Last full day in Zambia. It’s been a great trip, but I am definitely ready to come home! Today we spend the morning visiting groups around the Lusaka area. We first went to a community near downtown. This area has many small homes clustered very closely together. No running water. No electricity. No school. We visited a church building where community members have come together to operate a school in the church building. This one large room with a few wooden benches, chalkboards propped up against the wall, and about 400 children, grades 1 to 7. Each grade is located in a different corner of the room. They do have staggered start times for the younger kids so that all 400 are not in the room at once. It is incredibly loud, no books in evidence, and you wonder how the kids can learn. The kids are all well behaved, and clearly listening, but with that number of people together in one large brick and concrete room, you can imagine how loud it is.
This school has to cart water from a well some distance from the school. They have a well right outside, but it is contaminated due to people in the community building pit latrines which have now polluted the water. Many of the kids have minimal food at home, so the school has implemented a feeding program. We’re told that sometimes this is the only meal they receive each day. The teachers and Caregivers sometimes have trouble getting the kids to eat, because they feel as if they should take the food home to their younger brothers and sisters.
We wondered how well the children learn in this environment. The leaders of the school informed us that they recently took 7th grade exams. In Zambia, students must take exams at the end of 7th grade to proceed to 8th. If they do not pass, they are not accepted to the 8th grade. At this school, 25 of 28 students passed the test, and the other three were so close to the score, that the government decided to grant them admission to the 8th grade. A 100% pass rate! Then we found out that all the teachers in this school are volunteers. No one receives any pay for teaching these children! The teachers are community members that went to a small training program for two years. It was unclear whether they actually received a formal certificate, but it doesn’t matter. They care about the kids, and are obviously dedicated to their success! And the children obviously see the value in education. We met one 7th grader who is head of household. His father left the family when he found out the mother had HIV. She is now very ill, so the boy takes care of his mom and his younger sister. He still attends school each day, and then goes to a job as a gardener each afternoon. He does receive help from one of the local volunteer Caregiver’s, but can you imagine a 7th grader managing all this?
Then back to the office, and the final meetings of the day. Great visit, good suggestions, and as always, more work ahead! It’s Saturday morning now, and we’ll be leaving the hotel in about an hour. Long flight home with two long layovers in Nairobi and London. Thank you for joining on this journey. Looks like the next one may be to Mongolia! Hope you’ll join me there!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Last day in the field
Today was our last field day. We are now about 450km from the capital city of Lusaka. Solwezi is a small town, but very active. There are several mines near here, run by South Africans, all mining copper. They’re all open pit mines and absolutely huge!
Our day started by visiting two schools. One trained teachers, and the other was a high school for grades 10 to 12. We didn’t meet any of the teachers in training, but did get a chance to talk to several of the high school students. They are very well spoken, and clearly enjoy school, particularly science and math studies.
We then drove out quite far from the town, and visited a rural school. Unfortunately, due to road conditions, we were late, and only had a chance to talk to one student, the “library prefect”. He is the student in charge of all the books in the library. Here they also lend books out to the community. Again, the favorite subjects were science and math, followed closely by world history. Even within the community, these were the most checked out books!
While in the library, it started raining. Huge raindrops! And lots of them! Instantly, the ground went from hard clay to huge mud puddle. We waded back to the truck. The helpful man with the umbrella didn’t really help much, but he tried! And then off to the next location.
At the next location, we were served lunch. A wonderful person who works in the community made lunch for all of us. We had chicken, beef stew (or something like it), cooked sweet potato leaves, fish head, potato salad, mushroom salad, green beans, nshima, rice and a few other things. This lady is amazing! All made in a small kitchen with no running water and solar power! It was the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here! And we have had many good meals!
Then off to a clinic, and a community gathering point where we met more Caregivers. Each of these people cares for 33 children. Some have one parent, but the parent may be very ill. They walk between locations and check on some daily, and others weekly. Can you imagine taking care of your own family, home, and fields, and then also caring for severely ill adults, and their children as well? I don’t think I could do it!
Today we drove the 8 hours back to Lusaka. What a long ride! Along the way, you see field after field of corn, soybeans, coffee, groundnuts, tomatoes, onions, and other crops. This is rainy season, so everything is wonderfully green. You also see many people walking along the side of the 2 lane “highway”. Even children as young as 4 and 5 years walk alone or with other groups of children on the way to school, or other locations.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We’ll spend most of the day in the office doing all that wrap up stuff that is required at the end of a visit. One more update, and then the long trip home!
Our day started by visiting two schools. One trained teachers, and the other was a high school for grades 10 to 12. We didn’t meet any of the teachers in training, but did get a chance to talk to several of the high school students. They are very well spoken, and clearly enjoy school, particularly science and math studies.
We then drove out quite far from the town, and visited a rural school. Unfortunately, due to road conditions, we were late, and only had a chance to talk to one student, the “library prefect”. He is the student in charge of all the books in the library. Here they also lend books out to the community. Again, the favorite subjects were science and math, followed closely by world history. Even within the community, these were the most checked out books!
While in the library, it started raining. Huge raindrops! And lots of them! Instantly, the ground went from hard clay to huge mud puddle. We waded back to the truck. The helpful man with the umbrella didn’t really help much, but he tried! And then off to the next location.
