I realize that I havent been the most prolific blogger since being in Zambia, nor have I updated with astounding frequency and thats mainly because, well I live in rural Zambia and my internet – where I can actually use a keyboard- is infrequent at best (ok sometimes it borders on weekly frequency but those weeks are becoming few and far between). I started this blog a year ago with high hopes of it being an effective communication tool between myself and people back home in order to try and convey my experiences in Zambia. Although I don't think I've done a good job of that hopefully I've provided a bit of insight into what my life has been over the past year.
I am definitely infinitely more comfortable in Zambia, in my village, and in my role as a volunteer. I am currently working on organizing Camp GLOW, (Girls Leading Our World) a camp for village girls in grades 7 and 8 for all of Eastern Province in August (much more on that at a later date), with some other volunteers in my province. I am also in the middle of applying for a grant from Peace Corps. for a 6 month series of farming trainings with a farming association located in my catchment area. This is somewhat amusing to me because when I first got to my site I didn't think that there was anyway that I was going to do a grant funded project, I absolutely wanted everything I did to be knowledge transfer and to come from the community itself. However, this project was presented to me by the farming association and together we have worked really hard to come up with a training schedule. The community also has to contribute 25% of the total project cost so its not a complete gift and they are right with me as I am writing the grant proposal and that's always a good exercise to do with people in rural areas and something they very much request. So those are the two big work things that are keeping me pretty busy these days.
My village had a scare for the past 2.5 weeks- the rain went away. A break for a few days during rainy season is a really nice change of pace. A break for a week or more and people really start to worry about their crop yields. My Community Development Officer told me that for every week in rainy season that there is no yield each farmer loses 5% of their total maize yield. So by those standards the farmers in my village would have lost 15% of their maize. I don't know if the damage is that catastrophic but I do know that some of the maize did turn brown and that a proportion was lost. As farming is the main livelihood activity out here even the smallest percentage lost can make a big difference in terms of household food security. Today however, the rain came back! Its been raining for about an hour and its feels so nice. Everything has cooled off and I feel like there's a collective sigh of relief being echoed throughout the village. Probably, throughout the whole of Eastern Province.
The newest intake of L.I.F.E volunteers flew into Zambia today (or yesterday, or maybe 2 days ago...time isn't really my thing anymore- as Salman Rushdie states “any culture that uses the same word for yesterday and today doesn't have a firm grasp on time”). Its almost hard to remember what that was like seeing as how I feel so comfortable now. I will get to meet some of the new intake when I go to my neighbor's site (70k away- we're neighbors in the fact that we both live in the same district) for “First Site Visit” she's hosting and I'm going to help and answer about a million questions. First site visit gives people a chance to see what living in the village is actually like to make sure that they want to go through with the whole training thing. Generally at least one person leaves during first site visit or shortly there after but for most its a great experience to see how your life could look for the next two years. I'm excited to be on the other end of site visit this year with some much more confidence on the way things work- what a difference a year makes.
Of course now that the rain has come back its probably going to rain for the whole 3 days that they are here but I guess that's just part of the experience. And at least it wont be so hot anymore. It was getting pretty steamy with the rain gone. I know I shouldn't be complaining considering the winter that New England has had (no, I don't think my body will ever readjust to sub-zero temperatures). But I am, living in a temperate climate (minus October and November) is pretty great I have to say. Plus rainy season has brought rainbows to my almost daily life. I literally see rainbows ALL the time (ok not so much during the drought but besides that). Laying asides whatever political context they may or may not have rainbows are pretty wonderful to see. You can't really be angry or upset when you are biking home from a meeting (even if that meeting has been unexpectedly canceled). I feel like I didn't see them all that often in Americaland but here I appreciate them all the time. My kids, my iwe (ee-way), aren't too impressed with them though. Like, the other day there was a double rainbow spanning the circumference of my village-it was kind of incredible- (sidenote I went to take a picture of it and thats obviously when I realized my camera was broken...good thing I'm meeting my Dad in April) but the kids were so unimpressed, they barely glanced up and then immediately wanted to resume playing Ring Around the Rosie and alternating giving me high-fives at increasing heights. Oh well...until next time
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
It (was) the most wonderful time of the year
Being in the village one gets to know themselves pretty well. Let's face it, you have a lot of alone time to really figure out how you are going to react to certain things. Now I'm not saying that village life makes everything seem slightly more dramatic that it really is, but after about 10 months of self discovery I have figured out that I tend to react to things slightly more emotionally in the village setting than I may, say, in Americaland (my mother is probably the best testament to that last statement). I knew that my first Christmas away from the family was going to be rough and that I was going to need to go on a REAL vacation with a beach in order to survive it. Alright, I probably would have technically survived Christmas and New Year's in my village, but I doubt it would have been pretty. So I, along with two other PCVS from Northern and Central Province decided to head to Mozambique the holidays.
We all traveled from our respective provinces to Lusaka and then from Lusaka flew to Johannesburg, South Africa. I a bit of culture shock in Joburg when the hostel we were staying at sent a Benz (playing classical music I might add) to pick us up at the airport and there were six lane highways with skyscrapers. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon at the mall, which definitely did not ease any of the culture shock. A mall during the holiday season and a Zambian village are probably two of the most different experiences I could imagine.
The next morning we got on a bus and traveled to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The 9 hour bus ride would have been fine except the air conditioning broke and because the bus was an air conditioned bus the windows obviously didn't open so for about 6 hours of the bus ride it was a stuffy 600 degrees (no, that's not an exaggeration, you weren't there, you don't know how hot it got). On the bright side the road from Joburg to Maputo is really nice...
