a week with tonsillitis

Early last week while I was building with the team I started to get a headache and fever so my day was cut short and I went back to bed. Over the next few hours my fever went crazy and I got worse headaches and a sore throat which made it harder and harder to swallow. The next day I had a Malaria test which came out negative (phew), so after another awful night I went to a doctor in Luanshya. The doctor seemed to have a good reputation and the Hands at Work volunteers who live here trusted him (medical help can be a bit dodgey over here) so I went and was diagnosed with Tonsillitis and was given a long injection that seemed to last hours and then a course of Antibiotics. After a few more horrible days and fevery nights I finally started to feel better towards the end of the week.

I had a slow weekend and then on Sunday I started to help set up the accomodation for the Hands at Work conference that is on over the next few days. My role at the conference is on the audio/visual team so I'm spending my days half on the sound desk at the back of the conference and half photographing and filming bits of the conference for the media team. I'm really enjoying having my camera back in my hands for a while, hoping to get some good material for future use.

My First Week In Zambia

I have spent the last 6 days working at Kachele farm as part of the building/maintenance team here and we've been working on a new building project. We have been converting three old brick chicken sheds into accomodation for future volunteers. There will be an apartment for a couple with a small bathroom and kitchen in one building, then the second two buildings will have 2 single rooms in each, all with a small en suite shower room.

The first two chicken shacks were being damaged by a huge tree that had sent roots under the foundations and were lifting the walls and causing cracks. So our first two days were spent hacking at the roots with an axe and digging trenches that we would later fill with concrete to protect the new buildings from damage in future. This was back breaking work and the axe gave me blisters all over my hands, but it was worth it to protect the houses. Then Wednesday was spent cutting the walls down to a level that we could build on again, we used a grinder to cut the windows out and then made a start on the interior walls.

On Thursday I took a break from building and joined a team who were going out into one of the communities we work in. It was my first Zambian community visit and it was brilliant seeing a community so different to the ones I’ve seen in South Africa yet still using the same system and goals that make up the Hands at Work Model. I went with Russell and Dianne to visit a home, the family that lived there were Mother, Father and 4 year old son. Both of the parents were paraplegics. They had one wheelchair and a hand-pedal three wheeler; it was hard seeing people living like that whereas if they were in the UK they would have all the support and healthcare they needed.

Friday and Saturday were spent building again, I had my first try at brick laying and the houses really started to look like rooms rather than a building site. We mixed bags and bags of mortar and concrete by hand (not fancy mixing machines) and filled in the trenches we dug earlier, fitted the first doorframe and some other bits and bobs that needed clearing or moving or recycling. So after 2 months of doing very little manual labour I’ve been back at it and I’m loving the feeling of exhaustion after a days work.

The internet here isn’t strong enough to upload photographs but I will keep trying. The Video Blogs won’t have a chance uploading so there will be very little visual stuff on my blog until I’m living somewhere with a better connection. But I’m not moaning! I’m just glad I can email home!

Arrived at Kachele

Yesterday we got out of the pickup truck at about 6pm and I had my first tour around Kachele Farm. It had taken us four days to drive there...

On Wednesday at 3.30am my alarm went off and I stumbled out of my room and into the pickup truck that would take me 2100km north. I was travelling with Sal, Jaap, Simon and George (Australian, Dutch, South African and Canadian). The back seat of the Hilux was a bit cramped with 3 not so short men in it. We were on the road for 14.5 hours that day, stopping only for fuel and bodily functions. It took around an hour to cross the South Africa/Botswana border which I thought was a long time (oh how wrong was I?). While we were driving we saw ostrich, a fairly big snake, warthogs, baboons and a few elephants, all on our way to our campsite.

The next day we packed up and left at 8:00, we drove for 5 hours to the Botswana/Zambia border and spent an hour leaving Botswana and crossing the Zambezi by ferry. On the Zambian side of the river we had to get our visas and then go through customs, this took 7 hours! That border was awful, the lowest point of the trip. We were trying to get a trailer full of sheets and blankets through but it took forever, we had different people telling us to get different bits of paperwork and it was all a big mess. While Sal was sorting that out we were being pestered by people asking to wash the car or watch it (protect it from people who might steal luggage etc). Trying to convince these people, particularly one guy who'd been at the home-brew, that we could watch it perfectly well while we're sitting inside it was almost as hard as getting the trailer through customs. We finally crossed the border just after it got dark and drove for another hour to our campsite just outside Livingston. I went to sleep in the tent listening to Victoria Falls roaring away in the distance.

