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I hope to be on internet tonight. The system is down at the moment. I use an air card for my laptop. Zambia introduced the air card several years ago, before anyone in Canada was talking about it. In many ways Zambia is technically quite up to date. The speed of the internet leaves much to be desired though. It makes dial up seem like high speed. But at least we can get on – usually.

Which woman has the reddest tomatoes? Everyone would like us to buy from them!

Harold just got in the shower and the water is off again, half an hour early. They turn the water off several times a day at this station to save water. There are supposed to be set times, but I think the guy in charge doesn’t wear a Swiss watch.

Tomorrow afternoon we have our first business meeting with Bukuumo Co-operative. We look forward to it with concern. This is the group that we had the highest hopes for, and has brought the least fruit. Their dream of building a large chicken layer barn and producing eggs has not materialized, in part because of exploding feed prices, which made the project unprofitable; in part because the dream was unrealistic.

When we left them last year, they had some money, two light transport trucks (one in need of repair) and two pieces of land. “Now show us what you can do with that,” was our mandate to them.

Lusaka International Community School - where Thomas Gass is headmaster. Children from every nationality go to school here together. This is a prestigious private school.

Both trucks are grounded and the one was never repaired and used. The other broke down on the poor roads during the rainy season. They needed a loan to get fuel to run the government fertilizer distribution program. They didn’t get as big a contract for the fertilizer program as hoped, and couldn’t fulfill their whole obligation because some of the fertilizer never reached the distribution centre.

Nothing has been done on the land, even though one piece is in prime agricultural area. They concentrated too much on trying to get another business interested in the chicken layer project and let the land go.

So business has not been profitable. We will go to the meeting with an open mind and listen, and hopefully ask intelligent questions. How can we help them in a meaningful way?

This morning we spent several hours with Eva and Murray Sanderson. Murray is in his 70s, and came to Africa in 1956. Eva, his wife, must be in her 60s, and is a black Zambian.

Eva has been active politically and works with women’s groups. She explained how important it is to help the Africans think through themselves what it is they really want, what they have available to get it, and how they can go about reaching their goals.

You can get most of your vegetables at roadside markets, with makeshift shacks.

Again, we are reminded that our job is to facilitate, to stand beside, to encourage. It is not to tell them what to do, to bring them finished ideas. Tonight I said to Tito, Bukuumo’s treasurer, “It is your c-op, not ours. You’re not here for us. We’re here for you — but not to do it for you. You have to bring the ideas, not us.”

He had suggested that they were waiting for us to come with ideas of how they could proceed.

Yesterday we visited a young farm couple from Schleitheim. Someone had told me they bought a cattle farm in Canada. I was interested to know why someone would do that when my neighbours in Westlock, Alta., are liquidating their cattle herds because they’re losing rather than making money.
The grapevine was wrong. Karl Gabriel, 33, and his partner, Julie Naïf, 28, haven’t bought anything yet. But they definitely are looking.

Karl Gabriel and Julie Naef in their dairy farm, the Alphof, in Schleitheim. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Julie is a Canadian, the daughter of Swiss immigrants who operate Parkland Packers (a butcher shop) in Stony Plain, Alta., east of Edmonton. Julie came to work in Switzerland four years ago and met Karl. She’s now lived on the farm in Schleitheim for a year. A wedding is planned for July in Stony Plain.
“Most important to me is a farm that the two of us can live off of,” Karl says. He is anxious to put down roots – build up a place they can stay on. “Ich wot irgentwo dihei sii.” (“I want to be at home somewhere.”)
Karl grew up on farms his father rented. His father finally was able to buy his own farm in the French part of Switzerland when Karl was in his teens. Karl completed his farming apprenticeship and agriculture college diploma. He worked on several farms before renting the Alphof. He’s farmed there for six years on a nine-year rental contract. The owner would be interested in coming back earlier if Karl decides to leave before that.
Why Canada? Well, Julie of course, but Karl feels there is more room to grow in Western Canada than in Switzerland. He once looked at farming in Russia, but is glad now that he didn’t have the courage at the time. He struggles with the high subsidies Swiss farmers live on, saying they distort the real value of food. The subsidies also come with an enormous amount of red tape.
He’s not looking for a dairy farm in Canada. He says he doesn’t have the kind of money it takes to buy quota, and besides, he wants a life, too.

The Alphof, the farm Karl Gabriel rents, outside the village of Schleitheim. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

They hope to find a mixed farm: grain and cattle. His skills as a cattle breeder will stand him in good stead there, too. He’s hoping that if they buy at the bottom of the price cycle he’ll be ready when prices turn around.
Karl isn’t a conventional farmer, and that’s good. He’ll need to be innovative and creative to make a living in Canada.
As we drove away from the Alphof, we said to each other, “they’ll be OK. They’ve got the right attitude.” Between that and Julie’s Canadian roots, they’ve got as good a chance as many a young Canadian farmer.

Yesterday, Robert’s sister Elsbeth brought us six packs of Artemisia tea leaves (40 grams each), for malaria prevention. Malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, is endemic in Zambia. Visitors should take medication for its prevention, especially in the rainy season. The World Health Organization is targeting Zambia for prevention and treatment of malaria.
There are actually fewer mosquitoes in the areas of Africa we have been than there are in Western Canada in a typical summer. That’s good, because there is enough malaria as it is. The average Zambian gets malaria several times a year.
Malaria still kills too many people, especially children, the elderly and the weak. Those that don’t die are weakened and many work days are missed because of it.

Artemesia plant grown on a German mission in Zambia. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Artemisia Annua is an annual plant that fights malaria. The plant originates from China, where it has been used to treat fever, malaria and other diseases, for at least 2,000 years.
I first heard of it when Elsbeth brought me a newsletter from Roland Baumann, several years ago. Dr. Dr Hans-Martin Hirt, a pharmacologist from Germany who has taught many seminars in African countries teaching people how to grow the plant and use it correctly to prevent and treat malaria. The wonderful thing is that Artemisia can be grown by anyone with some care and is such a readily available natural medicine.
The main component of the newest malaria medicines, among them CoArtem, is Artemisinin, extracted from the Artemisia plant. But the malaria parasite is already showing resistance to these new medications.
Hirt says there is little danger of resistance building when using tea from the whole plant. He has done extensive research, and written several books on Tropical healing plants. He insists that it is the combination of all the healing properties in the plant that together give the maximum protection or healing capabilities.
We usually took Doxycylin, an antibiotic, as malaria prevention. Many people take either Malarone, or Larium. The problem with these medicines is that they all have side effects. Last year, we decided to try taking Artemisia tea leaves, one teaspoon a day. Anamed, the association Hirt has founded, says tourists should take the recommended medications, but that some aid workers have had success with the tea leaves.
We had mosquitoes in the house almost every evening, the time of day when malaria-carrying mosquitoes are most active. Robert never got sick, but I had a mild bout of malaria, which I have also had while on Doxycylin. It works for us and we have the added benefit of Artemisia being an immune system booster.
When I left Zambia last year, I had helped several people start Artemisia plants. I look forward to seeing what became of this project, and to continue teaching others to grow and use it. I have seen with my own eyes how it has treated malaria, and how much better people feel when they take it.
For more information on the artemesia plant go to: www.anamed.org