Nighttime Blues

So it's 10 PM. I've been asleep for about 2 hours. I woke up to the lovely melody of the dog scratching at the door. I let the dog out then figured he had a good idea. Sometimes, a pee bucket is a great thing. I hate those late night trips to the chimbu. Right after I crawled back into bed, just as soon as I was drifting to sleep...dude...there was something going on under the bed. The cat was catching a mouse. Oh yeah! I almost grabbed my headlamp to look under the bed to watch. I'll be honest its cool to see. Like national geographic but on a much smaller scale. Almost looked. I'm not sure why I didn't actually. Some reason. But then the fight moved out to the main room. I was up. Things were getting heated. Let the games begin! My headlamp. My spotlight for tonight's events; bestowed something that sent a shiver running down my spine. Not only my cat was on the hunt. This was a joint effort. A cat and dog team. Each taking their turns nipping at tonight's intruder...the deadly snake.

Because pictures say a thousand words...

This is where I draw water.

There is a river and waterfall only an hour or two bike ride from my village.

Pious and I found a lizard. You can find lizards everywhere in Zambia!

This is a huge crocodile that I saw at a crocodile farm in Livingstone. You can find crocodiles in the wild in Zambia, but they're not common where I live.

There's a few pictures! I hope you enjoy. I'm going back to the village for a few weeks.

Three Blind Mice

Taking my afternoon nap I hear "Ba Hidine! Ba Hidine! Mulefwaya rat?" Miss Heidi! Miss Heidi! Do you want a rat?) Words that have started becoming all too commonly heard these days. I stumble out the bed and make it to the door. Blink once. Blink twice. Mwila and Bright are holding a rat proudly into the sunlight. Sure that I would buy today's kill, which I have to admit, is a lot bigger than their usual fare offered. Only 1 kwacha! A steal. Sadly, I have to turn them down. "Nshekwete 1 kwacha." I respond in my rudimentary Bemba. Their faces hid no astonishment as they slowly lowered the mouse to their sides. The whole time repeating my answer. Discussing them amongst themselves. Truth is: I'm a regular customer. Rats are commonly enjoyed in rural Zambia. All over the world. My cat seems to love them. He enjoys every one.

Left a good job in the city

Just another typical week in the village. Tuesday morning I woke up motivated and determined to get some programs started. So I went to the school, the clinic, and to see Ba Annie. Nothing. Defeated I went and home and did some stuff around the house. My iwes wanted to help...well...really they just wanted popcorn. But they brought me some water and swept the yard, etc. As helpful as they try to be; they really add more stress than anything.

Wednesday ended up being a bit more fruitful. My main counterpart, Gilbert, came to see me. I hadn't seen him since February.Turns out he was in driving school all that time and just never told anyone. Then in the afternoon I went to the clinic and the clinic in charge bought me a leg of goat from a man walking around selling them out of a mealie meal sack. Delicious! And a nice treat for me and my family. Really...Americans never really eat goat. We're missing out you guys. Also I tried my hand at grinding millet by putting the millet in between two stones and moving the top stone back and forth. Does this make sense?

Thursday I made a program at the school for next week. A friend is going to to a condom demo for the boys and talk about HIV. I'm really excited to have him and I think he'll do a good job. Then I went to the clinic to pass out Vitamin A and de-worming tablets to all the kids and I watched them cry as the nurse gives them shots. Bwahaha!

Stomp

Picture yourself, sleeping, dreaming, maybe you're dreaming of a bountiful harvest. One that will feed your family and provide for your basic needs. Upon waking, you first look at your children; still sleeping peacefully in the cool mornig air. You do your best to provide safety and comfort to your family with what little you have. Your sling shot rarely leaves your side; incase a snake should intrude and you have dogs to protect while you're away. Yet, your children lay there, night after night, exposed, perfect prey for one of Africa's sneakest killers. The Anapholes mosquito. Unfortunately there was no net distribution this year. And after school fees, not enough money to buy your own. One of your children, your youngest, wakes with a fever and headaches. Malaria. You walk the 9km to the vlinic with your child slung on your back only to find out they are out of malarial drugs. There is nothing that can be done. Sadly, you walk the 9km back home. No food or water. The malaria spreads, becomes cerebral. Luckilly your child recovers, but develops brain damage. A future gone; with just one insect bite.

