Kamukwape's Diary

During 2015 and 2016 Southern Africa experienced the driest rainfall season in the last 35 years. FAO (2016) noted that during this period, 634 000 drought-related livestock deaths have occurred in the region, estimated at US$ 220 million. While grain farmers stand to recover in the next season or two, experts believe it will take significantly longer for livestock farmers to recuperate from the drought. In addition to emergency relief measures, efforts to build the resilience of livestock farmers and to learn from one another are increasingly important. Diversifying farmers livelihoods through livestock and adoption of good practices to manage livestock stock during drought and uncertain weather scenarios are key options to help farmers cope with the effects of climate change. Some good practices are being practised in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa. The Farmer to Farmer Livestock Field Study Visit is organised by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and...

I have since 2013 worked as Project Leader for the Community Outreach Project at Youth Skills for Development. In this period, I have hosted and supervised/collaborated with a total of 20 Students from Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands; designed projects in Liaison with the COP Project Office at Radboud University Nijmegen, in collaboration with Student Volunteers from the university and beneficiary schools/community, Supervised Student Volunteers during project implementation, evaluated and reported on these projects.  The projects have benefited about 1875 pupils and 70 teachers from Chibote Girls Secondary School, Mindolo Secondary School, Chimwemwe Secondary School, Natwange Primary School and Kawama Secondary School; 8 school leavers, 10 young women, 17 Teen Mothers. A total of 1,980 local direct beneficiaries. Pupils attending ICT lesson at Chibote Girls Secondary School in Kitwe, Zambia, during the 2014 COP Project This has been made possible by my colleagues a...

Ubushiku bwaleelo, pali cibili, inshiku makumi yatatu na cimo, mumwenshi wakapepo akanono, umwak walenga amakana yabili ikumi namutanda, bwiciba ubwansaansa nganshi kuli abo abaiposa mufikansa fyacaalo. Kumacaca, bantu baciba abaipekanya kabili abasangalala, bacilalanga nokusangalala kwabo ukupitila munyimbo shacimwela ishalekanana lekana. Awe kanshi umushi wacibafye uwa pentwa namalangi yapusaana pusana ayaleimininako amabumba yafikansa yapusaka pusana ayafikansa fyacaalo. Kumfwa mumushi wa Chimwemwe, ku Kitwe mucitungu ca Copperbelt, nako kwine, abantu abengi baciitumpamo muli iyi imilimo yalicilacitika. Intungulushi ishalekana lekana pamo nabantu babo bacipanga imilongo nokuya kulya ku Ishuko Primary School, uko ukwacibela ukulembesha nga abalefwaya ukwiminina pacifulo cabu Shimafunde mu Chimwemwe Constituency. Pabacifikilisha ukulembesha epali ba Ronald Manenga abaleiminina petiketi lya UPND, ba Mwenya Musenge aba abalebwekeshapo ukwiminina petiketi lya PF, kabili muku...

My heart bleeds, so this Teacher called me, he narrated how challenging it is for him to teach ICT to hundreds of grade nine students - it is an examination class and he has other subjects to handle, his colleagues are not yet up to the desired level in practical. So the burden is on him. He was trying to find out if we will offer Teaching Support in ICT at their secondary school, this year. First, I helplessly felt tears running down my cheeks, knowing  exactly what he is going through (I cant hold my emotions when it comes to such issues), knowing how eager the children/students are to learn, yet in so difficult circumstances, knowing the struggle the school management embrace to mobilize computers and other essential logistics just to build the future for children in this suburb . I took a deep breath and gave him the good news. "Mr.X, do not worry, things will work as planned earlier. This year, we will assign 2 Teaching Support Volunteers to your school..." I could ...

They have been praised, wished all sorts of good things, speeches have been read, matching performed and good allowances gotten...and just as I am typing this, the World has continued abusing them... the world has forgotten about them -its normal life. Why I hate one day commitments and prefer life long interventions to transform the way this World looks at and treats women... equality still remain such a luxury for most women . Equal Access to Information and Communication Technologies, education, health services, employment opportunities, equal participation in leadership and civic issues... still remain a struggle.   Our poor yet loving mothers still continue being scorched in the sun, in their motherly effort to feed the World and in the end be paid peanuts, their struggle of tiling the land continue not to be eased by unequal access to information, education, health services, and many other entitlements... How is each one of us taking it from today on wards, to ...

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VOLUNTEER: AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE HEADTEACHER This is a reflection from my diary based on a a cold day experience while undertaking community work. Some people still do not believe that one can volunteer without necessarily gaining financially. Many more people still do not appreciate the power that lies in Volunteerism. I am one of the people who have spent my few years on this earth believing in this power and clocking 10 years of Volunteer work, this year 2016. We walked out of our office with Ronald Chiteta Chiwaya in preparation of the Community Outreach Project - which we have been undertaking in July/August, since 2013 in selected schools within Kitwe (thanks to Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, for the Student Volunteers). ------ We sat in that office, close to an hour trying to convince the School Manager to allow us to undertake a project that would benefit about 300 pupils and 30 Teachers of that school, with free Ba...

A sunny, hot Sunday it has been! After a few movements to prepare for the week, I head home, grab a glass of water, pull out my Laptop and try to make myself comfortable. As I lay my hands on the keyboard, I quickly browse through my files, looking for some sounds to up my spirits. There we go, it is Marky II featuring Exile, with one of those ‘workaholic mood’ beats; Nangu bancinge. Nangu bancinge, talks about a determined person ready to defeat all setbacks until they get to a successful end. The track narrates, in brief, the perseverance sustained and things achieved as source of motivation. Booooom! I am energized, ready for the week ahead. Various ‘ pronouncements’  have been made by stakeholders to  raise hopes  about how they wish to see the youth engaged in agriculture.  Most Job creation policies seem to have put agriculture at the centre of sectors which have been targeted to create jobs for the youth and women in Zambia. Last week, I spen...