Community development

Tikondane means "Let's love one another." It is also the name of a community center located in the small town of Katete in the east of Zambia, some 500 kilometers from the capital Lusaka.

Tikondane runs a school and an adult education program. It encourages people to learn to read and write, eat a balanced diet and improve their knowledge of agriculture (three quarters of the population are subsistence farmers). It also helps them cope with HIV/AIDS.

Tikondane was started 19 years ago by Elke Kroeger-Radcliffe. A German national who has studied cross-cultural psychology, she lived in London and Sydney before settling in Katete. She told DW she remembers writing a manuscript about what needed to be taught in the villages. Some other people came round and "it all fell into place."

The center does generate some income itself but is partly dependent on overseas donors like Rosemary Greene from Australia. "Every time I come here," she says enthusiastically, "there is something new. New buildings, new ideas of permaculture, this time we have bought a donkey and a male goat."

Permacaulture is the development of sustainable human settlements and agriculture, while taking cues from nature.

"A better person"

Doris Banda, a local coordinator for Tikondane, has been with the project from almost the very beginning. She says it has helped her to educate her children. Successfully it would seem, because her eldest son has since found employment in the capital Lusaka. And Doris herself has learnt to read and write.

"I am a better person now because of Tikondane," she told DW.

Tikondane's HIV/AIDS awareness program includes workshops to help young people better understand the deadly disease. Caregivers, who help HIV/AIDS sufferers at home, learn about the importance of good hygiene and sanitation and how to start a garden that can supply sufferers with extra food.

Income from culture tourism

Local teacher Charles Mwamba is pleased that Tikondane is spreading hope in the community. "Looking at the infrastructure and the response, I can see that Tikondane is moving forward, it is doing very well," he said.

Tikodane promotes cultural tourism and the income generated is fed back into the community center. The "culture tourists" are treated to a meal with a local family and experience local customs, such as traditional dancing. Uwe, a tourist from the German city of Weimar,was impressed. "Sometimes these cultural things turn out to be tourist attractions, but this time I think it was the real thing," he said.

The Tikondane community website suggests that all concerned should tread with care. "When considering village outreach, it is important to remember the inherently reciprocal relationship of all involved. We learn and benefit equally from each other's culture and conversation."

Author: Kathy Sikombe, Tikondane / mc
Editor: Susan Houlton