Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Uncategorized category.
My Service in Pictures for the past 6 months…
In August, we had a boys camp, Empowering Leaders in Training and Education, where we spent a week at a secondary school using soccer as a medium to learn about boys empowerment.
The biggest mammal in all the world!
Here are the guys getting ready to sleep.
Me and my mentor and boys from ELITE
I got to host 2 health volunteers before their arrival to their village…this is our break after training in my village was over.
Everyday when I’m in village, we practice the ABC’s and read together. Hopefully soon Mfunda will be reading to me!
I wish I could say we caught this, but we’re just posing with the HUGE fish we purchased on the lake. Vacation after our mid-terms conference.
An evening in my village…life is good.
- After writing a grant and getting it approved, the Mapalo Development group were hard at work burning bricks for the structure of the hammermill shelter.
Ready, Set, RACE!
One of my favorite games I played during rainy season is one against the weather. It usually starts out with me biking a distance from my hut, usually at least 4 kilometers out. I might hear a rumble. On the cue, I’ll turn around slowly to see what awaits me in the distance, grey and black clouds approaching. This is when the game starts; it’s a race between the rain and me
As soon as realization hits, I bike as fast as my little legs will allow me. The thunder, in response, will boom louder as the clouds chase me back to my hut; a taunting and a threat. If I turn out to be the winner, I will arrive nice and dry in my hut. I’ll be able to sit in my comfy sling chair, I can make a hot cup of tear, snuggle up to a book and listen to the falling rain; the rain I just beat. If I’m really lucky, it’ll be a rainstorm that allows me to put an empty water bucket under my neighbor’s iron sheeted roof and collect water so tat I won’t have to fetch it later.
BUT, if I lose, I better hope I’m carrying (a) a rain jacket (b) a dry sac to put any electronics I’m carrying and (c) a charming personality to help me find refuge on someone’s porch or house. Today, I lost. Lucky for me, I brought all three things with me.
On my way to visit the chief, the cultural mayor in my catchment areas, the game was on. Before leaving my hut, I knew it would be a close race, but ready for the challenge, I took the risk. Once I reached the palace, the chief’s wife greeted me, and we chatted for about 10 minutes before I felt the first drop. In Zambia, after the initial drops, a downpour is sure to ensue, fast and not wasting a minute. My counterpart and I raced to the nearest house, stored our bikes in the insaka and ran for shelter inside. A humbling experience was when the chief’s wife (Bana chief)gave me a stool and sat on the ground. If that wasn’t humbling enough, she then took my dirty rainbow flip-flops and cleaned then with the citenge (fabric used as a wrap), the one she was wearing. For the next half hour, 6 of us sat in the main room and talked until the rain died down. We talked about things from life in the village, to the guinea pigs that lived in the house. While part of me wished I had ended up the winner in this race against the weather, for pride’s sake, looking at the people I met, the time I got to spend with them, and the kindness I received, I realized that I would have won either way.
Shalenipo America
My time in the states came and went as my visit was quick and packed with festivities. In the end, I came out with a new big brother, a pierced nose, a new little cousin, a few music updates, and memories with new and old friends and family. The wedding festivities ran smoothly, despite a few glitches, but when you looked around the reception, most everyone was on the dance floor, or taking pictures with mustache props and Viking horns, celebrating the marriage of Teiona and Micah.
Now that the festivities have come to an end, I am again on my way back to Zambia to finish 16 more months of service. It’ll be good to have a next few busy months to help transition back into the swing of things. When I get back, we’ll be busy with the preparations of ELITE boys camp, the camp we will be held in Mansa, Luapula in August. For a week, 9 Peace Corps volunteers will invite 2 boys in grade 6-8 and one mentor who will attend this camp. The goal of ELITE is to bring the boys together through soccer to learn about issues such as gender, HIV, and life skills.
Meanwhile, I’ll also be preparing for a hammer mill project in my village which will hopefully help pay the salary of a preschool teacher in my village. In 2010, the first generation volunteer in my village built a preschool for the community. While the school is beautiful and the children who attend learn so quickly, the parents are unable to pay the salary of the teacher, making it complete voluntar work to teach; something that most members in my community are unable to do. By building a hammermill, the machine that grinds dried maize and cassava into a find flour to make into Zambia’s staple food, ubwale, it will help pay for the teacher’s salary.
