This morning we had a man with his truck pick us up to come back into town. Now, what I am about to describe in no way gives the story justice (keep this in mind). The truck, a SMALL Toyota pickup drives up the dirt path to Natalie’s home. Inside the truck there is a chicken coupe with about 10 chickens, a mattress, multiple bags of corn and about 5 Zambian boys. We pile in, with all our luggage and our language trainer and leftover cake. We are at absolute maximum capacity. According to US standards. But we see two women and a huge chicken along the side of the road, so our driver says come on in! Ok, seriously now we are at max capacity. According to US standards we are way over. But oh no, here is another boy and another bag of corn and we are saying come on in. The next chicken goes behind the front driver, but really there is no room. And then we arrive into town, the driver has one of the boys hop out to make sure there are no policemen because he would definitely get a ticket. He does this at every intersection. Just laugh with me people, because this is my life now. Insanity. According to US Standards.
"We are so glad you came to talk with us, because people in our villages are dying." These were the words from one man at the seminar we (Bryan, Chris, Andrea & I) taught on Wednesday. We were able to talk about HIV to 30 Community Health Workers, and the group was so receptive and eager to learn. Walking home at the end of the day I had such a feeling of pride in being here, in doing something that has the power to save lives. We taught for about 3 hours and all went well. On Monday I will be teaching all day at the basic school - I am looking forward to connecting with the students!
We have been in Natalie's village this week and it has been such a fun relaxing time. We've had a lot of time to experiment with cooking and made chicken tacos from scratch. And by that I mean we literally killed a chicken, plucked & cleaned it, rolled out dough to grill tortillas, and went to different gardens in the village to get tomatoes, cabbage, onions and garlic. DON'T EVER COMPLAIN ABOUT COOKING IN THE US.
Last night we celebrated my birthday in the village - carrot cake baked on the fire and the village singing happy birthday. It was so much fun. And now I’m in town, reading emails and about to have a cold drink. Life is good. Blessings!
Friday, July 21, 2006
Monday, July 17, 2006
Home Sweet Cifusu
We received our site placements on Saturday afternoon-so my new home will be Cifusu which is in the Kolomo district of Southern Province. I have an active Rural Health Clinic near (about 3k) and also a Basic School, so there will be lots of amazing counterparts to work with while I am there for the next 2 years! I will write more about my place after I actually know more! I will be posted sometime the week of August 15th, after I swear in as a volunteer. There are about 8,000 people in that district area, so I'll have my hands full.
I'm in Choma now, about 2 hours south of Lusaka - we are heading out today for our 2nd visit to the village. We just had a meeting with the District Administration Officer and learned a bit more about Zambian life and how the government partners with us as volunteers. I made spaghetti last night for the 10 other volunteers here and I'm feeling pretty domestic-even thinking about having some chickens when I go out to my village. I know some of you are wondering if it is even me writing this! It is! We'll be back into town on Friday and are having a party for my birthday/going away for another volunteer. Looking forward to that!
The drama of the week was when a brush fire got out of control and one of the volunteers huts burned down! Zambia! What can you do? She was ok and just lost a couple photos. We had an awesome time at the wedding last Sunday, it was like a choreographed musical. Africans can dance! I included a couple pictures on a prior email-if you didn't get them have someone forward them to you. I took some video too of the dancing, so I'll show ya'all when I get back.
Life is good, things are feeling more normal and comfortable here in Zambia. I am excited to get out to the village and actually meet the people I'll be serving. I am sure I'll have many good stories to tell. Blessings!
I'm in Choma now, about 2 hours south of Lusaka - we are heading out today for our 2nd visit to the village. We just had a meeting with the District Administration Officer and learned a bit more about Zambian life and how the government partners with us as volunteers. I made spaghetti last night for the 10 other volunteers here and I'm feeling pretty domestic-even thinking about having some chickens when I go out to my village. I know some of you are wondering if it is even me writing this! It is! We'll be back into town on Friday and are having a party for my birthday/going away for another volunteer. Looking forward to that!
