The Latest

As you all enjoy fall back in the states things here in Africa are heating up! Gone are the mornings of warming myself by the fire, now I basically just sweat all day long. And it’s not even "hot" yet. Enjoy the warm drinks, fall fashion, and changing leaves for me! Things have been a little hectic the last couple weeks, so sorry for not keeping you in the loop. I'll just highlight a couple of the things that are taking place in my world.
=Livingston
I am back here in Livingston today, trying to get my work permit signed and processed through the ministry of health. It is a bit annoying to have to deal with this again (I was here 2 weeks ago). It does look like things will go through today or tomorrow and then I can settle into my village for the long haul. We has a really fun mini-vacation the last time we came-went bungee jumping and on a real life jungle cruise.
=Village Life
I am feeling encouraged about the influence I can have in my village here. I met with the staff at the school and I'll be involved in after school programs and health education. I'm passionate about youth and have connected with a lot of the students already, so I'm excited to see what will come of that over the next two years. My next step is to identify student leaders to be peer educators. I haven't been as involved at the clinic as I would like, so I'll focus on that upon my return. We don't have HIV testing available at our clinic so I want to petition for that with the Ministry of Health. I just really want to do all I can and not have any regrets about the time I spend in Chifusa.
=Cholwe
My sweet village friend, Cholwe, is doing awesome! We have started a Tuesday night tradition of her coming to my hut for "America" food. Things like spaghetti, tacos, cappuccino and anything else I got in a package from the States. It has been really fun and I love the conversations we have over candlelight. She continues to impress me every time we are together. She is doing really well in school and has plans to become a teacher one day. If you come visit me I know you'll love her too!
=Provincial Meeting
Our provincial meeting went fine. Basically it is a time to discuss Peace Corps policy and update each other on what is taking place in our villages. One thing I am really looking forward to is a Zambia-wide conference we will be putting on called GLOW (girls leading our world). Each volunteer will be able to take 2 girls from the village to the conference. We will talk with them and equip them with skills to bring about change in their own lives and in the village. I'm really excited to be part of the planning and implementation of the event. We are working on the grant proposal now, so as more details unfold I'll let you know how you can pray!
=Friendships
I spent the last couple days with my friend Andrea in her village, Dembwe. I felt like God orchestrated the whole thing-we had such great talks and it was just what both of us needed to get refocused and encouraged. My friendship with her continues to grow and really is a huge blessing. We caught a ride to Bryan's village on Monday night at worked at his clinic on Tuesday. Andrea and I weighed babies for most of the morning and then I gave polio immunizations in the afternoon. That night Bryan's headmaster slaughtered a turkey in our honor and we enjoyed it for dinner.
=Returning
If all goes well with the visa situation I'll be heading back to the village tomorrow night. Please keep me in your prayers-pray for my influence in Chifusa and that God will continue to meet me each day. Also, with elections for president coming up this next week there is potential for civil unrest (the current president's vehicle was stoned yesterday) so please pray for physical safety.

I miss you all more than you will ever know. Blessings!