So like I mentioned last time, one of the main challenges for the Katuba community is accessibility to medical help. The village is an hour walk away from the roadside, making it extremely challenging to access facilities in a timely manner when emergencies arise. Having built a structure for a future clinic, the community expressed their interest in establishing a first aid station.
In order to tackle this issue, my partner, Caro, and I, decided to organize a training for the community members interested in learning first aid. We had also been working towards creating partnerships with local health organizations so that they can provide first aid materials to the community clinic in a sustainable manner, however this proved to be incredibly difficult. Being Canadian, it is really easy to walk into international and/or national organizations and book a meeting with the head honchos. In a way this has made our job much easier, but I haven’t gone through one meeting without feeling slightly guilty. Caro and I have met with important ministers, one of the richest men in Zambia, and directors of international organizations, such as the National Red Cross. Not once did we have problems booking a meeting. We would walk into their offices, speak to the secretary for just a minute and BADABOOM we have a meeting with these guys the next day. It’s been so easy to the point where ministers have had their drivers drive us to our next stop! The National Red Cross drove us home for goodness sake! It wasn’t because of luck, but because of the color of our skin. Now some of you may disagree on this point, however, our local friends have had much trouble trying to book meetings with the same people!
Now while we may have had luck booking meetings with such grandiose individuals, we haven’t had much luck in finding partners to sustain the clinic in Katuba. Luckily, on one of our last meetings, we met with the Minister of the Lusaka Province, who quickly referred us to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, who then informed us of government funded clinics. Essentially, if the clinic registers with the District Health Management Team, a subsection of the government, Katuba will be put in line for government community health training followed by a government funded clinic. The government admitted rather candidly that unfortunately this could take years.
Therefore, since identifying access to medical help as a main challenge for the rural villages of Katuba, we have worked alongside its community groups to identify the best way forward. We partnered with the National Red Cross to provide community members with a community-based first aid and health training. This past week, the National Red Cross catered specifically to the needs and challenges of the Katuba community by addressing issues such as malaria and snake bites, among the basic elements of a standard first aid.
Twenty-two members of the community were chosen to participate in the training based on their community involvement and commitment, as well as their literacy skills. While Shared World Initiative assisted the community with the purchase of their initial first aid box, the trained community members plan to create a health committee in charge of providing first aid, as well as patient care fees in order to remain sustainable. The training took place last week from the 26th to the 28th.
A post-training meeting was held today last thursday with the trained community members, Shared World Initiative, members of Lupwa Lwabumi Trust and the local MP, to set up a strategic and sustainable plan for the future of Katuba’s first aid station. The headmen from all 11 villages in this district were invited, so some of the women had to prepare a traditional drink for them – powdered corn, hot water and lots of SUGAR. It was disgusting! To remain respectful however, I HAD to drink it. Despite that, it was amazing to be part of a traditional village meeting.
While meeting the different communities, we also encountered various youth groups. These groups demonstrated passion and motivation yet highlighted scarce resources and skills training as their main challenges. In order to help empower these groups sustainably, we organized a Youth Day which directly addressed some of their needs. We wanted to link them to other well-established youth groups in the Lusaka region, as well as engage them in workshops.
To make this day possible, we worked alongside the youth groups in different catchment areas such as Mandevu, Matero and Katuba to create a Youth Empowerment Program that catered to their needs. On July 24th, the day program took place with the sole purpose of sustainably empowering the youth groups. We introduced them to other well-established youth, as well as engage them in workshops on goal setting and information sessions on banking skills and grant proposal writing. The groups also engaged in livelihood training, spearheaded by Africare. We were hoping to mobilise the youth and leave them with the necessary skills to take action in their communities.
A couple of days later, one of the youth stayed with us, and told us how the goal setting workshop motivated him to write down a realistic plan for his life and finally just take action, step by step. He plans to be school studying health by next January, and there is nothing stopping him, he says.
This past week has been a whirlwind of emotion for the whole zamfam. We’ve been dishing out goodbyes left, right and centre. First to our new friends here in Zambia, then to each other. I feel so privileged to have been surrounded for the past two months by some of the most wonderful and inspiring individuals I’ve ever met in my life. Luckily, I get to travel with three of them for the next two weeks. Off I go to Zanzibar tomorrow. Clear blue waters and white beaches, I am ready for you.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Trekking into the chaotic peri-urban and the wild African bush!
