The Lowdown - 2015-09 September

Vol. 21, No. 09, 2015

September

Totally Lunar

3

Embassy Mall

24

Lurve Zee Garlic

5

Something New, Something Old

31

Oktoberfest 2015

7

iRock Live

32

Star Gazer

9

Anderson Security

33

In the Garden

12

What’s Happening

35

Birds, Bugs and Bushes

14

Restaurants

40

Fool On The Hill

17

Employment Sought

42

Mole In The Hole

20

Small Adverts

43

Moringa

23

Front Cover Photograph: Waterberry (Syzygium),

by H Chalcraft Editor: Heather Bender Chalcraft Layout & Design: Louann Chalcraft Published by: LH Publications Limited, PO Box 36666, Lusaka, Zambia. +26 0966 821-290 / +26 0965 821-290 editor@lowdownzambia.com www.lowdownzambia.com Winners of the 2011 Africast Tourism Journalist of the Year Award Advertising, Subscriptions and Distribution: ads@lowdownzambia.com Printed by: New Horizon Printing Press Ltd, PO Box 38871, Lusaka, Zambia. +260 211 236-637 1

On Monday 28 September, there will be a total Lunar Eclipse. 75% of the Lunar Eclipse is visible from Lusaka and most of Zambia, we only lose sight of it when the moon sets - after the Eclipse’s maximum point.

The Eclipse begins at 3.07 AM when the Earth’s Umbra (shadow) begins to pass over the moon. This partial portion of the Eclipse continues until the earth’s shadow completely covers the moon and the full Eclipse begins at 4.11 AM. The full Eclipse continues in Lusaka until 05.23 AM with the Maximum Eclipse being at 4.47 AM. We lose sight of the Eclipse before the Earth’s Umbra moves off the moon completely (ending the partial Eclipse) as the moon sets at 5.56 AM. See the table for the times around the country.

How does a Lunar Eclipse work?

An Eclipse of the Moon can only occur at Full Moon, and only if the Moon passes through some portion of Earth’s shadow.

The shadow is actually composed of two parts, one nested inside the other. The outer or penumbral shadow is a zone where the Earth blocks part but not all of the Sun’s rays from reaching the Moon. In contrast, the inner or umbral shadow is a region where the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.

Astronomers recognize three basic types of Lunar Eclipses, these are; Penumbral, Partial and Total Lunar Eclipses.

A Penumbral Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through Earth’s penumbral

Wikipedia

Totally Lunar

3

Start of Partial

Max (Totality)

03.07

Moonset

04.47

shadow. These events are of only academic interest because they are subtle and hard to observe as there is relatively little change to the appearance of the moon.

A Partial Lunar Eclipse happens when a portion of the Moon passes through Earth’s umbral shadow. These events are easy to see, even with the unaided eye.

05.39 - 06.18

A Total Lunar Eclipse (like this one) happens when the entire Moon passes through Earth’s umbral shadow. These events are quite striking due to the Moon’s vibrant red color during the total phase (totality).

You don’t want to miss this Eclipse! The next total Lunar Eclipse visible in Zambia will be on 27/28 July 2018.

Event

Time

Comments

Penumbral Eclipse begins

02:11

The Earth's penumbra start touching the Moon's face.

Partial Eclipse begins

03:07

Partial moon eclipse starts - moon is getting red.

Total Eclipse begins

04:11

Total moon eclipse starts - completely red moon.

Maximum Eclipse

04:47

Moon is closest to the center of the shadow.

Total Eclipse ends

05:23

Total moon eclipse ends.

Moonset in Chipata

05:39

Below horizon

Moonset in Kasama

05:45

Below horizon

Moonset in Ndola

05:55

Below horizon

Moonset in Lusaka

05:56

Below horizon

Moonset in Kabwe

05:56

Below horizon

Moonset in Kitwe

05:57

Below horizon

Moonset in Livingstone

06:02

Below horizon

Moonset in Mongu

06:18

Below horizon

Partial Eclipse ends

06:27

Below horizon

Penumbral Eclipse ends

07:22

Below horizon

4

Lurve Zee Garlic

This pungent herb from Central Asia has a history of human use of over 7,000 years!

It is a staple in a Mediterranean diet and is regarded as a herb, not a vegetable, because of its huge number of medicinal or healing properties. Its scientific name is Allium sativum, making it’s relations onions, shallots, leeks and chives. It’s an excellent pest repellant which makes it useful in companion planting in the garden.

Growing Garlic

1. Split the bulb into its individual cloves a few days before planting. Don’t remove the papery husk.

2. The soil should be well-drained, fertile and in full sun.

3. Plant individual cloves, directly into the ground an inch deep and about 4 inches apart.

4. Keep the site weed free and well watered.

A good mulch will help to keep the soil moist.

5. Feed with compost, well-rotted manure, and/or vermicompost.

6. When the foliage turns yellow and falls over, it’s time to harvest.

7. Leave the bulbs to dry in the sun for a day or 2 and then leave them in an airy shady spot for 2 weeks to dry properly.

8. Store in a cool dark place – hanging is best. They look great plaited into a string.

Med icinal Uses

Recipes

Garlic is indispensable in the kitchen. The longer it is cooked, the milder the flavour, so if you want a strong garlic flavour, add the garlic towards the end of the cooking time.

Ingredients

Garlic Bread

4 tbsp butter, softened 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 2 tsp finely chopped garlic 1 loaf Italian or French bread 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese Like rosemary? Substitute the parsley.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. 2. Combine and mix the butter, oil, garlic and parsley in a bowl.

3. Using a bread knife, cut the bread into one-inch-thick slices, without cutting all the way through to the bottom. Leave the slices attached to each other.

4. Gently separate the slices, making sure they stay attached, and use a pastry brush to butter them with the garlic mixture, then sprinkle with Parmesan.

5. Wrap the loaf in tin foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, open up the foil and bake for a further five minutes.

Garlic, has powerful antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. Studies have shown that it is effective in reducing blood pressure, cholesterol and treating infections and can even help with certain cancers.

Garlic helps strengthen the immune system against infections by activating germ-eating macrophages. It can be used to treat or reduce the length of colds, flu, bronchitis, whooping cough and dysentery. It can be taken raw (crushed or juiced), as a syrup or tincture, or in capsules. Garlic contains manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B1 and calcium.

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Ingredients

Garlic for Everything

4 large heads garlic 2 cup fruity olive oil 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Method

Doing a roast and want to use up some of your extra oven space?

1. Break the heads of garlic up, mash each clove to release the clove from its papery skin.

2. Stir together the garlic, oil and salt in an 8 x 8 inch pan (making sure all the garlic is submerged) 3. Put it in the oven and bake until the garlic is soft and

6

lightly brown, about 45 to 55 minutes depending on temperature.

4.

Add the lime juice and return to the oven for 20 minutes for the garlic to absorb the lime and turn golden brown.

5.

Using a potato masher or large fork, mash the garlic into a coarse puree.

6. Pour the mixture into a container and refrigerate it.

7. It will keep for up to three months in the refrigerator as long as the garlic is covered by oil. Use it to season chicken, steaks, fish, vegetables‌ or just about anything.

You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat The New York Times. - Morley Safer

Oktoberfest 2015

Oktoberfest (hosted by R&G Events) has become an annual event, and is a great place to get away from Lusaka and enjoy some of Zambia’s best DJ’s at this rustic music festival.

It’s being held at Fringilla Farm in Chisamba which is on the main road that passes through Chisamba. There will be plenty of parking space available and space to pitch a tent is available to all ticket holders, so rather than make the drive home, spend the night and avoid the dangerous roads. The festival will run on Friday 9 October from 2pm to 3am and on Saturday 10 October from 11am to 4am.

