So it has been a while since we posted, and we don't expect to be able to again for a while, so I'm following Gina's post earlier today right away with my thoughts on how we have been learning to live in Zambia now that we are really living here in our own house and our own village.
Zambians are very helpful when you ask them for information, but they can't give directions very well. Everything is "just there", or "very near". If the place you need to go is more than 100 m away or takes more than one turn to get to, you probably will have to ask another Zambian to clarify the directions as you get closer.
During my first weeks in Zambia I tended to lump Zambians into just a few categories. While I was learning the language, these categories largely revolved on how well they understood English, how patient they were with me as I tried to speak Lunda, or whether they seemed like they were hoping to get something from me or not. Now that I have been here for a while I am identifying a myriad of personalities and characteristics and seeing that Zambians are very diverse. I still haven't figured out sometimes whether the diversity is because of their Zambian culture or their own specific personality, but it is very important for me to observe and not anticipate a certain response when interacting with them. Regarding the language, the responses from people who don't understand the Lunda that I'm speaking is all over the board. I really appreciate the one's who try to speak slowly and work with me to understand what I am trying to say.
Even if Gina and I were not white and from a different country with a different culture and language, Zambians love to check the new folks out. The "front porch" culture of American days of yore is alive and well in Zambia. Just about everyone cooks outside their house, including us, and there is a path between each house that links everyone like beads on a string. So it is very easy for people to see what you are doing on a regular basis. This has been a great way to meet people, but the drawback is that we are stuck interacting with some people we'd rather not. But those are rare and meeting our neighbors has been a great way to get to know the village, learn the language, learn the culture.
After having our outdoor dish-drying rack built by some Zambians shortly after our arrival in the village, I took a shot at building some shelves for our outdoor bathing shelter. The shelves themselves were easy to construct after borrowing an axe from a friend, but I didn't have enough rope to tie all the shelves to the frame of wooden poles driven into the ground. So I learned how to make bush-rope after following one particularly helpful neighbor into the bush for a couple of hours one day. There are a couple of types of trees whose bark can be stripped off into long strips, and then cut into thinner strips which have the characteristics of thick and wide Zip-ties. Zambians use the stuff for all applications that Americans use rope and sometimes nails.
When I left my bike outside the house one day my neighbor commented that I should take the tire pump that is attached to my bike off because it could be stolen. Apparently tire pumps on bicycles in Zambia are similar to stereos in cars in America.
I have been enjoying the thunder and lightning storms in Zambia. We get a dose of it nearly daily and the thunder that precedes the storm, the deluge of rain in the beginning, and the slow taper to a drizzle afterwards is similar to one's favorite TV show- we really look forward to the routine, but the differences in duration and intensity are interesting to note.
I had my first meeting with fish farmer's last Sunday. Sunday's are the only day no one works in the fields, so it is the best day to get the most people to attend. The meeting went very well and I was delighted to help them problem solve some of the issues they are having with their fish ponds. One was in regards to weighing their fish. When they harvest, it is good to know the weight of the fish they harvest so they can sell it per kilogram, or keep track of their harvests. They asked that I try to locate a scale for the farmers so they could perform this important basic task. Paying for a scale is next to impossible for these farmers, and getting one donated is not likely, so I suggested that they could make bricks, rocks, or sandbags of known weight (calibrated on the scale at the nearest clinic), and then use a portable balance (hand made in the village) at the harvest site to know how much the fish weighed. The "Oh Yeah!" look on their face was priceless. I'm looking forward to helping them develop their new balance and weights when I return next week.
Gina and I had to go to our provincial capital of Solwezi for a meeting of Peace Corps volunteers and administrative staff, as well as celebrate Thanksgiving. Now that we are officially volunteers, we had to travel to Solwezi without a Peace Corps vehicle for the first time. We were going to take a bus, but we found a truck that was going to go to Solwezi that was charging a little less than the bus, and it would get us to Solwezi earlier, which we preferred. The back of the truck was an open bed with about 20 people packed into the back of it, ages 4 months to 60 years. Gina and I see this type of travel all the time in Zambia, but this was the first time on a trip of this length (expected to be about 4 hours). So we loaded up with the Zambians, their chickens, sacks of sugar and grain, and giant mushrooms for sale in Solwezi markets, and enjoyed the wind in our hair despite the cramped conditions. At one point I had a small boy so close to me that I felt I could have been arrested had I been in a country that enforced anti-pedophilia laws. And then the rains came. After getting a little wet the driver's helpers, who rode in the back with us, unrolled a heavy tarp to put over our heads. The tie down straps were nothing but the hands of those passengers near the edges willing to hold the tarp down. It only rained for a total of about an hour on the trip, so we weren't traveling under wrap for that long. After stopping what seemed like every 15 minutes in some sections of the trip for goods for sale on the side of the road, we made it to Solwezi in about 6 hours. Gina and I appreciated the Zambian travel experience, but I think we'll pay the little bit of extra cash and take the mini-bus to Solwezi next time.
It's possible that neither Gina nor I will be able to blog until January and February, when she and I, respectively, head to Lusaka on separate trips for training in our different programs. But we should be able to check email on our cell phones, and will be able to check snail-mail in Mwinilunga, so keep those emails, packages and letters coming!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
T-day and reminiscing the first month at site
Gina's Post:
So it seems like it’s been an eternity since we’ve posted a blog, but we’ve literally been out in the bush for about three weeks now. The provincial meetings in Solwezi have given us a nice opportunity to meet up with friends from training and even share an American Thanksgiving dinner complete with deep-fried turkey.
It’s been great to hear from friends and family, and we are truly appreciative of the letters and packages, which always seem to arrive on a rainy day (not too hard here since rainy season is in full swing, and there’s at least one torrential downpour per day). We’ve begun a pen-pal exchange with letters from Jane’s students and students at the local school, and they are very excited to hear from America. We may not have internet access before or during Christmas, so we just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a happy early holiday!
A few more housekeeping things before we write about the last month: I was able to upload some pictures to my web album from the end of training and our swear-in ceremony, so you can find them at: https://picasaweb.google.com/
Also, several of you said you were thinking of visiting us this summer, and we’re getting the hut ready for visitors, and would love to have people who are willing to go a little off the beaten path. If you are still thinking of coming within the next year or so, just let us know so we can plan our vacation schedules accordingly.
One Cruiser Drop:
After Scott’s swear-in with the President, we relaxed for about a day at the Solwezi house before going on a crazy shopping spree to furnish our not-yet-completed hut. The villagers worked like crazy getting the roof finished, the bathing shelter and toilet made, and the floor halfway done before we came. The one problem was, they didn’t have enough concrete to finish the floors, and it’s not just something you can pick up at the nearest Home Depot around here. So, we already knew we were moving into an unfinished hut, and we also knew that we wanted to plastic the thatched roof to make it waterproof as well as concrete the mud walls.
In Zambia, as we’ll probably write in another post, transportation is definitely not easy to come by. When a new Peace Corps volunteer gets posted to their site, they get the one “free ride” from a Peace Corps cruiser to stock up on everything of weight or from the big city for the next two years. If not, they either have to plan on hand making something in the village or paying an arm and a leg to strap it onto an already overloaded bus or truck. So, of course we took the opportunity of the cruiser drop to stock up on items we thought we’d need for the next two years. Below is a list of just some of the things we picked up in Solwezi with our move-in allowance:
Black plastic rolls for the roof
Lots of nails, hammer, saw
4 bags cement
A broken chair which Scott clamped together
A mattress (our bed is STILL being made by a local carpenter who is splitting his own wood)
Lots of candles
Lots of toilet paper
Two braziers—cans that Zambians have shaped into cook stoves fueled by charcoal
Two large stainless-steel pots and a cast-iron dutch oven pot
Lots of buckets
A big wash basin
Two corrugated iron sheets to build a brick oven
Chicken wire
Jerry cans (empty vegetable oil containers used to carry water)
A large container of cooking oil
Wash basins
Flour, pasta, and sugar
Etemwa (hoe) blade, hoping to get a handle hand-made in the village
A manual drill that you crank (no power tools up here!)
Empty large cornmeal sacks for house projects
We arrived in our village at dusk and had a warm welcome by villagers. The first week at site was exciting, exhausting, and amazing all at the same time. I have highlighted the details here—sorry for the time delay.
