SEFULA 2013 – MCF (WP) Annual Conference

Those of us from the area going to the Men’s Christian Fellowship held this year at Sefula met in Sesheke on Thursday morning last week at the UCZ Church. We departed from there after sharing a late breakfast of Coke and Tennis biscuits at a church member’s shop beside the market, whilst the vehicles were fuelled and we waited for the bus and the Minister from Livingstone. Sefula is about 300km away and our convoy of 3 cars rolled onto the M10 just after 11am. The first car contained the 3 Reverends from Livingstone, Mwandi and Sesheke. We were 6 MCF from Mwandi consistory, 2 from Lipumpu and 7 from Sesheke divided into 2 people carriers.

Participants at the MCF Conference



The first hold-up was at the police road-block at Katima Mulilo where we were directed to park inside the fence at the police post as our vehicles were suspected of being pirate taxis. However, our trip had been cleared as an official Church event by the Traffic Police in Sesheke, so after a phone call and explanation we were brusquely released.

The road from Sesheke to Sioma is now completely tarred. We took a break at Silumbu under a muhuluhulu tree (strychnos coculoides) while friends and relatives living nearby were greeted and visited. Shortly after this our Ministers’ car suffered the first puncture of the day which was quickly fixed at the side of the road. At Sioma we tried to see if the new pontoon at Muziba was working. However, it transpired that one of its engines was broken and a duff replacement had been sent from Lusaka, so the pontoon was still tied up to the bank just gathering dust. It would have saved us so much time crossing here, had the pontoon been working, as there is a good new tarred road on the East bank all the way to Senanga!

 

At Sioma the tar runs out but there is a good graded gravel road now all the way through Nangweshi and Sitoti to Kalongola. The sharp ‘chuckies’ embedded in the gravel road play havoc with ordinary tyres, so after a few hundred metres on the gravel we turned right and took the old sandy low-road that runs parallel to the Zambezi  through Nangweshi and Kaanja coming out at Sitoti to cross the Matabele Plain. This was a very pleasant route through small rural settlements and riverine trees. From there it is an easy drive to the Kalongola pontoon.

 

The name Libala la Matebele (The Plain of the Matabele) commemorates a victory over the Matabele who were ambushed here sometime in the 1840s. A group of Matabele under Nxaba, known in Lozi as Ngabe or Sikwanda, crossed the Zambezi near Senanga looking for the Makololo army under Sibitwane who were pursuing Mulambwa’s sons Imbua and Litia to Nyengo. The Matabele were betrayed by their local guides and fell into a trap. Nxabe hid for a time afterwards in the Kalamba Forest then surrendered. It was considered sacrilege if royal blood were spilled so he was drowned by his captors.   

 

At Kalongola, we were second in a queue of 6 vehicles and to carry all 6 it was necessary to double park on the pontoon. This meant our left front wheel was off the edge usual metal decking on the lower part where passengers normally stand. It had to bump up to get off at the other side of the river. This was enough to puncture our tyre. We managed to push the vehicle up the sandy bank to the top where the wheel was changed.  Restored by fried fish, groundnuts and boiled cassava, the party headed across the plain to Senanga. This is only a distance of 15km but takes over an hour because of the atrocious state of the road.

 

Because of broken and washed away culverts there are three major deviations where you leave the raised embankment and do a loop through sand on the plain. There are several areas where the dry sand is so liquid that without a 4x4 you get stuck and have to push. Here we had a stone jammed inside our wheel hub close to the break calipers. This meant another session with the jack and wheel spanners to remove it.

 

It was dark when we all reached Senanga market for further refreshments. We purred along the still good road towards Mongu for another hour or so, passing through Itufa Muoyo, Namushakende, the Nalikwanda turn-off and finally reaching Sefula safely, where we were issued with our mattresses and were given supper –buhobe and roasted beef.

 

The three day Conference on the first day dealt with three topics, the Prosperity Gospel which actually is no Gospel for it lacks God. Next came the Poverty Mentality and Debt lecture. It was suggested that an opportunity for change is available here as some of this can be self-inflicted and self-fulfilling from unwise lifestyle choices. The last theme of the day was seeking the Church transformed through prudent stewardship. This was a call to look after and use wisely all that God provides for us.

