WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? Meet Lynne Mandelsohn, Livingstone's passionate defender of dogs

IN its quest to minimise the risk of rabies, the Livingstone City Council (LCC) from time to time, while working with the officers from the Zambia Police, raids the townships to rid them of stray, unconfined and unregistered dogs.

They do this by gunning them down, a phenomenon that does not sit well with Lynne Mandelsohn.

Who is she? Ms Mandelsohn is a youthful looking 53-year-old Scotland born dog lover who came to Livingstone from the United Kingdom in 2008.

Ideally, such a person that dedicates much of their time protecting animals would be expected to have some kind of training in animals or anything related to livestock. But no, that is not Ms Mandelsohn’s story.

In fact, she is a trained lawyer and political analyst. “I was lucky enough to go to a great high school in England where I also studied politics at Newcastle University,” she says.

After traveling, mostly around Asia and working for three years in the United Kingdom, Ms Mandelsohn decided to go back to school and studied law at the College of Law in England.

“I worked as a lawyer from 1993 until December 2006. I worked at a law firm called Masons [now Pinsent Masons], then Freshfields [now called Freshfields Brukhaus Deringer] which is one of the top law firms in the world,” she says.

After practicing law in England, Ms Mandelsohn then decided to go back to her native country, Scotland to take care of her elderly parents.

“While there, I joined a law firm called Shepherd & Wedderburn,” she says. “I was a partner at the law firm in Scotland and it specialised in contracts and disputes for big infrastructure projects (building roads, power stations, hospitals).”

In 2007, Ms Mandelsohn took a career break and travelled in Southern Africa - with Zambia being the first country she visited.

“I fell in love with the beauty of the people and the country so much that when I went back to work as a lawyer in 2008, my heart remained here and forced me to move back here permanently in October 2008.”

When she came to Zambia, she took over Zigzag Lodge, which she has been running since then, giving employment to 13 people.

Ms Mandelsohn who was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1967 also has a community based project called Mazuba Mabotu where she sponsors 120 children with education in Livingstone’s Ngwenya township.

“I like working in the community and helping people in many ways, especially in areas of education,” she says.

Other than that, through her love for animals, Ms Mandelsohn founded the Zambezi Animal Welfare Services (ZAWS) in 2014 and has to this date rescued over 260 dogs and 175 cats.

“Growing up, there were always animals at home. We had rats, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, name it. It was always normal to have animals around and I used to enjoy it,” she says. “The only animal I am scared of is cattle.”

Simply put, her love for animals, well except for maybe cattle, can be traced from childhood. “I don’t disagree with the council's way of handling the rabies situation for the sake of it. In fact, I agree with about 97 percent of the things and only disagree with the part where they inhumanly kill the stray dogs,” she says.

“Alternatively, as opposed to killing the dogs, I would rather the council which has a fast track court take these irresponsible dog owners to court and prosecute them for failing to take care of the dogs other than letting the dogs pay for the mistakes of their irresponsible masters.”

Sitting in a chair at her lodge, and stroking a cat that is sitting on her lap, Ms Mandelsohn says she cannot stand people who keep pets that they fail to take care of.

“The first dog I rescued was found somewhere near New Fairmount Hotel. Unfortunately, it died,” she recalls.

“Normally, because people know the kind of work I do, I get reports of dogs wandering. That is when I move in with my guys and get the dogs, give them shelter and try to get them as fit and healthy enough before people come and adopt them."

Among the people that help her with her work is Foster Sibbuyu, 25, and Semi Mvula, 26. They love helping her tending to the rescued dogs.

Ms Mandelsohn also recalls how she once rescued a dog that was strangled by the neck, left for dead, supposedly by its owner.

“The branch where the dog had been hanged broke and its neck was broken. That was my worst experience. How can someone be that cruel? It is very challenging emotionally when you see such cruelty. That day, I nearly cried,” she says.

She says people need a mindset change towards keeping pets. “It’s important to sensitise people and especially children on how to live with dogs and other animals generally,” she says. “When I see such cruelty on animals, it gives me an insight into how much more we have to do as a people.”

