Swiss Volunteers on The Experience!

Milena Kettsch & Flurina Borer

Meet Milena Kettsch (above left) and Flurina Borer (right), young, pretty 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 every Tuesday evening from 20.30 hrs CAT for an hour live on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The girls hail from Switzerland, though Milena has a German passport despite never having lived in that country! Daughter of pastors in the Reformed Church some of her early years were spent in Cameroon. Flurina told us she had spent time in Namibia in the past. The girls had met briefly before coming to Zambia some 3 months ago, since when they had become firm friends!

You might be surprised to learn that the girls, both on gap years between high school and university, told listeners that they’d spent the past two months in Kabwe, Central Zambia (Milli Jam’s home town), as volunteers with Comundo, helping out in a hospice for terminally ill patients run by that NGO. I’m not sure at that age I could have done something like that, and the girls agreed that sometimes it had been quite a traumatic experience. The NGO has a childrens’ centre on the same site which they said helped them with perspective in regard to the hospice.

The girls told listeners that after a few more days in Zambia they would set off to travel to Malawi and Tanzania (including Zanzibar). At the end of their travels Milena would be heading for Basel for a degree course in History and Social Anthropology while Flurina would be going to university in Freiburg to study speech therapy.

The girls explained that they had spent the past week at Chanters Lodge for some R&R – they had been recommended to the lodge by a colleague and were happy with their choice. While in Livingstone they had seen Victoria Falls very early in the morning, which they had loved, getting soaking wet in the process! The day of the show they had spent the day in Chobe NP in Botswana which they had also enjoyed, though they were sad not to have seen ‘big cats’.

The music on the show featured tracks from late Prince, Drake, Callum Scott, Skepta, as well as Wezi, OS Detroi, Kantu and Benny Benassi ft Chris Brown. The girls said they had a very wide taste in music including electro and reggae, but particularly liked Coldplay. No interest in football! One of the girls loves to play volleyball the other enjoys hiking in the Swiss mountains. Both girls are still single, Melina’s boy friend will join her in Tanzania, Flurina had ‘no such complications’!

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Melina wanted to have graduated, have a good job and be travelling, Flurina wanted to be a qualified speech therapist with a good hospital job practicing her speech therapy.

0

The Petter Voll Experience!

Petter, Elisabeth & Rondi Voll

Meet Petter Voll (above left), Elisabeth Krieg (above centre) as well as Randi Fikse (above right), 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 every Tuesday evening from 20.30-21.30 hrs live on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is an exciting mixture of latest international pop and local music tracks interspersed with chat with our guests. We also give news about the UK soccer scene, what’s hot on social media and pop chart updates from UK, USA and Zambia.

Elisabeth told listeners that she hailed from Trondheim in Norway and had been in Livingstone for the past few weeks studying at David Livingstone College Of Education as part of her training to become a teacher. She was studying mathematics and religious education in Zambia but back home in Norway physical education as well. She had much enjoyed her time in Zambia which would come to an end ‘in about a week’. Petter, her dad, and Rondi, her step mum were visiting for a week from Norway and staying at Chanters Lodge.

Petter explained that he was a planning officer in communtiy development in Verdal, a municipality in the middle part of Norway, not far away from Trondheim. Rondi works in administration in the medical industry in Levanger a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, it is part of the Innherred region. She told us that she is responsible for some thirty secretaries in the hospital, only one of whom is a man. This made Milli Jam and Jay laugh and they wondered ‘how he got on’. Rondi said they should invite him on to their show to find out! Petter and Rondi had been married for eight years but known each other for sixteen.

The family said they did not have specific musical tastes and were mostly happy to listen to whatever was playing on radio, though Elisabeth told us that she did like some Norwegian acts of whom we never would have heard. We had not! On the show we played tracks from Alessia Cara, Fifth Harmony, Freddy Kalas, Nick Jonas ft Tove Lo, as well as Rihanna, MC Burner, Cassper Nyoveit and Alpha Romeo ft F-Jay, Koby and B-Mack.