 

On Saturday we started with Man in God’s Picture of Creation, followed by your Gift was meant to produce service. Our gifts are meant for the glory of God and to serve others in love, using our whole heart and soul. The last lecture was on Giving. Giving is a command, a form of worship and an appreciation of God’s love for us. At a meeting in the evening we agreed to give the money we had collected to refurbish the girl’s ablution blocks at the dormitories. This is where we had been sleeping and we could see they were in need of repair. We also took time out to visit Rev Lubasi’s grave and held a short time of remembrance and thanksgiving. Three ZAF jets flew overhead as we were doing this.

 

At the service the next day the Western Presbytery Bishop Rev Sipalo dedicated 12 new members including the 3 Ministers (Revs. Manyando, Sivile and Manda). After a quick lunch we left Sefula at 2pm. A short break ensued in Senanga until we had the new tire put on at Senanga.  All was quiet following the recent arrests and detention of 45 people from Mongu, Senanga and Kalabo the previous day, in connection with allegations concerning the propagation of secession.

 

To avoid the broken culverts this time we took the road behind the prison through the compound and across the plain to join the road to the pontoon closer to the river. The return journey was fairly uneventful, barring a further puncture at Lusu. We got in to Sesheke just after 8pm and reached home to Mwandi at around 2230h.

All Under One Roof

The 11th August was Men’s Christian Fellowship (MCF) Sunday and Mwandi Consistory like Ancient Gaul was divided into 3 geographical areas. We were assigned the Northern part comprising in ascending order from the tar road the congregations of Sankalonga, Kamusa, Adonsi and Magumwi which is 85km from Mwandi. The service would be held at 10am at Adonsi Church.

Adonsi Church

We set off at around 7am in long shadows and the rising sun, with Mr Libonda from Sooka, the Consistory Chief Steward, who was preaching, and our boot packed with 12 cartons of men, women and children’s clothing from the CART container. These would be distributed to the congregations after the service. We headed downstream parallel to the river but through the bush to Sikuzu to pick up Mr Mutakela, the MCF Convenor who was leading worship and Mr Chikeba, the MCF Consistory Choirmaster.

 

Inside Adonsi Church

We travelled along the still densely afforested loose sand track to the dip tank and along the potholed tar road to the Namango turn-off where we were once again on sand. We cut across the khaki carbonated plain, dry, sooty and dusty towards Kamusa- through mopani, palm and Ngongo trees, past termite mounds and dried up water pans. Most surface water has entirely evaporated, though some villages continue with a valiant effort to grow tomatoes and kale, irrigated by hand with buckets of water drawn from shallow wells.

 

We passed herds of meandering fallow and dapple-coated long horn cows with their still suckling calves. The lack of pasture is now a problem and the cattle are beginning to appear on the island at Mwandi as the river has fallen they can now swim the river and reach the still green grass on these small flood plains. Our path was also crossed by a number of families of bounding squirrels. The best sight was when we inadvertently flushed out a quartet of flapping and disapproving ground hornbills.

 

An hour after the turn off jolting along the dry puddle-pock marked sand track and straining through small dunes of drifting sand we arrived at Kamusa to a warm welcome and a breakfast of samp and pounded groundnuts. Samp is a local porridge made from broken and chipped maize seeds. The four congregations began to gather and the service started at 10am. The sermon was a call to prudent stewardship. After the close of the service we were able to distribute 3 cartons of men, women and children’s clothes to each congregation and four communion platters.

We then looked at the site for the new Church that Dornoch will help to roof. It was agreed that 60 sheets would be supplied with nails ridging and rafters. After a lunch of buhobe, kale and catfish washed down with fresh milk, we set off for Adonsi and Magumwi. It was quite a squash until we deposited members at the school. We carried on to Magumwi where we met the Congregational Board and eldership. Again we agreed to help with the roofing. The congregation numbers over 300 and they have made 5000 clay bricks. It is exciting as this will be the first rural church to be built of  bricks.

 

 

Current Magumwi Church
 

 

We set off from Magumwi at 4pm and were home just as the sun was setting with a gift of a sack of maize and a bucket of groundnuts to share out.

