The Gene Thang Experience!

Meet Gene Thang aka Eugene Maboshe (above), Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft Jay Hillz. The Experience is our weekly radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT every Sunday on Zambezi 94.1 fm and streaming live on the internet. “Where does the name Gene Thang come from?” Wondered Milli Jam at the top of the show. “Well” replied our Guest “Gene is from my first name Eugene. Thang came from the word thing, and somehow the name stuck!” Gene is a well known club and radio DJ throughout Zambia but particularly on the Copperbelt in Zambia. “You’re a Lozi man from this part of Zambia” went on Milli Jam, “how did you come to find fame and fortune on the Copperbelt?”

Gene told listeners that for the most part he had been brought up in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, his late Dad was an expatriate miner working on the coal mine in Hwange. He had developed a deep love of music from his parents and, as a teenager, had also gained a knack of winning competitions on radio in Zimbabwe and had built up a good library of vinyl singles and albums. On school holidays he would often travel to Livingstone to stay with his granny. Anyway, he had come back to Zambia after finishing his education – to Livingstone in fact, where he had first met Milli Jam and together they had hell raised as DJ’s in the club at Fairmount Hotel in the city – still one of Livingstone’s leading night spots.

Proceeding to the Copperbelt later to further his education, Gene had secured a job as the DJ at The Venue in Ndola. At the onset of local commercial radio in Zambia in the early 90’s Gene had been one of the pioneers as a DJ on Flava FM in Kitwe after some really intensive training. He said it was really tough for DJ’s to get work on radio as they did not have consistent ‘radio’ voices but he had managed and had worked for the station for more than seven years.

The music on our show was good. We opened with new tracks from Luvbug and The Weekend. The guys dropped numbers from Slap D and Jack U ft Keisza. Calvin Harris ft Tinashe and CQ followed. Our oldie of the week was from Judith Sephuma. My pick was Go Hard or Go Home from Wiz Khalifa ft Iggy Azelea and Meek Mil. We closed with ‘What Kind of Man’ from Florence and The Machine.

Gene is a Man Utd fan and his favourite player is Wayne Rooney. We moved on. He’s married and he and his wife have one boy and one girl. He has a wide taste in music himself and gives his late parents credit for this, they were real music lovers and used to listen to many different artists. Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Gene said he wanted to be an established farmer.

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The Norwegian Experience 2015!

Meet Rakel Trondal and Robert Hovde (above) from Trondheim, Norway. Rakel and Robert were Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Robert is the Deputy Head Teacher at Saksvik Primary School and Rakel is a secondary school teacher at Hommelvik Secondary School in Norway. Both were staying at Chanters Lodge as part of a group of 17 educationalists from Norway on a visit to Zambia.

For both Robert and Rakel it was, they told our listeners, their first visit to both Africa and Zambia. “Is it what you expected?” wondered Milli Jam. “Far, far better!” Replied Rakel quickly. So far they had visited Chobe National Park in Botswana and had loved the wide range of animals they had seen ‘in the wild and not in a zoo”. They had experienced a real tropical thunderstorm during the night on that trip. They had plans for a visit to Victoria Falls during their stay and would be spending three nights in Mongu, Western Province.

“Mongu’s not usually on the tourist itinerary” commented Milli Jam. Our Norwegian guests explained that the purpose of their visit to Zambia was to make physical contact with the schools in Zambia with whom their schools in Norway were ‘twinned’. In Robert’s case his school is a friendship school with Zambezi Basic School in Livingstone and Rakel’s school is a friendship school with Holy Cross School in Mongu. They had brought letters and books to give to the students in the Zambian schools with love from their fellow students in Norway. They expected to collect similar from the Zambian schools to take back to Norway.

The music on the show was good as usual. We opened with tracks from DJ Fresh ft Ella Eyre and Ne-Yo. The guys dropped work from West African Wizkid as well as Zambia’s T-Sean ft Tyce. Other were from Chef ft Macky 2, Ed Sheeran and Ozzy. Ozzy’s ‘If Only’ was our oldie of the week and the prize we give to the first listener to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. Our pick of the week was Sam Hunt’s major country smash ‘Take Your Time’ We closed with 5AM from Calvin Harris ft Tinashe.

Rakel told us that she’s married with three children, two boys and a girl. Robert is also married and has a boy and a girl with ‘another one on the way’. Didn’t they wish that their families had travelled with them to Zambia. Of course they did but pointed out, rightly, that it was an expensive undertaking. Robert revealed that he’s a fan of Rosenberg FC in Norway and of Watford FC in UK. But, he told us ‘handball’s my game’. Rakel loves ballroom dancing and travel. She and her family had visited many countries in Europe in the past including Turkey, Spain and Germany. She is an ardent fan of U2 and is looking forward to attending their concert in Berlin later this year – a treat afforded by her husband.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Robert hoped to still be involved in education, Rakel in education and in politics. We wished them the best of luck, thanked them for coming on the show, and for supporting Zambian schools as well as our lodge!

