Highs and Lows

Sorry I've been absent for so long.  Things have been kind of overwhelming here in Lusaka over the past month.  It's a long and slight convoluted story so you better get yourself a cup of tea (I have!) before you start.

The month didn't get off to a good start when I saw two snakes in a week.  The first one was crawling along the ridge of my cottage roof - a little too close to home for my liking - and the second was outside the office. The timing of the sightings happened to coincide with the Pastor having a 'chat' to me about watching for snakes on the ground around the church when I came back late at night.  In all likelihood, the snakes had been there all the time but my ignorance had made me not notice them whereas once I'd been told to watch out I started seeing them everywhere!    

Here's a pic of the Lizard that lives in my living room:

Anyway, to say I was a little rattled was an understatement.  As you've probably come to realise I'm not the greatest fan of God's cold blooded creatures with even Geckos and Lizards making my skin crawl so two snakes in a week wasn't good.  For several nights that week I just couldn't get to sleep due to my worrying about them coming into the cottage.  Lack of sleep and worry really affected my mental health and I started to get quite down and homesick.  It was a bit of a vicious cycle if I'm honest.  I remember John Cammack at the AfiD training day talking about the emotional cycle associated with working abroad; the highs when you first arrive and everything's new, followed by the lows as the reality of the work and day to day life sets in.  You always think it won't apply to you but it does and I was very grateful for the advice I'd received in training as it really helped me during this period.

However in the end, fate played a part in breaking the cycle.  We had a sort of lucky draw at work with everyone's name in the hat, with those whose name was drawn winning an ex-demo solar light..  My name was drawn and I got to take my solar light home.  I'm not sure why but I decided to charge it and use it as a night lamp, keeping it switched on throughout the night as a sort of comforter.  It worked wonders and a couple of good night's sleep later I was feeling alot more positive.  I haven't seen a slithering snake since but to be honest I've stopped looking too; ignorance really is bliss.

The next hurdle I faced during the month was work related.  As I've mentioned before, one of the real concerns I had when volunteering for this role was my lack of experience of day to day accounting and double entry. However, as my boss used to remind me, I've got alot of common sense and can spot an error at ten paces so I've got all the skills I need.  As it happened, he was right. 

I'd started to prepare the YE accounts using the Sage Pastel records and had decided (don't ask me why) to spot check one of the Sage Balance Sheet accounts against the accompanying paper records.  This quickly highlighted differences and a few more spot checks later I discovered the Sage records really didn't represent the financial records very well at all.  I think the churn of Finance staff during the year (I was the fourth accountant to have touched the books that FY) had taken its toll and things had become muddled.  I quickly realised the correcting journals to Sage would be extensive so had to approach the Zambian and UK auditors to discuss our options.  It was decided that we'd produce the YE accounts in Microsoft Excel, essentially replicating the Sage ledgers and journals and creating an Extended Trial Balance.  In theory this is easy but it involves typing up an entire year's financial journals which is quite alot, even in a small operation like Sunny Money. 

Now, those who know me well will know I'm a very methodical person and I don't do 'cutting corners' unless its absolutely necessary so I set about, ledger by ledger, typing up the records and reconciling the journals.  I had planned a vacation with my parents w/c 29 April so I was determined to at least get things drafted and reconciled by then but that was three weeks away....quite some deadline.  I'm a pretty single minded girl though and very stubborn so I was determined to meet the deadline.  I worked evenings and weekends, typing up the records.  It was truly exhausting.  The Pastor watched me come home with a different file every evening as I ploughed through the masses of paperwork, ordering it and matching it to the chequebook and bank statements. 

There were times this month that I thought I'd never get there.  The team at work were great, giving me hugs when I felt beaten and dejected, and convincing me day by day that I'd succeed.  Karla was great as she helped me massively with the Debtors, calling around hundreds of schools to check payments.  She even baked her 'special' chocolate treats (brownie base, topped with melted marshmallows, and then covered in chocolate coated rice krispies) to boost our spirits last week :)  It was worth it as last Thursday I completed the draft accounts, a month before the auditor is due to arrive, and in perfect time for my holiday with mum and dad.  It was such a relief as it allows me to take some time out with nothing hanging over me and gives Sarah and I time to review the accounts with a fresh pair of eyes on my return.  The Pastor gave me a 'high five' today when I told him the good news.