I apologize for the late blog post, however these past few weeks have been rather hectic. Like I mentioned near the beginning of out placement, we met with the community facilitators. Like most of us know, when hosting, it is crucial to provide your colleagues with food and drinks. In Canada, we might offer some coffee/tea and cookies, but here in Zambia fritters and pop are customary. While I have yet to try one, fritters (“fat cakes” as we secretly call them) are dough directly fried in unhealthy cooking oil. A heart attack in the making, yet apparently delicious. Needless to say, we gained a few bonus points by feeding our new and esteemed colleagues.
In our meeting, I was really nervous. What would the community facilitators think of us? Expect from us? Want from us? I noticed soon enough however, that they also seemed nervous, making the initial experience more bearable. As time passed, they became increasingly comfortable and were not afraid to share their stories with us.
There are 10 active community facilitators and each are responsible for a specific compound in and around Lusaka. I was surprised and impressed to hear that some of these facilitators had been doing their job for many years on a volunteer basis. Every facilitator is in charge of numerous community-based groups (Self-help groups or Family Circles of Care and Support – targeting the ‘poorest of the poor’ as they say) that spearhead their own initiatives to face their every-day challenges. After getting to know these amazing and passionate individuals, we set dates to meet with their community groups that week. Thus began our trek into the lives of local Zambians living in great poverty.
That week we were introduced to the peri-urban lifestyle in Lusaka as well as the ultra rural Zambian life. Walking through the urban compounds, I was overwhelmed with the amount of garbage covering the unpaved roads. Women sat in the doorways of their congested homes, hand-washing or selling charcoal. The children ran free through the potholes filled with garbage, with no sign of caring whether or not they wore shoes. Most of them did not. To be honest, it was difficult to see this harsh reality, however I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to fully understand what it is like to live in such poverty. My lack of complete understanding is perhaps my biggest challenge here.
Our first meet took place in a community centre, beside one of many community schools. As I walked into the yard, the teacher quickly invited a couple of us into the one and only classroom to meet the kids. Nearly 20 kids sat around what look liked picnic tables in small dark room. The teacher explained to me that the kids ranged from the age of 6 to 12, grade 1 to grade 6. It baffled me to see one teacher instruct six different grades at once. She said, they do what they can with what they’ve got, which is barely anything. Inspiring, I think.
That week, I experienced the best day of my life up until now. I do not exaggerate when I say that June 24th, 2010 was the best day of my 22 years. Early that morning we met up with the supervisor from Lupwa Lwabumi Trust (the NGO where I am doing my placement), our beloved leader Masiliso, escorted us to our next stop: Katuba, rural village outside of Lusaka. After thirty minutes in the minibus, we got off at our stop: 15 miles. In what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, Masiliso explained that we were supposed to have transportation to Katuba but that it wasn’t there. So we walked. An hour later, we found ourselves in the middle of the BUSH and wondering where in the world we were. Feeling lost in what looked like the Lion King felt SO serene! Nothing surrounded us but rural Africa. Every now and then we saw mud huts, but up until we arrived to Katuba, an hour and a half later, nothing was in sight. It was amazing. When we finally arrived to Katuba, nearly a dozen women began dancing and singing traditional welcoming songs. This is the first time I’ve understood the true meaning of hospitality. Over the course of the first hour, groups of women from the 11 surrounding villages arrived to the Pache pache land (‘slowly but surely’) to meet with us. To begin our meeting, we (all sixty women plus a few men!), Masiliso, Caro, Nat, Jeanne and I) sat in a circle. Facilitating the meeting, Masiliso encouraged each group of women to share with us their initiatives. I was surprised to see that the rural women could mobilise the community so efficiently to spearhead projects for the benefit of all community members. Individuals in these rural villages still face harsh realities such as the prominence of HIV/AIDS, however manage to come together to find ways to help each other out, whereas some of the groups in the more urban region carry the burden of poverty, unable to see the opportunities that may rise before them.
The groups in Katuba were more than happy to share with us their successes and challenges. Many of the groups farmed cabbage, sweet potatoes, ground nuts or managed poultries. Some of the women were proud to share that their groups had been able to save nearly 2 million Kwacha (approximately four hundred American dollars), to further new initiatives.
Katuba faced many challenges, one of them being accessibility to clinics of hospitals. Since the villages are more than an hour and a half walk away from the roadside, accessing medical facilities on time during an emergency is nearly impossible. A few years ago, a small clinic was built on the Pache pache land, but there are no medical supplies for the community to use.
In honor of our presence, the village slaughtered one of their goats and a few of their chickens to feed us, which by the way were absolutely delicious. Before heading back to Chazanga, each group ended the meeting by singing a song. They encouraged us to dance, but were soon very disappointed (yet still managed to laugh at us!) with our Canadian abilities, or lack thereof. After each group presented us with a song, they asked us to present one in return. I have to say that while this day may have been my favourite to date, it was perhaps one of the most embarrassing as well.
