Torna volta...Ndi bwerera
Well its the home stretch, winding down here at Smartcareland and weeks away from the start of my close of service trip, to try and leave the region in some form of blissful ambivalence. What to say, well Zambia has rocked as expected, maybe not as much as Cape Verde, but sufficient and variable. Details, buy me a pitcher of IPA once I get back around. The work here and life in Lusaka has definitely had a "readjusting to Western Civ" vibe to it, for good or for evil. Insightful too, the workings, gears, and turnings of the industry. No doubt the year I wanted. So should be a fluid transition back to the Bay Area. The plan has remained solid since departing CV. Nice overpriced flat in Berkeley/Oakland or Santa Cruz, University of Cal job or anything else interesting that comes up. Not to say there is zero temptation to continue IT work in Africa, or the developing world, but for now, a future point in time, and under different auspices.
Anyway really amped for my COS trip. Overlanding through a loop of Southern Africa starting at Joberg, into Mozambique, down the coast to Cape Town, up into Namibia and then back over to Zambia to catch my flight home. Going tour-herded, considered independent but the logistics work out better for a bit more money. Should be spectacular. Back to Cali in December, seeya then.
posted by Brent at 9/19/2008 06:25:00 AM | permalink | (0) comments |
Monday, July 28, 2008
Zam wih the Fam
Well work wise its been a fairly non-illustrious couple of months, but the summers been going at a steady clip. Mostly because of its kick-start with the France break, and a few weeks back a visit from my Mom and Dad. Adventurous enough to tackle “The Real Africa” heh. Decided on an itinerary highlighting the two major draws, animals and Victoria falls, and that’s about it on the tourist path here.
So for wild-life, splurged a bit and headed to the South Luangwa National Park under the auspices of the Robin Pope Safari Company (RPS). Located in Eastern province, the park borders the Luangwa river and is teeming with endemic wildlife. Spent a week out there among RPS’s three camps, Nkwali, Nsefu, and Tena Tena. Each camp, spectacular in its setting , was perched in subtle luxury on the banks of the river. Loved the vibe of the open air-architecture where lazing around your room or the bar could observe elephant crossing, spook a puku tranquilly drinking, chuckle at the hippos grunts, or sense the rustle of the trees as a herd off giraffe passes. Daily life started at sunrise, then a morning drive, lunch feast, siesta time, tea, sun-downer and evening drive, then dinner feast. Recycle and repeat with options for walking safaris with a heavily armed Zambian Wildlife Authority scout, or catered lunch in the bush for maximum enjoyment. In brief…
-Game viewing saw most of the biggies of the region…Warthog, Elephant, Buffalo, Monkey, Baboon, Zebra, Thornicraft Giraffe, Bushbuck, Puku, Eland, Porcupine, Kudu, Genet, Mongoose, Civet, (sparring) Impala, Hyena, Lion, Crocodile, fleeting glimpses of Leopard, and tons and tons of Hippos. O and the scenery….EPIC!
-Most of the food was imported from Lusaka but I sure didn’t recognize it after the cooks worked their magic. I grabbed some of my favorites from the shelves when I returned to Lusaka…mango pickle chutney mmmm.
-Who knew birding could be so addicting? By day 4 was staring hopefully at the water hole for a plover sighting, raptor, egret, stork, or other colorful plumage. Anybody got a copy of Birds of Southern Africa I could borrow?
-So with the drives/walks being just my folks and the guides, got spoiled silly, individualized safari experience. From vivid, humorous, interpretation of the sights and sounds to actual, bonafide , tracking. On our final day the guide honed in on a buffalo kill by triangulating the position using perching vultures. Plunged off-road into the thickets and boom there is was being devoured by a lioness. With hyena waiting in the shadows. Came back at sunset at the buffalo was stripped to the bones. Amazing.