What I find interesting is, when you tell people at home you're going off to volunteer, they seem to think you're on holiday.  If I'm honest with myself, I think I also thought it would be a relatively easy ride too, working 9-5 and having less pressure.  However, it couldn't be further from the truth.  Organisations like SolarAid request volunteers because they generally need the help and in small organisations, whether they're charities or not, there's always more work than there are people to do the work.  I've seen it in the UK and it's no different here.  During the past month there have been times when I've grumbled and wanted to run for the hills but as I sit here now, reflecting on the past month all I feel is a great sense of achievement and, excuse the cliché, alot of 'lessons learned.  I feel like I'm adding value here and whilst it's very hard work I'm learning alot about myself and the kind of job I'd like to do when I get home.   

This role has really made me sit up and take responsibility and use every skill I've got, including my sense of humour!  I was speaking to my AfiD coordinator, Apeksha, this week about some of the emotions I'd been experiencing and the challenges I'd faced, she commented that she was surprised, yet pleased, by my resilience and determination.  I flippantly replied that I thought she knew I moonlighted as 'Zambia-Girl', the local version of superwoman ;)  We were chatting on Skype at the time and she laughed out loud at that comment and attracted many weird looks from her AfiD colleagues.  I duly explained that I'd been known to pass the time during powercuts by watching 'The Incredibles' movie and was trying to model myself on Elastigirl!!  You should see my outfit :)

Despite working hard this month I have managed to have some other interesting experiences. 

Firstly, it's probably worth mentioning our interesting visitors to the office over the past month.  Firstly, we had a visit from the local Police, complete with guns!  Claire, Karla and I were talking about our respective work visas when they arrived and to say we looked worried is an understatement.  You could see us looking at one another when they arrived, wondering what they were here to reprimand us about.  The look of relief on our faces when they said they wanted to buy lights for their elders in the village was palpable!!  The Police were followed by a couple of gentleman with a truck of 1000 1-day old chicks, cheep cheeping.  They wanted solar lights for their hen coup to keep the chicks happy and secure.  They let us stroke the yellow chicks, which were so soft and cuddly.  I almost wanted to take one home but I'm not sure the Pastor would appreciate being woken up by grown up hens!  Next, came the bus load of Peace Corps volunteers, otherwise referred to as 'soap dodgers' due to their slightly unkempt appearances, seeking solar lights to charge their phones and kindles in the bush.  Claire did a sterling job, marketing our lights to the new Peace Corps volunteers that morning, and we sold over 30 lights in 15 minutes so it was quite a rewarding morning!  Oh, and finally my friend Christopher, Karla's son, came to the office.  He joined us in the office last week for a few hours and was a breath of fresh air.  Musonda was prepping lights for a pickup from one of our big partners so there was a big stack of lights next to my desk and I proceeded to teach Christopher multiplication using the stack of boxes and a calculator. He did very well and is now, officially my protégé.  I think Karla's concerned he'll be my replacement in June.........

Secondly, as you may remember, the market at the Dutch Reformed Church was delayed from the last week of March to 6 April (not Christmas!) due to the timing of Easter.  I normally bump into a few familiar people at the market and this month ended up bumping into Claire (fellow SunnyMoney volunteer) and her partner Dave.  Interestingly Claire is from Kettering, which is where my Mum was born, so it's a small world...but I digress.  Dave's family has been in the Salvation Army for many years and he actually grew up in Lusaka when his family served here.  Claire and Dave were at the market with family friends, Ann and Ken, who are currently serving here with the Salvation Army and they were kind enough to invite me to join them for lunch at the market.

The market is famous for its food and alot of expats come just for the treats on offer.  You can get homemade cakes and pies, Chinese delicacies, Mexican tortillas and fajitas, BBQ meats, freshly pressed lemonade and pineapple juice, cinnamon rolls.....and the list goes on.  We opted for Chinese food and had freshly fried spring rolls and pork steamed buns.  They were delicious and very fresh.  Ken and Dave even got a condensed milk cake for dessert.  I was having a lovely time, although I was pretty full.  However, Ann and Ken invited me to join them and Claire and Dave for dinner back at their place afterwards.  I couldn't resist, especially when she said she'd be cooking Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding.  I thought I'd gone to heaven.  I have a lovely cottage in Kabulonga but one of the things I, and indeed other volunteers I've met, miss most about home is baked food as nearly all of us have only a hob in our accommodation.  It was so nice having roast meat for dinner, indeed anything oven cooked.  Ann spoilt us rotten with dinner and even did coconut tart and thick yellow custard for dessert - yummy!

