There's No Place Like Home

Today I returned to Kasama after being back at home in my village for a solid month...it's crazy how much of a shock it is to come back into the "big city" after being in the village for so long. I can't wait to see what it feels like to return to the really big city of Americaland in a few short months!

So since arriving back in Misengo on January 28 I have been keeping busy by attending A LOT of under 5 clinics. (And I'm happy to report I have now officially visited all the 11 villages within my catchment area). My job at these under 5 clinics was mostly to record the kg of each child on their card. I also thought it was important to learn about the child's height to get a real sense of their nutritional state so I went to Shoprite and bought a measuring tape and brought that along to the clinics as well. Now while I'm here in Kasama I'll make a stop at the district health office to see if they have a graph of some sort so I can plot out the points and visually see if the children are stunted in their growth due to malnutrition.

February is the biggest time of "hunger season" here in Zambia as well as a high time for malaria cases, which in turn meant that MANY of the kids were very under weight if not malnourished. It was tough to see that a 2 year old was only weighing about 7kg when he should be weighing around 12kg, especially when in many instances the problem isn't about a lack of food for the family it's about a lack of giving that food to the child. This 24 month old, named Mapalo which means blessing in Bemba, I learned from the mother was only being fed porridge twice a day! Porridge consists maize (corn) that is pounded into a flour like texture and then mixed with water. There is no protein, no vitamins in it so this child is lacking two major things that would allow him to grow. After discussing this with Mapalo's bamaayo and teaching her about how many times her son should be eating and what he should be eating I invited her to that village's next women's group meeting where we will be cooking bread, high protein nshima, and a soya and pumpkin leaves relish. So here's to hoping that she will come and in March little Mapalo will be a few kgs heavier!

Because it's planting season here around this time most of the people in my village are out in the fields all day and therefore I haven't had any regular group meetings. So when I wasn't busy with under 5 clinics I have been spending my time working on my "secondary project" which is teaching. It's pretty informal and very basic, but I'm helping some of the grade 9 students with Math and English skills. I go in the mornings with an assignment in each subject prepared and then we work through the problems together and then I give another of the same type and have them teach me how to solve the problem. I'm really having to brush up on my algebra skills again! The students I am working with are really motivated to learn and even more motivated to pass there exams in November and it's exciting for me each time they really understand the problem! In addition to working with the grade 9 students I'm also trying to start a preschool with some of the kids in my village ages 5-7 in math and English. Last Sunday I have 3 of my little boys over at my house and we practiced writing the numbers 1,2,3,4,and 5. My favorite little boy, Mutuka wrote the number 3 all by himself and then got a huge smile on his face and said, "ba Emily naishiba ukulemba 3!" (translation: Emily, I know how to write 3!)I felt like such a proud mom in that moment. I know that many of you are teachers or teachers in the making so if any of you have any tips or tricks that you can give me I would gladly accept them!!

The other big project that will now take up my time will be the issue of malaria. While in Lusaka for training we had a workshop on behavior change with our counterparts. The behavior change project we decided on was about malaria with our specific goal being that by January 1, 2012 there will be a decrease in the reported cases of malaria in Misengo by 50 percent. Malaria is a huge problem in my village and most of that is due to lack of mosquito nets as well as lack of education about ways to prevent mosquito from breeding. In fact we've been having around 3-4 children die each week due to malaria which is heartbreaking to see because it's both preventable and curable. I visited the health office today and talked with the malaria net distributor about when my village would be receiving our nets and he said it will begin next week, so let's hope that is indeed the case. Be praying for my villagers during this time!!!

Well I think that's about all for now. I appreciate all the letters and care packages I have been getting from you all back in America so THANK YOU times a million. Be praying for health, safety, and open hearts among the people of Misengo!!

Zanzi Vacay

Greetings from Paje, Zanzibar :) Otherwise known as paradise. I have been here since Christmas Eve and can't believe my time on this island is almost over in a few short days.

