falls.
The next day we headed off early for Victoria Falls. James became our driver so we could all cram into a 7 person vehicle. It was tight but we had plenty of left over pizza, a stop at a tire store following a blown tire in the first couple of hours.