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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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 Laura Miti Experience

Our weekly radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz – was back on the air last Sunday after a two week break due to national mourning, following the death of Zambia’s President Michael Sata. During national mourning in Zambia only solemn music may be played on radio stations, and the music on The Experience is far from solemn! We feature latest international and Zambian hits interspersed by chat with our Guest Of The Week. On this show we were delighted to welcome Zambian celebrity Laura Miti (above), well known writer, human rights activist and political commentator. We don’t usually ‘do’ politics on the programme but Laura weighed in hard given the current state of flux in this country prior to the upcoming presidential by-election on January 20th 2015.

Laura told listeners that she is employed as a public service accountability monitor by the Research Institute of Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. By coincidence, she said, she is responsible for reporting on the Zambian situation and therefore travels frequently between the two countries. “Legally but not practically” married she has one son completing Grade 12 this year and three sons of her (ex) husband who call her ‘mum’. The Research Institute monitors and trains public service accountability in all of the SADCC countries. Civic actors, MP’s and journalists are amongst those with whom Laura interacts. In Zambia Rhodes University works in conjunction with Caritas, Zambia. “And is there public service accountability in Zambia”? We wondered. Laura smiled…..

The music on the show was good and featured tracks from Gareth Malone and his All Star Band, One Direction, Passenger and The Veronicas. Others were from Jay Rox ft Cleo, Femi Alade and Coztem ft Camster. We give a prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge on the show to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week. On this show Jay and Milli Jam chose a Zambian track by Frankiss ft Manas, but no-one won the prize! “Better luck next week!” We said.

Laura told listeners that she loves tennis and football. In her younger days she was a keen follower of Power Dynamos in Zambia and even used to travel to away matches. These days she supports Arsenal. Milli Jam and I were happy about that! Her favourite tennis player is Raphael Nadal. At one time she wrote columns for the Post and Sunday Times newspapers but right now is not published – except on Twitter, which she confessed to love! She completed Grade 12 at Roma Girls and obtained a degree in education at the University of Zambia. She would be in Livingstone for the following week and although she had no plans to bungee jump she told us that one time she had done the gorge swing. Milli Jam also had no plans to bungee jump – as usual!! Music wise Laura loves John Legend.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing ten years’ from now our intelligent, personable and outspoken Guest said she wanted to be back in Zambia and very much involved in charity work, especially the feeding of young, vulnerable children. She also wanted to be a granny. We thanked her for appearing on our show.

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Zambia Mission Comes For Lunch!

We were delighted to welcome 35 students from the Christian Leadership Development Programme in association with George Benson Christian College, Kalomo, Southern Zambia for a free lunch at the lodge today, as part of their familiarization tour of Victoria Falls. For some of these young Zambian people it was their first ever view of Zambia’s very own natural wonder of the world. Organizers – Zambia Mission.

They were such happy and appreciative young people. The picture shows them singing their thanks for the food.

I’m front right in the picture and just behind me is Greg Swindle, the organizer.

It was a great day for the lodge!

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The Sikalongo Experience

Meet Kathy and Ed Barlow (above) from Elizabethtown, PA, USA, 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 to 21.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a smooth mixture of Zambian and international pop music interspersed with chat with our Guests. On this occasion, as the headline reflects, the chat was about Kathy and Ed’s two months spent as volunteers at Sikalongo Mission in the Southern Province of Zambia.

Sikalongo Mission is run by the Brethren in Christ Church out of the USA and trains Zambian pastors for their church. Kathy and Ed, both teachers by profession, told listeners that Kathy had spent most of her time teaching English to the trainee pastors’ wives, while Ed was busy helping with maintenance at the mission. They had learned some Chitonga during their visit and Milli Jam was quick to start chatting away with Kathy in his own language. Others of us just listened….

This quiet, charming couple, told listeners that their daughter Kelly had visited them during their time in Zambia. They took the opportunity to thank staff at National Airports at Livingstone Airport who, after Kelly had arrived in Livingstone from a very long journey from USA, had safely recovered and returned Kelly’s wallet which she’d left in the ladies rest room at the airport. Everything in the wallet was in tact including cash, credit cards and passport. “Wow!” we said, and meant it. Kelly is trained in physical therapy and had taken the chance to help some of the Sikalongo residents with exercise programmes during her visit.

