Things I've Learned in Zambia Part Deux

24. It is much easier to carry things on your head (see Emma).
25. Green bananas and oranges are ripe.
26. It's liberating to go 4 weeks without looking in a mirror.
27. Don't drink village beer, they say it makes you blind! (I think we use the term "beer goggles").
28. All of 1980s Goodwill clothing donations must have been sent to Zambia!
29. Yum-Yum Honey Crunch (peanut better) and SaltyCrax (crackers) are the bomb!
30. Living with spiders, lizzards, and termites isn't that bad, however, I could do without the rats and bats!
31. Villagers give drunk a whole new meaning!
32. As homosexuality "doesn't exist" in Zambia, men walking hand in hand is more acceptable than for men and women.
33. An old plastic container can entertain Zambian children for hours.
34. It's okay to read more than one book a day.
35. Attending 3 hour meetings in a not yet mastered 2nd language gives you plenty of time to make lists of things you've learned!

Things I have learned in Zambia

1. Refridgerate After openning is just a suggestion.
2. Laziness is relative.
3. Shaving is overrated.
4. You really only need two sets of clothing.
5. White people really can't dance.
6. College dorms were luxury suites.
7. I can beat anyone in a staring contest.
8. Laughter is a universal language.
9. The 10 second rule doesn't apply here, if it falls on the ground I am eatin' it!
10. Don't worry it willl build your immune system.
11. I hate goats.
12. A bucket of water can go a long way.
13. Save everything, you will use it again later.
14. I could steal candy from a child.
15. Green oranges and bananas are ripe.
16. Twenty six years of proper English instruction can be reversed in two short months.
17. Clear your plate, there really are starving children in Africa.
18. Mail from home is like gold!
19. Soya pieces. Why aren't they big in America?
20. I can sit and do nothing for hours on end.
21. Once you get a fire started you will want to cook all day.
22. Burn everything before throwing it into the trash pit (first see number 13).
23. I really stand out in a crowd, being white and all.

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.

Ku seka! To laugh!

Kuseka! To laugh! I am sure you guys have been waiting to hear some funny stories! In general I can get plenty of laughs from observing the people and my surroundings. The names of little shops and businesses are hilarious…like Stop Jealous Tuck Shop (tuck shops are small general stores). Bars named Liquor Nest and Boredom Breaker! Other businesses try to be modern and name their shop things like J.K. International Sinda Branch…you just have to laugh because you know that there is no other shop other than this one much less internationally. The other day I saw a business called Broken Investments…too funny! People’s names here crack me up….the guard at our PC provincial house is Fatness. I have meet people named Innocence and Tears, or the best yet…Liverness Towel!! OMG!!

Modes of transportation provide plenty of laughs too. Monday I saw a guy riding his bicycle with a pig tied to the rack! The best part was that the pig was still alive and has his mouth tied shut!! A few miles later I saw a man with a goat tied to his bike! Bicycles are the most common transport in and out of the villages. Many people get rides into the boma (town) by riding on the bike racks (It would be nice if you could pull me into town..ha ha). I commonly see old women and children…the other day I saw a family of four all on one bike! I immediately thought ‘what would they give for a Hummer?” In the states we see one person in a SUV…here it would be filled with about 20 more people than would fit plus about 10 chickens and a few goats…that is if the goats weren’t being ridden in on the back of a bike! Ha! Ha!

As volunteers we are trained in HIV/AIDS education and we are encouraged to promote awareness in our villages. During one of our trainings a current volunteer came to share some of her experiences of HIV/AIDS education in her village. She had an awareness training in her village and she did a condom demonstration. She went through the 6 steps of correct and consistent condom use. Since she was in the village she had limited tools for her demonstration so she used a stick. She carefully explained that if you use a condom using these 6 steps you would be protected from HIV. She felt as if the session went well and gave condoms to the villagers. A few weeks later she was walking through her village and noticed a stick with a condom on it placed outside a hut. Come to find out, the villagers thought that putting a condom on a stick and placing it outside their hut was practicing safe sex! WOW!

During second site visit I stayed with a volunteer who was at the end of her service. She decided to throw a farewell party and asked the village to help her with the planning. We were sitting in the community school planning the party…you know going thru all the specifics…how many goats and chickens did we need and how were we going to get them. So it was decided that we needed 4 chickens and that the gizzards and livers were to be served to the village Headmen. It is tradition to serve goat at farewell gatherings but this man at the meeting continued to mention that we needed to purchase a pig stating… “But I know a pig!” it was too funny at the time…maybe you had to be there but HE KNOWS A PIG! Well we ended up getting 2 goats. I watched as the villagers killed and gutted the goats. No part of an animal goes to waste here…they eat it all. So sad to say but one of the goats was pregnant with two kids. When the man told us this I responded without thinking “Great, can we eat them as appetizers?” OMG! That was disgusting…but very funny! I must report that I did not eat any goat and I do not know what they did with the fetuses. ..hope I don’t get added to PITA’s hate list!

