One month in Zambia

Trip Start Sep 11, 2007

Trip End Apr 26, 2008

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Flag of Zambia Lusaka, Zambia
Saturday, October 13, 2007

Dealing with Immigration is not fun or easy or cheap. I'm sure the Zambian immigration system is no worse or more complicated than most other countries', this week has just been incredibly frustrating. Upon arriving in Zambia, I was issued a 30-day permit. Two weeks ago, I went to Immigration to apply for an employment permit. I was told to go home and wait until the day before my temporary permit expired to apply. Since then, some new (?) rules have come into place and now you need a certified cheque to submit with your employment permit application. This requires having a Zambian bank account. But you can't get a bank account without a PERMIT. Voil� - the circle of frustration is complete. Anyway, eventually I managed to get an employment permit, at the very last minute before my temporary one expired. I have to wait 2 weeks for the actual permit to be ready, and I don't know how long it's good for, but I have a permit. Woohoo.

Happy Birthdays to Marchell and Sam!!!!!

Roomies

!
(Marchell is another Canadian intern working at Women for Change. Sam is my camera-shy housemate who may appear on this blog one day if I can snap a pic when she's not looking)

On a happier note, tomorrow I am leaving to spend a week in Ndola, in Copperbelt province, doing a five-day workshop with traditional leaders from the area. I actually thought I was leaving today, until I turned up at the office and found out that there was a problem picking up supplies, so we're leaving tomorrow instead. I'm looking forward to getting outside of Lusaka and seeing different parts of the country en route. It would be easy to live in an isolated bubble within the city, and to forget that 70% of Zambians live below the poverty line. While there certainly is poverty in Lusaka, it's not as visible as it is in other cities that I've been to. There was a short-lived fuel crisis in Zambia this week, which created very long line-ups at the gas pumps but was resolved quickly. A taxi driver said there was a similar crisis back in 2005 when they just didn't have gas for about a week and most people just had to stop driving. The bus conductors have been using the "fuel crisis" excuse for charging more this week, despite the fact that gas prices haven't actually changed and there is fuel readily available now. Can't really blame them, I guess

Drinks at the Brown Frog

. I had three bad taxi trips yesterday, a record. I usually don't even need to take a taxi, but when I go out at night it's a must. The first one seemed to be trying to rifle through one of my bags with one hand while driving with the other (very skilled), the next was just creepy and rude, and the last one told me he didn't have any change for a 50,000 kwacha bill (about $13 Canadian). I think he was hoping I would just give him the bill even though the ride only cost 20,000 kwacha. It's frustrating when we have to rely on taxis but even the official ones are hit and miss in terms of service and safety.

There seems to be some kind of skit going on outside the internet caf�, and I have no idea what it's about. There is a women in a wedding dress running around screaming, a man with a giant fake beard pretending to fish in the fountain, another man with an enormous afro, and a couple walking arm in arm with white sheets tied around their heads. Interesting. Clearly, I am missing something.

On to Ndola!

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