The End is Near

So I just took a majority of my stuff to the Peace Corps office. It's just starting to sink in that I have just over a week left in the village and a little under a month left as a Peace Corps volunteer.

For the good, bad, or ugly life here has become so normal to me. It's become harder to picture what life is like in America. I know there's less thatch. Less chickens running around. And a lot of fast food.

It's bittersweet when I think about leaving. There are definitely things that I am going to miss. My kids, eating village chicken, and living a life so tied to nature. But, there are also things that I am definitely looking forward to. Actually understanding what people around me are saying, my friends and family, and of course....WASHING MACHINES!

A Trip's Log

Tuesday June 17th

9:40 Get to minibus station to pick up kids
10:30 Bus finally arrives. See excited faces in the window.
10:50 Kids witness Shoprite for the first time
12:30 I get hungry, go to forage for food. Take 2 kids with me.
12:35 I find meat pies and shwarma. Kids find a big screen TV and the World Cup.
14:30 Board bus. Kids ask every 10 minutes if we are there yet for first hour.
22:00 I feel sleepy and irritable. Kids asleep in positions I didn't even know existed and definitely don't look comfortable.

Wednesday June 18th

02:00 Bus rolls into Lusaka. I am exhausted. Kids are suddenly awake and very excited. I am worried.
2:15 Kids are now back asleep. We are allowed to sleep on the bus.
5:15 I wake. Kids are very awake and have to pee.
6:40 Fight through complete chaos at the bus station to buy tickets for next bus ride to Livingstone.
6:50 Buy tickets and fight my way back.
7:20 Everyone pees before getting on the bus.
8:30 Bus leaves. Kids excited.
8:50 Kids have to pee.
11:00 Kids have to pee again.
12:30 And again. I buy lunch.
13:30 Start to nap.
13:40 Kids wake me up.
14:25 Make it to Livingstone.
15:10-16:00 Sit awkwardly with kids and counterpart.
16:00 First encounter with electric kettle. Water is already hot when you want tea. Amazing!
16:30 Show girls how a shower works. Chaotic watery chaos ensues for the next two hours.
19:00 Go in search of a Nshima dinner.
20:20 Nshima takes too long. Napapa and Emmanuel fall asleep at the table.
21:30 Everyone make it to bed. Kids are suddenly awake.

Thursday June 19th

6:14 First sounds I hear waking up: "Ba Heidi likes to sleep" eer actually the Bemba equivalent to this.
7:45 Take girl's to Shoprite.
8:20 Girls take another shower.
9:00 Begin to cook breakfast for 7 people.
9:50 Send for my counterpart.
10:00 Miss free shuttle.
11:00 On our way to Victoria Falls!
11:00-13:00 Kids explore, get wet, see baboons, bungee jumpers, and learn about nature.
13:30 Make lunch
15:00 Head to the crocodile farm where kids learn about turtles, crocodiles, and snakes. It is also the kids first encounter with a play area.
17:00 Make an American dinner for the kids. Hamburgers. It's a hit.
19:00 Kids get to make nshima for some Americans. Kids are very happy to have made contact with nshima that day.
21:00 Bedtime.

Friday June 20th

6:35 Wake up.
7:15 Girls shower.
8:40 Shoprite...again.
9:00 Make breakfast. I got more of a rhythm today.
10:00 Find out kids aren't at all ready like my counterpart claimed they were.
11:10 Girls left sink on and I find our room has turned into a small lake.
11:40 Check out and move to next hotel. Apologize for lake.
11:45 Kids set eyes on the play area. And move with lightning speed towards it.
12:30 Watch as lions and cheetahs try to hunt the children through the fence as we try to learn about them.
13:45 See elephant while driving down the road. Elephant ears, although large, are no where near the size the kids imagined they were.
14:00 PLAYTIME!!!!!!!!
17:30 Hunt for nshima dinner.

Saturday June 21st

7:00 Showers
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Play
9:00 Play
9:30 Play
10:30 Watch in amazement as my counterpart translates almost the entirety of the museum.
13:00 Hop on bus. Will reach Lusaka at 18 hours.
18:00 Still on bus.
19:00 Still on bus.
20:00 STILL on bus.
21:00 Yup, still there.
22:00 Finally reach Lusaka. Head to guest house for some sleep. Kids suddenly wake up.
24:00 Go to sleep.