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The T-Rox and Ace Diamond Experience!

Meet Agnes Hamusonde and Isaac Tapi (above), better known to listeners of Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station as ‘Ace Diamond’ and ‘T-Rox’ respectively. Both are part time presenters at the station and we were delighted to welcome them as guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, our own weekly show airing every Sunday night on the same station.

“Where does the name Ace Diamond come from?” Milli Jam asked Agnes. “Well” she replied, “a diamond is a rare jewel and so am I!” We nodded. “And it happens that my christian names are Agnes Cholwe Emelda – Ace, get it? We did! “And T-Rox?” “Well” said Isaac, “the T is for Tapi and the Rox was a suggestion from Elias, my mentor at Zambezi fm”. “Good names”, we said.

Ace and T Rox explained that they have a show together on the station – Flight 205 every Sunday night/Monday morning which goes from midnight to 05.00 hrs. They are both night owls and have no problem working the ‘graveyard shift’. On their show the previous week they had been priming their audience for Valentine’s Day and were going to continue to do so on their show immediately following ours, seeing there was only six days to go until the great day. Ace was going to get her date for the evening from the listeners! T-Rox told listeners that he also has a show on Zambezi fm on Saturday nights.

The music on our show was right up to standard. We opened with tracks from Ellie Goulding, as well as Mike Mugo featuring Dragonette. The guys dropped work from Young L, Eddie Black, Taylor Swift and Jay Rox. Our oldie of the week was ‘Dakota’ from The Stereophonics, but the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track went unwon. OK it was a tough one. My pick of the week was Imagine Dragons’ ‘Shots’ and we closed with ‘Paradise’ from Usher Raymond.

Both Ace and T-Rox were brought up in Livingstone. Ace attended Linda High School while T-Rox was educated at St. Raphael’s. Both the guys are single. Music wise Ace favours akapela, as well as hip hop and R&B. Her favourite Zambian artist is Eddie Black. Internationally she likes Adele and Beyonce. T-Rox likes R&B, hip hop and country music. His favourite artist is Chris Brown, locally he favours Jay Rox. T-Rox supports Arsenal and his favourite player is Theo Walcott. Ace likes Chelsea and Fernando Torres. “He’s left Chelsea” we said. “I don’t mind!” Replied Ace. An admirer, we gathered.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, T-Rox said he would like to be making money and still to be single. Ace Diamond wanted to be living her life to the full, an iron lady and a qualified physiotherapist. We wished them all the best.

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The Kubuka NGO Experience

Meet Elena Gomez and Joyce Kanimba, (above) representatives from Kubuka NGO in Livingstone, and guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. ‘The Experience’ is our weekly radio show airing from 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. We often feature guests staying at the lodge, sometimes members of staff but often local Livingstone personalities such as Elena and Joyce.

The ladies told listeners that ‘kubuka’ in the Tonga language means ‘waking up’. Milli Jam decided he would address Elena by her Tonga name ‘Mutinta’ throughout the show, meaning ‘first of a kind’ – apparently! Kubuka NGO is a non-profit organisation created to guide the most vulnerable communities in Zambia on their journey to sustainable development. Elena, one of a group of five Spanish young people involved in the NGO has been coming back to Zambia every year since she first landed in Livingstone when she was just 18 years old. She is now a qualified doctor from Madrid University and is back in Zambia until April taking the affairs of Kubuka one stage further. Joyce is Kubuka’s permanent representative in Livingstone and hails from a teaching background.

The NGO works with local people as one. They are working in Maramba and Mwandi communities in Livingstone. They have a programme to sponsor 60 children from the Mwandi community. They give workshops to young teenagers to improve their knowledge on health, sex, business and other useful topics. They are working with a home based care group in Maramba, creating a farm that can generate income to be able to give back to the community by buying medication for HIV patients, and building a cultural centre to give talks and providing a library for youths.

The music on the show was right up to standard. We opened with smash hits from Fergie and Karen Harding. Milli Jam and Jay chose ‘Jovial’ a brand new and great track from Zambia’s own Chilu Lemba, as well as others from Fall Out Boy, The Weekend and Zambia’s Salma Dodia ft Cactus. Our pick of the week was former ‘Experience’ host Kaufela’s latest ‘For You’. Our oldie of the week was by TLC and the prize we give of a dinner for two to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was snapped up by Mwiinga.