After arriving in Mozambique we spent the night at a hostel and then traveled another 8 hours on a shuttle to Tofo Beach which is one of the premier beach destinations in Moz. I was so excited to finally see the ocean after 10 months. Its the longest Ive ever gone ocean free in my entire life and hopefully the longest Ill ever go again- it was hard. The beaches in Tofo were beautiful (maybe one of these days I'll get around to posting pictures...) however the place we were staying in was not. We were in dorm style beds with 20 beds to a room and each night at about 10pm the dj would crank up the bass to a level that can really only accurately be described as "soul rattling". The bed frames shook-enough said. Then one of my friend's tents got stolen and I got food poisoning and we decided that it was probably time to leave Tofo Beach and move on to Vilankulo another beach town about 5 hours north. Hey, we could always come back if it was worse than Tofo.
However, that didn't seem to be necessary. In Vilankulo we ended up booking a beach front chalet that literally sat right on the water. It was so nice to fall asleep to gentle sounds of the waves every night. The town of Vilankulo was great as well...they had an espresso machine in town and because the Portuguese had such a strong influence in Moz there is really great bread and rolls to be had almost everywhere. Quite the departure from Zambia. And there were decent restaurants to eat at, not something to be said in every town-even if it is a tourist destination.
The other touristy activities that we did while in Vilankulo were snorkeling on Two Mile Reef which is just off the Bazaruto Archipelago which is this small island about 45 min boat ride from the mainland. There's a huge sand dune on the archipelago and if you climb to the top of it you get an amazing view. We also went horseback riding on the beach which was beautiful and we got to see a lot of the scenery of Vilankulo that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Other than that we just hung out, relaxed and spent time on the beach, which is truly my happy place so I was in a great mood the whole time.
We spent New Years in Vilankulo as well which was really low key, even though we were told our lodge was going to have quite the party...The music was particularly awful, like literally the worst DJ in history (think music you would hear at a rave mixed with terrible oldies- the real problem was there wasn't any good music to dance to). But we did see a few fireworks on the beach that evening so it was just ok.
On the 2nd it was time to leave so we headed back to the Maputo but this time spent a day in the city. We went to the art museum, the cathedral, the fort, and the waterfront. I was impressed by the amount of gelato in Maputo, it really won me over in that department. We then headed back to Joburg on the same bus, which was a much more pleasant experience this time around due to the fact that the air con did work.
Once in Joburg we had a day to spend in the city and went to the Apartheid museum which was really interesting and had a ton of exhibits in it-we spent over 5 hours there and definitely could have spent a lot more. Its interesting being in this part of the world to see how these events actually played out and what happened. I can't say I got the most comprehensive African history education growing up or that I was actually able to process what I did learn...
And now I am back in Zambia and finally ready to go back to the village. It was a nice break but I am definitely ready to go back and start working again. Ive truly missed my village and I feel like I am going back on a very good note.
We all traveled from our respective provinces to Lusaka and then from Lusaka flew to Johannesburg, South Africa. I a bit of culture shock in Joburg when the hostel we were staying at sent a Benz (playing classical music I might add) to pick us up at the airport and there were six lane highways with skyscrapers. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon at the mall, which definitely did not ease any of the culture shock. A mall during the holiday season and a Zambian village are probably two of the most different experiences I could imagine.
The next morning we got on a bus and traveled to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The 9 hour bus ride would have been fine except the air conditioning broke and because the bus was an air conditioned bus the windows obviously didn't open so for about 6 hours of the bus ride it was a stuffy 600 degrees (no, that's not an exaggeration, you weren't there, you don't know how hot it got). On the bright side the road from Joburg to Maputo is really nice...
After arriving in Mozambique we spent the night at a hostel and then traveled another 8 hours on a shuttle to Tofo Beach which is one of the premier beach destinations in Moz. I was so excited to finally see the ocean after 10 months. Its the longest Ive ever gone ocean free in my entire life and hopefully the longest Ill ever go again- it was hard. The beaches in Tofo were beautiful (maybe one of these days I'll get around to posting pictures...) however the place we were staying in was not. We were in dorm style beds with 20 beds to a room and each night at about 10pm the dj would crank up the bass to a level that can really only accurately be described as "soul rattling". The bed frames shook-enough said. Then one of my friend's tents got stolen and I got food poisoning and we decided that it was probably time to leave Tofo Beach and move on to Vilankulo another beach town about 5 hours north. Hey, we could always come back if it was worse than Tofo.
However, that didn't seem to be necessary. In Vilankulo we ended up booking a beach front chalet that literally sat right on the water. It was so nice to fall asleep to gentle sounds of the waves every night. The town of Vilankulo was great as well...they had an espresso machine in town and because the Portuguese had such a strong influence in Moz there is really great bread and rolls to be had almost everywhere. Quite the departure from Zambia. And there were decent restaurants to eat at, not something to be said in every town-even if it is a tourist destination.
The other touristy activities that we did while in Vilankulo were snorkeling on Two Mile Reef which is just off the Bazaruto Archipelago which is this small island about 45 min boat ride from the mainland. There's a huge sand dune on the archipelago and if you climb to the top of it you get an amazing view. We also went horseback riding on the beach which was beautiful and we got to see a lot of the scenery of Vilankulo that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Other than that we just hung out, relaxed and spent time on the beach, which is truly my happy place so I was in a great mood the whole time.
We spent New Years in Vilankulo as well which was really low key, even though we were told our lodge was going to have quite the party...The music was particularly awful, like literally the worst DJ in history (think music you would hear at a rave mixed with terrible oldies- the real problem was there wasn't any good music to dance to). But we did see a few fireworks on the beach that evening so it was just ok.
On the 2nd it was time to leave so we headed back to the Maputo but this time spent a day in the city. We went to the art museum, the cathedral, the fort, and the waterfront. I was impressed by the amount of gelato in Maputo, it really won me over in that department. We then headed back to Joburg on the same bus, which was a much more pleasant experience this time around due to the fact that the air con did work.