At the next location, we were served lunch. A wonderful person who works in the community made lunch for all of us. We had chicken, beef stew (or something like it), cooked sweet potato leaves, fish head, potato salad, mushroom salad, green beans, nshima, rice and a few other things. This lady is amazing! All made in a small kitchen with no running water and solar power! It was the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here! And we have had many good meals!
Then off to a clinic, and a community gathering point where we met more Caregivers. Each of these people cares for 33 children. Some have one parent, but the parent may be very ill. They walk between locations and check on some daily, and others weekly. Can you imagine taking care of your own family, home, and fields, and then also caring for severely ill adults, and their children as well? I don’t think I could do it!
Today we drove the 8 hours back to Lusaka. What a long ride! Along the way, you see field after field of corn, soybeans, coffee, groundnuts, tomatoes, onions, and other crops. This is rainy season, so everything is wonderfully green. You also see many people walking along the side of the 2 lane “highway”. Even children as young as 4 and 5 years walk alone or with other groups of children on the way to school, or other locations.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We’ll spend most of the day in the office doing all that wrap up stuff that is required at the end of a visit. One more update, and then the long trip home!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Update from Solwezi
Today, we checked out of the Plush Executive Lodge. Cold shower again this morning, but at least there was more than a trickle of water coming out of the faucet. We visited a community about an hour from the main office. The drive out was quite interesting. Once you turn off the main highway, the road is dirt, with many large holes. As it has rained a lot here recently, these holes were all filled with water. Sometimes the water was up over the wheels of the truck as we drove through. In one area, the road was impassable, so we were re-directed on a very narrow dirt track through farmer’s fields. The road was barely wide enough for the truck.
We finally arrived, and were met by about 100 people, mostly women and children. We were able to help distribute shoes to the children and some of the adults. It was humbling to be here. I brought more with me in my suitcase than many of these people have in their entire homes. Many of the children don’t have shoes at all. Others are too small, or have been worn so much that they are literally falling off their feet. Each child or family of children was called up individually, the right size shoe was found, and tried on. Then the smile! Most of them took the shoes right back off. They are saving them to wear to school later this week. The school was up on the hill behind where we did the distribution. Very small. We’re told there are over 800 children in this community, but I didn’t get how many of those were school age.
We met one little girl named Gloria. She received her shoes, but continued to wear them, because she was wearing her school uniform, so she thought it was appropriate. She is 10 years old, and about the size of a 5 year old. She was clutching a small plastic bag filled with several small pencil stubs, a ruler, and a well-used composition book. I asked her what she did with the things in her bag. She told me she carries it around because the teacher often asks her to help the other students. There’s a future teacher for you!
After a while, we had to leave to go to our next appointment. The distribution was still going on, and most likely would continue for most of the day. We slowly headed out the road we came in on. Along the way, we bought some mangos, which will make a great snack tomorrow. There are mango trees everywhere here, and this is the rainy season, so all are heavy with fruit. We also managed to get one of the trucks stuck in one of the large holes in the road. You have to laugh at things like that! I was reminded that one of the many reasons I left the military was because I was tired of mud. Now here I am back in the mud! Except this time I had to wear a skirt instead of combat boots. It’s not appropriate for women to wear slacks in the rural areas here.
We got the truck out, so all is well. We continued on to our last location this afternoon. We are now in northwestern Zambia in a city called Solwezi. The hotel here is wonderful. TV, hot water, mosquito net, and internet! We’re so spoiled. This morning, I spent the day with people who didn’t even have shoes, and I’m complaining because I don’t have hot water. I am very thankful for what I have, but is so hard to reconcile all that I have been blessed with to the things that I have seen today, and the other times I have come to Africa. Children with no shoes wearing rags. Mud huts. Medical clinics with limited or no supplies. Malnourished children. Diseased children. People dying from AIDS. Women with 5 and 6 small children. It’s heartbreaking.
But you also see good things happening. Small farms. Community Caregivers developing a co-op to raise money to pay school fees for orphans. Small schools to train in everything from farming and bee-keeping to computer training. I’m just glad that I am able to do some small part to help the good things take off and grow.
We finally arrived, and were met by about 100 people, mostly women and children. We were able to help distribute shoes to the children and some of the adults. It was humbling to be here. I brought more with me in my suitcase than many of these people have in their entire homes. Many of the children don’t have shoes at all. Others are too small, or have been worn so much that they are literally falling off their feet. Each child or family of children was called up individually, the right size shoe was found, and tried on. Then the smile! Most of them took the shoes right back off. They are saving them to wear to school later this week. The school was up on the hill behind where we did the distribution. Very small. We’re told there are over 800 children in this community, but I didn’t get how many of those were school age.
We met one little girl named Gloria. She received her shoes, but continued to wear them, because she was wearing her school uniform, so she thought it was appropriate. She is 10 years old, and about the size of a 5 year old. She was clutching a small plastic bag filled with several small pencil stubs, a ruler, and a well-used composition book. I asked her what she did with the things in her bag. She told me she carries it around because the teacher often asks her to help the other students. There’s a future teacher for you!
After a while, we had to leave to go to our next appointment. The distribution was still going on, and most likely would continue for most of the day. We slowly headed out the road we came in on. Along the way, we bought some mangos, which will make a great snack tomorrow. There are mango trees everywhere here, and this is the rainy season, so all are heavy with fruit. We also managed to get one of the trucks stuck in one of the large holes in the road. You have to laugh at things like that! I was reminded that one of the many reasons I left the military was because I was tired of mud. Now here I am back in the mud! Except this time I had to wear a skirt instead of combat boots. It’s not appropriate for women to wear slacks in the rural areas here.