(Sidenote: traditional music and dance are at the forefront of Zambian culture. In other words, in every situation we find ourselves there is some sort of dancing or singing going on. The Zambians I’ve met are always so surprised to hear we don’t have any substantial Canadian culture to offer in return. During my second week in Zambia, I found myself playing with the students from Bwafwano community school late one morning. To pass the time, they taught me common Zambian games and songs played amongst most children. About an hour later, with nothing left to offer, nearly fifteen children stood before me, waiting. Waiting for what you may ask? Waiting for our brilliant Canadian songs... Either Canada has no original songs or I have worked TOO many summers at camp, because the only song I could think of offering to these beautiful beaming children was the “Banana Song”. Our lack of traditional songs and my inability to come up with anything more creative has made the “Banana Song” a running team joke.)
Back to the minutes before departing Katuba for the first time, where the women cornered us and demanded a song. In all of our brilliantness (and the influential words of Caro), we performed THE “Banana Song”. For those of you who don’t know this song, it goes
something like this:
BANANAS UNITE [slap arms together above your head]
Peel banana, peel peel banana (X2) [with arms above head, one arm at a time comes down in a peeling motion]
Slice banana, slice slice banana (X2) [chopping hand motion]
Mash banana, mash mash banana (X2) [fists bumping against one another]
Eat banana, eat eat banana (X2) [pretend to eat the banana]
GO BANANA GO GO BANANA (X2) [dancing like a looney bin with flailing arms, round and round]
So there it is. Four young women, standing in the middle of a circle of nearly 60 women – some of which were the village elders – after listening to enriching Zambian songs, singing a song about Bananas! Humiliating! Somehow in the midst of the chaotic bananas, the women actually caught on to the song and began singing along. Following many ‘goodbyes’, ‘safe journeys’, and ‘musale bwinos’ (stay well), we rode away on our prime luxury coach cart pulled by our friendly neighbourhood bulls General and Standard only to see the women singing and dancing the ‘Banana Song’. Best day of my life.
To top off a great week, we ended our needs assessment in Kabangwe. A perfect in between of rural and urban, the women of Kabangwe were incredible. Sibo, the community facilitator, is a force to be reckoned with, putting the entire world to shame in regards to community involvement. She is one of the most dedicated and inspiring woman I’ve met, waking early every day to care for her children, her massive gardens and her community. Her groups are successful in pursuing income generating activities because she guides them through the process of creating detailed action plans. Her eldest son, twenty-two year old Pride, a good friend of ours now, is the perfect demonstration of a motivated youth. He spends his early mornings tending to the gardens and farms, and the rest of his days caring for the community youth. Her youngest, Timothy, is school-oriented and a model for all thirteen year olds. You’d think this family originated from an ideal galaxy of dedication and motivation, especially considering they don’t even make enough money to support their full schooling. Those obstacles, however, don’t pull them down for one second, instead face life head-on, offering to those around them the opportunities they may not have had. When I first met them, during this initial meet, I felt so privileged to be in their presence. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to spend much time with all three, and feel as though I’ve learnt a great deal.
All in all, our needs assessment taught me more about people and life than school has in the past three years. From this process, my partner Caro and I assessed where we could lend a hand, choosing two projects we thought possible to achieve. More next time!
In our meeting, I was really nervous. What would the community facilitators think of us? Expect from us? Want from us? I noticed soon enough however, that they also seemed nervous, making the initial experience more bearable. As time passed, they became increasingly comfortable and were not afraid to share their stories with us.
There are 10 active community facilitators and each are responsible for a specific compound in and around Lusaka. I was surprised and impressed to hear that some of these facilitators had been doing their job for many years on a volunteer basis. Every facilitator is in charge of numerous community-based groups (Self-help groups or Family Circles of Care and Support – targeting the ‘poorest of the poor’ as they say) that spearhead their own initiatives to face their every-day challenges. After getting to know these amazing and passionate individuals, we set dates to meet with their community groups that week. Thus began our trek into the lives of local Zambians living in great poverty.
That week we were introduced to the peri-urban lifestyle in Lusaka as well as the ultra rural Zambian life. Walking through the urban compounds, I was overwhelmed with the amount of garbage covering the unpaved roads. Women sat in the doorways of their congested homes, hand-washing or selling charcoal. The children ran free through the potholes filled with garbage, with no sign of caring whether or not they wore shoes. Most of them did not. To be honest, it was difficult to see this harsh reality, however I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to fully understand what it is like to live in such poverty. My lack of complete understanding is perhaps my biggest challenge here.