A Week in the Life:
10/27- Posting Day. After lots of shopping for the above items and many more, we left Solwezi in one of the most full cruisers I have ever seen, piled 5 feet high on top and with a fully loaded trailer in the back. It had not only our move-in stuff, but also that for two other volunteers. The awesome driver Patrick made it to Mwinilunga in record time of about 4 hours, with a few short stops at other volunteers’ houses to drop things off and pick up our new kitten, which we hope will be a rat-eating machine in our hut. There is also another volunteer’s kitten in the basket in the cruiser, and they are both sitting in the basket hissing at us. Was this really a good idea? In Mwinilunga, we ate a quick lunch of peanuts and hardboiled eggs and learn that the other cruiser driver was dissatisfied with the pay and has decided to head back to Lusaka without posting the two other volunteers. So they have to consolidate even more people and things into ours, and our awesome driver Patrick. Highlight was picking up the AWESOME package from Dad at the Mwinilunga post office complete with dark chocolate and Time and Economist magazines. We dropped Ryan off at his site and the two kittens parted ways, before buying a huge bag of charcoal for cooking and heading up yet another dirt road to our village, where it was almost dusk. We had a warm welcome of what seemed like over 100 villagers waiting to help us unload our stuff into our new home for the next two years. Unfortunately, Patrick missed the turn off into our narrow driveway and got the cruiser and trailer stuck in the mud about 300 meters from our house. Good thing we had a bunch of villagers to help push us out of the mud puddle, re-connect our trailer, and help help bring the stuff into the house. We didn’t have enough light or energy to get the brazier going, so one of our neighbors was kind enough to give us cassava nshima and rape (kinda like spinach) and cooked up a few of our eggs for dinner. We unpacked a few bags, set up our mosquito net, and crashed on our sleeping bags rolled our over our newly-purchased mattress, still covered in plastic.
10/28- First Day in the Village. You would think that with our exhaustion we would have slept like rocks, but unfortunately our newly-acquired rat-killer was scared to death and crying all night. I had to wake up to dig the powdered milk out of one of our bags to give it to her. I fetched about 80 L of water in two different trips, and the village children helped me carry ALL of it, even the large containers. We’ll see how long that lasts. We couldn’t unpack all of our stuff due to lack of shelves/nails on the wall and when we realized that the front half our main room was still dirt and would have to be concreted. I did my first village cooking project around lunchtime and supervised some teenage boys make a dish drying rack out of sticks and wood rope in exchange for some soya and rice. Scott and I then fetched fired mud bricks from an abandoned building site a few compounds down and did several loads of them back to our site, using his bike rack. We made a makeshift table using the bricks and the door that was never put up between the two rooms of our house. Villagers pointed us to a big sandy stretch of road about 1 km from our house, and some of them helped pack six large bags of sand and carry it to our house so we can hopefully get the remainder of our house cemented before the end of the week. We were FINALLY able to relax in the evening a little as neighbors came over and introduce themselves. It rained slightly and we heard frogs and crickets singing.
10/29- First day at the Clinic. The cat actually slept most of the night and didn’t start crying until 4am, so we got a little more sleep. She’s actually purring rather than spitting at us when we touch it and we officially named her “Hops.” We had breakfast of oatmeal and tea, and Scott fetched more water since there was apparently still oil in some of the water-fetching containers we bought. My clinic counterpart heard we had arrived in town, so he stopped by my house and we rode the 3k to the clinic. I brought over some health posters about HIV prevention that I had picked up in Lusaka. Kenneth said that my first “patient” was in the clinic, which made me a little nervous since my role here is health educator rather than clinician. It was a woman in labor, and she had been at the clinic since the previous night. She was very young, and it was her first child. There were no men to be seen, but a group of her woman friends as well as a trained woman in the community called a traditional birth attendant (TBA). I sat in the room for about 20 minutes trying the best I could to speak in broken Lunda, and the women did a great job of laughing and correcting my mistakes. Since I could the Zambian women knew exactly what they were doing, and I had absolutely nothing to add to the situation except comic relief, I said “it will come slowly slowly” and then ducked out of the labor room. Not quite sure if I’m ready for a Zambian birth experience yet! I went over to the day clinic room, helped file some charts into a weird number system that I can’t quite understand and made a weekly schedule for my coming to the clinic. I sat in a few patient triages to see how the community health workers, who are volunteers from the community, (there are no doctors or nurses at my clinic) were treating patients. When I got home, Scott spent some time organizing various belongings into themed bags so at least we had somewhat of an idea where to look for stuff. I cleaned my bike and fetched more water while Scott went to look for a hoe handle with some of the villagers. He successfully found one, as well as ate dried crickets and drank honey wine AND negotiated the price on some handmade wicker chairs to be made by one of our neighbors. Some kids were climbing the 40 foot tall tree in front of our house to get some yummy citrus-like fruit, and they were delighted to have me take their pictures. They were all very polite, and even shared some of the fruit. Scott and I ate a dinner of eggs, crackers and chocolate, played with the cat and went to bed.
10/30- Food and Church Day. We woke up and decided we wanted to use our new dutch oven to try to make cornbread on the brazier. As it was cooking, our host family father informed us that we needed to introduce ourselves to the village headman as apparently we hadn’t done that yet. So, of course we left it on the coals, while we went to go meet the headman who wasn’t even home. Of course we came back to a lump of bread even blacker than the charcoal that was cooking it. I was not willing to give up on the first bush-baking experience, so whipped up yet another batter and with lots of supervision and coal maneuvering, we actually got a decent loaf of cornbread, which we shared with our neighbors who have been so generous to us over the past few days. Since it was Sunday, we headed over to the nearest Catholic Church to at least introduce ourselves, knowing we would probably miss the service after the failed headman and bread-burning experience. All villagers notice whether you go to church or not (it doesn’t really matter which one), and we didn’t want to send the wrong message our first week at site. Although the service was over, we were able to meet the traveling deacon, who says he divides his time among 20 bush parishes and shares the duties with a priest. Scott went to look for vegetables to buy from someone’s field and I made some curtains from some of the cornmeal sacks and swept the house. Scott came back with tomatoes, onions, and cassava leaves (sombe). Our host mother helped me pound the sombe using a huge wooden mortar and pestle. We made nshima out of cornmeal, which was a treat for the villagers and had more visitors, including two drunk guys asking for volleyballs for the school. It was our first time practicing our well-rehearsed explanation that we provide knowledge, not things. We went to visit another neighbor’s pineapple fields and saw a gorgeous sunset over the fields. We went inside to have some tea and raisenettes (thanks Dad!) and the kitty is now purring and climbing all over us.
10/31- Halloween BOMA trip. All district capitols are called BOMA’s and Mwinilunga is ours. The town we will use for all little errands such as going to the post office, re-stocking on supplies such as eggs, and meeting officials from the departments of health and fisheries. A few other PC volunteers centered around the area decided to meet up for Halloween, and although we were hesitant to leave our village we just settled into, we did want to meet some of the other volunteers and run some errands. We packed our bikes and Scott waxed the cement floor in the bedroom while I washed the dishes. On the way, we stopped at a neighboring village because we saw a guy sawing planks to make what looked like a table outside of his house. This was the first carpenter we had seen, so we negotiated the price for a bookshelf and a proper table. Including the carpenter stop, the bike trip took about 2 hours and wasn’t too hilly. We also stopped by the Ministry of Health and World Vision office to introduce ourselves to various government officials before meeting up with our Peace Corps friends for Halloween, picking up a lovely package from Scott’s sister-in-law and heading back to our village.
So that was our first 5 days in a nutshell. I’ll occasionally write “A Week in the Life” so you can see our progress as we slowly integrate into our community over the next two years. As you can see, each day is filled with its own adventure.
Thanks again to all our family, friends and neighbors back home for all of your support. We wish you a happy Thanksgiving and holiday season. Signing off until our next internet access allows J.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Volunteers Unite!
