It was not your average commute. Steve, Simon and myself spent a crazy day biking into the bush to meet with a group of farmers. It had rained two days prior to our trip (the first rain I have seen since I arrived) and the dirt paths had become mud. Because of the heavy rains, one of the streams that we had to cross stood before us as a medium sized river. Turning back was not an option - more than 20 farmers, many of whom traveled long-distances, would be waiting for us. If we failed to show up we would loose all creditability and respect. So we waved down some local kids playing by the river and we all braced ourselves around the bikes and slowly crossed the river. We arrived at David Muungu's farm just as the last farmers arrived.

We greeted each farmer with the traditional Tongan greetings, "Mwabonwa, muli buti? (You are seen, are you well?), "Twabonwa, Kabotu" (I am seen, well), followed by the standard handshake. We then sat beneath a huge tree, as is tradition for these meetings (which although does have some historical importance, most people say it's to provide refuge from the 35+ degree heat).

International Development Enterprise (IDE) holds many of these meetings to provide a forum for farmers who either own a treadle pump or drip kit or are interested in possibly purchasing one. The farmers discuss problems they are having and we act as facilitators, encouraging them to derive their own solutions. This meeting was strategically planned to achieve more than the regular objectives of sharing and problem solving however; Steve wanted the farmers to see David Muungu's farm and hear his story.

David Muungu has farmed the same half-hectare of land (50m x 100m) for 12 years now. From my understanding, he is married, has three sons and two daughters, and they all live in three small thatched roof mud huts that he built. He has been a subsistence farmer his entire life, always struggling to grow enough food to feed his family. He had always grown maize and sweet potatoes simply because they were grown on the land before he got there and they are the crops that most farmers in the area focus on. Because he lacked the time and labour to extensively irrigate his plot, having only a bucket, David only grew a small plot of vegetables. In times of drought his maize crop would fail, creating especially hard times for his family. I was later told that he had lost two children in previous drought years.

When David heard about the IDE treadle pump from another farmer he decided to track down Steve who explained the advantages of the pump, specifically increased vegetable growing and expansion of his plot.

David was fortunate in that the ground water table beneath his land was very high, enabling him to dig shallow wells around his farm for water access used for crop irrigation. Then, using his pump along with constant farming input and knowledge support, David doubled his plot and quadrupled his yields in less than two years. Selling his excess produce on the market, he was able to earn enough money to pay for the schooling of two of his children. He was also able to take some of the money he earned and invest it into purchasing another pump so he could increase the amount of land he farmed for the next season. His wife and children had also benefited greatly because they were able to spend much less of their time irrigating using a bucket (as it was typically their responsibility) and they were able to have a large amount of food security despite the heavy drought.

Most importantly in his opinion, David, who was also treasurer of his village group, could demonstrate to other famers how well the program worked. The meeting at his farm gave him the opportunity to do exactly that. He not only motivated these other farmers to work just as hard and smart as him but seeing all his peers in awe of his farm, gave David a certain boost in confidence. This confidence helped David to realize that he could do more with his plot then he had in the past - now he envisions a doubling his crops again next year, providing him with enough income to send all five of his children to school.

Mwabonwa Bwenzuma - 'Greetings Friends' in Tonga

It is update time again and I must say that I've really enjoyed my first few weeks in Lusaka, Zambia. It has offered me an understanding of the vast differences in lifestyles afforded by some people in this sprawling city while others live in absolute poverty.

Much of my initial time here was spent in what would be considered a middle-class Zambian lifestyle. Many of the Zambian friends I made live similar lives to my own back home. They are attending or had recently graduated from university and are looking for work. They live in nice neighbourhoods, in nice houses, with televisions, DVD players, stereo systems, and microwaves. They spend time hanging out with friends, seeing movies, going to bars, and playing football. If I stayed in this environment too long I would fail to realize that the differences are huge - the reason why Zambia was rated 164 out of 177 on the United Nations Human Development Index in 2004 while Canada was ranked 4th,

It was time for me to head to the rural areas and see for myself what life was like for a majority of Zambians.

I am now in the much smaller and quieter town of Mazabuka, an hour South of Lusaka. Though the distance is not great, I feel as though I am in an entirely different country. Mazabuka only has two major streets, each with a couple banks, shopping markets and restaurants. It is quite well off compared to many other Zambian towns because it is centered around a massive amount of sugar cane farms and the factory that produces most of Zambia's sugar.

During my two weeks in Mazabuka I have been in training with two International Development Enterprise (IDE) staff, Steve and Simon, who have been teaching me how to operate an IDE field office. I could not have been luckier to have my initial field training with two guys who are as sincere, genuine, and passionate about their work as they are.

We spent our days visiting farmers, sometimes traveling over 100km along narrow dirt paths, through lush bush and getting stuck in deep mud sinkholes. Zambia has a very low population density, leaving vast spaces between most farmers' plots. This presents its own problems - even if farmers are able to increase their crops beyond a subsistence level, it is difficult to transport their surplus food to a market to sell it. Finding ways for these rural farmers to sell their produce will be a challenge I will face in my work.

After an amazing experience here in Mazabuka, I depart tomorrow to continue my training in the beautiful tourist capital of Zambia, the city of Livingstone. I will spend two weeks there, after which I will head to Lusaka for a few days of reporting and then finally to Choma, my home for the remainder of my time here in Zambia.

Thank you all for reading.

Kabuca uleta tunji - Tongan proverb
"Each new morning brings many new things"