I met up with 5 other PCVs in Serenje, Zambia and we set off on our adventure by boarding the train for a 2.5 day adventure. This travel wasn't really all the pleasant due to many factors including lost reservations, which in turn led to us spending the first night in the booze car, poor toilet facilities, lack of sleep, unhelpful train staff, and extreme heat. However, the scenery once we crossed the boarder into Tanzania was beautiful and right before reaching Dar es Salaam we got to go through a game park and I was able to catch glimpses of giraffes, baboons, and some warthogs. It got me very excited for an upcoming safari I hope to take over Easter.

Following our arrival in Dar and taking a much needed shower and a good night's sleep we boarded the ferry to Stone Town the morning of Christmas Eve. It was a pleasant 2 hour trip crossing the bluest water I have ever seen. It was amazing!

So the first leg of our holiday was spent in Stone Town, which is the major town on the island. I was reminded to much of Italy while I walked around because it's an old city made up of small winding allyways with little shops tucked in every corner. My friend Salley and I spent much of our time helping the town's economy by shopping which is something that I haven't done in almost a half a year and I realized how much I enjoy a good day of retail therapy. Also in Stone Town we were able to go on a spice tour, which is a popular thing to do because Zanzibar has a history of being the spice island. We went to a plantation and got to sample various spices including cinnamon, vanilla, pepper, and also some fruits.

After a few nights in Stone Town we then headed up to the northern coast and spent some nights at Kendwa at a resort called Kendwa Rocks. The resort was beautiful and we stayed in beachside bungalows that looked like something out of a movie. I spent the first days just relaxing on the beach and working on my tan. One morning we also got to go kayaking on the Indian Ocean which led to quite the sunburn because you forget how close you actually are to the equator. Also on this beach I was able to take in 2 massages beachside which felt fantastic and erased any remaining traces of stress I had left in my body.

Next we headed to our second beach on the east coast in the town of Paje. This beach was a lot different and was less resort and more sporty. So the morning of New Years Eve we get up before sunrise and headed out to swim with some dolphins. We got onto the water by 6am and on our journey to find these dolphins we came across a giant turtle that had been speared by a hook and had died. So we hauled the turtle into our boat so our captain could enjoy it later as a meal.

The dolphin excursion was probably my favorite part of the trip thus far. We went out on the boat and when the dolphins were spotted our captain he would say "prepare to swim." These preparations included putting on flippers and goggles with snorkeling and then jumping over the side of the boat many times and chasing down the dolphins to see them swim underneath us. At one point there was approx 10 that swam underneath me. And as I prepared one time of my jump into othe ocean I got a little too excited and my flipper didn't quite make it over the edge and I fell backwards into the boat. This minor setback didn't hold me back though and I rushed up and made my second attempt at jumping into the water, which I am happy to report was successful.

Overall it's been a great trip and I can't believe it's almost over!!!


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2283855&id=59511885&l=366f43424f

Community Entry: Complete!

Well my first segment of being a volunteer is complete! Today marks the end of my 3 months of community entry!! I honestly can't believe how fast it went and that tomorrow I am on my way on my first (and hopefully not last) African holiday :)

Since my last posting almost one month ago I can say that not much changed and that everything is going well in Misengo. I have been not as busy with meetings lately due to caterpillar season being in full swing leading most of my villagers to be out in the fields daily to collect them. And it's also planting time so people are either planting crops or getting the fields ready to plant beans in a couple of months.

My adventures in farming continue slowly but surely. If anything this whole process is a community effort because I have no idea what I'm doing so I have invested the help of many of my community members who I think enjoy assisting me. And thankfully they don't laugh too hard when I ask stupid questions such as, "is this a weed or is this a vegetable?"

I've also been keeping my soya cooking going with my women's groups and our latest creation has been a chocolate cake which was VERY delicious. Hopefully one of these days in the future I will be able to arrange a cooking competition with all my soya making women with the winning group to receive new ingredients (flour, sugar, cooking oil etc) so they can keep on cooking! I'll keep you updated on any progress in Iron Chef: Zambia.