Sunday June 22nd

6:30 I'm the last to wake up. Help kids shower.
8:30 Go to mall and forage for food.
9:00 Take kids on the escalator to the second floor. They really enjoy it.
9:05 Take kids on elevator down. Little girl screams and tries to pry door open. The rest of the kids like it.
9:10 Head back to guest house.
12:00 Take kids to get ice cream for the first time. I think that is the coldest thing they had in their entire life. And they have no idea how to eat it.
13:00 Kids and counterpart get on bus to Kasama.
13:10 I'm relaxing at the guest house.

Misengo's Agriculture Show

Yesterday I participated in Misengo's second Agriculture Show. It was actually a lot of fun! I spent literally the day before the show with a local women's group cooking and baking a variety of foods. They wanted to enter the competition. First prize 75 kwacha. 

I had my own booth. I taught several simple appropriate technologies. All of which are extremely simple to do and cost little to no money. I demonstrated how to generate chlorine, solar disinfection (leaving water in the sun for 6 hours in a clear plastic bottle and it's safe to drink), using ash as an alternative to soap to wash your hands, a homemade level, and of course a condom demonstration. My booth had a lot of visitors and I really hope that a few of them will incorporate my teachings into their daily lives.  

It's Raining Impashi

I was drifting off to sleep in my nice warm bed when suddenly I felt a bite, another, and another. I thought it was only a few impashi (flesh eating ants) that had been stuck on my clothes when I went to sleep. Then I started feeling bites on my head. I look up and realize that my pillows are swarming with impashi...my mosquito net an inefficient barrier for these little demons. As I sat staring, trying to comprehend what I saw I began hearing drip, drip, drip. It was as if rain was dripping from my roof. Impossible, because the rains have already stopped until December. Then I saw it, my walls looked liked there were black rivers flowing down from top to bottom. The dripping sound was not water, but impashi dripping from a vicious waterfall of ants. I left the house grabbing my hammock and a blanket. Hoping to get some sleep while waiting for them to pass through my house on their never ending journey. I went to some trees in the corner of my yard, hoping this would be far enough away from the madness. It wasn't. In the two minutes it takes for me to set up the hammock the army had appeared. I had to stand under a tree for hours, in the cold, waiting for the impashi river to flow past my home. Impashi had gotten stuck in my hair when I was lying in bed. The whole time I was waiting, they were biting my hair. It was enough to drive someone mad. All I wanted was some sweet relief. Some sleep. Finally my bedroom had been cleared out, not the rest of my house, but that was enough for me. I fell into a deep, blissful sleep.

Help me Help Others

I have a goal of taking a small group of village kids, ones that I have worked with for the past two years, on a week long educational trip showing them not only life outside of the village, but conservation techniques, and interviewing professionals to motivate them to have and achieve goals in life. These kids are really great and dear to my heart and I would like to give them a gift that they will never forget. If you would like to donate please click on the link below.

http://www.gofundme.com/9arl18

Appropriate Technologies

This entry is about a month later than I intended. Sorry sorry! Last month another volunteer and I held an appropriate technologies workshop in Kasama for Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterpart from their respective villages. We had 12 people attend (6 PCVs and 6 counterparts).

Appropriate technology is basically using the resources you have available to fulfill your individual or your community's needs. Another goal of the workshop is to improve on already existing technologies. For example, during the workshop we demonstrated many fuel efficient cookstoves (sawdust stoves, pop can stoves, stoves that minimize the amount of wood or charcoal needed). We had several demonstrations throughout the workshop, but each team had to develop their own projects. Teams built ground nut shellers, a hydro powered pounder, solar dryers, soap, and a pedal powered bicycle water pump.

We heard a lot of great feedback from the participants of the workshop, especially from the counterparts, who were really beginning to think outside the box to fix their problems.

Pedal Powered Water Pump

Hydro-powered Pounder

Groundnut Sheller

Village Life Highlights

(Top 10 List)

10. Termites falling from the ceiling on to my head all day

9. Fresh, roasted maize

8. Impashi swarming my yard

7. Teaching numbers to kids

6. Trying to find a cell signal

5. Pooping over a hole (no really…it’s quite comfortable)

4. Not understanding about half of the people I encounter every day

3. Learning how to carry things on my head

2. The connection I have with nature.

And the number one best thing about living in the village is……………………………………..

1.Nshima, nshima, nshima…every day.

This is what I do.....

It's hard to believe another month has passed already. As you already know, my AT workshop is coming up in a couple weeks. I'm really excited and have been busy preparing. Just this past week we built a stove, that works with methylated spirits, to demonstrate at the workshop. I learned a lot about AT during the Choma workshop, but I still have a lot to learn about the actual building of things. So I have to admit, I think I was helped more during this experience than I was actually helping. I learned a lot and am pretty proud of what we accomplished. During the workshop I am in charge of the logistics, money, and teaching in the classroom. I'll also be doing a few of the demonstrations. Britain is in charge of a lot of the hands on building aspects. So, I also finished the grant (on-line) version and turned it into Dorothy. The program was actually really hard to work and it took a long time to do the grant, even though I had all of the information from the grant that I already turned in. I e-mailed Dorothy with my problems, so she is aware. Then I wrote letters for the counterparts and made reservations for them as well.   Logistically speaking, I feel pretty prepared so far (I hope!!).