The musical lineup includes DJ Joe Mfalme, DJ Shotz, Impact, DJ Blocks, Ben & Kiki, DJ Shooter, DJ Kev Van Boxtel, DJ’s Tony And Guido, Sebastian Dutch, DJ Guy, DJ Cheyo, DJ Psycho Tash, DJ Funky G and DJ Gerry.

Bringing cooler boxes is discouraged, but if you do bring one, you will be charged a corkage fee of K500. There will be food stalls open throughout the festival.

These include Debonairs Pizza, Fishaways and Fringilla’s own stall selling pies and boerewors.

Children are welcome and will there will be activities for them in the games section hosted by Martin House School.

An ambulance will be on site for any emergencies.

Presale tickets cost K100 and tickets sold at the gate will cost K150. www.randgfestivals.com info@randgevents.com 0963 336-866

The Sky in September Spring Skies Constellations Cetus, Pegasus,Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries and Taurus are prominent in the Spring skies. Some interesting objects which can be seen are the Triangulum Galaxy, the great Andromeda Galaxy and the Double cluster to the North.

by Gwyn Thomas The night sky at midnight above Lusaka in mid September.

(Stellarium)

Sagittarius is setting and Orion is rising. At sunset 6 hours earlier Centaurus and the Southern Cross are visible but set along with Scorpio, Libra and Virgo.

The famous Double Cluster - Caldwell14, found in the constellation of Perseus consists of the star clusters h and chi Persei, which lie some 7100 and 7400 light-years away from Earth. They appear very close to each other in the sky. The clusters are dominated by bright blue stars and speckled with a few fine orange stars, make a spectacular sight in the night sky, especially through binoculars.

Caldwell 14 - The Double Cluster found in Perseus

9

Star

Constellation

Apparent Magnitude

Distance L.Y.

Canopus

Carina

-0.71

300

Aldebran

Taurus

0.78

65

Rigel

Orion

0.08

850

Formalhaut

Piscis Austrinus

1.16

23

Altair

Aquilla

0.75

16

Deneb

Cygni

1.26

1500

Achernar

Eridanus

0.49

75

In August comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) was visible traversing Tucana, Pavo and Triangulum Australe.

During September it will be passing through Circinus towards Centaurus (near the pointers) and Lupus heading for perihelion in November 2015.

It will probably be brightest in December 2015 and January 2016.

Predicted path for Comet Catalina

Diary of Astronomical Phenomena

During September the 5 major planets: • Mercury will move from Cancer through Virgo, visible in the early evening.

• Venus will move through Cancer into Leo, visible in the early mornings.

• Mars will move from Cancer into Leo, visible in the early mornings.

• Jupiter is moving through Leo, visible from mid-September just before dawn.

• Saturn is moving through Scorpio, visible early evening to midnight. d 1 5 5 5 10 .

10

Event Uranus near the Moon Last Quarter Moon (12.0h) Aldebaran near the Moon Moon within the Hyades Venus near Mars; both near the Moon Venus-Moon 3.3° at noon

11 11 12 13 13 15 15 16 18 18 19 19 21 21 25 28 28 .

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www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2013US10/chart2.gif

Bright Stars in the sky at this time are:

Regulus near the Moon Mars near the Moon Jupiter near the Moon New Moon (08.7h) Partial solar eclipse Spica near the Moon Mercury near the Moon Spica near the Moon Moon occults gamma Lib Saturn near the Moon International Observe the Moon Night Saturn near the Moon First Quarter Moon (10.9h) Venus greatest illuminated extent Mars near Regulus Total lunar eclipse Full Moon (04.9h) (largest Full Moon for 2015) Moon occults Uranus (04h)

In The Garden

“Bonsai” is a Japanese word meaning “a plant in a shallow container”.

Bonsai, however, is far more creative and more challenging than growing other pot plants. It is a unique blend of horticultural knowledge and creative imagination. If the idea of making and maintaining a bonsai tree or shrub sounds alarmingly difficult, buy a ready-made bonsai from Sandy’s Creations on Kafue Road or Green Fingers on Leopard’s Hill Road in Lusaka and try the maintenance bit first.

If you welcome a challenge, choose a tree or shrub, find a young plant with a sturdy stem, choose a suitable rock or container and have a go. The most important guidelines for choosing your plant are a) something suitable for our climate and b) something with small leaves. Here are some suggestions: murraya, pyracantha, pomegranate, winter jasmine (with yellow flowers), nandina, jacaranda, pine or other conifers.

The container needs to balance the size and shape of the plant. A pot small in area needs to be deeper than a large pot. Containers for a cascade style also need to be taller. There must be drainage holes in the base and these are covered not with stones but flat pieces of metal gauze, wired into position.

This prevents soil being washed away when watering. Use finely sieved loam or compost, mixed with some gritty river sand and some peat if possible.

Place the entire “rootball” (i.e. roots plus the soil they are growing in) in the pot and fasten securely, then fill with the soil mixture. Do not add fertiliser for 3 – 4 weeks. Water DAILY preferably at sunset. Once the plant has settled down and started to grow you need to add a little fertiliser to the water once a fortnight.

Now comes the fun. After the small plant has grown lots of branches and twigs, you can snip off some and shorten others to give a dramatic shape resembling an old tree. Other plants may become a cascading shape, with a long branch growing down towards the ground. As well as sharp cutters, you can use wire to change the shape of the plant. Coil strong wire round a branch, or even the trunk, and then bend it. The wire will hold it in its new shape. Once a year, remove the plant from its container and prune the roots, removing strong roots at the bottom and leaving those near the soil surface.

Where strong roots are cut, small fibrous roots will grow to give the plant extra nutrition. Roots above soil level can add to the appearance of being an ancient plant.

This is the best time of year to pay attention to all your pots.

Wash unused pots thoroughly and disinfect with Jeyes Fluid or similar to kill fungi and diseases. Wash the trays too. Some may need to be discarded, others need a coat of paint. Don’t hoard too many empty pots; give them away or find something to plant in them. You need spare pots for “potting on.” When a plant outgrows its pot move it into one that is bigger. If the soil gets dry quickly and especially if roots are growing through the drainage hole at the bottom, it is time to pot on.

TIP Water in the evening so the plants benefit all night from the moisture before the sun evaporates it.

12

Lacewings with Benefits When studying insects, one of the first things to get your head past is the numbers. Although the lacewings of order Neuroptera, comprising just shy of 6,000 known species, have more species than all 19 orders of mammal, they are barely half of a percent of the one million or so described species of insect in the world.

Around a quarter, or about 1,478 of these lacewings occur in Africa, and 661 are recorded from Zambia and neighbouring nations..

The real selling point of these insects is not their rather mediocre diversity, though, but their lifestyle. The green lacewings of family Chrysopidae (78 species known in the region, many of them often white, yellow or red) are fantastic predators of

14

aphids, whiteflies and mealy bugs in their early stages, and easily as valuable in the vegetable garden as any ladybird. The ant-lions (family Myrmeleontidae, 231 species known in region) are subterranean predators; the conical pits built by larvae of Hagenomyia and Myrmeleon are almost universally known, but other species in the family burrow through loose soil to prey on beetle grubs, ground pearls and other potentially root-damaging insects. The larvae of the 95 regional species of owl-fly, family Ascalaphidae, are just as unlikely to win any beauty contests, but their massive jaws allow them to tackle all manner of other invertebrates, from caterpillars and beetle grubs to venomous spiders and fast-moving flies, as they scurry around in the leaf-litter. A further nine families in the order occur in the region, all of which have similar habits.

But all insects must eventually grow up. and when lacewings do, some turn to feeding on pollen, but most are still voracious predators. Now, though, they feed on flying insects, usually almost any small flying insect that happens to cross their path. With most species active in shady areas or during the twilight hours, this translates to an inordinate number of mosquitoes.

15

“To be an effective service provider through a highly motivated team driven by a passion for innovation & excellence.”