Petter told us that it was his first visit to Zambia though he and Rondi had been on safari to Tanzania in the past. During their week in Livingstone they had seen the mighty Victoria Falls, enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Zambezi and dined out on the steam train which they described as ‘expensive but superb’. They had also visited Mukuni Village and had special Zambian clothes made which they were wearing for the show! They had enjoyed Chanters Lodge and found the Zambian people very friendly.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Petter said he wanted to be retired and enjoying more of his favourite hobby, trout fishing in the Norwegian rivers. Rondi said she hoped she was still working. Elisabeth told us that she would like to be a good teacher in a good job, travelling and a home owner. Marriage? No comment though there was mention of a Norwegian boyfriend currently studying in Switzerland!

0

Yale University Students on The Experience!

Ben Marrow & Alicia Alvarez

Ben and Alicia (above) were our guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, our weekly radio show airing every Tuesday evening at 20.30 hrs CAT for an hour live on Zambezi 94.1 fm. The show is a lively mixture of international and Zambian pop music, interspersed with chat with our guests.

Ben Marrow and Alicia Alvarez, third year students at the famous, prestigious Yale University, an American private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Ben is reading Ethics, Politics and Economics, Alicia Economics and Mathematics. High powered? You bet! The guys told us that their college had educated four former US Presidents with a fifth – Hillary Clinton – perhaps on the way to the post. This provoked a discussion about US politics in general and Donald Trump in particular – there’s a surprise! Ben hails from New Jersey while Alicia is from Madrid, Spain. This was their first trip to Southern Africa, visiting family friends in Lusaka, so the guys were determined not to miss the chance of a sight of the mighty Victoria Falls, just 10 kms from Chanters Lodge where they were staying whilst in Livingstone.

Our visitors told us that they had only arrived in Livingstone on the day of the show, having flown from Lusaka with Proflight and having been met at the airport by Richard. Chanters Lodge offers free airport transfers from/to Livingstone Airport for all their guests on arrival and departure. Were the couple ‘an item’ Milli Jam wondered? They claimed they were not but ‘just good friends’ who had met at college and liked to travel together. Alicia seemed a shy mathematician, Ben a more outgoing student. While in town they hoped to have a bike ride to the Falls as well as doing the rhino walk in the Mosi-o-Tunya National Park.

The music on the show was good, with tracks from Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Zayn, DNCE, Willz ft Red Linso, Tinashe, Alpha Romeo ft Macky 2 and Tommy Dee, as well as Yemi Alade. The guys said they had no particular favourite music or artists but listened a lot to Yale’s own radio station while they were studying. Ben did say he favoured Kanye West and Chance The Rapper.

Alicia surprised us by telling listeners that she was into the sport of fencing and was in Yale University’s fencing team. I warned Milli Jam to control himself otherwise the young lady might take out her foil and sort him out! Coming from where she does it was no surprise to learn that she supports Real Madrid though other members of her family are for Athletico. Does she miss Spain? Not really the States is apparently ‘more exciting’….

Ben comes from a family of academics – both his parents are university professors. Part of his education had been in UK during the time his father was involved with Cambridge University, he had therefore played cricket, rugby and field hockey, as well as mysteriously ending up as a Manchester United supporter. Thereby knowing much more about sport in UK than his peers in America! We moved on.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Alicia said she would like to have finished her studies and to be working for a big international organization, while Ben said he would like to be working, travelling and to be involved in research. We wished them all the best!

 

0

Zoe’s Experience!

Florence Zoe Shoko

Recently, a lot of the weekly guests on our local radio show have been overseas visitors staying at Chanters Lodge, so it was nice for a change to welcome local personality Florence Zoe Shoko (above) on to the most recent edition of the programme. The show’s called the ‘Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz’, and it airs every Tuesday evening for an hour live on Zambezi 94.1 fm from 20.30 hrs CAT. It’s a great mixture of chat with our guest together with some of the latest international and Zambian pop tracks chosen by Milli Jam, Jay and myself.

Florence was educated at Roma Girls in Lusaka and St Mary’s Secondary School in Livingstone after which she took up a position in sales and marketing with a company in Lusaka. Her parents are retired and farming. One of seven siblings, Florence told us that she is currently undertaking a course in IT locally in Livingstone with a view to eventually qualifying in Mass Communications. She was loving the course. From July last year to January this year she had been a hostess on Livingstone Island, working on contract for Tongabezi Lodge. As you may know, Livingstone Island and Devil’s Pool are only open during the months of the year when the water level in the river is low, so most of the workers are just employed for the season. Devil’s Pool? Yes, where you can safely swim just a metre away, as millions of gallons of water rush over the edge of one of the world’s biggest water falls! A rush? You bet!