So I am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer as of Friday afternoon. Gina and I are officially united and ready to help our village become healthier and economically more stable. Swear-in day started off with a typical Zambian breakfast in the hotel Peace Corps has been setting us up in every time we go to Lusaka: pink mystery meat, boiled egg, white bread, and beans. I'd had my fill of this, so Gina and I augmented it with a little bit of Zambian granola- yum! Then 35 Peace Corps trainees and 3 Peace Corps volunteers (wives of the 3 married couples in my program) loaded up into vehicles in their best clothes they brought to Zambia. I opted for a little Zambian flair, so in addition to my black patent leathers and dress pants, I had a shirt made with a Zambian flag chitenge. The ceremony started at the Peace Corps headquarters in Lusaka where we gave speeches (in Lunda!) and had the ubiquitous "this is a big day in your lives" speech from the American ambassador to Lusaka. We had a little fun with a song written by one of the Zambian trainers and performed by the volunteers. Then we went to the Zambian state house. This is the equivalent of the White House. Security was surprisingly lacking once we were inside, and while I expected a whirlwind tour of the place, things were pretty relaxed, including monkeys climbing up the trees and peacocks screeching in the distance of the house grounds. We went into the equivalent of the Oval Room where we waited with some Peace Corps officials, ambassadors, Zambian chiefs, heads of aid organizations, and 34 young (and one middle-aged), excited Peace Corps volunteers. This was the first major event for the Zambian president of 28 days, Michael Chilufa Sata, and the first time any Zambian president attended (much less hosted) a Peace Corps volunteer swear-in ceremony. Peace Corps officials tried, successfully I think, to impress upon us the honor that we had that day. So much so that we were a little surprised at how relaxed the atmosphere was at the state house. Key to creating this atmosphere was Sata himself. I wasn't quite sure if his relaxed, matter-of-fact attitude was a testament to being top gun in Zambian politics or his personality. After the new volunteers took a couple of poorly choreographed pictures with him and some other big-wigs, he commented that it was time to go eat. We appreciated his directness. He invited the volunteers to be the first in line to the buffet of buffets, complete with Zambian bush meat, fresh vegetables that were not cooked to death, 12 other pans of good food with Zambian flair, and 5 different desserts, including flan and an awesome bread pudding. After eating, Sata didn't talk much, choosing instead to pick on the ambassadors from various countries. He referred to the chinese ambassador as "Mao Tse-tung". The french ambassador was "the frenchman", and the russian ambassador was "russki". We didn't know if he forgot their real names or if he had such a personal relationship with them that these names were acceptable. I'm guessing with just 28 days in office it was the former. The finale was when Sata instructed the 20-piece band to play the American national anthem, but they didn't know it. Sata apologized to the crowd and said something to the effect that a minister of defense (leader of the band among other things, I suppose) who doesn't know the American national anthem is of of little use to him. Later that evening Gina and I, along with the other married couples and a very hungry single volunteer went out for Thai-food, which was a big splurge on our stipend (about 10 dollars a plate--very close to a day's Peace Corps stipend). Too bad we are not making American salaries anymore!
The following day we started the journey to get permanently placed in our little village, which includes a 4 day layover in Solwezi to relax, process paperwork, and purchase things for our hut. One afternoon we stopped for lunch at one of those places where we had to place our order in one line and pay in another. I went to pay for my lunch and waited behind one person paying for his lunch. As I leaned over to get a good look at a tray of cookies that I wanted to buy, another Zambian approached and moved into the space between me and the paying customer. Since I was leaning to a side as if I wasn't committed to being in line, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and humbly got back in line, or what I thought was the line. A few moments later a second person cut in front of me with not so much as a glance to see how I might react. I realized then I was either getting royally taken advantage of as someone who didn't know the language or I was getting a lesson in person space in Zambia. After getting snubbed twice of my place in line I made sure I didn't lose it again by getting uncomfortably close to the person who was in front of me. So close that when he was finished paying I had to move over to make way for him. But, I didn't lose my place in line again. Hopefully I will be able to find a happy medium between what is considered American personal space in lines and what seemed like a stalking encounter to me.
I learned another lesson in Zambian etiquette at a lodge where several of us new volunteers went to relax and keep cool one afternoon. We had a swimming pool with cascading waterfall and poolside bar nearly to ourselves for several hours. One volunteer was laying by the pool with her drink standing beside her. There was a little bit of remodeling going on off to the side of the pool and one of the workers chose to roll his wheelbarrow load passed her, breaking her glass as he passed. He didn't even say sorry, which is pretty odd for Zambians, who have a habit of saying "Sorry, sorry, sorry" after any little grievance, whether they were involved or not. A little while later a waitress came by and cleaned up the glass. The volunteer pointed to the glass and asked for another. A while later the waitress returned and set down, in the same spot as the previous, a wonderfully cold but EMPTY glass. We all had a belly laugh immediately at this comical misunderstanding. We have found that Zambian waiters and waitresses often ask for precise instructions. For example, if I order a dinner item from the menu, I always get asked "How many" afterwards, as if my skinny stature was their cue to suggest that I might have more than one. So after the broken glass situation, it was clear that the waitress brought back exactly what the volunteer asked for.
After spending a day buying goods and supplies around Solwezi, it is becoming clear that service is a far cry from what you would expect in America. Our model "the customer is always right" is nearly completely flipped on its head in Zambia. When we Americans find ourselves in these awkward situations in Zambia there is a saying: "Zambia wins again", or "ZWA" for short. This is our reminder to ourselves that we are living in a different culture and we are at the mercy of it, and the sooner we get used to it the better off we'll be. It may sound a little pessimistic, but I am closer now to the "getting used to it" side of that pendulum so it is usually a source of comedy when I hear "ZWA" lately. We have heard that there is some mail in Mwinilunga, the nearest town to our village, so we are looking forward to getting that news from the States, probably on Thursday.
But first we have to purchase a few more things on our long list of hut necessities and wants, and then another 4 to 5 hours of driving to get to our new home for the next two years.
The following day we started the journey to get permanently placed in our little village, which includes a 4 day layover in Solwezi to relax, process paperwork, and purchase things for our hut. One afternoon we stopped for lunch at one of those places where we had to place our order in one line and pay in another. I went to pay for my lunch and waited behind one person paying for his lunch. As I leaned over to get a good look at a tray of cookies that I wanted to buy, another Zambian approached and moved into the space between me and the paying customer. Since I was leaning to a side as if I wasn't committed to being in line, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and humbly got back in line, or what I thought was the line. A few moments later a second person cut in front of me with not so much as a glance to see how I might react. I realized then I was either getting royally taken advantage of as someone who didn't know the language or I was getting a lesson in person space in Zambia. After getting snubbed twice of my place in line I made sure I didn't lose it again by getting uncomfortably close to the person who was in front of me. So close that when he was finished paying I had to move over to make way for him. But, I didn't lose my place in line again. Hopefully I will be able to find a happy medium between what is considered American personal space in lines and what seemed like a stalking encounter to me.
I learned another lesson in Zambian etiquette at a lodge where several of us new volunteers went to relax and keep cool one afternoon. We had a swimming pool with cascading waterfall and poolside bar nearly to ourselves for several hours. One volunteer was laying by the pool with her drink standing beside her. There was a little bit of remodeling going on off to the side of the pool and one of the workers chose to roll his wheelbarrow load passed her, breaking her glass as he passed. He didn't even say sorry, which is pretty odd for Zambians, who have a habit of saying "Sorry, sorry, sorry" after any little grievance, whether they were involved or not. A little while later a waitress came by and cleaned up the glass. The volunteer pointed to the glass and asked for another. A while later the waitress returned and set down, in the same spot as the previous, a wonderfully cold but EMPTY glass. We all had a belly laugh immediately at this comical misunderstanding. We have found that Zambian waiters and waitresses often ask for precise instructions. For example, if I order a dinner item from the menu, I always get asked "How many" afterwards, as if my skinny stature was their cue to suggest that I might have more than one. So after the broken glass situation, it was clear that the waitress brought back exactly what the volunteer asked for.
After spending a day buying goods and supplies around Solwezi, it is becoming clear that service is a far cry from what you would expect in America. Our model "the customer is always right" is nearly completely flipped on its head in Zambia. When we Americans find ourselves in these awkward situations in Zambia there is a saying: "Zambia wins again", or "ZWA" for short. This is our reminder to ourselves that we are living in a different culture and we are at the mercy of it, and the sooner we get used to it the better off we'll be. It may sound a little pessimistic, but I am closer now to the "getting used to it" side of that pendulum so it is usually a source of comedy when I hear "ZWA" lately. We have heard that there is some mail in Mwinilunga, the nearest town to our village, so we are looking forward to getting that news from the States, probably on Thursday.
But first we have to purchase a few more things on our long list of hut necessities and wants, and then another 4 to 5 hours of driving to get to our new home for the next two years.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Scott Swears in Tomorrow!
Gina’s Post:
More pictures are up thanks to Chris and Yuki! You can check out the web album at:
Below this post is a blog that I wrote several weeks ago, but never had the time in a town with good internet access to post. As with many things in Zambia, good things come to those who wait.
