I wish that I knew what I know now....

So Ive almost been here a year and while I learn something new everyday(about my village, my job and especially myself) I feel like I have a handle on things....today. Its almost time for the new intake of LIFE(agriculture)and RED(education)to come and Ive been thinking a lot about what it was like preparing for this amazing yet unpredictable journey I am on. I know one thing I spent a lot of time doing was reading blogs from current volunteers to see what I could possibly expect. So in the event that this will probably happen to me, I want to be prepared. So these are list of things Im glad I brought, had mailed to me or wish I would have brought:

In the context of being a RED Volunteer:
- a blazer- Zambian teachers dress better then I ever will so it would've been nice to bring nicer clothes to teach in. Not just skirts or trousers I expect to never wear again but nice clothes.

-Index cards- Sure you can make your own index cards from paper and I have but index cards have been great for teaching/learning aids, remembering pupils names and making flash cards.

-Craft materials- You can buy colored paper here and some arts supplies but having my arts and crafts things have been nice because you can incorporate them into lessons and Ive also have a few pupils meet me on the weekends to color/draw which has been fun.

-Children books: These are good for the younger grades and to test English literacy for the older grades. Also when the kids are yelling at you and playing in your yard its great to sit them down and read to them. A lot of PCVs have kitchen libraries where they loan out books to the kids.

-Scissors- all the zam scissor break

As a PCV:
-extra headphones- headphones break and things are expensive in country

-batteries- expensive in country

-tevas/watershoes- I wish I would have brought them it would've made a few vacations more fun

-FITTED SHEETS!- just trust me! One set is nice. You are given a pair of sheets and a blanket when you get here but fitted sheets just make life a little easier

-Crystal light/flavored water packets- water can get boring

-Tea- Yogi tea hasn't hit Zambia yet

- Sweat pants- sure we work 24/7 (technically) but you can never have too many sweat pants in rainy and cold season when you cant go anywhere or when its too cold and you don't want to go anywhere

-bras- sorry but don't just bring sports bras....bad idea and don't just bring one...even worse idea

-home decor- pictures, posters, anything to make your hut feel homey.

-Tennis Shoes- good for running and vacations

-"Town" clothes- so yea we live in the village but we aren't there all the time. You travel all over the country and don't want to look like a bush rat all the time.You can keep your nicer/vacation clothes at the provincial house.

-Jacket/coat- cold season and rainy season can get pretty chilly. I have a raincoat and a light fleece jacket and that's fine.

-Whatever makes you feel comfortable!!!!- I brought my stuffed animals (yea I said it) because two years is a long time and some days you just need something from home.

-IPOD/MP3 player- duh! Music is a must and CD get scratched really easily

-Laptop- ok so I didn't bring one and I kinda wish I did. So if you bring one bring a converter/ voltage changer to charge it. We have reporting we do every quarter and a laptop would make it easier but you can do fine without it. A lot of volunteers have small laptops they've brought and they can update blogs, shrink pictures and watch movies in their hut. It really is a convenience thing but think about it.

-Solar Charger- its just a good idea.


Things I freaked out about:
-Phone!!! getting a phone is literally the 2nd thing you do in country! Bring money to buy a nice phone(with internet)and you'll get your sim card and everything here. Communication by phone is easier than I thought!

-Post- The post office is a crazy. It takes 2 weeks for letters and about a month for packages. Bring stationary :) I spend a good bit of my free time writing letters home. This form of communication can be frustration hence getting a phone with internet. Ive not have a huge problem with the post while Ive been here.

-light- you can buy a solar lamp in Lusaka when you are getting posted and you can buy candles in bulk...no problem there

-length of skirts- so they say don't wear anything above the knee, which I think is a good rule of thumb. As for shirts, showing arms is not a big deal.

