first day in zambia - hustle and bustle of lusaka

Road from Lusaka airport toward the city centre

When I landed and walked off the plane, it seemed too good to be true. I was finally in Africa after two long days of travel. Fellow EWB OVS, Mark Hemsworth, was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule meet me at the Lusaka airport and show me around Lusaka (capital city). It was very nice to see a familiar face in such an unknown environment. It was a very great first day to start off my year here in Zambia.

After getting some Kwacha’s (Zambian currency) and purchasing a cell phone, Mark took me to the hustle and bustle of the Lusaka markets. It was beaming with energy, filled with colour, and the roads were with Zambians negotiating deals, making purchases. Children were running around. Women were selling vegetables, dried fish, and beans. Men were selling used clothing, DVD’s, bags, baked goods, etc…. Within just 10 hours of me being in Lusaka, this market experience was quite intense, to say the least.

Busy street markets of Lusaka along Lumumba Rd.

To top off a fantastic day I was also fortunate enough to experience a home-cooked Zambian dinner with a Zambian family and my first foray into a local Zambia-bar. Mark then took me to meet his Zambian co-worker Rogers. All three of us walked within the compound where Rogers lives with his wife, Cleo and their adorable 3 year old son, Rogers Jr. We had a hearty meal of nshima with minced meat and veggies. It was absolutely delicious. I can confidently say that I look forward to a year filled with nshima!

Along with Rogers, Mark, and some of Rogers’ pals we went to a local bar. Mark and I being the only Westerners in the bar caused quite the positive stir and excitement. Zambia drinks that I learned to love within hours: Shake Shake, Lusaka Beer, Castle, Eagle, and Moti.

What a day!

farewell canada!

So it's 2:32 am on August 31st and I'm still up. My flight leaves today at 5:30 pm from Toronto Pearson and I am due to arrive in the capital city of Lusaka in the morning of Sepetember 2nd. Two full days of commuting, 14 hours in Frankfurt, and a whole lot of adventure.

Toronto --> Frankfurt, Germany --> Johannesberg, South Africa --> Lusaka, Zambia

I'm also still awake because I have a lot on my mind. It's filled with nervousness, excitement, and the unknown, all at once. Maybe I should try going to bed before it turns into mush tomorrow morning (or shall I say this morning).

Goodbye Toronto, I'll miss you. I'll be back!

So long my dear friends and family. Please continue to read my blog! I'll have more exciting stories and photos, this time FROM ZAMBIA, very soon!!

agricultural value chains sector

So you may have asked yourself, "What EXACTLY is Arthur doing in Zambia?" GREAT QUESTION. I will be joining the Agricultural Value Chains sector team in southern Africa.

Agricultural Value Chains takes a relatively new approach to international development. In traditional agric development projects, specific livelihood constraints are directly addressed (e.g. farmers dont have access to fertilizer, NGO helps them gain access to fertilizer). Agricultural Value Chains on the other hand, takes a more systemic view at development problems. The farmer's constraints are no longer isolated. The entire value chain is examined all the way from the producer to the consumer. The cause may be rooted in the complex web of, or lack thereof, relations between the small-scale farmers, the government, consumers, govenrment, rules and regulations, and social norms. Using a market facilitation approach, the value chains for high-value cash crops are mapped out and relationships are built with the intention of making small-scale farmers active, entrepreneurial market participants. The overall goal it provide the farmers the ability to leverage their small-scale agricultural operations as means of wealth creation.

What EWB's job is to assist local NGO's/partners, who are taking a Value Chains approach, to develop greater capacity in doing what they do. Currently the constraints that exist include:

• gaps in field staff capacity (i.e. ability to train farmers)


• monitoring and evaluation systems for implementation (i.e. ability to detect and evaluate market fluctuations)


• managerial and organizational capacity

As Overseas Volunteer Staff, our jobs are to work together with these various levels by helping to develop and implement tools to increase the partner organizations capacity to be market facilitators. I will be paired up with an organization called International Development Enterprises (IDE) (http://www.ideorg.org/) for the first 3 months in order to gain some field-level experience to truly get a better understanding of farmer livelihoods. IDE enforces and compliments the Value Chains approach by idenfitying high value crops and helping small-holder farmers become effective market participants in their respective value-chains. To compliment this approach, IDE also seeks to increase farmer labour productivity through providing responsible access to low-cost irrigation technologies (i.e. treadle pump).

I will (most likely) be working at the IDE field-office located in a small town called Pemba (just south of Lusaka and north of Livingstone).

I know that may have sounded a little buzz wordy. But that's what I'll be doing in a high level perspective. Once I arrive in Zambia.

thoughts on pre-dep

Pre-departure training concluded last night. With the leadership and guidance of Robin Farnworth, pre-depature training, for me, was extremely powerful, invigourating and empowering.

