Vacations

Where to start?  Due to the fact that it's been more than three months since I've updated this blog, I have
plenty to write.  It's been difficult to stay connected because the provincial house is the
place that we volunteers have the much awaited experience of using the internet but we've had
a plethora of issues.  First off, our satellite was hit by lightning, then we needed to get a
new router and that took a couple months, then the router wasn't connecting so we're waiting
for parts from America to help this situation.  On top of all of this, the process is moving
in Zambian time, so a snail's pace.  We're just crossing our fingers and hoping that any month
now we'll have internet.
Since the last time I've written, I went on my first vacation in Zambia.  I spent a few days before Christmas at Lake Bangwelue (definitely misspelled) in Luapula Province, then made my way to the Provincial House to have a Christmas feast, and finally traveled along some horrible roads to visit a chain of waterfalls: Zambia is great because you can just never guess what's going to happen.
At Lake Bangwelue, another Peace Corps Volunteer (Meggie) and I were planning on spending a few days on the beach of this beautiful lake but on the first night we went to dinner and saw three other Peace Corps volunteers that I knew.  They were house-sitting for these Americans who owned this beautiful house on the hill over-looking the lake.  We were then invited to join them at the house, so instead of sleeping on the ground for three nights, we slept in extremely comfortable beds in a beautiful house with lots of American food, good company, lots of games, and a whirlpool bathtub.  Electricity and running water are such luxuries.
After three days of enjoying the lake and playing lots of Skip-Bo, we went to the Luapula provincial house for a Christmas feast.  It was great! I can only imagine how great it would've been if the electricity wouldn't've gone out while we were all cooking.  We ended up having to use brassiers to cook a roast and vegetables.  It was some good team work.
Then, Meggie and I went up north and went to a chain of waterfalls.  The first waterfalls are called Ntumbatushi.  They're beautiful and you can just keep hiking and following the river and you can find more.  Then, we went to Lumangwe Falls, which is difficult to get to.  We took a taxi (and definitely got overpriced) because it's about 1 1/2 hours into the bush of Africa, but it literally does look like a mini-Victoria Falls.  We camped at the top of the waterfalls and we were the only ones there.  It was amazing.  The second day, we were coming back to out campsite and there's a white family (we're always amazed when we see foreigners other than Peace Corps volunteers) with a pop-up camper right next to our tent.  They turned out to be a Scottish family who fed us and provided free transport for the next two days. They've even invited us to visit them in Scotland and brought us to another set of waterfalls...which I can't remember the name of.  It's amazing how lucky we are during our vacations.

I've recently been busy going to trainings and workshops.  These are great opportunities
because every volunteer brings a counterpart from the village who will help them on the
project.  For example, I just went to a malaria workshop in Mansa, Luapula where we agreed
to take on 3 year program where the mosquito nets are evaluated at 28 random homes in our
catchment area and every 6 months we return to the homes to see the wear and tear of the nets.
We'll be keeping track of how many holes, what size of holes, and the age of the net.  The
point of this is that there was a net distribution to most homes in Zambia and the government
is believing the nets should last approximately 2 years and 11 washes.  We are doing this
to see if the nets are truly lasting as long as the government thinks they should be.  Anyway,
as I was saying, This is a 3 year program but I'll only be here for two years, so the counterpart whom I brought will continue this once I've left the village.
Another reason that counterparts are brought to these workshops is for sustainability, so
they gain this knowledge and they can then pass it on to others once I've left.

I also attended a workshop called IST where my intake and our counterparts got together in Lusaka
to teach the counterparts about Peace Corps and behavior change and the volunteers learned
about perma-gardening.  It was very interesting to see the behavior  of all the Zambians who usually live
in the village ( no electricity, no running water, and they've never been in Lusaka before).  It
was a great opportunity and they were spoiled for a week or so.  We volunteers enjoyed ourselves
as well.  We went out dancing, had amazing food (there's a great Indian food
restaurant in Lusaka, and it might be better than most Indian food I had in the US), and had
the opportunity to see each other for the first time since Pre-Service Training.