Once in Joburg we had a day to spend in the city and went to the Apartheid museum which was really interesting and had a ton of exhibits in it-we spent over 5 hours there and definitely could have spent a lot more. Its interesting being in this part of the world to see how these events actually played out and what happened. I can't say I got the most comprehensive African history education growing up or that I was actually able to process what I did learn...
And now I am back in Zambia and finally ready to go back to the village. It was a nice break but I am definitely ready to go back and start working again. Ive truly missed my village and I feel like I am going back on a very good note.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Music videos improve life quality- its a fact
Lately Ive been feeling like someone who doesn't particularly have a lot to say, because it seems that, especially with people who don't have the pleasure of being in Zambia, I talk about the weather... a lot. Generally I think of weather as being a topic best associated with just getting to know someone, awkward pauses, and a lack of general command of local language (although I think all of those fit with awkward silences). I know in my letters I always include something about the weather and sometimes it is because I feel like theres not much else going on and if I am going to send a letter alllllll the way to Americaland I might as well fill up some space on the paper. But weather is a truly integral part of Zambian life. I know that you could make an argument that weather is a crucial aspect to every part of life in every culture but I've come to appreciate its importance in Zambia.
It finally rained in Chipata, about a week ago. Until then I was really starting to doubt whether it actually did rain in Eastern Province because my friends in other provinces had been talking about rain at their sites for weeks. It just seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. However, then the rain came and its been raining and cloudy every day for over a week which I here is also unusual. Apparently usually at the beginning of rainy season it doesn't rain every day. Maybe the sky had just been saving up...
The rains are integral in terms of planting crops here. The planting season, at least in my catchment area, coincides almost perfectly with the holiday season in the US. Starting from the very end of November through the entire month of January most people will be very busy planting their fields with maize, groundnuts (peanuts), sunflower, and potentially some other crops like soy and beans (the exception to this is cotton which is planted before the rain). Maize is the particular crop of importance in Zambia because well, its what everyone eats. Its important only to plant maize after you are sure that there is going to be a steady amount of rain coming to your fields. If you plant too early then the seeds wont be able to germinate and you will lose a great deal of your yield. If you plant too late then the rain can also have a negative impact on your crop yield and you can lose some of your crop. Ideally its recommended that farmers in Eastern Province plant their maize between Dec 1 and Dec 15. This planting season I am working with one of my neighbors to use his field as a demonstration plot for a few conservation farming techniques. Conservation Farming is a method of farming that has been introduced into Eastern Province in the past 3-4 years (Im told by other volunteers that we are a bit ahead of the curve here in EP and that CF is just being rolled out in other parts of the country). CF aims to minimize environmental degradation, reduce workload on the farmer, and mamxmize crop yield. Sounds amazing right? Well it can be, but its difficult to get people who have been doing something one way for their entire lives to completely change and switch their ways. And its not like we're talking about something superficial like the color of your hair or your house, but rather we're talking about an entire families food source. It can definitely seeem like a bit of a gamble.Its an integral part of my program as a LIFE volunteer here so I will keep you updated on my progress with CF in my catchment area.
Switching gears here, I have been in Chipata for the past week participating in a workshop focused on HIV/AIDS education, prevention, care and support. The nine other volunteers in my province that I came to country with and their village counterparts (as well as my own counterpart from the village) have been staying a super nice lodge in Chipata and working pretty hard (8-4! everyday!). Usually the volunteers stay at our bunk house in Chipata, however right now our house is having some "difficulities" so they put us up at the nicest guest house in Chipata (mainly because it was a last minute decision and its the only place in Chipata that PC in Lusaka can pay electronically). But I've had AIR CONDITIONING for the past week as well as a TELEVISION (ok the channels are few BUT there is a European music video channel that I've been watching pretty nonstop I feel so culturally relevant and cool again- I know some new music!!).
The workshop overall was really good. Although I do think the volunteers get a lot out of it I think that the Zambians get so much information that they would otherwise not necessarily hear. The current HIV rate in Zambia is 14% but that varies amongst provinces and districts. In Chipata district its pretty high at 22.6%. I've got some work to do. Although many people have a bit of HIV knowledge and there are many NGOs that have been very active in trying to provide information about the disease throughout the country this is another case where the rural areas are behind the rest of the country in terms of dispelling myths about the disease and overall education and knowledge about HIV. As Peace Corps. volunteers we are all expected to do some HIV work whether its working with groups of those who are living Positively and trying to help them establish income generating activities or helping to educate people about proper nutrition and care for those living with the disease or even condom demonstrations. And now ideally we have Zambian counterparts who are trained with us to help us bring all the information we have back to the village...I'm lucky in that I have a great counterpart and I know that we are going to do a lot of great work together.
So thats generally what I have been up to as of late, rain and learning about HIV. This will be my last blog post before my epic Christmas vacation to Mozambique. I leave in just over a week and will be gone for until the beginning of January. I am backpacking around Southern Mozambique (Maputo, Tofo, Vilankulo, Bazaruto Archipelago, Xai-Xai) with two of my good friends here. I am So excited. So until then...
It finally rained in Chipata, about a week ago. Until then I was really starting to doubt whether it actually did rain in Eastern Province because my friends in other provinces had been talking about rain at their sites for weeks. It just seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. However, then the rain came and its been raining and cloudy every day for over a week which I here is also unusual. Apparently usually at the beginning of rainy season it doesn't rain every day. Maybe the sky had just been saving up...
