Mukobeko

After spending a couple of weeks living with Bernard and his family in Kabwe, it was time to get a real village experience. With the help of my coworkers, I arranged with one of the farmers that IDE works with to stay with him and his family for a while. So on Saturday, I "shifted" (or moved) and am now living in a village just outside of Kabwe called Mukobeko with Mr. Nkhuwa and his family.

As with many households in the village, Mr. Nkhuwa's is quite big. There are about 10 family members living together here in a few small huts.

(The hut I share with Rachel, one of Mr. Nkhuwa's daughters)

In the centre of the huts is a small, open, thatched roof building where the cooking is done.

(Dialas, another daughter who is visiting from Chingola, in the kitchen)

Among the family members living here are Mr. Nkhuwa and his wife and bunch of their children/nieces/nephews/grandchildren (I haven't quite figured out who is who yet). Some of the children's parents live in the northern part of the country, too far away from any schools and at least three of them are orphans. A few of Mr. Nkhuwa's sons live in a nearby township so they come by frequently to visit.

Living here has really shown me how possible it is to make good money as a small scale farmer. The family has a total of 30 hectares and that provides enough income to get all the necessities and send all the children to school. Mr. Nkhuwa is also talking of saving up some money to buy a solar panel or invest in cattle, a really good source of profit. Some of the crops that are being grown here are maize, beans, sugar cane, cassava, rape and sweet potatoes.

So one of the major questions that I am hoping to find an answer to while staying with Mr. Nkhuwa is how do farmers decide which crops to grow, when to grow them and when to take them to the market? I mentioned previously that there is an SMS system that was discussed for farmers and market agents to know the price of different crops in the markets around the country. I've just discovered that this idea has become a reality. I haven't had a chance to look into it yet, but if you are curious, you can check out Agritrade (www.agritrade.co.zm).

I had my first surprise the afternoon that I arrived. Being in the village without a solar panel means that there is no electricity. So when Frank, one of the grandsons told me that we were going inside to watch the Zambia-Rwanda soccer game, I wasn't sure what to think. Anyways, I went inside with the rest into a small sitting room and in the corner was a small TV set with an antenna, powered by a car battery. The battery gives enough life for a couple days and then they take it into the township to charge. The game was entertaining, Zambia won 1-0, but I haven't actually talked to anybody who was happy with the result. I guess we were supposed to win by about 3-0 and one of the star players missed a penalty shot. But hey, it was exciting none-the-less!

(The main house)

Although the traditional EWB village stay involves living out in a village for a week and taking that week off from our partner organization, that isn't what I am doing right now. So each morning I head off down the path on my bike. The path soon turns into a dirt road which becomes a paved road. It's a pretty long ride but an enjoyable source of exercise. People that I pass also seem to enjoy seeing me, I have attracted many a stare and a laugh. Few people seem to believe that a white girl knows how to ride a bike. There are also minibuses that leave from not too far away so there's a few options of ways to get into town.

I've been debating about writing about the following information, but I figure that it is interesting enough that I should. But first, a disclaimer: anyone who is already too worried about my health and safety should consider skipping the following paragraph and coming back it after I leave Kabwe. I assure you that I am healthy and not in any danger. Now, on to an interesting characteristic of Mukobeko.....

Every morning I wake up to the sound of roosters crowing and hundreds of people singing. You may wonder where these hundreds of people are coming from in a rural village. Well, it's the prison. That's right, just a short walk down the path is a maximum and medium security prison. So to get to the village church, catch a minibus or visit some of the IDE farmers, it is necessary to go through it. Though because the guards don't know me, when biking to and from work, I go around. In conversations with some of the locals, I've discovered that Zambia has a very interesting prison system. It's less of a punishment facility and more of a correction one. Those in the maximum security are kept busy inside doing carpentry, soap making and such. Then there are fields around the prison where those in the medium security work and learn how to farm. They are also often taken out to work on other jobs around the area. This way, once they are free they will have something to turn to to make a living rather than falling back into crime. One of my first questions was what is stopping them from running away? Because you will often see one or two walking along the side of the rode with some farming equipment. What I have gathered is that for them, they are nearing the end of their sentences, so to escape is to risk being caught again and having to serve another 20 or so years. I wonder how well the system works, but there is something to be said for the fact that none of the people living in the area feel at all insecure or worry about their proximity to the facility.

I'll leave you with a beautiful Zambian sunset and a question to ponder: what does a successful farmer look like? Is it a commercial farmer or one who is able to make ends meet even without using all of the available resources?