After underwater hockey on Sunday I shared a beer with some of the team while watching the Scotland v Australia Rugby World Cup match. I enquired specifically about their opinions on the upcoming elections. For my safety, the advice from Transaid was to stay inside on the Sunday of the elections and not to leave NIT’s campus the following week to avoid being caught in any potential conflict. Everyone I spoke to after hockey had been told by their companies that they would be closed for the Sunday of the elections and at least the three days following; leading up to the announcement of the new president. One member had specifically advised me to stay away form polling stations… Which caused them slight concern when I said that I was living at one! The following day I relayed this information to Neil who decided that we should consult the rector of NIT and potentially reconsider the current security plan that was in place. Later in the day we spoke to a fellow colleague at NIT, who informed us that NIT would not just be one polling station but multiple stations for the wider area – more than 10,000 people had registered to vote at the NIT campus. With this new information Neil immediately consulted with Transaid in the UK and it was decided that I would take a short trip to Zambia to visit the training school that Transaid supports there. This would be a great opportunity and the perfect solution to avoid any potential issues. The Industrial Training Centre (ITC) is located in Lusaka, Zambia and provides the same types of training as NIT, but on a smaller scale. After the decision to relocate to Zambia the following few days flew by, occupied with all the arrangements for the trip, as well as ensuring that progress at NIT would still continue in my absence. On Tuesday Neil and I held two meetings, one in the morning with the rector, deputy rector and the head of TSES (transport safety and environmental studies); followed by a meeting with the trainers in the afternoon. Both meetings had the same aim; to help improve the standards at NIT through encouraging the trainers to practice their skills more often while TSES continue to work on the frequency and quality of the reporting of all activities. We devised a plan to incentivise trainers to practice their skills through a competition which documents who has undertaken the most practice, compiling a league table to be updated weekly, with a prize to be awarded at the end of my placement to the trainer who has completed the most additional practice. The main challenge with this is ensuring that the practice by the trainers is logged and reported accurately so I can effectively award the prize. I have set an initial challenge for the first data collection to be provided by the Friday I return from Zambia. Neil departed on Tuesday evening to return to the UK, this was his last visit to Tanzania this year, so it is also the last time on my placement I will see him. On Wednesday and Thursday I was working again on the Tanzania information pack between confirming arrangements for my Zambia trip. I was informed by Transaid that there was a potential opportunity to visit another project in Zambia, which would require travelling to some rural areas of the country. On Wednesday therefore, I was told to source a portable mosquito net and a first aid kit as a precaution if the opportunity arose to visit the project. As well as the driver training programme in Zambia, Transaid are also involved with a Comic Relief funded project called MORE MAMaZ; this project is aimed on improving rural transport for pregnant woman to improve maternal, prenatal and antenatal care in Zambia. Unfortunately on Thursday morning it became clear I would not be able to visit the MORE MAMaZ project, however I was thrilled to hear that ITC were very eager for my visit. On Thursday evening I flew to Zambia, the flight was very smooth and it was the quickest immigration and luggage collection I have ever experienced. Victor, the project manager in Zambia, met me at the airport and took me to my hotel. It was great to see Victor again as we had met briefly at my induction in London in May. By the time we arrived at the hotel and I had got settled in my room it was 1am local time (2am for me – I was still thinking in Tanzanian time!) – I had agreed to meet Victor at 7:45am at the entrance to the hotel – this was something I did not enjoy the next day! On Friday as promised I was ready when Victor arrived at 7:45am, we started the day at ITC, where I was introduced to the director, the training manager and all the other relevant people. I had a discussion with the training manager about what he would like my help with during the following week, including working on a clear training schedule for his trainers. I was then introduced to the head of the driver training who I will be working with for the next week. I was invited with him to visit a new company who specialise in fuel transportation – the company had enquired about training for their drivers outside of the centre, bespoke to their needs and today was the meeting to confirm the arrangements. We drove for about 45 minutes to the company's location – it's strange how close Zambia is to Tanzania but the roads here are amazing quality in comparison. There are no bajajis (motorised rickshaws) or bodabodas (motorcycle taxis) on the roads here so it gives a much safer impression. It was strange to be in a car and not see any vehicles driving on the footpaths or motorcycles traveling down the wrong side of the road. The meeting with the company was very interesting, I was witness to a bit of a sales pitch and the creation of the foundations of a relationship between the company and ITC that could generate a significant amount of business for them in the future. When we returned to ITC it was lunchtime – I was invited to go out for lunch with two of the management, including the driver training manager I had spent the morning with. I was more than happy to go with them, but I was a little bit shocked when we pulled up outside the Zambian breweries! I wondered if I looked like I have a drinking problem! It turned out that on the grounds of the breweries they have a subsidised canteen that is accessible to all in the local area. I enjoyed a meal of chicken, rice and vegetables with a bottle of Coke (not beer – they also have a contract with Coke to bottle their products on site) the whole meal came to 14 Zambian Kwacha – I had no idea how much that was at the time as I just withdrew money from the cash machine at the airport and was only provided in 100 notes – when I gave the hundred note I got some strange looks so I started to worry it was worth more than I thought… It actually is about £5 and 14 is around 75p! Later that day I returned to the hotel, I had been shown that within a short walk from the hotel there was two large shopping centres with a lot of shops and restaurants. I decided to go to one of the shopping centres to have a look around and eat dinner. It was a bit disappointing that there seemed to be very few authentic Zambian restaurants in the local area but I had a very nice meal before returning to the hotel for an early night. Saturday was Zambia’s Independence Day – this year they are celebrating 51 years since they became independent. I asked at the hotel what they recommended doing and discovered that they were having a celebration event at the national stadium where there would be lots of traditional Zambian music, singing and dancing followed by an address from the president. I took a taxi to the stadium and enjoyed watching the entertainment and seeing the president. I felt a little bit out of place as it was obvious that there was very few other non-Zambian citizens at the the event, and I was far from inconspicuous! People requesting to have photos with me is starting to become quite common – I still cannot understand why anyone would want to! On Sunday I visited the craft market outside one of the shopping centres near my hotel and then had a massage at the hotel opposite the market that had a spa. I had called earlier in the day to enquire about prices and due to the weak currency in Zambia at the moment for a one hour massage it was less than £15. I felt very relaxed after the massage and took advantage of the lovely pool facilities and relaxing at the hotel before returning home to prepare for the following day. I had been invited to join the training manager on the first day of training at the company we visited on Friday. |