2011– Getting the New Year Rolling
on Mark Stephens (Zambia), 06/Jan/2011 10:49, 34 days ago
Welcome to a new year! Is it“twenty-eleven”, “two thousand eleven”, or some other terminology?  It’s also the outset of a new decade. In any case, life continues to roll along in Petauke, and this week marks three months in Zambia – the halfway point of my placement!The local governing body here is the Petauke District Council, which includes elected“councilors” from 22 sub-districts called wards, three members of the National Assembly (Parliament) elected from geographic areas in the district called “constituencies”, and two chiefs’ representatives, for a total of 27. Regular meetings are generally held quarterly, and the District Council has several committees through which most matters are channeled.   Petauke District Council meetingThe full District Council held their initial regular meeting of 2011 on Monday, January 3, the first working day of the new year. Because councillors come from far flung reaches of the district, and a good deal of caucusing goes on prior to the meeting, predicting the actual start is something of an art form. The meetings are also somewhat more formal than I had anticipated. The national anthem is sung (it’s quite melodic) and a prayer is delivered at the outset and close of the sessions. The councillors wear robes, and if one enters or leaves the room during the proceedings, they make a respectful bow toward the dais. On January 5, 2011, I experienced my first meeting of the Petauke District Development Coordinating Committee. That group is chaired by the District Commissioner, the national government’s lead representative in the district, and the membership is composed of a variety of stakeholders. The District Commissioner’s office coordinates the central government’s activities in the district, and provides a liaison with local government. This was a good opportunity to meet more peopleinvolved in development and service delivery locally.Petauke District Development Coordinating CommitteeMeanwhile, the countryside continues to turn greener, the maize and other crops grow taller, and the thunderstorms seem to increase in intensity.