Hey Friends,
Well after 6 months of planning Camp GLOW has finally come and gone. Overall I would say it was a big success. It seemed that the girls all had a great time and even learned a little which is always nice. For us, the two other PCVs I planned it with and me, it was a long week and tiring week but definately worth it. A lot happened during the week but I'll just cover some of the highlights...
We opened the camp with a bonfire that included the Zambians teaching us a few games and us teaching them the hokey pokey. They seemed to really enjoy it and thought shaking our backsides all around was particularly funny. We did have a few girls homesick that night but by the end of the week they all stayed up late singing to enjoy their last bit of time together. Throughout the week we saw a lot of the girls open up, especailly in their dramas. We also had the girls meet in small groups with PCVs and mentors, and the first day many girls refused to talk and even cried but by the end everyone was sharing and asking questions.
We were also very lucky to have a great group of mentors who had alot of ideas about how to bring GLOW back to their communities. Arianna and I had a special bonding time with them during our sex and sexuality talk when they really opened up to each other about their private lives. It was great to see them come together. They even wrote us a song that they performed at the closing ceremony. It was great to have so many strong female role models for our girls.
We covered a lot of topics throughout the week but one of my favorite sessions was on body image. We started the whole thing off with us going around the room saying our favorite part of the body and one of our amazing mentors was brave enough to say it was her vagina! It was a great moment of embracing being a woman. We ended the session with us all chanting "I'm beautiful," which the girls continued to chant for the rest of the week.
The girls had a blast having three-legged and sack races in our Olympics and got really into making friendship bracelets. We had a lot of fun dancing with them and trying to each them some American games.
Peace Corps was able to get the Permanet Secreatary (she runs all the departments) of Eastern Provience to come and officiate at the closing ceremony. It was so nice for the girls to see a woman who also grew up in the village and who has risen to such a position of power. She seemed to really embrace the idea of GLOW and connect with the girls. Plus we even got press coverage with the camp making the news on the radio and even some print media.
Of course we had a few bumps along the way, mainly with our partners at the YWCA not coming through for us. But it was a learning experience for all of us and hopefully a great starting point for future GLOWs.
Today we read through the evaluations and it was wonderful to see all the things the girls and mentors shared. While a lot of times its hard to see how we are making a difference here in Zambia, I really felt like we made a big one in these girl's lives. Its hard being a girl anywhere in the world, and especially here, but I think that we made it a little easier for these girls if only for a week and hopefully armed them with skills to better their futures.
I just want to end with a big thank-you to all who donated to the project, we couldn't have done without you!
Love,
Allie
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Craziest Year of my Life
Hi Friends!
Well since my last post I celebrated my one-year anniversary of arrriving here in Zambia. In a lot of ways I can't be;ieve thats its already been a year because the time has gone so fast! I feel like just yesterday I was ringing in the New Year and somehow its already August. My friend Denise and I reached the conclusion that the only way tot really categorize that last year of our lives is crazy. I've had a blast and definately learned a lot about myself, my limitations (which are ever decreasing), and Zambia. I just hope that the next year here in Zambia is just as much of an adventure.
My year mark also saw the new intake of health and fisheries volunteers arrive and I had the "honor" of hosting 4 of the new health volunteers for their first dtay in the village. It was a lot of fun but my village is a little intense sometimes so we had a few extra special moments. The first night about 20 kids surrounded their tents as they were trying to go to bed but they soon learned that if you try to talk to the kids they will never leave. They got to experience drawing water (and we used a lot of water), shulking corn, and one of them even made peanut butter by hand. The last night was definately the most special as about 200 people from my village gathered in my front yard to show us traditional female dancing. Then, of course, they made us do it and after 10 months of saying no I had to dance in front my village. As most of you know I can't dance at all and since this is all very intense hip momnets I mostly looked like a fool but they were all very happy. Site visit went well but it was nice to have my house back to myself again.
My village has been busy getting the last of their cotton to market and now preparing their maize. To get the maize ready they place it in a bag and whack off most of the kernals and then hand remove those that remain. After that they use a winnowing basket to remove hulls and any broked kernals, it takes a long time and they only take about 10 dollars for 50 kg of kernals!
I've been finishing up the last of VCT sensitization meetings which I think went really well overall. The next step will be for us to actually go out to the villages and conduct the testing and I hoping to finish up before I go to Lusaka for my mid-term conference in October but of course it all depends on when we can schedule everything.
