Then there was light, dancing and beef stew

Greetings from Zambia! More specifically, greetings from the district of Mumbwa. More specifically than that... greetings from a small white minibus which is driving due east along the road back towards Lusaka. Thankfully it's a tarmac road, which means I can write this. We've just spent the last few hours on incredibly dusty tracks running between the villages of Chilimboyi and Nakasaka where our partners, the People's Action Forum, run community centres- CABLAC (Capacity Building Learning Activity Centres).

Yesterday, in Chilimboyi, we attended the official inauguration of the new solar system - which involved plenty of speeches, a play with a solar power theme and a bit of dancing by yours truly with Paul Simon from the Global Cool Foundation and Margaret, PAF's area coordinator!

Cheers and dancing as members of the community enjoy light in the Community Centre, or CABLAC, for the first time.

The day culminated with the lights being turned on - which is what this is all about. The Community of Chilimboyi now have clean renewable light. They also have the opportunity to generate an income by using the system to charge mobile phones and other devices. They've even started selling 'pay as you go' phone credit - which means people no longer have to travel into the main town just to communicate.

The illuminated CABLAC outside Mumbwa

The day ended with meal of chicken, beef stew and nshima. Nshima is a staple across much of East and Southern Africa. It's basically corn flour mixed with water which is then heated and stirred until it becomes a thick paste... sound tasty? No? Well, it's not exactly my favourite, but somehow, yesterday, I think I enjoyed it. Yep - I almost couldn't get enough of it. I must have been a hungry boy. Either that or it was the fact that Paul and I helped to make it. When I say 'helped', we stirred it... for about 10 seconds. That was enough to fill my eyes with smoke-filled tears and for Paul to start sneezing for the next 10 minutes. Smoke-free cooking is surely a priority for the chefs of rural Africa.

More updates soon!

John