-Water- A water filter is provided and you can buy chlorine in country

-Food/Spices: Ive have gotten just about all my species in Zambia and I cook all my meals so I use spices often. The only spice I haven't found...seasoning salt. Some things are harder to find but you can get anything in Lusaka even crushed red pepper :) Parmesan cheese is nice to bring or get sent even if its in little packets from fast food restaurant. You can get dairy in this country in town not really in the village but powdered milk isn't so bad. You can make some pretty fancy things in the village with local ingredients you just have to look or stock up in Lusaka. Ive always asked people to send me M&Ms, junk food or things where you just add water. If you are a tea or coffee drinker...bring that!!! I have people mail me tea in every package. There's good tea in Lusaka and some bomas but I hear if you are an avid coffee drinker to bring that. You can buy a french press in Lusaka.


I think this is it for now! No matter how you pack you will always have someone offering to send you something which is great because there will always be something you forget! Feel free to email me or ask me questions here. Happy Packing!!!!

Christmas in Africa! 2010

So one of the best things about my new job is ….TRAVEL! I finally got the chance to see some more of Zambia and a bit of Botswana. So a group of 5 of us spent 2weeks in Livingstone, Zambia, home of Victoria Falls. It was an amazing trip. It had not so great begins though. I was stuck in Lusaka for a few days by stuck I just mean spent more time there then I planned and got stopped at the Botswana boarder. I was just searched but I was the only one in my group who was searched….ill let you guess why! (Sorry I don’t look Zambia just because I am black!) But that was nothing major and I went on about my day. Strange how that happens to me here, I would’ve never imaged being singled out for my “race” here but that’s another story for another day!
So we started out trip at Chobe National Park. Highly recommend it. I’ve never seen so many elephants and so many different types of animals. W stayed for 2days and 1 night in the park. The first day we did a boat game drive and saw the most amazing birds, hippos, and elephants. We even got to see elephants swimming, that was probably my favorite thing. I learned that hippos can only stay in the water for about 5 mins so every so often you would look in the water and see noses sticking out. We were on the water for a few hours then had an amazing lunch and went back into the park but in a jeep this time. That’s when we saw the lioness. She apparently had just given birth and was alone. The cubs were hiding in a bush (we never saw them). After seeing more elephants and the occasional warthog, we went to our camps site. Tents with beds were set up for us and we had a great meal. It was Christmas Eve so we volunteers came up with our own version of the 12 days of Christmas. It was fun. We even meet some RPCV (returned Peace Corps volunteers) from Namibia which was great! They are still involved with Peace Corps and still living in Africa! So Christmas Day we did our final game drive and it PORED! We got soaked but it was ok because we say more lions, giraffes, every species of antelope /impala, a leopard, and crocodiles. We went back to Livingstone, Zambia and had MEXICAN for Christmas Dinner! That’s a tradition I can live by!
So while in Livingstone, we saw so many things and met tons of new people. We met volunteers from other countries, ran into more volunteers in Zambia, more Americans and great great staff at the hostel. We stayed at Jollyboys Backpackers…NICE and a good price too. They helped us set all our activities for the week. So I went to Victoria Falls twice, went to a local concert, pampered myself, ate lots of Mexican and other good food, spent to much at the market, went to the Livingstone Museum went on a Sunset/Booze Cruise and the best ever…..walked with lions! LITERALLY!
Victoria Falls was of course amazing. It’s beautiful. The water is tricky. The first time I went the water was low for some reason the 2nd time I went I got rained on from the mist of the falls  There’s really not to much I can say about the falls expect for words and pictures don’t do the place justice! It was also nice to go to the Livingstone Museum and learn more about Livingstone, the Tonga people and Victoria Falls. We did the Sunset Cruise for New Year’s Eve and it was a nice way to bring in the New Year and to end our trip. But the highlight of my vacation…LIONS.
So I got to walk with and pet lions. Yep I petted a lion! The lions (Rwanda, Rama and Raja(?)) were 17months old. They were huge. They were very playful and Rwanda was a big baby when is two sisters were beating him up….well they were playing. The program I did the walk with is trying to re-introduce lions into the wild with a 4 phase program. The lions I was with were just on phase 1 still. They are learning how to hut on their own and fend for themselves. It was fun and educational! On this trip I saw 4 of the big five (Rhino, leopard, lion, elephant, and buffalo). We didn’t see any rhino because they are extinct in the area we were in. It’s amazing how beautiful these animals are in their natural habitat. It also amazing how much beauty there is around us and we forget or were to busy to notice it! This was a great Holiday! Wonder what Ill do next year!


