Hello and Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm currently working as a Fundraising Advisor in Chipata for a small community-based organisation called Chipata Dzithandizeni Nutrition Group, based in the Eastern Province of Zambia.

It's a role I gained through Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and I'm hoping to share my experiences of Zambian culture with you through this site.

I'm lucky to be working with some amazing colleagues and the community, sharing skills in order to generate income and resources to support the work of the the Nutrition Group. The Group is situated in Kapata township right in the heart of Chipata and its focus is to provide nutritional support to vulnerable children and adults in the urban and rural areas of Chipata.

Before this, I had never been to Zambia, slept under a mosquito net or even accepted a job without meeting any of my colleagues first, so as you can imagine it was a bit of a risk! I'm grateful to VSO for all their support in preparing me for all the challenges! I'm hoping that with some fun and hard work along the way, I'll look back and think that every minute was worth it.

If you like, you can see where Chipata is by clicking on the map on the right. Also feel free to click on the Zambia Country profile to learn more about this stunning country. Take a browse through my blog and feel free to post me any messages along the way!

Please remember that all the views within this blog do not represent the views of VSO or Chipata Nutrition Group.

Thanks,
Sarah

Friday, 24 September 2010

Chipata Dzithandizeni Nutrition Group - Update

Some of you have been asking how Chipata Dzithandizeni Nutrition Group is going and whether we still need computers? Well, thanks for the comments. It’s good to know some people are reading this blog! We now have 3 computers, a motorbike to get around the rural areas, and can you believe it, we finally have a printer in our office! No more running into town every time we want to print off a document, so it now feels like a proper organisation.

We have also recently appointed our new Programme Manager, Mr Tembo, so finally there’s someone who is present in the office day-to-day managing projects. It has been a challenge over the last year as many of my colleagues work part time doing government jobs in order to earn a basic salary (CDNG is primarily a voluntary organisation). My colleagues are therefore employed as teachers, Accountants and Social Researchers at other organisations, so they are not always in the office.

We therefore really need more people like Mr Tembo who is available full-time, so I think over the coming months, the next resources needed will be more human resources! If anyone fancies joining us on a full-time basis then please contact Gabriel Tembo, chipatanutrition@yahoo.com

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