Thirdly, I have been managing to fit in some R&R.  A couple of weeks ago, after a particularly stressful week at work, Claire and I decided to have some R&R and a bit of a girly day.  We started the day at The Silver Tulip jewellery shop in Rhodes Park where one of Sarah's in-laws sells her homemade silver wares.  I bought a lovely pair of silver fish earrings.  The shop had so many things to choose from I'm now saving for another treat before I come home.  We then had a walk through the quiet, back streets of Rhodes Park.  It was a lovely sunny day and it was great to have a walk away from the bustle of central Lusaka.  We were headed for Senses @ Sensorium where Claire had a Back, Neck & Shoulder Massage and I opted for a pedicure. 

You've probably gathered that I walk literally everywhere in Lusaka.  George, a driver at SunnyMoney, has taken to asking me every Monday morning where I've been a wandering as he's so intrigued by my weekend rambles around Lusaka.  Anyway, I think the beautician looked on in horror when I presented my feet for the pedicure.  I hadn't realised how the walking had taken its toll on my feet but she spent over 20 minutes with the soap suds and pumice scrubbing them so they must have been pretty bad.  I was getting a little embarrassed at the state of my feet as there were two South African 'ladies who lunch' next to me having pedicures and they looked like they'd never walked 100m, let alone the miles I rack up in a week.  After the scrubbing, came the foot massage and moisturising; it was heaven sent!!  The final step was painting my toenails a wonderful deep red colour.  When I finally rejoined Claire it felt like I was walking on air my feet were so clean and soft.  Claire commented that I had to try and maintain my 'peachy' feet - quite a challenge in the Lusaka dust - however, 3 weeks on the polish is still in tact and my feet are soft, even if they're turning brown again with the dust/sun!  We finished the day with a lazy lunch at Pzazz.  Deciding what to eat was quite a challenge as everything there is yummy but we were determined to have something baked.  We opted for Lasagne and a Chorizo Pizza and went half/half swapping plates mid-meal much to the amusement of our waitress and fellow diners.

Last weekend, Claire, Dave and I went to AfriColour and Jackal and Hide at Sugar Bush Farm in Leopards Hill thanks to Sarah.  It was great getting out of the city.  AfriColour had some amazing fabrics and homewares but, true to form, I was drawn to the jewellery.  I found Mulberry Mongoose in Nzito Furniture and was immediately hooked.  Mulberry Mongoose is a jewellery brand created by a friend of Sarah's, Kate Wilson.  The jewels are handcrafted and designed in the South Luangwa Valley by local ladies using organic materials from the African bush mixed with semi-precious stones, bone and beads.  I immediately fell in love with the Luangwa Charm Bracelet.  I wear turquoise colours all the time so I'm certain it'll get alot of use.  It was really relaxing having lunch at Sugar Bush Farm in the fresh air.  They even made me Earl Grey tea so I was in heaven as I really miss my fresh tea leaves collection from home.        

This weekend, as you've probably guessed, has been the first for a while that I've not worked, hence the blog post.  It's been weird rediscovering what to do with 2 full days of freetime.  Yesterday I made the most of loafing about at the Dutch Reformed Church Market, having a cup of tea under the shade of a tea whilst reading my kindle.  Here are a few pictures of the market:

This is where I bought Noah some colourful toys:

I also watched an amazing movie 'August Rush' which I highly recommend.  Robin Williams was great in it, as the character Wizard.  Today, I had a nice lunch at my favourite, Mugg and Bean, and made the most of their free Wi-Fi to update my kindle eBook collection, ready for Livingstone. Now, I'm having a drink outside whilst finishing my blog post, listening to Nina Simone as the sun goes down.  Quite, quite perfect!  Now, all I have to do is wait for Mum and Dad's arrival and my trip to Livingstone.  Expect lots of animal pictures in my next post.........

Cheerio folks

Kate       

   

Lusaka's Green Expo

I was going to write up about SunnyMoney's experiences at last week's Green Expo in Lusaka.  However I thought it more appropriate to let Claire, our Marketing Volunteer and Green Expo organiser, tell you about it instead.

So, without further ado, let me introduce my guest writer, Claire:

Hi everyone. I’ve been a marketing volunteer at SunnyMoney Zambia for the last 3 months working on marketing planning for our Schools Campaign, follow-up sales and how we work with retailers to help us get more lights to more people across Zambia.

Last weekend the SunnyMoney Zambia team returned to the world of exhibitions for The Green Expo at Lusaka’s National Museum for the second time. The Green Expo is about promoting sustainability in Zambia to show that green living can be ‘cool and fun’ and is organised by Glenda one our board directors. So, we simply had to be there!