In the village things have been pretty quiet. I have been working with my G.L.O.W. Club. One of our first activities is to do a fund raiser. We are going to make those chitenge floor mats and sell them. Then the girls will have money for notebooks or other things they want for the club. We thought about making fritters, but the profit margin is very small. With this I will also be teaching about budgeting. The club is still new, but the girls are very excited. We have only had a few meetings so far, but its nice to see them coming out of their shells and taking charge of THEIR club. My counterpart and I get along very well and are both committed to this club.

I did two health talks at Chitwe Basic School. One was on malaria. We played a tag game to demonstrate how malaria is spread. It was a hit. The second one was on the importance of hydration. We talked about how water affects the body and we made an ORS. They are about 5K from the RHC. So they can start hydrating right away when they are sick. Especially since a 5k walk is sure to dehydrate them even more. I really like working with this school. The students always ask questions and are very involved. I heard from the teacher that on days that I come the attendance is always the highest of the week. I only did one health talk at Misengo Basic School this month. I showed them how to make chlorine. After this I had a few kids come to my house to try to make it on their own.

I did a cooking demonstration for a few individuals (3) who had access to milk and we able to make cheese. We talked about the nutritional benefits of milk and cheese, a balanced diet, and childhood nutrition.

I am still doing my tutoring sessions at my house. I realized that I am not a very good English teacher, but am a great math teacher. A small child, who comes to my house all the time, has learned how to count and is learning to count by twos now. He is at my house a lot. He would be there 24/7 if I let him. So we have lots of time to practice. And we count literally everything that can be counted. He is also learning his ABCs. He knows up to "I". 

Bottoms Up

The rains have been falling every day for months now. My garden is growing, slowly, and I have been enjoying lots of time to read books. My house leaks, but nowhere important. And I can light a brazier or put on a blanket to keep me warm. I enjoy the rain and the growth. It is almost a different landscape than it was a few months ago. The farmers here burn their fields after every harvest. So instead of seeing black and brown, the singe of grasses that once were. I see vibrant green everywhere. Crops are growing and people are looking forward to their share of crops and money that will come almost all at once. Hunger season will end. Unfortunately, with the great influx of money that comes in there will also be a big influx in drinking. Money management is difficult for the villagers (many have never even been taught). So all the money they make will be blown on alcohol and solar panels and new chitenges. In a few months they will be hungry again.

Alcoholism is common in rural Zambia. Because of this life is more difficult for themselves and their families. Precious money is being wasted away. As well as time and energy. To those of us that don't have a problem or are not in their situations the answer is blatantly simple. Stop drinking. But, like for many people. alcohol is a powerful coping mechanism. It gives people a few hours of freedom from their problems. That is precious to them. That feeling is precious to everyone. When you are looking at your 7 malnourished children, you started having at 15; when you have never been anywhere other than your village; when you drop out of school in the 7th grade because your parents couldn't pay for school fees; when you watched your parents drinking daily your whole life. Would you want to escape? Would you be able to handle your problems head on? Unfortunately, that answer is no for many people. It is a common and sadly socially acceptable activity for many in the village. 

G.L.O.W.

Today (Tuesday) was my first meeting of Misengo Basic School's G.L.O.W. Club. Things went pretty well. Next week's meeting will be better.

The club is supposed to meet every Thursday. I found out about the Tuesday-Thursday switch 2 hours before the meeting was supposed to take place. After finishing my work at the clinic I rushed home and prepared in an hour. Just in time for the rain to start pouring. I showed up wet and disheveled, but excited none-the-less.  

My co-facilitator stayed a few minutes then had to teach another class. I was not expecting not to have a translator. I fumbled through my lesson in broken Bemba then I resorted to singing songs. I think the girls had fun. They were really shy. Even to sing songs. I can't wait until we all feel comfortable and start to have fun. 

It's Munada time again!

On Saturday 25th of January I finally made my first trip to Munada, the traveling market, that makes a monthly visit to my area. Actually, this was my second time to Munada, the first being in my friend's village. I was armed with 200 condoms to be passed out. They were gone in a matter of minutes. Next month I'll be better prepared. I'm thinking about a mandatory condom demo they have to watch before receiving condoms.

