African Serenity

My flight from the UK to Lusaka last night was great. Very comfortable with seats that actually properly reclined and a touch-screen entertainment center in front of each passenger offering over 200 movies to chose from. I got one last “western” meal on-board which, ironically, was chicken korma. But it was delicious and I acted as if it was my “last supper” and savored every last drop. Breakfast was a box of miscellaneous cold items including 6 grapes, a freezing cold muffin and a yogurt which had leaked all over the little box. At least the coffee was hot.

I arrived in Lusaka on time and had a small issue at customs with my visa. I paid $55 for a 36-month multiple entry visa at the Zambian Mission in Geneva, Switzerland (I live in Geneva). However, upon presenting this to the customs officials at the Lusaka airport, they told me if I were simply "a tourist" I could come and go as I pleased. However, as a volunteer working in Zambia for Camfed, I could only stay for a maximum of 30 days, after which I would have to reapply for another 30-day visa and pay another $200. Honesty will get you very far but it will also cost you an extra $200 !

Patricia met me at the airport. She oversees the admin at the Lusaka office and helps me with everything from expenses to lunch to mobile phones to hotels. She is great and has been very helpful. She is also helping me sort out my visa extension. So far I love Africa, but I am not sure I would want to get stuck here indefinitely with an expired visa.

I checked in to a nice tucked away little guest house aptly named the Serenity Lodge. It is comfy and the staff is warm and more than accommodating. They serve a full English breakfast (hell yea!) and a really nice fresh chicken kebab on a skewer (not the euro trash version) so the food is much better than I expected so far. I have A/C, a hot shower, a mini fridge, Internet access, and CNN and a pretty good movie channel. Hmmmm....does not feel that different than home thus far. I am sure that will change very soon. I leave Lusaka in 5 days and head for rural Africa.

Why am I going to Zambia, you ask?

Camfed is a non-for-profit organization that is essentially a “campaign for education” for women across Africa. I am working on the Cama Programme which identifies top-performing young African girls who have completed grade 12 and mentors them in starting up the business of their choice. The programme sponsors the girls during the start-up process, supplies equipment, coaching, training and education to enhance, hone in on and fine tune the girls' business, project management, and IT skills. The girls are mentored through the entire process of starting a business of their choice with 8-12 other Cama members in their area. This teaches the girls very useful skills and gives them the potential for carving out a good means of developing a career for themselves and of earning their own money.

When I first learned that a post that had become available for an IT specialist and project manager in Zambia, I did not expect I would be applying for the post. What's more, I didn't think that I would be chosen for the job let alone that I would go on to seriously consider accepting the assignment. Roughly 3 months later and after many lengthy discussions between Camfed program managers and me, I was offered the position and I accepted the assignment.

Originally the assignment was to volunteer for 3 months in Zambia training African girls between the ages of 18-23 on IT skills and installing and supporting IT infrastructure across Africa. After further discussions with the Camfed team we discussed the possibility of my also assisting with mentoring and training on the project management and business skills side of things, in addition to the IT. This will be my blog about my experiences volunteering in Zambia.

For my mission in Zambia, I was asked to analyze the state of the IT infrastructure and services and to make recommendations for improvement. This will address concerns such as network connectivity problems, power fluctuations and outages, IT security, the state of the servers and workstations, virus protection, and the financial database performance via Citrix.

I will be working with Camfed management and user groups, local suppliers and working with IT staff to address the IT concerns and help to derive a strategy moving forward to improve IT performance, availability, stability and reliability. Where I can fix or improve issues on-site, I will do so. I will report and make recommendations for all other any issues and concerns back to management.

My mission in the districts is to help mentor and train the Cama trainers. I will accompany the trainers and the mentors to the various districts where Camfed has setup or plans to setup resource centers and has installed or plans to install IT equipment in the schools in the districts. There we will be working with girls who are participating in the either the Goldman Sachs Programme or the Credit Suisse Programme to ensure they are properly trained in business skills, project management skills and computer skills including using office applications, email and internet, photo editing and printing and using their mobile telephones for email and internet.

Additionally, I will be installing equipment supplied by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs including solar panels, batteries, and low-energy consuming computers around the districts. I will assess the state of the equipment already installed and any user requirements that need addressing. Where I can fix or improve issues on-site, I will do so. I will report and make recommendations for all other any issues and concerns back to management.