So another great week in Lusaka is drawing to a close. Thankfully this weekend is looking to be less hectic than last. We had guests staying for the weekend and so had a few parties to attend too. On Sunday night a German colleague invited us to his house to celebrate his birthday. He had hired caterers and had a free bar loaded with wine. It was like a little slice of heaven. In addition to these fine treats he also has aircon and a sofa, an actual sofa. As much as I am loving my life here it was just great to eat some amazing steak and sip cold white wine that did not taste of acid! It also felt a little like home as the madness set in with friends telling us stories of turtle sex (google it) and accordion playing! Monday was painful.....
So this week work at WASAZA has got really interesting. I have the opportunity to lead on a large project which will really expand my skills and tick a few boxes on my agenda to save the world. For those of you who are as limited as me in their scientific knowledge I shall attempt to explain the project in simplistic terms. We run a project where we turn turd into bio gas and purified water for irrigation. We have 65% of the population of Lusaka living in slum dwellings. So the Eldorado plan of action is to put bio gas chambers into each of these slum dwellings. At present as there is either no viable sanitation system which means open defecation (just going in the street) or the turd or faecal sludge (love that term ) is stored in septic tanks , many of which are now full. So the turd will get pumped into underground chambers and then is turned into gas and water. The gas can be used to either fuel up to 70 properties or can be sold making the project self sustainable. The water can then be used to irrigate the crops that grow in and around the compounds. So it is now all go here, I am off to a compound on Friday to start doing research and will be meeting with Lusaka water and sewage company to get them to work with us. I shall do my best to take some photos on Friday but so far I cannot get internet fast enough to post them. The big question is what does one wear to still look glamourous in Zambia whilst wading through turd?
As usual I spent my day at the orphanage yesterday. Things are starting to improve. On arrival the babies had toys in their cots, not all of them but some of them. Sadly they are a stash of toys which spend most of their time on a shelf so are filthy and dusty but a step in the right direction none the less. In addition the staff were picking up the tiny babies to feed them rather than just propping a bottle of milk up in the crib, so progress is being made.
As always I spend my first few hours in the baby unit. At present (but I am hoping this will change) the babies only have their nappies changed at set times. I am now back to changing nappies as I had a master class in but only because each time I picked up a wet baby I suggested their nappies were changed. 20 nappies later, 5 disinfectant wipes for my hands and I felt like a natural. Not one nappy fell off either! FYI when I say nappy, manage your expectations to a small cloth like a t-towel which is simply tied on. I then was teaching the children 3-5 year olds about colours in a game. It was quite hilarious to play and they seemed to love it.
Between 12-2pm the younger children go to sleep. The older ones get back from school at midday so I was playing ball games for 2 hours with them. They found my lack of ability hilarious. Although I was wearing factor 50 sun cream by the time my games had ended I was as red as a lobster.
In the afternoon I play with the kids aged between 3-8 years of age. We read some books, or draw with chalk on the floor or play tag etc. The kids started to laugh and point at me calling me red musungo and then arguing over whether I was red or pink. Hmmmm note to self, no more colour master classes which can lead to my mockery.
Otherwise life ticks on. Things seem more and more normal and just part of life here. I am very happy although missing things from home more and more.
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