Joyce told us that she was very married with a large family and that her favourite music was gospel. Elena is single. “Spoken for?” Asked Milli Jam. Pause. “Errrr…..no” the reply. We jumped! “That was very hesitant” I said. “Just imagine!” Said Milli Jam but we were unable to prise out any more detail in this regard. Elena is a fan of Real Madrid and her favourite player is Casillas. “A goalkeeper?” Queried Milli Jam. “I bet it’s not about football” I said and our Guest blushed and laughed! She likes all kinds of music but her favourite artist is Despatch.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Elena said she would like to be a practising doctor in Africa still supporting Kubuka NGO. Joyce hoped still to be working to help vulnerable boys and girls in Livingstone. “Great stuff”! We said.

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Yay! Yellow Fever Issues! Gone! Gone! Gone!

Yellow fever vaccinations are no longer required for travel between Zambia and South Africa, the South African Department of Health has announced.

The requirement was lifted on Saturday with immediate effect. The decision was made at the World Health Assembly on Friday in Geneva.

The decision by SA’s health department comes after the World Health Organisation confirmed that Zambia had low yellow fever potential exposure status, which means travellers should not be required to carry a yellow fever vaccination certificate.

The requirement was bemoaned by the tourism industry, which suggested that it was putting travellers off the destination, especially because they could visit the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe without having a vaccination.

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Buried Treasure!

Buried treasure? On The Experience? Sure! Richard Francis, Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, told listeners that for a number of years he has been researching the long time mystery of Lobengula’s hidden treasure. Lobengula Khumalo (1845–1894), was the second and last king of the Ndebele people. Lobengula was a big, powerful, man with a soft voice who was well loved by his people but loathed by foreign tribes. He had well over twenty wives, possibly many more! Richard believes that Lobengula died in Chipata in the Eastern Province of Zambia and that his substantial treasure of gold, diamonds and coins lies in a cave somewhere in that part of the country. He would love to find it!

Richard first came to Zambia in the 60’s as a young twenty year old employed by Barclays Bank. He had subsequently spent 13 years in the country working for the bank in just about every city and area in Zambia. Altogether he had worked for the bank for 31 years before retirement. Later he had returned to Zambia for another four years as a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas).

The music on the show was good. We opened with tracks from Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor. We followed with numbers from Maroon 5 and Castro ft D.Black. Labrinth. JK (from Zambia) was also featured. Our oldie of the week was Buddy Holly’s ‘Brown Eyed Handsome Man’ but no-one won the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week. Our pick of the week was ‘Higher’ by Sigma ft Labrinth.

Milli Jam wanted to know how Richard had arrived in Livingstone and Mr Francis told us that he had had the pleasure to travel on the new Jubilee Train from Lusaka. Although the journey was slow and the train was late due to problems with the track, he was full of praise for the cleanliness, service and food on the train and thoroughly recommended the trip for people wanting to see rural Zambia for themselves. Harking back to his days as a banker in Lusaka, Richard recalled he had once been banned from the Ridgeway Hotel for ‘provocative dancing’. Milli Jam blamed me but it was before my time, and as I remember I used to encourage such dancing!!

Richard has adopted a family in Chipata and founded a community school which he sponsors. A keen Arsenal fan since he was a kid, he said his favourite all time player was Martin Keown and that he misses Bacary Sagna! He now lives in France although he originally hails from Swindon in the UK. Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing 10 years from now, Richard said he would like to have discovered Lobengula’s treasure and to be on honeymoon with an 18 year old bride! We laughed and wished him luck!

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Congratulations President Edgar Lungu

The management, staff and friends of Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia would like to congratulate His Excellency Edgar C Lungu on becoming the 6th President of the Republic of Zambia and to wish him all the best in his new office!

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The Feeling Livingstone Lounge Experience

Meet Mirriam Angon (above), Spanish national but African veteran and Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. It was Mirriam’s second experience on our show and on this edition Milli Jam was the ingredient as well as the feature because Jay was indisposed. The mood on the show was good, mainly because Arsenal had won away to Manchester City for the first time in years. MJ and I are both staunch Gooners!

Mirriam told listeners that the first time she’d been on our show it had been to talk about Feeling Africa’s lodge in North Luangwa National Park. “Do you still have the lodge?” Wondered Milli Jam, and Mirriam confirmed that they did, but at the moment it was closed due to the rains. “So tell us about the Feeling Livingstone Lounge” continued Milli Jam. Mirriam said that the lounge had been open for about a month and that it was located in Kabompo Road in downtown Livingstone, right next to Livingstone Fire Station in the former premises of Fezbar. The lounge is a restaurant and bar and has a Mediterranean menu featuring mostly dishes from Spain but from other Southern European countries too! The chef is a Spanish national whom they recruited from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The girls offer cocktails, a full bar and a lovely lounge area where guests can relax in a quiet cool atmosphere enjoying their meals and drinks, listening to cool music. Prices are fair and they have created an environment where guests can sit around and relax after a great meal. For now they are open 08.00 -23.00 hrs daily, but as with all new projects they are still reacting to guest requirements. Currently they are employing ten people on the project.