In the meantime, plans changed a little, and instead of me going to Northwest province two weeks before Scott, I decided to stay with him as he finished training in Chipembi due to lack of a cement floor in our new hut. We are hoping that it will be finished by the time we move in come late October. His host family is nice, and I’ve occupied much of my time teaching them camp songs like “The Princess Pat,” teaching them how to make banana fritters, and passing around the homemade PVC pipe hula hoop (thanks Cynthia).
Not too many new things to report except that I did pass my language exam at an intermediate-mid level and it now VERY hot, although we now have a nice mid-afternoon thunderstorm several times to cool things off. Reminds me much of summers in Colorado (minus the fans or air conditioning), and the clouds are absolutely amazing.
Two of the other wives who are waiting for training to end with me also went to the clinic and took the initiative to give a health talk about diarrhea prevention to new mothers at the under 5 clinic. Although we needed an interpreter to translate it into Nyanja, I think it went pretty well.
Scott swears in tomorrow, which is also the Peace Corps Zambia’s 50th anniversary celebration. We get to be in the state house with newly-elected President Sata. I'll try to get pix if they allow it! Scott had an awesome shirt made for him out of Zambian flag chitenge material, although the Lunda speech he was supposed to give got cut from the program after they figured out it was going to be at the states house. Oh well . . . he did a great job giving it to all the host families at cultural day yesterday.
In the meantime, I thought I’d show my own little musing about more local fare tried in the village:
The Lion King
Scott’s family served warthog last night. I tried not to have visions of Pumba in my head as I gulped down very tender savory bones covered with melt-in-your mouth red meat. Along with the staple carbohydrate of roller-ball nshima, they also served it with some really tasty boiled potatoes. So, for a gal not too used to so much carnivorous fare, I would have to say it was just about the best meat and potatoes I ever ate. Apparently Scott’s host father got the bush meat from a friend of his, and ironically, several other volunteers who have host families near us also got warthog last night. Not something I would have every night, but definitely a novelty. As a side, this is probably the first wild creature I have eaten in Zambia, but Scott has had bush meat on two other occasions as well as caterpillars and termites—I guess the termites have a nice deep fried crunch!
Charlotte’s Web
The female pig on Scott’s family’s compound is so pregnant it looks like she could burst any day. She traipses around with her giant belly covered in mud from some nearby mud pit with a few other slightly smaller pigs following her and likes to scratch all day in the mango tree outside our round hut, or sometimes directly ON our hut. I’m really hoping to see cute pink little piglets but don’t know if I’ll get the opportunity as we’re moving to NW province after Scott swears in as an official volunteer. There are also enough friendly little wall spiders that do a fair job of munching the mosquitoes in our hut that sometimes I think I’m living in the middle of Charlotte’s Web, although I did kill what I think was a poisonous one running across our bed the other day.
I do venture to say that the animals that we have now become accustomed living with side-by-side are probably some of the luckiest free-range animals in the world. The villagers seem to have a kind of symbiotic relationship, which is essential considering their lack of refrigeration. The animals kind of just roam from compound to compound munching on whatever is around and somehow know how to make their home every night. Yesterday as Scott was having one of his last classes, we saw a herd of cows wandering through blissfully munching on banana tree leaves. The chickens at Amaama Annie’s were my favorite as about 5 of them had between 2-9 chicks each and you could see little pecking families digging for bugs, foraging for dropped nshima, and flying up to the wash bin to snag a drink of water. My favorite was watching a mama chicken single-beakedly kill a toad and subsequently divide it up for her little young very quickly before the other chicken mamas started pecking at her for their share of the kill. The little girls would help gather the little chicks each evening and let the mamas keep them safe inside of their cooking shelter.
Since our future site has mostly goats and sheep around (the latter looking so much like the former that you sometimes can’t tell the difference except for the ubiquitous “baa” sound and a longer tail), I’m looking forward to utilizing the compost for gardening and possibly even starting a goat milking project. Although first step will be to build a bamboo or thatch fence around our future garden because any hope of keeping these hungry foragers away in the land without boundaries is to fence them away from vegetation that we happen to want to eat.
The roaming phenomenon applies to children as well. Since I have been with Scott’s host family for less than two weeks, I have a very hard time distinguishing which children belong to whom. After 11 weeks, he is better, but can’t always place a child with his or her particular family. It doesn’t help that aunts are very often referred to as “amaamas,” so the kids you think are brothers and sisters for so long actually turn out to be cousins or friends. Good thing they all know me simply as “Mrs. Scott.” One thing I do know is that whenever the hula hoop gets broken out, or people start beating on their jerry can drums, you can guarantee that a nice little group of 3-4 children will quickly multiply to 20 or more. So, when planning village activities, we have to keep in mind that we might just attract the entire neighborhood within a matter of minutes.
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Gina’s (old) Post from early October:
I will officially be a Peace Corps volunteer this Friday. That is the day our entire CHIP group (health education) will go to the US Ambassador’s office in Lusaka for the fancy event. Scott will join me for the hooplah, and then his RAP (fish farming) group will officially swear in on October 21st. Unfortunately I won’t be able to go to his because I’ll be up in Northwest province preparing our new house before the rains come, which is supposedly mid to late October for Northwest province. We’re in Lusaka today for a banking day, so I wanted to relate the last few events of the CHIP training while we have internet access J.
HIV Education
One of our practicals last week consisted of going to one of the local schools by our training site and teaching about either HIV or empowerment. Since we had only a 45-minute session, Heidi and I chose to teach about HIV and test our own knowledge about HIV and Zambian culture that has been drilled into us for the past 10 weeks. When we arrived at the school, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we got a 12th grade class of an all-girls boarding school. Most of the girls came from cities, and many were college bound. Their English was impeccable, and they made fun of us for our American accents.
We started with the handshake game that illustrates how quickly the virus can spread when a person doesn’t know they are infected and doesn’t use protection. We then had them do a “race” at the chalkboard where each team got a piece of chalk and the members of each team had to write a word or phrase on the board having to do with HIV. We got everything from “human immudeficiency virus” to “condom” to “virgin power” to “sex before marriage is a sin.” The activity facilitated a nice discussion to some of the myths surrounding HIV transmission in Zambia, and these girls’ role as they are entering one of the highest risk times of their lives—the university. We also talked about the fact that many married couples in Zambia have at least one partner with the virus and what they can do to lower their risk. The girls were excited and wanted our mailing addresses at the end so that we could keep in touch.
It was very refreshing having such an active and knowledgable audience, although we definitely will not have the same level of English proficiency and literacy in the village. In fact, my village only has a school that goes to the 9th grade, and many women drop out at that time to tend the fields.
Election Week!
Election day was September 20th and it was apparent far and wide in Zambia, even in the villages, as carloads of singing Zambians and political parades filled the streets. Peace Corps declared a standfast for all volunteers and trainees, which meant that we couldn’t travel to Chongwe for several days prior to and after the elections, and we also couldn’t leave our homestays the actual day of the elections on the off chance that violence should break out. Most of our Zambian language and technical trainers all left to journey to their respective provinces in order to vote. My host mother, sister and brother all voted, and proudly demonstrated the brown ink on their left thumb as a sign of their voting.
The two most prominent candidates were incumbent president Rufiah Banda and opposition party leader Michael Sata. After two days, no official result had been announced, and you could tell the Zambians were holding tight, and some were questioning why the Zambian government was taking so long, as they said in previous elections, most results come out the following day. Some even suspected the results were being rigged in favor of the incumbent, which is why it took so long.
At 1:30 in the morning of the 23rd, I heard cymbals, screams, and running, mostly coming from the bar of the street. For about 5 minutes I sat in my bed terrified that the result was angry people mad that the election was rigged. Then, as the sounds came closer to my house, I heard “Sata, Sata, Sata” and “wawato, wawato, wawato,” which was his election campaign of row row row your boat. I was shocked as I thought he didn’t have a chance over the incumbent’s well funded campaign. The yells and calls were those of joy in the takeover of a 20-year dominating party. Rufia Banda conceded and Sata was sworn in that very afternoon.
Most of my Zambian trainers were pleased with the result, although my language teacher and host mother were not so happy. I guess just like any democracy, you can’t please everyone . . . but it was an interesting experience to see the democratic process alive in a developing nation. Zambia prides itself in being a country of peace, and except for a few isolated events in Lusaka, election day went off without a hitch and the result was favored by most people I asked. Just like any new president, I’m sure this one will have challenges unimagined while he was campaigning, but it was fun to see the energy of the people that day. Our standfast was lifted the day after his swearing in.
