Top Up

Mobile technology hian khawvel hi a fan chhuak mek niin a lang. Chikankata thingtlang hmunah pawh hian hmunphiattu leh loneitu atanga professional leh executive thlengin an hmang tangkai em em a. Hmun tin deuhthawah hian mobile phone counter a awm deuh vek avangin, an ‘talk time’ a zawh pawhin an Top Up zung zung tawh mai thin a ni. Keini chhungkua pawhin India rama kan chhungte leh ram danga kan thiante biak kan duh chang hi chuan kan talk time balance neih sa hi kan han sit deuh thin avangin, kan han Top Up leh zauh bawk thin a.

Chuvangin he Saptawng thu pahnih “Top Up” tih hi helai hmuna kan thu lam rik zin ber a ni hial ang. Mobile phone nena inkaihhnawih thilah chauh ni lo, thil dang tam tak sawi nan Top Up hi local slang angin kan hmang bawk. Chung te chu:

CHAZ Top Up: CHAZ chu Churches Health Association of Zambia tihna a ni a. Zambia rama hriselna lam hnathawk NGO zinga lian ber a ni. Chikankata Hospital pawh hi CHAZ member kan ni ve a. Kum khat kalta atang khan CHAZ hian Chikankata Hospital & Health Services hnuaia hna thawktute zawng zawng hi sum faiin a rawn tanpui a, hei hi ‘CHAZ Top Up’ kan tih chu a ni. Hna thawktute tan a hlu em em a, a dawng tlem ber hmunphiattute pawhin thlatin hian Indian Rupees 1,500/- hu ang vel an dawng a, hei hian sorkar/Salvation Army atanga an hlawh chanve a hen daih a. An hlawh pangngai nena belh khawm phei chuan tam tham ve tak a ni. CHAZ Top Up sem ni hi chuan hnathawktute hi an hlim haw thei hle thin.

Teaching Incentive or Top Up: Chikankata Secondary (High) School zirtirtute hian sorkar/Salvation Army atanga an hlawh bakah thlatin sum an dawng ve bawk a. Hei hi an Top Up ve, teaching incentive an tih chu a ni. An chhut dan chu: zirtirtuin period khat zel a zirtirah Top Up Rs. 15/- hu ang vel a dawng a. Entir nan - Ka nupui hian nitin period 5 lo zirtir ta se, kar khatah period 25 a zirtir ang a, thla khatah chuan period 100, hei hi Rs. 15/-in puntir ta ila, thlatin Rs. 1,500/- Top Up a rawn hawn dawn tihna a ni a, a lawm ve thei viau tur a nia! He Top Up hi Parents-Teacher Association (PTA) thawhkhawm atanga lo kal a ni.

Mbasela Top Up: Zambian ho hi inlawm thiam leh ngaipawimawh ber hnam an nih rualin inthlah lama pachhe ber an ni hial thung ang. Khawlai lennaa in-greet te, biak ina hotu leh mi thar han lawm te hi an la urhsun thei em em a. An hnam dan dik taka in-greet phei hi chuan minute 5 tehmeuh a awh thin, chhungkhat laina zawng zawng an patea te chanchin thlenga an inzawh tel thin avangin. Keini ang mi hmanhmawh reng thin tan phei chuan hun a uihawm duh khawp mai. Mipui punkhawm nikhua hian inlawmna hun siam a ni ziah thin a, he hun kaihruaitu bik hi ruat an ni thin. Kaihruaituin kut ben zat tur nen lam a bituk vek a, a bituk sa zat kut ben zawh a nih hnuah khan vawi thum ben nawn tur te a han ti leh a. He a nawnna hi Mbasela emaw, Top Up an ti bawk thin a ni. Hetianga a Top Up-na kut benna huna an mi lawm nih chu nuam duh ve tak a ni.

ARVs: AIDS enkawlna damdawi Antiretrovirals (ARVs) hi Top Up tiin thiam takin a hming an phuah zaih bawk a. Top Up zawng zawng zingah kan hmang tangkaiin kan ngeihpui ber awm e. AIDS avanga damlo, an CD4 count 1-a tlahniam tawhte pawh hi (the normal CD4 count is somewhere between 500 and 1500 cells per cubic millimetre), he Top Up hian han enkawl ila, an CD4 count chu 500 chunglamah te a sang chho leh thin a, HIV hrik pai tih pawh hriat har khawpin an hrisel chho leh thin a ni.

Heng Top Up chi hrang hrangte hian mite inkarah inpawhna leh inkungkaihna tha a siam a, khawsak a tiawlsam a, mite rilruah hlimna leh lawmna a thlen a, rilru leh taksaah damna a thlen bawk a ni. Heng Top Up kan sawi tlemte bak hi Top Up dang nitina semchhuah tur kan nei ngei ang. Mite an hnathawh thata fak te, an lungngaih nia hnem leh hmangaihna lantir te, leh thilpek te tham ber inpekte pawh hian mite nun hlimna nasa takin a thlen thei ngei ang.

Happy New Year! (with Holiday Photos)

New Year Greetings from Chikankata, rural Zambia! Our long awaited family holiday has just happened after our third year of stay in Zambia. And it was fantastic!! Here are few photos of the happenings during our holiday.

