Stephen Gillespie and Mark Scarbrough

Meet Stephen Gillespie (above left) and Mark Scarbrough from Indiana and Tennessee, USA respectively, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The ‘Experience’ is our radio show that airs weekly every Sunday at 20.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Stephen and Mark told our listeners that they had only arrived in Livingstone by coach two hours before the show started, they had been ferried quickly to the lodge from the coach station, fed and then whisked off to the studios of 107.7 fm. Actually and surprisingly they showed no signs of tiredness and were only too happy to explain why they were in town. It was Mark’s 15th visit to Zambia – he has been involved in many projects in the past – but for Stephen it was his first time in Zambia and first time in Africa too!

Stephen and Mark explained that they had already been in Zambia for about five days and had spent time in Lusaka and Mazabuka. Their goal is to build a clinic in Pemba, Southern Province in an area where the nearest medical facility is some 50 kms from the the village. The clinic would aid the poor and needy and would include medical, dental and optical facilities. Financed through donations and fund raising in USA, the clinic would be staffed year round by medical and nursing staff from USA on a volunteer basis, but would of course employ some local personnel as well. “How did you link up?” Milli Jam wondered and Mark explained that they had met at a conference held at Two Rivers Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. The purpose of this particular visit to Zambia was to receive all the planning and other permissions necessary for their venture, as well as to make a video of the proposed project which would assist in raising funds and attracting volunteers. Video making is Stephen’s area of expertise, construction Mark’s.

The music on the show was good featuring tracks from Kiesza, Chris Brown, Emily Sande, Elyar Fox as well as DJ LBC, Zero, Katy Perry and Macky 2. A great mixture of Zambian and international tracks to reflect the eclectic nature of the music on our show. The prize we give each week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week was very quickly snapped up by Emma. She won a dinner for two at the lodge for texting us speedily to tell us that Lou Bega recorded Mambo No 5. A track and an artist totally lost on yours truly! You live and learn!

Milli Jam wondered how Mark was always able to bring Richard the latest Charley Pride music whenever he stayed at Chanters and Mark explained that he is a friend of Danny Hutchins. Danny Hutchins is a lead back-up musician with the Charley Pride Band. He plays strings and keyboard with Charley Pride, a country music recording artist who is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Mark revealed that he is single with two grown up daughters, Stephen is married and also has a daughter. Whilst in Livingstone Stephen would be editing the material he had recorded in Pemba for the video, he also hoped to visit Victoria Falls and to go on safari to Chobe NP in Botswana. The guys had also brought soccer kit with them from the States as a donation to one of Livingstone’s local teams. Mark showed some interest in UK football and revealed support for Manchester United. Fairly normal for our show guests. Jay was cock-a-hoop that his beloved Liverpool show every sign that they will be EPL champions in UK this year, Milli Jam and I were happy that Arsenal had won.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Mark said he would like to be in Livingstone with his daughters Melanie and Jennifer staying at Chanters Lodge, Stephen would like to have led multiple visits to Zambia and to have seen their clinic project staffed, thriving and fulfilling a desperate need.

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Ron Jere – Contact Trust Youth Association

We have had occasion in the past to feature Contact Trust Youth Association (CTYA) on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show on
Zambezi 107.7fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. We were, however, delighted to welcome Ronny Jere (pictured above), one of the Association’s pioneers and currently director and programme manager, on to our most recent edition. Ronny explained to listeners that the Association is a non-profit concerned with the good sexual health of young people in Livingstone, especially in connection with freedom from HIV Aids. It aims to encourage youth aged between ten and twenty four years to vote (if eligible) and to participate in government, as well as teaching young people job skills, economic empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Ronny said that the CTYA was formed some ten years’ ago out of the Cross Border Initiative now know as Corridors of Hope. Ronny had been inspired to start a youth group and hence CTYA was born.The Association’s offices are donated by Livingstone City Council in that they occupy council property rent free. There are eight full time employees. Ronny’s main job is to raise money for the programmes to be undertaken and to ensure that those resources are spent properly. He is also responsible for human resources management within the Association, including skills training. Some of the Association’s sponsors include or have included the South African Aids Trust and the German government.

The music on this particular show featured The Wanted, Rudimental ft Emile Sande, as well as Zambian artists Salma and Urban Hype. Milli Jam chose tracks from Lady Antebellum and Chris Brown. Our oldie of the week was Kriss Kross’s ‘Jump’ topical due to the untimely passing of Chris Kelly, one of the band. We were surprised that no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us the name of the artist on the track. We closed with Mafikizolo’s ‘Khona’ (Uhuru Mix) a very hot South African track.

