Community connections

I've had a bit of a planning dilemma over the last few months.  One of the components of an Integrated Development Plan is to complete something they call the Spatial Framework.  In essence, the Spatial Framework is the land use plan for the town.  Since there is no official land use plan for Mazabuka, I believe that this will actually be the core component of the plan.


Over a year ago, some work was started on the Spatial Framework, which resulted in three hand-drafted "development scenarios" (I've not actually seen hand drafted land use maps in my previous professional practice!).  I was told that there had been another workshop to determine which was the best scenario, but the records of that workshop have mysteriously vanished.  At any rate, our team has looked at the scenarios, and we have proceeded to digitize them using GIS.  Due to the time constraints, we're attempting to consolidate the maps into one scenario so that it's less confusing.  It's evident (at least to me), that some of the land use assumptions have changed since the maps were first produced, so we'll need to do some additional consultations to determine the proper courses of action.
 

One of the draft Spatial Framework scenarios.

The digitized draft version of the Spatial Framework.  (click on the map to enlarge)

Here's where my dilemma comes in: I found it hard to understand what to plan for without having visited each part of town in detail.  For instance, I feel a bit uncomfortable with all the yellow "residential" blobs on the map, when I know that there are plenty of businesses in these areas, as well as other land uses.  As a planner, I wondered what land use policies we should include for each category, since there was precious little detail in any of the previous documents.

With the Community Development section in the Planning Department, we organized a series of walking tours, led by the members of the Residential Development Committees in each neighbourhood.  The process took two solid weeks, which was admittedly a bit tiring.  My team responded enthusiastically, and we managed to do all the tours on schedule.  The RDC members definitely were happy to have been involved in this way; it is my understanding that the RDCs have never been systematically consulted in this way.  My only concern now is that we've fuelled high expectations to deliver what the communities have asked for.

In the last while, I've forged a relationship with the editor of the Mazabuka Times, which is a small community newspaper.  The editor came along on one of our tour days, and together we collaborated on an article that will appear in the paper this week.  Here's the text of the article:

It's been a while, but the Mazabuka Municipal Council has restarted work on its Integrated Development Plan, or IDP for short. As readers may remember, the IDP is a long range municipal development plan which integrates spatial, environmental, social, economic and financial issues into one document. The Council is aiming to prepare the document for Council and ministry approval by March 2011.

In support of the IDP, the Planning Department has initiated a series of walking tours with each of the Residential Development Committees (RDCs) and Market Committees in the urban area. The purpose of these tours, which are guided by the members of the RDCs and Market Committees, is to see the issues that are most important to each community. The project team expects to use the feedback from the walking tours to shape the policies of the plan and to identify priority projects.

So far, residents have responded enthusiastically to the presence of the planning team and have been eager to show off the best and worst of their communities. Common discussions have focused on the quality of roads and drainage systems, the availability of clean water, waste disposal and collection, and access to markets.

ROADS AND DRAINAGES

In several parts of Mazabuka, residents pointed out that roads have not been graded for some time. The lack of grading over time has resulted in conditions where water drains to the centre of the road, rather than to the drainage ditches at the sides of the road. In many instances, culverts (the pipes or passages under driveway entrances) have also become blocked by dirt and other debris, which causes storm water to back up during the rainy season. It is evident that both the Council and area residents have important roles to play in clearing drainage ditches so that they function as they were intended.

Typically, water should run off the centre of the road to the ditches on the sides.  Here it appears that the ditch and the road are the same thing.

More roadway erosion due to poor grading and drainage.

WATER

The planning team heard several stories from the RDCs and Market Committees about the lack of clean water in their communities. Sometimes water service is the responsibility of SWASCO; however in several cases (e.g. Ndeke, Kaleya), the community operates its own water system. In such community-run systems, the RDC is responsible for collecting water-related fees from residents and carrying out regular maintenance to the pumps and water lines. By diligently collecting revenue and sensitizing residents about the importance of paying for water, communities in Mazabuka will enjoy improved access to clean water.

Discussing a community-run water pump with the members of the RDC.

WASTE DISPOSAL AND COLLECTION

The RDC members have had a great deal to show and tell about waste disposal in their communities. The team witnessed a number of undesirable waste management practices, including the creation of garbage pits in the road allowance, and the accumulation of garbage heaps in “green spaces” at the edges of the community. For its part, Mazabuka Municipal Council is working on the waste problem. Current efforts include the design of a new waste disposal site and plans to scale up waste collection operations to the communities.