I have also been making progress in teaching my children that frequent my house a little english. Mutuka now will tell my cat Lunga "Stop it!" I finally asked him the other day if he knew what it meant and he said no so I said, "Stop it cimo cine Leka" (translation: stop it is the same as leka which is the bemba word for to stop." So now when Lunga is causing problems he says "Lunga, stop it cimo cine leka." It's not only adorable but also a big help to me :)When I return to site in January hopefully we'll be able to learn some more and also work on some basic math.

December 1st is World AIDS Day and for the day I went with the agriculture camp officer from Misengo to a neighboring village for a full day of festivities including a march, dances and skits put on by various groups, and my favorite was a tug of war competition between the bamaayos (women) and bataatas (men). The women I'm happy to report dominated the contest, which isn't so surprising given the fact they make large post of nshima multiple times daily.

Well since I will be doing A LOT of traveling over these next few weeks please be praying for safety and good health!

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year and I'll be back after some time in Zanzibar and then training in Lusaka and Kasama.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!

I just finished stuffing myself here in Kasama with so much turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and dessert that I can barely breathe comfortably. That is why I love this day oh so much.

I was also able to upload some new pictures so I hope that you all enjoy them by clicking on the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2246322&id=59511885&l=54f3c48dcf

Mwansa

Well I've been at my site for almost 2 months now...it's hard to believe!! Time is going by so quickly and each week seems to go by faster than the previous one!!

Since I have last updated I have a new name...my name is now Emily Mwansa, Mwansa being the bemba name given to me my first day by some kids at the school. It was mostly given to me because many people have a hard time saying Emily so Mwansa is just easier for them. I love my new name and say it with pride :)

During my time at site I have been busy setting up my house. I have worked with a carpenter (Isaac) in the neighboring village of Chishitu and he has been busy making my bed, table, nightstand, chairs, shelves, and currently on a couch for me.I have also painted inside my house!! The sitting room is now white on the top and "vivid green" on the bottom. I love having the color in there!! I have also finished cementing my insaka (which is like a gazebo thing outside that is where people can sit to escape the sun and where I do my cooking) and bathing shelter. I'm also working on setting up my garden, where I will be growing [hopefully] onions, cabbage, carrots, and the staple Zambian veg of rape. And I'm also planning on planting some sunflowers because I love them very much!

I've found my routine here in my new home. Each day I wake up between 0600 and 0700 and begin my daily chores which include sweeping inside my house and in my yard, doing the dishes, fetching my water from the borhole which is about 500m away at the school, and then once a week I do the washing of my clothes. Then most days I head out around 0830 on my bike to make it to a meeting at 0900 in one of my villages in my catchment area. So far my longest ride has been to the village of Kandulma, which is about 20km away. Other villages I have been to include Jackson, Kumbi, Kaoma, Musa, Chishitu, and Samba. In these villages I have been meeting with Neighborhood Health Committees (NHCs), Women's groups, Safe Motherhood Action Groups (SMAGs)and then helping out at the under 5 clinics weighing children. In the first meetings I just introduced myself and why I was here and now I'm beginning to do some teaching. I have done some soyabean cooking demonstrations with the women's groups which has been fun. It's been a great way to get to know them as well as educate about the importance of good nutrition and eating proteins.

I've also been making friends here in the village which has been great and prevents me from getting too bored or lonely in my downtime. I also have become a mother of sorts to several of the children that stay nearby. The most regular ones that I have, and subsequently my favorites, are Mulenga who is about 5 years old, Mutukangi (aka Mutuka), who is about 6, Kasoko, who is about 8, Musonda, also about 8, and my little Frida who is about 4. Mulenga and Mutuka usually come each morning around 0700 and sit with my as I do my chores or play with my kitten, Lunga (which in Bemba means to hunt). Then we normally color or they accompany me around the village or sometimes we do have the occasional dance party to a Zambian song that I have on my phone along with some photoshoots. They are very adorable and their dance moves at such a young age astound me! Then sometimes they stay for dinner which for me means usually cooking spaghetti which is a totally new food for them so that's been fun to share with them!

