Written February 21, 2009
These are words I hear often from Zambians. They are words that I love. Usually I hear them when I am using my counterpart's workspace at the clinic or when I am company at someone's house. Sometimes I hear them from Zambian friends when they sense that I am holding certain comments back from them in order to be culturally sensitive. Even though these words may be simple and minuscule to a Zambian, lately I've been thinking about how good life is when I try to live by these words here and when I interpret their meaning for my own personal use. As more months have passed here and I am getting even more accustomed to Zambian life, I am finding it easier and easier to be free. Hopefully you might notice the subtle ways throughout this blog entry.
Mangos, lumps and lumps of nshima, rainstorms, the U.S. elections, chickens, gardening, a leaky roof, a new boyfriend, holidays with Peace Corps friends, rain, oh yeah, and I guess a bit of development work. The months between November and February brought me all of these (mostly) wonderful events and experiences into my life. I'll go into detail about some, but others, well, you'll just have to write me a letter to inquire about more information. :)
One night in November, I was awakened by a stream of water pouring directly on my head. The first rains of the season had come in with a bang. Of thunder of course. Despite all of the rennovations done to my roof in October, I discovered that it still leaked quite a bit. I realized I had passed a nice test of resiliency that night when I simply rolled over onto the dry side of my bed and fell back asleep
I also learned to love certain aspects of the rains. One of these was that they caused two of the trees in my front yard to provide bunches of delicious, juicy, fresh as can get mangos. Perhaps it was one day after plucking one off of a branch that I discovered how entertaining it is to watch storms roll in over the mountains of Fiwila. First yuou see the dark clouds form and then listen to the raindrops from a mile or so away. You can usually simply watch a sheet of pouring rain come straight towards you, waiting in a dry patch.
In addition to the trouble of getting me soaking wet all the time, I found that the rainy season also seemed to get in the way of Peace Corps work. During the rainy season, scheduled meetings get cancelled left and right and it also seemed that people were just a little bit more concerned with getting gardening and field work done rather than work with me (this of course is somewhat justifiable). I sometimes fear that its not just the rain that can be blamed for these unfortunate events. As I mentioned previously, work never really seems to go as planned and sometimes simply never happens at all. Occasionally this causes me anxiety, especially as my one year anniversary of being a Peace Corps volunteer appraoches. But I haven't given up yet and have learned to keep on keeping on.
Plus I need to give myself a little bit more credit because I have managed to keep myself busy with secondary projects (additional work that I wasn't necessarily trained to do). One of these has been working with a youth group, which two motivated guys in the area started in early January. This group is still very new, but we have been holding weekly meetings on Fridays (when it doesn't rain of course) to perfect the mission of the group as well as figure out how it will accomplish all of the short term and long term goals it has set for itself. The purpose of the group so far is to provide a safe and productive way for youth in Fiwila Cathment Area to entertain themseleves, whether it be through orgianized sports events, earning money by providing skilled labor to the community, further educating themselves about issues that affect them, or through further fund-raising in the form of IGAs (Income Generating Activitie, and acronym often used in Peace Corps). I am hoping that my next blog entry will include a lot more details about all the different activities we will be doing in the community. I should also add that there may be an opportunity for anyone out there who is interested to donate to getting this group off the ground. Please keep checking my blog for more information if you think you might be able or willing to do so.
Working with youth seems to be a reoccuring theme in my life because I also have been helping to form a girls club at a school in a village called Mulungwe that is about 25k away from Filwila. This club was formed after two girls from Mulungwe attneded Camp GLOW, a week long outdoor camp sponsored by Peace Corps Volunteers. Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) was held December 6-11, 2008 in Mkushi and each Peace Corps Volunteer from Central Province was invited to send two middle school aged girls and one of their teachers to the camp. I was one of a few PCVs who was able to to attend the camp because I am part of the group of four in charge of organizing and running Camp GLOW in 2009. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent observing everything that happens at this camp. The girls spent the mornings learning valuable lessons in preventing HIV/AIDS and pregnancy, how to set goals, be more assertive, and have more confidence. In the afternoons we all participated in fun activities like rock climbing, canoeing, pottery and volleyball. Nights were spent dancing and singing around a campfire. The whole week was simply a great time and I am excited for the next Camp GLOW, was well as pleased to be helping the two girls from my catchment area teach skills and facts they learned to the peers at their school
Besides the two substantial activities of the youth group and girls club, my work is basically sporadic. A health talk here, giving advice to the staff at my clinic there. But I also have realized lately how important it is not to underestimate the power of relationship building. Not only does establishing good friendships and acquaintences make my quality of life better, I am also hoping these relationships will make work go smoother further down the road.