Our first meet took place in a community centre, beside one of many community schools. As I walked into the yard, the teacher quickly invited a couple of us into the one and only classroom to meet the kids. Nearly 20 kids sat around what look liked picnic tables in small dark room. The teacher explained to me that the kids ranged from the age of 6 to 12, grade 1 to grade 6. It baffled me to see one teacher instruct six different grades at once. She said, they do what they can with what they’ve got, which is barely anything. Inspiring, I think.
That week, I experienced the best day of my life up until now. I do not exaggerate when I say that June 24th, 2010 was the best day of my 22 years. Early that morning we met up with the supervisor from Lupwa Lwabumi Trust (the NGO where I am doing my placement), our beloved leader Masiliso, escorted us to our next stop: Katuba, rural village outside of Lusaka. After thirty minutes in the minibus, we got off at our stop: 15 miles. In what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, Masiliso explained that we were supposed to have transportation to Katuba but that it wasn’t there. So we walked. An hour later, we found ourselves in the middle of the BUSH and wondering where in the world we were. Feeling lost in what looked like the Lion King felt SO serene! Nothing surrounded us but rural Africa. Every now and then we saw mud huts, but up until we arrived to Katuba, an hour and a half later, nothing was in sight. It was amazing. When we finally arrived to Katuba, nearly a dozen women began dancing and singing traditional welcoming songs. This is the first time I’ve understood the true meaning of hospitality. Over the course of the first hour, groups of women from the 11 surrounding villages arrived to the Pache pache land (‘slowly but surely’) to meet with us. To begin our meeting, we (all sixty women plus a few men!), Masiliso, Caro, Nat, Jeanne and I) sat in a circle. Facilitating the meeting, Masiliso encouraged each group of women to share with us their initiatives. I was surprised to see that the rural women could mobilise the community so efficiently to spearhead projects for the benefit of all community members. Individuals in these rural villages still face harsh realities such as the prominence of HIV/AIDS, however manage to come together to find ways to help each other out, whereas some of the groups in the more urban region carry the burden of poverty, unable to see the opportunities that may rise before them.
The groups in Katuba were more than happy to share with us their successes and challenges. Many of the groups farmed cabbage, sweet potatoes, ground nuts or managed poultries. Some of the women were proud to share that their groups had been able to save nearly 2 million Kwacha (approximately four hundred American dollars), to further new initiatives.
Katuba faced many challenges, one of them being accessibility to clinics of hospitals. Since the villages are more than an hour and a half walk away from the roadside, accessing medical facilities on time during an emergency is nearly impossible. A few years ago, a small clinic was built on the Pache pache land, but there are no medical supplies for the community to use.
In honor of our presence, the village slaughtered one of their goats and a few of their chickens to feed us, which by the way were absolutely delicious. Before heading back to Chazanga, each group ended the meeting by singing a song. They encouraged us to dance, but were soon very disappointed (yet still managed to laugh at us!) with our Canadian abilities, or lack thereof. After each group presented us with a song, they asked us to present one in return. I have to say that while this day may have been my favourite to date, it was perhaps one of the most embarrassing as well.
(Sidenote: traditional music and dance are at the forefront of Zambian culture. In other words, in every situation we find ourselves there is some sort of dancing or singing going on. The Zambians I’ve met are always so surprised to hear we don’t have any substantial Canadian culture to offer in return. During my second week in Zambia, I found myself playing with the students from Bwafwano community school late one morning. To pass the time, they taught me common Zambian games and songs played amongst most children. About an hour later, with nothing left to offer, nearly fifteen children stood before me, waiting. Waiting for what you may ask? Waiting for our brilliant Canadian songs... Either Canada has no original songs or I have worked TOO many summers at camp, because the only song I could think of offering to these beautiful beaming children was the “Banana Song”. Our lack of traditional songs and my inability to come up with anything more creative has made the “Banana Song” a running team joke.)
