Masterchef - Zambian Style

I asked my sister, Rhi, to tell you about one of the recent training sessions she led for our Arise guardians.

One of the things I love about being out here is working with the Arise guardians. As Arise has a strong education focus, initially I wasn’t sure that my healthcare background would be relevant and fit with the vision. However I soon discovered that not only is the standard of academic education poor in the local area but so is the level of health awareness. This has meant that I have had the privilege of teaching our Arise guardians how to look after their own health and the health of the children they care for.

One of our guardians with some of the children she cares for

One of the ways I have been able to do this is by educating them on healthier ways to prepare food and what foods are good for us. A typical attribute of cooking in the Zambian culture is overcooking vegetables to ensure that worms, eggs and germs are destroyed. Unfortunately this also means that the nutritional value of the vegetables they eat is significantly reduced, especially as they add a large amount of oil to everything they cook. Washing vegetables with only water as we do in the UK would not be particularly beneficial due to the cleanness of the water available in the local community. Therefore, the first lesson in their ‘healthy food’ session was how to safely and thoroughly wash their vegetables by soaking them in a large bowl of water with a small amount of bleach/chlorine. By soaking the vegetables for ten minutes the unwanted parasites are killed but the nutritional content remains.

Learning a new way to wash vegetables

In Zambia knowledge is power. This means that it is not freely shared and many people are left without knowing basic information about how to stay healthy, and so end up relying on old wives’ tales and traditions passed through the generations. Groups like the 7 Day Adventists who choose to live vegan lifestyles end up teaching people that meat and meat products are bad for them, and without any alternative education this begins to become a widely believed ‘fact’. I was so impressed with the enthusiasm of our lovely guardians to understand how to look after their health and why they should do this. One of them even brought a notebook and our volunteers helped her to write notes!

Choosing their vegetables

The next lesson was to understand how using so much oil affects our body and leads to common heart problems such as high blood pressure. Other useful information that we discussed included what common foods are good for us and why eating the right food prepared in the right way is so important. 

Understanding the importance of preparing food in the right way

As all of the guardians had arranged to bring their own braziers and pots, the big highlight of the morning was a competition for who could prepare and cook the vegetables provided in the healthiest and tastiest way. Our two Zambian Arise volunteers and our school cook were asked to be judges and enjoyed sampling all of the vegetables and passing on their feedback. They wrote down their comments and decided on a winner. One of the entertaining factors of the morning for us was how direct the judges were in their feedback. Comments such as “overcooked”, “too much oil” and “too much salt” were freely shared and I found the absence of British manners hilarious!

Practising cooking vegetables with less oil

Presenting food to the tough judges

After the winner was declared and they received a bar of chocolate from the UK for their prize (not quite in keeping with the healthy ethos!) the guardians showed me how to cook their staple Zambian food nshima. They offered for me to try stirring it and I was amazed at how difficult it was and how strong they must be! Needless to say they found my lack of natural ability very amusing. 

Making the nshima

Perhaps the biggest challenge of teaching our guardians about what foods are good for us is the limited types of food that are affordable to them. Meat and other animal products are vital to a healthy diet here, however with limited financial resources these are the first foods to be withdrawn from a meal. As a team we are looking at ways we can support our guardians to include protein in their diet, however the price of these foods is significantly higher than vegetables, rice and mealie meal (to make nshima). One of the other challenges in trying to teach Zambians about healthy food is the difference in what food we are used to cooking and eating. Eggs are the most nutritious food available here, but boiling them is the only method used. I demonstrated how to make scrambled egg, which is an ideal nutritious food for children and those who are sick and struggle to chew.

The morning was a success, with guardians commenting on how much they enjoyed learning about healthy foods and putting this into practice. They were keen to go home to try out what they had learned and will return in two weeks for another go at the cooking contest and to learn more about what foods will help with some of the common health conditions faced in Zambia. The session ended with a chance for all the guardians and a few of the school children to enjoy the fruits of their labour and eat a balanced meal of nshima, eggs and vegetables. It was a wonderful morning with excellent company and a delicious lunch!