Sounds like some kind of Vorsprung Durch Technik luxury car slogan but it is in fact the stated Vision of our very own Zambian Electricity Supply Company, whose equally aspirational Mission Statement is “ZESCO is committed to providing safe and reliable electricity” Zambia’s first electrical power was from a coal fuelled thermal station in Livingstone that electrified a small part of the town from 1906 until the potential for hydroelectric power was realised and the first station of this type built in gorge three in 1938. With mining as Northern Rhodesia’s main industry the development of the national power supply began in concert with the copper industry and was regional and in many cases private in origin and sold to local authorities by the mines. Pre-Independence (in the 1950’s) the first attempts at a National Grid involved the linking of 4 power stations with a combined capacity of 120MW to a switching station in Kitwe. Six years later a power line was constructed to tap into the hydroelectric system in the Congo and import power for the mines. And between 1956 and 1962 Kariba Dam and Power Station were brought on line followed by the third phase of the Livingstone Hydroelectric Station and the Kafue Gorge power station, both in 1973.

Little has been added to the Zambian stable of power plants since this time, despite the fact that we have some 6,000MW of unexploited hydro-electric potential. In September of 2014 the total installed capacity for Zambia was 2,177MW of which 2,089MW was Hydro and 2,041MW was under ZESCO’s immediate control. In the same ZDA

report that produced these figures the published trends predicted that demand (of over 2000MW) would exceed supply in 2015.... and HERE WE ARE! Despite blaming the poor rains we were never going to have enough power at our enviable rate of growth of between 5-6% and copper production up by 350% between 2000-2013.

Nobody made it a priority in Zambia just like they didn’t in South Africa. It’s the sort of irritating detail that requires being able to see beyond the next election date and the filling of pockets until then. Rumours abound as to the main cause of the current load-shedding other than an Act of God; the most popular of which is...... .....The Chinese Water-Gate Theory. Zesco has replaced the tired but functional British Generating plants in Kariba with new Chinese units. However in order to make the money allocated for this project stretch a little further (perhaps to include some rather nice new housing for ZESCO upper echelon employees), the new units ordered and installed are less efficient and use a lot more water to generate the same amount of power.....hence the lower levels in Kariba. In addition to this (the beastly rumour continues) ZESCO has defaulted on payments to the Chinese and in lieu of cash is giving them power to sell to the Mozambicans who are also in a bind having Cahora Bassa working at less than full power while upgrades are undertaken there.

Another contributory factor often cited is ZESCO’s corporate organisation being somewhat toffee apple shaped. With the introduction of pre-paid metering ZESCO proudly told us a few years ago that only 17

3200 employees were required to run the company. They currently employ some 6000 and most of the (over 2000) newer additions in the last year are, if you can believe what you read in some of the newspapers, apparently Northern in origin, mostly under-qualified for the positions invented to accommodate them and strangely, all have the same political leanings and allegiances.

According to the Zambian Economist “Direct revenue losses for ZESCO are estimated around $170m from reduced sales to customers and distributors (and growing). This is likely to affect ZESCO’s future investment capacity and potentially exacerbates its existing funding deficit.

ZESCO would also need to import power between now and December 2015 estimated at $60m, on top of its existing funding gap of $60m. Government has already authorised importation of 100 mega watts (MW) of power, leaving a gap of 460MW. The overall financial loss to GRZ is around $290m.”

Unfortunately ZESCO with its bankruptcy almost assured, rather than maintaining its status as “a cash cow/donor for whichever party is in government.” (Zambia Economist Facebook discussion) is fast becoming the instrument which may fatally dent the ruling party’s political and fiscal solvency with the voting public.

The projected commissioning of the 120MW Itezhi-tezi power station and the 150MW Maamba Coal Powered Station this year, even if realised will not come close to filling the yawning 560MW chasm between supply and demand.

ZESCO, or at least parts of the organism, is ripe for privatisation and has been for some time. A parliamentary committee on Economic Affairs and Labour (2009) concluded: “ZESCO.....is inefficient and undercapitalised due to poor management 18

and a bloated management structure.

ZESCO must be restructured by unbundling it into generation, supply and distribution components to run as separate entities.

Unbundling ZESCO will make it more efficient and responsive to the current challenges in the sector. This will address the inefficiency that exists in ZESCO” Selling off minority shareholding in ZESCO and streamlining the business would result in operating cash to develop new projects and extend the national grid, taking power (and later exorbitant bills) to more than the 22% of Zambians who currently have it, thereby increasing revenue rather than standing by as inefficiency spawned overheads swallow every bit of loadshedding-diminished income.

ZESCO also sells the little power that it does generate at well below market value which leads to lethargy in the research and development of alternative supply both within ZESCO and in the private sector.

Why develop a product you are forced to sell at a loss?

But the common sense solution of partial privatisation will fall victim to outdated socialist thinking and misplaced pride as it so often does in case of flagship utilities such as national airlines, national railways and national power companies.

We keep trying to squeeze into the same old, favourite pair of jeans we proudly bought at Independence and our vanity never lets us ask the question “Does my bum look big in these?” Lest we hear the resounding answer “YES love! Your flabby corruption and nepotism bloated arse is hanging out all over the place!”

Instead of inviting successful private sector investors to help shoulder the burden and make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, we sit in the dark and blame global warming.

Instead of outsourcing these services we prefer to paddle our own leaky vessels in the wrongheaded idea that it is better to be

the Captain of the holed and listing HMS Hubris than to be sitting pretty drinking a complementary single malt at the Captain’s table on a well appointed charter vessel which MUST run as an efficient, profit making business rather than merely exist to squander billions on camp-followers, company foot teams and cadres (who are almost identical to “caders” it transpires).

ZESCO tells us in their advertising campaign how silly we would look if we went out wearing all our favourite hats at the same time. Not as silly as a man with five hats who would give one to a Chinese bloke in return for three purportedly magic beans, allow the school bully to walk into his house and leave with two more, would give the fourth to Bob Mugabe despite the fact that he has a cupboard full of his own hats, and then ignoring all warnings and having misplaced his remaining hat go marching around bareheaded at midday blaming his sunstroke on dehydration.

19

Choo Choo

There is a saying, “The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions.” Bless them, Zambia Railways mean well when they announce, yet again, another bold move in the transportation of people. Yes, it is a great idea to introduce a commuter rail service between Ngwerere and Lilayi, better yet, they could utilize the branch line that goes down to Chilanga and provide a proper life line for the good folk living north and south of the Big Smoke. The fare, set at K4 also seems very affordable for us poor great unwashed, the Public. As a total aside, talking of washing, I see ladies emerging from the dust blown townships wearing brilliantly white skirts; how do they get them and keep them so clean? Is it Boom or some other magic ingredient that they use when washing their clothes?

Of course, poor old ZR has gone into things without really thinking about it.

Some of us have run a commuter train in Lusaka, ran it really well until, first, Mulungushi Holdings got hold of it and then, when they failed, Zambia Railways took it over and managed to have a spectacular head on collision under the South End fly over bridge.

Luckily no one was hurt but the two locomotives that powered the service were a write off and that gave ZR the excuse to close the Njanji Commuter that had been “A Running Sore” in ZR financial operations. I know that the closure was 17 years ago but someone, apart from myself, must remember what really caused the demise of the service that ran from George to the edge of Chilenje.

What can have happened to destroy such a useful service.

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The original service was run by two trains of ten coaches, Each coach could accommodate 64 seated and another 34 standing passengers. There were 5 spare coaches to allow for maintenance. So, OK, the coaches were old bus bodies mounted on old wagons but they worked, and worked well. The seats were wooden, there were no toilets aboard (neither does the London Underground!) and, horror, horror, there was no restaurant car! Motive power was supplied by ex Nkana mine two Toshiba 1050hp locomotives, a third was held as standby for maintenance purposes. All were kept clean overnight and the locomotives refuelled when they were stabled at a yard in the Industrial Area.