The drama of the week was when a brush fire got out of control and one of the volunteers huts burned down! Zambia! What can you do? She was ok and just lost a couple photos. We had an awesome time at the wedding last Sunday, it was like a choreographed musical. Africans can dance! I included a couple pictures on a prior email-if you didn't get them have someone forward them to you. I took some video too of the dancing, so I'll show ya'all when I get back.
Life is good, things are feeling more normal and comfortable here in Zambia. I am excited to get out to the village and actually meet the people I'll be serving. I am sure I'll have many good stories to tell. Blessings!
Sunday, July 09, 2006
MY SO "CALLED" LIFE
I'm reading a book by Erwin McManus called Chasing Daylight (thanks Christy) and he talks a bit about this thing-a "calling". All of us that call ourselves Christians are called first to follow God - and often into the unknown. He writes "Faith is all about character, trusting in the character of God, being certain in who God is and following Him into the unknown." I just want to encourage all of you to take steps into the unknown. If we avoid all of the uncertainties in life we will really miss out on truly living. This journey of coming to Zambia was and is very much full of the unknown, but there is so much LIFE in the uncertainty.
The past week has been a good one. The 4th passed without fireworks but it was still fun. I made a sign for the kids at my home stay that said "Happy 4th of July" with a picture of the American flag. Later that day I watched as my little brother Cholwe traced each letter with his finger learning how I had formed them. I made all the kids repeat the pledge of allegiance with me, just like I was at home on the porch with my family. We were without a flag but I faced the US so I'm sure I was facing a flag somewhere! We had a parade of sorts as all the kids walked with us to the market wearing our bicycle helmets and walking our bikes for us. Impala meat, capenta, and caterpillars taste nothing like a good 'ole burger, but playing volleyball and having sack races with the Zambians made it seem a little more like home. The words of Andrea's poem came true - "the Zambians will get such a treat when the American girl pedicures their feet"- once I got all the dirt off their toes, I gave my little sisters pedicures! It was a 4th I won't forget.
We are having awesome cultural training each Thursday and this last week we discussed politics, geography, and economics within Zambia. Elections for a new president are supposed to take place in November or December, so that should be exciting. My heart continues to be burdened for this country, where the life expectancy is the lowest in the world at 37 years. Another stat I read this week notes that at the current rate of infection 1/2 of the 15 year olds in Zambia will die of HIV/AIDS. Reading Matthew 10 this week, where Christ talks about putting new wine into new wineskins - I need to figure out a way to do this! Not to get a glass of wine (though that would be nice), but how to educate people in a new way and have it be relevant. Obviously the info or the mode of communicating has not worked so far. Please pray that God would show me how to do this.
The week ahead holds much promise - on Tuesday I'll be giving an hour talk to an 8th grade class on nutrition. Educating on healthy living is one of the goals of the HIV program. Please pray that I'll have peace as I'm speaking to the students. I also have my 2nd language competency on Friday and then Saturday I find out my village placement! Please pray for all these things. Blessings! I'm off to the African wedding...
The past week has been a good one. The 4th passed without fireworks but it was still fun. I made a sign for the kids at my home stay that said "Happy 4th of July" with a picture of the American flag. Later that day I watched as my little brother Cholwe traced each letter with his finger learning how I had formed them. I made all the kids repeat the pledge of allegiance with me, just like I was at home on the porch with my family. We were without a flag but I faced the US so I'm sure I was facing a flag somewhere! We had a parade of sorts as all the kids walked with us to the market wearing our bicycle helmets and walking our bikes for us. Impala meat, capenta, and caterpillars taste nothing like a good 'ole burger, but playing volleyball and having sack races with the Zambians made it seem a little more like home. The words of Andrea's poem came true - "the Zambians will get such a treat when the American girl pedicures their feet"- once I got all the dirt off their toes, I gave my little sisters pedicures! It was a 4th I won't forget.