The nascent waste collection system operates in only a few places in Mazabuka, and collection frequency is sporadic.  The result: green spaces and drainage ways get quite clogged with refuse. 

The Council constructed a few of these waste collection bins that they call midden boxes.  This one is actually in rather decent shape, but some have been quite severely vandalized.  Collection is sporadic at best.

MARKETS

Where do the majority of Mazabuka residents go to buy milk, vegetables, charcoal, talk time or even a custom-made table? Overwhelmingly, the answer is “the market”. It is therefore evident that some attention needs to be focused on the state of Mazabuka's markets. One of the key desires expressed by the marketeers across Mazabuka was to have proper market structures to display and store their goods. Many marketeers currently operate from makeshift shelters that are exposed to the elements and that cannot be secured during the night. Effective solutions to these issues are invariably ones that will involve the participation of the Council and the members of the market committees.

The markets are vibrant places, but marketeers would appreciate having some permanent structures to keep their wares away from the elements.

Folks here seem to love posing for photographs - it's quite a novelty.  This lady was selling beans, kapenta (small dried fish) and the tree root used to make chibuantu.

This current series of Community Walking Tours has provided a rare opportunity for the locally-elected committees to show Council workers the best and the worst features of their communities. All in all, it appears that the Community Walking Tours have provided a rewarding learning experience for Council workers and the local committee representatives.

 I hope you've enjoyed this quick tour of Mazabuka, as much as I've enjoyed writing about it.  :-)

Candy currency

Some things are just too "sweet" to be true.

Tonight, for the second time since I arrived in Zambia, I received candy as change at the cash register.  The 50 and 100 kwacha notes (worth about 1 and 2 Canadian cents respectively) can sometimes be in short supply.  So, when making change, the cashiers sometimes just throw in some "penny candy" to keep the customers happy.

The smoke that whispers

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Livingstone for a braii (barbeque) for all the Southern Province volunteers.  Though it was a long trip for some food and fun, it was still worth going.  It was good to reconnect with all the volunteers that have been in country for a while, as well as to get acquainted with the large batch that arrived in October.

On Saturday afternoon, I went with my housemate Rob and our friend Dan to visit Victoria Falls.  As my loyal blog followers might remember, I also visited the falls in July.  What a difference a few months makes!

In July, I got thoroughly soaked by the spray from the might Mosi-oa-Tunya, or "smoke that thunders".  On Saturday, I only got a little wet from a few raindrops.  The thunder has since quieted to a mere whisper.

July

The water tumbles over the edge of a very long "gash" in the earth.  It's hard to see the other side for all the spray.

Walking across the bridge is a very wet and slippery affair.

 November

Victoria Falls: a dramatic canyon, nonetheless.

The same bridge, now bone dry.  In July, the water tumbles over the rock face at left.

There's still lots of water falling over the edge, it's just spread out a bit more along the canyon now.

Standing in the river bed, where mere months ago I would have been washed into oblivion.

Ok, this is really just to show my new look.

Good friends in a world famous location!

Garden fresh: Part II

The newest garden-fresh delight is butternut squash!  Naturally, we're quite delighted with the results.

Tasty roasted vegetables.  Yes, we know its crazy to roast vegetables when it's +35C.

Sprawl, sprawl, ubiquitous sprawl

Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy writing about all the fun experiences I'm having outside of work. But since this is not exactly a tourist visit to Africa, I do feel compelled to write a bit about the work side of things from time to time. As I've said to folks in various emails, it has taken time for me to understand the workings of Council and the meaning of planning in an African context. It was difficult to know where to jump in without first becoming familiar with the landscape and layout of Mazabuka, and to make a few contacts in town. Now that the “getting to know you” phase is over, I feel we're well set to make some progress on the IDP.

There are more than a few urban planning issues to write about, but I will focus on the state of development at the fringes of the existing built up area, as well as the proposed truck by-pass road. To help illustrate my notes, I've included a map of Mazabuka, which I produced in a handy little GIS program called Quantum GIS. It took some getting used to, but it basically does all the same things that ArcGIS can do for about $3,000 less. Yes, it's a freeware program.