Earthworks and platforms had been built

by Burton Construction, new track built or overhauled by the construction team from ZCCM, Nkana Division and all was ready to roll some 8 months after inception.

Stations were placed at Chilenje, Kabwata, Lumumba Road and George with the central station placed abutting Cairo Road by the original Lusaka Railway Station. There an island platform allowed the two trains to arrive on either side of the platform at the same time. The basic safety rule was that no train could proceed until its “brother” was sat opposite from it.

There were main roads to cross, these were all guarded by signs, lights and flagmen who stepped out into the road and stopped traffic. There were virtually no incidents, drivers learnt very quickly that you did not argue with trains. In particular one unfortunate minibus driver who had his bus overturned had to flee the scene as the occupants, a group of very large religious ladies, emerged from the wreck looking to inflict severe damage to the driver and any other male in the vicinity!

There was a one price ticket, however far you travelled, fares were collected and tickets issued by conductors, one per coach. Random ticket inspection was required to ensure that the collectors did not issue tickets, pocketing the cash. A few salutary examples were made of the odd transgressors and the passengers realized that the collectors must give them tickets or could be chased as a thief!

A timetable was established, the first trains departed from the termini at 6 o’clock prompt, arriving at the Lusaka centre station at 6.15 before getting to the termini at 6.25 to run around and get away again at 6.30 and so all day up to 1900 hours. This meant that all the crews had to be roused out of their beds by 5, taken to the stabling yard and the first train dispatched down to Chilenje by 5.30 for the service to start on time. The essence of the service had to be punctuality and reliability so much so, that as in Switzerland, you could set your watch by the train times. I was amused, some years ago, when asked to meet would be operators of a revitalized commuter train, representatives of a company called City Rail. They arrived for the meeting that they had arranged between 1 and 3 hours late.

When asked what the prime requirement of the service was I responded by saying that it was punctuality. The comment went over their heads at about 30 000 feet!

So, what went wrong. A whole variety of things went wrong and quite quickly at that.

There seemed to be an idea that running a commuter service was a vastly profitable venture. As such that idea allowed to expand the staff so that there could be managers, assistant managers, accountants etc. Next, despite existing staff being thoroughly trained in how to run the service it was deemed necessary for staff to go on inspection visits to London, Paris and New York to “see how it should be done”. To this day Njanji Commuter still owes Zambia Airways money. Of course none of the managers were expected to get out of bed early to get the drivers etc to work so a bus and drivers for same had to be organized and, unlucky, if any of the staff had to have a funeral then the bus was used to take people to the funeral rather than taking people to work.

It was then realized that no one in Lusaka started work before 7 o’clock, why should they?

The next problem was also money related.

The collection of ticket money became a trifle slipshod. Managers could not be expected to get on their trains and check that all was as it should be so it did not take long before conductors were pocketing half of

the ticket money! If not enough money was coming in then how could fuel be paid for.

Very soon the arrangement that fuel would be put in the locos at night petered out when the fuel company offering this service did not get paid, so there were hiccups as the service managed to eventually find the cash to put fuel in the locos. This critical shortage of fuel also gravely affected the livelihoods of those staff that relied on their illegal earnings from diesel that they had nicked and flogged to their pals.

The business of ticket collection is always a thorny problem. If you can seal off a station so that there is only one entrance then a ticket booth and turnstile arrangement can be sorted so fares can be paid to gain entrance to the platform. This would have entailed an awful lot of fencing which would still have left gaps where the train went through and required policing, not least to stop “entrepreneurs” from stealing the fence at night! Collecting a fare from people as they entered the train would have meant unworkable delays at stations, thereby slowing things right down.

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So now, what has Zambia Railways taken on and how well are they equipped to handle the task.

First there are problems with the track.

The line has concrete sleepers, it has been cleaned out but the whole lot requires proper ballasting. It is insufficient to spread ballast, it has to be put underneath the sleepers, all of which are still sat on the ground. A lot of work is required there.

Track may be a problem but, as long as wagons and coaches are well maintained, then trains can pass slowly but steadily along.

The recent major derailment by Emmasdale Police station where a lot of sugar went astray could have been caused by a poorly maintained wagon. Let us hope for the commuters sakes that it was not the track Next is the matter of road crossings. The number of these crossings, the density of road traffic, the increased frequency of train movements, all bode ill for safety! I wonder what Zambia Railways has thought about that little problem.

As the service became unreliable so customer numbers dropped off and eventually, along with other parts of the ZCCM Empire, Mulungushi Commuter went bust!

When Zambia Railways took the service over it was with great reluctance. They had never liked the whole idea from inception, seeing it as an intrusion on their patch.

First to go were the coaches and then the locomotives, the service being run using large locos and main line coaches. The service stopped running through, all trains terminated at the central station. Tickets were issued there and also money taken when people disembarked. This was an improvement but, of course, all the canny commuters got off and avoided the ticket booth by scarpering off up, down or across the line. The service was unreliable, affected as always by loco availability, fuel constraints, breakdowns etc. and no one seemed to have time to clean the trains or their toilets, so they stank. With the equipment used the service was also very expensive to run so it was with relief that ZR had the excuse to shut it down.

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I presume that Zambia Railways have not thought too much about platforms along the route. Have they considered reopening the island platform on the Cairo Road side of the line or will passengers be deposited at the main line station, thereby giving them a long walk to get into town? Better take a minibus all the way!

I wonder what a time table, when issued, will reveal the extent of Zambia Railways dedication to this bold innovation. The frequency given and adherence to it will tell all though I did hear reported that one would be commuter waited in vain for several hours for a train.

I do so hope that the new service will be a godsend to commuters; that it will be successful; that it might be marginally but definitely operationally profitable (No service anywhere can cover the repayment of capital costs) and that then the lines to George and Chilenje can be reopened.

Regrettably, my fears remain, that, for Zambia Railways it is going to be a case of “The Rail Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions!�

Moringa – Is there anything it can’t do?

I hear people say that they take Moringa for all sorts of reasons. “Did you know it’s great for this, and that… you can even take it for this condition!”, I hear people say. Have you heard about Moringa yet?

Why does Moringa seem to help in so many different circumstances? It’s simple – it’s a nutritional powerhouse, or as I call it – a superfood. When we provide our cells with all the right nutrition, suddenly they are able to function more effectively. This will of course benefit our entire body and often translates into more overall energy and wellbeing. So it is not surprising to hear people comment that it has helped them feel better, regardless of what they were suffering from in the first place.

Moringa Tree leaves have been used for 1000s of years in India. Indeed, India’s ancient tradition of Aryuvedic medicine sites over 300 diseases that are treated with Moringa. Mind you, this is very different from saying that it will CURE all these illnesses.

In this day and age, I find that most people struggle to meet their nutritional requirements on a daily basis. I am not referring to calories, or macronutrients such as carbohydrates, protein and fat – most of us, get more than enough of these (evidenced by our expanding waistlines).

The big problem is rather getting enough micronutrient nutrition – vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes. These are the microscopic elements that are found in our food and that are so essential for our health. Most of us, although we may not have outright deficiencies, we tend to have lower than optimum levels for many of these nutrients. This weakens our defences against stress and illness.

Nutrition is fundamental. If we don’t get that right, then it is very difficult to correct any illness in the body. In addition, good nutrition can help recreate an internal environment where the body is better able

to initiate healing. Yes, various herbs (and pharmaceutical drugs) can address specific issues through their pharmacological actions, but nutrition will always be a limiting factor.

Even if you are well, and have never been diagnosed with an illness, you may still want to pay attention to nutrition. It can help you get smarter, stronger, less moody, more energetic, more fertile…. and the list goes on. On the flip side, if you don’t concern yourself, then what you eat (or what you don’t eat), may cause you to become lethargic, get “foggy” thinking, develop pain and inflammation, suffer from bad PMS … and the list continues.

