From Fran and Jodie

Hi again everybody!

As you are aware now, we have arrived in Lusaka after another epic bus ride - with the great company of the Canadians! A few observations of Zambia so far - the roads are slightly better than Malawi and much better than Mozambique!

Similar systems run in the town, such as the privately run mini bus companies (like our Maxi taxis) but you need to negotiate a rate prior to getting on board. Fortunately, we have had all of our transport arranged so we haven't had this experience yet.

Lusaka appears a lot more developed than the other cities we have visited - there are shopping centres!!! They are a popular place to hang out for the young people - at the moment there is a hip hop show happening outside the internet cafe in the Arcades shopping centre. The area around the main parts of town in Lusaka seem a little different to Lilongwe in that there are not any villages close to the town centre and the security is high! Lots of people (not sure if they're security, military, police or otherwise) with rather large guns wandering around the shopping complex.

We have also seen a movie theatre and we went ten pin bowling yesterday afternoon with our Canadian friends! I'm not sure of the movies that are out at home at the moment, but I'm guessing these flicks are a little behind the times!

Today (Saturday 10th May) is the last day of the District 9210 Conference that we have been attending in Lusaka.
It has been interesting to see a conference run at this level and meet and greet some important people in Rotary International. We have learnt a lot about individual club projects, Rotary International, and District level issues and been privy to some interesting discussions. As a non-rotarian it has been helpful understanding a little more about the overarching District governance and even though it will be slightly different back in Australia, the basic model is the same.

It has especially been a wonderful way to catch up with some host families and rotarians that we have met along the road so far!! We have also met many of our hosts that will be taking care of us in our final 2 weeks in Zambia.

All GSE teams had their presentations this morning!! The inbound teams to Southern Africa - Canada and Australia; and the two teams that were outbound from Africa . I like to think that we all gave insightful and interesting presentations and from what I have heard...the Rotarians agree! We presented to a crowd of about 90 rotarians and I was extremely nervous! There were some technical problems which meant we couldn't present in our usual (and now very comfortable) format. But it all went well and it sparked another wave of Rotarians coming over to say hello and discuss certain issues in our presentations that struck a chord with them.

We have hopefully now converted 90 Rotarians from Marmite to Vegimite as we had samples to try!!

As Chris mentioned, we have travelled to Lusaka with our fellow inbound GSE team from Canada. We all get along very well and it has been great chatting with them and learning about their lives back home. We leave them tomorrow as we head to the north and they head south but I would like to thank them for their good company and laughs and also thank them in advance for the future hosting of members of our team when we visit Canada!
The fun should continue tonight at the conference formal dinner.... Jodie and I can finally wear the dresses that we have been carting around just for this occasion!

Tomorrow (Sunday 11th May) we head to Ndola in the Copperbelt region in Northern Zambia. I feel that this conference weekend, having been a break from Vocational visits, has been a time for refreshing our minds and preparing for the final part of our journey. For me, I have been able to consolidate my learning so far and think about all the questions I need to ask to fill the gaps in my understanding of rural health education and practice!

Also tomorrow it is Mothers Day in Australia and I would like to wish all our mothers a HAPPY MOTHERS DAY from all of us!! We are thinking of you and wish we could be there to give you a hug!!

Take Care, Fran and Jodie : )