Stir Crazy
I feel like I’m back in high school right now as the weather is just starting to get uncomfortably hot during the day (nights are still cool), and each training session seems like it lasts twice as long as it should. It’s just like every last week of school that I’ve ever remembered. It doesn’t help that a few days ago, the huge ceiling beam of our large nsaka (grass-ceiling open-air meeting pavillian) collapsed while we were in it. The beam itself was made of two long tree trunks roped together—forget about steel beams or treated lumbar around here. Luckily, the ceiling didn’t collapse all the way and everyone quickly got out. The beam is now being held up by three more tree trunks used as crutches to keep the entire structure from crashing down. Needless to say, we are not having class there and have been delegated to a hot, stuffy classroom, which has further perpetuated the “when is this going to be over?” mentality.
We just had interviews with our mentors from the ministry of health to go over the technical objectives, as well as our LPI, which stands for Language Proficiency Interview. It is supposed to be an interview that lasts 15-30 minutes where an officially-trained tester orally assesses one’s language proficiency. It is taped and then scored by a number of trained scorers. Topics can range from anything from basic greetings, to talking about one’s family to anything random. Mine lasted 50 minutes, so I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I do know that my tester in Lunda asked me very specific questions, such as why I liked teaching yoga to children with disabilities, why it was a problem that women in rural Zambia had so many children, and to explain my application process in Lunda for getting into the Peace Corps. Needless to say, everyone came out of their LPI’s feeling a little tongue tied, but I think everyone in our group passed their various languages.
On Saturday a group of us went to a swimming pool at a lodge in town to celebrate the almost-end of our training and beat the heat. We even talked the manager down to a 5,000 kwacha ($1) discount by saying that we were Peace Corps trainees. It was glorious to bask in the sun and hang out for a few hours until we saw the storm clouds roll in. It had happen once before, but just wind and clouds and not a single drop of rain. This time the rain came down and we quickly got out of the pool in time for a spectacular show of rain, thunder and lightning. It reminded me of a July afternoon in Denver. On the way back, we rode our bikes past Chongwe to pick up a few of the guys’ swearing-in outfits. I and most of the gals already had our colorful chitenge outfits made by local tailors, but the guys chose a tailor in the market that took a week longer to complete the outfits than she already said. Seeing as we have to move from our host families in Chongwe on Wednesday, she was pushing the time limit, which seems to be a trend here in Zambia. Marcus tried on his ostentatious orange-flowered Austin Powers looking shirt and it fit perfectly, minus the button holes that the lady still didn’t put in. Danny put on his authentic looking elephant vest that fit quite nicely until we realized that the elephants were all upside-down and the tailor made the entire vest without realizing that small little detail. We started looking very upset, saying “but the elephant feet, they are up in the air,” and she profusely apologized, offering to give Danny a 5,000 kwacha discount from the 35,000 price it cost to make the vest. I will try my best to post pictures of my lovely poofy-sleeved chitenge outfit when I wear it at swear-in!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Nearly Done Training
Gina's training is close enough to taste, and mine is eagerly awaited, just 2 weeks after her swearing-in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV).
Have you ever played "telephone" ? The game where one person thinks of a short phrase, whispers it to the person next to them, and that person whispers it to the person next to them, and so on, until the last person is reached. That last person then tells all what they heard. Rarely does the last person's phrase equal the first person's phrase. Now imagine doing that in a room full of native English speakers, and native Zambian speakers, of which there are about 5 languages represented. It turns out the original phrase was "what makes oil boil?". By the time it got to me, about 20 people into the crowd, I heard "no word is done". By the time it got to the end, after about 70 people, who were an even mix of English and Zambian language speakers, the phrase was "How can I help you?" A testament to how communication can be in our new environmnent.
The latest highlights:
*At my village visit in which I was immersed in language and culture (Sept 12 - 15) I found that
1) Zambian kids can learn how to play Frisbee pretty fast. They've got a good backhand throw after about 15 minutes and can start attempting a forehand throw after about 1/2 an hour after seeing a Frisbee for what seemed to be the first time.
2) a couple Peace Corps volunteers would have preferred to serve in Vietnam rather than the Peace Corps had they been given the chance when Peace Corps was starting in the 1960s.
3) vaccinating 700 chickens from the New Castle virus can practically double the number of chickens in the village.
4) Zambians love theater. I saw 2 theatrical skits performed by Zambians. I guess when they don't have TV, theater is a natural for many young Zambians.
* while witnessing the slaughter and gutting of a hen at my host family's house, during one of Gina's visits to Chipembi, we saw developing eggs inside the chicken. Cool.
* when sending packages to Zambia, writing in red ink and/or including random bible verses on the package can help shorten/insure the delivery.
* during a day when training was really getting old, I was saved by an impromptu jam session with plastic containers as drums, one of our trainers on guitar, and a couple of co-trainees on vocals.
* election day in a little village in Zambia is pretty quite. Meanwhile, we hear stories of riots in the big cities like Lusaka and Ndola.
* I ate a fish that reminded me of a rainbow trout or even a farm-raised salmon. Memories of Washington State followed...
* 3 days after the election the villagers finally get the results. Getting those results at 1 a.m. didn't stop them from celebrating with drumming and singing. Not much sleep for me that night!
* my host family is having an addition put on their house. As simple as this process appeared to be, the characters were the same: contractor trying to do the work as fast and cheaply as possile while the home-owner watches, eagle-eyed, for any deviations from the plan, of which there are several, much to the contract-less builder.
* Ever had cow's feet for dinner? It is practically a delicacy in Zambia. Three textures exist on this one, none of which resemble meat, but most resemble some sort of degree of jello hardness.
* playing pool in a little corner bar on a mini-pool table with intoxicated Zambians was much more fun than I thought it could be. I won 4 games in a row, which is more a testament to how drunk my opponents were rather than my skill.
* On a site visit to a large-scale fish farm, we saw crocodiles up close. More pictures later. At the farm there is a nice cyclic approach- pig manure feeds fish, fish feed crocodiles, fish and crocodile meat pays for pig feed, repeat.
* Zambians are really big on treating their guests to the meal before anyone else. I have eaten alone more often than I'd like in Zambia. On another site visit into my future village (October 1 to October 4) I had a Zambian sit in a dark corner just 7 ft away while I ate by myself. When I offered food to him, he said he would eat later on. I'm not sure if he was there for moral support or just to see how the white person would handle eating nshima.
* the cacophony of birds early in the morning is worth the early wake-up. My favorite is the one that sounds like someone blowing across the top of a bottle.
* Caterpillars and termites are common foods out in the bush at certain times of the year. Fried, they really aren't that bad. Mom, don't worry, this is not my typical meal.
* At the site visit to my future Zambian village I made grilled cheese sandwiches for my host family. It blew their minds on a couple of different levels, the most significiant of which was a guy cooking for the family. Eating cheese was a close second. I miss cheese!
* Zambians don't like to walk in the rain. I spent 2 hours packed underneath a shelter with a family of 9 waiting for a downpour to pass. I had a raincoat and hat, but my host insisted that we stay dry.
* I saw the fish ponds where I will be living in Northwest Province of Zambia, and met some of the fish farmers. I am eager to start working with them to improve their fish yields and fish size. Some are very excited to be getting help. I hope that they only expect knowledge from me, and not instant cure-alls for their fish farming problems!
* though Gina had planned to go to our site immediately following the end of her training, because our house was not finished she decided to wait until I ended training, so we will be together all the time starting October 7th or so. I am looking forward to sharing Zambia with her on a daily basis.
Have you ever played "telephone" ? The game where one person thinks of a short phrase, whispers it to the person next to them, and that person whispers it to the person next to them, and so on, until the last person is reached. That last person then tells all what they heard. Rarely does the last person's phrase equal the first person's phrase. Now imagine doing that in a room full of native English speakers, and native Zambian speakers, of which there are about 5 languages represented. It turns out the original phrase was "what makes oil boil?". By the time it got to me, about 20 people into the crowd, I heard "no word is done". By the time it got to the end, after about 70 people, who were an even mix of English and Zambian language speakers, the phrase was "How can I help you?" A testament to how communication can be in our new environmnent.
The latest highlights:
*At my village visit in which I was immersed in language and culture (Sept 12 - 15) I found that
1) Zambian kids can learn how to play Frisbee pretty fast. They've got a good backhand throw after about 15 minutes and can start attempting a forehand throw after about 1/2 an hour after seeing a Frisbee for what seemed to be the first time.
2) a couple Peace Corps volunteers would have preferred to serve in Vietnam rather than the Peace Corps had they been given the chance when Peace Corps was starting in the 1960s.