Some findings and thoughts:

• It has forced me to focus. Focus is a very powerful thing.
• I have made many new friends
• I made use of an analytical and creative thinking part of my brain that wasn't taken advantage of while working in the industry
• Facilitating workshops and discussions are key to building key relationships
• Change on all levels: individual - organizational - institutional, isn't easy, but challenging and very exciting.
• I need to think more in terms of field level realities.

I feel confident about what I know and what I can contribute. Still lots and lots to learn, live and experience.

pre-departure training - week 3

Sorry for the lack of updates. Pre-departure training has been quite intense and has kept me on my toes. We are entering our third week here at the EWB house in Toronto (near Dundas and Bathurst). Time really flies by. In less than two weeks, I will be off to Zambia for a year.

My wonderful pre-dep training friends/colleagues/fellow change-agents include:

• Robin Stratas (former UWindsor Chapter) who will be heading to Ghana with their Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA),


• Ashley Good (professional) who will also be heading to Ghana with MoFA,


• Troy Barrie (former UBC Chapter) who will also be heading to Ghana with MoFA,


• Charles Cauchon (former LavalU Chapter) who will be heading to Burkina Faso and working with CEF,


• Noémie Paradis (former LavalU Chapter) who will also be heading to Burkina Faso and working with CEF,


• and myself Arthur Kong (Toronto Pro-Chapter, former UWaterloo Chapter) will be heading to Zambia to work with IDE (International Development Enterprises) in the Agricultural Value Chains sector on agricultural irrigation product market facilitation.

Working, living, sleeping and learning with all these folks have definitely helped me focus. To no one's suprise, each and every single one of them are extremely intelligent, knowledgable, ambitious, and supportive. EWB definitely chooses the right people to go overseas. It's definitely not for the faint of heart.

The past three weeks have been filled with challenging assignments, case studies, projects, and personal learning. I compare the work that we've been doing to work done by management consultants in Toronto: we are given a big pile of ambiguous data or case studies, then we use the problem-solving frameworks, our creativity, and our analytical thinking to draft up an intervention/solution, and then present our ideas and thought processes to important stakeholders. However, with all the case studies being in the context of international development, it adds an extra dimension of complexity and challenge. Creating positive impact for those living in poverty in developing nations has been a challenge for even the most well-known and talented development workers and change agents. There is no simple equation, and nor is there a "right" answer. Livelihoods are complex and are dynamic in nature. Quoting Robert Chambers,

"Objectivity in the social sciences is regarded as a mirage. Post-positivism, constructivism, and post-modernism variously stress the limitations of the "scientific" method in the social sciences, holding that objectivity is not possible and that we have multiple realities, each of us constructing our own." - Robert Chambers (Whose Reality Counts? - Putting the First Last, 1997)

After working in the engineering-design industry for over 2 years, I noticed myself lacking in such deep analytical and creative thinking skills. After many years of applying equations and stadardized designs to the worlds technical engineering problems, this new intiative with Engineers Without Borders will definitely help push me out of my usual comfort zone.

I will write more about the details of my overseas placement in my next blog post. Stay tuned!

a mission ahead

My dear friends and family,

As many of you know, in August of 2009, I will heading to Africa for a year with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada as a long-term Overseas Volunteer Staff. More specifically I will be heading to the southern African country of Zambia to work in partnership with a local entity.

Together with the local entity, I will be working together with rural small-scale farmers within the sphere of agricultural business development. Using Agricultural Value Chains, EWB visions a prosperous rural livelihood sector where small-scale farmers are leveraging agriculture for sustainable wealth creation. The work of EWB overseas staff, like myself, will focus on improving field staff capacity, developing monitoring and evaluation systems for implementation, improving organizational/managerial capacity, enhancing communication of field level realties, and improving linkages between the smallholder farmers and the private sector.

I have personally been involved with Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB) for almost 7 years. Over the years I have developed a huge passion and devotion toward the complexities and intricacies of international development. However, I always felt there existed a gap between what I know about the fight against global poverty here in Canada and the realities out in the field. After working for few years out in the engineering industry, I took some time to think and finally decided to take the leap and bridge that gap by going overseas.

Over 800 million people go hungry everyday and over 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. I fundamentally believe that such grim realities do not have to be. I also believe that, as North Americans, we have a responsibility to be aware and educated about such realities going on half-way across the world. I have devoted so many years of my life to EWB because I believe that their approach to overseas development and in-Canada outreach is the best to help achieve such goals. Unlike a lot of other western-NGO’s where volunteers are sent overseas for 1 or 2 months to “build” something and leave, EWB’s approach aims to focus on long-term impact to help locals build capacity and empowerment in their technical sector by partnering long-term Overseas Staff with local entities.

As an Overseas Staff Member, I have a set a goal to raise $1500 for my placement. I hope I can count on your support to help me reach my goal. Engineers Without Borders is a registered Canadian charity and all donations over $20 are tax deductible.

Donations can be made online at http://volunteers.ewb.ca/arthurkong

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at ackong@gmail.com

I thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support.

Sincerely,
Arthur