The problem, is that people are used to eating a certain way, and it is notoriously difficult to change our eating habits. That’s why I think Moringa is so brilliant, because just by taking a teaspoon of this local (and very affordable – indeed you can grow it in your garden!) superfood per day, you are going a very long way in making sure that all your micronutrient requirements have been met. It’s such a simple daily thing that you can do to immediately give your body a boost in the right direction. No Excuses!

You can even try munching on Moringa Seeds. They have (what I would describe) as a sweet taste and can be eaten raw, steamed or boiled. They can also be seasoned and roasted as a snack food.

They are packed with nutrients, making them as popular as Moringa leaves in many household around the world. ………………………………………………….

by Kim Otteby | Umoyo Natural Health. www.umoyo.com | 0966 800 600

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Embassy Mall Once upon a time there was Embassy Supermarket and when heading South we used to stop there for solid & liquid supplies, say Hi to Eleni in the cockpit, natter a bit in between outbursts of her unique management style … always beginning with the Greek word “Ella!” And despite the amount of times I’ve heard that word in action I’m still not 100% sure of what it means. Got an idea though. But, got to love the Greeks … industrious and passionate … wonder what went wrong back in the heartland? Even when they screw-up they do it in style.

So, Embassy Supermarket left the building just like Elvis, but unlike Elvis and more like the mythical Phoenix, the supermarket closed doors and came back as a mall. How

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by Marek Patzer

about that? Embassy Mall is now up and running at the same location and despite being officially opened by our President sometime this year … is a work in progress.

Tenants are still moving in. Side note on the presidential opening; His Excellency had a close encounter with the Shawarma King – Chef Ali. More on him later …

I’m a bit perplexed by the Shopping Mall invasion of Lusaka. How many is too many? Don’t know. Considering that I have no business acumen whatsoever I’m not qualified to comment other than to observe that these guys are obviously aware that their tenant and customer base is assured as here in the Tropics we have gone forth and multiplied. Veritably. This has created something of an infrastructural snag though

as our respective governments seemed to have ignored this enthusiastic productivity on the part of our species. See power, water and roads. Well, they’re not alone … it’s a global issue.

Another mall. Embassy. Boss says “Do a story” She’s bigger than me so off I go. Head into the centre management office. Sign on the door “No Jobs”. Bummer. Meet Aki Vasilakopoulos. Ask for a job. Fail. Friendly guy. Happy to talk. “You know my wife –

see evidence of blushing … us pinkoes? … well even beards don’t really hide that brief facial stain of embarrassment.

Aki is one of THOSE guys; physically average but BIG … the man is driven. Embassy Mall is his baby and he’s going to make it work whatever it takes. The fact that Makeni Mall is just over the road and there’s another mall being built South adjacent is not an issue.

Eleni?” Yes! From Embassy Supermarket.

Things fall into place. Then I get introduced to another guy. Farid. Name rings a bell. One of Aki’s partners. He looks at me quizzically … looking for recognition. It takes time.

Age & Alcohol do strange things to memory … and while we’re Alliterating (new word) might as well bring in Alzheimers (sounds Yiddish). OK, Farid was my sister’s first husband. Whoops. Let’s move on. Having a full beard cuts 40% off blush flush. Always envied folk with darker skin in that one can’t

Well, a bit. “It’s South African and we lost some of those potential franchises but there’s growing Zambian competition … we’re learning. Fast. We have to.” And he is right.

Bearing in mind that I’m a learner-driver mall rat a couple of Zambian shops immediately stood out; Guzel – an Islamic fashion boutique for women. Even ebullient Aki had his doubts about this one but it rocks!

25

They’re even expanding and taking the shop next door. Being a bacon & beer man who prefers women wearing little to nothing I’m in no position to say anything at all in this scenario other than quoting an extremely happy Guzel customer, “ … the only shop in Lusaka that offers choice, colour and unique Islamic Way fashion outfits.” Excellent. No, really. Happy women make for happy men.

Rule of thumb.

Then there’s Nabby Agro. I’m still trying to figure him out. Nabby Syambezi that is. His shop is called Nabby Agro. Nabby’s store is also a work in progress. He sells – wait for it – everything to do with pets. And pets as well. Specifically exotic ones. I overheard him talking on the phone to a customer who bought an Iguana and had feeding issues.

And he sells exotic birds … seems to have a demand for swans. OK. Each to their own.

Nabby is an interesting man; he loves snakes and has a few pythons at home (and no security issues). He catches problem snakes for people and releases them somewhere safe for both reptile and human. Has a background of “horse-liding”, specifically polocross having worked with the late and sorely missed Mark Jellis. Nabby’s Dad was at one time in charge of the Zambia Police mounted section. He also has a farming background thus the agricultural aspect of his store. He appreciates first-hand the difficulties of being a rural farmer and stocks herbicides, insecticides, pesticides and ploughs. Could write a lot more on this guy. He’s even friends with my Mom. Small world.

Sports Extreme. Tucked into a corner with outside seating. I never got to meet the proprietor Veron so I didn’t get to mention that the word ‘Extreme’ is now officially toast. Burned toast. Like the words Love and Sorry they’ve been abused so much that they’ve lost their value. Aside from that Veron’s Extreme Sports is a betting venue.

And busy. Walking in there with a camera and light skin is not advisable. Anyway, people there are betting on the results of football matches, horse lacing..and stuff.

Didn’t stick around.

Next door is Algore Creation, suave Eddie sells wallpaper, of all things. His store is

slick and fashionably minimal … upmarket Zambian. If I was that way inclined he would be the man to go to.

Home & Décor; two colourful floors of home stuff from mirrors and buckets to crockery and cutlery. Emirates Furniture & Toys; a vast display of lounge suites and kiddie cars. Need a driving licence for those things? Zamlisa; handbags & curtains.

I’m really not the right man to talk about this … handbags that glitter. But, Ladies, Zamlisa is there and if you like handbags that reflect light like CD’s you know where to go. Vintage House Of Fashion. Again, not qualified. But the man in there was friendly & good for a joke or two. Hopefully before I die some woman will explain to me the importance of having lots of shoes … some purely cupboard decorative. Then again, it doesn’t really matter. There are things way more important and both Frederick & Imelda have left the building with Elvis. 2000 shoes.

Digi Print? Zambian? Don’t know. But all you Proudly Zambian stores I wish you success in difficult times. There’s Finance 27

Bank. Definitely north of the Zambezi. Love the lion ads. Even tho’ we’re running out of them. Lions, that is. American dentists might have something to do with this.

Moving on. Greeks. Lebanese. Still waters run deep. Actually not so still. Vocal buggers.

Always got a lot to say but a lot remains unsaid. Having said that. (Couldn’t resist).

Let’s meet Chef Ali. Globetrotting Shawarma King (self-appointed). Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, UAE … he made shawarmas in all of those places.

Hailing from Lebanon Chef Ali Safieddine rules the roost at Doner Kebab a Turkish eatery just to the left as you enter Embassy Mall. Doner Kebab is run by a Mr. Eldor, another globetrotter who travelled under the auspices of United Nations working for the various departments that that august body holds. Couldn’t quite figure out how he got from there to a kebab shop in Lusaka.

No problem we’re happy to have him. And Chef Ali. Got to meet him. And taste his secret recipe shawarmas. I recommend that you do. He somehow got our president to taste one at the official opening of the mall. Wonder how he managed with all the security that surrounds the president. Well he did. He is a bundle of energy though, speaking bad English extremely fast and when he runs out of English, Turkish even faster. Another man with a story to tell that space does not permit here.

Next door is Yummylicious, you might meet owner Jerry Mavrogiannis. Big guy, tattoos. If there was ever a form that required one to fill in ‘religion’ he would write Coffee. Talking to Jerry about Coffee one enters a new world … a world of perfect coffee and that’s Jerry’s speciality – perfect coffee. From espresso to cappuccino Jerry ensures that it is perfect.

