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It could have been a farm seminar in Canada, if the faces were white, and the venue more sophisticated — farmers in animated discussion, sharing ideas and thoughts.

Jessy explained business thinking to a young farmer. David went through the conservation farming handbook with a group.

Deep in conversation over the conservation handbook at the workshop. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

This was new and exciting stuff for these small-scale African farmers. We were in Mpongwe again, where our farmers have 13 corn plots we subsidize. We toured the plots on Friday and held a workshop on Saturday.

Robert went through the different fields, noted planting and weeding times and methods, and gave his observations. Crop rotation came up and again the comment by some: “But maize (corn) is our staple food.” Not only that, but it is a sure cash crop. Sure, if you can grow it.

This year the farmers are much more open to the idea of rotation with soybeans or other legumes. They know corn is a short term solution. Having seen positive results on other farms, we strongly promoted conservation farming. We encouraged them to send four farmers to a one week training seminar in August.

I’m still excited about Musangashi B village. A year ago, when we visited their field, their mud church had collapsed. This time a new church was up, with a shiny steel roof. All the work was done by this small group, except for the roof sheets, which were sponsored by a Swedish non-government organization.

And the change in the little village beside it! Most of the inhabitants are young orphans who have lost their parents. All around the little huts were neat hedges of green bushes; the yards swept and clean. When I asked Pastor Jessy what made the difference, he said “They are proud of their new roof.”

I hadn’t realized how a fine building could boost the morale of a whole village. They are proud because they’ve done it themselves.

These are the people we work with, Mpongwe-area village people. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

This group fared poorly with their corn last year, when uneven crops almost drowned in a swampy field. This time, strong deep green corn stalks greeted us, with the promise of a good harvest. Wow. They want to double their field size next year.

We are aware that real change takes time, especially when tradition is so deep seated. That’s why we are so excited to see it taking shape. Each year we see movement forward.

Most of the farmers at the workshop were elders of the different church groups with a corn plot. We realized later that our target group really should be younger. This is something we will have to discuss with Pastor Jessy.

This morning I opened the door and almost ran into a young man standing there.
“Hello, Madam.”
“Do I know you?”
No, I didn’t. He proceeded to tell me he was sick and had to go to his village for medicine, and needed help for transportation. He sat down on the step and pulled out a letter, stamped and signed by someone, saying that he was just out of the hospital and had to get to the village for medicine for sexually transmitted diseases. Then he pulled out another paper, a prescription from a clinic.
I asked him how much he needed.
“200,000, Madam (about $50.) My village is far away.”
“I’ll give you 50,000,” I said.
“Please Madam, give me 100,000,” he pleaded. He told me he was weak and hadn’t eaten yesterday. I gave him a banana, then decided that it was, after all, only $25. If he was a con, it wasn’t much lost. I even made him a peanut butter sandwich for on the road.
Later I asked my African friend, Ruth, what she thought about the situation. I hadn’t finished telling the story when she interrupted to ask, “how much did you give him?”
I was by this time embarrassed to tell her. She insists it was a con job. These people know that a new white has come who is here to help Zambians and has a soft heart.
Well, this Mzungu’s heart just hardened some more!
I had a good day otherwise. Some of the women from Bukuumo Cooperative met to discuss the idea of opening a private boarding school for high school girls at one of the farm locations.
It is a good idea. Whether it is also a feasible idea remains to be seen.
It was encouraging to see how the women had thought through the idea already and had concrete numbers ready. Sometimes I think women are better than men at reaching conclusions and then carrying them out. Maybe I am just gender biased, as our neighbour Max likes to tell me. But these are intelligent women and when I am with them, I have hope that Zambia and Bukuumo Cooperative will move forward.

Beautiful flowers bloom atop the broken shards of the protective wall that should keep burglars out, but doesn't. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Robert just went out to get his work boots – Australian Bluntstones – and they’re gone. He had left them by the door outside to air out.
Yes, really gone. I can’t believe it. We were sitting inside by the open window and the boots were just outside. I had left a pair of running shoes outside our door one morning and they were gone too, but that was when we were away.
I feel sick.

Yesterday we took our German neighbour, Max, who had a Zambia guidebook, and went in search of the Chimpanzee Orphanage by Chingola.

Things were going well until we pulled up to another one of those police checks that frequent the Zambian roads. Usually you can say “muli shani” (how are you) and they wave you on. This officer asked to see Robert’s driver’s licence.

One of the children trying to get us to buy his potatoes. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

He studied the Canadian licence in detail, and finally said, “this is not an international license.”  I got nervous at this point. I had told Robert in Canada that he should get an international licence but he didn’t listen to me.