We are having awesome cultural training each Thursday and this last week we discussed politics, geography, and economics within Zambia. Elections for a new president are supposed to take place in November or December, so that should be exciting. My heart continues to be burdened for this country, where the life expectancy is the lowest in the world at 37 years. Another stat I read this week notes that at the current rate of infection 1/2 of the 15 year olds in Zambia will die of HIV/AIDS. Reading Matthew 10 this week, where Christ talks about putting new wine into new wineskins - I need to figure out a way to do this! Not to get a glass of wine (though that would be nice), but how to educate people in a new way and have it be relevant. Obviously the info or the mode of communicating has not worked so far. Please pray that God would show me how to do this.
The week ahead holds much promise - on Tuesday I'll be giving an hour talk to an 8th grade class on nutrition. Educating on healthy living is one of the goals of the HIV program. Please pray that I'll have peace as I'm speaking to the students. I also have my 2nd language competency on Friday and then Saturday I find out my village placement! Please pray for all these things. Blessings! I'm off to the African wedding...
Sunday, July 02, 2006
INDEPENDENCE DAY
It has almost been a month since leaving home and I miss America! Things are still going well here, but I could really use a pedicure and Mexican food. Life goes on. I got to talk with my mom/Dev/Andrea and that made it so much better! This week was filled with a lot of studying - we had a big language competency on Friday morning...I think it went ok, but it is quite possible I said something really stupid. Everything sounds the same in the language I'm learning! I've learned the value of laughing at myself regularly. I did my first load of laundry here yesterday, to much laughter from my host family. For some reason Africans find most things white people do to be very funny. It was only a 2 snake week, which is better than a 3 snake week, but best would be never seeing a snake again! Seriously, snakes have no value (sorry if you like them).
We had some great cultural training this week, a lot about gender roles in Zambia. Just FYI, I am worth about 4 cows in Zambia. That is the going rate for a wife in the southern province. It was really interesting to hear about all of the traditions and practices that take place in the marriage process here. There are a lot of gender issues that are contributing to HIV in this country. Married women are the highest in new infections here - they have zero say in the marriage and due to the amount of infidelity that takes place, many men are infecting their wives with the virus. Women have been beaten or killed when they have suggested using condoms within their marriage. Honestly, every day I thank God for all of the freedom women have in the US.
We have 4th of July off from training and are having a big party at the Mwakera Center. Our host families get to come and hang out. It's going to be a BIG deal- we're even killing and grilling a goat. I'm sure a lot of you will do the same! ; ) Enjoy your bbqs and fireworks! Then next Sunday I get to attend an African wedding, which will be a whole new cultural experience. The cousin of someone (I'm still not sure who) is getting married and we are the token Americans. I'll let you know how it goes!
Miss you all!
We had some great cultural training this week, a lot about gender roles in Zambia. Just FYI, I am worth about 4 cows in Zambia. That is the going rate for a wife in the southern province. It was really interesting to hear about all of the traditions and practices that take place in the marriage process here. There are a lot of gender issues that are contributing to HIV in this country. Married women are the highest in new infections here - they have zero say in the marriage and due to the amount of infidelity that takes place, many men are infecting their wives with the virus. Women have been beaten or killed when they have suggested using condoms within their marriage. Honestly, every day I thank God for all of the freedom women have in the US.
We have 4th of July off from training and are having a big party at the Mwakera Center. Our host families get to come and hang out. It's going to be a BIG deal- we're even killing and grilling a goat. I'm sure a lot of you will do the same! ; ) Enjoy your bbqs and fireworks! Then next Sunday I get to attend an African wedding, which will be a whole new cultural experience. The cousin of someone (I'm still not sure who) is getting married and we are the token Americans. I'll let you know how it goes!
Miss you all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