Back to the minutes before departing Katuba for the first time, where the women cornered us and demanded a song. In all of our brilliantness (and the influential words of Caro), we performed THE “Banana Song”. For those of you who don’t know this song, it goes
something like this:
BANANAS UNITE [slap arms together above your head]
Peel banana, peel peel banana (X2) [with arms above head, one arm at a time comes down in a peeling motion]
Slice banana, slice slice banana (X2) [chopping hand motion]
Mash banana, mash mash banana (X2) [fists bumping against one another]
Eat banana, eat eat banana (X2) [pretend to eat the banana]
GO BANANA GO GO BANANA (X2) [dancing like a looney bin with flailing arms, round and round]
So there it is. Four young women, standing in the middle of a circle of nearly 60 women – some of which were the village elders – after listening to enriching Zambian songs, singing a song about Bananas! Humiliating! Somehow in the midst of the chaotic bananas, the women actually caught on to the song and began singing along. Following many ‘goodbyes’, ‘safe journeys’, and ‘musale bwinos’ (stay well), we rode away on our prime luxury coach cart pulled by our friendly neighbourhood bulls General and Standard only to see the women singing and dancing the ‘Banana Song’. Best day of my life.
To top off a great week, we ended our needs assessment in Kabangwe. A perfect in between of rural and urban, the women of Kabangwe were incredible. Sibo, the community facilitator, is a force to be reckoned with, putting the entire world to shame in regards to community involvement. She is one of the most dedicated and inspiring woman I’ve met, waking early every day to care for her children, her massive gardens and her community. Her groups are successful in pursuing income generating activities because she guides them through the process of creating detailed action plans. Her eldest son, twenty-two year old Pride, a good friend of ours now, is the perfect demonstration of a motivated youth. He spends his early mornings tending to the gardens and farms, and the rest of his days caring for the community youth. Her youngest, Timothy, is school-oriented and a model for all thirteen year olds. You’d think this family originated from an ideal galaxy of dedication and motivation, especially considering they don’t even make enough money to support their full schooling. Those obstacles, however, don’t pull them down for one second, instead face life head-on, offering to those around them the opportunities they may not have had. When I first met them, during this initial meet, I felt so privileged to be in their presence. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to spend much time with all three, and feel as though I’ve learnt a great deal.
All in all, our needs assessment taught me more about people and life than school has in the past three years. From this process, my partner Caro and I assessed where we could lend a hand, choosing two projects we thought possible to achieve. More next time!
Friday, July 16, 2010
African Time
Once again, I present you my Zambia top five...
1) I’ve made so many new wonderful friends from Zambia. Friends who are so eager to share their lives with us. Yet when it is you who asks them a question or the story behind an event, they only and ALWAYS happily reply “Next Time”. Even if you are spending the next couple of hours with them. Oh African time... everything takes SO much longer than necessary.
2) When you ask for a specific meeting time, the reply you’ll receive is “It’s just okay!”. Or you’ll be asked to set a meeting for the sole purpose of setting the following meeting.
3) (Remember when I specifically outlined that these points were not only things I may love, but also things I may hate...) Camping in Kafue National Park, where hippos happily trot around each and every campsite. Actually, let me be more specific, camping in Kafue where hippos nearly charge you and walk around your tents at night. I have never been so scared in my life.
4) Going on African safari only to see a bunny rabbit and a mouse... okay fine I’ll be fair, we actually caught a glimpse of Nala. As for the bunny, it was in fact a hare, and the mouse was more of an elephant shrew.
5) My team partner, Caro, and I being assisted by the most bubbly and scattered man while chosing wine at the grocery store. Speaking a mile a minute, he considered everything from what we were eating, to our student budget. Needless to say he was incredibly helpful. Only as we gratefully shook his hand, did we find out he was the Country Director for the World Food Programme. Now that's a celebrity.
Lately, these points are all I can write. Life as an intern for Lupwa Lwabumi Trust has me running around Lusaka like a chicken without its head. For my wonderful friends and family who have been asking for more, I promise you'll get what you want... next time. Remember, I'm on AFRICA TIME.
1) I’ve made so many new wonderful friends from Zambia. Friends who are so eager to share their lives with us. Yet when it is you who asks them a question or the story behind an event, they only and ALWAYS happily reply “Next Time”. Even if you are spending the next couple of hours with them. Oh African time... everything takes SO much longer than necessary.
2) When you ask for a specific meeting time, the reply you’ll receive is “It’s just okay!”. Or you’ll be asked to set a meeting for the sole purpose of setting the following meeting.
3) (Remember when I specifically outlined that these points were not only things I may love, but also things I may hate...) Camping in Kafue National Park, where hippos happily trot around each and every campsite. Actually, let me be more specific, camping in Kafue where hippos nearly charge you and walk around your tents at night. I have never been so scared in my life.
4) Going on African safari only to see a bunny rabbit and a mouse... okay fine I’ll be fair, we actually caught a glimpse of Nala. As for the bunny, it was in fact a hare, and the mouse was more of an elephant shrew.