Enjoying a tasty lunch

Kwacha Watcher

The Zambian currency is called the kwacha. It is not available outside of Zambia so I had to wait until I arrived here to get cash out. Rather than opening a Zambian bank account which I was told would not be worth the hassle, I just withdraw my money from my English bank account. This has worked out pretty well as the kwacha has plummeted in value whilst I have been living in Zambia.

Ndola supermarket

When I first arrived here the exchange rate was around K10 (10 kwacha) to the pound, which made it easy to compare prices with home. However, at the end of last year the economic crisis caused the kwacha to fall dramatically. Zambia provides 70% of Africa’s total copper market and there was a reduction in the demand, so prices fell. The exchange rate plummeted to K20 to the pound but this year it seems to have stayed somewhere between K13 and K15 to the pound.

Here’s what you can get for your kwatcha here in Ndola…

A pile of 4 tomatoes from roadside stall is K5 or 35p

A 200g bar of Cadburys (vital for my survival!) is K22 or £1.50

A box of cereal K45 or £3.20

Steak at a restaurant K120 or £8.50

50 litres of petrol K500 or £35

Vegetable stall in Kaniki

Food is expensive here in relation to salaries. A 25kg bag of maize meal, which would provide enough nshima for a family of four for a month, costs nearly K100. To put this into perspective, a full-time manual worker might earn around K600 a month. Petrol is cheaper but cars themselves are expensive because they are all imported, and also need repairs more often due to the poor condition of the roads. On the other hand, a cinema ticket in the city of Lusaka costs K50 or £3.50, which is much better than in the UK!

Making the most of the cheaper cinema in Lusaka with Anna

I find it quite amazing that here I can live on such a small amount of money compared to at home. My accommodation here is provided by the Bible college, so the majority of my costs are for food, internet/phone and transport. In some ways, being a volunteer does challenge my way of thinking. We are brought up to work hard in order to provide for our own needs, rather than relying on other people. Living in a country where people depend on each other a lot more and where sharing food or money is part of daily life, reminds me that how we live in the western world is not the only way. In the UK we prepare for the future by saving money or investing. Here, people in the community seem to do that by sharing what they have with others; helping someone when you have a bit extra often means that they will help you if and when the situation is reversed.

Helping each other

People I know in the local community approach me occasionally to ask for a loan. This could be to pay for repairs to their home or for transport to take a sick family member to the clinic. In these situations, it is extremely difficult to know how best to help. With my Western mindset, I wonder whether a loan really helps as it might encourage the borrower to become reliant rather than learning to save money for such situations. However, many people live very ‘hand to mouth’ in the communities we work in. If they earn money it might be enough for food or rent but not necessarily anything else, so perhaps they do need someone to help. I have also noticed that most people here seem to eventually be able to find the money from somewhere. It can be very hard to know what to do so I just try to listen to individual situations and pray for wisdom.

Helping people to help themselves

It is a real privilege to be able to help people in the local community here who are not able to pay for it, although I do feel they are teaching me many different things. It is also amazing to be blessed with enough money to live here, so I am very grateful to my church and other people who support me – thank you. You make the work we are doing possible, which in turn is making a difference to the lives of children and their guardians in Kaniki. 

Zambia's Natural Beauty

One of the things I love about living in Zambia is the natural beauty that surrounds us here. It helps that most days are bright and sunny, which I think makes everything look a little more glorious. It means we generally spend far more time outside here than in the UK, which lends itself to a more active lifestyle and gives us more time to enjoy the scenery and surroundings.

The rainbow at Victoria Falls

All year round the sun sets between 18.00 and 18.30hrs (we work in 24hr clock here) and it is stunning to see. The bright blue sky gradually fills with rich contrasting oranges and pinks. Photos just don't do it justice!