We got the truck out, so all is well. We continued on to our last location this afternoon. We are now in northwestern Zambia in a city called Solwezi. The hotel here is wonderful. TV, hot water, mosquito net, and internet! We’re so spoiled. This morning, I spent the day with people who didn’t even have shoes, and I’m complaining because I don’t have hot water. I am very thankful for what I have, but is so hard to reconcile all that I have been blessed with to the things that I have seen today, and the other times I have come to Africa. Children with no shoes wearing rags. Mud huts. Medical clinics with limited or no supplies. Malnourished children. Diseased children. People dying from AIDS. Women with 5 and 6 small children. It’s heartbreaking.
But you also see good things happening. Small farms. Community Caregivers developing a co-op to raise money to pay school fees for orphans. Small schools to train in everything from farming and bee-keeping to computer training. I’m just glad that I am able to do some small part to help the good things take off and grow.
18 January Post
Well we did get dinner last night. It was chicken and chips, as requested, and wasn’t bad. We ended up switching from the outside rooms to the inside rooms in the hotel. Somehow the ones that were “booked” earlier were still empty, so they let us switch. Since there were no more mosquito nets, my friend’s window wouldn’t close, and my door wouldn’t lock, we decided it was better to be inside. I have to share a bathroom across the hall, but there is no one in the room I would share with, so that’s OK. I also have to share my room with Big Bertha. That’s the really large spider that lives in the closet. It’s too high for me to reach it to kill it, so we will co-exist peacefully. I’ve closed the closet door. She can have that room, and I’ll take the part with the bed.
One of our travelling group brought some movies, so we thought we’d gather around one of the computers last night to watch a movie. Sounded like a good idea, but out of three laptops, we couldn’t make one of them play the movie. One didn’t have a DVD player, one player wouldn’t work, and third one could play the movie, but something is wrong with the volume controls, so we couldn’t hear it. Talk about sad! So at 8:30, we all decided to give it up!
One good thing about the room, is that it has an air conditioner, sort of. It has a unit on the ceiling that blows cold air now and then. The temperature here has been relatively cool (mid to high 80’s), so it’s just enough.
Today we spent part of the day in the office learning about processes and procedures. Then we visited a couple of secondary schools and a skills training center. The first two schools were huge. One had 1700 students, the other 1200 students. The physical area doesn’t look that large, but somehow all the students fit!
Tomorrow we will be out in the community again learning about what they do for income, how they live, and about their families. Then off for another 2 – 3 hour drive to the next community area. Tonight at the hotel is looking up! There is at least one TV channel, I have a working light in my room. Big Bertha (the spider) seems to have moved on (perhaps I should be worried about that part….), and we are supposed to have rice for dinner instead of fries. It just doesn’t get better than that!
One of our travelling group brought some movies, so we thought we’d gather around one of the computers last night to watch a movie. Sounded like a good idea, but out of three laptops, we couldn’t make one of them play the movie. One didn’t have a DVD player, one player wouldn’t work, and third one could play the movie, but something is wrong with the volume controls, so we couldn’t hear it. Talk about sad! So at 8:30, we all decided to give it up!
One good thing about the room, is that it has an air conditioner, sort of. It has a unit on the ceiling that blows cold air now and then. The temperature here has been relatively cool (mid to high 80’s), so it’s just enough.
Today we spent part of the day in the office learning about processes and procedures. Then we visited a couple of secondary schools and a skills training center. The first two schools were huge. One had 1700 students, the other 1200 students. The physical area doesn’t look that large, but somehow all the students fit!
Tomorrow we will be out in the community again learning about what they do for income, how they live, and about their families. Then off for another 2 – 3 hour drive to the next community area. Tonight at the hotel is looking up! There is at least one TV channel, I have a working light in my room. Big Bertha (the spider) seems to have moved on (perhaps I should be worried about that part….), and we are supposed to have rice for dinner instead of fries. It just doesn’t get better than that!
Monday, January 18, 2010
17 January Post
Today we left the Sherbourne Guest House in Kitwe. This morning I woke up early to the sounds of all the birds outside my window. Trees, shrubs, flowers, and other greenery surround the hotel. The grounds are beautiful, and definitely attract many birds and small lizards. It’s so peaceful to wake up to quiet sounds like that.
We had a leisurely morning, and then departed for the town of Chingola, which is about 25 miles from Kitwe. The road between these two towns is very busy, even on Sunday. Many people live in one, and work in the other, so they are constantly travelling back and forth. Chingola is not as big as Kitwe, but has many shops and several nicer housing areas. Chingola is primarily supported by those working in the copper mining industry. As soon as you leave Kitwe, you start seeing mines. The ones between the two cities are shaft mines. They mine for the copper underground, and bring it up through the shaft. The large pile of very black dirt I referenced in an earlier post was actually a dumping ground for the dirt that came out of the mining shaft. Between the cities, the mines are open pit mines. Basically, they are huge holes in the ground. The area around the mine does everything to turn the copper into a useable form for further export.