At some point, she had over 20 dogs and cats in her custody that hadn’t been adopted yet. “Having that large number means you have to spend a lot of money on feeding and vaccinating them. It’s not always a cheap endeavour, but luckily we get help and donations from well wishers,” she says.

Ms Mandelsohn intends to have a bigger place where people, especially children can interact freely with the animals.

Once the dogs are rescued, before they are adopted, they are sterilised for population control purposes and to reduce the number of stray dogs.

“Much as I disagree with the council shooting the dogs, I also don’t agree that people should irresponsibly keep their dogs. Let us all ensure that we follow the public health guidelines and confine these dogs within our yards,” says Ms Mandelsohn who still maintains her youthful look despite her age.

According to the LCC, the tourist capital has over three thousand dogs but only a paltry 182 are registered and vaccinated, as of May 18.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS AGAINST COVID-19: IHS Zambia donates towards the cause

THERE is no doubt that the novel coronavirus pandemic is one of the most urgent health, economic, and social crises the world has faced in decades. To date, over four million cases and more than 280,000 deaths have been reported worldwide.

Back home, Zambia has so far recorded over 260 confirmed cases with seven deaths resulting from the virus that is believed to have started from China.

As regional governments move to stem the tide of this pandemic and counter its short- and long-term impact across critical sectors, a multi-sectoral response is needed to meet immediate health emergency care and response needs, while ensuring that a social safety net is created to support people whose income may drastically reduce during this crisis, and to protect the rights of the most vulnerable citizens.

This multifaceted approach which seeks to mitigate shocks and support recovery efforts from a crisis that may exacerbate existing inequalities and result in losing past years’ gains towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has seen the private sector moving in to supplement Government's efforts.

Here, one such player is mobile telecommunications company IHS Zambia which recently joined the fight against the coronavirus with a donation of assorted items worth over K250, 000 to the Kazungula district preparedness committee.

IHS Zambia is one of the largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure providers in Africa, Europe and the Middle East by tower count and the third largest independent multinational tower company globally.

Among the items the company which has been in the country for six years donated are 50 mattresses, one hundred blankets, fifty hand wash buckets, two hundred bottles of hand wash soap another 200 bottles of soap refills, five hundred bottles of hand sanitizer, three digital thermometers and one thousand face masks.

“One of the most pressing needs in Zambia right now is materials that will help the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. When we received the request for assistance from the district commissioner for Kazungula [Pascalina Musokotwane], we did not hesitate to respond positively,” said IHS Zambia commercial director Augustin Phiri.

Mr Phiri said IHS Zambia was pleased to respond to the needs of the people because it attaches high value to people and communities it operates in.

“As the largest provider of telecommunication tower infrastructure in Zambia, we have a physical presence in all the regions in Zambia. For us, this means that we have a vested interest in giving back to the communities in which we are present through various sustainability initiatives such as the one we are here for,” he said.

In the six years that IHS Zambia has been in the country, they have executed a number of corporate social responsibility activities that go beyond the ICT sector to touch a wide variety of humanitarian causes particularly those that have a direct, positive impact on the Zambian people.

Some of these activities include the building and commissioning of a 40 foot containerised library at Kamanga Community School in Lusaka, the rehabilitation of classrooms and learning infrastructure at Mphango Primary School, Chainda Primary School and Kapete Primary School to name but a few.

Furthermore, in an effort to promote positive environmental practices, IHS Zambia has converted a good number of their sites to solar power with a robust generator recycling programme that has to date seen then donate over 50 refurbished generators to schools, hospitals and orphanages for enhanced and uninterrupted operations.

Speaking when he received the donation on behalf of the Kazungula district preparedness committee, Southern province permanent secretary Mwangala Liomba called for more private sector involvement in the fight against the coronavirus.

“It is encouraging to see such positive support from the private sector especially during such challenging times as these. We as Government are constantly reminding the private sector that they are duty bound to the communities in which they operate and I am looking forward to a day when all players in the private sector put in as much into the community as IHS Zambia continue to do.

“I have been further assured that these projects will continue to be a consistent part of IHS Zambia’s operations. ...we all know what is happening in Nakonde, and this town being a border town, such gestures are welcome,” he said.

Mr Liomba also reminded the district to ensure that the donated items are not misappropriated.