Ronny told listeners that he is married and has three children including twins who have just turned three. “Naughty?” We wondered. “Very!” The reply. He owned up to supporting Man U, which we ignored but did say that his ‘real football team’ was the Zambian national team. That was ok! Ronny loves gospel, oldies, r&b and local music. He thanked Chanters Lodge for their sponsorship of the Association in the past and in thanking him we expressed our willingness to help again in the future if we could.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time Ronny said that as he would be moving out of the youth bracket during those years, he hoped to be serving the Zambian population at another level. Sounded like politics to us and we wished him all the best, thanking him for the great job his Association was doing for Livingstone’s youngsters!

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Rafiki Village on ‘The Experience’!

Meet Karen Aufderhaar, (pictured above) school principal of Rafiki Village School in a rural area of Zambia some sixty kilometers from Lusaka, and Guest on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela. ‘The Experience’ is our weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Karen was staying at Chanters Lodge for some well deserved rest and relaxation having completed almost a year of her two year assignment at Rafiki Village. “Why Chanters Lodge?” Wondered Milli Jam. Karen explained that when she first accepted the voluntary assignment, one of the former directors of the village had told her that when she wanted some time off, a visit to Livingstone and Victoria Falls was a must, and that Chanters Lodge would suite her accommodation requirements. We were pleased to hear that Karen was happy with the recommendation and the lodge.

Karen told listeners that she came from a town near San Antonio, Texas in the USA, and had previously volunteered with Rafiki Foundation at a village in Kenya. She was delighted when the Foundation contacted her asking her to undertake the position in Zambia. She has been an ‘educator’ all her working life, but not always in a school situation, having undertaken education assignments in hospitals and an outdoor centre in the past, as well as teaching senior adults with learning difficulties. She explained that Rafiki Village in Zambia catered for some seventy orphans and was one of ten such villages in Africa. It was a childrens’ home and a training centre as well. It was hoped to expand the school to include secondary education in the near future.

The music on the show was good. We opened with Daft Punk’s number one UK hit ‘Get Lucky’ back to back with Macklemore’s follow up to Thrift Shop called ‘Can’t Hold Us’. Kaufela chose JK ft Petersen with ‘Kanyimbo’ coupled with Mampi’s ‘Wali Lo Welela’. Milli Jam featured Nikki Minaj and Sean Paul. Our oldie of the week was Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ and the prize given to the first listener to text us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up! Innocent won a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge.

Karen told listeners that she had enjoyed her days in Livingstone. She was tired from a lot of walking around the Falls area including climbing down to the Boiling Point (Rapid Number 1). She had visited and very much enjoyed Livingstone Museum and had loved her one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana. She was looking forward to a sunset cruise on her last evening in town. Single, without children, Karen said she was a devoted aunty to her two nieces back in Texas. Music wise she favoured James Taylor and Neil Diamond, sports wise famous basketball team San Antonio Spurs. “Spurs” queried Milli Jam and I (Gunners to our boots). We laughed. She said her favourite player was Manu Ginobili.

Karen said she most missed her friends, family and Mexican food in Texas and that she loved Zambian people the most. Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing in ten years’ time Karen answered ‘I would like to be back in my home town in America doing the next thing that God puts before me’. “Sweet” we said!

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Itezhi-Tezhi, Zambia


This piece from Esi-Africa.com is good news for us poor consumers besieged by load shedding in Zambia. For those who have never been there, Lake Itezhi-Tezhi (above) is a beautiful place.

“In December 2012 the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed an agreement with the Zambian government for a loan agreement of US$55 million to support the Itezhi-Tezhi hydroelectric power and transmission line project. This is seeing the construction of a 120 MW hydropower plant at the Itezhi-Tezhi dam along the Kafue River. This loan was approved by the AfDB in June 2012.

Currently Zambia’s power supply stands at about 1,800 MW, and the additional capacity from Itezhi-Tezhi will help reduce load shedding. The project represents one of Zambia’s first public private partnerships in the energy sector. The Itezhi-Tezhi facility, a joint venture between Zesco and Tata, at a cost of US$240 million, is due to be in place in 2016.”

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Motor Assembly Again In Zambia?

The motor assembly plant that once produced Fiats and Peugeots in Livingstone has lain idle since 1992, so I was interested too see this article in Times Of Zambia

Two local business entities have partnered to establish a motor assembly plant at a cost of US$1.3 billion that will see the creation of more than 8,000 jobs. And a representative of one of the entities has urged the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to be proactive in its regulatory role and ensure that regulation does not divorce itself from business facilitation.