We are staying in the Plush Executive Inn in Chingola. You reach the inn via a dirt road filled with holes. Quite a rough road! There are eight rooms in the inn, 3 inside the main house, and five outside. Registration consisted of writing our name in a book. We then were taken to our rooms. I have one of the outside rooms. We left our suitcases, and then went to find our driver. He was making plans for entertainment for the afternoon. First though, we thought we’d have lunch. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t have lunch. We thought to ask about dinner. We were informed they don’t have a menu, but they can make dinner. They just need to know in advance. So, we asked them to tell us what our options were. They said they didn’t have a menu, because they didn’t have a chef, but could have dinner for us. This discussion continued for a few minutes, until one of us finally asked if they could make chicken. To which they responded, they could not make dinner because they didn’t have a chef, but they could have chicken for us at dinner. Then we asked what time dinner would be ready. They told us between 7 and 9pm. At this point, we ask them to have chicken and chips (fries) available at 7pm. Then we begin to plan the rest of our afternoon.
Turns out, there isn’t much to do in Chingola, so after a few minutes of discussion, our driver announces that we should drive to the next town to have lunch, and then drive up to the Congo border to see what’s going on.
Now I guess this all registered with me, but it wasn’t until we were about half way to the next town (about 10 minutes drive), that it dawned on me that normal people don’t go to the Congo border to “see what’s going on”. But our driver hadn’t steered us wrong yet, so we continued. We stopped at the Mt. Moria Guest House in Chililabombwe for lunch. Well, actually we stopped to order lunch. Unfortunately, we repeated the same scenario that we at the other guest house about dinner. “Do you serve lunch?”, “Yes.” “What do you serve?” What do you want?” “What do you have?” “What do you want?” and the circle continues. We finally agreed on sausage and chips. Once we ordered, we then left the guest house so they could make lunch.
We got back in the car and continued on to the DRC border. As you get closer, you see many people on bicycles that are loaded down with bags of corn meal, charcoal, and other items. These are Congolese people that walk or ride their bikes across the Zambian border so that they can buy staples that are either unavailable or too costly in DRC.
About 2 miles from the border, you start to see semi-trucks parked along both sides of the road. They are parked right on top of one another all the way to the border. I did some quick math, and estimate there were about 110 trucks parked on each side of the narrow two lane road. There were maybe another 30 or so trucks parked on a secondary road that parallels the main road. These trucks are all waiting to go through customs and cross into the opposite country. Basically, they park the truck, then have to walk all the way back to the customs office to turn in their paperwork. The paperwork is reviewed, and eventually the driver is allowed to leave. It can take three or more days for the customs official to approve the paperwork. Meanwhile, the drivers sit with their trucks along the side of the road. They cook in small charcoal stoves under the trailer. Some have strung hammocks between the sides and sleep under the trailer. Others just lay on the concrete. There are no restroom facilities, no guest houses, no restaurants. There are a few street vendors selling tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.
As you get closer to the border, the road gets narrower, and the trucks are parked even closer together. Eventually, you reach the border fence, where there is a little police station to help keep order, and a small house where I assume the paperwork is checked and approved. The crown here did not look completely friendly. I guess if I had to live under my truck for three days waiting on someone to check the paperwork, I’d be unfriendly too. We tried to take a picture of the “Welcome to Zambia” sign, but people ran to the truck waving their arms and shouting “no, no”, so we chose not to take the picture, and turned around, heading back out the same road we came in on. We think the people thought we were trying to take their pictures, and they didn’t want us to, but I didn’t want to stop to ask.
When we arrived back at the Mt. Moria Guest House, lunch still wasn’t ready. We had been gone more than 1 hour, but I guess it takes a while to cook sausage and chips. So we waited another ½ hour or so. The house has satellite TV (more channels than we get at home), and when we arrived, the TV was tuned to Nickalodeon and Jimmy Neutron was on. Don’t know why, but I find that really funny.
Finally had lunch, and then went into town to buy a wrap to wear when we go into the field tomorrow. It is not common for women to wear pants in the rural areas. We wear skirts, but it was suggested we purchase the tchechenge (don’t know if I spelled that right) fabric to use as the wrap when we go out later this week. We went to a street vendor from Congo, who at first just wanted to know if any of us could speak French. One of my companions knows about 10 words, so that seemed to make us OK. We were told that the fabric comes from the Congo, but when we pointed out the hem said “made in Cote d’ Ivoire”, he said it didn’t matter because they had been in the Congo. Can’t argue with that logic!
So then back to the Plush Executive Inn. I don’t know what “plush” means here, but let’s just say it is something less than what you might find back home. I got to my room, flipped the light switch, and nothing happened. Turns out there is no light bulb. The TV does not work, as the office forgot to pay the bill, and today is Sunday. They are certain they will pay the bill and it will work tomorrow. The shower has no shower curtain. One of my companions has a window that won’t close, and I have the only mosquito net. You’re actually reading this late, as there is no internet connection here. Didn’t check for hot water yet, but I’m not overly optimistic.So now you know why this is so long. I’m sitting in one of my companion’s rooms, as there is a light with not much else to do. It is good to type all this, as you have to admit, the whole thing is pretty funny. Or at least will be when I read this after I get home. Right now, the plastic lawn chair I’m sitting in is getting a bit uncomfortable, so it’s time to end. Only at the “Plush Executive Inn” can you sit in a plastic lawn chair in the dark, with the rain pouring down, typing about your trip to the DRC border to “see what’s going on”. Have a great rest of your day! I’ll let you know if we actually get dinner tonight in my next post.
