Juxtapositions 3: The Mazabuka Olympics

The Mazabuka contingent of expats and volunteers has acquired a reputation as a party crowd. Befitting the reputation, we organized an Olympics party last weekend. Competitors vied for the medals in Darts, Ping-Pong and Billiards. Teams of two were drawn randomly, along with the country they were to represent. In a strange twist of fate, I was the only person who drew his own country – Canada!  It was a close competition, but the Zambian team prevailed to snatch the gold medal. 

Double 19 to win!

Refreshments between events!

Posing with Victoria

... later declared the bronze medalist from "Team Germany"

The gold medalists from "Team Zambia"

Juxtapositions 2: Birthdays

Despite the tensions in Mazabuka, there are always reasons to celebrate... such as birthdays. My colleagues and friends Pami and Ennie celebrated their respective birthdays a few days ago and insisted that I take some photos. Camera ownership is not so common in Zambia so people usually find it a great novelty to have their snaps taken. Now that I've posted the photos, I'll need to make good on my promise to print them out for the ladies...

Posing with the birthday girl, Ennie

Ennie with Rob and Judy

Pami (2nd from left) and colleagues

Sweet treats

Juxtapositions 1: Modern Life in the Capital

Upon leaving Mazabuka amid the protests, store closures and the general sense of unease, I came to Lusaka for a long weekend. My friends Helen and Dan have been generous hosts on short notice. It's always a pleasure to spend time with them.

I spent Friday morning at the VSO office catching up on some correspondence, updating my computer and informing the VSO staff about the situation in Mazabuka. In the afternoon, I went to the clinic for an overdue check-up (all fine), and then off to the mall to replace my decaying dress shoes (the uneven pavements and muddy roads have badly abused my shoes!) I tried setting up an appointment to see Habitat for Humanity, but seeing as it was short notice on a Friday, I got nowhere with that request.

As I sat at the mall enjoying a delicious cup of mocha java at Mugg & Bean, I couldn't help but think that this felt like such another world from the one I'd left the day before. A shiny new mall, a western-style coffee shop, and several styles of shoe to choose from...

Manda Hill reopened in November after a major renovation.  Could be the Eaton Centre.

 

Not so different from Loblaws

Evacuated

Unfortunately, the situation in Mazabuka has escalated.  The police were out again today allegedly looking for the protesters in the Nakambala neighbourhood.

This morning, my VSO Country Director wrote me an email asking how I felt about staying/leaving, and as I wrote my response to her, I heard new gun shots.  And then some machine gun fire.  The Deputy Director and I subsequently decided it was time to close the office and send everyone home.  As we were leaving, a new crowd started to gather around the police station which is quite literally a stone's throw (or perchance a bullet's trajectory?) from our office.  I understand there were at least two more deaths today.

While I probably wouldn't have been in any real danger by staying in my house, I took the first offer of a ride and came to Lusaka to chill out for a few days... with my passport, just in case.  I would never have expected this excitement.  I am safe, but I hope and pray that the violence ceases soon.

Senseless tragedy

Around 9:30 this morning, a large and noisy crowd began to assemble on the street in front of the police station. Naturally, work ground to a halt and everyone went out to see what was going on.

Some of the mob started vandalizing the large stone planter in the centre of the town's one (pretty) roundabout intersection. From my vantage point, I could see that they were taking portions of the stone wall to blockade the road.

After a while, people started running away from the scene as the police began shooting canisters of tear gas into the street. My very open office is not more than 100 metres from the scene. I didn't even have to get out of my seat to see and hear what was going on. Or to feel the mild effects of the tear gas on my eyes, nose and tongue. I would not want a full dose of that stuff...

Police considering their next moves.

Once people fled the original scene, the street became rather deserted. However, the rioters obviously moved off in other directions, as there were still many shots (of just tear gas, I hope) in the distance.

So, what prompted all this?

It's no secret that there was a Manchester United vs. Chelsea football game on last night in the UK. It's also no secret that Zambians are crazy about football. Although the rest is third-hand information, here is what I understand of the situation.

