Dr Mulenga’s Experience!

Dr Teddy Mulenga

We were delighted to welcome Dr Teddy Mulenga (above) to our local radio show as the guest on a recent edition. Dr Mulenga is no stranger to radio – he features weekly on a show on Zambezi 94.1 fm – the same station which broadcasts our show – on which listeners phone in to tell him their health issues and he gives them advice on what to do. Very popular and very professional, hosted by his son Mambo, himself a previous guest on our programme. Our show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, airs every Tuesday evening at 20.30 hrs CAT and is a great mix of latest international and Zambian hit records, as well as chat with our Guest.

Dr Mulenga told us that he had ‘been in Livingstone since 1974’ when he was a schoolboy at Hillcrest Technical Secondary School, just up the road from Chanters Lodge. After passing then ‘Form 5’, now Grade 12, the doctor had proceeded to do his national service, a must in Zambia at that time for all Form 5 graduates. After national service he had attended University of Zambia, where he had read psychology and philosophy.

Upon graduation Dr Mulenga had been selected for the award of a scholarship to study medicine in the then Soviet Union and had spent the next seven years or so in Kiev, now part of Ukraine, where he obtained his medical qualifications. He had also spent time in Sochi on the Black Sea. He still speaks fluent Russian. On return from USSR he had served his internship at Ndola Central Hospital after which he had gone ‘searching for greener pastures’ and had established his own successful clinic in Botswana where he had lived for some 20 years bringing up Mambo and his sister Juliet.

The doctor told us he loves Bob Marley, Lucky Dube and Dolly Parton as well as other musicians who ‘sing proper songs’! On this show we featured tracks from Little Mix ft Sean Paul, Sia, Pink and Charlie XCX. Added to the mix was work from Yemi Alade, Afunika, Avicii ft the Zac Brown Band (the doctor liked that one). Slap D was also included.

Doctor Mulenga is a keen chess player but revealed he usually loses to son Mambo who is himself an excellent player. He has written four books on various topics and is involved in publishing, criticism, as well as sometimes consultancy at Livingstone General Hospital ‘helping the young doctors’. He is ‘The Sceptic’ on Facebook and pretty controversial too! He has never bungee jumped and expressed his medical opinion that people doing that to their bodies might not be wise! He told listeners that he is a long term client of Chanters Lodge and a regular listener to our show.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now he answered with the one word ‘Parliament’! And then roared with laughter! So did we!

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The Danny D Experience!

Danny D

Our guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz was Danny Anakene (above), better known as ‘Danny D’ – his second appearance on the programme though the first was many years’ ago. Danny is the longest serving member of staff at Zambezi 94.1 fm, and is sales and marketing manager, though in the past he has also served as general manager. ‘The Experience’ is our weekly radio show airing every Tuesday evening at 20.30 hrs for an hour live with great international and Zambian music as well as chat with our guest. This show was no exception.

Danny told listeners that he was a local Livingstone boy, having been brought up here and completing his secondary education at St Raphael’s, one of Livingstone’s all boys secondary schools with a good name. After completing Grade 12, Danny had qualified in journalism at Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka after some years of study. During this time he had developed a taste for radio broadcasting with Radio Phoenix, so it was little wonder that in 2006 he was one of the pioneers of local radio in Livingstone, as Zambezi FM hit the airwaves. Although it had not been easy, since then the station had survived and prospered.

The music on the show was great as usual with hits from Jay Sean ft Sean Paul, Drake ft Whizkid, B-Flow, Casper Nyovest, Sam Fan Thomas, Judy and Will.i.am amongst others. Danny said he was still involved in broadcasting despite being in admin at the station and currently had two shows per week, including his famous Saturday morning spot, often featuring country music.

Milli Jam invited a bombshell when half way through the show he asked Danny where he’d been for the past ten months and listeners were shocked when our guest revealed in public that he had been ‘in jail’! Without going into detail as to how he had ended up in that unfortunate situation, listeners were fascinated to hear details of his prison life including overcrowded cells, tough working conditions, sleeping arrangements and food issues. Danny said that it was his spirituality that had kept him strong and he was expecially proud that the authorities had allowed him to keep his dreadlocks which he’d had for 15 years. That was unusual in itself. He had prayed a lot!