Lastly, I will be hosting second site visit for a few of the new health volunteers that will arrive in June. The second site visit is where the volunteers visit the province they will live in after 2 months of training before they commit to the 2 year Peace Corps contract.
Well, vacation was fun and it was so nice to see friends and family and visit home, but time will go by sooner than we all think. Now it’s time for me to pump water again, say goodbye to my laptop for a few weeks, to become reacquainted with my bicycle and to go back to Kafutuma to finish these 16 months strong. Stay well everyone and thank you for all your support.
Stomp Out Malaria
Over 3.3 billion people worldwide are at risk of malaria. About 90% of malaria deaths are found in the Africa region (WHO), 750,000 annually, most are children under the age of 5. If you think about it, that’s the entire population of Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont or North Dakota. Each day when I visit the clinic, countless patients are complaining of malaria symptoms, fever, chills, stomach problems and vomiting, though many are misdiagnosed as the clinic is too understaffed to give each patient a malaria test. Other times, the clinic may run out of coartem, the medication to treat malaria.
In Zambia, malaria is transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito between the hours of dusk and dawn. The two parasites that affect most people are the Plasmodium falciparum parasite (most severe and common cause of cerebral malaria) and Plasmodium vivax (primary cause of chronic and recurrent malaria). If a person is bit by a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite, the plasmodium will enter the body and go to the liver. For the 1-4 week period the plasmodium is in the liver, it will be neither symptomatic nor contagious (while a person is not directly contagious later on, if the mosquito, which acts as a vector, is to bite a person with malaria, they are able to transmit it to another person that it bites after). Slowly the parasite will affect the red blood cells, using the cells to multiply and causing them to burst, releasing toxins in the body and resulting in the symptoms of spiking fevers, chills, and so forth. This is around the time the parasite can be transmitted to other human beings.
To raise awareness about malaria and to help reduce the parasite globally, April 25th is World Malaria day. 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 stompoutmalaria.org). Peace Corps Zambia is not only involved in a malaria net study that is funded by the Center for Disease Control, but we’re also encouraged to navigate activities within our community to encourage individuals to use their mosquito nets to sleep under (opposed to using them as fishing nets), for pregnant women to get their doses of fansidar (a malaria prophylaxis), to repair nets, and to be aware that malaria is preventable if proper measures are taken.
In Kafutuma, we are currently planning a small celebration to bring our community together. As of right now, a march will begin in the market in Kafwala, a highly populated area, and will move about 1.5 k to Chimbulumba’s village where the clinic is located. At the clinic we hope to have our peer educators perform a skit that educates the community about how to take coartem or the significance of mosquito nets. There has also been talk about having a mosquito net relay or a net repair station, but all in all, the most important thing about the day is to bring the community together and to “stomp out malaria”.
Month 9
We’re headed into our 9th month of service and I’ve finally been able to visit one of the natural wonders of the world: Victoria Falls. For Easter, we were able to take a quick vacation to Livingston, and let me tell you, the falls were worth the 3-4 days of travel. Just walking up to the falls, we were greeted from the mist of the overflowing falls as the water levels were high due to rainy season. After visiting Mosi-oa-tunya (another name for the falls), meaning the “smoke that thunders”, I feel I can finally say that I live in Zambia.
While vacationing in Livingston was a good break from the village as I got in indulge in a multitude of yummy foods, got to enjoy a warm shower, and got to visit with friends I haven’t seen in a while, I’m very excited to return to my village. When buying vegetables in Mansa yesterday, I found myself just talking and laughing with the ladies. After one commented about how happy I was, it made me realize how excited I am to return home. Besides vacationing in Livingston, life in Zambia has continued to be a mix of busy and relaxed, and I still love being here. I’m continuing to work with the youth in my community, trying to organize extra curricular activities, working with the Anti-AIDS club, and I’ve been lucky to have found a strong friend group with the youth in my own village. On days where work is slow or if I have a down morning, I can count on the boys in my community to come over to play a game of skip-bo, to hold a mini dance party, or to even teach and learn English and Bemba. They have definitely been one of the strongest supports in my community and continue to remind me of why I’m so happy to be in Zambia. I’m also continuing to work with my HIV support group, encouraging them to work together, and my hope is to also strengthen my Neighborhood Health Committee.
