The Christians Aware visit to Zambia took place in August 2001.  Eighteen people went as guests of the Anglican Church in Eastern Zambia.

Back home in affluent Cobham after a fortnight in Zambia, I am more aware than usual just how stressed everyone looks. I recall the aphorism I heard “The English have the watches: the Zambians have the time” and I remember how at times I chafed at the delays while we hang around. Patience was never one of my (very few) virtues.

I also recall how cheerful the Zambians seemed compared with the English. Our conversations were full of laughter even when we were discussing the most serious matters such as HJV/A1DS. Or most of them were — perhaps not those with the widows and orphans at Chirundu.

Many of the widows were looking after not only their own children but also other children of their extended family both of whose parents had died. Their concerns were how they could earn enough to give the children even one meal a day of nshima (a maize pudding usually served with a relish to give it a bit of flavour). They could not pay the school fees or buy the threadbare shoes and uniforms required, so that many children never go to school or have to drop out after only a few years.

The Government has run out of money. Zambia has in any event been a poor country since the price of copper, its only significant resource, fell sharply some 20 years ago. But the payment to northern governments and institutions of the interest on its debts far outweighs the aid it receives. And the rest of the money, in so far as it does not mysteriously disappear, goes on items such as replacing the President’s private aeroplane.

So even the main roads have stretches with a lot of potholes. Not that — in sharp contrast with countries such as India - there is much traffic outside the towns. So people have to live off the food which is grown in their own area. This year the rain in the wet season was far too heavy: many of the crops were damaged and hunger is even more likely than usual until next year.

Those children who can get to school for part of the day (there are two or even three sessions each day in the schools that I saw) will find little in them except the commitment of the teachers. Books are few and have to be shared between several children. Equipment is minimal and there is nothing on the walls.

Worse still was the hospital which I saw with its broken windows. There was one doctor for 146 beds. Although as it was outside the malaria season many of them were empty. She could hardly cope as it was. She had almost no drugs, even painkillers. The only purpose of putting the baby I saw in an incubator was to try to keep it warm: no other treatment could be provided.

Some days later, and several hundred miles away, the minister of the United Church of Zambia we had met had to leave us to take the funeral of a seven month old baby. He had had breathing difficulties but his life would have been saved had oxygen been available.But  there are some signs of hope.

The churches are very active. There is an inverse relationship between the materialism of the west and the shallowness of our faith compared with what I saw in Zambia. Churches abound, many belonging to denominations of which I had never heard. A very high proportion of the population is Christian, there are fewer Muslims than in the countries to the east and the north, and they do go to church.

The services I attended were full, or more so. There was a fervour in the worship, singing and dancing which our more charismatic friends would find impressive. Zambians need neither musical instruments nor hymn books to enable them to participate with life and verve. And what is preached is the word of God.

The Anglican church is comparatively small, but growing. We were the guests of Bishop John Osmers, a New Zealander who had previously been chaplain to the African National Congress (and had had his hand blown off by a letter bomb). His diocese of Eastern Zambia had been set up as a separate diocese only five years ago. There are now 13 priests where there had been only three, and houses are being built for the newcomers. These 13 priests are responsible for 20 parishes, each parish including many village churches. So, as they visit each congregation, the priests are away from home for much of the time.

We visited a Christian teacher training college. To help the shortage of funds each student has to help grow vegetables or look after the animals. But there is a real keenness to learn not only to teach children but to share with them a knowledge of the love of God.

But it is not only the Zambian churches which are influential. Western churches are also playing a major part. Just as Guildford is linked with Nigeria, so the diocese of Bath and Wells is linked with Zambia, a very real link which is readily acknowledged and for which there is plenty of evidence in the community.

I was particularly impressed with the hospital of St Francis in Katete, a small town in the east. By contrast with the state hospitals I described last month, this hospital is well stocked and equipped. It is funded almost wholly by churches and from overseas, and over 50 years it has become one of the largest hospitals in the country.

One of the major issues is to encourage villagers to come in early and not to try the traditional medicine of the village doctor first. I was surprised to learn that malaria remains the biggest killer, especially of children under six. 8% of children admitted with malaria die. After that they build up an immunity unless they move to another part of the country where the disease may take different forms.

Except where DDT, with its significant environmental side effects, is used, clearance of sites is a slow, if almost impossible, process: mosquitoes can breed even in a half full can of coke. Supplying and encouraging the greater use of impregnated nets seems the most promising method of control.