“Make sure that you account for these items so that when the auditors come, you are not found on the other side of the law,” he said.

And Southern province director of health Naman Monze said his office will ensure that the items are used for their intended purposes.

“I am imploring the district preparedness committee to embrace these gifts which are as good as ammunition for use in the fight against the coronavirus,” he said.

Ms Musokotwane also took the opportunity to challenge the business community to come on board and supplement Government’s efforts in fighting the pandemic.

She said the district is lucky not to have recorded any positive case of the coronavirus yet.

“We shall continue to lobby for assistance from the business community. We want as many people to join this fight. Government alone cannot fight the pandemic, it requires everyone’s support,” she said.

KEEPING UP WITH THE SAKALAS: the couple plays different roles on Zambia's popular television drama Mpali

THE Zambian film industry is today, nowhere near where it was ten or more years ago. Back then, it wasn’t common to see someone lead a successful life, living off film alone. But now, the scenario has changed.

At least so says the celebrity couple of Joe Sakala and Lissy Yambayamba-Sakala.

For those who may not know the couple, Joe and Lissy play Jairos and Ntombi respectively in popular telenovela Mpali that airs on Zambezi Magic every Monday to Thursday at 20:30 hours.

And they have quite a story too. We caught up with them to get to know more about the rising power couple, discuss the ins and outs of the entertainment industry and what the future holds for them.

Joe plays a character named Jairos, he is outspoken and a casanova of note. “This is in contrast to who I am in real life. In fact, people are normally shocked by my polarized personalities because I am actually reserved in real life,” he says.

We delved deeper into the life of the much loved “Farm Manager” from Mpali and discovered that he is also a qualified IT Specialist, and has a hidden talent - rapping. His wife Lissy is also no stranger to the small screens of Zambia. She plays Ntombi, Mr Nguzu’s fourth wife on Mpali.

Despite living a private life, the beauty took no time in taking us through the journey of how she met Joe, their marriage and the experience behind having her best friend working in the same industry and show as well as some of her hidden talents.

“We met on the set of Lusaka Heroes in 2012. In hindsight, we never thought that we would ever date or even get married…we didn’t even speak to each other,” she mentions as she giggles.

Well, in a clear, ‘no one can ever clearly predict what the future holds’ style, Joe and Lissy wedded last year on December 9 in Lusaka.

“I decided, maybe I should give him a chance in 2017 when we were working on another production called Zed Man,” says Lissy. “We actually found out that we have a lot in common and this has created a strong bond between us as we are at the advantage of doing more things with each other,” adds Joe.

As they say couples that work together, stay together, being in the same production comes as a bonus to the couple as it rehearses the script together.

They take their trade seriously and acknowledge that there is no room for jealousy when they have to play partners to other people on set. “It is only acting - a job and there are no feelings involved. We need to make our roles believable like any other trade,” says Lissy. Joe laughs before saying: “Not at all.”

They say they understand each other and don’t blur the lines between work and personal life. “You need to understand your partner and that is how it has to be in this industry. People have this perception that actors and actresses are randy, it is not always like that. You need to just understand that we do that to act,” says Lissy.

“We are like other couples, we fight, we laugh, we cry but our personal recipe that we have perfected throughout the years is to ensure that neither of us go to bed without hashing out our dislikes and what either of us might have done to tick the other off.”

Coming to how the movie industry has transformed, Joe and Lissy seem to owe it all to platforms such as Zambezi Magic for raising the bar higher than it ever was.

“Acting, back in the days was a side hustle for most,” says Lissy.

“The pendulum has since shifted, and we are sincerely grateful for the powers that have made this possible. Zambezi Magic has really come to the party with producing quality productions and assisting us to perfect our skills and make acting a reality and a respectable trade.”

Today, because of their starring roles in the drama series, the two are mostly known by their character names of Jairos and Ntombi.

“Before my father started watching Mpali, he was shocked to hear people calling me Jairos and not Joe. That is when I knew that I was executing to the best of my ability,” he says.

Lissy adds: “People must know that those are just characters. Ntombi is totally different from Lissy,” says Lissy who warns her husband against taking in another wife.

With cards held close to their chests, Joe and Lissy say fans should expect more drama, and suspense in season three of the drama series.