The music on the show was good with tracks from Tinie Tempah featuring Zara Larsson, Mike Posner, R City, AlunaGeorge ft Popcaan, Macky 2 ft Ephraim, Zayn, Jay Rox and Kanye West ft Chris Brown. Florence told us that she loves gospel and worship music, and is in fact part of an all girl singing quintet called ‘Alabaster’ specializing in gospel and worship. The girls were not recording right now as some were based in Lusaka, others like Zoe in Livingstone. They hoped to be back together, singing and recording again soon.

Meanwhile our guest had been involved in broadcasting with Zambezi fm from time to time, thanks to an initial contact with Kay Jay de Souza. JayHillz told us that Florence had been his guest on that morning’s breakfast show and the response from listeners had been ‘overwhelming’. “It would have been even more so if they could have seen her as well as heard her” I said. She told us that she is ‘very much single’. She is active on Facebook and listed her hobbies as ‘talking, reading and dancing’!

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing ten years’ from now, this bubbly, lively, professional youg lady told us that she would like to be fully qualified in mass communications, a media producer and a mum with a family. We did not doubt her future success!

0

Volunteers on The Experience!

Lucy Brown & Hannah Kuhn

Meet Lucy Brown (above left) and Hannah Kuhn, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, our weekly radio show airing every Tuesday evening at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

The girls told listeners they were volunteers at Amano Christian School in Chingola, Lucy teaching primary school students aged 8/9, and Hannah a teaching assistant taking care of one student with learning difficulties. They had been in Chingola since September 2015 and would be there until June 2016. This was their first visit to Livingstone and their first time to see Victoria Falls and they were excited about their trip. Chanters Lodge had been recommended to them by friends in Chingola and they were happy with their stay, particularly our extended hours for breakfast – we have no limit on the time Guests can eat their free English breakfast, included in our room rates!

Lucy hails from Milton Keynes, UK and is a graduate in history from Sheffield University. Hannah is from Stuttgart, Germany and has just completed Grade 12, she’s now on a gap year before heading for University. “Where and to study what?” We wondered but she said she was not yet sure about these things!

The girls enjoyed the music on the show with tracks from Years and Years, Alan Walker, Sia, Ellie Goulding, and Karen Harding. Others were from ZoneFam, Roberto ft Kaufela, Lukas Graham and David Guetta. Music wise Hannah likes The 1975, Lucy – Florence and The Machine.

Both girls are single and not engaged, but admitted that there were “people waiting for them at home” in UK and Germany respectively!

Lucy and Hannah had very much enjoyed their few days in Livingstone, they had a super game drive in the Mosi-o-Tunya National Park and had seen all the game there was to see apart from giraffe. They had also loved the sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone. They had dined out at Cafe Zambezi and Olga’s Corner and had enjoyed both restaurants.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing 10 years from now, Hannah said she would like to be through University and working, Lucy said she would like to be doing something she loves and to be close with family and friends. We thanked them for choosing Chanters Lodge for their visit to Livingstone and for appearing on our show!

0

Phyllis Ng’andu on The Experience!

Phyllis Ng'andu

Meet Phyllis Ng’andu (above) guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, airing every Tuesday night at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 94.1 fm. Listeners to our show are very familiar with ‘Phyll’, as she likes to be known, being the only full time female presenter employed by Zambezi 94.1 fm at the present time. She told us she is currently involved with show presentation, news reading and production – she obviously loves the job!

Phyll explained that she had, for the most part, been brought up in Botswana, where her dad, an expatriate Zambian, has worked for many years as a radiographer. However she did complete her secondary education back in Zambia at Namwianga Secondary School in Kalomo, some 120 kms north of Livingstone. She also holds a diploma in social work from Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka. “Not exactly social work that you’re doing now” we commented. Phyll explained that she just loved broadcasting! We wondered how she had come to join Zambezi fm, and she explained that this was her second stint with the station having previously been a part time presenter before she went back to school. On completion and her return to Livingstone the station management had demanded her recall and she had been happy to oblige.

