Dear friends of Tikondane,
Three years of drought have come to an end at Tiko. In the last days of November a light rain started, none too early to put the seeds into the soil. This is a much-needed encouragement for the Tiko crew and the people in Katete. Still there are some difficult months ahead until next May´s harvest. The drought has already morphed into a famine. It will be a challenge to prevent starvation. Statistics say that Zambia lost half of its maize harvest this year. Prices are 40 per cent higher than in 2023. Accordingto FAO 5.6 million people in Zambia will experience a hunger crisis this winter, while a quarter of a million are even facing an emergency.
NEW SEEDS TRIED OUT AT TIKOThey
Agriculture must work differently in the changed conditions presented by the climate crisis. Tiko has teamed up with Synergy, a Lusaka-based seed company.
They started a demonstration plot with maize plants on Tiko grounds right at the road. Those maize plants are drought resistant. We want to try, if they grow with Tiko Organic Fertilizer (TOF). In case they do, there is an opportunity to market TOF in all of Zambia.
MUSTAPHER – AN OLD NEW VOLUNTEER
The Synergy cooperation was hashed out by a volunteer everybody at Tiko already knows. Mustapher Banda – nicknamed Mus – has been one of Elke´s oldest friends in Katete. They met 31 years ago, when Elke started her work at St. Francis hospital. He was a volunteer at Tiko from 2001 until 2011. After that he was a candidate for the Zambian parliament, but he lost the election.
Later he opened a used car dealership in Katete, importing secondhand cars from Japan. In 2019 the then President of Zambia appointed him as District Commissioner, a post he held until the change in government of 2021. Now Mustapher is returning to Tiko as Elke´s deputy. Elke increasingly relies on supervisors because she must stay out of the sun. She can no longer get around in the daylight to advise volunteers while they work, and of course, she is not getting any younger. And Mustapher – now 43 and married – is happy to get back to his roots. “I love to be part of Tiko community”, he says.
NEW DONOR SEE MANAGER
Christine, a German volunteer living in Spain, is the new manager of Donor See. This US charity has become Tiko´s most important funding source from across the pond. Originally it is a very individualized, video-driven funding mechanism for small scale projects, like financing a small home for somebody, Tiko has managed to introduce projects that benefit individual volunteers as well as the whole community. Christine is pre-retired after a career in the European Civil Service. One year into her retirement she wanted to do something meaningful and was looking into volunteering.
She discovered Tiko on the net, wrote to Elke, found her answer “really inspiring” and came to visit last summer. “I immediately fell in love with the place”, she said. Christine is married with no kids.
SOLAR POWER EVERYWHERE
The sun is not beneficial for Elke´s skin, but it is starting to lead Tiko out of the power outage conundrum that has been threatening the work since the drought began. Zambia´s electricity supply is almost entirely dependent on rivers. If they fall dry, the power stops. Quite often, there is only three hours of electricity per day. Solar power is an obvious solution here. But installation is costly. Peter Keeling from Guernsey has helped finance projects at St. Francis hospital, in the villages and at Tiko over many years. He retired a while ago but has now moved the government of Guernsey and his own group to help Tiko add solar power to all its buildings. That is wonderful because in combination with the solar powered STARLINK (see Newsletter 3/24) it will render Tiko energy self-sufficient. In addition, we´ll get a third borehole, complete with an electrical pump, inside the fenced area.
MUSLIM COMMUNITY DONATES BOREHOLES
Boreholes have also become a symbol of the great solidarity among inhabitants of the various religions present in Katete. For the first time in Elke´s memory the Muslim Association – consisting mainly of Indians from the state of Gujarat – is helping with constructing boreholes for non-muslim members of the community. Tiko has received the first borehole, which is a big bonus since it has a pump and works without electricity. Our two existing boreholes need electricity which meant that at times we did not have water. Tiko would like to get nine additional boreholes for each of the villages we have been serving for so long. We already managed to make the down payment for six boreholes – $ 240 per borehole -, which is incredibly cheap compared to the regular price of at least $ 2600, –. With about 350 inhabitants per village, people will be able to get a reliable water supply for less than $ 1 per person. We hope to raise the money for the remaining nine villages through Donor See.
RENOVATIONS LEAD TO SECOND MEETING PLACE
The Rondavel, our luxury accommodation at Tiko, had to be renovated, because after six years the traditional roof was leaking badly. We feared that this would be costly but managed to get the money. Then a miracle happened: The builder´s work was a lot cheaper than calculated, so we were able to tear down the neighboring building – Moni´s mud house – as well and erect a new one. We even could add a second verandah as the real meeting place, so that the original verandah can be the reception area, where guests do not disturb any conference.
TIKO SUPPORT ORGANIZATION IN FRANCE
Tikondane international volunteers have spread to a new country – France. Benjamin Phelip from Annecy founded AFRIK´ACTION after visiting Tiko with his wife and three kids in 2023. The group that will soon be tax-deductible in France, has successfully completed its first fundraiser.
The school “Les Tilleuls” chose Tiko to be the beneficiary of its annual cross country run. 300 kids between 5 and 10 years of age surrounded a football field and each round completed added to the donation earmarked for building wells around Katete. In the end the children reached an impressive sum. Merci beaucoup, les enfants!
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM ELKE
We wish you the best possible Christmas from a place of peace — despite its troubles. With so much help from friends all over the world, it can truly be seen as a paradise. That’s how I feel right now, as the founder and director of Tiko for 25 years, looking forward to many more years to come with our new members leading the way.
On behalf of the Tiko family, I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU for all the incredible support we’ve received over these 25 years. I hope you feel some satisfaction in knowing that your help has made a difference and is deeply appreciated. Many prayers go out from here to you and to all the places facing challenges—whether from climate change, such as floods in Europe, fires in the United States, or damage to the reefs in Australia, or from the countless conflicts and injustices in the world, including the increasing mistreatment of women in far too many places. Come visit us and attend a service with a choir that will remind you there is still so much good in life.
You might even feel moved to join in the dance yourself! Wishing you a joyful and happy Christmas.
Yours always,
Elke and the Crew
Tiko online!
Just in case you haven’t seen them, here are the links to our Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and even Linkedin.
And all information about visiting, volunteering and rooms on our website: Tikondane.org
– For donation information please have a look on ‘Support Tiko‘, Global Giving, our fundraising page at DonorSee or Tribuntu –