Friday was our rest day. Me, Sal and Jaap went to Victoria Falls for a few hours, it is coming to the end of the wet season so the falls were pumping so much water that we couldn't see much of the actual waterfall because of the huge cloud of mist and vapour that was being thrown into the air around it. Walking across the cliffs and over the bridges we got wetter than if we'd been for a swim! I managed to get a handful of photos and videos before my camera got so wet it cut out, I spent a lot of time over the last few days trying to dry out the camera and my lenses. We spent that evening watching the sun set over the Zambezi before an early night.

On Saturday we had another 12 hours of driving ahead so we were up early for a 6am start. The road quality was very mixed that day, from brand new tarmac to roads with potholes bigger than bath tubs. I've never seen potholes as big as those ones, some were at least 18 inches deep. After a long, hot and very cramped last day we arrived at Kachele Farm not long before sunset. I met a load of people, some completely new, some from my orientation and some I hadn't seen for at least 4 years. I had an absolutely amazing journey, if my time in Zambia is only half as good as this roadtrip then I can't wait to get started.

Roadtrip to Zambia:

Over the last two weeks I've been waiting to go to Zambia with a building team but due to a few changes of plan along the way I've had some time where I haven't had a proper 'job description'. So instead of sitting around waiting I've been helping out where I can; I spent most of my time with Dave helping him service the charity’s cars and pickup trucks so lots of oily, dusty days underneath engines.
 

 

Over the long Easter weekends we’ve had a chance to go camping a couple of times. One weekend me and a few friends camped at Mankele and entered a mountain biking race there and the next weekend we drove about an hour and a half and crossed the border into Swaziland and stayed a few nights in an ex-mining village called Bulembu. Bulembu turned into a bit of a ghost town when the asbestos mine was closed down about ten years ago and since then has been turned into a self-sustaining village for orphaned children. It was amazing being shown around by our mountain guide as we climbed Emlembe (Swazilands highest peak) and then back down into the village. Our guide, a man called Mathakoza, told us he was a golf caddy for the mine managers while the mine was still open so it was great hearing the story of his village from his own point of view.

 

 

 

So after two weeks of feeling a bit like a spare part in a big machine I am finally going up to Zambia to help a team build some accommodation for volunteers. Five of us are going to drive up through Botswana in a pickup truck and trailer; we will leave at 4.00am tomorrow morning and will be on the road for 4 days! I’m really looking forward to the trip but I know it will be a long time in a cramped car full of men and luggage.

I’m not sure how long I will be in Zambia but I think it will be at least a month, then after that I could be moved again or stay on in Zambia. I am a bit behind on my photo and video processing but I’ll try to catch up and get some more work on my Flickr and Vimeo sites. I'm so excited about the next part of my trip!

A Message for my Grandparents!

 

I've been told my Grandparents don't believe I'm eating well enough so here's solid proof I can cook!

Catching up on my Vlogs:

www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog7

Another Video, this is from about a week ago. Climbing, spitting goat poo, cycling and eating, what more would I want from a weekend? There's a lot of people in this video that have had a huge part in making my first 6 weeks here as amazing as it has been, lots of brilliant memories with these guys!

A Late Bloggy Vloggy Vid:

www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog6
I haven't had a strong enough internet connection to upload this video so it's a bit delayed. Just a quick vid I made from footage I took in Kaapschehoop with some friends and a stray dog...

Back In Welverdiend

Today we had the opportunity to go back to Welverdiend to meet our hosts at the Community Based Organization there. As soon as we got there me and Leyton greeted our friends and we swapped stories over the last few weeks; he told us how his sister misses teaching us to cook and his young nephews asked him “Uncle, where are the mulungus?” – mulungu is their word for foreigners or white people. We didn’t get a chance to see his home and family but we saw him and his younger brother which was great.

We kicked around a half-flat football for a bit and he and his friends told us about their latest football matches and scores, they’re now second in the league and not far behind the leaders. We were then invited to eat pap, cabbage and a gravy/mince sauce with them, we had only just had lunch but we managed to force a tiny amount down to be polite. Eating with them brought back memories of the weekend we spent together really vividly; it’s weird how smells and tastes can do that so suddenly and powerfully.