ARV Shortage

August 2013

 

At the moment there is a shortage of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) throughout Zambia.

Many health facilities, Mwandi Mission Hospital included, have very low levels of stock or have completely run out of Truvada and Abacavir. We were only given 21 bottles of Neviripine syrup for children in the last dispatch from Medical Stores and we have only a few tablets of the same drug left. We have tried to procure a consignment through CHAZ (Churches Health Association of Zambia) but they too have run out. There may still be some stocks available at Mongu, the Western capital, 400km away. Our vehicle is tanked up, waiting for the word to go.

 

A Ministry of Health spokesman reported in the ‘Times of Zambia’ on 27 July, that the country was expecting 91,500 bottles of Truvada in three weeks’ time (mid-August) and another 400,000 bottles in September this year, with the last consignment of 300,000 bottles of the same drug in October. The Ministry of Health says there is no cause for alarm as there is enough Truvada in-country to last until the next batch is received.  Other ARVs are reported available as well. In the meantime the Government had ordered another 600 000 bottles of Truvada which should arrive in September as well.

 

In typical “Govspeak” the reason for the shortage was put down to “some logistical challenges in the procurement process.” Another contributing factor was a world shortage of Tenofovir a vital ingredient in the manufacture of Truvada. In what is seen as a possible threat to increase resistance some patients on Truvada and Neviripine are being given Atripla instead. Neviripine is used as second-line treatment according to Zambian protocol. Depending on availability patients are being issued with 2 weeks supply at Mwandi instead of the usual 3 months’ supply.

 

Allafrica news recently reported that Zambia is now meeting its Abuja 2001 Declaration responsibility to spend at least 15% of the budget on healthcare, part of this to help meet the cost of keeping around 500 000 people on ARVs. This works out at almost 4% of the total population. Around $80 million of $120 million the ARV programme costs comes from donors. Last year the Government contributed $10 million and this is to be raised this year to $35 million, hoping to match a dollar for dollar contribution leading to greater Zambian ownership in footing the bills and implementation of programme. With so many calls on it and with limited resources it is not easy for the Government to achieve greater sustainability in the programme.

 

Meanwhile at Mwandi to serve 1800 people needing ARVs, a neighbouring mission over 4 hours away has some extra stock at the moment and has promised to share some with us. The Province as well may have some it can give us in the meantime. The AIDS Relief vehicle was sent yesterday to collect what was available. We await its return.

 

DISHONEST POVERTY

 

There was a report in yesterday’s paper of three deaths in Western Province by people drinking methylated spirit as if it were alcohol. This unfortunate trend follows the banning of packaging and selling of sachets of cheap spirits known as tujilijili. Following these and other deaths there is an increasing demand for a curb on sales from unlicensed stalls (Tuntembas) or stores. Despite strong pronouncements from local Churches and authorities on temperance and public drunkenness, Mwandi is plagued by the arrival daily of two opaque beer tankers, bowser-sized, from Livingstone peddling their wares which are sold on in unlicensed informal yard bars; an income generating scheme for many single mothers. Two recent stabbings locally were drink-related.

 

Despite steady growth from macro policies, a stable inflation rate, increasing direct investment still half the Zambian population lives in extreme poverty and cannot meet basic needs. Inequality and injustice are obvious with the growing gap between rich and poor. Too many girls still don’t finish school, one shocking statistic is that 30% of 14-19 year old girls have been impregnated and have at least one child. Most rural youths remain jobless and spend their time loafing around. Even if in school Zambian youth also continues to suffer from poor quality education, a recent UN figures suggests that only 10% who enter Grade 1 emerge at Grade 12 - a 90% attrition rate.

 

A UCZ minister from the North has squarely laid the blame at the door of the selfish and greedy elite in leadership in government and the administration, who are entrusted to manage public affairs for the common good but instead show their indifference to the plight of the majority of our population, living in abject poverty.

Zambia is endowed with abundant wealth and natural resources yet many people are still living in perpetual and abject squalor below the poverty datum line. This can only be addressed when the national cake is shared more selflessly by those at the top.