He does food too – pizzas, burgers, fish and chips etc. Also perfect.

In my short time at Embassy Mall I couldn’t help but notice that both Doner Kebab and Yummylicious attract Mediterranean types of people … drinking coffee, smoking hookahs, talking fast … beer drinkers lean towards Yummylicious, whereas those who do not imbibe are at Doner Kebab. But as the two restaurants are neighbours conversations flow easily over the divide. World Peace.

Can work if the food is good.

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Next up is Spar. It’s a big one. One stop grocery shopping. Next door to them is Lusaka’s biggest Pep Store. 2000 shoes amongst other things. And across the shiny walkway reflecting blue fluorescence is Sbeity … they have two shops in fact.

Emphasis on electronic … from things computer and telephonic to fridges. Zesco work with us please. Folk that work there run around on electronic skateboard type things.

Hang on. Still to come by December. Aki is building a bar with a view. Should be good seeing what he and Eleni have done with Eviva restaurant in Rhodes Park. A 24 hour casino. Another bank. Jason, who really doesn’t like it if you phone him before 0900hrs. Understandably. Is opening both a Steers and a Fishaways. Zesco has a shop

… powering the nation. Sometimes. Napsa are moving in too. Doubt that will improve their tardy pension payouts but with access to good coffee with Jerry maybe with the caffeine kick … ? Dream on.

So, there it is. Embassy Mall. They’ve got lots of parking. Engen will provide liquid beverage refreshments for vehicles once they finish doing stuff underground. Aki is talking about weekend entertainment options for the young and the old … and the thirsty … for what it’s worth, I’ll go back; Jerry’s coffee, Ali’s shawarmas, maybe get lucky & bump into Eleni (pisses Aki off) and do the weekend shopping for the kids (5 cats, 2 dogs) at Spar. And then the always interesting drive home through Chawama Market.

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Something New, Something Old Another Zambian in First Place! Namwali Serpell has won the Caine Prize for African writing with her short story The Sack. This is a welcome feather in our national caps, especially when our literary culture is often under the spotlight for not coming up to reasonable standards. Zambia ranks badly in the region for school-reading achievement. Some reports rate almost 80% of Grade 3 children, not being able to read. So any good news about a Zambian-born author who’s received international recognition is very welcome.

And who knows, the short story of today could be the classic of the future. Far beyond the reach of the international spotlight an interesting project went on locally over the past two years.

Literary enthusiasts in Lusaka experimented with a cultural exchange to bring the classic literature of Brazil to a Zambian audience. The overriding objective of the project was to bring life to classical literary works that were not available to the general public because of the barrier of language. Brazilian master of letters, Machado de Assis, writing in the 19th century penned two stories, amongst many others, Miss Dollar and The Mirror. They have been compiled into a book, to be delivered to the reader in English, which is illustrated by notable Zambian artists, Mulenga Chafilwa and Stary Mwaba in order to seal the quality of the work from both sides of the Atlantic. This means you should soon be looking out for the published text in “Zambian Version”.

September 8th is International Literacy Day. And, there is reason to celebrate our growing literary adventures which is the only way to bridge the gap that makes a literate person a life-long reader. Unless quality books are floated on the market, we cannot excite the Zambian reader. Good books provoke good films, good plays as well as good reading.

They enlarge our understanding and view of the world around us making us appreciate the similarities and differences in world cultures.

The classic story reminds us that no amount of technology can take the place of human creativity and the sensitive insight of a skilled writer.

“The Sack”

by Namwali Serpell

Machado de Assis 31

iRock Live Finding a young Zambian musician who prefers to perform live is not that easy. Frank Chris Sinyangwe started learning his first chords on a friend’s guitar when he was just in primary school. Luckily, he was also able to do music classes at school from the sixth grade and bought his first guitar when he was eighteen. Now he performs his own compositions as well as popular soft rock favourites at public concerts and more private events.

The semi-acoustic guitar is Frank’s instrument.

The American band ‘Doughty’ inspires his music. At home he has done backing with known Zambian artists such as Salma Sky and Pompi. If he’s working ‘solo’, you’re likely to find his friend David Anthem backing him.

Stage name Frank iRock Chris is also his facebook address should you want to look him up. He has been playing ‘professionally’ for the past two years at weddings, fashion shows and he uploads his music regularly onto the internet. Look for his music on Reverberation/frankirockchris.

Lack of venues and opportunity to play live, do not deter him, he sees a future where he can make a living out of his music and he’s doing what he loves. To follow Frank and for details of his next live gig Twitter/frankchris27

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Anderson Security - A Certain Pedigree Four brothers; all but the youngest brought out from that fierce land where men wear skirts and (rumour has it) no underwear, where the traditional musical instrument was inspired by the sound of cats being tortured, where oat porridge was invented and is the home of those very clever buggers who gave the world whisky. Thank you very much for the porridge and whisky. Love them both.

Keep the bagpipes & crossdressing. No offence.

So in 1948 the Anderson Family escaped a war-torn Europe for a new home in the tropics - Lusaka. Northern Rhodesia.

Anderson senior worked for the Colonial Government, the three brothers John, David and Rod attended local schools - in kabadulas …… Anderson senior retired from Government service in the late 50’s after building the groundnut programme (Chalimbana) and soil conservation (road construction in and around Lusaka and the Northern Province). The fourth brother, Fred, was born in Lusaka in 1954. Now we have the full Anderson complement.

In ’59 oldest brother John enrolled into the Lilayi Police Training School, probably paving the way for Rod to form Anderson Security in ’69. In ’71 Rod was joined by brothers John and David at Anderson Security and Fred joined in ’72 after matriculating at Kingswood College. The brothers then embarked on a serious programme to build up the company’s capacity…and they succeeded. By the 90’s the company was one of the strongest.

But in the 70’s and 80’s life in Zambia was – to put it politely – interesting. A combination of factors ranging from nationalisation programmes, involvement in the liberation south of the Zambezi and the governance of the day saw the country in serious economic problems. So, no jobs. Hungry and desperate people. “When hunger walks in the door love flies out the window” And a sharp increase in crime particularly home robberies. As our high walled, barb-wired, electric fenced suburbs eloquently point out.

The Anderson brothers were hard-pressed to cope. But they did. In those lean times Rod even invented a ‘bobbin alarm system’

which he should have patented. Necessity being the mother of invention.

Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. Times changed. The Father of Nation bowed out.

Investors came knocking. Privatisation got to its feet and started moving. Crime changed.

Got more sophisticated. And the Andersons had to go with the flow. But somehow still managed to find the time to get involved in Zambian Motorsport of all things. The company became a ‘mover and shaker’ in all the disciplines from rally, 4X4, vintage and motocross. Particularly in 4X4 with Fred and his wife Jean putting together a whole calendar of 4X4 events countrywide on a yearly basis.

So, the wars are over. South Africa, Namibia, Angola all rid of their colonial yoke. Things should be better but they aren’t. In Zambia the bulk of our people are still desperate.

Money is God. Even for those who are not desperate. More, much more, now! And crime flourishes in this fertile field of both greed and desperation. Not going to talk about the police. Good at road blocks though. Well, sort of. So the security companies have to box clever. They’re charging for a service and have to deliver.

And it’s a competitive business. Keep up with the criminal times.

Now I’m friends with Fred – my jeep is even named after him – but currently he is too busy to socialise. Hands full dealing with it all. His company is right up there where it should be in terms of cash-in-transit services, home and company protection, rapid armed response…the whole gamut…and he doesn’t have time to play. “There’s something rotten…” half a quote from William.

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2015 - 2024: International Decade for People of African Descent 2015: International Year of Light and Lightbased Technologies

Award winning album, Malizu. Malizu is an Nsenga word meaning both words and voices and so it will be a night of beautifully voiced storytelling.