Impossible to top all that, but we were going to try anyway with one of the natural wonders of the world, the smoke that thunders, where angels fly, etc etc, Victoria Falls. Regrettably the bus ride down there was more brutal than expected, the stretch from Zimba having been completely torn up by the last rainy season. Still made it with a relatively good sense of humor, and was informal rehearsal for the challenging return journey. Least we saved some money heh. On the return my brave folks also got to experience bus-preaching, awful loud Nigerian films, and admire the docility of Zambian toddlers. The Falls were pleasant as always, July , not too full, not too empty. Partook in a lovely river cruise as well on the Lady Livingstone, had the boat to ourselves, saw a herd off elephants paddle over to terrorize Livingstone, and waved at the other packed vessels. Closed things off the next day with the Livingstone museum and very much under construction Railway Museum. Brilliant trip, awesome my folks made it over, now to power through these final two months in the Zambia.
posted by Brent at 7/28/2008 12:36:00 PM | permalink | (0) comments |
Monday, June 23, 2008
Oo la la
Took a mini Spring break back to the first-world a few weeks back. The agenda was initial set by a wedding in the Gex region of France, but got scaled back to a normal vacation, after some visa issues postponed that ceremony for American soil. Not really gung ho on Europe, especially with the craptacularly weak dollar, but paging through the LP it seemed like France was still a worthy time. OK it was mostly reading about the food that convinced me.
Always fun connections in Africa, Lusaka linked through Addis Ababa, overnight to CDG on Ethiopian Airways. No baggage or logistical adventures, but becoming oriented to new country on 3 hours of sleep is always fun. Plopped my stuff down at the Eldorado, and wandered around the clouded drizzling morning. I was fairly useless that first day but managed to get scammed by a gypsy, figure out the subway, and feast on some orange-glazed duck downed with the first of many glasses of fine French wine.
By day 2 was relatively adjusted. Going into highlight mode…
-Paris, museum and art mania. Had to love the sheer density and variety, culture oozing from every boulevard. A few of the many, the Musee d’ Orsay, Musee Rodin and the Centre Pompidou were tops in my book. For its architecture the Quai Branley. The Paris Musuem Pass helped save the bucks. Sure the big touristed sites like the Louvre, Eiffel Tower etc were cool, but I found just chillaxing to the view of Paris from the top of Montmartre, or having a beer at a local café next to my hotel, put me more in touch with the feel of the city.
-Annecy, quaint mountain town, thankfully not yet over-run by tourists. Took some pleasant lakeside strolls, explored the twisty canal-truncated old town, and dined on tasty budget food at Chez Barnabe. Not a ton to see or do, but Alpine.
-Gex, the mini-reception for the rescheduled wedding. Met up with folks in Geneva, and then drove over to the bride’s family house, beautifully situated in the traditional countryside and bedecked with African crafts (her father had worked on the Continent before his passing). Hiked up to the mini-reception at a converted farmhouse (le Ferme du Mont Mussy) overlooking the Geneva valley. No electricity, appetized with regional dishes until a thunderstorm rolled and the dinner commenced. Ate more wonderful things, while finally the clouds cleared for a stunning mountain vista, and even a brief glimpse of Mont Blanc. Despite the postponement a lot of people had still made the trip, and it was awesome to hang with the gang, with France, Britain, and Alaska represented.
-Nice, vibrant colors of the Mediterranean. Passed down from Gex with a scenic train-ride cutting through the Alps/Bellegarde. Felt like I was back on the Pacific Surfliner as we hugged the coast over to Nice. More interesting budget accommodation was provided at Hotel Wilson, a Frida Kahlo themed room, with a balcony, score. The vibe of Nice was wonderful, more great art (modern, Chagall and Matisse), pebbly beach but crystal blue water, relaxed parks and plazas, and another twisty old town to lose oneself in. And of course obscenely good food, deals off the daily “menus” offered full course goodness inclusive of wine, appetizer, main course, and dessert. Also day-tripped to Monte Carlo, Monaco, big-bwana style, beautiful views, beautiful aquarium.