It was odd going back to such a familiar place and seeing friends that seem like we’ve known them for ages. I had to remind myself that we had only met two weeks ago. It’s a shame it was such a short visit but it was worth the hours of dusty, bumpy roads to see them. I had to explain that I wouldn’t be able to see them or txt them again for a while as I’m going to Zambia (more on that in my next post) which made me sound like I was avoiding talking to him. I’d love to go and stay with his family again sometime but for now it’s not possible, I told him I’d come and see him when I’m back in the country.

3 Nights in Welverdiend

Last weekend I stayed with another volunteer called Leyton in a family's house in Welverdiend. We arrived on Friday afternoon and met our host for the first time. He is 17 years old and took us to his home where we met his Mother, three older siblings and younger brother, niece and two nephews. All nine family members lived in 3 rooms, the three men/boys stayed in two rooms on one side of the yard and the 6 others stayed in one room at the far end. It was odd seeing the family split up like that but in African culture the men in the family often have the better rooms and food etc.

That night the oldest sister (36) cooked pap and chicken for us, pap is kind of like mash potato but made from maize, it doesn’t taste like much but is filling so it’s eaten a lot in the communities we work in. The chicken and cabbage was delicious so we sat and ate with our host while the rest of the family left the room, it was weird being served like this and we didn’t feel comfortable having not helped cook or wash up after. We told his sister that she had to teach us to cook the next day, partly because we wanted to learn and partly because it was the only way she’d let us help out.

We spent the night with our host asking each other questions and watching an old 12” TV, his mother had saved and bought him this to help him learn English; he watches African soaps listening to the actors and reading the subtitles, if he finds a word he doesn’t know he looks it up in his dictionary. He told us that he wants to be a meteorologist or failing that a journalist, he’s definitely clever enough but he just needs the money to get to university. But with 98% unemployment in Welverdiend he will struggle to find a job after he finishes school, I have no idea how he will be able to afford university without finding a job.

His parents were originally from Mozambique, I’m not sure when or why they moved to South Africa but it was probably during the war in Mozambique, lots of people fled the country and risked their lives to get into SA. His family then moved from Belfast (not the one in Ireland) when his father died. He was just 6 at the time and his mother decided to move closer to her sister so they ended up in Welverdiend.

We spent a fair bit of time watching the local football league, there are 11 teams in Welverdiend and the winner of that tournament moves up to play against other villages. Our host was the captain of his team and we watched them win 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. It was really good seeing a social side of the communities, we always hear about the un-employment and broken families and shortages of water so it was great seeing two local teams doing what they love in a properly organised and refereed match. The atmosphere of these small matches showed how much a part of their lives it is. I was told the league was properly organised by coaches and village elders to keep the kids out of trouble, an encouraging sign that the village is a hopeful, positive community that is starting to actively encourage the children and young adults.

We were taken to church on Sunday morning with our host and his friend who was hosting two more volunteers (Dave and Russell). The church couldn’t afford a building so people took their own chairs and sat in the shade of a huge tree. The service was all in Shangaan but the people we sat next to translated bits of what the pastor was saying. Apparently he was preaching about abandoning ancestor worship which is still strong in a lot of communities across Africa. After the sermon we were asked to go to the front and introduce ourselves, they then gave us the seats of the church founders and their choir performed for us; they sang in Shangaan and English and it sounded fantastic. Afterwards we were given food that had been brought as a social lunch meeting; the church also sent a boy to the store to buy a bottle of coke for us. It was amazing receiving such generous hospitality, the church were unbelievably welcoming, it was a great example of African hospitality… and also a reminder that wherever you go in the world you still can’t escape the reach of huge brands like Coca-Cola… although it did taste amazing under the African sun!

The weekend was a tough experience which stretched my comfort zone a long way. I now realise how important the work that Hands at Work does is, having seen the people it supports and hearing the stories of how it affects so many children and young adults in the communities. I’ll never forget the names of the people we stayed with and the amazing kindness, generosity and hospitality they showed us. That family will stay with me forever and I can’t wait to go back and see them soon.