We had a leisurely morning, and then departed for the town of Chingola, which is about 25 miles from Kitwe. The road between these two towns is very busy, even on Sunday. Many people live in one, and work in the other, so they are constantly travelling back and forth. Chingola is not as big as Kitwe, but has many shops and several nicer housing areas. Chingola is primarily supported by those working in the copper mining industry. As soon as you leave Kitwe, you start seeing mines. The ones between the two cities are shaft mines. They mine for the copper underground, and bring it up through the shaft. The large pile of very black dirt I referenced in an earlier post was actually a dumping ground for the dirt that came out of the mining shaft. Between the cities, the mines are open pit mines. Basically, they are huge holes in the ground. The area around the mine does everything to turn the copper into a useable form for further export.
We are staying in the Plush Executive Inn in Chingola. You reach the inn via a dirt road filled with holes. Quite a rough road! There are eight rooms in the inn, 3 inside the main house, and five outside. Registration consisted of writing our name in a book. We then were taken to our rooms. I have one of the outside rooms. We left our suitcases, and then went to find our driver. He was making plans for entertainment for the afternoon. First though, we thought we’d have lunch. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t have lunch. We thought to ask about dinner. We were informed they don’t have a menu, but they can make dinner. They just need to know in advance. So, we asked them to tell us what our options were. They said they didn’t have a menu, because they didn’t have a chef, but could have dinner for us. This discussion continued for a few minutes, until one of us finally asked if they could make chicken. To which they responded, they could not make dinner because they didn’t have a chef, but they could have chicken for us at dinner. Then we asked what time dinner would be ready. They told us between 7 and 9pm. At this point, we ask them to have chicken and chips (fries) available at 7pm. Then we begin to plan the rest of our afternoon.
Turns out, there isn’t much to do in Chingola, so after a few minutes of discussion, our driver announces that we should drive to the next town to have lunch, and then drive up to the Congo border to see what’s going on.
Now I guess this all registered with me, but it wasn’t until we were about half way to the next town (about 10 minutes drive), that it dawned on me that normal people don’t go to the Congo border to “see what’s going on”. But our driver hadn’t steered us wrong yet, so we continued. We stopped at the Mt. Moria Guest House in Chililabombwe for lunch. Well, actually we stopped to order lunch. Unfortunately, we repeated the same scenario that we at the other guest house about dinner. “Do you serve lunch?”, “Yes.” “What do you serve?” What do you want?” “What do you have?” “What do you want?” and the circle continues. We finally agreed on sausage and chips. Once we ordered, we then left the guest house so they could make lunch.
We got back in the car and continued on to the DRC border. As you get closer, you see many people on bicycles that are loaded down with bags of corn meal, charcoal, and other items. These are Congolese people that walk or ride their bikes across the Zambian border so that they can buy staples that are either unavailable or too costly in DRC.
About 2 miles from the border, you start to see semi-trucks parked along both sides of the road. They are parked right on top of one another all the way to the border. I did some quick math, and estimate there were about 110 trucks parked on each side of the narrow two lane road. There were maybe another 30 or so trucks parked on a secondary road that parallels the main road. These trucks are all waiting to go through customs and cross into the opposite country. Basically, they park the truck, then have to walk all the way back to the customs office to turn in their paperwork. The paperwork is reviewed, and eventually the driver is allowed to leave. It can take three or more days for the customs official to approve the paperwork. Meanwhile, the drivers sit with their trucks along the side of the road. They cook in small charcoal stoves under the trailer. Some have strung hammocks between the sides and sleep under the trailer. Others just lay on the concrete. There are no restroom facilities, no guest houses, no restaurants. There are a few street vendors selling tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.
As you get closer to the border, the road gets narrower, and the trucks are parked even closer together. Eventually, you reach the border fence, where there is a little police station to help keep order, and a small house where I assume the paperwork is checked and approved. The crown here did not look completely friendly. I guess if I had to live under my truck for three days waiting on someone to check the paperwork, I’d be unfriendly too. We tried to take a picture of the “Welcome to Zambia” sign, but people ran to the truck waving their arms and shouting “no, no”, so we chose not to take the picture, and turned around, heading back out the same road we came in on. We think the people thought we were trying to take their pictures, and they didn’t want us to, but I didn’t want to stop to ask.
When we arrived back at the Mt. Moria Guest House, lunch still wasn’t ready. We had been gone more than 1 hour, but I guess it takes a while to cook sausage and chips. So we waited another ½ hour or so. The house has satellite TV (more channels than we get at home), and when we arrived, the TV was tuned to Nickalodeon and Jimmy Neutron was on. Don’t know why, but I find that really funny.
Finally had lunch, and then went into town to buy a wrap to wear when we go into the field tomorrow. It is not common for women to wear pants in the rural areas. We wear skirts, but it was suggested we purchase the tchechenge (don’t know if I spelled that right) fabric to use as the wrap when we go out later this week. We went to a street vendor from Congo, who at first just wanted to know if any of us could speak French. One of my companions knows about 10 words, so that seemed to make us OK. We were told that the fabric comes from the Congo, but when we pointed out the hem said “made in Cote d’ Ivoire”, he said it didn’t matter because they had been in the Congo. Can’t argue with that logic!