As I've reported before, numerous trucks pass through the urban area of Mazabuka, sometimes with disastrous results as they try to negotiate the turn near the Shoprite supermarket. For quite some time, people have talked about building a by-pass road to divert a major share of the trucks from the centre of town, but nothing concrete has been done to make it a reality. As a result of my urging (and ultimate legwork), we did manage to organize a trip to Lusaka this week to meet with the national Road Development Agency. The meeting had a positive outcome though obviously a lot of work remains to be done before any tarmac is laid. If the Council can arrange to survey the necessary right of way by mid-late 2011, the RDA agreed that construction of the road could be included in their 2012 budget. Good news if the conditions can be met.

In order to understand where the road should pass, I visited the area with the Council surveyor/draughtsman last week. We made some interesting findings. I had heard of some informal developments occurring in the area but the extent of the area was really surprising. Despite the large extent, the development occurring there is not particularly intensive or dense. I am told that the farmers who own the land have been busily carving out plots for people to build homes. Nothing new, I know.

What is a bit alarming is that the Council seems to have little control over the subdivision and allocation of these lands. Naturally, there is also a legitimate demand by the new settlers for the electric and water companies to extend some degree of service to these unplanned areas. Unfortunately, I sense a somewhat blasé attitude toward the settlers, which goes something along the lines of: “They're illegal settlements. We can move them.” Technically and legally, this may be true, but in the end who will step in to play the bad guy when people have earnestly cobbled together some money to acquire some land and build their homes using their own labour? It's not a job I would savour.

On the map, which you can click to produce a larger version, I've attempted to illustrate the extent of the new development areas, as well as the proposed route for the by-pass road. In total, the coloured areas encompass nearly 400 hectares (995 acres) and all at very low development densities. The yellow line was the original concept route for the by-pass, which we quickly discovered would be difficult to build. Notwithstanding the rapidly advancing settlements (including a planned settlement called Kabobola Extension), there is also an elevated rocky outcrop in the centre of the area, which would require lots of expensive blasting. So we drew another potential route on the map in orange. The total length of the “preferred route” is just over 7 kilometres.

Planned and informal settlements at the fringe of Mazabuka.  (click on the map for an enlargement)

In conclusion, I just want to say that sprawl isn't confined to North American or European cities – it happens everywhere. For a Council that already struggles to build and maintain basic infrastructure, these new development areas could prove to be extremely expensive in the long run. I am now left scratching my head about how I might get the message across to the decision makers...

A lesson in making someone's day

Tomorrow is Rebecca's birthday.  In case I haven't mentioned her before, Rebecca is the daughter of Stellah, the lady Rob and I have hired to come and clean the house.  Stellah is simply stellar and we have very quickly bonded with her.  And by extension, with her family.  We have since met Stellah's older daughter Jumbe, and more recently her middle son, who lives with his aunt in a neighbouring town. 

A few weeks ago, Stellah mentioned that Rebecca's fourth birthday was coming up.  I asked what is typically done for birthdays and Stellah said that if there's money, usually a party (naturally, what else!).  So Rob and I discussed the situation and agreed to sponsor a party.  It turns out this is the first time Rebecca's birthday has been celebrated in this way.

Our friend and fellow VSO volunteer, Judy, agreed to deal with the logistics.  Judy determined that the best way to handle the party was to have it as part of Sunday school.  Today was the big day, and it was a smashing hit.  It was great to see everyone smiling and having fun, especially Stellah!

One, two, three... blow!

Rebecca and her cousin Andrew

Rob and I with Stellah and the birthday girl.

A "not small" Sunday school class.  Kudos to the teachers!

Pastor Tom, Judy, and the rest of us as the festivities wound down.

If you're interested, Rob has written a bit more about Stellah on his blog at: http://robwootton.blogspot.com/2010/09/stella.html

Barometric changes

With one loud clap of thunder at 12:36 on Sunday October 31, the skies opened and the rainy season in Mazabuka officially began. Moments earlier, I had been out in the garden with the sun shining; it looked like it was going to be yet another beautiful day. The storm whipped up a fair bit of wind, which in turn sent some of the mangoes to clatter loudly onto the metal roof. The rains continued on and off and with differing intensity for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. The cool breeze prompted me to put a living room chair out in the covered porch to read, which was lovely.

Though I'm happy to see the rains since the land and the plants look so dry, I am however alarmed to find that my right knee now appears to function as a barometer. I woke up yesterday morning with a slight ache in my knee which grew to be quite uncomfortable by noon. Perhaps I shouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly, but since I haven't done anything injurious to my knee recently, this strange ache does seem to suggest that I've acquired an “old person trait”. Life marches on.