Roberto Sabbadin, president of the Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ), said at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Savenda Management Services and Savenda Africa Holdings Limited yesterday that the association was worried that a number of foreign trucks in Zambia dealing in the petroleum transportation sub-sector did not meet the minimum safety standards to move dangerous goods.

Mr Sabbadin wondered what role the ERB was playing in promoting safety in the sector. Savenda Group director, Clever Mpoha said at the same ceremony that his company and its partners had planned to establish a motor assembly plant for 4,000 trucks, representing $1.3 billion investment in addition to the assembly of Savenda Roller Packs (compactors).

Mr Mpoha said out of the 4,000 trucks, 700 had been committed to PTAZ. “This partnership collectively will create well over 8,000 jobs and we are established to manage this process very well because of the economic benefits,” he said.

And Mr Sabbadin said the entities would bring 700 units of brand new petroleum tankers into Zambia which would help improve the standards in the sector and also help in the fight for increased market share. He said the investment would as a result create more than 4,000 jobs which would represent an investment of $300 million. “These tankers will help up the standards in the sector and help us in our fight for increased market share.

“This investment will create more than 4,000 jobs and will represent an investment of $300 million,” he said. Mr Sabbadin said the entry of the trucks would enhance movement of petroleum products within the country and internationally. He called on the Government to deliberately provide special incentives for the special exercise, adding that “in the second place we want as an association to call upon ERB to be more proactive in their regulatory role and to ensure that regulation does not divorce itself from business facilitation. We believe as an association that ERB needs urgent reform.”

Mr Sabbadin said the association was committed to helping Zambia’s long-term vision by the year 2030.


The article does not say where the plant will be. The picture is an image of a Peugeot 504, similar to those that used to be assembled in Livingstone – I had one as a company car when I worked at Ridgeway Hotel. They were pretty basic, but like all Peugeots of that vintage, very strong. You could choose any colour as long as it was white – as I remember!

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Varndean College In Livingstone!

 
It’s quite unusual for us to feature Guests staying at Livingstone facilities other than Chanters Lodge on our regular Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – but we were more than happy to host Alrik Green with students Grace Potter and Nino Rapa pictured above. Alrik is a lecturer, Grace and Nino graduate students from Varndean College in Brighton, UK – the guys were actually staying at JollyBoys Backpackers with the rest of their student group. We were delighted to invite them on to our programme so our listeners could hear all about their work with the Kaloko Community on the Copperbelt in Zambia, organized by the Kaloko Trust in UK. Alrik and I have known each other for several years, meeting during one of his previous visits to Zambia. Our radio show airs every Sunday night at 20.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Grace,18 and Nino,17 told listeners that they’d worked for two weeks with the Kaloko Community in Luansobe, some 60 kms from Ndola in Northern Zambia, helping local carpenters to make desks and chairs for local schools that were short of furniture. Were they experienced carpenters themselves, we wondered? “We are now!” Was the smart reply. Where had they stayed while they were there, Milli Jam wanted to know. “In rondavels” they replied, Grace going on to say that the 9 girls with whom she’d shared a ‘dormitory room’ had formed a group now known as the ‘Zambezi Babes’. Had they enjoyed the experience? You bet they had! Some of the group had also helped with some teaching in the local primary school.

The music on the show had an immediate Brighton bias as we featured Conor Maynard’s latest UK smash ‘Vegas Girl’. Conor hails from Brighton and it turned out that Nino and Conor had at one time attended the same school. We coupled ‘Vegas Girl’ with Karmin’s ‘Brokenhearted’ also a huge hit in both UK and USA. Other tracks featured on the show were from Zambian artists B-Flo and Danny, as well as Kelly Rowland’s latest ‘Ice’ featuring Lil Wayne and Nigerian star 2 Face with ‘Bad Girl – Bad Man’. Our oldie of the week was ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ from Puff Daddy Diddy and the prize we give every week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up! Other tunes were from Cady Groves and Scissor Sisters.
 
Our Guests told us they are fans of ‘The Seagulls’ – Brighton and Hove Albion, the city’s own Championship football club. “What kind of city is Brighton” Milimo wondered, to which the reply was “big, loud and known as ‘London-By-The-Sea’!” Asked about their favourite musical artists Grace recommended Beyonce, and Nino David Bowie but all three rated Rizzle Kicks – a Brighton band. “So do we” we commented “we’ve played their tracks several times on our show”. Alrik, Nino and Grace all spoke highly of the Zambian music they’d heard when they were on the Copperbelt, and they’d also learned to speak a few words in Bemba.