Father and children playing with sun, sea, and sand in the early hours of the morning

Sun set at Sandy Beach Lodge, Siavonga where my family and Lt.Col. Davidson Varghese's family spend most of our time

Out in the dark at night, the candle does not stop burning to light our path

Holiday run! near Chikankata Dam

The foot of Mabetubwe Hills near Chikankata, we park our vehicle and get ready for a climb

Melissa and Marcus are tougher than a father's assumption of them. They are all set to GO!

Rocks everywhere! Chikankata and its surrounding area from Mabetubwe Hills

The summit! Adrenalin flows high after such an achievement

Halfway the summit. A little moment of rest is well deserved. Jennifer, a medical student from UK is one of the team members during the climb!

Relax! This is Sandy Beach, Siavonga, Zambia. The Sandy Beach Lodge is on the banks of one of the largest man-made lake in the world called Lake Kariba, made by diverting waters of the Zambezi River. It's a wonder that while Zambia is a landlocked country they manage to have nice beaches purely out of sheer determination and hard work. The electricity generated by the Dam is even exported to its neighbouring countries. We make our holiday here

I swim again since I last did wayback in 1993 while in Blue Mount School, Behliangchhip, Jampui Hills. And I am glad I still know the basics!

Building sand castles

Row, Row, Row your boat!

Merily, Merily on the sand!

Playing shuttle

Mapuii & Lt. Col. Mariama Varghese. You can see they don't starve and Zambia does them no 'harm'!

Beach run!

Melissa and Marcus proudly display their catch of small fish

Mother and children explore the shoreline

A son has many questions which a mother has to explain

It's my turn to take them around

Eagerly waiting for a boat cruise

And finally it happens! Scary but safe in his father's arms

Lt. Col. Davidson Varghese and his daughter Edna playing a game of Chess. Such a wonderful moment!

Cricket on a beach! Very odd. No spinner (including Muralitharan) will ever succeed in bowling a single spin

Skinning a goat! It's no less challenging than my daily work in the operating room

Stage-setting for an evening Braai! The Colonel and his son Edward seem to subscribe to my suggestions

The Braai actually happens on the shore while the cool breeze blows gently

The"King Crocodile", Marcus names it, as it is the biggest among the crocs we find in the farm. They are in great demand not for their meat but for their skin

The nursery group

Crocodiles everywhere!

No lesser brave than the late Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter!

Good Morning Hippos! One of the early mornings these two hippos came very close to the shore near our cabin. A very good morning for us indeed! We felt lucky

The beds where we rest for the nights after our activity-filled days

Let's get ready for a safari next time!

Duhsakna Kan Dawn, A Man Chhiar Sen Rual Loh

Thilpek dawn hi a nuam, a lawmawmin a hlu. Thilpek min petute chu min hmangaihtu leh min duhsaktute an ni thin a, min duhsakna leh hmangaihna te chu thilpek leh thildang hmangin an lantir thin. Zambia rama kan awm chhung hian a ram mite duhsakna thilpek kan dawng zing ta malh malh khawp mai. A tam ber chu kan damlo enkawlte hnen atangin a ni.

Pa kum 75 mi, an khua thingtlang hmun hla tak atanga thlatin thirsakawr hmanga kan hospital rawn beltu hian tum khat chu Mai pum lian tak mai hi a rawn phur thleng zak a, duhsak takin min pe. Nula pakhat ramhuai zawl at, a serhah arte thisawng thun a, a chawna perek an phum sak, taksa leh thlarau damna chang ta pawh hian vawi khat chu Alu bag khat (kg 10) ama thar ngei hi an khua atangin min rawn ken sak ve ngat a, a hlut dan a dang khawp mai. Ani hian an kohhran chanchinbu chhiar tur min pe bawk.

Kan nupain sa tui kan tih berte zing ami Zoar sa (‘village chicken’ an ti) chu Zambia ramah pawh mite duhsakna zarah kan ei thei ve leh zel a. Kan seilenna Mizo thingtlang khuaa kan tih thin ang thoin anni pawh hian an Zoar hi min rawn pe ve fo ta mai. Kan lawm thin, mahni khua ang mai a ni!

Nau ka chhar sak leh zaichhuah sak nu leh pa thenkhat chuan an lawmzia entir nan an fa hming min sak tir bawk. Mizo hming tha 'Malsawma', 'Rinawma', 'Vohbika' tih hming te hi tun atanga kum 20 hnuah Zambian footballer lar te 'jersy'-ah a chuang a nih pawhin thil awm lo a ni bik lo ang. (Thil theih loh hi a awm si lo a!). Nu leh pa thenkhat ten kan chunga an lawmzia an lantir dan dang leh chu an fa thar piang kha kan hming ang an put tir ve mai thin. Kei pawhin ka hming ang pu mi pahnih chu ka nei ve ta!

Heng an hmangaihna leh duhsakna, an lawmna te an lantir dan mawl te te hian nun a tinuam a, kan khawvel a cheimawi a, thil tha ti turin min nawr kal thin bawk a ni.