It makes me a very happy girl to report that I seem to be making a CLOSE friend in the village. And no, it isn't my dog Buddy. Her name is Paxina, she is twenty-one years old and moved onto my host family's compound back in October. She is the granddaugher to my host parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mulomo. She is still in high school, as it is very common for many students in high schools here to be in their early, even late twenties. She took a break from school when she became pregnant with her two and a half year old daughter Priscovia. There was a celebration a few weeks ago when she entered the tenth grade after passing a grueling end of 9th grade exam.
When Paxina first moved onto the Mulomo compound, I would go over to her insaka every now and then just to sit and chat. More recently though she has been inviting me over to eat dinner with her a few nights a week. I am really excited about this recent development. What a difference it makes in my overally happiness level just to partake in the act of sharing a meal with someone frequently! And what a difference it has made to have someone I can go to in the village who I can just be myself around. By that I mean not constantly speculating about my every act and utterance to make sure it is culturally appropriate or makes obvious the fact that I have more money than most villagers. I can joke around with Paxina and she understands. I can ask her questions about her country or Fiwila that I would never think about asking anyone else here. I laugh with her a lot. I am so thankful for this new friendship and the freedom it brings me in the village.
My friendship with Paxina has spiraled off into making new ones as well as making current ones better. For example, I have noticed a difference in the way I interact with my host mother. Maybe it was me who relaxed a bit, but somehow things have gotten more casual between the two of us. From time to time we even share supper together in my insaka, only the act isn't nearly the formality it was previously. Simply a modest dinner shared together, which is how I prefer it.
In addition to nice friendships in the village, as always I have my great Peace Corps family outside of it. We share all the important times together. We anxiously awaited the elections results together at our home away from homes, ATB lodge in Mkushi. We cooked (well some cooked while I mixed together some kool-aid) a lovely Thanksgiving meal together at the Serenje Peace Corps house as well as had a fun Christmas party there a few weeks later. I traveled down to Lake Kariba in Southern Province with several wonderful friends from my intake for Christmas day. Then January 20 was spent back at ATB rejoicing with others as we watched our new president take the oath. Finally, I stayed up trying to understand football, but merely enjoying half time as everyone else cheered on their favorite team for the Super Bowl.
A small tangent on Barack Obama, since I have been asked repeatedly about Zambians' reactions to the U.S. elections from those back in the States. I'll preface these comments by reiterating that all of the comments of this blog are my opinions only, not Peace Corps'. I don't want to be caught sensationalizing and this is Zambia, not Kenya, but I still figured I'd share with you a few observations I have made since Obama was elected president. Prior to the election, the only Zambians I heard discuss Obama were the wealthy and educated who occasionlly give me rides in Mkushi and Serenje. Now, those people still talk about Obama, but recently villagers have been asking me about him as well. When Obama was first elected, I was carrying around with me a picture of him off the cover of a Rolling Stone and would show it to anyone interested, proclaiming, "This will be America's new president." And always whoever I would be showing it to would get a huge grin across their face and ponder the picture for a few moments before finding someone else they could show it to and tell on their own, "this will be America's new president."
In late December, a boy named Derek who I had been helping with English approached me and stated matter of factly, "Ba Rachel, I don't know if you are aware, but Barack Obama was elected the new president of America."
In cities and towns, there are street vendors selling all sorts of Obama posters and calendars. If you're lucky you might even be able to stumble across an Obama chigenge. Now, perhaps all these smiles and sudden interest in the U.S. presidency would have happened regardless of who had been elected. Who knows, maybe somewhere out there, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon chitenges exist. But I do think its safe to say that there are many Zambians here content with America's new president.
So with a new president in office, wonderful people surrounding me throughout Zambia and a few developing projects, I would say that I life is pretty good here. And I haven't even mentioned the new chickens I bought yesterday to keep Buddy and Tulo company or the small garden I am in the act of starting. I guess I'll have to save those fun stories for next time.
But for now, one year down, one year to go! I know two years is an awful long time to keep in touch with someone for, but please don't forget me in these last twelvish months. All of your correspondence keeps me sane and happy. I always love reminding myself that acorss the world there exist many friends and family I love oh so very much. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you Thank you. I miss you all tremendously.