The rains are integral in terms of planting crops here. The planting season, at least in my catchment area, coincides almost perfectly with the holiday season in the US. Starting from the very end of November through the entire month of January most people will be very busy planting their fields with maize, groundnuts (peanuts), sunflower, and potentially some other crops like soy and beans (the exception to this is cotton which is planted before the rain). Maize is the particular crop of importance in Zambia because well, its what everyone eats. Its important only to plant maize after you are sure that there is going to be a steady amount of rain coming to your fields. If you plant too early then the seeds wont be able to germinate and you will lose a great deal of your yield. If you plant too late then the rain can also have a negative impact on your crop yield and you can lose some of your crop. Ideally its recommended that farmers in Eastern Province plant their maize between Dec 1 and Dec 15. This planting season I am working with one of my neighbors to use his field as a demonstration plot for a few conservation farming techniques. Conservation Farming is a method of farming that has been introduced into Eastern Province in the past 3-4 years (Im told by other volunteers that we are a bit ahead of the curve here in EP and that CF is just being rolled out in other parts of the country). CF aims to minimize environmental degradation, reduce workload on the farmer, and mamxmize crop yield. Sounds amazing right? Well it can be, but its difficult to get people who have been doing something one way for their entire lives to completely change and switch their ways. And its not like we're talking about something superficial like the color of your hair or your house, but rather we're talking about an entire families food source. It can definitely seeem like a bit of a gamble.Its an integral part of my program as a LIFE volunteer here so I will keep you updated on my progress with CF in my catchment area.
Switching gears here, I have been in Chipata for the past week participating in a workshop focused on HIV/AIDS education, prevention, care and support. The nine other volunteers in my province that I came to country with and their village counterparts (as well as my own counterpart from the village) have been staying a super nice lodge in Chipata and working pretty hard (8-4! everyday!). Usually the volunteers stay at our bunk house in Chipata, however right now our house is having some "difficulities" so they put us up at the nicest guest house in Chipata (mainly because it was a last minute decision and its the only place in Chipata that PC in Lusaka can pay electronically). But I've had AIR CONDITIONING for the past week as well as a TELEVISION (ok the channels are few BUT there is a European music video channel that I've been watching pretty nonstop I feel so culturally relevant and cool again- I know some new music!!).
The workshop overall was really good. Although I do think the volunteers get a lot out of it I think that the Zambians get so much information that they would otherwise not necessarily hear. The current HIV rate in Zambia is 14% but that varies amongst provinces and districts. In Chipata district its pretty high at 22.6%. I've got some work to do. Although many people have a bit of HIV knowledge and there are many NGOs that have been very active in trying to provide information about the disease throughout the country this is another case where the rural areas are behind the rest of the country in terms of dispelling myths about the disease and overall education and knowledge about HIV. As Peace Corps. volunteers we are all expected to do some HIV work whether its working with groups of those who are living Positively and trying to help them establish income generating activities or helping to educate people about proper nutrition and care for those living with the disease or even condom demonstrations. And now ideally we have Zambian counterparts who are trained with us to help us bring all the information we have back to the village...I'm lucky in that I have a great counterpart and I know that we are going to do a lot of great work together.
So thats generally what I have been up to as of late, rain and learning about HIV. This will be my last blog post before my epic Christmas vacation to Mozambique. I leave in just over a week and will be gone for until the beginning of January. I am backpacking around Southern Mozambique (Maputo, Tofo, Vilankulo, Bazaruto Archipelago, Xai-Xai) with two of my good friends here. I am So excited. So until then...
Friday, November 5, 2010
I miss the rain down in Africa...
Epic fail on blog posting in October. My excuse - it was hot? No, but really it got to the point where I didn't want to move anymore, let alone bike somewhere to do anything. I would sit and sweat it out on the daily in my hut. Cara can testify to that because she decided to use her vacation days and leave a beautiful DC fall and come visit me to make the month of October slightly more bearable. It was pretty great having her here with me for 11 days. She got to see the village, Chipata, and Livingstone (yeah, I went back...being a tour guide is a rough life). We hitched, took buses, and semi's so I really feel like she got the full Zambia experience. And now I am lucky enough to have someone from home understand some of the things that go on here- even if that one person works legit 60 hour weeks for the US government and has little to free time...but anyway is was awesome having her here and I hope that I can expect more visitors in the future.
So Cara came, I sweat (and apparently this hot season wasn't even that bad), and the US Ambassador came out to my site- because I'm probably the best volunteer that Peace Corps. has in Zambia...well that annnndddd my site is legitimately the easiest site to get to from Chipata boma. All Eastern PCVs were invited to have dinner with the Ambassador the night before at the best restaurant in town- the burrito place. The funny thing about our dinner with the Ambassador is that somewhere, someone sent up a list of dos and donts in term s of meeting the him. We, as PCVs, were told to read this list because it was presumably sent up by his office. So we did...it was quite a comprehensive list that ranged from DO greet the Ambassador "Mr. Ambassador, Sir" at all times to DON'T wear flip flops or spaghetti strap tank tops (hello high school dress code) to if you MUST drink in the presence of the Ambassador limit yourself to ONE. Men were told to wear ties and women were encouraged to dress as professionally as possibly. Formalities are not always the biggest things of concern to a Peace Corps. Volunteer, mostly, because, well, we live in the village...and the overall feeling was that if we were meeting another American he should understand our complete and utter need to wear flip flops and drink beer. Needless to say we were a bit apprehensive about meeting this figurehead when our dinner finally came around. However, I think most of that apprehension vanished when we sat down and he, along with the other members of his entourage ordered a round of beers. So much to our dismay the Ambassador turned out be a pretty good guy. He encouraged us to ask a lot of questions (although I can't say we came up with too many hard hitting questions) and was overall pretty encouraging about the work that we are doing and receptive to the ideas that we had.