This year Zambia has been experiencin a outbreak of measles, mainly because it spread from Malawi. But don't worry all PCV's have to reiecve a booster before coming so I still have full antibody protection. Its been interesting for me to see how they respond to the epidemic. The main message, besides an ad campigan, has been to reaccinate all the children under 4 during their recent child health week. Its really frustrating to see an epidemic of a disease that we have a vaccine for and Zambian children are supposed to recieve the vaccine at the age of 9 months. So now Zambia will need to determine what has gone wrong and while the vaccine hasn't been effective. Its made me think a lot about a country's ability to respond, especially in a rural setting and I'm sure that this experience will effect my thinking about epidemics when I go back to school.
Camp GLOW starts on Monday and we are in the final detail and logistics stage. We are here in Chipata getting everything ready and hoping that nothing major goes wrong. After a few budget freak-outs we fianlly have all the transport organized and have faith that all the partipants will make it to the conference center. I just want it to be a really great week for the girls and other partipants but I know that I will be very relieved come the 14. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers next week so that everything goes well! We now have free, high-speed internet at our house in Chipata so I will try to post after the camp to let you all know how it went.
Love,
Allie
Well since my last post I celebrated my one-year anniversary of arrriving here in Zambia. In a lot of ways I can't be;ieve thats its already been a year because the time has gone so fast! I feel like just yesterday I was ringing in the New Year and somehow its already August. My friend Denise and I reached the conclusion that the only way tot really categorize that last year of our lives is crazy. I've had a blast and definately learned a lot about myself, my limitations (which are ever decreasing), and Zambia. I just hope that the next year here in Zambia is just as much of an adventure.
My year mark also saw the new intake of health and fisheries volunteers arrive and I had the "honor" of hosting 4 of the new health volunteers for their first dtay in the village. It was a lot of fun but my village is a little intense sometimes so we had a few extra special moments. The first night about 20 kids surrounded their tents as they were trying to go to bed but they soon learned that if you try to talk to the kids they will never leave. They got to experience drawing water (and we used a lot of water), shulking corn, and one of them even made peanut butter by hand. The last night was definately the most special as about 200 people from my village gathered in my front yard to show us traditional female dancing. Then, of course, they made us do it and after 10 months of saying no I had to dance in front my village. As most of you know I can't dance at all and since this is all very intense hip momnets I mostly looked like a fool but they were all very happy. Site visit went well but it was nice to have my house back to myself again.
My village has been busy getting the last of their cotton to market and now preparing their maize. To get the maize ready they place it in a bag and whack off most of the kernals and then hand remove those that remain. After that they use a winnowing basket to remove hulls and any broked kernals, it takes a long time and they only take about 10 dollars for 50 kg of kernals!
I've been finishing up the last of VCT sensitization meetings which I think went really well overall. The next step will be for us to actually go out to the villages and conduct the testing and I hoping to finish up before I go to Lusaka for my mid-term conference in October but of course it all depends on when we can schedule everything.
This year Zambia has been experiencin a outbreak of measles, mainly because it spread from Malawi. But don't worry all PCV's have to reiecve a booster before coming so I still have full antibody protection. Its been interesting for me to see how they respond to the epidemic. The main message, besides an ad campigan, has been to reaccinate all the children under 4 during their recent child health week. Its really frustrating to see an epidemic of a disease that we have a vaccine for and Zambian children are supposed to recieve the vaccine at the age of 9 months. So now Zambia will need to determine what has gone wrong and while the vaccine hasn't been effective. Its made me think a lot about a country's ability to respond, especially in a rural setting and I'm sure that this experience will effect my thinking about epidemics when I go back to school.
Camp GLOW starts on Monday and we are in the final detail and logistics stage. We are here in Chipata getting everything ready and hoping that nothing major goes wrong. After a few budget freak-outs we fianlly have all the transport organized and have faith that all the partipants will make it to the conference center. I just want it to be a really great week for the girls and other partipants but I know that I will be very relieved come the 14. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers next week so that everything goes well! We now have free, high-speed internet at our house in Chipata so I will try to post after the camp to let you all know how it went.
Love,
Allie
Friday, July 9, 2010
Wool Socks in Zambia?
Hi Friends!
First I want to thank all those who donated to Camp GLOW; we were able to raise our full amount! Planning here has been going well and this week we were able to finalize the schedule with the YWCA. While it seems like we have an endless amount of work to do it is all slowly getting done. This week we also did a walk around at our site for the camp and were able to arrange to borrow some sports equipment from the local school. It’s shaping up to a really great week with lots of fun activities and hopefully some educational stuff as well.