There was a bar in one of the compounds where the football game was being shown on TV. There was a crowd of people at the bar, watching the game. Since the rules prohibit bars from opening past 21:00 on weeknights, there might have been a noise complaint from a neighbour. The police came and decided to fire tear gas into the bar.  Three people died as a result of the scuffle - early reports said they suffocated due to the gas, but more recent reports say they died in the stampede to get out of the bar.

This morning, the people came to protest the deaths outside the police station. Apparently nobody came out to address them, so they started throwing stones and causing (minor) havoc. The police then sent out their people with more tear gas, Plexiglas shields and guns and essentially the town has been shut down as the forces mobilized to suppress the protesters. To make things worse, I am told that the tear gas suffocated a baby.

It's not the first time that a sporting event has led to havoc and deaths, nor unfortunately do I think this will be the last.

Rainy relief

It turns out that those teasing thundershowers last Friday were the beginning of some more substantial rains.  It has rained hard at times over the last few days and nights (though not as steadily as before).  Consequently, many people are breathing sighs of relief.

Before now, I've never really been in a place where the threat of drought has had such severe implications.  Droughts and famines are among those "tragedies" that we hear about from afar, but rarely experience for ourselves.  By the time agricultural calamities reach Canadian grocery stores, the effects show up as temporarily higher prices or a few days where we can't buy grapefruit.

Here, lack of rain means that the main staples fail and people truly go hungry.  Food for thought...

Weather worries

It's now been over three weeks since Mazabuka has seen any rain.  The situation is not yet a real problem, but everyone is becoming increasingly worried about the weather.  The maize crops that sprouted so eagerly in December and January need some more water to finish maturing.  Some of the plants are already starting to go yellow.

Today, we've had a few very light thunder showers which haven't done much but dampen the leaves and cool the air.  A colleague said, "It's as if the rain is joking with us."  Another colleague said a few days ago, "It looks like we're going from bumper harvest (2010) to hunger."  It's a long way to the next rainy season next November if this is it!

I sincerely hope we get some rain soon!!

The Case for Planning in Mazabuka

The following is a second article for the Mazabuka Times on the IDP:

***

In the January issue of the Mazabuka Times, we reported on the walking tours that were held with each of the Residential Development Committees (RDC) and Market Committees in the urban area of Mazabuka. The walking tours were popular among committee members, and they provided important insights into how residents live, work and move within their community. These “universal priorities” were: roads and drainage, markets, water service and waste management.

A follow up meeting was held with the RDCs on December 16, 2010 to formulate actions regarding the universal priorities. The discussion was intense and productive; the results of this meeting will be key in developing the policies and strategies to include in the final Integrated Development Plan for Mazabuka.

While stakeholders need to work towards improvements on each of these priorities, there are a number of higher-level, strategic issues that need attention for the IDP to succeed over its ten-year planning horizon. The purpose of this article is to highlight a few of these issues:

Keeping pace with population growth and service demands

Mazabuka is a thriving and growing community. In the previous Census (2000), the population of Mazabuka district was estimated at about 240,000 people, with over 80,000 people residing in the built-up urban area of the community. Annual population growth at that time was estimated in the range of 4%. However, a more recent estimate stated that the population was 280,000 in the year 2008. The change between 2000 and 2008 implies that the population might only have grown at an average of 2% per year in that time.

If the population of Mazabuka continues to expand at a rate of 2% per year, the population of Mazabuka district will reach over 360,000 by the year 2021, with more than 125,000 people living in the urban area. However, if population growth accelerates to 4% per year, the overall results will be far more dramatic. Under the second scenario, the district population would approach 550,000 with nearly 200,000 people living in town.

Population projections can never fully capture what will happen in the future, mainly because we can never “know” the future. The importance of projections is that they can guide decision makers as they plan for future housing developments, new and upgraded infrastructure and expansion of community services. Population projections require regular monitoring to ensure that development keeps pace with the “new arrivals”, which consist of newborn babies or migrants from other parts of Zambia.