The following morning bright and early in a caravan 5 SUVs strong I headed back out to my village to show the Ambassador a typical Peace Corps site and model Peace Corps project- the carpentry project that was started in my village by the volunteer before me. I was a bit nervous bringing so many vehicles into my village because I don't know if there ever have been that many vehicles in the village at one time. Where would we put them all? Luckily, its just about planting season so the whole village, besides the carpenters, who we told to stay behind, were in the field and thus the chaos that could have ensued did not. The Ambassador also brought his two sons out with him which was pretty neat, because even though they have had the opportunity to live all over the world they had never been out to an African village before. They got to see my hut and where I live and also were able to ask me questions in a pretty casual setting about life in the village which I think is pretty cool. After taking the tour around my huts we walked up to my carpenters, who had set themselves up with some of their furniture and their tools in a corner of the village and they were able to give a short presentation about how the project came to the village and how they benefited from it. I think it was important for him to see how Peace Corps. can impact a community and mutual benefit both the volunteer and the community get from the program. Hopefully he will prove to be an ally to Peace Corps. Zambia.
After the Ambassador visit, I had some other PCVs come out to my site and hang out for a few days and then we all came back to Chipata for a Halloween celebration. Now I am just waiting for the rains to come to take some of this heat away. They look like they are coming everday but so far my village hasnt seen much action yet. Which I probably shouldnt be complaining about because my roof needs to be tarped and thatched but I would like it to cool down just a bit...
So Cara came, I sweat (and apparently this hot season wasn't even that bad), and the US Ambassador came out to my site- because I'm probably the best volunteer that Peace Corps. has in Zambia...well that annnndddd my site is legitimately the easiest site to get to from Chipata boma. All Eastern PCVs were invited to have dinner with the Ambassador the night before at the best restaurant in town- the burrito place. The funny thing about our dinner with the Ambassador is that somewhere, someone sent up a list of dos and donts in term s of meeting the him. We, as PCVs, were told to read this list because it was presumably sent up by his office. So we did...it was quite a comprehensive list that ranged from DO greet the Ambassador "Mr. Ambassador, Sir" at all times to DON'T wear flip flops or spaghetti strap tank tops (hello high school dress code) to if you MUST drink in the presence of the Ambassador limit yourself to ONE. Men were told to wear ties and women were encouraged to dress as professionally as possibly. Formalities are not always the biggest things of concern to a Peace Corps. Volunteer, mostly, because, well, we live in the village...and the overall feeling was that if we were meeting another American he should understand our complete and utter need to wear flip flops and drink beer. Needless to say we were a bit apprehensive about meeting this figurehead when our dinner finally came around. However, I think most of that apprehension vanished when we sat down and he, along with the other members of his entourage ordered a round of beers. So much to our dismay the Ambassador turned out be a pretty good guy. He encouraged us to ask a lot of questions (although I can't say we came up with too many hard hitting questions) and was overall pretty encouraging about the work that we are doing and receptive to the ideas that we had.
The following morning bright and early in a caravan 5 SUVs strong I headed back out to my village to show the Ambassador a typical Peace Corps site and model Peace Corps project- the carpentry project that was started in my village by the volunteer before me. I was a bit nervous bringing so many vehicles into my village because I don't know if there ever have been that many vehicles in the village at one time. Where would we put them all? Luckily, its just about planting season so the whole village, besides the carpenters, who we told to stay behind, were in the field and thus the chaos that could have ensued did not. The Ambassador also brought his two sons out with him which was pretty neat, because even though they have had the opportunity to live all over the world they had never been out to an African village before. They got to see my hut and where I live and also were able to ask me questions in a pretty casual setting about life in the village which I think is pretty cool. After taking the tour around my huts we walked up to my carpenters, who had set themselves up with some of their furniture and their tools in a corner of the village and they were able to give a short presentation about how the project came to the village and how they benefited from it. I think it was important for him to see how Peace Corps. can impact a community and mutual benefit both the volunteer and the community get from the program. Hopefully he will prove to be an ally to Peace Corps. Zambia.
After the Ambassador visit, I had some other PCVs come out to my site and hang out for a few days and then we all came back to Chipata for a Halloween celebration. Now I am just waiting for the rains to come to take some of this heat away. They look like they are coming everday but so far my village hasnt seen much action yet. Which I probably shouldnt be complaining about because my roof needs to be tarped and thatched but I would like it to cool down just a bit...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Its getting hot in here
So I believe the last time I left off with this blog was about a month ago when I was just about to embark on my first Zamcation. Just to let everyone know, Victoria Falls is a major let down and no one should ever go. Period. And by that I mean it was absolutely incredible and I cant wait to go back in oh, just about 2 weeks (more on that in a second). So it took about 16 hours to get from my site to Vic. Falls. One bus took me from Chipata to Lusaka and the next took me from Lusaka to Livingstone, in the Southern Province of Zambia. I met up with my friend Blair, whos in Central Province, in Lusaka and we were able to watch a phenomenal Zambian production entitled "White Powder" on our bus to Livingstone. Plus they gave us snacks, so all in all it was an enjoyable, yet slow, ride.
Once we got to Livingstone we checked into our hostel, Jolly Boys, which was a really cool place and is where almost all Peace Corps. volunteers stay when in Livingstone (mostly because its abour $8/night) but it had a pool and a cool central sitting area and the best coffee that I've had since being in Zambia.
We crashed pretty hard our first night in Livingstone, because, well, we had both just traveled on Zambian busses for the better part of a day. The next morning though we were up and ready to take in all that Livingstone had to offer. We headed off to the bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia in order to do some bungee jumping, ziplining and rope swinging. Its funny because bungee jumping was always on my list "Ehh I dont think I'm going to do that..." but with a small amount of peer pressure from Blair I was absolutely ready to go. It was pretty amazing experience and I definitely had a long free fall of 111 meters. The rope swing was pretty much the same as bungee jumping except instead of standing up you sat down. I think that I liked that just a little bit more because I had a slightly better idea of what the heck was going on.