Visitors to the expo were mostly the expat community, with many of them working for NGOs, so our aim was of course 1. To sell our fabulous lights, but also 2. To find potential partnership opportunities to broaden our reach in Zambia and 3. To increase awareness of our brand, what we do, and the impact of bringing solar to rural communities.

In the run up to the expo we advertised in two Zambian email newsletters (Ad-dicts to 2,500 Lusaka residents & Zamloop a similar buying/selling email list) to invite people to visit us at the show stand and let them know about our special expo discounts. We sold 3 PowerPack 5W systems and had a few other calls and visitors in response to these adverts, so it was already worth our while and we’ll definitely do that again.

 In return for this pre-expo advertising which also helped to promote the show, the organisers gave us the chance to be interviewed by Movie TV, a local Zambian station, which was aired on Saturday night. We’re trying to get hold of the interview clip!

We also had a prize draw to win a free S2 as an incentive for visitors to leave their details with us. The plan is to email or text these people with news about new products/light deliveries/friendly reminders of where to find us.

The show itself was actually a bit quieter than we had hoped overall, but the visitors we spoke to were all very interested in SunnyMoney’s work and impressed by our products. Other solar companies (for profit) were also exhibiting (Muhanya Solar, Solar Zuwa, SunPower) so it was important for us to have a presence and show why we are different. We got a free TV interview, an opportunity to advertise on a Zambian online business directory for free and potential sales with the Lusaka Radisson hotel (fingers crossed). We also had the privilege of talking about our schools programme to influential people like the Vice President’s wife Charlotte Scott and deputy director of the UN in Zambia, so feel that we sufficiently made our mark.

Robin, teaching the kids

Robin and the Vice President's Wife

Dominic showing off our posters and products

Claire's Fantastic Flyers (and Map to the Office!)

New Arrivals - My Nephew & SunnyMoney Model Wannabees

My sister is a regular reader of this blog mainly because she has been sitting at home bored rigid for the past 2 weeks waiting for her baby to be born.  Well, Easter Sunday turned out to be the 'big day' and I am now officially proud Auntie Kate to Noah Benjamin.  He was 7lb 8 and caused my sister a little bit of grief getting out but he's here now and will get spoilt rotten by me when I get home.  I'm back in London for 5 weeks in June/July before heading to Asia so we're already planning lots of cafe and park trips together so he gets to know me. 

My sister and I sound identical when we speak (its mainly our slightly varied vocabularies that people use to tell us apart) so when I used to speak to him in her tummy he used to be quite calm; my sister claims its because he thought it was her speaking to him and he was confused how she could project her voice outside her body :)  Anyway, she also claims I write this blog as though I'm speaking to her so, since I assume she'll be reading this to Noah to get him to sleep, I better start storytime properly like my parents used to do with us......if you're sitting comfortably I'll begin......

Last week was a busy week for SunnyMoney Zambia as it not only marked the end of our 2012/13 financial year, it was a record sales week for us (over 1000 lights sold), despite it only being a 4 day week.  We had three SunnyMoney Schools teams out in the field, in Solwezi mines (Robin & Alex), Choma (Claire, Dominic & Elizabeth) and Mazabuka (Mayase & George) which meant there were only five of us left in the office (Musonda, Karla, Sarah, Angela & Myself). Since it was a four day week the teams had to leave on Sunday lunchtime (24th March).  The stock was counted out on Friday ready to be loaded into the vehicles on Sunday.  As you can see from the pictures, this involved barricading me into my little corner, maybe not a wise move as I was responsible for allocating out their money for the trips.....maybe they forgot that ;)

After all the efforts of the team, counting the stock and preparing the paperwork, we were glad to receive our Friday Nshima lunch from Musonda - see picture below.  Nshima is the white mass on the plate, its a kind of maize meal that's cooked and stirred very carefully.  It even requires a special spoon as I discovered from this month's petty cash receipts :)  Zambians eat alot of Nshima and can happily have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It's served with all sorts of 'relishes'.  In this case Musonda served it with a cooked rape and tomatoe mix and Boerewors sausage.  The Boerewors sausage comes in a long curly strip, a bit like a Cumberland sausage, and was cut up and shared amongst the team.  It was delicious and since it was a lovely sunny day we decided to eat it in the garden at the back of the office.

Nshima Lunch

Musonda, Claire & Alex

Musonda, Me, Alex

As you can see from my plate I had one Nshima portion but the lads managed to have 3 or more each.  Over lunch I asked Robin, our Solar Technician, how many he could eat in one sitting and I suggested 5!  I swear if I had that much I would lay fast asleep all afternoon but luckily it didn't have that effect on him.  In Nigeria, I had alot of pounded yam and they quite aptly called that 'knockout' because of its sleep inducing effects.  Well, Nshima may not have that nickname but it has the same effect on me so one portion was plenty.....after all I did have the year end accounts to prepare - eek!