I’m also looking forward to a boy’s camp that we will be holding in Luapula come August called ELITE. We are currently in the process of preparing for it and planning all the logistics. ELITE is a camp that empowers boys, teaches them to be peer educators and leaders in their community, and to work together as a group in Luapula. (To learn about camp Elite, you can follow this website: http://www.campelite.org/). Currently we are looking to find jersey’s for the boys and different supplies for the camp, so if you know of any major company willing to donate, please please let me know!!
All in all, things in Zambia are great. I’m happy being more of an encourager and taking a backseat role rather than strictly leading projects. In short, the women at the market hit the head on the nail, naumfwa insansa, “I’m happy”.
6 Months!
Muli shani friends and family! It has been a long time since I have last written and much has happened. At the end of our pre-service training, we began our 3 months of community entry, a time where volunteers are given the opportunity to build relationships within our community and to lay the foundation for the next 2 years. As part of community entry, we weren’t allowed to leave our district, unless for a training, and really were encouraged to get used to daily life, finding our rhythm and our comfort in the community and to make our village home. With this said, my first 3 months consisted of many meetings of school headmasters, village leaders, the chief of my catchment area, health related groups and the sort. It also was a time to build my water carrying muscles, to learn how to light a brazier, to continue to build on Bemba, to switch from rock climbing to mango tree climbing (this was a great skill to acquire during mango season), and to learn how to make a mediocre garden bed using a hoe.
At the end of community entry, which seemed to fly before my eyes, I can say that I have learned to laugh at my mistakes or hardships, rather than getting frustrated, I’m learning (and still in the process of) how to walking to my own beat—trying not to compare myself to the past volunteers and also not getting wrapped up in how my viewed (let’s face it, I’ll always be the weird kid on the block as I’m the only American living in a 8k radius), I’ve unfortunately lost my butt somehow, which I don’t understand as I’m constantly biking, and I’ve found a home in my community as I continue to meet new friends and family every day. Community entry has had its highs and its lows as it is hard being the new kid on the block and I’m constantly explaining my culture and views as part of our cultural exchange. And I’m also constantly learning from Zambians, about their beliefs, about everyday life, and about the community I live in. I really have been blessed at my site placement, as I’m surrounded by a caring community who protects me daily, who comes and greets me and is interested in my wellbeing, who will come and slash my lawn so that I don’t get snakes and critters and will make garden beds for me even when I am unaware, and who have really helped me adjust to my new living situation and everything that comes with it. I’ve made friends with my kids as we can cartwheel together, color, or even just laugh, and I’m learning from the women, as I have time to sit on a reed mat under the mango tree and just chat about life. As I’ve said many times, my site is also beautiful; far from the provincial capital, but a secret gem that only those who are willing to make the trip up can really experience. Luapula in general is very green and beautiful, but adding Lake Mwelu makes my site 10 times better.
As far as future work in my community, tomorrow when I return to site, I am hoping to schedule meetings with my clinic to go over future job prospects and to solidify plans for the future. I’m hoping to center my work around the youth, as they are truly the future, creating different extracurricular activities such as soccer matches, net ball and so forth. I’m also hoping to help my support group grow stronger by overcoming not only community stigma against HIV but also self stigma many impose on themselves. And as the first volunteer started a pre-school that is not quite fit for students to learn in, I hope to complete that in my time in Zambia, along with finding a way to support the wages of the teacher so that parents will not have to pay for tuition. There will be much more in between, many more lessons for me to learn, and many places still to explore, but panono panono (little by little) I am “getting used”. So this is 6 months in Zambia thus far, and I still love it as much as the first day I arrived. Life isn’t perfect, and it definitely is not easy, but I’m lucky and very happy to be here. Happy 6 months Peace Corps Zambia…21 more happy months together.