The officer first threatened to impound the vehicle, then insisted on a fine of 275,000 kwacha ($70.) Robert talked, discussed and cajoled until finally they let him go. Whew!

I worried they would get us on the way back again. The same officers just smiled broadly, wished us “safe journey” and waved us on.

There was a hippo pool along this road, according to the tourist map. Guess it must have been that river down there. Max and Johanna insisted they had seen a hippo. When we turned around, it was only a grey log peeking out of the water. In the photos it really does look like a hippo.

We finally saw the sign to the chimp farm. It would be 18 kilometres along a dirt path. Max’s guidebook said it would take 40 minutes in the dry season. We should have been suspicious when we read that. We got through the first water pool OK but the next was a lake.

Robert checks the depth of the water - should we try to get through? (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

We parked the car and looked at the lake. Johanna brought out a package of Smarties she had been saving. We decided to go for a drink at the Protea Hotel in Chingola instead.

On the way back we stopped at Mufulira turnoff to get some fresh vegetables and fruit at the roadside market. We had barely stopped the car when we were surrounded by shouting women and children who shoved their wares into our open windows. It was almost scary.

Robert stayed in the car and took photos. The kids liked it once he showed them the pictures on the camera screen.

I didn’t really see the children’s faces until I looked at my pictures on the

Our car is surrounded by children trying to get us to buy their wares. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

computer that night. At the time it had been a matter of survival for us both — for me to get past them to buy the vegetables I wanted, for them to get me to buy from them so they could eat. Now I wish I had taken the moment to see who they really were, kids with needs.

But, had I taken that moment, they would have seized it to batter me to buy!

Pastor Phiri, in the faculty meeting at Heart of Africa Mission, discussed why the budget went wrong.
“An African doesn’t want another person suffering. If money is for another purpose but someone comes in bitter need, as an African refusing to contribute to a needy situation — it would mean he doesn’t care.”

To not care is a big social no-no. An African’s identity is as a part of the community, not as an individual. When someone is labeled that he doesn’t care, he is effectively being pushed to the edge of the community.

Balancing act - Johanna carries a basin of water the African way. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

That may be a good concept in this social setting, but it becomes a major problem when applied to business. If one business enterprise is suffering, it is usually not a good idea to take the profit from another enterprise to try to save it.

Or, if students are in need and the money that is budgeted for fertilizer for the banana crop goes into helping them with medical expenses and tuition, then the income for the whole operation is in trouble.

Most of us who run our own businesses understand these concepts. Johanna and I spent time at a meeting discussing them with the management team. Judging by the questions, comments and responses, I think they have learned a little more about financial management.

But how do we find solutions to the financial difficulties here and in other places that will work with the understanding and culture of the Africans running the operations? It is a question I pose to the Africans. We are all working together to find answers.

Capacity building is a nice phrase but I often find it difficult to put into practice, especially when working with such a different culture. But when you see the lights go on in someone’s mind, it makes the frustrations worth it, at least for the moment.

What a sight: several hundred farmers, mostly women, many with babies on their backs. They’ve come to learn to farm smarter. The headdresses are bright African scarves, except for my friend Lister, who wears a white ball cap from Hunters Motors of Athabasca, Alta.

The large crowd streams out to the plots. How are we going to see anything? (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The conservation farming field day drew a huge crowd. Would we get close enough to the agronomists explaining the plots to get anything out of this day?

I was pleasantly surprised. The multitude dispersed quickly into smaller groups around the farm. I tagged along at the end with two other women from our busload. We got the undivided attention of several field men. The two women took full advantage of it, asking many intelligent questions and taking notes on everything.

“Imagine!” they exclaimed. “All this time we have been wasting our time, our energy and our money.”

The women were referring to their traditional farming methods. Fields are plowed by hand or with oxen, planting is delayed because of the long preparation time and fertilizer often inefficiently used.

The women listen attentively to the agronomist explaining conservation farming methods. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

They also exclaimed over the fact that three seeds were put in each planting hole. Traditionally only one might be planted in the same space. Better soil management, crop rotation with legumes, and fertilizer (manure with a top dressing of urea) allow for a denser crop.

I was especially excited at the opportunity to chat with the owner of the farm, Agnes Ndililwa. The whole day was organized by the Kapiri Seed Farmers Association, of which she is a member. She plants only 7.5 acres but does a good job of it. She has been using the conservation farming method for three years and has seen a significant increase in yield.

Agnes Ndililwa, the owner of the farm, poses with Grace (left) and Margaret (right), as she explains how she planted her corn. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Ndililwa told me she expects to harvest 50 to 60 50-kilogram bags of corn for each 10 kg of seed instead of just 10 or 12. She loans a bag of seed to farmers to plant and asks them to return two bags at harvest. This year she expects to receive about 650 bags.