3) vaccinating 700 chickens from the New Castle virus can practically double the number of chickens in the village.
4) Zambians love theater. I saw 2 theatrical skits performed by Zambians. I guess when they don't have TV, theater is a natural for many young Zambians.
* while witnessing the slaughter and gutting of a hen at my host family's house, during one of Gina's visits to Chipembi, we saw developing eggs inside the chicken. Cool.
* when sending packages to Zambia, writing in red ink and/or including random bible verses on the package can help shorten/insure the delivery.
* during a day when training was really getting old, I was saved by an impromptu jam session with plastic containers as drums, one of our trainers on guitar, and a couple of co-trainees on vocals.
* election day in a little village in Zambia is pretty quite. Meanwhile, we hear stories of riots in the big cities like Lusaka and Ndola.
* I ate a fish that reminded me of a rainbow trout or even a farm-raised salmon. Memories of Washington State followed...
* 3 days after the election the villagers finally get the results. Getting those results at 1 a.m. didn't stop them from celebrating with drumming and singing. Not much sleep for me that night!
* my host family is having an addition put on their house. As simple as this process appeared to be, the characters were the same: contractor trying to do the work as fast and cheaply as possile while the home-owner watches, eagle-eyed, for any deviations from the plan, of which there are several, much to the contract-less builder.
* Ever had cow's feet for dinner? It is practically a delicacy in Zambia. Three textures exist on this one, none of which resemble meat, but most resemble some sort of degree of jello hardness.
* playing pool in a little corner bar on a mini-pool table with intoxicated Zambians was much more fun than I thought it could be. I won 4 games in a row, which is more a testament to how drunk my opponents were rather than my skill.
* On a site visit to a large-scale fish farm, we saw crocodiles up close. More pictures later. At the farm there is a nice cyclic approach- pig manure feeds fish, fish feed crocodiles, fish and crocodile meat pays for pig feed, repeat.
* Zambians are really big on treating their guests to the meal before anyone else. I have eaten alone more often than I'd like in Zambia. On another site visit into my future village (October 1 to October 4) I had a Zambian sit in a dark corner just 7 ft away while I ate by myself. When I offered food to him, he said he would eat later on. I'm not sure if he was there for moral support or just to see how the white person would handle eating nshima.
* the cacophony of birds early in the morning is worth the early wake-up. My favorite is the one that sounds like someone blowing across the top of a bottle.
* Caterpillars and termites are common foods out in the bush at certain times of the year. Fried, they really aren't that bad. Mom, don't worry, this is not my typical meal.
* At the site visit to my future Zambian village I made grilled cheese sandwiches for my host family. It blew their minds on a couple of different levels, the most significiant of which was a guy cooking for the family. Eating cheese was a close second. I miss cheese!
* Zambians don't like to walk in the rain. I spent 2 hours packed underneath a shelter with a family of 9 waiting for a downpour to pass. I had a raincoat and hat, but my host insisted that we stay dry.
* I saw the fish ponds where I will be living in Northwest Province of Zambia, and met some of the fish farmers. I am eager to start working with them to improve their fish yields and fish size. Some are very excited to be getting help. I hope that they only expect knowledge from me, and not instant cure-alls for their fish farming problems!
* though Gina had planned to go to our site immediately following the end of her training, because our house was not finished she decided to wait until I ended training, so we will be together all the time starting October 7th or so. I am looking forward to sharing Zambia with her on a daily basis.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Back in Lusaka
Gina's Post:
Didn't think I would be writing this for a few weeks, but I was able to get e-mail access due to an unexpected guidebook falling on my pinky toe from the top bunk of the provincial house this morning. After 10 days of living in small villages, fetching my own water, and biking up to 60k per day on dirt roads, a little broken toe from that darn book was the last reason I thought I'd end up in the PC medical office. The doctor wants x-rays tomorrow just be sure, but he said it should heal nicely, and I don't think it'll interfere much with upcoming training, as we'll really be focusing on language the next few weeks.
On a better note . . . thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for both myself and Scott. I was able to spend my b-day at another health volunteer's site gawking at waterfalls and initiating a game of red rover with the kids hanging around at her clinic. I then made my way to our future home, which I included in the last post. We live on a family compounding consisting of a pastor and his wife and some of their six children as well as various friends/family members that I am unable to keep track of quite yet. There are SO many things I could write about for my first impressions, but I thought I'd leave you with two for now:
Ant/Termite Hills:
The further up into Northwest Province you go, the bigger and more mountainous they get, sometimes towering upwards of 30 feet high. At first they just dot the landscape like crazy little mountains, until you realize that entire villages are actually centered around them, with about one ant hill to each family compound. When you take a closer look, you can tell these hills serve at least 3 very essential purposes for human bush existance:
1) I guess the soil they dig up is very clay-like and perfect for making mud bricks. In fact almost every ant hill in my new village has a hole cut out of the side of it and a brick oven kiln within several feet of it. I found that the handmade bricks in the huts up there are much more solid than the Lusaka area ones, especially after they have been fired in the kiln.
2) The numerous goats and sheep up where I live love to climb on the hils and make little paths all around them . . . almost like pseudo-mountains. The sheep here are almost hairless and at first I thought they were goats except for their long tails and their baa-ing, so that took a little adjustment.
3) The two best places to get cell phone coverage in our village are of course by walking halfway up the anthills, so if you ever decide to call, you can just picture where we'll be standing as there is no network coverage inside our hut.
Food:
Our area is 19 kilometers on a very hilly dirt road from the nearest BOMA, or town, so it is very difficult for villages to buy almost any products. They are truly subsistence farmers, but that said, they take pride in the diversity of foods they are able to grow/cultivate. I think the next two years will truly be a lesson in how to eat locally. Here are some foods that I tasted at site during my time there and their rating in Lunda:
1) Chawahi Nankashi (Very good)- freshly-cut pineapple almost every day, sweet potatoes in 2 varieties, freshly pounded coffee off the tree in our family compound, a small fruit that tastes like a mango, chinese cabbage and rape (a green leafy veggie).
2) Chanti Chanti (Just okay)- sweet potato and cassava leaves, goat/sheep meat, fresh sugar cane (delicious, but hard to eat), nshima yamakamba--that play-dough like substance that is made out of fermented cassava root instead of corn up in the Northwest. It's the staple and eaten with every meal, so I better learn to love it!
3) Nakenga Wanyi (I don't like)- dried fish--although depending on how it's prepared I can actually like it, my swallowing a fish bone a few weeks back as well as eating the heads made me a little more weary of these things, dried catepillars--at first I thought I would try those, but for some reason I just couldn't stomach them when they were offered to me without any other relishes or other foods.
Yes, living in the bush will be quite a culinary adventure. I also hear there are bananas, avacados, mangos, squash and fresh honey available depending on time of the year :). And . . . lots of the villagers are interested in some of the foods we grow in America, so we'll definitely also have our own little garden.
That's about it for now. Scott is still on his second site visit learning about fish farming implementation in action, and we will both be at our training sites for the upcoming national elections, which happen September 20th. We'll probably have some interesting stories after those happen, but I don't want to jinx anything, so we'll save that blog for after.
I'll be in Mwnilunga area (our official site for the next two years) in mid-October, so feel free to start sending mail to our new address in the corner as it takes about a month and it will probably reach us by then. Off to bed so I can get some x-rays tomorrow morning!
Take care,
Gina
Didn't think I would be writing this for a few weeks, but I was able to get e-mail access due to an unexpected guidebook falling on my pinky toe from the top bunk of the provincial house this morning. After 10 days of living in small villages, fetching my own water, and biking up to 60k per day on dirt roads, a little broken toe from that darn book was the last reason I thought I'd end up in the PC medical office. The doctor wants x-rays tomorrow just be sure, but he said it should heal nicely, and I don't think it'll interfere much with upcoming training, as we'll really be focusing on language the next few weeks.
On a better note . . . thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for both myself and Scott. I was able to spend my b-day at another health volunteer's site gawking at waterfalls and initiating a game of red rover with the kids hanging around at her clinic. I then made my way to our future home, which I included in the last post. We live on a family compounding consisting of a pastor and his wife and some of their six children as well as various friends/family members that I am unable to keep track of quite yet. There are SO many things I could write about for my first impressions, but I thought I'd leave you with two for now:
Ant/Termite Hills:
The further up into Northwest Province you go, the bigger and more mountainous they get, sometimes towering upwards of 30 feet high. At first they just dot the landscape like crazy little mountains, until you realize that entire villages are actually centered around them, with about one ant hill to each family compound. When you take a closer look, you can tell these hills serve at least 3 very essential purposes for human bush existance:
1) I guess the soil they dig up is very clay-like and perfect for making mud bricks. In fact almost every ant hill in my new village has a hole cut out of the side of it and a brick oven kiln within several feet of it. I found that the handmade bricks in the huts up there are much more solid than the Lusaka area ones, especially after they have been fired in the kiln.