Economic opportunity and secure livelihoods

As the local population continues to grow, it is essential to create and foster the conditions which will provide opportunities for women, men and youth to create secure livelihoods for themselves. Secure livelihoods can mean many things but according to Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), “A secure livelihood means having access to the income and resources necessary to meet basic needs and survive shocks. It also means having more control over how [one's] living is made.”

The concept of secure livelihoods is central to the work that VSO and other organizations are doing in Zambia, and is fundamental to the practice of town planning. Vibrant and healthy communities depend on the success of local business ventures which are supported by a qualified and adequately paid workforce. Mazabuka is fortunate to host some major employers such as Zambia Sugar, Albidon Mine and several commercial farms, which provide jobs to many. However, it is also important to remember that the community survey for the IDP, which was completed in 2008, revealed that nearly 30% of the respondents are self-employed (e.g. operating a market stall, consulting, running a restaurant). A further 34% of survey respondents said that they are unemployed, which is a rather alarming figure. Mazabuka's future prosperity will therefore depend on creating economic opportunities to reduce such high rates of unemployment.

Protecting the environment

It is often easy to ignore the fact that humans are as much a part of the environment as are the trees, grass, birds and insects that surround us. But we can only ignore this fact at our own peril.

Town planning has much to do with environmental protection. For instance, it is generally good practice to set developments well back (e.g. 30 metres) from the high water mark of streams and rivers to avoid seasonal flooding to homes. Setting development back from the water's edge also benefits the stream, since pollutants from everyday human activities (e.g. using the toilet, washing laundry, disposing garbage) can be released into the water. These pollutants change the chemistry of the water, which can harm aquatic plants and animals. Since many among us eat fish and take water from the Kafue River, these pollutants can eventually harm us too!

Another example is that as we continue to buy manufactured goods, plastic-based packaging such as bags, bottles and wrapping makes its way into the community. Usually, these packages are designed to be strong and durable, which is great for transporting the manufactured item over a long distance. The downside is that these products don't easily break down once they've been used and later become waste. In Mazabuka, where many households either burn or bury their wastes in the yard, it means that we risk exposing ourselves directly to the chemicals that are released into the air, water and land. For these reasons, the Council is already working on new programs to collect waste from town, after which it can be dumped in a safe and properly designed waste disposal site.

Conclusion

Without doubt, town planning is an exciting and rewarding profession. However, it is no small challenge to integrate the needs of residents into one plan which addresses so many themes! There are many more to include in the eventual plan – the ones mentioned here are but a few issues to think about when planning the future growth and development of Mazabuka.

The harvests continue

As I hear of friends and family shivering in the -33C weather back in Ottawa/Toronto, I can't help but think how different my February looks.

Case in point: this evening as I approached my front gate, I found a small gaggle of children brazenly munching on the ripening guavas from the tree outside our wall fence.  I'm not quite sure what the law says about trees in the boulevard, but Rob and I do feel some sense of ownership over the guava tree... and its fruit!

I wanted a few of the guavas too - just to try.  So at my signal, the kids clambered back up in the branches and started pulling off fruit and throwing it down.  They pulled at everything so I said, "Stop taking the green ones!  Just the yellow ones!"  Their reply was a bright and typically childlike, "Yes!"  It was obvious that they didn't understand me very well.  Eventually I asked them to come down and tried to explain that I didn't want them coming back to take ALL the fruit.  I don't mind the kids taking some of them, but naturally we want a few (preferably ripe ones) to enjoy too!

Sadly, the mango season ended a few weeks ago.  While we had far too many mangoes on the trees for our modest household to consume, I have a strong suspicion that the kids got into our compound and pilfered a few.  There were so many and then suddenly very few.  Where could they all have gone?  I figure some might even have been sold in the market.

I'm actually rather amused about the situation.  And on the upside, if we contributed some vitamins and income to some local kids, all the better!