Besides all the work we have done for Camp GLOW we did manage to have a nice 4th of July celebration. Quite a few volunteers came up to Chipata and we celebrated by watching the Patriot, eating a lot of food at our BBQ, and holding a badminton tournament (I even made it to the second round). It was a good day with a lot of good food and friends. Not quite like the day at the lake in MN and of course no fireworks but still a lot of fun. The next two days were Zambian holidays so we mostly hung-out and lamented over the fact that shoprite closed at 13.
Things in my village have been going well but it seems with all the work I've been doing for GLOW I just can't seem to spend enough time there. But when I'm there I've been continuing doing sensitization for VCT and hope to start the actual test outreach in the next month. The People Living with HIV support group wants to start a garden to raise money so I am excited to get started on that and can hopefully teach them some of the conversation gardening that I've learned.
Sadly my solar charger was stolen in my village while I there last, but I wasn't the only target as my neighbor's solar torch was also stolen. While it really sucked to get have it stolen, my village really rallied and conducted an investigation and even offered to pay for a new one. My headman has also decided to build me a fence for security but I am mostly excited that it will keep animals out. It was a nice reminder how much my village cares about me and how important they think it is that I am there, even if we can't get a lot of work done.
We are in the middle of winter right now and Zambia can get cold. I mean its not MN cold but I am not really used to that anymore. Here in Chipata its worse because the tin roof and cement are not as insulated as my hut so I've been wearing my long underwear to bed. Makes me miss my electric blanket. I'm not really sure what I'll do when I come home next year in the middle of fall.
In two weeks I am hosting 4 of the new group of volunteers on their first site visit, so first village experience and during their first week in country. Its crazy to think that I've been here for a year already, the time has flown by and apparently the second year goes even faster. A lot has happened in the last year and I think that I've changed a lot too (hopefully for the better). If I had to pinpoint one thing its that I am definitely more patient and much better about just letting things happen now, life in Zambia definitely doesn't have a plan.
Well I guess that's it for now! Hope you are all enjoying summer and all the delicious food of summer!
Love,
Allie
First I want to thank all those who donated to Camp GLOW; we were able to raise our full amount! Planning here has been going well and this week we were able to finalize the schedule with the YWCA. While it seems like we have an endless amount of work to do it is all slowly getting done. This week we also did a walk around at our site for the camp and were able to arrange to borrow some sports equipment from the local school. It’s shaping up to a really great week with lots of fun activities and hopefully some educational stuff as well.
Besides all the work we have done for Camp GLOW we did manage to have a nice 4th of July celebration. Quite a few volunteers came up to Chipata and we celebrated by watching the Patriot, eating a lot of food at our BBQ, and holding a badminton tournament (I even made it to the second round). It was a good day with a lot of good food and friends. Not quite like the day at the lake in MN and of course no fireworks but still a lot of fun. The next two days were Zambian holidays so we mostly hung-out and lamented over the fact that shoprite closed at 13.
Things in my village have been going well but it seems with all the work I've been doing for GLOW I just can't seem to spend enough time there. But when I'm there I've been continuing doing sensitization for VCT and hope to start the actual test outreach in the next month. The People Living with HIV support group wants to start a garden to raise money so I am excited to get started on that and can hopefully teach them some of the conversation gardening that I've learned.
Sadly my solar charger was stolen in my village while I there last, but I wasn't the only target as my neighbor's solar torch was also stolen. While it really sucked to get have it stolen, my village really rallied and conducted an investigation and even offered to pay for a new one. My headman has also decided to build me a fence for security but I am mostly excited that it will keep animals out. It was a nice reminder how much my village cares about me and how important they think it is that I am there, even if we can't get a lot of work done.
We are in the middle of winter right now and Zambia can get cold. I mean its not MN cold but I am not really used to that anymore. Here in Chipata its worse because the tin roof and cement are not as insulated as my hut so I've been wearing my long underwear to bed. Makes me miss my electric blanket. I'm not really sure what I'll do when I come home next year in the middle of fall.
In two weeks I am hosting 4 of the new group of volunteers on their first site visit, so first village experience and during their first week in country. Its crazy to think that I've been here for a year already, the time has flown by and apparently the second year goes even faster. A lot has happened in the last year and I think that I've changed a lot too (hopefully for the better). If I had to pinpoint one thing its that I am definitely more patient and much better about just letting things happen now, life in Zambia definitely doesn't have a plan.