2) The numerous goats and sheep up where I live love to climb on the hils and make little paths all around them . . . almost like pseudo-mountains. The sheep here are almost hairless and at first I thought they were goats except for their long tails and their baa-ing, so that took a little adjustment.
3) The two best places to get cell phone coverage in our village are of course by walking halfway up the anthills, so if you ever decide to call, you can just picture where we'll be standing as there is no network coverage inside our hut.
Food:
Our area is 19 kilometers on a very hilly dirt road from the nearest BOMA, or town, so it is very difficult for villages to buy almost any products. They are truly subsistence farmers, but that said, they take pride in the diversity of foods they are able to grow/cultivate. I think the next two years will truly be a lesson in how to eat locally. Here are some foods that I tasted at site during my time there and their rating in Lunda:
1) Chawahi Nankashi (Very good)- freshly-cut pineapple almost every day, sweet potatoes in 2 varieties, freshly pounded coffee off the tree in our family compound, a small fruit that tastes like a mango, chinese cabbage and rape (a green leafy veggie).
2) Chanti Chanti (Just okay)- sweet potato and cassava leaves, goat/sheep meat, fresh sugar cane (delicious, but hard to eat), nshima yamakamba--that play-dough like substance that is made out of fermented cassava root instead of corn up in the Northwest. It's the staple and eaten with every meal, so I better learn to love it!
3) Nakenga Wanyi (I don't like)- dried fish--although depending on how it's prepared I can actually like it, my swallowing a fish bone a few weeks back as well as eating the heads made me a little more weary of these things, dried catepillars--at first I thought I would try those, but for some reason I just couldn't stomach them when they were offered to me without any other relishes or other foods.
Yes, living in the bush will be quite a culinary adventure. I also hear there are bananas, avacados, mangos, squash and fresh honey available depending on time of the year :). And . . . lots of the villagers are interested in some of the foods we grow in America, so we'll definitely also have our own little garden.
That's about it for now. Scott is still on his second site visit learning about fish farming implementation in action, and we will both be at our training sites for the upcoming national elections, which happen September 20th. We'll probably have some interesting stories after those happen, but I don't want to jinx anything, so we'll save that blog for after.
I'll be in Mwnilunga area (our official site for the next two years) in mid-October, so feel free to start sending mail to our new address in the corner as it takes about a month and it will probably reach us by then. Off to bed so I can get some x-rays tomorrow morning!
Take care,
Gina
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Home Sweet Home
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| The two guys on the roof are putting the finishing touches on our soon-to-be house! |
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| One of the dancers at the traditional ceremony, Chisemwa Cha Lunda |
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| This is one of the fish ponds near our future house. Scott's job will be to consult with the fish farmers to increase their capacity. |
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| These guys finished thatchng the roof of our future pit latrine in just a few hours. Notice the large anthill in the background. |
Saturday, September 10, 2011
~ Halfway through training!
I am surprised I've been able to have internet access this frequently in Zambia so far. Alas, it is because we are near Lusaka and as Gina pointed out in the last blog we have been posted near Mwinilunga, just about as far from Lusaka as you can get. From our site, she has to walk down the road and to a bridge to get cell phone service, so I am predicting much less frequent blogging once the end of October hits.
Gina is solidly halfway through training and I am nearly halfway, and both of us are ready to go to Mwinilunga right now. It is not that training is that bad, more so we are just really excited about going to our site and getting started. Whether it is meeting with fish farmers to see how motivated they are to move 150 cubic meters of soil by hand, learning how to make a Zambian drum, weighing babies, or learning more Lunda, we just want to get started already!
If you didn't see the comment from Yuki Reiss, here is the link to pictures that she and Chris Landreau posted for us: https://picasaweb.google.com/
Thanks Chris and Yuki!
Some highlights since Scott's last blog:
* I went to a zambian Baptist church with my host father. It was mostly in a language I am not learning, but since my host father was one of the preachers he did throw a little bit of English in there for my benefit. He also put me on the spot by having me read some verses of John IN LUNDA to the congregation. First imagine reading something that you've never read before, and then imagine it being in a language you have been learning for about 3 weeks. I was very nervous, but there were big smiles as I stumbled through it so it was one of those experiences I'll cherish forever.
* My 40th birthday in Zambia was good. We went to Lusaka for a museum trip early in the morning and some of my co-trainees strongly encouraged me to have a drink with them. Cheap rum-like alcohol on an empty stomach at 7:30 in the morning is a great way to start your birthday in Zambia! Then I met Gina for lunch in Lusaka and returned to her training site in Chongwe for a quick american birthday party with her host family. It was great to see her though the visit was less and 18 hours since she had to go to Mwinilunga to see our site.
* Later that week I met my fish farmer host in Lusaka (yes another visit to Lusaka), Martin Malichi. He is very quiet so far, but speaks pretty-good English and was interested enough in meeting me that I am looking forward to getting started in Mwinilunga. I also met another man from the same area named Harrison Lupasa. Lupasa is LUNDA for "cup". I instantly was reminded of Randy Kupp from Yakima as I met his counterpart family in Lusaka. This also reminded me of all the great friends I have in Yakima. I miss you guys! If anybody is keeping any non-facebook blogs of their lives, please email me the link so I can catch up with you!
* About once a week the trainees in Chipembi get lunch served to them by the Peace Corps. There has been nothing quite as satisfying as the cheesy pasta that comes in a huge metal warmer tray. Cheese and pasta are practically unheard of at zambian meals.
Gina is solidly halfway through training and I am nearly halfway, and both of us are ready to go to Mwinilunga right now. It is not that training is that bad, more so we are just really excited about going to our site and getting started. Whether it is meeting with fish farmers to see how motivated they are to move 150 cubic meters of soil by hand, learning how to make a Zambian drum, weighing babies, or learning more Lunda, we just want to get started already!
If you didn't see the comment from Yuki Reiss, here is the link to pictures that she and Chris Landreau posted for us: https://picasaweb.google.com/
Thanks Chris and Yuki!
Some highlights since Scott's last blog:
* I went to a zambian Baptist church with my host father. It was mostly in a language I am not learning, but since my host father was one of the preachers he did throw a little bit of English in there for my benefit. He also put me on the spot by having me read some verses of John IN LUNDA to the congregation. First imagine reading something that you've never read before, and then imagine it being in a language you have been learning for about 3 weeks. I was very nervous, but there were big smiles as I stumbled through it so it was one of those experiences I'll cherish forever.
* During our 1.5 hour drive from the training site to Lusaka, I have seen a giraffe, 2 zebra, several monkeys, and an ostrich. Nothing like the safari in Tanzania in 2006, but still pretty exciting to see free of charge.
* I learned to cook nshima (the thick polenta-like corn flour mush that goes with every zambian meal), wash my clothes, and fetch water from the local borehole. As I pumped water my host sister asked "Are you tired?" I said no. Apparently when you say "no" in this case you are offering to pump the water for everyone else. After I filled a few more cans and containers at the pump that did not belong to my host family, I conceded "OK, I'm tired".
* Later that week I met my fish farmer host in Lusaka (yes another visit to Lusaka), Martin Malichi. He is very quiet so far, but speaks pretty-good English and was interested enough in meeting me that I am looking forward to getting started in Mwinilunga. I also met another man from the same area named Harrison Lupasa. Lupasa is LUNDA for "cup". I instantly was reminded of Randy Kupp from Yakima as I met his counterpart family in Lusaka. This also reminded me of all the great friends I have in Yakima. I miss you guys! If anybody is keeping any non-facebook blogs of their lives, please email me the link so I can catch up with you!
* About once a week the trainees in Chipembi get lunch served to them by the Peace Corps. There has been nothing quite as satisfying as the cheesy pasta that comes in a huge metal warmer tray. Cheese and pasta are practically unheard of at zambian meals.
* One of our trainers talked to me about all the different kinds of drums and associated dancing there are in Zambia. He also sang a couple of tunes while he picked away on a Peace Corps volunteer's guitar. He's got talent! I can't wait to learn more from him about zambian rhythms.