The music on the show was good. We opened with tracks from Avicii, Melissa Street and Bakermat. Milli Jam and Jay dropped tracks from DJ Cassidy and Robin Thicke, Pompi, and AKA as well as Mampi featuring Judy. Our oldie of the week was ‘Dilemma’ from Nelly and Kelly Rowland. We closed with ‘Faded’ from Zhu.

Ed and Kathy told listeners they had been ‘wowed’ by Victoria Falls and were happy that they had been told before they arrived. that they could not come to Zambia without seeing this particular natural wonder of the world. Their trip to Zambia had been inspired by Dr Dwight and Mrs Carol Thomas, Zambian/Sikalongo veterans and neighbours of the Barlow’s in America. The Barlows had visited Chobe NP in Botswana during their visit and had been delighted and awed to watch a leopard kill a guinea fowl. They had also seen a pride of lion, their first time to see big cats in their natural state. This was their first visit to Zambia and indeed to Africa.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Ed and Kathy said they would like to be retired and free to be the ‘hands and feet of Jesus’. We thanked them for volunteering their time and resources to come and help Zambians in Southern Province.

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Ryan Kelly

Ryan Kelly (above), a second year graduate school student in forensic psychology at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, was our Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz. That’s our weekly radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, which features chat with a Guest of the week, a great selection of latest international and local music, as well as news from social media sites and pop chart updates. Airs every Sunday at 20.30 hrs CAT. We also give away a prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us with the name of the artist on our oldie of the week. On this particular occasion the prize was not won – due to network problems the text messages were late to arrive!

Ryan told listeners that he had been in Zambia for a month, in the capital Lusaka, as a volunteer with the Advocacy For Child Justice, a Non-Government Organization that uses an issue-based approach to advocate for the rights and best interests of children who come into conflict with the law. Ryan briefed us about the work of ACJ. He had learned a lot from his time in Lusaka and felt that the experience blended well with the course he was undertaking back in the States. It was his first time to be in Zambia and indeed Africa. “Was Zambia what he had expected?” We wondered. “Yes and no……” The cautious response.

The music on the show was good. We featured tracks from Avicii, Oliver Heldens, Example, Whitney Houston, Taio Cruz, Austin Mohone, Krytic, DJ Clock, JK and Sam Smith.

Ryan told us that he had been busy since he arrived in Livingstone on Friday. He had spent a whole day with Abseil Zambia on Saturday and had abseiled, swung the gorge, and performed the flying fox but not the bungee jump. He had thoroughly enjoyed the day and praised the Abseil Zambia staff. He had also loved the sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone and was very much looking forward to white water rafting the day after the show, before travelling back to Lusaka the following day, then flying back to America that night. “Will you come back to Zambia?” Milli Jam wondered. “I certainly hope so!” Said Ryan.

Jay wanted to know if Ryan though the USA would win the FIFA World Cup. “Not really”, but he was proud that his team had progressed to the last 16 for the second consecutive World Cup finals tournament. He professed a keen interest in American football. The Boston Patriots is his team. Music wise Ryan told us that he loves Sam Smith. “So do we!” We said. He’s also a fan of Imagine Dragons, Disclosure, and more especially Eric Clapton and Cream. He had enjoyed a local concert in Livingstone featuring some Zambian bands and music. He had also had nights out at Fez Bar and Cafe Zambezi while he’d been in Livingstone.

Ryan is single, free, and comes from a big family, he has a twin brother as well as step brothers and sisters and half brothers and sisters. “They’re all just brothers and sisters in Zambia!” I commented. Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time Ryan told us that he’d like to be wherever he would be happy and doing what made him happy too. He did not rule out an academic career or returning to Zambia!

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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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Butterfly Tree Volunteers Rock The Experience!

We were delighted once again to be able to host representatives of the Butterfly Tree Charity on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience last Sunday night. The Butterfly Tree charity was founded by Jane Kaye-Bailey after a business incentive trip to Zambia with her late husband, Lawrence, in February 2006. During a visit to the Mukuni Village, Jane was determined to find a way to raise funds to help these vulnerable village children.The Experience is usually co-hosted by Milli Jam and George Kaufela but this week George was on his own as Milli Jam was attending his brother’s wedding in Lusaka. Our Guests Jess Varley (left above) and Emma Kennedy from England have been in Livingstone for a few weeks volunteering at the Butterfly Tree. Jess, a nursing graduate has been busy helping at the rural health centre in Mukuni Village whilst Emma, a final year International Development student at the University of Suffolk in Norwich has been more involved with the orphan sponsorship programme.