It was fun looking at all the wares for sale. Most "booths" sold almost the same things. This is common in Zambia. I sense that product diversity had never been a strong point of this country. Never-the-less they had different things than I could find in my village, and that was exciting for me. I bought some pens and pencils for my kids to use at school and a new chitenge for me. A successful venture I'd say. 

I even ran into a few people that I knew there. I saw a few of my neighbors shopping together and spent most of my time with them. There was just one big downside to my day...

The words muzungu! Muzungu! Marry me! Are still ringing in my ears. I was everybody's favorite attraction at the traveling market. In America we consider it wrong to point out someone by the color of their skin. But, here in Zambia, they think it's just ok. Being a white woman I get a lot of harassment outside of my village. Being an American it's easy to take offense to all of this unwanted attention.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone! This year I biked to some waterfalls by my site and spent the day with a few friends. It was beautiful there and really nice being around all that nature. It wasn't Christmas like we have in the states, but definitely a great way to spend the holiday. Then it was back to the village until the beginning of January when I started my vacation. We were going to Livingstone, on the other end of the country. The first day I traveled to Mpika (took about 6 hours). Then the next day we traveled from Mpika to Lusaka (about 8 hours) and stayed the night. The 3rd day we finally reached Livingstone! After another short 8 hour drive.

We were there for about a week and had a blast! We went on safari and saw all kinds of animals. We saw hippos, lions, red lechwe, dung beetles, the fish eagle, lions, elephants, giraffes, and much much more. One of the most exciting things that I saw was an elephant chase after some lion cubs.

We spent a day at Victoria Falls, went to the market a few times, and went to High Tea at the Royal Livingstone. High tea is a really fancy hotel and at high tea they serve all kinds of fancy pastries, cakes, tea sandwiches, quiches, and puddings. I couldn't get enough good food!

The week was over way too fast and then we began the long trip back up north. On the way back we spent a few days in Lusaka (the capital) and I finally got new glasses and my work permit.

G.L.O.W. Girls

A couple weeks ago I attended my first G.L.O.W. Camp. Its an event that's put on by Peace Corps every years for girls 13 to 18 to teach them women's empowerment. Each volunteer brings two girls and a teacher from their respective villages. Then everyone spends one week at the camp while the volunteers talk about HIV awareness, family planning, sugar daddies, boyfriends, and planning for the future. Its only a start to what these girls need to learn, but in just one week you could see these things making a difference in the girl's lives and attitudes at camp. It wasn't all just sitting there learning. We also played sports and games, did arts and crafts, and danced. I helped another volunteer do her health talks. We made a great team I would say. Since we are both health volunteers we did health talks on: puberty, the male and female anatomy, family planning, and quickly discussed pregnancy. This next term we are supposed to go back and create a G.L.O.W. Club in our schools. A lot of these tend to fail, but I have high hopes for my school. The teacher I brought was the most active in the sessions and I could tell that these topics were also very important to her. The girl I brought, Matilda, doesn't speak much English and I think that was part of the reason why she was so shy in the beginning. But it was great to see her come out of her shell and start interacting with the other girls. She came alive when it was time to play sports. It was really a fantastic thing to watch.

The Whole Glow Camp!

Megan and I doing our health talk.

The girls playing sports. Matilda is the girl in the skirt running (front right)

World AIDS Day

This one is a little old. I'm trying to catch up on some blog entries.

December 1 was World AIDS Day. I wanted to have a celebration in my village. So I set up a football tournament (with the help of my clinic officer) to have the championship game play on World AIDS Day and all the other games played the proceeding weeks. Then I went to the school asking them to work on several skits and traditional dancing. Then I was going to do some health talks with my counterpart Gilbert. I wanted all the entertainment to come from the village. To show them that this celebration is something that they are able to do in future years. My village also had a few VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) counselors to do HIV testing. The event was going to take place on Sunday 1 December in the afternoon, after church.

The day of the event things didn't go as smoothly as planned. The two teams that won the semifinals showed up....then two more. Turns out that due to communication problems two other teams showed up ready to play. So we had to completely change the program and squeeze in two football games instead of one. Then only the traditional dancers showed up from the school so no skits were done.  Then my counterpart finally let me know that he was playing in the football tournament and didn't want to do the health talks because he was worried that if he had done the health talks and his team won people would claim that there was fowl play.

I quickly found a new translator and gave a few health talks and tried to make sure people knew why this event was happening. Then I was busy checking up on everything: the counselors, traditional dancing, and football tournament. Despite the challenges things went smoothly and I heard a lot of positive feedback from my villagers.