Sunset in the village

Sunset over the Zambezi

The stars are also amazing here in Kaniki. As the sun sets early and there is little light pollution (particularly during the power cuts!) the stars shine brightly against the black night sky. We can even see Mars and the Milky Way.

One of the seven natural wonders of the world can be found in southern Zambia. Victoria Falls is a huge, powerful water fall with incredible views that attracts many visitors. I have visited the Falls twice which I thoroughly enjoyed. Last year I even went up to the top of the Falls where I swam in Angel’s Pool.
  

Victoria Falls

Swimming at the top of the Falls

Zambia also has a number of national parks which are great for spotting wild animals on safari. I’ve heard that Zambia’s best game park is South Luangwa in the west of the country, so I hope to make a visit there later in the year. Nsobe is a very small game park near where we live and is my favourite place to go on a day trip from Kaniki because it’s so peaceful.

On safari

Spotting zebra

Another beautiful location for a day trip from Kaniki is Lake Kashiba, otherwise known as Sunken Lake. It’s a bit like a crater lake and no-one knows exactly how deep it is. Apparently it was formed by water causing the limestone to dissolve and form caves, which eventually collapsed leaving the huge and very deep lake. It is great fun swimming in the lake…apart from one time when I saw a snake swimming in it, a little too close for comfort!

Sunken Lake

It’s amazing to be able to experience so many beautiful sights and sounds whilst living out here. Instead of the English fresh air and green fields, I get to experience a different kind of natural beauty - with lots more sunshine!

Nsobe

Eating breakfast in the sunshine

Car Trouble

I've had my fair share of car trouble in the UK - a cam belt which broke just out of warranty, a tyre that blew on the motorway, and even being driven into by a lorry on a one-way system! At home, the AA have always come to my rescue but unfortunately in Zambia there's no AA or RAC. The roads are in a much worse condition here so they also cause more damage to vehicles.

We are very fortunate to have had a 4x4 donated to the Arise project. This means that we are able to visit people supported by Arise who live out in the bush. We're also able to use the vehicle for personal use, as long as we pay for the petrol and maintenance. The car is a real blessing because buying a vehicle here would cost a considerable amount of money. It also gives us a bit of independence and stops us feeling claustrophobic or lonely whilst living in the compound in Kaniki.

The Arise vehicle in the workshop

In Zambia it is a legal requirement to carry two warning triangles in your vehicle in case you break down. I have been stopped several times by the police to check this. If people don't have warning triangles, they often lay large branches out in the road instead. This works until someone then forgets to move them and they become an obstruction.

When living here the best thing you can do is to take care of your vehicle and learn the basics of vehicle maintenance. Our friends who live nearby and run a charity called Mechanics for Africa were recently offering a two-day course on vehicle maintenance and basic servicing. My sister Rhi was keen to go and so I somewhat reluctantly agreed to join her.

Rhi the keen bean

It was an excellent course and I would recommend it to anyone living here in Ndola. It pushed me out of my comfort zone because although I usually feel reasonably confident at school or on courses, it was a different kettle of fish when learning about transmission fluid, suspension and differentials. We spent some time in the classroom learning about basic servicing and how things work, and then we had time in the workshop trying it out. We were assured that there was no such thing as a stupid question, although my friend Holly and I may have tested that theory!

Our instructor

Holly in the workshop

Little did I know how useful the first day of the course would prove to be. The course was on Saturday, and on the following Monday Rhi and I discovered we had a flat tyre. We were determined to change the wheel ourselves and although it took a while, we did manage it in the end. Unfortunately my skinny arms didn't quite have the strength needed to remove the nuts from the wheel. Despite being somewhat impractically dressed in a pencil skirt and flip flops, jumping up and down on the lever eventually did the trick.

Changing the tyre

On the second day of the course we learned how to change brake pads and transmission fluid. Although I’m not too sure how many of the advanced skills I will be able to put into practice by myself, the course has been really helpful in teaching me a bit more about what a mechanic might mean when they explain something about the car. Girl power lives on!