Rivers and Roads
Though we’ve been in Zambia for close to three months now, it blows my mind that the journey has just begun. Day by day, volunteers are slowly trickling away and into their villages. For the past 11 weeks, we have experienced the highs and lows of pre-service training (PST), enjoying the daily company of staff and volunteers, adjusting and learning from homestays, the building of relationships, and finally, prevailing through the final language exam, the determining factor for if volunteers were ready to move to their village. While I greatly enjoyed my time in Chipembi, all the interactions with the Zambian staff (all of which were great!), and my incredible homestay family in Mulungushi, I’m ready for this new adventure in Nchelenge and excited to move to site. Before departing Chipembi, all the volunteers and host parents came together for one last gathering where we cooked and ate both Zambian and American food (I was so happy to have a hotdog!), danced sang and said our final goodbyes. I will always cherish the skills we have acquired, such as learning to fetch water, cooking on a braiser, hand washing clothes and most importantly learning Bemba, and also the relationships we made in the villages, but it’s time to dive into this two-year relationships that I will build with mushi Matete. So from Chipembi, we made our way to Lusaka in preparation for or swear in ceremony.
In recognition of the completion of PST, on October 5th we, as a group of CHIP and RAP graduated from Peace Corps Trainees and finally became a Peace Corps Volunteer! You would have thought that after we received our invitation to join Peace Corps after the year long application that we would be volunteers, but no, Peace Corps is making us into very patient people. All in all, the ceremony was beautiful and with CHIP and RAP combined, we had the largest Swear in Ceremony Zambia has seen. The Ambassadors home is lovely, and we were all so excited to drink real coffee, to enjoy chocolate chip cookies and to dip our feet in the pool before the ceremony began. It was a fun time of celebration as it marked our first milestone, and we were also reunited with the RAP group after our separation during PST, but it was also a time of goodbyes as we thanked our Chipembi trainers for all their hard work and help over the course of 11 weeks.
After celebrating Swear in by dancing to plenty of P Square (especially Chop my Money) the following morning we each piled the treasures we’ve accumulated over the past couple of months (which was embarrassingly a lot) into our designated cruisers and were on our way to our provinces, our home for the next 2 years. It was a surreal feeling to say goodbye to everyone we’ve spent every day of the last three months together with and to know that we wouldn’t see each other until In-Service Training (IST) which won’t be until January, but in just minutes, we were all heading down our own roads toward our real destination, the reason we joined Peace Corps. 10 hours later, we were finally in the provincial capital of Mansa.
While I have been able to spend a few days in Mansa at our provincial house, getting ready for move in by buying food and resources that I will be unable to get in the next three months, tomorrow will mark day one of my community entry, a three month period where we will have the time to settle into our new homes, to get to know our community and to hopefully gain their trust. It’s a time not work, but to build relationships and hopefully after the three months we will have a better idea of what our next two years will look like.
When I left second site visit, I couldn’t wait until I would be back in my village. For the time I was there, I was blown away by it’s beauty and didn’t realize how much I missed the ocean until I was sitting by my lake, enjoying the calmness of water. Rainy season is slowly coming upon us, relieving the Seattlite in me from the hot heat. During community entry I hope to start a garden, to build a hand washing station called a “tippy tap” which is basically a small jug filled with water that is attached to a sting and stick that when stepped on, the jug is able to create an even flow of water to wash your hands, and to paint the outside of my hut. I’m still looking forward to improving my Bemba skills and to really get to know my community. So while there are “Rivers and Roads” before all the PCV’s are again reunited, and it is sad to say goodbye after all that we’ve gone through together in PST, what lies beyond in the future outweighs any anxiety or nervousness we may be feeling. And now, the 2 years commitment begins!
and…LUAPULA IT IS!
After all the anticipation and waiting for our site announcements, I have found that I will be traveling to the land of waterfalls, mangoes, and the longest bridge south of the equator (and in Africa)! I’m headed to Luapula! After swearing in on October 5th, Luapula province, in the Nchelenge district, and the village of Matete will be my future home!
Just after site announcements I had the priveledge of meeting my counterpart, a member of the Matete community who will be helping me throughout my service. As I will be a third generation volunteer, he was able to help me understand the role I will play in the community and the health concerns they have currently. I am told that my house is 1 K from Lake Luapula and that since it is fairy close to Zaire, community members may know Swahili.
For the next 10 days, we will be spending time in Luapula, the first 5 days on our second site visit, and the second spending time in our village. When we return back to Central province, we will have 2 more weeks of training, swear in on October 5th, and then we’ll be in our village.
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