5) My team partner, Caro, and I being assisted by the most bubbly and scattered man while chosing wine at the grocery store. Speaking a mile a minute, he considered everything from what we were eating, to our student budget. Needless to say he was incredibly helpful. Only as we gratefully shook his hand, did we find out he was the Country Director for the World Food Programme. Now that's a celebrity.
Lately, these points are all I can write. Life as an intern for Lupwa Lwabumi Trust has me running around Lusaka like a chicken without its head. For my wonderful friends and family who have been asking for more, I promise you'll get what you want... next time. Remember, I'm on AFRICA TIME.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
A snapshot of Zambia
I have neglected to keep you updated these past couple of weeks. I apologize greatly! I’ve also broken my promise to identify the five things I love the most about Zambia on a weekly basis. In honour of my promise, this week I will give you 10 things I love about my life here! Before doing so, here are some contextual tidbits about Zambia. Landlocked at the heart of sub-equatorial Africa, the Republic of Zambia is LARGE and beautiful!! Over one quarter of the population in Zambia live in the two largest urban areas; in the capital Lusaka and the industrial towns of the Copperbelt. The rest of the population is widely spread across rural Zambia, farming for survival.
I found out surprisingly that Zambia is actually one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries. Approximately two thirds of the population live on less than one dollar a day and one in six children die before their fifth birthday. Opposite to these rather depressing facts and harsh realities I encounter most days, here are the happy details of life in Zambia.
Ten things I love about Zambia
1) My new Zambian name. When visiting some community groups in Kabwange, a more rural area of Lusaka, some of the women thought it necessary to name me. I can only assume this was with the intention of fully integrating me into their culture. So please call me Madaliso. (Literal translation = many blessings)
2) How watching muzungus dance throws most Zambians into a side-splitting state of laughter. I am also certain that some of my new friends have secretly dedicated themselves to improving my dancing skills. Apparently, I am THAT embarrassing.
3) Being part of everyone’s family. When making a new acquaintance, you are not a friend but a sister. Or should I say “SISTAAA”? This country is full of love.
4) Coach carts. Sitting in a large metal wagon pulled by two bulls on the worst road in the world is what I consider service! Especially when the bulls have the runs. Oh and let’s not forget the open aired thrashing of the whip covered in feces. You can only imagine that above all I love bull shit on my face. True st
5) My mama. Mama Chicouti, a Mama like no other. A Mama of strength, joy and love. A Mama who threatens to beat me with her nshima spoon if I dare try and help her with anything. Oh how I love my Mama!
6) How comfortable my Zamfam and I have become. To the point where some of them are not afraid to tell me “you are a freak of nature and i love it, and love you.”
7) Walking one hour and a half into the African bush from the roadside with nothing in sight but a few mud huts with the sole purpose of creating new relationships. There is nothing like rural Zambian hospitality.
8) Despite the harsh reality of poverty in Lusaka, most people are more than willing to have a happy conversation and make a new friend. They are even willing to feed you, even if they can’t feed their own families. Zambians are proud and ridiculously welcoming.
9) The [mini]bus system. You think taking the number 2 is bad?! HA. Here there are no rules, no regulations, and absolutely everything is relative. Everything from your fare to your destination is dependant of your conductor.
10) Finally, how Ghana’s World Cup loss silenced the entire region. (My supervisor attended a traditional wedding last Friday night and upon hearing the bad news the 400 wedding guests went from dancing and singing to solemnly staring at the floor. Some may have even shed tears.) Now that is passion.
*I promise to post more often from now on!*
I found out surprisingly that Zambia is actually one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries. Approximately two thirds of the population live on less than one dollar a day and one in six children die before their fifth birthday. Opposite to these rather depressing facts and harsh realities I encounter most days, here are the happy details of life in Zambia.
Ten things I love about Zambia
1) My new Zambian name. When visiting some community groups in Kabwange, a more rural area of Lusaka, some of the women thought it necessary to name me. I can only assume this was with the intention of fully integrating me into their culture. So please call me Madaliso. (Literal translation = many blessings)
2) How watching muzungus dance throws most Zambians into a side-splitting state of laughter. I am also certain that some of my new friends have secretly dedicated themselves to improving my dancing skills. Apparently, I am THAT embarrassing.
3) Being part of everyone’s family. When making a new acquaintance, you are not a friend but a sister. Or should I say “SISTAAA”? This country is full of love.