Saturday 5 September: Siku ya Malizu (Night of Malizu). Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka. Time: 8pm. Entry: K80 (K70 members). Siku ya Malizu (Night of Malizu) is a live interpretation of Tasila’s 2015

Monday 7 - Tuesday 8 September: Senses at Sensorium hosts Dr Clark for Restylane and Botox treatments. US$ payments only.

Appointments: 0211 257-330, 0977 798282, 0969 740-440

Thursday 3 September: Education, Education Screening. Buildup to Lusaka International Film Festival. Time 8pm.

Venue: Levy Junction Mall’s Fresh View Cinema. Ticket K30. INFO: 0211 285-394, 0968 033-957

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events | jobs | ads | antics | trade post

Saturday 5 September: International Day of Charity

Sunday 6 September: Swiss Hotel Management School (SHMS) Information Session. Venue: Taj Pamodzi Hotel. Time: 3pm. Come and meet a representative who is happy to answer all your questions about studying abroad. SHMS provides a broad range of programmes in Hotel Operations, Events, Resort and Spa Management or Food & Beverage and Restaurant Management. Limited Spaces. INFO / Booking: 0968 445-292, info@educon-global.com

2015: International Year of Soils

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Tuesday 8 September: International Literacy Day [UNESCO] Saturday 12 September: United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation Saturday 12 September: The Lusaka Book Club is reading ‘The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared’ by Jonas Jonasson. Next month is ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’ by Harriet Ann Jacobs. INFO: 0979 454-765.

Tuesday 15 September: International Day of Democracy Tuesday 15 September: The Lowdown October Edition Deadline.

Tuesday 15 September: Day One: Short Film Fest. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka.

Shorts screenings. Time: 12pm - 4pm.

Entry Free. Zambia Short Fest organized in Lusaka, Zambia to promote local talents and provide them with a platform to screen short films and gain experience before making feature films, creating a base of professionalism for a long career.

Tuesday 15 September: Day One: Short Film Fest. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka.

Open Film. Time: 6pm - 7pm. Entry Free.

Zambia Short Fest organized in Lusaka, Zambia to promote local talents and provide them with a platform to screen short films and gain experience before making feature films, creating a base of professionalism for a long career.

Wednesday 16 September: International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 36

Wednesday 16 September: Day Two: Short Film Fest. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka.

Shorts screenings. Time: 10am - 6pm.

Entry K10. Zambia Short Fest organized in Lusaka, Zambia to promote local talents and provide them with a platform to screen short films and gain experience before making feature films, creating a base of professionalism for a long career.

Wednesday 16 September: Soap Making Course. Venue: Near Sandy’s Creations, Lilayi. K200 per person. Make gifts or start a small home business, have some fun & be Inspired. Products, moulds, packaging for purchase. INFO: Sue 0966 565-374 Thursday 17 September: Day Three: Short Film Fest. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka.

Award and Closing night. Time: 7pm - 9pm.

Entry K30. Zambia Short Fest organized in Lusaka, Zambia to promote local talents and provide them with a platform to screen short films and gain experience before making feature films, creating a base of professionalism for a long career.

Friday 18 September: ZESCO light Orchestra. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka. Time: 7pm. Entry: K80 (K60 members). The Zesco Light Orchestra is pure madness and musical chaos created by noise of jug band instruments such as newspapers-washboard-spoons-bells and plumbing tools while playing old Jazz from 1900 till 1920 with satirical lyrics. Great examples were the Bozo Dog Band and the iconic Cliff Edwards and Ukulele Mike who was known for his hilarious music in Walt Disney cartoons.

Saturday 19 September: Alliance Française de Lusaka, Open Day. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka. Time: 6pm. Entry Free.

The Alliance Francaise of Lusaka brings to you an Open day with Fun events for all ages. French quiz, french food, petanque treasure hunt, Free music and much, much more!

Saturday 19 September: Dinner Dance hosted by Lusaka and District Kennel Club. Venue: Dream Valley Conference Centre. Time 6.30pm. Tickets: K300 includes 3 course meal and live entertainment. Dresscode: Smart.

INFO: 0965 548-693, 0962 001-686, lusakakennelclub@gmail.com Saturday 19 September. Memory Lane eScholars Forum Braai and Art Exhibition.

Venue: Nembofantasy on the north-eastern outskirts of Lusaka. Time: 8.15am. Past pupils of St Edmund’s Secondary School and Mazabuka Girls Secondary School will be showcasing their Masters and PhD thesis’s achieved over the years. Artist, Quentin Allen will make a presentation on the little known waterfalls of Zambia and conduct an art exhibition. All are welcome! To get there turn on Kabanana Road at SOS near Lusaka National Heroes Stadium for 4.6 kilometers. Follow tarred road to Kabanana Primary School and look out for a large blue and green windsock, just 50 metres south of the tarred road, when you reach the end of Kabanana main market before Kabanana Primary School.

INFO: 0955 906-541, 0955 906-542, nembofantasy@gmail.com

Saturday 19 September: An Evening at ‘Glyndebourne’. Hosted by The International Wine & Food Society. Venue: Anderson Residence, (Buckridge), Leopards Hill Road.

Time: 7pm sharp. Dress Code: Black Tie and Evening Dress. Tickets: K150 per person.

Limited Seats - Book Early. The function has been held regularly for members for over 25 years with great acclaim and Ticket holders and Society members are invited to make up picnic parties with wine and food hampers to be enjoyed on the Buckridge lawn around the pool. Chairs and tables will be provided to picnic parties who will each organize their own picnics and drinks to accompany their picnics. At about 20.00 hours picnickers will be entertained with the first of two programs by the Dorie DeGroat Abraham Ensemble featuring various instrumental and vocal pieces Delibes, Strauss, Mozart and Puccini. Picnickers will resume picnicking before and after the second performance at about 21.00 hours. This second program will include songs and music from various popular musicals such as Wicked and Les Miserables. INFO: 0977 829-467, 0211 293875, ken@blczambia.com 37

DON’T MISS:

October

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Monday 21 September: International Day of Peace

Thursday 1 October: International Day of Older Persons

Monday 21 September - Friday 2 October: Kino Workshops. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka. Time: 9am - 5pm. Free

Friday 2 October: International Day of NonViolence

Wednesday 23 September: Soap Making Course. Venue: Near Sandy’s Creations, Lilayi. K200 per person. Make gifts or start a small home business, have some fun & be Inspired. Products, moulds, packaging for purchase. INFO: Sue 0966 565-374 Thursday 24 September: Give Us The Money Screening. Buildup to Lusaka International Film Festival. Time 8pm.

Venue: Levy Junction Mall’s Fresh View Cinema. Ticket K30. INFO: 0211 285-394, 0968 033-957 Friday 25 September: World Maritime Day [IMO] Friday 25 September: Poet Springs. Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka. Time: 7pm.

Entry Free. This is a monthly, multi lingual open mic show in which poets can present and perform their own poetry as well as those written by others. The show is not for political debates or proliferation of religious belief. The organizers therefore insist that its contents remain secular and politically neutral.

Saturday 26 September: International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Saturday 26 September: Writers Circle.

Venue: Alliance Française Lusaka. Time: 2pm. Zampen Center has planned a series of Writer’s Circles in order to develop a culture of togetherness. It’s an avenue for sharing the thrills and challenges experienced by writers.

Sunday 27 September: World Tourism Day Sunday 27 September: The Crazy Dog Show & the launch of ‘Kapenta & Lerish & Other Fishy Tales’ Book. Venue: The Lusaka & District Kennel Club -Show Grounds. INFO: 0977 773-854, prittysunilm@gmail.com

Sunday 4 October - Saturday 10 October: World Space Week Monday 5 October: World Teachers’ Day [UNESCO] Monday 5 October: World Habitat Day Wednesday 7 October: Soap Making Course. Venue: Near Sandy’s Creations, Lilayi. K200 per person. Make gifts or start a small home business, have some fun & be Inspired. Products, moulds, packaging for purchase. INFO: Sue 0966 565-374 Thursday 8 October: Quentin Allen invites you to the opening of his painting exhibition titled ‘Water’. Venue: Zebra Crossings Cafe.