After that pretty epic morning we decided to head to Mosi-o-tunya National Park- aka to see Victoria Falls. Even though its dry season now, they were absolutely incredible. Because of the mist that always came off the falls and the sheer altitude at which they dropped there is almost always a rainbow that can be seen at some point on the falls which makes them even more spectacular. We walked around the Zambian side of the Falls and definitely got a good view of all of them. We then heard that you could go to the top of the falls so instead of looking across at them you would be looking down from the top. So we walked around to the other side of the park to the river where the water begins to flow over the top of the falls. For fear of scaring my parents, grandmother, etc I am not going to go into a lot of detail about the end of our day, however a few phrases spring to mind and one, if they were interested might want to google/youtube them (especially the second one)- "coolest thing I have ever done in my life," "Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls" and "hippo".
Also, while we were on our second adventure of the day we met three women who are currently serving as missionaries in Sudan. After talking to them for the afternoon/over dinner I realized that Peace Corps is probably the most cushy experience ever. Ok, not really, but these women are in the bush. They only leave their village once every three months and thats to get more supplies so they can continue staying there. They had some pretty incredible stories about their time in Sudan and I'm so glad that we were able to meet and share our experiences. I still think about them often.
Needless to say after this day, we were again quite exhausted although we did manage to run into our friend Bart, who is in our intake, and his visiting girlfriend Bree, who were also in Livingstone on vaca at the time. It was nice to be able to hang out with them considering that again since they arent in Eastern Province (and Bree is from America!) that we don't really get to spend all the much time together.
The next day we went on safari in Chobe National Park in Botswana. We were able to do a river safari in the morning and a game drive in the afternoon (even after we started off 2 hours late!). Even though safaris arent my favorite thing it was really cool to see elephants (swimming and playing in the water), giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, zebras and water buffalo.
Finally to round out our trip in Livingstone we hung out for uninterrupted hours by a pool (this never happens 1. because pools are few and far between and 2. because people ALWAYS want to interrupt you). That evening we went on a river cruise our last night with some PCVs who ran the Victoria Falls marathon that day it was really fun and again we got to see some hippos and elephants and the sun set on the mighty Zambezi.
All in all it was a really great vacation and definitely re-instilled the travel bug back in me. I really like Livingstone, there is a lot to do and a lot to see, although its not as built up as Lusaka which is nice. My friend Cara, who I studied abroad in Uganda with is coming during the middle of October and she really wants to see Vic Falls as well so I'll be headed back soon enough (although this time I think we're going to go white water rafting!)
But for the time being I am back at my site, pounding away trying to maybe do some work one of these days, just kidding. I've been working with two schools a lot recently to try to improve their gardens although that work is sloooow, mostly because its hot season and its hard to do a lot of manual labor when the temperature is getting up there. Ive also been helping out at my clinic and working with community health workers to come together and form an organization that will focus on IGA's so they will make some income for all the work they do in the community. And I've also been having a lot of meetings (or scheduling a lot of meetings that dont happen) with various groups in the community. Work is there albeit its going slowly, even though I feel like I am super busy all the time. Which is a good thing. Definitely a good thing.
Once we got to Livingstone we checked into our hostel, Jolly Boys, which was a really cool place and is where almost all Peace Corps. volunteers stay when in Livingstone (mostly because its abour $8/night) but it had a pool and a cool central sitting area and the best coffee that I've had since being in Zambia.
We crashed pretty hard our first night in Livingstone, because, well, we had both just traveled on Zambian busses for the better part of a day. The next morning though we were up and ready to take in all that Livingstone had to offer. We headed off to the bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia in order to do some bungee jumping, ziplining and rope swinging. Its funny because bungee jumping was always on my list "Ehh I dont think I'm going to do that..." but with a small amount of peer pressure from Blair I was absolutely ready to go. It was pretty amazing experience and I definitely had a long free fall of 111 meters. The rope swing was pretty much the same as bungee jumping except instead of standing up you sat down. I think that I liked that just a little bit more because I had a slightly better idea of what the heck was going on.
After that pretty epic morning we decided to head to Mosi-o-tunya National Park- aka to see Victoria Falls. Even though its dry season now, they were absolutely incredible. Because of the mist that always came off the falls and the sheer altitude at which they dropped there is almost always a rainbow that can be seen at some point on the falls which makes them even more spectacular. We walked around the Zambian side of the Falls and definitely got a good view of all of them. We then heard that you could go to the top of the falls so instead of looking across at them you would be looking down from the top. So we walked around to the other side of the park to the river where the water begins to flow over the top of the falls. For fear of scaring my parents, grandmother, etc I am not going to go into a lot of detail about the end of our day, however a few phrases spring to mind and one, if they were interested might want to google/youtube them (especially the second one)- "coolest thing I have ever done in my life," "Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls" and "hippo".
Also, while we were on our second adventure of the day we met three women who are currently serving as missionaries in Sudan. After talking to them for the afternoon/over dinner I realized that Peace Corps is probably the most cushy experience ever. Ok, not really, but these women are in the bush. They only leave their village once every three months and thats to get more supplies so they can continue staying there. They had some pretty incredible stories about their time in Sudan and I'm so glad that we were able to meet and share our experiences. I still think about them often.
Needless to say after this day, we were again quite exhausted although we did manage to run into our friend Bart, who is in our intake, and his visiting girlfriend Bree, who were also in Livingstone on vaca at the time. It was nice to be able to hang out with them considering that again since they arent in Eastern Province (and Bree is from America!) that we don't really get to spend all the much time together.
The next day we went on safari in Chobe National Park in Botswana. We were able to do a river safari in the morning and a game drive in the afternoon (even after we started off 2 hours late!). Even though safaris arent my favorite thing it was really cool to see elephants (swimming and playing in the water), giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, zebras and water buffalo.