The girls told listeners that they were thoroughly enjoying their time in Zambia and on 11th November intended to undertake a sixty kilometre walk in the village of Chunga in Chief Mukuni to raise money for the Butterfly Tree. They had chosen this location and route to highlight awareness that some of the children and expectant mothers in that area were obliged to walk 30 kilometres from their homes to school and clinics respectively and then the same distance later in the day to return home. Butterfly Tree hoped to establish a boarding home to help alleviate this situation and funds were required for that.

The music on the show was great as usual. We opened with latest tracks from One Direction and The Wanted, before George dropped Zambian numbers from T-Sean and Exile. After another chat with the girls we moved on to music from South African star Danny K and then Drake. Our oldie of the week was Nelly’s ‘Ride With Me’ and the prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge was snapped up by a certain Chris! My pick of the week was Avril Lavigne featuring Marilyn Manson – Bad Girl. Shades of Suzie Quatro there. We closed with Lady Gaga’s ‘Venus’ which contains the classic line ‘Uranus – Don’t you know my ass is famous’!

The girls told listeners they had been enjoying life in Livingstone and had done loads of the tourist activities including Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island, the one day safari to Chobe, the microlight and white water rafting. They had not done the bungee jump (George has) but they were planning to do a tandem gorge swing very soon. The had enjoyed some of the Livingstone night life. George asked them about football, Emma supports Norwich where she is at university, Jess Chelsea where she works and George is a Liverpool fan. I, a Gooner, was happy to be able to report two nil, two nil and seven nil defeats for their teams the previous afternoon.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Jess hoped to be working for Medicines Sans Frontiers, and Emma to be a project manager with a small NGO – neither of the girls mentioned husbands or children……

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Kaufela Close Up!

Milli Jam and I decided to turn the tables on one of our co-presenters on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild and put George (above) in the chair as the Guest! It was not the first time he’s featured but it had been a long time since we heard from him and we felt our newer listeners should get some insight into George, his past and his ambitions. It was fascinating stuff! ‘The Experience’ is our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, for an hour from 20.30 hrs CAT.

Milli Jam wanted to know how long George had been with Zambezi fm and how he came to be employed in the first place. George told listeners that he’d served for between four and five years. He had been on holiday in Livingstone and had been making some guest appearances at one of Livingstone’s other radio stations when he received a call from the then general manager of Zambezi fm, Chanda Mfula, who had asked him to come and audition with Zambezi fm. He had been successful, following which he was sent to SkyFM, another Southern Province radio station, for further training. George had worked for an organization called Africa Innovations before this lucky break. I offered the opinion on air that I was not surprised that he had been quickly snapped up by Zambezi FM as he had a natural radio voice – and he has!

“How long have you been singing”? Milli Jam asked, and George told our listeners that he had first started rapping in secondary school, covering hits by the likes of Snoop Dogg and others. He had recorded his first single in 2003 with Leo Muntu and subsequently had recorded about 12 singles. He rated the best of these as his new one ‘Enter Enter’ as well as another called ‘Your Smile’. He rated his best live shows as ones that had happened on the Copperbelt, Sesheke and one he had played across in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The music on or show was good. We dropped tracks from Conor Maynard and Miley Cyrus (who else) at the top of the show. Before he knew he would be appearing as the guest George had chosen work from Exile as well as Mr Vezzy. Milli Jam played numbers from Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry. Our oldie of the week was Alicia Keys’ ‘Sleeping With A Broken Heart’ and the prize we give to the first listener to text us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up by Raphael amongst a flood of contestants. My pick of the week was James Blunt’s ‘Heroes’ and we closed with a track from The Saturdays.

Milli Jam referred to George’s recent bungee jumping exploits and asked if he had been scared. George replied that he had not, but that his Granny had been very frightened when he had shown her the video of the jump! Asked why he supported Liverpool football club, our guest did not give a satisfactory reply but told us that his favourite player was Steven Gerrard. We asked him how he managed to get up so early every morning to host the breakfast show and he said ‘you get used to it’!. He revealed that he would soon become an uncle as his sister was expecting a baby. He thanked Father Cletus from Radio Mosi-o-Tunya for the guidance he had given him in his early years of broadcasting.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in 10 years’ time, George told listeners that he would like to be highly successful in broadcasting and music, and would like to own his own radio station. We wished him the best of luck and thanked him for his service to our show!

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