During this time he had been treated with respect by the prison staff and was especially grateful to his wife, family and friends for the moral, financial and physical support he had received while incarcerated. He had enjoyed listening to our show while he was inside and had initiated his fellow prisoners into the delights of ‘The Experience’ every Sunday now Tuesday evenings. We surmised that he must be very strong to have survived this nightmare in the way he had, coming out stronger than when he had gone in.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Danny said that he hoped to be a media director and to have been invloved in broadcasting outside Zambia. We thanked him for coming on our show and sharing his scary experiences with our listeners.

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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!

 

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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!

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Peter and Frances Shaw on The Experience!

Peter & Frances Shaw

 

Meet Peter and Frances Shaw, guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. ‘The Experience’ airs live every Tuesday evening at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, and is a great mix of latest international pop music together with Zambian tracks, as well as chat with our weekly guest, sometimes overseas visitors staying at Chanters Lodge like Peter and Frances, sometimes Livingstone personalities, occasionally members of the lodge staff!

Peter and Frances hail from Guildford in Surrey, UK, though Peter is a Yorkshireman by birth. Frances was brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. They told listeners they had been married for 40 years and that they had met in Toronto, Canada. They had both been educated at Durham University and both hold doctorates. The couple told listeners that Peter, a management consultant, had been in Zambia for about ten days on business, Frances had joined him a little later. They were now on holiday. It was their first time to visit Zambia and felt they could not do so without seeing the mighty Victoria Falls. They had done so that very afternoon and were impressed, comparing the area favourably with Niagara Falls which they had also visited. They were looking forward to a camping trip to Chobe NP in Botswana during the following weekend.

The music on the show was good with tracks from Fifth Harmony, Flo Rida ft Jason Derulo, Justin Bieber and Riton (Rinse & Repeat lol!). Other were from Shenky Shuga, Rihanna ft Drake and DJ Zoz. Frances said her pop music favourites were 60’s tracks, Buddy Holly and the Beatles. Peter is a big fan of Brass Bands, often linked to the former colliery towns in his native Yorkshire.

Peter, a Hull City supporter, and an author of some 22 books on leadership is a former Director General in the UK Civil Service, and Frances a leading mover in the Feed the Minds NGO. They have three grown up children. a daughter and two sons. One son is a minister in the Church of England and indulges in Iron Man Triathlons, the other, a management consultant plays Ultimate at international level.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Frances said she would be happy to still be around spending time with her grandchildren, Peter would like to be in an interesting place still teaching leadership!

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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.

 

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Panji-Nanji Kakube on ‘The Experience’

Panji-Nanji Kakube

Meet Panji-Nanji Kakube (above), guest on a recent edition of our local radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The show has had a regular Sunday night spot on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, ever since 2007 but has recently run into problems due to ‘load shedding’ – simply known as power cuts in other countries, every Sunday night at the station’s studios in downtown Livingstone. It is hoped the show will soon move to a Tuesday night when the electricity supply may be more reliable.

Panji told listeners that he was a local Livingstone lad, having been born in the town and also completed his secondary education at Linda High School. He was back in town for a short holiday during the festive period. He is currently employed in Lusaka by Joe Public (Z) Ltd, a high powered communications agency out of South Africa. He is manager in the operations department servicing several ‘blue chip’ clients including EcoBank and Mugg and Bean.

Panji has a diploma in computer technology as well as marketing management. The early part of his career saw him employed at Maramba River Lodge in Livingstone and then Capitol Cinema, when there was a drive, led by Peter Jones, to restore the historic art deco building to its former glory.

The music on the show was good featuring, among others, tracks from Fuse ODG, Coldplay, The Weekend, Tove Lo and Maria Carey. Panji told listeners his taste in music was quite wide – he had a love of Jimi Hendrix and locally the work of Zone Fam and Jay Rox.

Panji is single, intends to marry in June this year, and has a little girl Claire, aged 1 year and 8 months. “Awwww”. We said. Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now. Our guest told listeners that he wanted to be a leader in the advertising industry in Zambia, the thought leader and go to person in fact!