-Avignon, polished the trip off behind medieval walls, and stumbled upon an Aikido dojo. Avignon was the seat of Papal power for a brief schism, and is home to the grand Palais des Papes. The city is also a cultural center of the region and was crammed chock-full of smaller wonders. My brain was getting ready for home, but did my duty and swung around to the majors, and downed some final gastronomical indulgences. Au revoir France, avoided a crazy shouting man in the Avignon TGV station, and whisked up to CDG where Ethiopian airlines awaited the haul back to Lusaka. Spectacular trip...will be back.
posted by Brent at 6/23/2008 09:27:00 AM | permalink | (0) comments |
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Solwezi and the wild Northwest
em breve Things picking up a little bit in Smartcareland. Got a chance to see more of the country a few weeks back, by assisting one of our provincial trainings up in Solwezi, way way way up in Northwestern province. A long haul by bus, but luckily not so bad in our CDC SUV. Big bwana style. Even though in what I know of Zambia there is not huge variance in scenery (read American Midwest), the trip was pleasant. The strip-mining gorges (Copperbelt), road-side fruit vendors, suicidal goats and scrappy pine forests (Copperbelt) kept us travelers from catatonia
Our deployment methodology focuses around these provincial trainings, where the system is taught to local health officials/managers/information officers etc. The idea is then they will deploy the equipment to their localities, training those under them in Smartcare 101. Of course at training as the usual logistical fun and brushfires, but went very well with a very sharp group. The touchscreen technology indeed makes the system mais rapido to pickup.
So that was a nice change of pace, from the office roll. The project has one more training in Eastern Province, and I hope to assist at that as well. Indeed, our PCV clump here is still organizing for direct field support/collaboration in the field, so as the "big" trainings wind down we can focus more on "monitoring and evaluation" activities to see how everyones faring.
posted by Brent at 4/30/2008 07:25:00 AM | permalink | (0) comments |
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Ndi li tulo
In Chechewa/Nyanja that means "I have been having a problem staying awake". Awake enough to update this blog. Anyway nice lull, rest, flakiness. The web is very distracting.
Onward to the update. Surprisingly enough nearly half-way through the whole Zambia stint. True to the saying, once your finally adjusted its going to be time to hit the road again. Doh. Work is rolling along in SmartCareLand, albeit on Africa time. Still fairly scattered in daily activities, Training, Testing, and odds and ends. The PC presence has also swelled, another PCV has joined the project, with one more in the pipeline. So how many PCVs does it take to change a light-bulb? They could teach someone to build a solar still though.
Back when I first came to Zambia I had a vision of my job. Living not in the bush, but in a provincial capital, fanning out from there to directly support SmartCare in surrounding villages and clinics. The system is meant to be a nation-wide thing, everyone with a Smartcard holding their health history. Much like my vision for youth center in CV this ideal has undergone revision. Currently its in our collective strategy to do something similar, but mobilize PCVs already in the field to "Monitor and Evaluate". Picture one day a strange black box appears in the village. The clinician remembers their district boss mentioning something about computers at a training six months back, but the deployment was delayed by 4 months, due to roads being washed out, and the computer being "lost" and found half-way back to the capital. The clinic has electricity (solar panels) but the voltage needs to be changed for the computer to work. In fact how do you turn the computer on? The user manual was eaten by a goat, or used as toilet paper. Fortunately a PCV (or their trained Zambian counter-part/friend) bikes in to get some mealie-meal, and utilizes the magical power of "skills-transfer" to teach how to power on the machine. Repeat visits, training, and support ensue until the community is comfortable with the tech and kicking solitaire playing youth off the computer. The volunteer/counterpart reports success and disasters back to the SmartCare mother-ship in Lusaka, and metrics are weighed and pondered.
Thats the grand plan how we can be most effective here. The SmartCare PCVs been attempting to get things organized and formalized in between our other miscellaneous tasks and Lusaka living. I'll blab a bit more about the motivation/philosophy behind the above proposal after this 4 day weekend. Happy Easter. They do have Cadbury cream eggs at the Spar here. Thank God.
posted by Brent at 3/20/2008 12:34:00 PM | permalink | (0) comments |
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