Well I guess that's it for now! Hope you are all enjoying summer and all the delicious food of summer!
Love,
Allie
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Hi Friends,
First, I am going to do a little begging. I want to thank all of you who have already donated but we still need about 2000 dollars. So please if you haven't made a donation consider doing so. We've spent a lot of the last couple days working out some of the details for Camp GLOW and its going to be an amazing experience for these girls. Not only will they gain valuble skills and knowledge on such subjects as assertiveness, communication, peer pressure, and rape and sexual assault but they will also have a lot of fun. We will doing art projects with the girls including making sanitary pads, teaching them dramas, and doing a lot of fun sports and games. We've gotten a lot of support from local businesses but we still need your help to pay for our wonderful facilities. All we need is 200 people to give 10 dollars, or a hundred to give 20! It doesn't take much and it will add up if everyone does their part. So please donate if you can and pass this along to anyone else you know who may be interested in supporting these wonderful young women ( and my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer!)
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-055
The last few days have been very GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) oriented. Thursday and Friday we had a training with our partners at the YWCA to practice, finalize the schedule and figure out a lot of the logistics of the camp. It was lot of fun and we got a lot done but our to do list grows everyday. We spent yesterday trying to cross a few things off the list including getting more donations here in Chipata. Mostly this means we are going shop to shop asking for any donations that they are willing to give. Yesterday was very successful as we were able to raise some money and also got a few needed items donated. Our biggest surprise was from our landlord ( who owns a resturant and butcher) who donated ice cream so that we can have an ice cream party for the girls! Most of these girls have probably never had ice cream, so are very excited. We still have a lot to do but are slowly getting it all done.
Back in my village I've been traveling throughout my catchment conducting sensitization meetings to increase the levels of HIV testing in the area. For the most part things have been going well and people have even requested VCT services. I did have one meeting where only 4 people came and had to be rescheduled but one out of three is not bad at all. Once we have visited all the neighborhoods, we will be returning to conduct the actual testing. Most testing is done at the clinics but since people are reluctent to come in for testing we are going to them! Since most people who are postivie in Zambia don't know their status testing is very important.
Besides all the work that has finally jump-started I have still found time for fun. My friend Denise came to visit before our provincial meetings at the beginning of June. It was fun to show her around my area and introduce her to all the people I tell stories about. My village was very excited to have a visitor, with one little boy yelling "A'zungu A'wiri" or two white people when we came in to the village.
Its cotton harvest time and I've been learning a lot about cotton from my neighbors. This means that many villagers have money in the first time for a long time which is both good and bad. I am not enjoying the fact that men can once more afford alcohol but it is good to see children getting full meals again.
Time is flying by, I can't believe that I've been in Zambia for 11 months! This means that its once again the cold season, which means no rain which is nice but that it can be rather cold in the morning. Good thing I packed my long underwear...
Well I guess thats all for now, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there (especially mine!). Enjoy the beautiful MN summer for me!
Love,
Allie
First, I am going to do a little begging. I want to thank all of you who have already donated but we still need about 2000 dollars. So please if you haven't made a donation consider doing so. We've spent a lot of the last couple days working out some of the details for Camp GLOW and its going to be an amazing experience for these girls. Not only will they gain valuble skills and knowledge on such subjects as assertiveness, communication, peer pressure, and rape and sexual assault but they will also have a lot of fun. We will doing art projects with the girls including making sanitary pads, teaching them dramas, and doing a lot of fun sports and games. We've gotten a lot of support from local businesses but we still need your help to pay for our wonderful facilities. All we need is 200 people to give 10 dollars, or a hundred to give 20! It doesn't take much and it will add up if everyone does their part. So please donate if you can and pass this along to anyone else you know who may be interested in supporting these wonderful young women ( and my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer!)
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-055
The last few days have been very GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) oriented. Thursday and Friday we had a training with our partners at the YWCA to practice, finalize the schedule and figure out a lot of the logistics of the camp. It was lot of fun and we got a lot done but our to do list grows everyday. We spent yesterday trying to cross a few things off the list including getting more donations here in Chipata. Mostly this means we are going shop to shop asking for any donations that they are willing to give. Yesterday was very successful as we were able to raise some money and also got a few needed items donated. Our biggest surprise was from our landlord ( who owns a resturant and butcher) who donated ice cream so that we can have an ice cream party for the girls! Most of these girls have probably never had ice cream, so are very excited. We still have a lot to do but are slowly getting it all done.