So, I have debated whether or not I should share this next story. It is pretty much the funniest and most disgustingly disturbing thing that has happened during training…and it just so happened to have happened to me…of course!! WARNING the following is not attended for all audiences. Men and children should be advised! So not to go into to much detail but I was at the moon (that is what Zambians call it when women have their cycle) and I did not want to throw my plastic applicators in the pit latrine (I know, who brings plastic to Zambia..what was I thinking?) Anyway, so I collected them all week in a plastic bag to throw into the trash pit. I tied the bag in a knot and threw it in the pit as I left for class. When I came home for lunch I noticed that a large number of village kids were around my compound. As I walked closer I realized they were playing with some type of toy. You may know where this is going….I walked up to a child and noticed that he had one of my applicators in his hands using it as a popper pulling it in and out. Then I looked over and saw that a small girl has one in her mouth using it as a whistle!! I was totally freaked out and screamed “Dirty, Very Very Dirty!” I was absolutely mortified…what had I done. How was I to know that the children would climb down into the trash pit, dig around and find my black trash bag, untie the knots and use my tampons and whistles and toys?!?! Moral of the story…don’t throw anything in the trash pit that you do not want children to play with!

Well just a few laughs for you! I am sure many more will come! Please email and write me to share some of the laughs you have been having! Heard any good jokes lately? What has Conan O’Brian and John Stewart been saying? Kuseka! Kuseka!

E-mail from Charlye (2-19-07)

Muli Bwanji? (how are you?) Greetings from Chongwe village! Living with my host familyand being submersed into the culture, the language, the traditions has made me feel less like a M'azungu (foreigner) and more like a true Zambian each day.

VILLAGE LIFE
The Kayumba family have been wonderful. My atate (father) Andrew and amayi (mother) Ester consider me their 8th child. My amayi prepares my bucket bath two times a day..and she even boils my water for a hot bath! Someone in the family walks me to and from language and technical classes each day..2km each way for a total of 8 km! I get three hot meals of shima (grits) and two sides either eggs, beans, eggplant, cabbage, rape (spinach-like greens), and chiwawa (pumpkin leaves). I haven't been served meet since the first night. They offered me the liver and gizzard of a chicken out of a pot which had the feet and head still attached! I took one bite--and that took all I had in me--and left the remainders on my plate. They haven't served any meat since..thank goodness! They cook with tons of saladie (cooking oil) and the food lack nutrition. So, basically I eat carbs soaked in oil---yum yum, healthy! I get a lot of bisquits (cookies) from the tuck shop in the village..that is what I live for each day! I play with my 7 brothers and sisters everyday. Rhoda (16), Ramson (15), Elizabeth (13), Phabeon (10), Moses (7), Unius (2), and Victoria (10 months). We play football (soccer), frisbee, and they have taught me some games as well. We sing songs and practice Nyanja a lot. They are great teachers. I am surprised by my level of understanding at this point, but I guess living within the language helps (or requires) you to learn quickly. The highlight of my day is when Uni runs and greets me with a big hug and smile each time I come home! She is adorable! My atate had malaria earlier this week. It was very scary but he went to the boma clinic and they gave hime medication. He is feeling better now. Ted in my training group also had malaria this week but he made it thru fine and is back to good heath now!. It is the rainy season and a lot of the villagers are sick with malaria. It is very sad to see the sick riding to the clinic in the back of ox carts.

CHURCH
I visited a catholic church with my family. That was an experience! The church is a mud hut packed with villagers. We were so packed we were practically sitting in each others laps. The traditional dress for women is to wrap a chitanga around your waist over your clothes. So not only is it sweltering hot, we are all packed into a small church with no breaze and I have on double clothing! There was a lot of singing and dancing. A group of girls danced up and down the isles with each song. They waved their hands and yelled out. The men are required to sit on the left side of the church and the women on the right. Each week a different member of the church serves as the preacher. The entire service lasted over three hours and did I mention it was all in Nyanja!!