Finally to round out our trip in Livingstone we hung out for uninterrupted hours by a pool (this never happens 1. because pools are few and far between and 2. because people ALWAYS want to interrupt you). That evening we went on a river cruise our last night with some PCVs who ran the Victoria Falls marathon that day it was really fun and again we got to see some hippos and elephants and the sun set on the mighty Zambezi.
All in all it was a really great vacation and definitely re-instilled the travel bug back in me. I really like Livingstone, there is a lot to do and a lot to see, although its not as built up as Lusaka which is nice. My friend Cara, who I studied abroad in Uganda with is coming during the middle of October and she really wants to see Vic Falls as well so I'll be headed back soon enough (although this time I think we're going to go white water rafting!)
But for the time being I am back at my site, pounding away trying to maybe do some work one of these days, just kidding. I've been working with two schools a lot recently to try to improve their gardens although that work is sloooow, mostly because its hot season and its hard to do a lot of manual labor when the temperature is getting up there. Ive also been helping out at my clinic and working with community health workers to come together and form an organization that will focus on IGA's so they will make some income for all the work they do in the community. And I've also been having a lot of meetings (or scheduling a lot of meetings that dont happen) with various groups in the community. Work is there albeit its going slowly, even though I feel like I am super busy all the time. Which is a good thing. Definitely a good thing.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Bright Lights, Big City
So for the past 2 weeks I have been in Lusaka partaking in what is officially called IST (gotta love the Peace Corps. acronyms) -In Service Training, with the group of people that I came into country with. The thought behind these past two weeks is that we've all been at our sites for approximately three months and therefore should know what our villages want to focus on the most. We then go to Lusaka and learn more about those subject areas. Its also really great to see everyone and see how much everyone has changed in the past three months and to take a little breather from the village life. As a whole most of the men got a a bit hairier and skinnier, and the women, well, the women stayed exactly the same...therefore further staking our claim as the more resilient of the two species. All 46 of us who remain stayed in dormitory style housing-together- shared bathrooms and all- for the two weeks. Needless to say, no one got enough sleep and at the end almost everyone was sick, just like in college. There are some many things about this experience that remind me of a mix between college and summer camp...
We also had a counterpart workshop during the two weeks where we got a bring a villager to Lusaka and spend time with them in a project design workshop which was cool because it was able to bring Peace Corps. to another level in their eyes. My counterpart, Patrick, and I made big plans during our workshop sessions of many things we want to carry out when I get back to the village (like a soya cooking demo and a demo permagarden plot). I think it definitely got him hyped up to do work with me when I get back and that makes me excited too.
So the general topic that Peace Corps. volunteers talk about the most is...FOOD. You become pretty obsessed with food while out in the bush. And Lusaka, being the bustling metropolis that it is does have quite a variety to choose from (chinese, thai, indian, "western", mexican), all of which were extremely exciting for those of us who've been lacking variety and/or spices in our diet. I was most excited about ice cream, however the only thing that made me sick both times when I had it was- Ice Cream. I dont think I can live being lactose intolerant or ice cream sensitive so I am just going to pretend that those were isolated incidents that will never happen again. Seriously.
As fun as being with a bunch of muzungus in Lusaka was I was ready to get back to my home sweet hut. I missed my village and my kids. A lot. Which I think is a really really good sign because there was a time where I couldnt have imagined getting so attached, but its official I am pretty much obsessed with my village. And Chipata for that matter. Listening to other volunteers complain about their boma's/Provincial capitals made me realize that even though I may not have any Peace Corps. neighbors I still have the best boma in all of Zambia because Chipata has EVERYTHING (I'm not being bold here. I am legit speaking the truth). We've got delivery pizza and burritos, which is absolutely unheard of in Zambia, outside of Lusaka. And beautiful views, and amazing people. This is starting to sound a little bias, but I promise you that its not. Its the truth.
As excited as I was to go back to village I only got to be there for a few days because I am off again to go to Victoria Falls for a vacation (think safari, gorge swing, SWIMMING-even though the last thing I want to be wearing about two weeks in Lusaka is a bathing suit, and sunset river cruise). But then I am back in the village for awhile and will be excited to be there
We also had a counterpart workshop during the two weeks where we got a bring a villager to Lusaka and spend time with them in a project design workshop which was cool because it was able to bring Peace Corps. to another level in their eyes. My counterpart, Patrick, and I made big plans during our workshop sessions of many things we want to carry out when I get back to the village (like a soya cooking demo and a demo permagarden plot). I think it definitely got him hyped up to do work with me when I get back and that makes me excited too.
So the general topic that Peace Corps. volunteers talk about the most is...FOOD. You become pretty obsessed with food while out in the bush. And Lusaka, being the bustling metropolis that it is does have quite a variety to choose from (chinese, thai, indian, "western", mexican), all of which were extremely exciting for those of us who've been lacking variety and/or spices in our diet. I was most excited about ice cream, however the only thing that made me sick both times when I had it was- Ice Cream. I dont think I can live being lactose intolerant or ice cream sensitive so I am just going to pretend that those were isolated incidents that will never happen again. Seriously.
As fun as being with a bunch of muzungus in Lusaka was I was ready to get back to my home sweet hut. I missed my village and my kids. A lot. Which I think is a really really good sign because there was a time where I couldnt have imagined getting so attached, but its official I am pretty much obsessed with my village. And Chipata for that matter. Listening to other volunteers complain about their boma's/Provincial capitals made me realize that even though I may not have any Peace Corps. neighbors I still have the best boma in all of Zambia because Chipata has EVERYTHING (I'm not being bold here. I am legit speaking the truth). We've got delivery pizza and burritos, which is absolutely unheard of in Zambia, outside of Lusaka. And beautiful views, and amazing people. This is starting to sound a little bias, but I promise you that its not. Its the truth.