One last comment. I apologize for all of the spelling and grammar errors! I typed this one myself and don't have the time to go back and proof read. Also spell check isn't working. Hopefully you got through the blog ok!
Mangos, lumps and lumps of nshima, rainstorms, the U.S. elections, chickens, gardening, a leaky roof, a new boyfriend, holidays with Peace Corps friends, rain, oh yeah, and I guess a bit of development work. The months between November and February brought me all of these (mostly) wonderful events and experiences into my life. I'll go into detail about some, but others, well, you'll just have to write me a letter to inquire about more information. :)
One night in November, I was awakened by a stream of water pouring directly on my head. The first rains of the season had come in with a bang. Of thunder of course. Despite all of the rennovations done to my roof in October, I discovered that it still leaked quite a bit. I realized I had passed a nice test of resiliency that night when I simply rolled over onto the dry side of my bed and fell back asleep
I also learned to love certain aspects of the rains. One of these was that they caused two of the trees in my front yard to provide bunches of delicious, juicy, fresh as can get mangos. Perhaps it was one day after plucking one off of a branch that I discovered how entertaining it is to watch storms roll in over the mountains of Fiwila. First yuou see the dark clouds form and then listen to the raindrops from a mile or so away. You can usually simply watch a sheet of pouring rain come straight towards you, waiting in a dry patch.
In addition to the trouble of getting me soaking wet all the time, I found that the rainy season also seemed to get in the way of Peace Corps work. During the rainy season, scheduled meetings get cancelled left and right and it also seemed that people were just a little bit more concerned with getting gardening and field work done rather than work with me (this of course is somewhat justifiable). I sometimes fear that its not just the rain that can be blamed for these unfortunate events. As I mentioned previously, work never really seems to go as planned and sometimes simply never happens at all. Occasionally this causes me anxiety, especially as my one year anniversary of being a Peace Corps volunteer appraoches. But I haven't given up yet and have learned to keep on keeping on.
Plus I need to give myself a little bit more credit because I have managed to keep myself busy with secondary projects (additional work that I wasn't necessarily trained to do). One of these has been working with a youth group, which two motivated guys in the area started in early January. This group is still very new, but we have been holding weekly meetings on Fridays (when it doesn't rain of course) to perfect the mission of the group as well as figure out how it will accomplish all of the short term and long term goals it has set for itself. The purpose of the group so far is to provide a safe and productive way for youth in Fiwila Cathment Area to entertain themseleves, whether it be through orgianized sports events, earning money by providing skilled labor to the community, further educating themselves about issues that affect them, or through further fund-raising in the form of IGAs (Income Generating Activitie, and acronym often used in Peace Corps). I am hoping that my next blog entry will include a lot more details about all the different activities we will be doing in the community. I should also add that there may be an opportunity for anyone out there who is interested to donate to getting this group off the ground. Please keep checking my blog for more information if you think you might be able or willing to do so.
Working with youth seems to be a reoccuring theme in my life because I also have been helping to form a girls club at a school in a village called Mulungwe that is about 25k away from Filwila. This club was formed after two girls from Mulungwe attneded Camp GLOW, a week long outdoor camp sponsored by Peace Corps Volunteers. Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) was held December 6-11, 2008 in Mkushi and each Peace Corps Volunteer from Central Province was invited to send two middle school aged girls and one of their teachers to the camp. I was one of a few PCVs who was able to to attend the camp because I am part of the group of four in charge of organizing and running Camp GLOW in 2009. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent observing everything that happens at this camp. The girls spent the mornings learning valuable lessons in preventing HIV/AIDS and pregnancy, how to set goals, be more assertive, and have more confidence. In the afternoons we all participated in fun activities like rock climbing, canoeing, pottery and volleyball. Nights were spent dancing and singing around a campfire. The whole week was simply a great time and I am excited for the next Camp GLOW, was well as pleased to be helping the two girls from my catchment area teach skills and facts they learned to the peers at their school
Besides the two substantial activities of the youth group and girls club, my work is basically sporadic. A health talk here, giving advice to the staff at my clinic there. But I also have realized lately how important it is not to underestimate the power of relationship building. Not only does establishing good friendships and acquaintences make my quality of life better, I am also hoping these relationships will make work go smoother further down the road.