HELLO MOTO!
I am fortunate to have a nice mud hut of my own with a mattress on the ground and a small desk and chair. Before I left the states I heard stories of how I would develop close friendships with the bugs and rodents, but I did not realize these stories are in fact true. My first night in the village was challenging due to language barriers. My family and I communicated with gestures mostly. I sat in the M'palla (outdoor kitchen) and watched my amayi prepare dinner. After 3 hours, I knew only one word..Moto (fire). After dinner, my bath was prepared. I went into this shelter type thing and saw a bucket and a 6 inch black catapillar! I immediately ran out. I knew I had to face the music, and I was needed a bath in a bad way so I decided to make a new friend. Since I only knew one word in Nyanja, I decided to name my new friend Moto. Every morning and every night Moto is in the bathing shelter waiting for me. Sometimes he brings friends, other catapilars, roaches, spiders. I also had roaches and rats in my hut....they ran across my floor and climbed up my walls keeping me up at night. After about a week without sleep and living in terror I decided that something had to be done. My family could not understand that Americans are afraid of mice and rats. There wasn't any rat posioning to be found b/c they eat rats! So, my family got me a cat. Zambians do not name their cats or dogs, however, they do name their oxen (go figure). So my new cat's name is Chona (Nyanja for cat) and he loves rats!!! So I am now rat free and happy! So my two best friends are a catapillar named Moto and my cat named Chona!

The culture, people, and landscape is amazing. I love Africa! The sunsets are breathtaking. There are green rolling hills as far as you can see in all directions. The stars are incredible...I would never have imagined stars could be so bright. I saw a falling star the other night. I have been to traditional ceremonies with amazing music and dancing. The people are glad to have us here and to teach us the Zambian culture.

I love you guys and miss you more than ever. I am having the time of my life. Til the next letter.....

Charlye

Charlye's blog continued (1-27-07)

This is the rest of the last blog that Charlye posted. She didn't have enough time to type it all....she mailed it to me and asked that I post the rest. :-) dre


SHAKE SHAKE
The beating of the African music continues but now it is mixed with laughter. The villagers are laughing at the dancing by the remainder of my training group who decided they enjoyed the shake-shake and stayed at the bar. Shake-shake is the name Zambians give to the act of shaking the contents of their homemade maize (corn) beer. The varying provinces in Zambia mix a variety of beers with their maize, however, it is consistently called shake-shake due to the manner in which it is prepared and served. Shake-shake's gritty taste wasn't something I particularly cared for, however, it is Zambia's most poular drink so I had to take a drink from the bucket that was being passed from person to person. It is the most common because it is affordable to the villagers. Only 2,000 kwancha (50 cents). A coke costs around 4000-5000 kwancha. For this price you can fill any container you bring.

NSHIMA
Meals are quite a sight. We eat with our hands. No napkins, no utensils. We grab a handful of Nshima (maize which is pounded similar to grits) and ball it up in our palm. We dip it into sauces and use it to scoop our other food - cabbage, relish, chicken, fish. The Zambian trainers and the PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) have mastered the technique, however, we are extremely messy after meals and do not seem to mind. The Nshima is very bland and contains little to no nutritional value. When sauces and other foods are added it becomes the substance to the meal. Nshima is the staple in Zambian's diet. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner - nshima, nshima, nshima!

NYANJA
Our communication with the Chongwe villages is limited to simple greetings and nonverbal gesturing. The interactions with children is much less challenging. They enjoy playing soccer. We taught them how to play duck, duck, goose and they loved it. We started with a small circle of about four volunteers and six children. Our cheering and laughter became contagious. Before we knew it, there were about 40 children playing and villagers of all ages watching and cheering. The language spoken in Chongwe is Nyanja which also happens to be spoken in the Eastern province where I will be posted after training! Today we selected the language we will learn during training. The language we chose determined our post provinces. The PCVLs gave a brief overview of each of the six provinces and we had to decide the language we will study and the province where we will be posted for two years. Of course I had no preference, all of Zambia is beautiful. I will study Nyanja and live in the Eastern province. The Eastern province is montainous with rolling green hills and valleys. It is the hottest province in Zambia with temps in the 100s-110s. There are seven of us going to Eastern, Diana is going to teach us all how to rock climb and repell! Our exact post within Eastern will be determined near the end of training based on interviews and skills acquired.

PC ZAMBIAN LIFE
Zambian life is amazing so far. I am still surprised that I am finally in Africa. I have been sharing my pictures of family/friends with anyone and everyone. We sing to Shakira and Beyonce in the community showers (not for long because the water is too cold). Our arms are sore from the second round of immunizations (only 11 more shots to go!) If we are able to sleep at all, we are awake at 4:00am because we haven't adjusted to Zambia time. We are all experiencing these moments together. We are growing closer and closer each day. Monday (29 Jan.) we will leave the hostels and head to the African bush for our first site visits.
In small groups of 5-7 people we will travel to a province different than our assigned province in order to experience another region of Zambia. We will stay in tents at a current PCV's site for one week. Once we return to Chongwe we will meet our host family. I am excited about meeting my family and beginning to live as a Zambian!!