Zambia

Zambia is often described as the 'Real Africa'. It is situated in southern Africa as indicated by the red border in the image to the right. There are seven major tribes each with distinct cultural and traditional differences. When Kamoto was formed, particular care was taken to include representatives from each tribe so that all the different ceremonies and spiritual rituals could be collected truly reflecting the breadth and diversity that now makes up Zambia.

Zambia has some of the most splendid wildlife in Africa, famed for its walking safaris and natural beauty including the awesome Victoria Falls. The Green Living Movement has been working with communities for many years, understanding cultural practices and traditional beliefs. Through clear explanation and education programmes it has enjoyed great success in transforming agricultural practices and living habits to ensure that sustainable methods are adopted. For example the re-nitrification of soils through organic methods and the reduction in seasonal field and bush burning.

More can be found out about Zambia at the links below:

http://www.zambiatourism.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zambi

Lusaka

Lusaka is the capital city of Zambia and situated in the middle on the southern border as can just about be seen on the image above. The extract from goggle earth below illustrates a nice contrast with the one of Bristol.

Tikambilanie - Zambia 2009.

Following the UK launch a group from the UK will visit Zambia later in the year, once again working with Kamoto and The Green Living Movement along with other NGO's in Zambia. Similar themes will be explored; once again Tikambilanie aims to facilitate the expression of situations so that implementation plans can be developed for positive change. The results of the UK launch will also be demonstrated to participants in Zambia so that discussions can be held and responses created.

For example the first programme to be run in the UK involves asking people to described their lives to those in Zambia and to try and anticipate what life is like in Zambia. We shall ask those in Zambia to do the same, before sharing the UK findings and asking them for their response in light of the new information. The second event to be held in the UK will be able to do like wise and then review their initial message in light of the response gained from the Zambian launch, in this manner a continuous communication as been initiated that will bring understanding of two geographically isolated parties closer together.

This may seem an entertaining but trivial example, but it acts as a good illustration, ice breaker and starting point. The eventual aim of Tikambilanie is to carry out a similar process surrounding topics that are common to both societies, street sleepers, drug abuse, children’s rights, environmental challenges, gang cultures and the like. These will be initiated from the first Tikambilanie event but it is understood that significant progress maybe slow at first.