 

Last Saturday morning we were on our way to the opening of the new Maternity wing at Masese Clinic. This has been built by Irish donors through the Arthur Cox Foundation. At the Mulobezi junction a briefcase commodity dealer company had set up a fenced compound and was offering spot cash to local farmers for their maize - cynically enticing those in need with a price, less than the floor price, before the Food Reserve Agency opens for business. The difficulty is that although farmers get the floor price for their maize from FRA they often have to wait some considerable time before they receive payment, so many are tempted to take the lower price.

 

We do most of our purchasing in Livingstone and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection notes that the 15 basic food items for a family of 5 in Livingstone in June has risen to K940.54 and to K2 684.01 if essential non-food items are included. Livingstone is the third most expensive town after Lusaka (K3 684.46) and Solwezi- a still rather inaccessible mining boom-town, (K3 013.65).
Divide by 5, 6 or 8 to get the approximate rates in US$, Euros or GBP respectively.

 

The Council of Churches in Zambia, the Zambian Episcopal Conference (RC) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia all agreed at a recent meeting that mining investors have not really helped the country’s poor communities but in fact have made things worse by the way they conduct their business. Mining is a social justice issue because the associated environmental pollution, which impacts negatively on agriculture, rivers and air and the consequences of this contamination was borne disproportionately by the poor.

 

Statistics suggest 42% or 5.4m of the Zambian population lives in abject poverty this rises to 84% in Western Province. Moderate poverty accounts for another 2.4m people or 18% of the population. Despite valiant attempts at diversification in agriculture, tourism and other services, mining still remains the mainstay of the Zambian economy.  80% of export value comes from minerals and of that 90% is copper. That is 5.1% of GDP and 64% of the balance of trade.

 

But mining still makes a comparatively small contribution, especially since privatization, to the Zambian tax authorities. The multi-national conglomerates that make up most of the mining companies are well-resourced and have cutting-edge technology available to them. They are powerful and have been able to lobby and use influential individuals in both the political and civil spheres to work for their mutual benefit and for that of their shareholders. This has all happened at the expense the poor, illiterate and vulnerable.

 

Christ teaches us to remove the rock of offence and take away the stumbling block. The Church has its own interest too in the elimination of poverty. Poverty is not the ally but the enemy of the Gospel. The Gospel will not flourish amongst the submerged. The poor still have the Gospel preached but poverty and hunger can bar the way to the entrance of the Word.  Scripture reminds us that expectancy of the poor for better times and things will not always be doomed to disappointment. Psalm 9:18: For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.  

Progress and Development

Last weekend  was the Heroes and Unity long weekend, our major winter public holiday. We have just said farewell to another American Surgery Team who have spent the last week doing operations. The solar lights have been installed at Sikuzu School and the staff latrines there are complete, however, still minus their doors.


Our bank in its wisdom, decided that in their catch-all measures to prevent money-laundering and in the interests of customer service improvement, we now needed an ATM card to make withdrawals from the account we have had with them since 2004. It has taken over two weeks to get the card and has taken another three days of phone calls to get it activated. Actually by issuing everyone with ATM cards, I suspect all they will be doing is shifting the problem. So that now instead of patiently queuing behind 20 people inside the bank to reach the two overworked tellers, you will queue outside the bank behind a similar number of fatalistic customers trying to reach the single over-worked ATM machine!

For the first time in 20 years we now have drinking water in our house from a tap. Before this at Mwandi, we had taken river water and boiled it, then we had let the water cool and poured it into a metal water filter with ceramic elements that claimed to remove algae, rust, sediment and other suspended solids to say nothing of e-coli, shigella, giardia, salmonella and guinea worm! A Livingstone water pump and solar power business had an offer on a water purification system whose spare parts were low cost and easily available. The river water goes through spun fibre to remove solid particles, then carbon grains followed by a carbon block to remove organic material and odour, it then passes through ultraviolet light to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. It can produce 15 000 litres before needing to change the filters and yields 4 litres a minute.