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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!

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Another Dutch Experience!

Martijn Bazen

 

Meet Martijn Bazen, guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft Jay Hillz, our weekly radio show airing every Sunday at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. This was the second weekend running that we had featured a Dutchman on our programme – hence the title of the blog. Martin lives in Scheveningen, one of the eight districts of The Hague, ‘Dutch Capital of Peace and Justice’ we were told!

Martijn was on a flying visit to Livingstone, (though he actually arrived in the city by coach from Lusaka), to see the Falls and to spend a day in Chobe NP in Botswana. He told listeners he had enjoyed both of these activities, but that he would come back to Zambia with his family one of these days, to see Victoria Falls when they were full!

Martijn explained that he was in Zambia for five weeks on a voluntary basis helping Makeni Ecumenical Centre in Lusaka with their finances and accounts – he is a Finance Manager by profession. Makeni is a suburb in Lusaka where The Makeni Ecumenical Centre is situated, providing primary, secondary and adult education courses in a variety of vocational subjects, as well as clinics, family planning services, and an AIDS orphan village.

Until recently Martijn was a lecturer in economics and financial management at the University of The Hague, (he holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Amsterdam) but will soon take up an appointment as Finance Manager for the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam. Was he excited about his new job Milli Jam wondered? You bet he was! Who wouldn’t be!

The music on our show was far from classical, featuring tracks from Olly Murs, One Direction, Robin Schultz, Ben Haenow and Kelly Clarkson, Mr Jeezy ft Izrael and Roberto, as well as Demi Levato and Ciara. Our guest told us that he has a very wide taste in music, he loves everything from classical to Bob Marley.

Married for 19 years to Justine, a lawyer, the couple have a 16 year old daughter and a 12 year old son, a violinist and footballer respectively! The family support Manchester City and Ajax but our guest declined to discuss the Netherlands’ recent failure to qualify for Euro 2016. Shame!

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, he said he hoped to be a doting grand father and to be happily enjoying his every day! We thanked him for the help he was giving the Makeni Ecumenical Centre and for appearing on our show!

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The Zambelly Experience!

Ramya and Mina

Why the Zambelly Experience?! Well, Ramya Kumar (above left) and her mum Meena were guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft Jay Hillz, the weekly radio show sponsored by Chanters Lodge and airing every Sunday night on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Ramya is one of the leading lights in the Zambian belly dancing team, soon to participate in a competition in Cape Town. You’ll find more details on the group’s Facebook page here. For sure that’s the first time we’ve had a belly dancer on our show, though we were not treated to a demo in the studio – more’s the pity…

Ramya and Meena hail from Boston, Massachusetts and were visiting Livingstone staying at Chanters Lodge. Ramya works for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, a Federal agency and the leading national public health institute of the United States. CDC have an office in Lusaka and Ramya is half way through her two year contract and apparently loving life and Africa, despite the current difficulties of living in Zambia. She holds a Masters in Epidemiology from Boston University – ‘ the science that studies the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations’ for the uninitiated like me! Mum is a banker back in Boston.

The music on the show was good with tracks from Fuse ODG, Justin Bieber, R City ft Adam Levine, Sigala, Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis, Kayo, Ozzy ft OC, Lilanga and Zeus. Jay Hillz led the show as Milli Jam was out. The ladies said they both had very broad tastes in music – everything from Bollywood to Johnny Cash via Radiohead!

The ladies told listeners that they had been on the Lady Livingstone sunset cruise while they had been in town as well as visiting the Falls which they declared to be ‘very dry’. They had also been on a one day safari to Chobe and were very excited as they had managed to see lions, watching over the carcass of a dead elephant from which they. the lions, had clearly been dining. They had seen a host of other game too. They were leaving back to Lusaka early the following morning.

Asked where they would like to be and that they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Meena said she would like to be retired with grandchildren visiting Zambia. Ramya wanted to have babies, a husband and a Phd in Epidemiology – apparently no great ambition to be big in the world of belly dancing!

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