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Background: The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign in 2002, which resulted in the prosecution of former President Frederick CHILUBA and many of his supporters in late 2003. Opposition parties currently hold a majority of seats in the National Assembly.

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By olerad
November 2nd 2009

This is it Africa » Zambia » Lusaka » Kabwata

fun on the train!

So, this is it. The 'real adventure has started. Where Joachim and I have been travelling together and enjoyed the company and safety of having someone familiar around, we thought it was time to split up now. After leaving Zanzibar, we spent almost a week with Rams (the guy we met on the ferry to Zanzibar) and his family in Dar Es Salaam, trying to decide where to go from there. For my part, it was pretty clear that I would go south, to Zambia or Mozambique. When I heard there was a train going from Dar to Zambia, I immediately [View Full Entry]

kids playing music in the streets of lusaka

By AbbyRose
November 1st 2009

My Imporssibe Quest for Archival Information in Zambia, trouble with Air Namibia, and some interesting thoughts for the future Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

Hanging out of a minibus

Written October 25th, 2009) Greetings all! I am almost at the 5-month mark, meaning I have 3 months left. As the Zambians say “Ahhhhhhh! Eeesh!” It’s gone by incredibly quickly. This week has been both frustrating and interesting. The petrol shortage continues, and I am no longer finding the whole thing funny, now that the price of taxis has gone up. Also, when I do take the bus, it takes (and I am by no means exaggerating) 2 hours to get anywhere. The traffic is so bad because the line-ups for petrol are insane and can block an entire stretch of [View Full Entry]

By AbbyRose
October 18th 2009

Fat, skinny, tall, short? It doesn really matter: Heat, fun on the minibus, Diwali and Thanksgiving Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

Hi Everyone, It is sooooooooooooo hot. Today, by 9am it was already 36 C. I sure miss that great Canadian fall weather! I have spoken to some of you, and have heard several complaints about the cold in Canada. I am envious! The heat is not so awesome in a landlocked country where no air conditioning exists and you have to pay considerable amounts of money to use hotel swimming pools. Also, wearing shorts is not really an option- I already receive too much unwanted attention from men wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Originally, I had thought that Thanksgiving was going [View Full Entry]

By AbbyRose
October 9th 2009

There and Back Again: Surprise Trip to the UK! Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

Written: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 There and back again Hey Everyone! Surprise! I was in the UK for 10 days. No one knew I was going except for my lovely aunt “Sophie” who kindly engineered the whole thing. I went to the UK to attend my grandfather’s memorial service. It was definitely time for a break from the whole Zambia scene. I was getting frustrated and needed a change for a while. Tom and his mother drove me to the airport at 6am. As I sat in the departures lounge, I began to get a knot in my stomach. I had [View Full Entry]

By chimelleinoz
October 2nd 2009

Ferries, Trains & Automobiles, Crossing From East Tanzania to South West Zambia Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

Market sellers at the train stop

18/9 - 21/9 So going back a step to our train booking in Zanzibar. We had no idea how difficult it would be to organize transport from Dar es Salaam. There’s only one official train representative on the island and he said the train was booked up (or at least the Zanzibar allocation was). When we went to Africa House for a drink, we saw that there was a travel agent that worked for them and when we asked at reception, they called him and he whizzed on over in his car for some after hours business. At first he tried [View Full Entry]

By Basselope
September 20th 2009

Traveling onward Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

So, life has come to a bit of a standstill for various reasons and I've decided to head off to see a little more of the continent for a while. I haven't really done any tourist stuff in Africa except for one weekend in Livingstone so this should be a serious (and much needed) change of pace for me. Certain things about living here were getting a tad too heavy for me (I've never been very good with heavy). I'm leaving tomorrow morning towards the northern border of Zambia to spend a few days on Lake Tanganyika...if anyone wants postcards they [View Full Entry]

By AbbyRose
September 13th 2009

Rants and Motorcycle Escapades Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

Roadside stop

(Written Friday, Sept 4, 2009) Mwalyeni bwino! (this is a common greeting in Bemba- it means “Are you eating well?” And in turn, you respond “kulila mulelya” which means “provided that you are eating well!”) Hence, I hope you are all eating well! I know I am. On a more interesting note I am beginning to lose my sanity a bit. Well, not really, but I definitely need a break from Lusaka. I was hoping to get to a town called Siavonga this weekend but that didn’t really work out. Dan was going to come with me but he has things [View Full Entry]

By AbbyRose
August 29th 2009

A High Point Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

Hair Plant

Muli bwanji! (That’s Nyanja for hello and how are you?) I have been very skimpy on the photographs, so I am trying to post more of them for everyone- this may prove to be difficult because the internet connection here is just something else. I will try though! This past week was a lot better for me. I’ve made a lot of progress with regards to my thesis. One of the major stakeholders called me and wanted me to meet with her, which I gladly did. I got a lot of feedback and spent most of the week working on perfecting [View Full Entry]

By Basselope
August 26th 2009

I don't even know where to begin...(sorry for long-windedness) Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

All the crazy things that have happened recently... So, not too long ago a young female patient died...it was sudden. She had come into the clinic recently and been in (relatively) good health. She was absolutely adorable and sweet and good mannered and smart...and just a really delightful child. I took a picture of her with our social worker, Fernando, the last time she came. Our Clinical Officer (basically a PA) told me while I was sitting in the backseat of a car, he and another CO were sitting in the front seats. Once it sunk in I started crying. I [View Full Entry]

By AbbyRose
August 17th 2009

A Low Point Africa » Zambia » Lusaka

I hope everyone’s week was much better than mine! This week was really brutal. On Tuesday, I found out by e-mail that my grandfather (who lives in the U.K.) passed away. Although this wasn’t unexpected, it really took a toll on me and I wasn’t really able to function for the rest of the day. I felt really terrible- my family had gone to the U.K. to help out and I was unable to do anything. I didn’t hear anything more from my family until I skyped mum on Sunday. All in all- not so fun. The bad vibes continued for [View Full Entry]

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