At the beginning of the week ZESCO (Electricity Company) arrived and installed our domestic pre-pay meter. They gave us 50 units free as a starter till we could get to Livingstone and have the swipe card activated, so that we can pay for our electricity in advance. So, on Wednesday, from the bank, I next visited ZESCO, they said they would work on activating the account and return in the afternoon. This I did and after a short wait was able to put money into our account. You receive a till receipt with a number you punch into your meter which charges it with the number of units you have paid for. Interestingly, in all these developments - the solar panel, inverter, water filter and electric meter; the parts were Chinese-made. At least, our Shanghai Electric Company meters are being assembled in Zambia.

Finding decent jobs the world over is a major problem with so-called flexible forms of work with atypical or non-standard employment becoming more and more usual. These jobs are often part-time or are short fixed-term contracts with an on-call / zero-hours component. Those working in the Third Sector and Healthcare are only too well aware of this, with the health and safety dangers, the uncertainty, stress and risk of poverty that these jobs bring. With this type of employment it will not be difficult to fall into the trap of undeclared work.

Just as there is nothing illegal with tax avoidance, so there is nothing illegal in offering these forms of employment, but morally and ethically from a Christian point of view one has to ask is it right that ordinary people have no effective right to life in this world unless they can sell their skills and labour at the lowest price possible to a company whose only interest in them is to make the greatest profit possible out of them?

As Christians we see our efforts producing something that would otherwise not exist and we cooperate to support all human life: and in doing so, tackle dangers and difficulties and add to overall human happiness. In shops, mines, factories, schools, hospitals and offices people are organized to make the world a better place to live in, working with others on this world, God’s creation. Another value Christians discern is that working with others increases solidarity since what you are doing is done primarily for the good of others. We see society as a system of services in which we all take part. Work also brings dignity and allows people to put love in their lives. Our love and all it grows into in the new creation, we take with us into eternity, so fellow human beings are not just another commodity or natural resource to be exploited by a rapacious few. To deny someone decent working conditions is to offend against their humanity and against the image of God in them.

The arrogant, powerful and oppressive rich who make the law, then set themselves above it and use it deliberately to harm the poor will be held accountable one day. They actually condemn and murder innocent people who are not opposing them. The book of James says that they’ll need buckets for their tears when the crash comes, when the riches they relied on evaporate, the corrupt money, designer clothes and greedy luxuries. The excessive profits they made should have been used to pay fair wages to employees. All they will have to show for all their looting is a fatter corpse than normal.

CART

Yesterday we received a container through the Christian African Relief Trust. They are old friends of Mwandi Mission and had sent us a previous one in 2009. The truck actually arrived in the dark on Monday evening and got stuck in the sand outside the OVC. It had come from Beira via Mutare and Victoria Falls to Livingstone and then on to Mwandi. It was dug out before 0800h on Tuesday and was driven to just outside the chapel, where the unloading took place with the help of 9 members of staff and volunteers.

We had requested mattresses for the Mission Hospital and 103 were unloaded and stacked in the chapel. At the moment the hospital is undergoing major renovations. Ida is investigating now the costs and logistics of acquiring and purchasing new hospital beds in Zambia.  There were a number of boxes for the Hospital Central Stores and some orthopedic crutches and sticks. Chairs and desks for the school were off-loaded into the Landrover 130 and driven to the school. We also borrowed the OVC truck to transport the other boxes of clothes to be stored until they can distributed through the local congregations.

We are very grateful for the generosity of all the unpaid volunteers in Britain who gather and pack the goods into containers and to those who kindly donate money and goods, as well as those who staff the charity shop where the takings help pay for running costs and contribute towards the sending of some containers.

From past experience we know that the goods sent help relieve people living in extreme poverty. Also with these goods, especially the aquaboxes, we have been able to directly help those who have lost their houses either through fire or flooding. The school furniture and school books have helped us to support development of education in all the areas of education run locally by the UCZ in Pre-school, Primary and Secondary. Under-resourced local organisations have also benefited. In the medical field the bedside-lockers are still used and greatly appreciated.  The sewing machines will be used to good effect by the Formula Mothers Support Group. They raise a regular income by sewing for Mission Hospital and selling bags and tie-dye clothes and materials to visitors. There has been a poor harvest this year and we are prescribing food mainly beans and soya to those with a body mass of less than 19. The tins of food that were sent will provide a little more variety.