So then back to the Plush Executive Inn. I don’t know what “plush” means here, but let’s just say it is something less than what you might find back home. I got to my room, flipped the light switch, and nothing happened. Turns out there is no light bulb. The TV does not work, as the office forgot to pay the bill, and today is Sunday. They are certain they will pay the bill and it will work tomorrow. The shower has no shower curtain. One of my companions has a window that won’t close, and I have the only mosquito net. You’re actually reading this late, as there is no internet connection here. Didn’t check for hot water yet, but I’m not overly optimistic.So now you know why this is so long. I’m sitting in one of my companion’s rooms, as there is a light with not much else to do. It is good to type all this, as you have to admit, the whole thing is pretty funny. Or at least will be when I read this after I get home. Right now, the plastic lawn chair I’m sitting in is getting a bit uncomfortable, so it’s time to end. Only at the “Plush Executive Inn” can you sit in a plastic lawn chair in the dark, with the rain pouring down, typing about your trip to the DRC border to “see what’s going on”. Have a great rest of your day! I’ll let you know if we actually get dinner tonight in my next post.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Started the morning today with what I’ve decided to call a “copper shower”. You can smell the copper in the water here as soon as you turn the water on. It is an almost overpowering metallic smell. But it was hot, so I decided that was a good trade-off for the smell.
Last night, I learned you must remember when you are sleeping under a mosquito net, you should be extra prepared. The net is suspended from the ceiling, and after you get into the bed, you tuck it under the mattress. This is fine, except once you tuck it in, you can’t get to the nightstand to reach your alarm clock, bottle of water, or to put down your book. I must have tucked and untucked the net 10 times last night. Then I forgot about it when I got up in the middle of the night. You can get untangled quickly, but when you’re half asleep, it’s a bit annoying. Then while you are annoyed, it hurts when you run into the bathroom door. I should do much better tonight, since I am now a pro with the net.
Today we visited many people in the local community. Our first meeting was with the community leaders and many Caregivers. They talked about how they take care of orphans and vulnerable children in the community, and how they care for people living with HIV and AIDS. They do amazing work! In this area, there are 42 trained community members who EACH take care of about 20 children and 6 ill adults. They are all volunteers and have families of their own to take care of as well.
After we met with the leaders, we visited a young girl and her younger brother. They are orphans living alone in the community. One of the Caregivers checks in on them daily, and the community members have come together to help her go to school. School is free from grades 1 to 7. Once you start 8th grade, the family has to pay school fees. Without the help from her community, she would not be able to attend school. She is very quiet and is going into the ninth grade. She loves science, and wants to study to be a nurse. At first, she was too shy to talk to us, but when we started asking her about school and her favorite subjects, she brightened right up! Her brother is a bit younger, and would really prefer to climb trees right now. I think having so many visitors was a bit too much for him. It was a bit hard for us to talk to him while he was up in the tree. I thought about climbing up to sit with him, but couldn’t figure out how to do that in a culturally appropriate way while wearing a skirt.
We then visited another family with five children. Their mother is a traditional birth attendant, and had been called away just before our visit to help an expectant mother at another village home. The oldest girl in this family is 16 and in the 7th grade. She likes math, and hopes to be able to do better in her studies this year so that one day she can go to the 8th grade, and later study to be a nurse. The children had been given a game, but didn’t know how to play it, so we showed them how to play. They are very excited to start playing the game this afternoon.
We then went to visit a school in another community near by. This school is very excited because they were recently given funding to put electricity into the school. The head teacher was already making plans to make a resource center, computer lab, home-ec lab, etc. He doesn’t know where he’ll get the resources, but he says if he doesn’t have a plan, then he won’t be able to start looking for the resources! He says he started the school in 2006 with just over 150 students. When school starts again this term, he will have nearly 1200 students in grades 1 to 8. He is very excited, as this is the first time he will have the ability to teach 8th grade. Until now, he only had classes through grade 7. The amazing part is, he has only 16 teachers, 10 of those are for grades 1 to 7, and the other 6 are for grade 8. And he says he is “quite comfortable” with this, as he has more teachers than other schools. On average that is 75 children per classroom. When you factor in that just over 1100 of the kids are in grades 1 to 7, and there are only 10 teachers for these grades, that’s 110 children per class. They have staggered the times a little, but as far as I can gather, there are times of the day when all the children are in attendance.
There are many dedicated people here in the communities we visited today that are doing everything they can to help the others in their community, and their work shows. Kids are in school. Homes are made of brick or clay vs. mud huts with thatched roofs. Community members find income generating activities, and have made actual business plans to figure out how to pay school fees for orphans. It is amazing what can happen when a community really comes together!
Tomorrow, we’re moving on from Kitwe, to a town called Chingola. We have a day of rest after we arrive, but will most likely spend most of that trying to catch up on all the work and report writing we have to do from our visits this week. Hard to believe we’ve been here a week! But I will definitely be ready to come home when it’s time. It is interesting to meet all these people and see the country, but it can be exhausting too!
Last night, I learned you must remember when you are sleeping under a mosquito net, you should be extra prepared. The net is suspended from the ceiling, and after you get into the bed, you tuck it under the mattress. This is fine, except once you tuck it in, you can’t get to the nightstand to reach your alarm clock, bottle of water, or to put down your book. I must have tucked and untucked the net 10 times last night. Then I forgot about it when I got up in the middle of the night. You can get untangled quickly, but when you’re half asleep, it’s a bit annoying. Then while you are annoyed, it hurts when you run into the bathroom door. I should do much better tonight, since I am now a pro with the net.
Today we visited many people in the local community. Our first meeting was with the community leaders and many Caregivers. They talked about how they take care of orphans and vulnerable children in the community, and how they care for people living with HIV and AIDS. They do amazing work! In this area, there are 42 trained community members who EACH take care of about 20 children and 6 ill adults. They are all volunteers and have families of their own to take care of as well.