You may think this is an extreme situation. But things like this happen all the time.Just yesterday, at my clinic, we had to send people home, untreated. Because we were out of malarial drugs. There was nothing we could do to help them. And no transport out of Misengo until Monday. So it will be Tuesday before the drugs are available at the clinic. I would say; this time of year, during rainy season; an average of 80% of the patients we see are diagnosed with malaria. Some of them walk further than 9km to get treatment.

Malaria is caused, primarilly, by the Anapholes mosquito, which only comes out between midnight and 6 AM. This is why nets are so helpful in preventing malaria. There is also IRS (indoor residual spraying) where the health department will come and spray all your houses with insecticide (DDT) to help repel mosquitos. This needs to be done once a year, at the start of rainy season. Realistically, this is not always an option.

The most susceptible to malaria are pregnant women, immune compromised individuals, elderly, and children under 5 years of age. Others have built up an immunity to it. Most of the cases we see at the clinic are children under 5 years. Malaria has an incubation period of 9 days before you show any signs of sickness. The signs of malaria are: fever, chills, sweats, headaches, nausea & vomiting, body aches, and general malaise.

Malaria is a serious problem in Africa. 90% of all malaria related deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. How will you stomp out malaria in 2013?

.Stomping Out Malaria in Africa is a Peace Corps initiative that uses strategic partnerships, targeted training Volunteers and intelligent use of information technology to support the local malaria prevention efforts of over 3,000 Volunteers in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information go to www.stompoutmalaria.org and follow Stomp activities at http://www.facebook.com/StompOutMalaria.

Across the Sea

So I know its been a while since my latest blog entry. Sorry about that. To make up for my lapse in entries I'll try to make this a good one. But, I am going to go ahead and put in the disclaimer *Other lapses will occur...hopefully not too often. But they will occur.* It just comes with the territory of living in Africa.

Right now I'm sitting on my porch (obviously I wrote this in the village and am now posting it at the PC office in Kasama), its a sunny day, electronics charging with the solar charger, and impashi taking over my house...again. Got a freshly popped boil under my armpit. Doesn't hurt too bad. There are two neighbor kids coloring in my insaka and another chilling on my porch. Slight breeze in the air and roasted maize in my belly. Life is good. I gave a health talk at the school on handwashing and balancing your diet. I think it went really well. My interpreter didn't show, so the teachers had to take time out of their work to help me with my talk. It worked, but I know they had other things to do.

I am watching the boys color and noticing that they are coloring, colored pencil next to colored pencil, the same picture. I think this image is very representative of the Zambian culture. They are friendly, polite, find joy in the small things. and share with others.

Yesterday was Sunday and I biked to the waterfall by my house. There I enjoyed an afternoon sitting on an old delapitated bridge, dangling my feet in the water, feeling the force of the water as it rushed past my legs, soon to plummet down to the falls below. My friend and I were discussing important details of unimportance about our lives; and foods we miss from America (a common topic amongst Peace Corps Volunteers). Also, I realized that I need to start biking more. Three reasons: 1) it was fun; 2) i really suck at it; and 3) the trip was definitely more exhausting than it should have been.

Other points of interest about my life this year...I just got back from Zanzibar. Went to the Sauti Za Busara music festival. Which I would highly recommend. It was traditional african music from all different countries in Africa. The music was uplifting and spitit filled. And I have never seen a more diverse crowd and commingling. I also have to add that Freddy Mercury (Queen) is from Stone Town.

Here is a list of stuff that I did while on Zanzibar:
1) Beach (I was there for 3 nights and moved into the water for much of that time).
2) Learned a Messai tribal dance (from some Messai tribesmen we met on the roadside. The dance consisted of mostly jumping).
3) Went on a spice tour (ate a free lunch. Score!)
4) Got lost around Stone Town (this was pretty much a constant).
5) Ate some awesome street food (so many flavors and spices...I almost forgot they existed in Zambia).
6) Sauti Za Busara (my spirit was uplifted and I was a dancing fool).