Back in my village I've been traveling throughout my catchment conducting sensitization meetings to increase the levels of HIV testing in the area. For the most part things have been going well and people have even requested VCT services. I did have one meeting where only 4 people came and had to be rescheduled but one out of three is not bad at all. Once we have visited all the neighborhoods, we will be returning to conduct the actual testing. Most testing is done at the clinics but since people are reluctent to come in for testing we are going to them! Since most people who are postivie in Zambia don't know their status testing is very important.
Besides all the work that has finally jump-started I have still found time for fun. My friend Denise came to visit before our provincial meetings at the beginning of June. It was fun to show her around my area and introduce her to all the people I tell stories about. My village was very excited to have a visitor, with one little boy yelling "A'zungu A'wiri" or two white people when we came in to the village.
Its cotton harvest time and I've been learning a lot about cotton from my neighbors. This means that many villagers have money in the first time for a long time which is both good and bad. I am not enjoying the fact that men can once more afford alcohol but it is good to see children getting full meals again.
Time is flying by, I can't believe that I've been in Zambia for 11 months! This means that its once again the cold season, which means no rain which is nice but that it can be rather cold in the morning. Good thing I packed my long underwear...
Well I guess thats all for now, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there (especially mine!). Enjoy the beautiful MN summer for me!
Love,
Allie
Friday, May 21, 2010
Grant Time
Hey Friends!
First of all I would like to ask for your help. As you know I, along with other volunteers, have been busy planning a girl's empowerment for 30 girls across Eastern Provence. To fund the camp we have applied for a grant through Peace Corps called the Peace Corps Partnership Grant and now we are asking all of you to be our partners! The camp is going to be a wonderful opportunity for the girls and this grant is a great way for all of you to provide support for my work here in Zambia. We are not asking for big contributions but rather for those you are able to just donate what they can, even donations of 5 dollars add up fast. So thanks in advance for the support!!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-055
Otherwise things have been going well at site. Currently my neighbors have been busy harvesting, particularly their cotton. So right now there aren't a lot of people around but soon we will enter "development season." The time of year that people have time and resources to devote to working with me. My counterpart from PEPFAR and I are planning to travel throughout my catchment to encourage more individuals to go in for HIV testing and condom use.
This last week I went to visit my friend Denise's site which was a lot of fun. Mostly we sat around and ate, visiting other PCVs is a great excuse to cook more elaborate food. We did manage to pound some coffee beans and paint watercolors as well. From there we headed to Chipata to meet another friend's parents. It was nice to be around parents again and they even bought us homemade cookies from America!
Currently my house has been invaded by ants who have moved in due to the beginning of cold season. I am waging a losing battle against them but I have faith that I will be able to discover their hill and stop in the infestation.
Well, I guess that's all for now. Please consider donating to Camp GLOW, its really going to be a moving experience for these girls and hopefully extend far beyond the week at camp as the girls become Peer Educators. So thanks!!
Love,
Allie
First of all I would like to ask for your help. As you know I, along with other volunteers, have been busy planning a girl's empowerment for 30 girls across Eastern Provence. To fund the camp we have applied for a grant through Peace Corps called the Peace Corps Partnership Grant and now we are asking all of you to be our partners! The camp is going to be a wonderful opportunity for the girls and this grant is a great way for all of you to provide support for my work here in Zambia. We are not asking for big contributions but rather for those you are able to just donate what they can, even donations of 5 dollars add up fast. So thanks in advance for the support!!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-055
Otherwise things have been going well at site. Currently my neighbors have been busy harvesting, particularly their cotton. So right now there aren't a lot of people around but soon we will enter "development season." The time of year that people have time and resources to devote to working with me. My counterpart from PEPFAR and I are planning to travel throughout my catchment to encourage more individuals to go in for HIV testing and condom use.
This last week I went to visit my friend Denise's site which was a lot of fun. Mostly we sat around and ate, visiting other PCVs is a great excuse to cook more elaborate food. We did manage to pound some coffee beans and paint watercolors as well. From there we headed to Chipata to meet another friend's parents. It was nice to be around parents again and they even bought us homemade cookies from America!
Currently my house has been invaded by ants who have moved in due to the beginning of cold season. I am waging a losing battle against them but I have faith that I will be able to discover their hill and stop in the infestation.
Well, I guess that's all for now. Please consider donating to Camp GLOW, its really going to be a moving experience for these girls and hopefully extend far beyond the week at camp as the girls become Peer Educators. So thanks!!