Since I had the camera in the office and the ladies have begun to clock how many people around the world are reading my blog they decided to try and kick start their modelling careers with a few choice poses.  So, in now particular order, I can now introduce Elizabeth, Claire and Angela:

Claire & Elizabeth

Angela

Elizabeth

Angela & Claire

Friday afternoon passed more quietly, mainly as we were all stuff with Nshima.  AfiD - I promise I did get back to work that afternoon - honest guv! ;)

After seeing off the teams on Sunday (I live so close to the office it seemed rude not to!) I headed out into town for a concert at the Holy Cross Anglican Cathedral in Ridgeway.  The cathedral is an absolutely enormous structure and stands pretty much in the centre of a traffic island which is a great shame as it makes photographing it extremely difficult.  With Church Road one side and Independence Avenue the other I thought you'd be deafened inside by the sound of traffic but thankfully it remained an oasis of calm.  Here's a ok-ish photograph I managed to obtain from Independence Avenue although it really doesn't do justice to the building:

The Holy Cross Cathedral was playing host to the Lusaka Music Society and Zambia Youth Orchestra on 24th March and I had been told to expect great things.  As I stepped into the cathedral I was overwhelmed by it's scale and beauty.  From the outside it looked a typical 60's building, grey and concrete, but inside you could see the finer details of the architecture with the side walls dotted with stunning stained glass windows.  The stained glass didn't depict religious scenes and so reminded me more of the new Coventry Cathedral than traditional Anglican cathedrals but other features, the wooden pews, embroidered knealing mats and plain, floor level alter reminded me of religious buildings at home.  The columns inside the building had Palm leaves tied together around them, setting the scene for Palm Sunday.

I wasn't expecting to find an organ but a spectacular one I found!  It was set into the building above the main entrance on a sort of mezzanine level.  The first recital was to be played from there so we had to turn around in our seats and look up to see the musicians (organist, cellist, 2 flautists and a singer).  The main doors to the cathedral had been left open and as we turned to face the music we got a view out of the cathedral, across its vast grounds and down Independence Avenue, just as the sun was setting. The whole thing was just magical and very very hard to express in words.  I hadn't taken my camera and on the whole don't like taking photographs in church so have only my memories to show for the evening but they're pretty good.

The evening progressed with a recital of Pomp and Circumstance from the newly formed Lusaka Youth Orchestra (I think the oldest member was about 8!) and Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise from the Lusaka Music Society, the soloists of which were outstanding.  All in all a beautiful way to end the weekend.

With only five of us remaining in the office, the week passed relatively peacefully, allowing me to set the wheels in motion for our financial year end on 31 March.  It may not be as exciting as selling in the field but I gained a certain satisfaction from sorting out our paper records and reconciling our suspense accounts with the peace in the office allowed to make faster progress than I may otherwise have done.  I did have a mini-meltdown on Wednesday as the scale of work facing me here dawned but after a little wobble I soldiered on.  If it weren't for the team's constant support and encouragement I may have given up by now but they seem to appreciate the efforts being made and the processes I'm bringing which makes it worthwhile.

Since Friday was both the last trading day of the financial year and the return date of the field teams it was all hands on deck on Friday to get our cash in the bank.  Karla and I had done our Petty Cash checks earlier in the day and banked all the office cash so there was only the field team's cash left. The field teams had been great all week banking sales daily and keeping records for me (big thank you!!) but they couldn't bank their travel advance money until they were safely back so on Friday there was alot of clock watching going on.  Zambian banks close very early yet we'd managed to locate one in Kabulonga that was open until 17:00 so when the last field team returned at 16:30 (Mayase & George) exhausted after a 7hr road trip, Sarah scooped up tired Mayase and scootled off to the bank to deposit the remaining cash.  We also had to count all the returned field stock back into the container as the external auditors arrive on Tuesday (2nd April) to do a formal year end stock count so there was alot of activity on that front too.  Despite the tiredness the office was buzzing with activity.  It's testament to the team here just how committed and responsive they are that we have a clear stock and cash position at year end but I am very grateful to them for it.

This weekend has seen Easter celebrations in Lusaka.  I have found it a little weird not being with my family at this special time, especially as such momentous family events have been unfolding, but made the best of it getting out and about in the city. I will have to write about that another day though....including my sighting of Winnie the Pooh....as I have to get back to work now.