So as you can see all is going great here in Misengo and I'm enjoying everything very much and I'm happy to report no snake sitings as of yet :)

Be praying for patience, flexability, and good health for me!

Goodbyes and new beginnings...

As of 24 September 2010 I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!!

I'll try and give you a quick update on my life in my final days in training and my first few as a volunteer...

We ended our training with language tests, technical test/presentations, and a medical exam. The best day was our cultural farewell party we had at our training place (FTI) with all of us trainees and our host families. We cooked American foods (pizza, mashed potatoes, rice krispie bars, etc)for probably about 300 people and then had a program featuring cultural dances, speeches, and a gift exchange. At the very end we volunteers were welcomed up to dance Zambian style, and of course I jumped at the chance to break it down. Afterward my host family said, "ba Emily, we saw you dancing...and you know how to dance!" I think it was one of the highest compliments I have received since arriving in country. I credit these skills to the many dance parties I had back in the States...

After a great day of partying with our families and enjoying one last family dinner under the stars at my home stay, I had to say goodbye to my wonderful Mulolo family the following morning. It was a bittersweet goodbye and as I hugged my bamaayo one last time with tears in my eyes she said, "now don't make this goodbye for forever, I need to see my daughter again so come back and visit us." I said "don't worry bamaayo, tukamoonana" (which in Bemba is we will see each other). I plan on going back to see them in January when I'm in Lusaka for a week for our in-service training!

Friday was our big day...swear in! We were brought to the US Ambassador's house for the event, and let me tell you I would totally consider becoming an ambassador if it meant I got to live in a place like that. It was HUGE with a pool and tennis court! Unreal! After some much needed photoshoots with friends and teachers because I was wearing a handmade dress AND make-up for the first time in months, the ceremony began. There were speeches from a representative of the Chieftainess, Minister of Health, Peace Corps staff and directors and one representative from each of the 6 languages. I was selected to speak for the Bemba Chippers and my part was to talk about what we have learned about culture. I was nervous beforehand about speaking in bemba in front of many natives, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to do so :)Then we raised our right hands, took our oath and committed to our service for 2 years.It feels great to finally be a volunteer after months of applying and weeks of training!!

Now I'm up in Kasama waiting at our provincial house until Wednesday when I will be posted at my site. Then begins the process of community entry...this is a three month period where I will focus on integrating into my community and settling into my house. It'll be so strange to finally be at my home, not living out of a suitcase, and being the only person that looks like me for miles and miles. Please pray for me during this transition as I begin making Misengo my home.

Also, if you're thinking to yourself, "man, I'd really like to send something small to Emily, but I don't know what she could need/want!" Well my friends in America I'm here to give you some tips!! If you want to spend a couple dollars to send me something light consider the following:
-pictures of you doing something fun! (and it doesn't have to be fun even, I'll take anything and I'll put it in my hut)
-Mix CD...we have a computer at the house so I can upload it onto my ipod! Please feel free to add any Bieber (I've got the fever...)
-Crystal light type things (water sometimes gets a little boring for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between)

Okay thanks for reading!!!Hope you all are enjoying the lovely fall time :)

Culture Lesson

Today we had day one of our 'host workshop.' This workshop is for us pcvs and for our counterparts who will help us get integrated into our community. We tried to start off the first session, but not first without getting ground rules... obviously. Here are the rules the zambians came up with:
Speak through the chair, observe punctuality, full participation, no noise, no smoking, phones on silent, no beer, no necessary movement, all equal participants. The penalty for breaking any of these: dancing.
We all had to keep from laughing at this seemingly crazy and obvious rules. It was a cultural lesson for sure and got me prepared for my next 2 years worth of meetings