*The Zambian presidential election is coming up on September 20th. There is a lot of campaigning amongst the 2 major political parties. Meanwhile the road where I live is being completely redone all the way to Chongwe. Those Zambians who support the incumbent swear that the road repair has been planned for a long time and will be completed soon. Those supporting the opposition party swear that the road repair is just ploy to attract votes for the incumbent candidate. After seeing how poorly constructed the new road is, I have to agree there might be a bit of a popularity contest going on. On the other hand nothing gets done quickly here in Zambia. We will see on September 20th.
* When giving their name to someone for the first time, Zambians always give their surname first, then their first name. This has lead to a bit of confusion when trying to keep track of names.
I will be headed to Mwinilunga tomorrow for a week, and then back to my village since the Peace Corps does not want us to travel during the election week, and then back to Mwinilunga for another 5 days, so I probably will not be blogging for a while, though I never really know about the opportunities. Wish me luck as I join the Peace Corps trainees’ soccer team against the Peace Corp trainer’s team this afternoon. Meanwhile, Gina will be returning to her training site on Tuesday the 13th, though I don’t know I she will have time for internet or not on her way through Lusaka.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Site Announcement!
Gina's Post:
So yesterday was a big day for the CHIP (health) trainees. We found out where exactly we will be going for site when we get posted in mid-October. Scott and I will be in a small village about 17 kilometers biking on a dirt road from Mwnilunga, way up northwest in the Northwest province--read: almost to Angola! Other stuff we know about our future site is: it's on the road to the chief's compound, telephone coverage will be available but spotty, the water sources are good, it's near a community health center (where I will be working at times), and most importantly . . . it's a first generation site. In a nutshell, first generation means that NO other Peace Corps volunteers have been put there before. Specifically, the community asked for a health volunteer and a fish farmer volunteer and apparently Scott and I fit the bill. The community has been busy building us a place to live, and I will get to check out the site personally in about a week in a half. That means no more host mama . . . we'll have to fetch our own water, wash our own clothes by hand, and cook over a brazier. All of the health volunteers are in Lusaka now preparing to meet our hosts, local Zambians who have been chosen to introduce us to our community and help us settle-in come October.
Life has been going well, as Scott stated yesterday, and Scott and I have been able to call each other every day and see each other about every two weeks. We'll even get to meet up for Scott's big 4-0 coming up, and he'll get to hang with Mama Annie and my fam. To add to Scott's list of skills acquired, I've learned how to fetch water, but do not intend to ever carry a huge container on top of my head like those strong African women! I have changed two tires of classmates from thorns in the bush and was proud to say that I had my first flat yesterday on a bush trail and patched the flat in less than 5 min., with my language group and a herd of cows watching me! I also taught my first yoga class to a group of about 6 volunteers, and one of our training leaders wants me to teach to the staff in Lusaka sometime. Besides being to talk like a 3-4 year-old in Lunda, we've been learning some interesting topics in our technical training sessions. A few highlights:
Chief-subject relationship
Most of rural Zambia is divided up by different tribes, who thankfully have had a friendly relationship with each other for over 40 years. This fact does not in any way undermine the importance of chiefs in everything from giving out land to people in the chiefdom, welcoming visitors, having a hand in community projects, and setting all sorts of disputes ranging from farming/land/water to finding out who is the local witch. Each chief/chieftaness gets appointed mostly through a maternal lineage, and once appointed, cannot step down. Most cheifdoms are divided further into smaller areas which are controlled by a local headman. Basically as Peace Corps volunteers, we will be collaborating often with the headman/headwoman on local issues and health projects. We even had a whole session on how to great the chief or headman and which types of gifts are appropriate for the first visit. They recommend a white chicken--not black as it represents witchcraft. Ironically, I met the chief of my area 5 years ago at the Lunda festival, and my language teacher says he is still in office, although very doubtful he will remember me as I was accompanied by about 15 Peace Corps volunteers. Who would have thought?
HIV/AIDS:
There has been lots of training on this topic because much of our jobs as health volunteers will be training and education regarding the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The current estimated infection rate in Zambia is a little over 14%. We've had to do several activities with our host families in preparation to going to our communities, and my health trainee Maggie and I did a little informal interview of the village women about health concerns in the Chongwe community. Although it had never been mentioned to me before by my host family, HIV/AIDS was identified as the #1 problem in the community, although treatment with free anti-retrovirals is available at the local clinic. The most surprising thing, is that we asked the local women what they knew about HIV, they were right on when it came to treatment options as well as preventing mother-to-child transmission. Unfortunately, many confused it with TB and thought you could get it by coughing or sharing food. Looks like we have a LONG way to go! We're hoping to do a little ladies' education group in the near future, and the women are looking forward to it.
Hope all is well with all of you. Snail mail is still the easiest way to go, and we just updated our care package wish list in the right-hand column in case you're feeling generous!
Shakenuku!
Gina and Scott
So yesterday was a big day for the CHIP (health) trainees. We found out where exactly we will be going for site when we get posted in mid-October. Scott and I will be in a small village about 17 kilometers biking on a dirt road from Mwnilunga, way up northwest in the Northwest province--read: almost to Angola! Other stuff we know about our future site is: it's on the road to the chief's compound, telephone coverage will be available but spotty, the water sources are good, it's near a community health center (where I will be working at times), and most importantly . . . it's a first generation site. In a nutshell, first generation means that NO other Peace Corps volunteers have been put there before. Specifically, the community asked for a health volunteer and a fish farmer volunteer and apparently Scott and I fit the bill. The community has been busy building us a place to live, and I will get to check out the site personally in about a week in a half. That means no more host mama . . . we'll have to fetch our own water, wash our own clothes by hand, and cook over a brazier. All of the health volunteers are in Lusaka now preparing to meet our hosts, local Zambians who have been chosen to introduce us to our community and help us settle-in come October.
Life has been going well, as Scott stated yesterday, and Scott and I have been able to call each other every day and see each other about every two weeks. We'll even get to meet up for Scott's big 4-0 coming up, and he'll get to hang with Mama Annie and my fam. To add to Scott's list of skills acquired, I've learned how to fetch water, but do not intend to ever carry a huge container on top of my head like those strong African women! I have changed two tires of classmates from thorns in the bush and was proud to say that I had my first flat yesterday on a bush trail and patched the flat in less than 5 min., with my language group and a herd of cows watching me! I also taught my first yoga class to a group of about 6 volunteers, and one of our training leaders wants me to teach to the staff in Lusaka sometime. Besides being to talk like a 3-4 year-old in Lunda, we've been learning some interesting topics in our technical training sessions. A few highlights:
Chief-subject relationship
Most of rural Zambia is divided up by different tribes, who thankfully have had a friendly relationship with each other for over 40 years. This fact does not in any way undermine the importance of chiefs in everything from giving out land to people in the chiefdom, welcoming visitors, having a hand in community projects, and setting all sorts of disputes ranging from farming/land/water to finding out who is the local witch. Each chief/chieftaness gets appointed mostly through a maternal lineage, and once appointed, cannot step down. Most cheifdoms are divided further into smaller areas which are controlled by a local headman. Basically as Peace Corps volunteers, we will be collaborating often with the headman/headwoman on local issues and health projects. We even had a whole session on how to great the chief or headman and which types of gifts are appropriate for the first visit. They recommend a white chicken--not black as it represents witchcraft. Ironically, I met the chief of my area 5 years ago at the Lunda festival, and my language teacher says he is still in office, although very doubtful he will remember me as I was accompanied by about 15 Peace Corps volunteers. Who would have thought?
HIV/AIDS:
There has been lots of training on this topic because much of our jobs as health volunteers will be training and education regarding the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The current estimated infection rate in Zambia is a little over 14%. We've had to do several activities with our host families in preparation to going to our communities, and my health trainee Maggie and I did a little informal interview of the village women about health concerns in the Chongwe community. Although it had never been mentioned to me before by my host family, HIV/AIDS was identified as the #1 problem in the community, although treatment with free anti-retrovirals is available at the local clinic. The most surprising thing, is that we asked the local women what they knew about HIV, they were right on when it came to treatment options as well as preventing mother-to-child transmission. Unfortunately, many confused it with TB and thought you could get it by coughing or sharing food. Looks like we have a LONG way to go! We're hoping to do a little ladies' education group in the near future, and the women are looking forward to it.
Hope all is well with all of you. Snail mail is still the easiest way to go, and we just updated our care package wish list in the right-hand column in case you're feeling generous!
Shakenuku!
Gina and Scott
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