4) Coach carts. Sitting in a large metal wagon pulled by two bulls on the worst road in the world is what I consider service! Especially when the bulls have the runs. Oh and let’s not forget the open aired thrashing of the whip covered in feces. You can only imagine that above all I love bull shit on my face. True st
5) My mama. Mama Chicouti, a Mama like no other. A Mama of strength, joy and love. A Mama who threatens to beat me with her nshima spoon if I dare try and help her with anything. Oh how I love my Mama!
6) How comfortable my Zamfam and I have become. To the point where some of them are not afraid to tell me “you are a freak of nature and i love it, and love you.”
7) Walking one hour and a half into the African bush from the roadside with nothing in sight but a few mud huts with the sole purpose of creating new relationships. There is nothing like rural Zambian hospitality.
8) Despite the harsh reality of poverty in Lusaka, most people are more than willing to have a happy conversation and make a new friend. They are even willing to feed you, even if they can’t feed their own families. Zambians are proud and ridiculously welcoming.
9) The [mini]bus system. You think taking the number 2 is bad?! HA. Here there are no rules, no regulations, and absolutely everything is relative. Everything from your fare to your destination is dependant of your conductor.
10) Finally, how Ghana’s World Cup loss silenced the entire region. (My supervisor attended a traditional wedding last Friday night and upon hearing the bad news the 400 wedding guests went from dancing and singing to solemnly staring at the floor. Some may have even shed tears.) Now that is passion.
*I promise to post more often from now on!*
Saturday, June 19, 2010
In the field
It’s Friday morning and already I’ve been in Zambia for two weeks. This morning the entire household has bundled up due to the extremely chilly morning. Apparently from now on until about mid-July, we will feel the cold winter in this part of Africa. You’d think that by being Canadian, this chilly winter wouldn’t phase me, but it really does get cold here. Kind of like a cold October day in Ottawa.
Today is homework day. Now that we’ve been placed with our respective partners, we are responsible for reading up on their organization. Thus, my entire day will consist of coffee, reading, coffee, reading some more, perhaps some delicious Roiboos tea, and finally a presentation on Lupwa to my colleagues and supervisor. All of this is to make sure we are well prepared for our first meeting with Lupwa on Monday afternoon. In our group of ten, four of us have been placed with Lupwa.
On Monday my Lupwa team and I are suppose to meet with the Lupwa community facilitators. I’m a little nervous because we have to present what we think we can offer the NGO. However, all I’ve got for them are questions. A million questions! They’ve got a really interesting approach and methodology on family and community preservation and restoration, but I feel as though I’ll be in the dark until I experience their work directly in the field.
Luckily this week my entire team and I were able to spend a morning in the field with the Bwafwano caregivers. It’s not very similar to what I will be doing with Lupwa, but an insight into the daily life of a Zambian in Chizanga was crucial to our understanding of what we can and cannot do in our placement. So we began our home visits last Tuesday. On that day, I finally began to somewhat understand how the community lives. And I don’t say ‘somewhat’ lightly, there is no way I’ll ever be able to fully understand life here. Life with HIV/AIDS, life in extreme poverty, a life I will unlikely fully experience.
We split up and shadowed a different caregiver on their visits. Like I mentioned before, the Home-Base Care caregivers at Bwafwano only visit extremely sick patients. On a visit, each caregiver is responsible for attending to the patient, then perhaps the family and the home. On Tuesday however, I wasn’t brought in to a real home visit because their home visits are conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Our caregiver however, did bring me to see one of her regular patients.
(Sidenote: This past Monday we were taught how to conduct interviews with patients. To attend to the needs of the community, Bwafano needs to collect information on their patients. So our first day into the field was to conduct interviews. )
Upon arrival we were immediately introduced to the patient’s wife then the patient himself. He lay on a tarpe in front of his home, obviously incredibly sick. Right away, I knew he wasn’t really in the mood to be interviewed. Out of politeness though, he sat up once I sat down with him, perhaps also surprised I chose the tarpe and not the chair. One of our main responsibilities is to immediately identify ourselves and clarify our intentions. It is really common for people here to associate white foreigners to money, so first and foremost we must explain we are simply students here to learn about their life, but only if they are willing to teach us. I found my interview rather difficult for many reasons. First our caregiver wasn’t very fluent in English, so a lot was lost in translation. Second, the patient seemed reluctant to speak of his life, I assume due to his illness. He answered what he could and what he understood. One particular topic shocked, when he stated he had no idea when his kids were born or around what age they could be.
His wife, however, was rather engaged in our conversation. She seemed rather eager to show us the business she can run when she is not taking care of her husband. This woman is incredible, she showed me these black clay pots she made and sold herself. I love them! If I could I would bring some home, but can you imagine me backpacking in august with a couple of large black clay pots?!