After IST a few volunteers and I went down to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls.  It was
absolutely beautiful.  We stayed at a backpacker's lounge called Jolly Boy's which had a pool
and cheap lodging.  Also, there are lots of activities that can be done in Livingstone and
you can book any/all of the activities through Jolly Boy's.  It makes it really easy, and it's
nice to not have to worry about planning the activities yourself.  While we were there, I went
bungee jumping off a bridge right alongside Victoria Falls.  I've never done an activity
that was this extreme, but it was a great experience.  I was really nervous (of course) and I
didn't jump the first time when the men counted down for me to jump, but I did it the
second time.  Despite what I've heard, it was a very painless experience (I've been told that a person
usually gets whip-lash, but it was quite comfortable). 

Also while we were in Livingstone, Zambia's soccer team (Chipolopolo) won the African Cup.  This is a huge accomplishment for
Zambia because they've never won the African Cup and soccer is the sport that EVERY Zambian plays
as a child, so they're all very good at it.  They won in overtime (1-0) and it was a good game.  Afterwards,
people ran out to the streets and went running up and down the streets yelling and cheering.  We
joined them for a while and it was exhausting, but exhilarating. 

Another activity that I took part in in Livingstone was me and Meg went on a safari in Botwana.  We
went to Chobe National Park for 3 days and 2 nights. This was also booked through Jollyboy's and
all the accommodations, food, and travel were included in the package.  The food was amazing and
probably the most American tasting out of any food that has been found in Zambia.  We were also   The guides knew a
lot about the animals and they were also very friendly.  I definitely suggest a 3 day safari, but
any longer and it would've been too much.  We spent the first day on a large pontoon-type-of-boat going
around and seeing animals.  Then we drove into the park 3 hours to get to our camp sites.  Along the way
there were lots of animals.  The second day was spent going around the park in a typical safari jeep.  Finally,
the third day was spent in the safari jeep and in a smaller boat.  This was neat because we were
able to get extremely close to hippos and crocodiles.  We even saw a crocodile eating a red leechee
(an antelope type of animal) and lions sneaking up on giraffes.  We saw almost all of the African animals,
other than leopards, cheetahs, and rhinos.  Also, we saw all types of birds because it's rainy season.

After all of this excitement, I hitched my way back up to Central and stayed at Central's Provincial
House for a night (every province has a provincial house) and went to visit another volunteer's site.
Then, I made my way back up to Mansa, Luapula for another workshop where we met with people whom work
at our district health offices and at our clinics.  At this workshop, we made action plans so we could
all see how we'll be included and Peace Corps was explained to these people as well (it's a never-ending-
explanation).

After this workshop, I made my way back to my village for a week and then I had the malaria workshop which
I've already explained.  It was good to be back in the village.  Unfortunately, most of my garden had
died because there wasn't any rain the whole time I was gone.  But, some of my corn is still alive, 1 pumpkin
plant, and lots of basil.  I spent the week organizing things for up-coming projects and workshops. I need to have a counterpart for every workshop and I'd like to bring someone different to each workshop
so the knowledge is dispersed and it's more sustainable. Due to this, it takes some time to find someone
in the community who will take the programs seriously but yet have time to help.

A program that is coming up that I need to start working on some more is called Camp GLOW.  The point of
The aim of this camp is to empower girls.  Gender equality is a large issue throughout Zambia and this
will hopefully begin the change.  How it works is, each volunteer who is involved in organizing this
brings a counterpart and two girls in either grade 7 or 8.  At this camp, there'll be sessions in the
local language that will go over issues that the girls may encounter as they get older.  For example,
sugar daddies or dating older men, early pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS.  There will be professional women
there to inspire them and show them that it's possible to do anything.  These are women whom grew up
in the village and are now highly accomplished.  There will also be a session on starting a GLOW group,
which is the main purpose of the camp, because in order to be sustainable, the girls and the counterpart
must bring the knowledge back to the village.  They will be required to begin a GLOW group at their
schools where they'll talk about what they were taught in the sessions.  Beyond the information, the camp
will also include fun activities, such as bonfires, sewing, and dancing.  It should be really fun,
and it's happening mid-April.

Other than this, I also have a nutrition workshop coming up in May where we'll be learning how to identify
malnourished children and learning about a program that's be shown to help,
I've also been working at my village's clinic at the registry and attending meetings of various types.
So long for now.