A single mother of two year old Mubanga, Phyll told us that she loves house music as well as Zambian music and that her favourite international artist is Adele. “Because of the new album?” Wondered Milli Jam. “No, from way back” replied Phyll. She has never done the bungee jump and didn’t sound too keen on doing so! She supports Liverpool which made Jay Hillz happy! She has two brothers and two sisters of whom she is the oldest. She speaks five languages.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing ten years’ from now, ambitious, bubbly Phyll told us that she would like to follow the example of fellow Zambian broadcaster Maureen Nkandu and be working for the BBC. She claimed she would still be single in ten years’ time – we had our doubts about that, but not about her ambition to become an international broadcaster.

 

0

From Calgary to Livingstone!

Heather & Doug Spackman & Bev Loney

Meet Bev Loney (left above), as well as Heather and Doug Spackman, guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. Bev is Heather’s dad, and Doug her husband of the last twenty eight years! Staying at Chanters Lodge, booked through their agent Mike Donovan at Lion Dog Safaris, Bev, Heather and Doug who hail from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, were kind enough to give us some of their time to appear as guests on our local radio show, airing every Tuesday evening for an hour on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Heather is a school counsellor, Doug an IT specialist in the oil industry and Bev many years retired. Doug and Heather have two ‘kids’ one boy one girl, but no grand children as yet!

Doug told listeners that they had been planning a trip to Africa for the past eight years. Apart from Bev and Heather who had been to North Africa it was the first time for the family to travel to Africa.. Having been told they were at the beginning of a one month trip, “why start in Livingstone?” Wondered Milli Jam. Heather explained that although they had the great Niagara Falls in Canada they had always wanted to see Victoria Falls and now that they had done so, they were certainly not disappointed. They believed Victoria Falls were more impressive.

The family told listeners that apart from seeing Victoria Falls, they had very much enjoyed a one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana, as well as the lion encounter and elephant safari locally while they had been in Livingstone, and had found Zambians to be very warm and friendly people.

The music on the show was good with tracks from Years and Years, Zayn Malik, Lukas Graham, Charlie Puth ft Selena Gomez as well as Elle King. Also, FJay, Sussie, Mr Veezy and Justin Bieber (in honour of our Canadian guests)!

When they left Zambia the following day the group would travel to Tanzania for a two week safari followed by a week on the beach in Zanzibar! Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Heather and Doug both wanted to be retired and travelling, Bev wanted to be in good health and still around.

 

0

The Tuesday Evening Experience!

Kawana Lubinda

Meet Kawana Lubinda Peter (above), Guest on the first ever Tuesday evening edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz which aired on 26th January. The Experience is our weekly radio show on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, and has been a regular feature since 2007, in the past on Sunday evenings.

Peter told Milli Jam that he had been working at Zambezi fm for the past week in the marketing department. He is a graduate in Mass Communications and is also an agriculturist. He completed high school in Mazabuka – the sugar town – in Southern Province and indeed had his first broadasting job in that town with community radio in 2004. Since then his experience has been such that he believes he can ‘do anything in radio broadcasting’. Milli Jam wondered whether he had also worked in television or print media but Peter said that aspect was still something for the future.

The music on the show was good. We did not feature Peter’s favourite Boys2Men, but did play tracks from AlunaGeorge ft Popcaan, Ne-Yo, Olly Murs and Pet Shop Boys. There was also work from Shenky Shuga ft Che-Che, Justin Bieber, Slap D and the latest from Sigala – ‘Say You Do’. We do our best to help the station keep up with the new tracks in UK and USA.

Peter told listeners that he has been married for nine years and has two boys and a girl. He sent his love to his wife who was listening. He supports Manchester United and said he thought Louis van Gaal should be given more time to bring back success to his favourite club. His favourite all time player – Ruud van Nistelrooy. He had never done the bungee jump but was looking forward to marketing the station to various of the activity companies in Livingstone as well as other corporates.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Peter told listeners that he would like to be very independent, an entrepreneur and an investor, especially in the agriculture sector with a big farm. We thanked him for letting us be the first show at Zambezi fm to delve into his personality and experience!

0

The Victor Hambayi Overland Experience

V. Hambayi

Why the Victor Hambayi ‘Overland’ Experience? Well, Victor Hambayi, pictured above, was our guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft Jay Hillz, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs for an hour live on Zambezi 94.1 fm’ Livingstone’s longest established local commercial radio station. Victor is an overland driver/guide with Nomad Africa Adventure Tours, hence the headline! Nomad boasts a fleet of around 40 vehicles, 150 staff and 40 scheduled departures a month all over Africa. Victor told listeners that he had worked for the outfit for about three years.