Back at Hands

Just got back from a three-night community stay. I stayed in Welverdiend with a family of 9 and another volunteer called Leyton. The family we stayed with had a Mother, 5 Children (Aged 36-13) and 3 Grandchildren (Aged 15-4). There will be another blog in more detail when I've had time to type it all up but for now I'm back at Hands Village all safe and sound.

The Sabie Classic

On Sunday me, Dave, Paul, Cathy and Juanita entered a mountain bike race called the Sabie Classic. Our race was 38km long with 950m of ascent. We entered the race on the day instead of booking online so we started at the back in the last group (the start was in staggered groups from A to I) so we were behind around 3000 other riders! The first section of the race was a 12km climb to the first food/drink tent 500m above the start line, I was impressed by the number of people I overtook on that first climb but I lost too many places due to bad cramps later on. The weather was wet and misty so I felt right at home on the slippery, greasy clay surface while a lot of the South African riders got confused by the mud! I was really happy with my overall time (Just over 3 hours I think) but I could’ve done a lot better if my legs didn’t cramp up so badly. But I really enjoyed the race and the buzz as I crossed the line to cheers from complete strangers, the whole race had a really friendly, laid back feeling instead of everybody giving each other evil stares on the start line which was great. There are not many sports where you have over 3000 competitors from professionals to junior riders. But the best part was the smart little medal you get for finishing the race, it really feels like an achievement!

Kaapschehoop

My burns were almost better on Friday so I was allowed to join in with my group, we spent the day helping the maintenance team with some earth levelling and bush clearing. It was nice to be able to do some work after 4 days inside.

On Saturday most of the group got up early and went to Kruger National Park for the day. I've already been a few times and didn't fancy another day stuck in a car after so long in my room, so the 3 of us who didn't go went out with Dave to a tiny village called Kaapschehoop. Kaapschehoop is a wierd jumble of houses and hotels really high up in the mountains, we went out for a braai and some rock climbing and a swim (paddle) in a waterfall there. We were followed round all day by a dog that we met; she was a crazy little dog that followed us for miles and started hunting lizards in the long grass, she even followed us to the top of the rock formations that we were climbing.

Later we found out that she was 'owned' by one of the hotels but lived everywhere, she seemed to know her way around the mountain and where to find food. She climbed into Dave’s car while we packed the boot and tried to keep the wild horses away from our food, so before we left we stopped at the hotel and she jumped out of the car and started barking at somebody walking their dogs, the owners must’ve thought we were dumping the dog and driving away.

Vloggy Blog part 5:

The start of my lonely week at home, the burn is clearing up now but I've still not been out into the community yet: www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog5

Braaiing and Burning:

On Saturday about fifteen Hands volunteers went to spend the day at a place called Mac Mac Pools, we drove in three cars and bought food on the way so we could have a braai (a braai is a barbeque in South Africa). Mac Mac is a small bundle of waterfalls and rock pools quite high up in the mountains, we spent most of the day sitting in the warm shallow pools or jumping off the waterfalls into cold plunge pools. One of the volunteers called Sibusiso had his first swimming lessons and by the end of the day was confident enough to jump off the waterfall – about 3 metres tall – and into the amazingly clear water. We had a really awesome day out but when I got up on Sunday I realised I was a little bit sun-burnt… and when I say a little bit I mean horrible blisters and really sensitive, pink shoulders. That day I managed to get a t-shirt on so I could go to the African church that my group were going to and I even managed to put my bag on my shoulders while I went mountain biking with Dave, Paul and Mark in Mankele. My sunburn pretty much ruined the ride for me and later Cathy told me my burns were 3^rd degree, I didn’t know the sun could do so much damage!

Joes Voggy Blog Part 4: www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog4
 

So on Monday I was told I wasn’t allowed to go out into the community with the team so I spent the day in my room trying to keep myself occupied and out of the sun. I was told by Carolyn that using deep heat muscle relief cream on my burns would hurt but it would draw the heat out of my skin. So we tried this and it was the most painful thing I’ve ever had to sit through, imagine putting your foot into an extremely hot bath but not being able to take it out again, it was like that on my shoulders for what seemed like forever until I was allowed to have a cool shower (which washed the cream but not the pain away). So I went back into my room and tried to get comfy for an hour or so until I fell asleep. I think I was caught out by the water; it washed away any sun cream I had on and was cold so I didn’t feel the need to put more on.