She also has her own community development project. Ten female goats were given to women. When those goats have given birth, the women are to return the mother goats and she will give them to other women.

The women in our group are talking of chartering a bus to visit the conservation farming research centre so they can learn more. They are also interested in getting someone to visit the Copperbelt area to train them in conservation farming methods.

I think it was a very successful day.

Vivienne, the woman we gave the fertilizer loan to last week, brought us two butternut squash from her farm. She told me how she went out there Saturday on her day off to top dress her last corn planting.

She drove to the highway junction, where a man met her at 4:30 p.m. with his bicycle. They loaded the fertilizer on it, and together they walked to the farm, the man pushing the bike. The side road to the farm is not passable by car in the rainy season. They arrived at 7 p.m., had supper and went to bed.

Secretary to the director of a large organisation during the week, Vivienne Muluwa spends weekends working on her small farm. She also has a large garden with bananas beside her house. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The next morning they rose at 6 a.m., and applied the 50 kilogram bag of fertilizer. The urea is applied by hand, a pop bottle capful at each plant. A hole is made with a stick, the capful emptied into the hole, and then it is covered. In the afternoon she walked back to the junction to come home.

That’s a big effort for a small field. I think of our powerful four-wheel-drive tractors and fertilizer spreaders, or air drills, and it seems a world away. It is.

Many urbanites in Zambia have a small farm in the country, both for their own food and to subsidize their often meagre wages. They hire people to help them plant, weed and harvest, and spend weekends out there helping or supervising the work. These small farms contribute much to food security in Zambia.

Vivienne has planted corn, but is ahead of many in that she has also planted a soybean field. She is keeping some of the soybeans to mix with milled corn for nshima, the Zambian staple food. Nshima is usually made only of corn. The soybeans will greatly increase its nutritional value.

Women like Vivienne are such an encouragement to me. How often have I heard people say, “but nshima is our staple food,” when we tell them they need to rotate their corn with something like soybeans. Vivienne is proof that Zambians can adjust their diet to something that is better for them nutritionally and better for their fields.

She is excited to come with us to the upcoming conservation farming field day at Kapiri Mposhi. We are excited too. Together with Eva, we have filled a 29-passenger van and our car. It promises to be a great day of learning and interacting with other farmers.

Johanna brought Vivian home with her this morning. This plump, vivacious woman is the secretary to the director of the Mindola Ecumenical Foundation, a large institution. She also operates a small farm of about 25 acres some distance from town, and a two-hour walk from the main road in the rainy season. She is out there most weekends and employs several people to work there during the week.

Vivian grows corn, soybeans, pumpkins and other vegetables. I don’t doubt she is a hard-working woman. We pass by her house every morning on our walk. Large banana plants hedging in a bountiful garden of vegetables and corn make her place stand out from all around it.

When Vivian heard that we are working with small farmers, she asked if we would be willing to help her buy a bag of fertilizer to top dress her last planting of corn. Her first planting is already making cobs.

Zhita with some of his family. They are overjoyed to have received these two bags of fertilizer as a loan, to be able to top dress their corn field. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

We were happy to give her a loan for the $50 Cdn the bag would cost. We know that MEF is in financial difficulty and all the workers have taken a 50 percent wage cut while continuing to work full time. Vivian plans to repay the loan in mid April. We will draw up a contract and bring her the bag by Friday.

This isn’t our first small farmer loan. We gave Zhita, who heads the banana plantation at Heart of Africa Mission, two bags of fertilizer as a loan last week. Zhita is another one whose house stands out. Every bit of space is used to grow neat rows of corn and vegetables. Some miles from his house, also far from a good road, he has a three acre field of corn. He had money to put some fertilizer with the seed, but was lacking the top dressing. He’ll take the 50 kilogram bags of fertilizer out there on his bike.

Zhita has eight children to feed and put through school. He also took a pay cut recently.

We never planned to become a small farmer lending office, but these are hard working farmers who have proven their worth. We are happy to give them a boost.

This morning there was a big fat cockroach about an inch long lying on its back by the stove. I grabbed a broom. Hardly outside, right side up again, it scurried away. Ugh! We actually haven’t had much in the way of creepy crawlies until now.

This crop is no comparison to the scrawny one we saw a year ago. The leader is a proud man, with right. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

We spent a great day in Mpongwe on Wednesday. The farm co-operative there received a loan of $5,000 Cdn for fertilizer and good corn seed more than a year ago. They planted 11 fields with that. Mostly church groups planted two and a half to three acres.

Last June they harvested and most of them made quite a good profit, after repaying the loan with six percent interest. This year they have planted again and we did a field tour. We visited four of the 13 fields (it started to rain heavily), but were encouraged by what we saw and heard.