We stayed in Dar Es Salaam for a night. While there we ate at Mamboz corner bbq. The owners were incredibly nice people and the food was great. I highly recommend going there if you ever find yourself hungry and in Dar. Then it was just a 40+ hr train ride back home to Kasama.

Switching subjects completely I just want to let you know that I made it through training in Lusaka sans car accidents. I was happy. Hope you are too.

A Day in the Life...eer...Three Days in the Life

So I figure you must be wondering what my daily life is like. The truth is every day is so different. So I am going to give you a glimpse into my Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of last week.

Friday Morning   Woke up about 5:15, feelin' lazy, so I sent an iwe to get my water. As I am currently out of cookies this proved to be a bit more challenging than normal. But still, the job got done, and not by me. Got ready, SWEPT, and went off to the clinic. My actual work at the clinic wasn't too exciting today. I was just coping information from the patient's visits into the registry. Though, since I'm a virgo, I found this really enjoyable. I can tell you, though, this morning, the clinic tested about 25 people for malaria and only two were found negative.

Saturday Morning Gilbert, my counterpart in the village, came over at about 8 and dug a rubbish pit and made a bunch of ridge for beans. He did all this in about 1 1/2 hours. All by himself. I find this crazy. It would have taken me all day. While he was doing this I was cleaning and painting my house. I had it in my mind that I was going to help him. Then, after seeing him working, I realized that he knew I would only be getting in the way. But I was finally able to burn my trash, first time since I had moved in. As my trash was burning I was sitting outside, washing my sheets, guarding my burning trash from the curiosity of the iwes. They like to get in there and see what I'm throwing away. Then I took a nice bucket bath.

Sunday Morning I filmed the church service. This was my second attempt. My camera battery died halfway through the service. I am worried that they are going to ask me to film again. Another two times. I don't mind, but I do have to stand up in front of the church,  and its a bit distracting. But the choir sounds beautiful and I enjoy listening to them sing.

Friday Afternoon Sewed some of a curtain made out of chitenge. Chitenge is a 2m cloth that all the women wear and I chased some iwes out of my yard. Then I took my new bike for a spin. I really love my new bike. Found a new network spot...hopefully I can find it again. After I got home Moreen came over. I love Moreen. She is in 5th grade and is absolutely hilarious. She brought some girls over who were hoping to use my nail polish to paint their nails, but, conveniently I was planning a health talk and had an excuse to say no. But they stayed, and Moreen told them all about me. She told them what I liked to eat, to wear, to do, just about everything. She even got up and reinacted some of the times that we spent together. But everything she said was true, so how could I mind. I just laughed and nodded my head in agreement at everything she said.  I met another neighbor. She is 17 and just graduated 12th grade. She speaks a little English and I speak a little Bemba so we had a good time. I showed her some photographs of America.

Saturday Afternoon Chased some iwes out of my yard. I've been doing that all day. I started working on a really neat puzzle today. I'm planning on hanging it up after I'm done...maybe I'll put it together one more time first. I think it will be a cool addition to my hut and a fun activity. The same girls came over to paint their nails that came over yesterday. I made popcorn and they painted their nails. Today I also started to teach myself how to crochet.

Sunday Afternoon After church I was really wanting some time alone, but that didn't happen. I had visitors all day. And it was pretty enjoyable. There was a lot of sitting silently watching the trees sway in the wind. Probably what I would be doing anyway. And I also ate a lot of mangoes.

Friday Night I read some notes that my friends wrote about me before I left. It made me feel really happy and good about myself. Then I read my book and went to sleep.

Saturday Night I drank some tea and danced to the sounds of my neighbor's drumming next door. Then I read and went to sleep. I wanted to work on my puzzle,  but its too difficult by candlelight.

Sunday Night I was invited over to my neighbor's house to eat nshima and veggie relish. I had a really great time over there. My neighbors are great people. They don't speak english, but maybe a few words. Though we can always communicate pretty well. The kids told their mom everything we did that day. Again I laughed and nodded in agreement.

If you are thinking of sending me a Christmas present I would be very much appreciative! I know that sending packages are expensive so if you would like to send money to my mom (PO Box 4772 Kailua-Kona, HI 96740) she will know what to do with it. And if you would like to send me a package just message me and I can give you some ideas!