As excited as I was to go back to village I only got to be there for a few days because I am off again to go to Victoria Falls for a vacation (think safari, gorge swing, SWIMMING-even though the last thing I want to be wearing about two weeks in Lusaka is a bathing suit, and sunset river cruise). But then I am back in the village for awhile and will be excited to be there
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Well some more firsts have happened since I made my last post. One of them being that I killed my first scorpion. After I white washed my house, the new termite tracks (I dont really have a better word for it) became really visible and therefore pretty easy to destroy with some spray poison...however there was a large group behind the bookcase in my hut, and feasting on those termites was a scorpion. I was really taken aback by it, and it wasnt even a big guy. I'm a little nervous here because I thought I had the fear of creepy crawly things in the bag, however my Sunday morning enounter with that guy proved me wrong. And then theres always the snakes to think about. I'm really hoping those stay hidden in the fields until I am almost done with my service (just for bonus points I would like to have a big snake story to tell and command respect for when I venture back to the states, but not for awhile).
Last week the Country Director for Peace Corps. came out to see all the new sites in Eastern Province so it was pretty cool to show him around and then all the volunteers who could make it had a big family dinner with him in Chipata. After that my friend Sarah, who is my closest neighbor (not counting the Peace Corps. house) biked back to my site and then biked the 55k to her site at the beginning of the week. I also got to see some other PCVs who stay out by her. And their area is absolutely beautiful with these huge rock formations and mountains. It was definitely worth the trip and it was only like a 2 hr 30 min bike ride which in Zambia time is like 30 min.
In fact the 55k out to her site is way easier than the 30k ride from my site into Chipata. The last 10k leading up to the city are the absolute worst! But my hitching luck has been out lately so Ive been biking it more frequently, even though I always curse myself that last 10k. To give you an idea of how different the incline is, I'll just say that it takes me 1hr 30 min to bike into Chipata and 50 minutes to bike out. But it is nice to have my bike for running around Chipata once I get here, which is always what I feel like I am doing. I used to get so excited to come to town but now I kind of dread it because I know that its just going to be crazy busy.
In other news, my parrafin stove ran out of wicks these week so I had to start cooking with charcoal, which compared to parrafin takes FOREVER. And I am not a patient person, especially when I am hungry. To add insult to injury the charcoal I got is really slow burning and takes over 30 min to heat up. Peanut butter and jelly and I are getting to be quite good friends. Other than that I've been pretty busy meeting with different groups and people and trying to improve my language skills so I can communicate with even more people. I think that they are getting better slowly...
I ended up buying the netball and I am so glad that I did because we've been playing a lot in the village. We had a game this past Saturday and won, which is always great. One thing I find really interesting about the women and netball is that before the game they bathe, and rebraid their hair. Then they put on some of their newest and best clothes to play the game. And the other teams do the same. Whereas I show up in the dirtiest clothes I have because it doesnt make sense to me, when I am just going to get absolutely filthy running around and kicking up dirt (the court is loose dirt) for 2 hours. But its one of the few occasions that the women and girls actually have for dressing up and showing off so in that sense it does make sense to me, but its just another example of a cultural difference.
And now Ive got to cut this blog entry short because I have about a million things to do in town today. But hopefully I will update again soon. And thank-you to all the letters Ive gotten. They make me so happy! And the packages too! Ive been pretty good about responding to everyone so hopefully if you havent heard from me in awhile you will soon soon!
Last week the Country Director for Peace Corps. came out to see all the new sites in Eastern Province so it was pretty cool to show him around and then all the volunteers who could make it had a big family dinner with him in Chipata. After that my friend Sarah, who is my closest neighbor (not counting the Peace Corps. house) biked back to my site and then biked the 55k to her site at the beginning of the week. I also got to see some other PCVs who stay out by her. And their area is absolutely beautiful with these huge rock formations and mountains. It was definitely worth the trip and it was only like a 2 hr 30 min bike ride which in Zambia time is like 30 min.
In fact the 55k out to her site is way easier than the 30k ride from my site into Chipata. The last 10k leading up to the city are the absolute worst! But my hitching luck has been out lately so Ive been biking it more frequently, even though I always curse myself that last 10k. To give you an idea of how different the incline is, I'll just say that it takes me 1hr 30 min to bike into Chipata and 50 minutes to bike out. But it is nice to have my bike for running around Chipata once I get here, which is always what I feel like I am doing. I used to get so excited to come to town but now I kind of dread it because I know that its just going to be crazy busy.
In other news, my parrafin stove ran out of wicks these week so I had to start cooking with charcoal, which compared to parrafin takes FOREVER. And I am not a patient person, especially when I am hungry. To add insult to injury the charcoal I got is really slow burning and takes over 30 min to heat up. Peanut butter and jelly and I are getting to be quite good friends. Other than that I've been pretty busy meeting with different groups and people and trying to improve my language skills so I can communicate with even more people. I think that they are getting better slowly...
I ended up buying the netball and I am so glad that I did because we've been playing a lot in the village. We had a game this past Saturday and won, which is always great. One thing I find really interesting about the women and netball is that before the game they bathe, and rebraid their hair. Then they put on some of their newest and best clothes to play the game. And the other teams do the same. Whereas I show up in the dirtiest clothes I have because it doesnt make sense to me, when I am just going to get absolutely filthy running around and kicking up dirt (the court is loose dirt) for 2 hours. But its one of the few occasions that the women and girls actually have for dressing up and showing off so in that sense it does make sense to me, but its just another example of a cultural difference.
And now Ive got to cut this blog entry short because I have about a million things to do in town today. But hopefully I will update again soon. And thank-you to all the letters Ive gotten. They make me so happy! And the packages too! Ive been pretty good about responding to everyone so hopefully if you havent heard from me in awhile you will soon soon!
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