The fields all look promising. One belongs to a group that has just joined this year. A woman chairs this group, and women showed us to the field. They are proud of what they are doing and eager to learn.

Zambia is a beautiful country this time of year. It looks almost uninhabited, but should you stop, you would soon have a crowd gathered around you! (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Shingwa district had the poorest field last year, with scrawny plants. Their leader was excited to show us a flourishing crop. Beside it was his thriving personal plot.

Pastor Jessy kept telling us how important the field tours and subsequent meetings with the farmers were last year. The farmers are applying what they learned. He insists there is less hunger in the district this year because of what we taught them, but I think that is due more to the good rains they had.

One of the most important lessons they learned was to share knowledge, Pastor Jessy said. Previously no one would ask someone to come and look at his field if he had problems. He would feel embarrassed about it. To be part of changing mindsets that make people move forward is the biggest reward for us.

We walked long paths under the African sun to the fields. Here the women are escorting us back to the truck. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

We’re planning to spend several days in Mpongwe soon. We will tour the rest of the fields and meet with the co-operative members to discuss issues of importance to them. Some topics will be crop rotation — not just corn, their staple food — and financial planning; thinking ahead and making budgets.

We gave Kaputa half the money he asked for, probably more for our conscience than because we felt it was the right thing to do, or because of his kids. Call it social assistance.

Robert and Harold are deep into numbers for the building projects at Heart of Africa Mission (HAM). There are several buildings there, two of which we helped start two years ago, that still need finishing. Some funding has come in to do the work, and the board has asked us to take charge of that.

Some of the fruits of the first year's harvest. This is what bananas should look like. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

This morning they went to town to get quotes from businesses on lumber and paint. In Canada we would just use the phone. Robert said they need a four-wheel drive just to get quotes. The side roads are so pothole riddled, it’s hard to find a path to steer through.

I walked through the banana plantation at HAM with the chief gardener, Zhita. We helped establish this plantation in 2005. They’ve had some good years and we were impressed with their management. Things are different this year. The weeds are higher, the trees shorter. There are few banana bunches and those are small. Not many trees are flowering.

This banana bunch won't break the records! Small, and misformed, like the tree that bears it. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

There are several reasons for that. One is that money has been tight so they have not been fertilizing as they should have. Of course, fertilizers here have gone up in price as they have in Canada.

Another reason is the increase in disease. There are two main disease issues: the bunchy top banana virus and the sigotoga fungus. The fungus first appeared last year and they were able to keep it in check with regular spraying. The money hasn’t been available for that either. Poor fertilization means weaker plants too, more susceptible to disease.

Suckers for new banana trees were not trained when they should have been, so there will be a long delay until the next harvest. The money shortage also affected wages so morale is not high.

Well, we can’t change the past, only the future. As we evaluate the farm issues at HAM, we will have to look at why things are the way they are now, and what can be done to do things better in the future.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. The shops downtown all have bright red clothing displayed in the windows — tops, skirts, trousers (don’t call them pants here – they’ll think you’re talking about underwear.)

The CIDA vehicle, checking on the health of Zambia's children.

Young men try to sell plastic roses to anyone parked with their car window open. It’s hot, but we quickly close the window again.

Yesterday we parked beside a nice SUV with the words CIDA – MOYA WA BANA PROJECT on the side. Two women came back carrying a bunch of bananas, and we talked a little. Moya wa Bana means Heart for Children. CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) is working with children’s health programs in Zambia. The two women were checking on the local health clinics, as they weighed children and advised on nutrition and other health issues.

“That vehicle belongs to me,” I boasted. “My taxes paid for that!”
The women broke into laughter, slapped my hand, and said, “Indeed!” Then, “you (Canadians) do a very good thing for us here.” They were thankful that CIDA is helping their children. It was good to see some of our tax dollars working so positively.

These children are playing a common African game. Usually it is played on a board with beads. The kids have adapted the game to sand and pebbles.

Kaputa sent us a text message: will we give him 1.5 million kwacha (approximately $375) to pay the next rent instalment? Rent here is paid six months in advance.

Our opinions are divided. Harold would like to give him the whole amount. We women feel we would be enabling him to keep pawning off of other people instead of taking responsibility himself for the needs of his family.

Robert is undecided. He says we have a comfortable, if tiny, apartment here; we’re safe, have everything we need.

Eugene, a white Zambian, gave us a recipe for happiness:

These two women look after the staff and student's children. Most institutes also run a preschool where children learn their numbers and letters.

1.    Free your heart of hate
2.    Free your mind of worry
3.    Live simply
4.    Give more
5.    Expect less