A PCV's Christmas Carol:
*When created this as a group on Christmas Eve, its all in good fun*
So the 12 days of Christmas are a little something like this:
1st day- A bot-fly in a bush tree
2nd day- two guinea foul
3rd day- three village chickens
4th day- four stupid goats
5th day- five PCVs
6th day- six juicy mangoes
7th day- seven canceled meetings
8th day- eight Obama packets*
9th day- nine creepy hitches*
10th day- ten lumps of nshima*
11th day- eleven chewing rats
12th day- twelve iwes yelling*

* Obama packets are little sachets of alcohol with President Obama's face on them...its the "winning spirit", hitches are the lifts we get when hitch hiking, NISHMA is the Zambian staple food and no meal is complete without it, "iwe" literally means "you" but its also what the kids are called*

Ready, Set, GLOW

Wow! LONG TIME. First off let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m glad you all enjoyed your Holiday Cards and the pictures. I just got back from my 2week holiday in Livingstone/Botswana. I was in the village for two weeks, started teaching for the term and now I’m away again. This time I’m in Kasama for PEPFAR! I’m really excited about this workshop. We all are bringing counterparts from our villages we can work with. I'm bringing BA JULIE! Ba Julie is my best friend in the village. She’s the one who teaches me how to cook, how to dance, she feeds me every time I see her and she’s even given me a Bemba name(Mwaba which means Princess). After the workshop, hopefully we can work on HIV/AIDS related projects in the village. I’ve been waiting for this; I’m really excited and hope it goes well. I’ll update you for sure. Speaking of updates…..GLOW!!!
Camp GLOW was AMAZING! The girls really had a great time! The week was filled with arts and crafts (headed by yours truly), camp songs, sessions on rape/ sugar daddies/ confidence/assertiveness/gender roles/goals and s’mores. As far as arts and crafts go we made: journals, picture frames, menstrual pads from local materials, thank you cards and painted with edible finger paint. So much fun. I'm inner camp counselor showed up and had too much fun! Camp GLOW (Girl’s Leading Our World) is a Peace Corps Zambia project as well as a Global Peace Corps initiative. The goal is to help give girls a space where they can be open about issues that concern them as well as learning new skills and tools to help them achieve their goals in the societies they live in. In Zambia, one of the missions in the Ministry of Education is to focus on the education and development of the girl child. The Ministry, as well as the Nation, has noticed the lack of education for/ given to girls as well as the distinct gender roles assigned to girls that limit them from getting a proper education. Camp GLOW speaks on this by having sessions centered on these sensitive issues. I’ve already noticed a change in the girls I took from my village. I took a grade 6 (now grade 7) and a grade 8(now grade 9). The grade 7 is more outspoken with her leadership and the grade 9 is more confident in herself. This is the 2nd term I’ve taught the now grade 9. At first she never spoke in class and never raised her hand, I had to tell her to put her hand down and let someone new try last week!
The girls weren’t the only ones who learned new things this week. The teachers also learned a lot about how to start clubs, facilitate, be open and create a safe environment for the girls. The warmed up to the idea as the week went on. They all have the potential to be good facilitators.
Camp GLOW has been one of my favorite activities so far, can’t wait for next year. It was a lot of planning, lots of meetings, and a lot of stress at time but we pulled it of. The 7 Mpika volunteers did an amazing job and I can say “I love my team”! Also a huge THANK YOU!!!!! To everyone who helped donate money, give ideas, sent goodies and was supportive. You played a huge part in the success of this camp and I hope you’ll be on board next year! NATOTELA SANA MUKWAI!!! Thanks everyone.