Had the visitors had time for tourist activities while they’d been in Livingstone? Yes, and Nino would be taking the microlight flight over the Falls the following day.

 
Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years time, the students hoped they would be working and living in Zambia, Alrik hoped he would still be teaching and taking students as great as Grace and Nino on tour to places like Zambia! The group greeted friends back at Jollyboys and their families at home in UK. Our show streams live on the net so we hoped the people overseas caught their messages!
 

Great guys, great show!

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Zambia Meets UK For Children With Special Needs

Meet Chris Bentley, Cynthia Chisangano and Doug Staff, our Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. The show is sponsored by Chanters Lodge and airs every Sunday between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station – ‘Let The Waves Flow’ is their motto, and they certainly did last Sunday night!

Two of our Guests – Chris and Doug hail from UK and were visiting Zambia as part of a reciprocal partnership between Zambia and the UK, of schools, or departments in schools, catering for children with special needs. Cynthia is in charge of the department of children with special needs at David Livingstone High School in Livingstone, while Chris and Doug are teachers at Crowdy’s Hill School in Swindon, UK. That school has some 130 students with special and complex needs, some with mental health issues. The original contact was made by Cynthia who in 2010, perusing Facebook as we in Zambia often do, came across the page for the British Council and a feature about possible reciprocal arrangements between schools worldwide with departments of special needs. She was on to it in a flash and the link between David Livingstone High School and Crowdy’s Hill was established. Cynthia visited UK earlier this year and Doug and Chris told listeners they were much enjoying meeting the staff and children involved in Cynthia’s department at David Livingstone High School.
This music on the show was the usual rich mixture that Milli Jam, George and I create each week! Tracks were from Misha B, Angel, Paulina Rubio and Far East Movement ft Cover Drive. Others were from Danny and Slap Dee, with tracks from Sean Paul ft Kelly Rowland as well as Usher. Our oldie of the week, chosen by Milli Jam, was by Destiny’s Child. Worried about the poor response in recent weeks to our offer of a dinner for two at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist featured in our oldie of the week, we came in half way through the track telling listeners to ‘come on and text’ and the response improved immediately and the prize was won. A lesson learned.
Doug told listeners that he was married with two sons, Chris is engaged to be married and Cynthia’s single. The group’s main aim at the moment is to ensure the sustainability of their project – to this end they are interested in David Livingstone High School becoming a British Council ‘Learning Hub’ attracting new sponsored finance and more importantly new computers and internet connectivity for the school and, out of hours, for the community. We wished them the best of luck in their endeavors.
 
Milli Jam wondered whether Doug and Chris would have time for any tourist activities during their visit to Livingstone and the guys explained that they would go white water rafting and later on the sunset cruise the following Tuesday. They were much looking forward to their day off – granted them by Cynthia who was their boss for the week! She would stay at the school and work! Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Chris said he hoped still to be teaching children with special needs, maintaining his links with Zambia, Doug wanted to be coaching canoeing and kayaking in Canada. Cynthia wanted to have her doctorate and to be a national advocate for children with special needs in Zambia.

We rounded off the show with greetings for Guests and staff at the lodge, news from the Chanters Lodge blog, our Twitter account as well as our weekly contributions on Facebook and Pinterest. Chart news from the US and UK latest pop charts is standard on the show too!

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Dambisa Moyo

Dambisa Moyo’s new book has debuted at number 13 on the New York Times Best Seller list! I knew Dambisa’s dad Dr Steve quite well back in the day when he was boss of Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and he was making me organize talent show, telethons and the like! We’re delighted that daughter Dambisa is making such a name for herself!

Zambia’s internationally acclaimed economist and author Dambisa Moyo’s new book Winner Takes All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World, has debuted at number 13 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Non-Fiction books. Dambisa is also the author of Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa and How The West was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead is still on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Dambisa, older sister of singer and author Marsha Moyo and daughter of Indo- Zambia Bank chairperson Orlean and academician Steven Moyo, is only bettered by the likes of The Amateur, by Edward Klein, a journalist who argues that President Obama is a callow and unable to lead, which is on number one and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, a biography of the recently deceased entrepreneur. Others are It Worked for Me (Colin Powell and Tony Kolz), which deals with the rules for effective leadership from the four-start general and former US Secretary of State and Killing Lincoln (Billy O’Reilly), about the events surrounding the assassination of former US President Abraham Lincoln and I Hate Everyone…Starting with Me, which are reflections by the comedian Joan Rivers.

