General

The moment is so clear to me still.  Out walking the dogs just a few months ago, Andrew and I were commiserating that while we absolutely LOVE our dear friends who we have spent the winter break with for the last couple of years, we really didn’t think that another week or so in Indio (Palm… Read more

Friday was my last day working with the SmartCare project for this trip.   Chrys and I tag-teamed to finish and render the introductory video module we have been producing for the last few weeks, and copies of completed program are now in the hands of some funding executives who were visiting earlier this week from Washington DC. … Read more

I’ve just walked in to Evelyn Hone campus after having dinner with one of the SmartCare developers and his wife. Hankey (his name) is a native Zambian who did a tour of duty on development projects in the Seattle area for 6 years, met his wife there (she is a native Washingtonian), and they recently… Read more

I truly believe that in honor of my nearly imminent departure from Zambia for this go-around, the powers that be decided last night to show me what African thunderstorms look and sound like. Hold your umbrellas! It was a whopper…thunder, lightening, and a pretty heavy downpour for probably 2 – 3 hours…we had to scramble… Read more

Football Team Sponsorship for Bernie   Football – soccer to us Westerners – is very popular in Zambia as it is in other countries in Africa and Europe. Bernie, the youngest son of Marjory (our neighbor) came by the other night and was hoping for a contribution to help sponsor his football team in an… Read more

Question:   The monetary unit in Zambia is called the KWACHA (ZMK).  How many KWATCHA to one $1?                           Answer:  About 5,ooo kwacha to the dollar. Question:  How much does a nice Indian meal for three people cost in Lusaka – including tip :)?                                                        Answer:  About  180,000 kwacha….do the math! Read more

The Harsh Realities of HIV The SmartCare project’s primary goal is to help medical practitioners deliver “continuity of care” to every citizen of Zambia…loosely interpreted, this means providing a system by which no matter the clinic you go to for a given treatment within the country, the clinician there should be able to access your… Read more

Power Outages One of the regularly irregular adventures life in Lusaka brings is intermittent power outages.  They seem to happen randomly, in different areas of the city, and for varying lengths of time. There have been a few days when Chrys and I have headed off to work with the lights on, and walk in… Read more