Time: 5.30pm.

Thursday 8 October - Wednesday 4 November: Painting exhibition titled ‘Water’ by Quentin Allen. Venue: Zebra Crossings Cafe.

Friday 9 October: World Post Day Saturday 10 October: The Lusaka Book Club is reading ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’ by Harriet Ann Jacobs. Next month is ‘The Lives of Others’ by Neel Mukherjee. INFO: 0979 454-765.

Sunday 11 October: International Day of the Girl Child Tuesday 13 October: International Day for Disaster Reduction Thursday 15 October: International Day of Rural Women Thursday 15 October: The Lowdown November Edition Deadline.

Saturday 24 October: Public Holiday.

Independence Day Friday 30 October - Friday 6 November: Lusaka International Film and Music Festival. Theme: Inclusive Communities.

INFO: 0211 285-394, 0968 033-957 39

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Small Ads; 01 - 20 words: K40 / 21 - 40 words: K80 / 41 - 60 words: K120 | Property Prowl: K400 Deadline: 15th of the month preceding publication

Carpenter available to do odd jobs around the house, make furniture and repair broken furniture. Can also do tiling and roofing.

Contact 0974 347-255

Employment Sought: General Worker / Cleaner (office or home). 5 years experience. Please call 0953 380-462 or 0975 464-662

Centricia Lodge - Kasama | Travelling to Kasama and need excellent, affordable accommodation? Join us at Centricia Lodge, located in Mukulumpe. We offer excellent accommodation with en-suite bathrooms, DSTV, bar fridge, kettle, comfortable workstation, a lush relaxing garden in which you can enjoy our tasty braaied signature T-bone. Reservations: 0976 702-063 / 0963 708-306 / centricialodge@gmail.com / www.facebook.com/centricia.lodge

Employment Sought: Receptionist / Housekeeper. In hotels, lodges or offices.

References available. Please call 0971 012980

Citrus Tree Trimming. Improve the health of your citrus and other trees. Contact 0966 747-990 Compost & Manure: Quality guaranteed!

Compost: 25kg bag for K45. Manure: in 50kg bag for K25. More than 10 bags free delivery in Lusaka. Shaun 0976 030-311.

Employment Sought: Receptionist / Office Assistant / Messenger / Cleaner. Female, 5 years experience. With computer knowledge. Please call 0974 021-334 Employment Sought: Self Guard / Garden Attendant. Mature man, aged 56, military background. Please call 0978 600-715 English Language Tutor. For SAT, IGCSE and GCE preparations, Cambridge Checkpoint. Contact: 0950 228-130 marthe1030@yahoo.fr Advertising Space donated by the Lowdown

Employment Offered: Looking for a trained maid, single, 30 years and above, Servants Quarter accommodation, with references, flexible to work weekends. Please call 0955 872-084 Employment Sought: Chef / Lodge Manager / Embassies / Hotels. 20 years in hospitality services. Please call 0971 893-415 or 0961 040-012 or 0977 727-691 Employment Sought: Cleaner (House / Office / Lodge). References available. Please call 0963 845-629 or 0953 082-953 or 0975 203-700 Employment Sought: Extension Officer / Farm Manager. Please call 0976 245-494 or 0977 994-969 Employment Sought: Gardener / Office Orderly / Cleaner. Male, aged 30, 9 years experience, references available. Please call 0976 289-988 43

For Sale: Round Rhodes Grass Bales.

Collection from farm on Great North Road.

Great for stock feed. Contact Bruce 0979 002-897 Jacana Gardens offer the following services: Supervised Garden Maintenance | Garden Design | Hard and Soft Landscaping | Professional Tree Surgery | Timber and Composite Decking | All types of Fencing and Gates | Automatic Irrigation systems | Paving; Patios, Paths and Driveways | Visit our Retail Plant Nursery. 4 Zimbabwe Road, Rhodes Park. Tel: 0211 846-001 / 0966 800-550 / www.jacanagardens.com Lusaka Home-From-Home: Self-catering Accommodation. Woodlands. Fully equipped one bedroom cottage. Everything you need for a few days or few weeks in Lusaka. Suits a couple or single person wishing to set their own timetable. Secure parking. Friendly owners on site. K450 per day. Contact Maggie on 0977 478675, or Stuart on 0977 544-118, or e-mail: lusakahomefromhome@gmail.com Mukambi Safari Lodge is a comfortable 270km (3 hour) drive from Lusaka and the closest lodge to Lusaka in Kafue National Park, the biggest National Park in Africa. Elephant, hippo, all the big cats and antelope are common sightings at Mukambi. Please visit our website www.mukambi.com or call reservations on 0974 424-013 or email reservations@mukambi.com for our unbeatable rates for residents!

Need Landscaping, Digital landscaping design, manure, compost, maintenance of private offices and parks. Design-a-gardens.

Karin Monge 0977 716-954.

North Kafue National Park. Mayukuyuku Bush Camp offers full board, and camping. Excellent game viewing and fishing. Access for two-wheel drive vehicles, 4 hours from Lusaka on good roads. www.kafuecamps.com | info@kafuecamps.com 44

PetVet | Pet Travel - Import, Export and Micro-chipping. Pet Parlour - For all your grooming needs. Pet Boarding - In our country kennels. Contact Us: Kabulonga, Roan Road; 0211 265197 / 0968 883-284/ 0976 080-387 / petvetzambia@gmail.com | Lilayi Road; 0977 401-813 / davidzuludr@gmail.com Showgrounds Vet Clinic - Dr. Lisa Oparaocha | For Veterinary / Grooming: 0977 770-940, showgroundsvet@gmail.com | For Pet Shop (Spoiled Pets): 0967 764-825, esuesta@yahoo.com Soap Making Courses. Each Wednesday from 16 September. Location: Near Sandy’s Creations, Lilayi, Lusaka. Make gifts or start a small home business. Products, moulds & packaging for purchase. Have some fun & be Inspired. Call Sue to book 0966 565-374.

Therapeutic Counselling: Relationship issues, crisis, abuse, anxiety, life changes? A safe confidential place to explore the way forward. Available services include face to face, skype, email, house visits. Contact: 0975 240-592 Twickenham Recruitment. Christian maids, chefs, gardeners, poultrymen, piggerymen, agriculturalists, auto / IT specialists, estates, excel and pastel accountants, translators in French to English (books, syllabus, newspaper tabloids, articles and stories for publishers, NGO’s, embassies or governmental). 0977 146-524 / 0975 574204 / dericky08@yahoo.com Zanzibar | Private Beach Villa for Rent | Jambiani Village. 4 Bedroom, 2 bathroom beach castle for spectacular affordable family holidays on Zanzibar’s East Coast.

Suitable for two families with kids or three couples. Kwacha House is fully furnished and equipped. Unbeatable self-catering value for families and groups. Rates start at US$200 / night for a whole family. Contact www.zanzibar-beach.com 0211 213-841 kwachahouse@zanzibar-beach.com 0977 897-779

FOR BOOKINGS Tel: +260 (0) 216 222 905 Fax: +260 (0) 216 222 909 reservations@phchipata.co.zm proteahotels.com/chipata

ENJOY UNIQUE STANDARDS

IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE.

THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR WORK AND PLAY. Located on the outskirts of Chipata town, surrounded on all sides by hills, Protea Hotel Chipata has 40 rooms all with en-suite bathrooms, air-conditioning, electronic door locks and safes, satellite TV and free Wi-Fi. The hotel has a modern restaurant with an outside terrace area overlooking the swimming pool and spacious gardens. There is also a sports bar and conference facilities for up to 80 delegates.

PHDS 33212/15