My Trip to the Copperbelt

Apologies that I did not manage to post to the Blog last week. I was in Kitwe over the weekend. Jenny Featherstone, the principal at Chodort worked in Kitwe for about five years or so before she came to Choma. One of the projects she was involved in was a playgroup for children in one of the townships on the outskirts of the city. It is an area that I know as it is approached along Racecourse Road which also leads to several farm holdings that I know well. The Kitwe racecourse no longer exists and the township has now taken its place. Jenny helped to set up the play group “Play 4 All” about two years ago and she was attending the second anniversary celebrations which were held on the Saturday. Hence her trip to Kitwe. I was more than happy to tag along, as was the Swedish Volunteer Mickey. He had worked at Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation before moving to Choma. We had a full car as far as Lusaka as Jenny gave a lift to a student who was attending his graduation at the University of Zambia. We left Choma at 05.00 and were in Kitwe by 18.30 with a stop for lunch at a restaurant/lodge/conference centre just north of Lusaka. I remember the place as a farm. It is still owned by the same family, the Woodley’s, who have taken advantage of their proximity to the Capital and their position on the main road to the Copperbelt to diversify into tourist related enterprises.

Lusaka - Kitwe, A Six Hour Drive  

Chisonkoni Market, Kitwe

The Edinburgh Hotel, Kitwe

Kitwe is much changed – It now has city status with a population to match. Traffic jams in the centre and on the main approaches are common and finding a parking space is next to impossible. I hired a vehicle so that I could visit a number of old friends who lived out of town. A number of them along Racecourse Road.  My first visit was to Riverain Farm, owned by Craig Wright, the son of old friends Mike and Jill Wright. Mike was our company vet and Jill worked at Border Farmers, a farmer’s co-op that I was involved with when I lived on the Copperbelt. I remember Craig as a young man and as a student at Gatton College in Queensland, Australia; it was here that he learnt the practical skills that have stood him in good stead now that he runs the family farm. His sister Mandy lives in Kitwe and is married with a family. The family home overlooks the Kafue River and the river is home to crocodiles and hippo.

The Kafue from the verandah at Riverain

Crocs large & small frequent the river and can be seen from the verandah 

I also went to visit Joseph Silweya, who I worked with for a number of years. Joseph was the assistant farm manager at Twin Rivers, my first farm on the Copperbelt. He moved with me to Chambeshi and later started his own contracting business, which is still going strong. I was able to go over to Chingola, which was where Annette worked before she gave up full time work when the twins were born. Both the twins and our younger son Oliver were born in the Mine Hospital at Chingola. Seeing it again brought back many memories.

The Town Centre, Chingola

The Mine Hospital, Chingola

I could not be in Kitwe without a visit to the Kitwe Showground and Border Farmers Co-op, old stomping grounds for me. It is pleasing to me to see that both institutions continue much as ever. The annual Copperbelt Show is less focused on Agriculture these days and more on industry. There was an attempt last year to revive the livestock but with limited success. Unfortunately the Equestrian competitions are no more but the Dog Show continues albeit on a smaller scale. I was able to meet with Bill Osborne and his wife Rose, Bill was able to bring me up to date with news of comings and goings. Some of it was sad but mostly it was good news. Bill is now the Chairman of the Board for both the Show Society and Border Farmers.

My final day on the Copperbelt was spent visiting with Mike and Jan Fisher and Cedric Whitamore. Both have properties on the outskirts of Kitwe. Cedric is not in the best of health but the farm continues much as I knew it under the able stewardship of his son Michael.   A number of years ago Cedric set up a primary school to cater for the children of his farm staff. The school is thriving and now has 300+ pupils. 

Cedric 

A classroom at the Primary School set up by Cedric for the children of his farm workers

 Mike and Jan live on the next-door farm to Cedric and their house is on the banks of the Kafue River, which also bounds Riverain further up stream. I was able to sit on the verandah and watch the comings and goings of the local crocodile population.  .

We stopped over for one night on the way back to Choma in Makeni on the outskirts of Lusaka. This gave us the opportunity to visit Mr. Mwango, the Vice Principal of Chodort who was an in-patient at UTH (The University Teaching Hospital) He is waiting for an operation. He was on the list on two separate occasions over the pst couple of weeks and did not get to the theatre either time. He is now back in Choma and will travel up to Lusaka on Monday to try his luck for the third time.

There has been consistent rain in Choma since my return and the days have been overcast and dull. Temperatures have been in the low 20s, which I find very pleasant.

I am now half way through the Challenges Worldwide assignment and my desk is filling up with paper! I have spoken with lots of people and spent time attending staff meetings and observing the activities at the Centre. Although I am specifically charged with looking at the viability of the Carpentry Production Unit the activities and enterprises are so tied up together that I find that I am looking at a wider picture than I first thought.  I must now start to organize my thoughts and the copious notes I have taken into some recommendations that I can make that hopefully will improve the performance of the production unit. I am not going to be around long enough to see if the recommendations I give are acted upon and result in a financially viable carpenters shop.