Love,
Allie
Thursday, April 29, 2010
There's an election going on?
Hey Friends,
Well it hasn't been that long since my last post so this one won't be nearly as epic. I returned home to find that a rat had moved in and was chewing the plastic lid off my oil. I managed to live with it for awhile but the sound it made at rat moving around my house was just too much. I consulted my neighbor and he happily provided a trap. So the rat has been eliminated and I didn't even have to dispose of the body myself. As a side note the Chewa people, my tribe here in Zambia, do eat rats but those caught in the house. There are actually two words in Nyanja for rat, those that live in the house and those that live in the field. And no I have not yet experienced this delicacy.
Work has been about the same, with me spending a lot of time at the clinic trying to keep busy. My counterpart from PEPFAR has a lot of great ideas and we are currently planning sensitization meetings in my area to increase the rates of HIV testing. Its nice to finally have someone fired up about my work and with so many great ideas.
My clinic in-charges daughter is trying to teach herself biology so see can get the credit in the subject and go to nursing school. I have attempted to help her and have been dusting off my basic biology skills. Its been interesting to see the things they focus on, a lot more memorization while my biology education has mostly focused on concepts. I am not sure how much I am helping but I always looking for ways to promote education here in Zambia.
I have also experienced the first flat tire on my bike. Of course this occurred after my pump and patch kit were stolen from my saddle bags in the Boma and before I could replace them. I went to borrow a pump and ended up handing my tire off to a neighbor boy who returned with it nicely fixed for me. Sadly the patch didn't hold but I was able to manage without a bike for a few days before coming to Chipata.
The reason I am updating so soon is because I was called out of site for safety and security. My area recently lost its MP in a road accident and so we are currently experiencing a by-election, today was polling day in fact! Sometimes elections can result in riots so, even through there have been no problems in my area, its PC/Zambia policy to pull volunteers from site. Before heading out on Monday I was able to ascertain that elections mainly consist of people holding rallies, yelling candidates names, and driving around in cantor trucks signing. A but different then the campaigning done in America that's for sure. I did get to see the President's helicopter when he came by spent a few minutes wondering what in the world was going on before someone explained. Helicopters are definitely not of place in rural Zambia.
I have spent the last couple days hanging in Chipata with the new volunteers as they got ready to get posted. It really made me realize how much I have changed since I went to site 7 months ago! I was reminded of how nervous I was those first couple weeks compared with now when I get to site and I am so happy to be home. Its also nice not to be the new kids anymore and have people ask me for advice for a change.
My time in Chipata has been briefly interrupted with a quick trip to Lusaka for medical. I'm apparently developing allergies, most likely to my thatch roof or dust, which has left me with a headache for the last week. I did get a free cruiser down here, saw medical, and am heading back bright and early because I would much rather be in Chipata.
Well I guess that is all for now. Its 8:30 here and past my bedtime!
Love,
Allie
Well it hasn't been that long since my last post so this one won't be nearly as epic. I returned home to find that a rat had moved in and was chewing the plastic lid off my oil. I managed to live with it for awhile but the sound it made at rat moving around my house was just too much. I consulted my neighbor and he happily provided a trap. So the rat has been eliminated and I didn't even have to dispose of the body myself. As a side note the Chewa people, my tribe here in Zambia, do eat rats but those caught in the house. There are actually two words in Nyanja for rat, those that live in the house and those that live in the field. And no I have not yet experienced this delicacy.
Work has been about the same, with me spending a lot of time at the clinic trying to keep busy. My counterpart from PEPFAR has a lot of great ideas and we are currently planning sensitization meetings in my area to increase the rates of HIV testing. Its nice to finally have someone fired up about my work and with so many great ideas.
My clinic in-charges daughter is trying to teach herself biology so see can get the credit in the subject and go to nursing school. I have attempted to help her and have been dusting off my basic biology skills. Its been interesting to see the things they focus on, a lot more memorization while my biology education has mostly focused on concepts. I am not sure how much I am helping but I always looking for ways to promote education here in Zambia.
I have also experienced the first flat tire on my bike. Of course this occurred after my pump and patch kit were stolen from my saddle bags in the Boma and before I could replace them. I went to borrow a pump and ended up handing my tire off to a neighbor boy who returned with it nicely fixed for me. Sadly the patch didn't hold but I was able to manage without a bike for a few days before coming to Chipata.