Whilst the group has lots of different tours Victor told us that he most often does the trip from Cape Town to Victoria Falls, via Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. He drives and guides and is accompanied by a chef who cooks for the Clients – between 19 and 26 people per trip, sometimes camping throughout, sometimes lodge accommodation throughout, sometimes a combination. Victor clearly likes the guiding side of the job more than the driving which he described as ‘tough’. “Breakdowns?” We wondered. “Occasionally” replied Victor, “but Nomad are well organized when the situation arises and vehicles are seldom stuck with a breakdown for more than 24 hours. Clients are warned in advance that such things do sometimes happen!”

The music on the show was good with tracks from WSTRN, 99 Souls ft Destiny’s Child and Brandy, Years and Years, as well as Format B. Jay dropped two Zambian latest smash hits, ‘Kabouvelo’ by Lloydee and ‘Cocoa Butter’ from Kaladoshas ft Petersen. There was also a remix of Adele’s ‘Hello’ and a South African track from Galza. Victor, whose nick name as a younger man was ‘Mr Smooth’ (“it’s a long story”), told us he likes R&B and that his favourite artists are Bobby Brown and Lionel Richie.

Brought up in Southern Province as his dad worked for Zambia Railways, Victor was educated at St Raphael’s and Hillcrest Secondary Schools in Livingstone and had also been trained in panel beating and spray painting at a local college. By the time he was qualified, Livingstone Motor Assemblers had closed and there were no jobs in his line. He then trained as a driver and worked for Bushtracks in Livingstone before doing a favour for Nomad, ending up working for them. The overland season lasts from February to November so at the time of the show he was enjoying spending time with his wife and family whom he missed a lot when he was on the road. He has four children ranging in ages from 19 to 1 year 2 months!

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Victor said he would like to have a share in an overland tour business with superb guides offering wonderful service, coupled with extraordinary knowledge.

0

Elizabeth Rogers

Elizabeth Rogers

Meet Elizabeth Rogers, a guest at Chanters Lodge, pictured above, who appeared 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 every Sunday night on Zambezi 94.1 fm – Livingstone’s leading commercial local radio station, reaching a radius of about 75 kms around the tourist capital and broadcasting 24/7.

Elizabeth told listeners that this was her first visit to Livingstone which she was very much enjoying, despite the low level of water in Victoria Falls. She had managed to cross on to the Zimbabwe side of the Falls where there is always more water at this time of year – mainly due to our electricity company in Zambia diverting the Zambezi above the Falls to power their hydro electric system. She had really enjoyed the day on both sides of the border.

Elizabeth is a pharmacist by profession, holding a PharmD following 10 years of tertiary education in Virginia, USA from where she hails. We were shocked to learn the length of time she had to study but not really surprised to hear that she was contemplating more studies when she returned to the States. “Do you have student loans to repay”? I wondered. She replied in the affirmative but seemed pretty cool about it! She told listeners that she had been working in Lusaka in public health for the past year – mainly with matters concerning the HIV/Aids epidemic.

The music on the show was good featuring tracks from Ariane Grande, Coldplay, Axwell > Ingrosso ft Pusha T, Omi and Sygma ft Rita Ora. Jay dropped ‘I Love You’ by upcoming Zambian outfit Urban Hype, telling us that he had had the pleasure of interviewing the group during the week on the breakfast show he hosts daily on Zambezi 94.1 fm. He strongly tipped the band for a bright future.

Elizabeth told listeners she had enjoyed a wonderful day out in Chobe NP in Botswana, during her visit where she had been lucky enough to see lions as well, of course, as hundreds and hundreds of elephant. She had experienced a super lunch at Chobe Safari Lodge. She was very excited about the cheetah encounter she had booked for the following morning before her flight back to Lusaka.

She is single, and from the time she leaves Lusaka to return to the States, probably unemployed. We voiced the opinion that neither of these statuses would last long. Music wise she loves Rascal Flatts,and sports wise she is an avid supporter of the USA Ladies Soccer Team – the world champions.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing ten years’ from now, she told us that she would like to be married, a mother to her children, and working in pharmaceuticals specifically in the field of drug safety. We wished her all the best!

0
Page 1 of 3 123