HELOU! Here we are again, this time for serious business matters. Downloading the anti-virus definitions for GLM, but I take advantage to write the blog the same time :). Let´s go back the time a bit:

So more about Wednesday evening, like I said, I had nice chats with Diana and Kubanda.
I have noticed that, Zambia has political issues on the cover now, cause the elections where just a month ago. Sitting president Levy died in the summer so Zambia had early elections. Against were ruling party MMD´s candidate Rupiah Banda and opposite partys Michael Sata. Sata were leading in the polls and were leading the counting of the vote. Kubanda explained, that when govermental party saw, that Sata was leading and was winning, they stopped the counting for over a week. Nothing was heard for a while and then they announced that votes have been casted and Banda won? Of course, in result opposite raised huge noise and for a reason! Same kind of situation happened in Zimbabwe. Kubanda said, that this is very normal in African countries.
And today top news, was that Banda signed a contract to raise 50% salaries of the high govermental officers. In the 18th poorest country in the world..

27.11 in Chibobo
We arrived to Chibobo before the dark and met the village co-ordinator Boyd (who is villages closest contact to GLM). Chibobo is village with a bit over than 1500 inhabitants in around 500km from Lusaka. The first word came to my mind seeing the village was “wow!”. You have seen those mud-made houses with grass as a roofs in the movies? Yep, that were the buildings like. Now electricity, no running water, very primitive. Bath is taken in the grass made shelter where boiled water is brought. Toilet, well you can call that toilet, but basicly it was hole in the ground, in the real meaning of the word (see the pictures in FB).
Boyd made a little tour through the village. He showed me the hammer mill (which is used to make corn to maize flower), community school and and our guest house. Actually our guest house were the only real house there and it is very new, build with the help of GLM. We met loads of villagers and everybody where more than friendly. Immediately I learned the first words in Bemba (the local language). Mulishani (when greeting people) and Bwino (response to that).
We had dinner in the evening around eight. At that time it was DARK. When I say dark, it´s black you cannot see anything without a lamp. Lucklily I brought a head lamp from Finland and I found it very usefull. We drank some Mosi and Kaso, Zambian and South African beers and ate nshima with relishes. Zambians eat Nshima in EVERY meal. I even asked is there a day, when they do not eat nshima. “Nshima is food for us, if we have not eaten nshima, we haven´t had a meal.” said one, so they have nshima even in Christmas. I had my own room in the guest house, with couple lizards and spiders.

28.11 Chibobo

In the morning I had my first experience of that bathing place and toilet. Bath, quite okay. Toilet, just hilarious :D hole in the ground. After breakfast we went to see one farmer and farmer club chairperson called Alan Spyder. He lives maybe 5-7km away from the guest house. Alan had many farms and bee hives. He farms maize and fruits. From the bee hives comes honey of course, which is very usefull for many ways. For example, they used it for food and a medicine. We went through Alans farms and hives sometime and then went to see his family. James, couple year old son of Alan´s made and lifelong effect on me. Smiling and happy little boy, full of joy was just amazing view. It really made me think, what really is important in life.
We had not much other activities during the evening. Resting and eating, very relaxing.
I teached some basketball to Boyd, Clive and one villager. Then we had some drinks. Some more than others..
There first full day made me really respect my own life and facilities we live in. Things like clean running water, electricity and daily meal is defaults for us, but here you have to work hard to get even one. In Finland when you shower for 5 minutes, you spend 75 litres of water. Here 13 people wash up with that amount and it is not even clean water. You can do the math.