The music on our show was good. We opened with our 2015 theme, TINA by Fuse ODG. We featured tracks from James Bay, Sia, JK, Ed Sheeran, Chimz Kelly and Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Our oldie of the week was Salma’s ‘Overtime’ and the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the oldie was quickly snapped up! Lucky Felistus won dinner for two with drinks at the lodge. My pick of the week was ‘Doing It’ a new track from Charlie XCX featuring Rita Ora. We closed with ‘Hotel’ from Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown.

Mirriam told us that she had been living and working in Africa altogether for more than ten years. Before becoming involved in Zambia she had spent two years in Senegal ‘with chimpanzees’ and another two years in Uganda ‘with the mountain gorillas’. She loved Uganda describing it as the most beautiful country in Africa. She also loves being in Zambia and really hopes their lodge in North Luangwa goes from strength to strength and that the new lounge project is a great success. Single she described herself as ‘spoken for by someone very far away”. “Spain?” asked Milli Jam. “No!” Replied Mirriam.

Hailing from Madrid Mirriam is a Real Madrid fan. We tried to convince her to support Arsenal as that day’s team had three Spaniards playing! She likes soft music but went on to say that her favourite band is Queen! ‘Lol’ We laughed.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, Mirriam said she would like to be “alive and on holiday with someone who loves me.” “Awww!” We said.

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Donation

Chanters Lodge recently donated another solar lighting kit to a village primary school in Southern Province of Zambia. There’s a photo above and the acknowledgement below:

Dear Mr. Chanter,

Greetings, I wish to acknowledge with great appreciation the purchase of a solar kit that was donated to Natebe Primary School courtesy of your Lodge. Stay blessed

Sincerely.

Fr. Emmanuel Chikoya
Anglican Diocese of Lusaka
St Andrews Anglican Church

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The Tiko Siliwea Experience

“How long ago was the first time you were the Guest on our programme?” I asked our Guest, Tiko Siliwea, (above) at the top of the latest edition of our weekly radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, airing at 20.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. “About six years’ ago” replied our Guest. These days Tiko is one very busy lady! Apart from being the mother of 5 children ranging in ages from 15 to 3 years old and the wife to her pastor husband Ken Siliwea, she herself is a pastor at the Lion of Judah Church in Livingstone. As if this was not enough, her third album of gospel music is about to be released on CD following on from the success of her first two CD’s. The new album is called ‘Sinilesewa’ (It’s My Time) and we played the hauntingly beautiful lead single ‘Kumisanga’ (‘to find you’) on the show. Tiko told listeners that she had written almost all the tracks on the album herself, and that the CD was due for release during the week ahead.

Tiko said that since her last appearance on our show she had obtained a degree in theology from North Western Theological School in USA and had become a pastor at Lion of Judah Church. The church operates from the premises of a former timber company Zambezi Saw Mills, located near the Railway Museum in Livingstone. Congregations vary in size from 250/300 people every Sunday and Tiko is mostly involved with the music and singing at church but also preaches from time to time – of course she has duties in counseling and other responsibilities of the ‘pastor’s wife’ too! She does also have a business specializing in wedding planning and gives singing lessons as well! Busy lady, as I said!

The music on the show was standard. We opened with our new theme TINA from Fuse ODG. We featured smash hits from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, and Philip George. We played Kiesza’s No Enemies back to back with Tiko’s track and also featured titles from Alicia Keys and Kachanana ft Joey B. Our oldie of the week was ‘One Way Or Another’ the 1D version and not the original Blondie record. The prize we give of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Ellie Goulding’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’ the first track released from the soundtrack of the much anticipated movie ’50 Shades Of Grey’.

Tiko told us that she had been brought up on the Copperbelt mostly by her dad, and had attended Fatima Girls Secondary School. She had originally come to Livingstone for a job with a now defunct company, before meeting Ken, then a manager with Indeco Estates and the rest is history, as they say! They had been married for 16 years. Jay gasped at that information! Gospel is her favourite music (naturally) and her favourite artist CC Wynans. Tiko loves swimming and tennis and her most loved tennis star is Serena Williams. She was proud of having sung at the Ngoma Awards ceremony in the past, and in 2013 for the closing ceremony of the United Nations World Tourism Organization general meeting held in Livingstone.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, this thoughtful, talented, hard working lady said she would like to be teaching in her own school of music and to be promoting Zambian music and musicians. We wished her well.

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