RED-Rural Education Development

What exactly am I doing in Zambia? By popular demand, I will describe to the best of my abilities what my work as a PCV will entail. Overall, my PC work will help to promote sustainable development. PC uses an old proverb to describe its work, which I am sure you all have heard many times before. If you give a man a fish he can eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he can eat everyday. The three goals of Peace Corps are (1) to provide trained men and women; (2) share and exchange culture with the people whom you are serving; (3) share your host country culture with those in the states. These goals are great and encouraging b/c if and when you are not as successful in your project as you had hoped to be, you always know that you are continuing to accomplish goals 2 and 3 (which I am doing now!). As the result of current education volunteers’ feedback, the LTM (Learning at Taonoga Market) program has been changed to the RED (Rural Education Development) project. My group is the first to be assigned to this project, so we are the pioneers. Our projects will be fluid in nature as we find what aspects of our project work best with Ministry of Education (MOE) initiatives. My work is not limited to education initiatives. We are encouraged to participate in secondary projects such as sensitizing rural communities on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, GADZ (Gender And Development in Zambia), WID (Women in Development), Girl Empowerment, Life Skills, Family Planning, IGAs (Income Generating Activities), and any other area identified by the community.

Overview of Zambia MOE—(they LOVE acronyms so get ready!)
Zambia’s education system functions through the Ministry of Education. The MOE operates at the National, Provincial, District and Zonal levels. --- I will be working within the Eastern Province and since I am the volunteer nearest to the BOMA (British Oversees Management Area or town) in Chadiza, Chadiza serves as both my District and Zonal levels (aka Boma volunteer). ---- Each District has a DEBS (District Education Board Secretariat) Office and a DRC (District Resource Center). The DRC serves as a resource for all the schools within the district. Official MOE meetings and trainings are held within the DRC. Within each district there are many zones. Each zone has a Zonal Head School (ZHS), ZRC (Zonal Resource Center) and a Zonal Education Support Team (ZEST). The ZEST is made up of the Zonal Head Teacher (ZH), Zonal In-service Coordinator (ZIC) and School In-service Coordinator (SIC). The main function of the ZEST is to carry out the MOE initiative SPRINT (School Program of In-service for the Term).
Briefly, SPRINT trains, monitors and evaluates curriculum, teaching methodology, student performance, and educational initiatives such as ODL (Open and Distance Learning) and IRI (Interactive Radio Instruction). Within each zone there are GRZ (Government of the Republic of Zambia) schools and community schools. GRZ schools are funded and ran by the government. The community schools are funded and ran by the community. Education in Zambia is not free. All children must pay school fees and although children are not required to wear school uniforms or shoes many children are teased/bullied if they do not. As a result, many children particularly OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) fail to attend school. Another common reason for low attendance or low enrollment numbers is the lack of value for education within the villages. Many families need their children to work in the fields to maintain their family’s welfare. A perfect example of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; one must have their immediate needs such as food, health, and shelter met before they can focus on other areas of need such as education. (I can be easily distracted by my strong opinion in this area so I will remain focused on the topic at hand).

My role as a RED volunteer is two pronged. My focus includes (1) educational initiatives at the District and Zonal Levels and (2) strengthening and/or starting community schools including ODL and IRI initiatives. My main counterparts at the district level will be the DRCC (District Resource Center Coordinator) and the DESO-ODL (District Education Standards Officer of Open and Distance Learning). My main counterparts within the zonal level are the members of the ZEST, the ZH, ZIC and SIC. Within my zone there are many community schools and my main counterparts will be the IRI mentors/teachers and the members of the CSC (Community School Committee). It should be noted that although I am the “boma volunteer,” the boma here in rural Zambia is nothing like what you may think of when you hear ‘boma’ or ‘town’. It is extremely underdeveloped with limited to no resources. So while I will be working with high MOE officials at the District and Zonal Level, I will also be working with community schools within my zone. My village, Chimate, is 10 km from the boma and my district offices however my catchment area quite large. I will serve many GRZ and community schools within my catchment area. One way to promote sustainable development will be to strengthen the communication between the District, Zonal, and Community schools. Linking community schools together to share resources, informing IRI mentors of teacher trainings at the District/Zonal Level, and sensitizing communities on the importance of education are all ways I can promote sustainable development.
(1) Specifics related to my work at the district and zonal level include but are not limited to strengthening the capacity of MOE officials, developing a comprehensive resource center that will provide the teachers a central place to go for classroom materials, to research specific content areas, and to seek support from other educational professionals. I will also work closely with the ZEST team in monitoring and evaluating various projects and initiatives such as SPRINT and SIMON (School In-service and Monitoring). I will also attend teacher trainings and meetings to discuss teaching methodologies, learning styles, and student assessments.
(2) My work within education in the villages include identifying existing community schools and IRI centers as well as identifying any villages which may need to start a community school. Many children have a great distance to travel (20 km or more) to attend the closest GRZ School. Due to these difficulties many children are unable to attend school. For these reasons, it will be important for me to sensitize communities on the importance of education and to encourage them to build a community school. I will work to identify and train a villager to serve as a mentor for the IRI program and to help the school with IGAs to build the school and pay the mentor.