After we met with the leaders, we visited a young girl and her younger brother. They are orphans living alone in the community. One of the Caregivers checks in on them daily, and the community members have come together to help her go to school. School is free from grades 1 to 7. Once you start 8th grade, the family has to pay school fees. Without the help from her community, she would not be able to attend school. She is very quiet and is going into the ninth grade. She loves science, and wants to study to be a nurse. At first, she was too shy to talk to us, but when we started asking her about school and her favorite subjects, she brightened right up! Her brother is a bit younger, and would really prefer to climb trees right now. I think having so many visitors was a bit too much for him. It was a bit hard for us to talk to him while he was up in the tree. I thought about climbing up to sit with him, but couldn’t figure out how to do that in a culturally appropriate way while wearing a skirt.
We then visited another family with five children. Their mother is a traditional birth attendant, and had been called away just before our visit to help an expectant mother at another village home. The oldest girl in this family is 16 and in the 7th grade. She likes math, and hopes to be able to do better in her studies this year so that one day she can go to the 8th grade, and later study to be a nurse. The children had been given a game, but didn’t know how to play it, so we showed them how to play. They are very excited to start playing the game this afternoon.
We then went to visit a school in another community near by. This school is very excited because they were recently given funding to put electricity into the school. The head teacher was already making plans to make a resource center, computer lab, home-ec lab, etc. He doesn’t know where he’ll get the resources, but he says if he doesn’t have a plan, then he won’t be able to start looking for the resources! He says he started the school in 2006 with just over 150 students. When school starts again this term, he will have nearly 1200 students in grades 1 to 8. He is very excited, as this is the first time he will have the ability to teach 8th grade. Until now, he only had classes through grade 7. The amazing part is, he has only 16 teachers, 10 of those are for grades 1 to 7, and the other 6 are for grade 8. And he says he is “quite comfortable” with this, as he has more teachers than other schools. On average that is 75 children per classroom. When you factor in that just over 1100 of the kids are in grades 1 to 7, and there are only 10 teachers for these grades, that’s 110 children per class. They have staggered the times a little, but as far as I can gather, there are times of the day when all the children are in attendance.
There are many dedicated people here in the communities we visited today that are doing everything they can to help the others in their community, and their work shows. Kids are in school. Homes are made of brick or clay vs. mud huts with thatched roofs. Community members find income generating activities, and have made actual business plans to figure out how to pay school fees for orphans. It is amazing what can happen when a community really comes together!
Tomorrow, we’re moving on from Kitwe, to a town called Chingola. We have a day of rest after we arrive, but will most likely spend most of that trying to catch up on all the work and report writing we have to do from our visits this week. Hard to believe we’ve been here a week! But I will definitely be ready to come home when it’s time. It is interesting to meet all these people and see the country, but it can be exhausting too!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Kitwe, Zambia
Today we drove about 400km (240 miles) north of Lusaka. You take the Great North Road from Lusaka, and then just drive, until you have to take the East Road. We’re told you could take the Great North Road all the way to Cairo. I don’t think I’d want to try it.
That said, it was a pretty good road. Paved all the way, and actually had enough room on it for cars in each direction without feeling like you have to share. I’m always amazed at the number of people walking and riding bicycles along the shoulder of the highway, particularly the number of children. Some are probably as young as 4 being chaperoned by older siblings. Cars travel on this road at speeds of 60 to 70 miles an hour. It’s a bit scary when you drive at that speed by children playing.
Our drive was uneventful, except for the event at the pay toilet at the road-stop. Someone should really tell us that the nicely dressed lady at the door was collecting money to give you the priveledge to use toilet paper and flush. I thought she was just waiting in line. We got it all straightened out though, and continued on our way.
Kitwe is the second largest city in Zambia. Many people are employed here to work in the copper mines. We drove by one today. I’m going to have to do more research on this. From the road, it looks like a giant black mountain. I don’t know exactly why it looks like that. There are several mines in this area, and in fact the whole northern region is called the Copperbelt.
Our hotel is nice. Small rooms, but they have a fan, TV, and a shower. Can’t ask for more! It is a bit odd though to sit under a mosquito net watching cable TV and working on the wireless internet. Seems like one of these should not go with the other.
Tomorrow, we’ll see more of the area around Kitwe, as it is a working Saturday. More to follow then!
That said, it was a pretty good road. Paved all the way, and actually had enough room on it for cars in each direction without feeling like you have to share. I’m always amazed at the number of people walking and riding bicycles along the shoulder of the highway, particularly the number of children. Some are probably as young as 4 being chaperoned by older siblings. Cars travel on this road at speeds of 60 to 70 miles an hour. It’s a bit scary when you drive at that speed by children playing.
Our drive was uneventful, except for the event at the pay toilet at the road-stop. Someone should really tell us that the nicely dressed lady at the door was collecting money to give you the priveledge to use toilet paper and flush. I thought she was just waiting in line. We got it all straightened out though, and continued on our way.
Kitwe is the second largest city in Zambia. Many people are employed here to work in the copper mines. We drove by one today. I’m going to have to do more research on this. From the road, it looks like a giant black mountain. I don’t know exactly why it looks like that. There are several mines in this area, and in fact the whole northern region is called the Copperbelt.