It makes me a very happy girl to report that I seem to be making a CLOSE friend in the village. And no, it isn't my dog Buddy. Her name is Paxina, she is twenty-one years old and moved onto my host family's compound back in October. She is the granddaugher to my host parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mulomo. She is still in high school, as it is very common for many students in high schools here to be in their early, even late twenties. She took a break from school when she became pregnant with her two and a half year old daughter Priscovia. There was a celebration a few weeks ago when she entered the tenth grade after passing a grueling end of 9th grade exam.
When Paxina first moved onto the Mulomo compound, I would go over to her insaka every now and then just to sit and chat. More recently though she has been inviting me over to eat dinner with her a few nights a week. I am really excited about this recent development. What a difference it makes in my overally happiness level just to partake in the act of sharing a meal with someone frequently! And what a difference it has made to have someone I can go to in the village who I can just be myself around. By that I mean not constantly speculating about my every act and utterance to make sure it is culturally appropriate or makes obvious the fact that I have more money than most villagers. I can joke around with Paxina and she understands. I can ask her questions about her country or Fiwila that I would never think about asking anyone else here. I laugh with her a lot. I am so thankful for this new friendship and the freedom it brings me in the village.
My friendship with Paxina has spiraled off into making new ones as well as making current ones better. For example, I have noticed a difference in the way I interact with my host mother. Maybe it was me who relaxed a bit, but somehow things have gotten more casual between the two of us. From time to time we even share supper together in my insaka, only the act isn't nearly the formality it was previously. Simply a modest dinner shared together, which is how I prefer it.
In addition to nice friendships in the village, as always I have my great Peace Corps family outside of it. We share all the important times together. We anxiously awaited the elections results together at our home away from homes, ATB lodge in Mkushi. We cooked (well some cooked while I mixed together some kool-aid) a lovely Thanksgiving meal together at the Serenje Peace Corps house as well as had a fun Christmas party there a few weeks later. I traveled down to Lake Kariba in Southern Province with several wonderful friends from my intake for Christmas day. Then January 20 was spent back at ATB rejoicing with others as we watched our new president take the oath. Finally, I stayed up trying to understand football, but merely enjoying half time as everyone else cheered on their favorite team for the Super Bowl.
A small tangent on Barack Obama, since I have been asked repeatedly about Zambians' reactions to the U.S. elections from those back in the States. I'll preface these comments by reiterating that all of the comments of this blog are my opinions only, not Peace Corps'. I don't want to be caught sensationalizing and this is Zambia, not Kenya, but I still figured I'd share with you a few observations I have made since Obama was elected president. Prior to the election, the only Zambians I heard discuss Obama were the wealthy and educated who occasionlly give me rides in Mkushi and Serenje. Now, those people still talk about Obama, but recently villagers have been asking me about him as well. When Obama was first elected, I was carrying around with me a picture of him off the cover of a Rolling Stone and would show it to anyone interested, proclaiming, "This will be America's new president." And always whoever I would be showing it to would get a huge grin across their face and ponder the picture for a few moments before finding someone else they could show it to and tell on their own, "this will be America's new president."
In late December, a boy named Derek who I had been helping with English approached me and stated matter of factly, "Ba Rachel, I don't know if you are aware, but Barack Obama was elected the new president of America."
In cities and towns, there are street vendors selling all sorts of Obama posters and calendars. If you're lucky you might even be able to stumble across an Obama chigenge. Now, perhaps all these smiles and sudden interest in the U.S. presidency would have happened regardless of who had been elected. Who knows, maybe somewhere out there, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon chitenges exist. But I do think its safe to say that there are many Zambians here content with America's new president.
So with a new president in office, wonderful people surrounding me throughout Zambia and a few developing projects, I would say that I life is pretty good here. And I haven't even mentioned the new chickens I bought yesterday to keep Buddy and Tulo company or the small garden I am in the act of starting. I guess I'll have to save those fun stories for next time.
But for now, one year down, one year to go! I know two years is an awful long time to keep in touch with someone for, but please don't forget me in these last twelvish months. All of your correspondence keeps me sane and happy. I always love reminding myself that acorss the world there exist many friends and family I love oh so very much. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you Thank you. I miss you all tremendously.
One last comment. I apologize for all of the spelling and grammar errors! I typed this one myself and don't have the time to go back and proof read. Also spell check isn't working. Hopefully you got through the blog ok!
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