The reason I am updating so soon is because I was called out of site for safety and security. My area recently lost its MP in a road accident and so we are currently experiencing a by-election, today was polling day in fact! Sometimes elections can result in riots so, even through there have been no problems in my area, its PC/Zambia policy to pull volunteers from site. Before heading out on Monday I was able to ascertain that elections mainly consist of people holding rallies, yelling candidates names, and driving around in cantor trucks signing. A but different then the campaigning done in America that's for sure. I did get to see the President's helicopter when he came by spent a few minutes wondering what in the world was going on before someone explained. Helicopters are definitely not of place in rural Zambia.
I have spent the last couple days hanging in Chipata with the new volunteers as they got ready to get posted. It really made me realize how much I have changed since I went to site 7 months ago! I was reminded of how nervous I was those first couple weeks compared with now when I get to site and I am so happy to be home. Its also nice not to be the new kids anymore and have people ask me for advice for a change.
My time in Chipata has been briefly interrupted with a quick trip to Lusaka for medical. I'm apparently developing allergies, most likely to my thatch roof or dust, which has left me with a headache for the last week. I did get a free cruiser down here, saw medical, and am heading back bright and early because I would much rather be in Chipata.
Well I guess that is all for now. Its 8:30 here and past my bedtime!
Love,
Allie
Friday, April 9, 2010
Rain, sex, and sand
Hi Friends!
Sorry that its been so long since my last post but I've been away from the Internet for awhile. I spent the rest of February and the first couple weeks of March just hanging out in the village, over 4 weeks straight, the longest I've ever stayed in one go. Luckily the rain began to slow down which helped keep my sanity. However, not before a small lake complete with lily pads managed to form on the path to my clinic. I managed to fall in the lake but only once before perfecting crossing it on my bike. My pit latrine also became dangerously close to overflowing but hopefully the water level has decreased.
I've been keeping busy at site working at the clinic and attempting to hold meetings. April marks the end of the planting season so things are beginning to start up. Along with that a group of women in the village wants to start weekly cooking lessons with me. Not only will I learn all about Zambian cooking but I can use the time to teach a little about nutrition and pratice my language. Since my "formal" work is still slow I am trying more and more to focus on more informal work by working health into my daily conversations.
One of the most exciting parts has been the start of harvesting. So far my life has been filled with fresh maize ( not as good as sweet corn but still pretty good), boiled peanuts, and pumpkin. I am slowly becoming an expert on removing the hairs from pumpkin leaves. After hungry season its nice to have some fresh food again. I am on the lookout for any good lentil or okra recipes that I can cook on the braizer.
The last week of March I spent in Chipata at an HIV/AIDS workshop. Peace Corps is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which includes the CDC, USAID, and Health and Human Services. Basically we learned a lot of things that I already knew but we each brought a counterpart from the village and they definitely learned a lot. We did have a lot of fun breaking Zambian social taboos when we listed as many words for sex, vagina, and penis that we could think of. We finished the week by going for VCT (Voluntary, Counseling, and Testing) which was a good experience for us to fully understand what people being tested go through. Besides the workshop we enjoyed our week in Chipata by having a braai and pizza party.
Following PEPFAR I, and 5 others, headed down south to Namibia! It was a great vacation and one of the most beautiful places I've seen. We had some long transport down there not getting into the capital until 3:30 in the morning but people there were very kind. Namibia was a shock coming from Zambia, the gas stations have better selections of food then most stores in Zambia! In Windhoek we went to a real mall complete with a clinque counter and speciality foods store, we were pretty sure that we in America.
From there we rented a car and headed to Swakopmund which is a German resort town on the Atlantic Ocean. It was of course freezing there but the ocean was pretty. Namibia was a German colony and you can definitely tell in the town. We weren't quite sure if we were in Germany, California or the twilight zone. From there we drove up the Skeleton Coast to see a shipwreck and a seal reserve. We literally saw tens of thousands of Cape Fur Seals, however the place had a very distinct smell. We also spent an extreme day on the dunes where we slid down the dunes on waxed boards at up to 60 km/hr. It was a little scary but a lot of fun. But walking back up the dunes was hard, like an extreme stairmaster. In the afternoon we went ATVing on the dunes which gave us great views and a few scary moments as we went up on the edges. There we also met two PC Namibia volunteers and it was a lot of fun to hear the differences and similarities of our experiences.
From there we headed to the desert to see the largest dunes in the world, we got up at the crack of dawn to climb the dunes before it got too hot. It was beautiful to see the changing colors. We picnicked at a gorge and swam in the pooling water to cool off from our hike up the dunes. We camped at a lodge outside the dunes where we saw some great sunsets. We also met some touring singers from South Africa including one the South African Three Tenors who lit our fire and gave us a free cd.