I spent Monday and Tuesday sitting on my own in my room either on my laptop or reading and putting more (evil) deep heat and other potions on my burns while the rest of the team spent their days out in the community.

I’m not sure how long it will be before I’m allowed out in the sun again, but judging by this photo I took last night it won’t be any time soon:

 

It’s so frustrating to think that the fun weekend had stopped me doing the real charity work that I was here to do… and over something as easily avoidable as sunburn… what a waste of two days… I won’t be making that mistake again…

Joe's Vloggy Blog Part 3:

www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog3

My vlogs are a little bit behind but heres a little video introducing my orientation group.

Escaping the Language Barrier

On Friday I was sitting under a small tree with a few boys from Siyathuthuka, I started writing my name in the dust because the boy sitting with me was either shy or didn't speak much English (and my Siswati isn't too good either). I wrote Joseph and he wrote his name (we'll call him Samuel), then he drew a car and I drew a bus; we carried on like this for a few minutes drawing animals and then each other and then he started to dig. He scooped a few handfulls of the softer, wet sand out and started to build little lines on the ground. I couldn't work out what he was doing for a while, I thought it might be a plan of a building but this seemed too complicated for his age, a few minutes later I was struggling to work it out so I asked him about it. He pointed to a corner of the shape he made and pointed to him, this was where he slept, he walked his fingers through the door towards the corner and put a rock there. Then he pushed his finger into the ground where the toilet was and he built a smaller building next to it to show a garage (I think he stays with his uncle because he is an orphan) he then walked his fingers from the garage to another corner and put a bigger rock there, this was where his Uncle slept. I wanted to ask him more but the communication between us was difficult. Even though we didnt speak the same language I still felt I had a personal insight into Samuel's life, I would love to meet him again at some point and maybe find out a little more of his story.

Joe's Vloggy Blog Part 2:

www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog2

Hands Orientation

On Monday me and the other 7 people on my intake (3 Canadians, 2 Australians, 1 American and 1 other Brit) started our 5 week long Hands at Work Orientation. We started by going into the community and learning about how Hands works and how they set up their structures across Africa. I really enjoyed this and felt like I had a good knowledge of the Hands at Work system; from there we went to a community in Clau Clau called Siyathuthuka where Hands helps support a Community Based Organisation (a CBO). I have visited this CBO a few times; the last time was in July/August 2012. It was really encouraging to see all the changes that have happened in just 6 months. From massive changes like the construction of a 6 roomed house (where in August 6 people lived in one room and one bed) to small, but equally encouraging, changes like having stainless steel bowls and spoons at the CBO (where before the children had to bring whatever bowls they owned).

On Tuesday we visited a community in Bush Buck Ridge called Welverdiend. Here I and a small group of volunteers joined a care worker on her routine home visits, after visiting some families in eye-opening situations we were walking to the next home when it started to drizzle, so we walked on and then the drizzle turned to rain, so we sheltered under a tree. Then after fifteen minutes the rain turned into a fully grown African downpour. The dirt roads started growing their own little streams and gullies and we ran to a nearby child-headed-household. I’ve been in many child-headed-households and other homes in the communities I’ve visited but never in weather like that; the holes in the tin roof dripped water into bowls and rain trickled down the walls and under the doors. The metal roof was so loud in the rain that I couldn’t hear people talking feet from me. As I looked out of one of the broken windows it really made me think about how it would feel to spend a rainy night in one of the thousands of houses just like this one. At first I thought it would be exiting but then I thought about having to do it night after night for the whole of the rainy season … and then the cold nights of the dry season … and then again the next year for a whole lifetime. I had a lot to think about that night and I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it for many nights to come.

First Two Nights Without Power

My journey here was great, all went smoothly and had a good drive from Johannesburg to White River, about an hour after I got here the biggest storm I've ever seen rolled in and lasted all night. It must've been a big storm cause it was in the local newspapers. So the last two days and nights have been interesting, we had no electricity until around midday today so this is my first African blog!

Heres a shot I took from my bedroom door...

Then a tree near our gate was struck by lightening and fell on the electric fence so we had to pull the tree away from the fence, the storm, the fence and the rain made it feel like we were in Jurassic Park, so I had a really interesting first night.

First Video Blog

Joe's Vloggy Blog Part 1:
www.vimeo.com/joewilkins/vlog1
Heres my last UK post, flying out today, see you on the other side!