Our hotel is nice. Small rooms, but they have a fan, TV, and a shower. Can’t ask for more! It is a bit odd though to sit under a mosquito net watching cable TV and working on the wireless internet. Seems like one of these should not go with the other.
Tomorrow, we’ll see more of the area around Kitwe, as it is a working Saturday. More to follow then!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Odd Observations
Today the team spent the day at the warehouse. The team here does an amazing job keeping track of everything received and where it goes for use. It makes my job much easier when everyone does their job so well!
As we spent most of the day in the office, not much to share about the local area. Lusaka is a very busy place. The warehouse is in the Africa equivalent of an industrial park. There are small factories for many industries from tires to grain production.
A few odd observations…. In many of the places I’ve been, I’ve noticed the doorknobs seem awfully high, and Zambia is one of those places. I measured tonight. The doorknobs for all doors in my room stand 49 inches from the ground. For someone who’s only 5’4”, that’s pretty tall. The bathtubs also seem to be made for giants. The edge of the tub stands 22” from the floor. That’s quite high! You almost need stairs to get into the shower. I’ve been trying to figure out why this is, but can’t come up with any logical reason why everything would be made for really tall people. Just one of those random things I wonder about I guess.
Tomorrow we leave for northern Zambia. Should be an interesting visit. Hopefully I will be able to connect from there. If not, I’ll post when I return to Lusaka next week!
As we spent most of the day in the office, not much to share about the local area. Lusaka is a very busy place. The warehouse is in the Africa equivalent of an industrial park. There are small factories for many industries from tires to grain production.
A few odd observations…. In many of the places I’ve been, I’ve noticed the doorknobs seem awfully high, and Zambia is one of those places. I measured tonight. The doorknobs for all doors in my room stand 49 inches from the ground. For someone who’s only 5’4”, that’s pretty tall. The bathtubs also seem to be made for giants. The edge of the tub stands 22” from the floor. That’s quite high! You almost need stairs to get into the shower. I’ve been trying to figure out why this is, but can’t come up with any logical reason why everything would be made for really tall people. Just one of those random things I wonder about I guess.
Tomorrow we leave for northern Zambia. Should be an interesting visit. Hopefully I will be able to connect from there. If not, I’ll post when I return to Lusaka next week!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Welcome to Zambia
Greetings from Lusaka Zambia! We arrived yesterday after about 23 hours of flight time and 8 hours of layovers. You just can’t get here from there quickly! Good thing it was an uneventful journey.
The first thing you notice is how friendly people are. They are helpful at customs (can you believe it!). When you leave the airport, you do not have to fight the mob of taxi drivers trying to “help” you with your suitcase. If you’ve ever been somewhere where that happens, you know how unhelpful that actually is! The driver’s generally follow the rules of the road. Red means stop, green means go, and people are able to drive without constantly sounding the horn. The area is also very clean. You don’t see trash on the side of the roadways. Everything is orderly. It’s the only place I’ve been on my work trips where you just immediately feel at home, even though everything is so much different than what we’re used to!
We had a bit of time yesterday to rest and try to get over jet-lag. Our hotel is in a nice area with a small shopping mall next door. We were able to walk around for a bit and try to get over jet-lag.
Today was a day of meetings at the main office. We did have a chance to visit and have dinner at a friend’s home this evening. I originally met her in Ghana, then ran into her during my first trip to Zambia, and then ended up working with her during the Haiti trip. Isn’t it interesting how you can just “run into” people in so many different locations! We were able to meet her two wonderful daughters and spend a nice evening with her.
Now I am watching the BBC news coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Some of the pictures are of places we drove by during our visit in September. One of them is of the hotel that my friend stayed in (I was in a different one). The hotel is partially collapsed. We also spent time today thinking and praying about the family that hosted us during that visit. The host was at the office, and was able to reach his son quickly. He was unable to find his wife and two daughters until nearly 24 hours later. All were fine, but I can’t imagine how scary that must have been for all of them.
More tomorrow!
The first thing you notice is how friendly people are. They are helpful at customs (can you believe it!). When you leave the airport, you do not have to fight the mob of taxi drivers trying to “help” you with your suitcase. If you’ve ever been somewhere where that happens, you know how unhelpful that actually is! The driver’s generally follow the rules of the road. Red means stop, green means go, and people are able to drive without constantly sounding the horn. The area is also very clean. You don’t see trash on the side of the roadways. Everything is orderly. It’s the only place I’ve been on my work trips where you just immediately feel at home, even though everything is so much different than what we’re used to!
We had a bit of time yesterday to rest and try to get over jet-lag. Our hotel is in a nice area with a small shopping mall next door. We were able to walk around for a bit and try to get over jet-lag.
Today was a day of meetings at the main office. We did have a chance to visit and have dinner at a friend’s home this evening. I originally met her in Ghana, then ran into her during my first trip to Zambia, and then ended up working with her during the Haiti trip. Isn’t it interesting how you can just “run into” people in so many different locations! We were able to meet her two wonderful daughters and spend a nice evening with her.
Now I am watching the BBC news coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Some of the pictures are of places we drove by during our visit in September. One of them is of the hotel that my friend stayed in (I was in a different one). The hotel is partially collapsed. We also spent time today thinking and praying about the family that hosted us during that visit. The host was at the office, and was able to reach his son quickly. He was unable to find his wife and two daughters until nearly 24 hours later. All were fine, but I can’t imagine how scary that must have been for all of them.
More tomorrow!
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