One of the best parts was all the wildlife we saw including oryx, springbok, giraffe, zebra, warthogs, baboons, and even an elephant while driving. Definitely a lot more game then Zambia. We also managed to eat quite a bit of game, and other types, of meat on the trip. Most of us are suffering from meat overload.
Our way home involved over 1000 km in the back of pick-ups which has left me with a sore back but it was all worth it. Now its time to get back to site and work, as I enjoy the end of the rainy season.
Love,
Allie
Sorry that its been so long since my last post but I've been away from the Internet for awhile. I spent the rest of February and the first couple weeks of March just hanging out in the village, over 4 weeks straight, the longest I've ever stayed in one go. Luckily the rain began to slow down which helped keep my sanity. However, not before a small lake complete with lily pads managed to form on the path to my clinic. I managed to fall in the lake but only once before perfecting crossing it on my bike. My pit latrine also became dangerously close to overflowing but hopefully the water level has decreased.
I've been keeping busy at site working at the clinic and attempting to hold meetings. April marks the end of the planting season so things are beginning to start up. Along with that a group of women in the village wants to start weekly cooking lessons with me. Not only will I learn all about Zambian cooking but I can use the time to teach a little about nutrition and pratice my language. Since my "formal" work is still slow I am trying more and more to focus on more informal work by working health into my daily conversations.
One of the most exciting parts has been the start of harvesting. So far my life has been filled with fresh maize ( not as good as sweet corn but still pretty good), boiled peanuts, and pumpkin. I am slowly becoming an expert on removing the hairs from pumpkin leaves. After hungry season its nice to have some fresh food again. I am on the lookout for any good lentil or okra recipes that I can cook on the braizer.
The last week of March I spent in Chipata at an HIV/AIDS workshop. Peace Corps is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which includes the CDC, USAID, and Health and Human Services. Basically we learned a lot of things that I already knew but we each brought a counterpart from the village and they definitely learned a lot. We did have a lot of fun breaking Zambian social taboos when we listed as many words for sex, vagina, and penis that we could think of. We finished the week by going for VCT (Voluntary, Counseling, and Testing) which was a good experience for us to fully understand what people being tested go through. Besides the workshop we enjoyed our week in Chipata by having a braai and pizza party.
Following PEPFAR I, and 5 others, headed down south to Namibia! It was a great vacation and one of the most beautiful places I've seen. We had some long transport down there not getting into the capital until 3:30 in the morning but people there were very kind. Namibia was a shock coming from Zambia, the gas stations have better selections of food then most stores in Zambia! In Windhoek we went to a real mall complete with a clinque counter and speciality foods store, we were pretty sure that we in America.
From there we rented a car and headed to Swakopmund which is a German resort town on the Atlantic Ocean. It was of course freezing there but the ocean was pretty. Namibia was a German colony and you can definitely tell in the town. We weren't quite sure if we were in Germany, California or the twilight zone. From there we drove up the Skeleton Coast to see a shipwreck and a seal reserve. We literally saw tens of thousands of Cape Fur Seals, however the place had a very distinct smell. We also spent an extreme day on the dunes where we slid down the dunes on waxed boards at up to 60 km/hr. It was a little scary but a lot of fun. But walking back up the dunes was hard, like an extreme stairmaster. In the afternoon we went ATVing on the dunes which gave us great views and a few scary moments as we went up on the edges. There we also met two PC Namibia volunteers and it was a lot of fun to hear the differences and similarities of our experiences.
From there we headed to the desert to see the largest dunes in the world, we got up at the crack of dawn to climb the dunes before it got too hot. It was beautiful to see the changing colors. We picnicked at a gorge and swam in the pooling water to cool off from our hike up the dunes. We camped at a lodge outside the dunes where we saw some great sunsets. We also met some touring singers from South Africa including one the South African Three Tenors who lit our fire and gave us a free cd.
One of the best parts was all the wildlife we saw including oryx, springbok, giraffe, zebra, warthogs, baboons, and even an elephant while driving. Definitely a lot more game then Zambia. We also managed to eat quite a bit of game, and other types, of meat on the trip. Most of us are suffering from meat overload.
Our way home involved over 1000 km in the back of pick-ups which has left me with a sore back but it was all worth it. Now its time to get back to site and work, as I enjoy the end of the rainy season.
Love,
Allie
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