However, Dambisa’s new book examines the commodity dynamics that the world will face over the next several decades, particularly the implications of China’s rush for resources across all regions of the world. With the scale of China’s resource campaign for hard commodities (metals and minerals) and soft commodities (timber and food) being one of the largest in history, Dambisa presents her research of the financial and geopolitical implications of this in a world of diminishing resources and argues that we are in the middle of unprecedented times.

Dambisa, who was born and raised in Lusaka, and holds a Doctorate and Phd in Economics from Oxford University, was in 2009 honoured by the World Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders. In 2010, TIME Magazine named her as one of the world’s 100 most influential people while in September 2009; she was featured in Oprah Winfrey’s power list of 20 remarkable visionaries.

In 2010, she was a participant at the Bilderberg Conference while last year, she spoke at annual Observance ceremony marking Commonwealth Day in Westminster Abbey. She spoke on “Women as Agents of Change” in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister David Cameron and 2,000 guests. At the same time, The Daily Beast also selected her as one of the “150 Extra-ordinary Women Who Shake The World” along with Hilary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and others.











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Keep Fit!

 Loved this one from Derek!

A WOMAN’S WEEK AT THE GYM

Dear Diary,

For my birthday this year, my husband purchased for me a week of personal training at the local health club.  Although I’m still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. Friends seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:
Started my day at 6:00 am. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god, with blond hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!! Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines, I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!

TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it!  My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!  It’s a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn’t try to steer or stop. Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster. Why would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. He said some other stuff too!

THURSDAY:
Asshole was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn’t help being a half an hour late, it took me that long to tie my shoes. He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom.  He sent some skinny bitch to find me. Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine, which I sank.

FRIDAY:
I hate Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anaemic, anorexic, little aerobic instructor.  If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it. Christo wanted me to work on my triceps – I don’t have any triceps! And if you don’t want dents in the floor, don’t hand me the damn barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn’t it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY:
Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today.  Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel..

SUNDAY:
I’m having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over.  I will also pray that next year my husband will choose a gift for me that is fun, like a root canal or a hysterectomy.  I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

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Wendy Callaway on ‘The Experience’

Wendy Callaway (above) was the guest on the most recent edition of our regular Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. The show airs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, from 20.30-21.30 hrs and also streams live on the internet. The programme is a good mix of music and chat, popular locally not least because we give away a dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge on every show to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our ‘oldie of the week’. On this show the track was ‘Umbrella’, the singer was Rihanna, and the winning answer appeared on my phone within seconds! Great, seeing that the previous week no-one had won!

Wendy was a very interesting guest. She told listeners that she was in Zambia for a couple of weeks to work with the The Butterfly Tree, a charity which supports rural communities in Zambia often badly affected by illness. The organization’s aim is to help in the provision of safe drinking water and feeding programmes as well as improved health and education facilities. The NGO also has an orphan sponsorship programme and Wendy explained that she had been sponsoring five orphans in Zambia for six years through this scheme. She was delighted, on this her first visit to Zambia, to have already met four of the five orphans whom she had sponsored, now teenagers aged between 14 and 18 and she said they were all doing very well academically. Most of the The Butterfly Tree’s work in Livingstone is based at Mukuni Village and this was where Wendy had been spending time since she arrived.
The music on the show featured tracks from R Kelly, Calvin Harris ft Ne-Yo, Lionel Richie, Lana del Rey and Jason Derulo from an international point of view. Local tracks were from Red Linso and Winston with ‘Kamwala’ and Exile’s ‘Walimbikila’ – ‘old but good’ was the Chanters Girls verdict on this Exile track. The lodge staff are avid listeners to the show and don’t hesitate to let me know what’s good!
Milli Jam asked Wendy if she’d managed to do any of the tourist activities on offer in Livingstone during her first week with us, and she replied that she’d just come back from Chobe in Botswana where she’d been on safari for a few days. She’d also squeezed an elephant safari, lion encounter and a rhino walk into her busy schedule. She told listeners that she’s an accountant by profession, and that having her own business in Southern England affords her the chance to travel and to do the things she wants to do – a chance that might not be there were she working for other people. She told us that she’s an active member of the Rock Choir and had been involved in their best selling 2011 album as well as appearing on ITV TV in a show featuring 8000 choir members in the Wembley Arena. “Wow!” We said – without asking her to sing for us!

Asked about her plans for the future, this serious minded, hard working, married British lady (she had greeted husband Pete listening to the programme live back in UK) told listeners that she hoped to be able to expand her business and therefore be able to grow her charity work and other interests. “Great!” We said.

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