Secondary projects are just as important to my work as RED projects. There has been a strong emphasis on HIV/AIDS and IGAs. IGAs are particularly important for community schools as they provide funding for the mentor salaries and to assist OVCs with school fees, uniforms and materials. Common IGAs include pig farming, school gardens, beekeeping, and other animal husbandries. For the first two months I will be working on community entry projects which include conducting needs assessments, identifying resources through community mapping, completing school profiles, working with my language tutor, identifying and building rapport with a translator and potential counterparts, and getting to know my district and village. During community entry we are strongly encouraged not to leave our village; therefore, I will remain in my village until PC Provincials, which are May 18th.

I hope you now have a better picture of what I will be doing over the next two years. :)

A Taste of Zambian Culture

Over the past two months I have learned a lot about the Zambian culture from my cross-cultural trainings and from living with a Zambian family. Culture and religion are extremely valuable to this Country and it varies across the various regions as well as within the villages. These are brief overviews of what I have either experienced personally or have been told by native Zambians.

Time and Distance. These are two areas, which Zambian and American cultures vary greatly. It took me a while to learn the difference between ‘just now’, ‘now’, and ‘now now’. ‘Just now’ could mean in 10 minutes or 10 hours, ‘now’ is any time from now, and ‘now now’ is for real now. Very similar with distance is the expression ‘Just There’. This is actually one of my favorites and I used is quite often. You will ask a Zambian where anything is and they will ALWAYS respond “It’s just there.” This could mean a few feet away or several km away. You may ask where someone is and you will get “oh, they are just there.” Once again, this could mean they are in the hut next to you or they could be visiting someone in a village 20 km away. As you can imagine, this can lead to great difficulties when you are trying to get directions because EVERYTHING is JUST THERE! I was trying to find ZamChik just last week (its only the best take away in Zambia) and I asked at least 5 people and they all gave me varying directions…. “Turn by the tree and you will see a path”…WHAT!? Do you know how many trees and paths there are? Which tree and which path…who knows? Finally a child escorted me to the best chicken and chips ever…it was worth it! Another common expression related to location is “You will find me just there.” As a sign of respect when you are ending a conversation you tell the person that they will find you and of course it is always just there. In American we learn that time is money and we always try to make the most out of our time. I tried to explain to my host family that Americans can buy precooked and packaged meals that can be cooked in a microwave (yeah that took a lot of explaining). They were even more shocked to hear that we “take our meals’ in our cars. Time is of no virtue to Zambians. When someone comes to visit you it is expected that you stop what you are doing and sit and talk with them, no matter what you are doing. You offer them a seat and usually some food and drink. They may stay and chat about nothing or even sit quietly for hours and hours.

Language and Expressions. I have already told you about some common expressions related to time and distance. Another frequently used expression is “It’s just okay.” How is the n’sima? It’s just okay. How was your day? It was just okay. Fosholo is one of our favorite words in Chinyanja. Its literal translation is shovel but we use it to mean ‘fo sho’…like ‘for sure’. We love it fosholo! Also, Zambians say, “you will be used.” At first I thought they meant that people will use me, but I now know that it means to get accustomed to or to get used to. For example, two nights before I left my home stay family the rats came back. This time I wasn’t nearly as afraid as I was before. My family said, “You are used.” I knew that at the moment I was truly ready for my posting to my village…I was used. I am used to this lifestyle, even the rats.

Witchcraft and Juju. Witchcraft, juju and traditional medicine and healers are quite common. Zambians actually have strong beliefs in their practices. Unlike stories of witches that we are accustomed to hearing witches here do not fly on brooms, they fly in baskets. They are only able to fly naked and at night. There are restrictions on areas in which they can fly called NO FLY ZONES. This is an area in which a more powerful witch resides and if they fly through this no fly zone they will be thrown from their basket. Here is a true story from a man in my village. He said that one Sunday he was walking to church and saw a naked woman laying on the ground. He believed her to be a witch and she was killed. Villagers also believe in juju. A PCV in Eastern told me that a woman in her village unexpectedly died and they believed her death was caused by juju. The family accused the neighbor of putting a juju spell on her. The husband confronted the juju woman and she said yes, she was a witch (it is common in here to admit to a crime even if you did not do it…I don’t know why). The husband then set fire to the woman’s house and she was killed. If a person dies tragically or unexpectedly the villagers have a “flying coffin” ceremony. This is where the coffin is carried around the village after the funeral to find the person that caused the death. Supposedly the coffin directs itself, much like the weegee boards we are more familiar with. The coffin goes to the door of the person that caused the death and the person immediately admits to the crime. Witchcraft and juju is so strongly believed that the innocent truly believe that they must have done it.


Beliefs and Superstitions. Just as in America there are numerous Zambian superstitions however, the different is that here in Zambia they are commonly practiced and truly believed.
-Pregnant women cannot stand in doorways or they will have difficult labor.
-If a man cheats on his wife while she is pregnant the wife or child will die in delivery. If a woman is having difficulty during delivery, the husband is called in and accused of having an affair and the only way the woman or child will survive is if he admits to adultery.
-If a spouse dies, his or her spirit will haunt the living spouse until that spouse has been cleansed. To be cleansed another person within the family (usually a cousin) must have sex with the grieving spouse and that sets the spirit free.
-A woman who is at the moon (menstruating) is not allowed to cook with salt or she will become ill.
-If a young boy as premarital sex, his fingers will grow oddly long.
-It is considered bad luck to ask a woman about her pregnancy.


These stories are just a small taste of Zambian culture. There will be many more to come.