BUILDING ON SOLID FOUNDATIONS

Today is Wednesday and Ida has gone with the car to an Aids Relief Meeting in Lusaka. Just after she left, Mubita broke out in a rash that looked like chickenpox! After lunch we went down to the OPD where Mr Sully the Clinical Officer confirmed the suspicion. We usually do our weekly trip to Livingstone for supplies on a Wednesday but today we are confined to barracks. Mubi is feeling a wee bit ‘hingy’ so is sitting on my knee helping me type this!

This is a good opportunity for an update on recent events locally and nationally. Ida has been busy with Dr Ozzie Reynold’s eye-team who have undertaken 47 eye-cataract operations in the past week. Before that we had visits from Albemarle Church who came with former PCUSA Mission Partners Joyce and Richard Lambert. They were followed by Goldsboro, both of these Churches are a blessing to many with their faithful support of the Formula Programme.

We also enjoyed meeting up with some good old friends from Hickory on two separate occasions. Ellie and Conway came for the American Board Meeting and Jo Brenda, Cathie and Jim came with a group of student nurses and supplied artificial limbs to those attending the clinic and in need. The most moving time was when a woman from the rural areas got her limbs and learned to walk for the first time. Other patients who had received limbs in the past came to have them checked, adjusted or replaced too.

Renovations are underway at the hospital; over US$300 000 is being spent to improve the toilets, ablutions and wards. The patients have been moved to the previously-cleared TB and Infectious Diseases Wards while this work is underway. A Zambian contractor, who worked on the new Levy (Mwanawasa) Mall has been engaged to undertake this.

Work has also started on the new UCZ Mwandi Church building being constructed on the site of the original 1913 church. It is interesting that this is happening 100 years to the year of the inauguration of the Sesheke (Mwandi) Church on 25 December 1913. This brick Church was constructed by John Roulet and was dedicated in the presence of Prince Litia with a congregation of 400. Others in attendance were Evangelist Josefe Masupa and the teacher Daniel.

At Sikuzu, the two staff latrines are presently under construction and should be complete and functioning by the end of June. A preliminary visit was made to look at the requirements and the necessary work to undertake the digging of the well to secure pure drinking water for the school and community. Once the surface water recedes some more we will be able to reach the location of the well which is still underwater. It was good that Greg was able to see the work being undertaken and speak to those involved when he was over for the American Board Meeting too.  

Last Saturday Rob, Fiona’s father and I did a tour of the hand pumps located at the Diptank, Makanga, Namango and the 3 pumps at Mabumbu. All registered unacceptably high levels of salinity, which if drunk continually over time could impair kidney function and lead to increased cases of High Blood Pressure. Ironically the best and purest drinking water came from the river at Kasaya!

Nationally the latest major controversy to hit the headlines and cause UNZA students to demonstrate was the removal of tax-payer funded subsidies to maize, fuel and fertilizer. The main rationale for their abolition was that the Government was spending, comparatively speaking, huge sums and an unacceptably high proportion of the budget on subsidizing these items supposedly for the benefit of the poor but in reality those mainly benefiting from the maize subsidy were the millers, who have racketeered with their prices for years. The subsidized fertilizer price was enjoyed mainly by commercial farmers. None of our local subsistence farmers, here to my knowledge, were able to regularly avail themselves of this commodity. Even at a subsidized price there are few here that could afford it. The most commonly-used fertilizer here is cattle manure. The subsidized fuel supported, in the main the transport industry, and those fortunate enough to own a vehicle. These vested interests combined and have managed to make a lot of noise as can be imagined, over this move away from subsidies.

The Government says it wants to focus on putting in place direct cash transfers to low income households and cutting taxes. The removal of these subsidies and the saved revenue can be used for many other pressing social and infrastructural development projects in sectors like health, education, power supply and roads. It can also be invested in capital projects and used to reduce domestic and external debt.  If done as promised, this is probably a much better way to tackle poverty, meet 2015 MDG (Millennium Development Goals) and grow the economy for the common good rather than through these subsidies which inadvertently benefited the already well-off.