Anyway, while I may not have succeeded in interviewing the patient, the meet was incredibly meaningful to me. It was awkward, and uncomfortable, but this woman obviously had a warm heart and seemed like she simply wanted to talk.
I’m sure in the next few weeks I will have many more stories from the field to share. Can’t wait!
Today is homework day. Now that we’ve been placed with our respective partners, we are responsible for reading up on their organization. Thus, my entire day will consist of coffee, reading, coffee, reading some more, perhaps some delicious Roiboos tea, and finally a presentation on Lupwa to my colleagues and supervisor. All of this is to make sure we are well prepared for our first meeting with Lupwa on Monday afternoon. In our group of ten, four of us have been placed with Lupwa.
On Monday my Lupwa team and I are suppose to meet with the Lupwa community facilitators. I’m a little nervous because we have to present what we think we can offer the NGO. However, all I’ve got for them are questions. A million questions! They’ve got a really interesting approach and methodology on family and community preservation and restoration, but I feel as though I’ll be in the dark until I experience their work directly in the field.
Luckily this week my entire team and I were able to spend a morning in the field with the Bwafwano caregivers. It’s not very similar to what I will be doing with Lupwa, but an insight into the daily life of a Zambian in Chizanga was crucial to our understanding of what we can and cannot do in our placement. So we began our home visits last Tuesday. On that day, I finally began to somewhat understand how the community lives. And I don’t say ‘somewhat’ lightly, there is no way I’ll ever be able to fully understand life here. Life with HIV/AIDS, life in extreme poverty, a life I will unlikely fully experience.
We split up and shadowed a different caregiver on their visits. Like I mentioned before, the Home-Base Care caregivers at Bwafwano only visit extremely sick patients. On a visit, each caregiver is responsible for attending to the patient, then perhaps the family and the home. On Tuesday however, I wasn’t brought in to a real home visit because their home visits are conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Our caregiver however, did bring me to see one of her regular patients.
(Sidenote: This past Monday we were taught how to conduct interviews with patients. To attend to the needs of the community, Bwafano needs to collect information on their patients. So our first day into the field was to conduct interviews. )
Upon arrival we were immediately introduced to the patient’s wife then the patient himself. He lay on a tarpe in front of his home, obviously incredibly sick. Right away, I knew he wasn’t really in the mood to be interviewed. Out of politeness though, he sat up once I sat down with him, perhaps also surprised I chose the tarpe and not the chair. One of our main responsibilities is to immediately identify ourselves and clarify our intentions. It is really common for people here to associate white foreigners to money, so first and foremost we must explain we are simply students here to learn about their life, but only if they are willing to teach us. I found my interview rather difficult for many reasons. First our caregiver wasn’t very fluent in English, so a lot was lost in translation. Second, the patient seemed reluctant to speak of his life, I assume due to his illness. He answered what he could and what he understood. One particular topic shocked, when he stated he had no idea when his kids were born or around what age they could be.
His wife, however, was rather engaged in our conversation. She seemed rather eager to show us the business she can run when she is not taking care of her husband. This woman is incredible, she showed me these black clay pots she made and sold herself. I love them! If I could I would bring some home, but can you imagine me backpacking in august with a couple of large black clay pots?!
Anyway, while I may not have succeeded in interviewing the patient, the meet was incredibly meaningful to me. It was awkward, and uncomfortable, but this woman obviously had a warm heart and seemed like she simply wanted to talk.
I’m sure in the next few weeks I will have many more stories from the field to share. Can’t wait!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Things I love about Zambia!
Five things I love about Zambia (or about being in Zambia!)
Since I’ve always got so much to say, I’ve decided to come up with five things I love about being in Zambia to post on my blog on a weekly basis! Enjoy
Bear in mind that while I may claim to love everything below, some can be more of a love-hate relationship. Only SOME.
1) Our neighbourhood rooster that loves to cock-a-doodle-doo every morning bright and early (yes, even the weekends!)
2) The hundreds of children that cheer MUZUNGU every time I walk by. Having your own cheer team really makes me feel like a celebrity.
3) The fact that I am still as clumsy and spacey here as in Canada. This morning I actually managed to wipe out so bad during my early morning jog that I actually scraped off my entire right shin.
4) The somewhat warm, but mostly freezing cold showers I get to take every morning.
5) The fresh tomatoes and sweet potatoes I get to eat everyday from Mama’s garden.
Much more to come later!
Since I’ve always got so much to say, I’ve decided to come up with five things I love about being in Zambia to post on my blog on a weekly basis! Enjoy
Bear in mind that while I may claim to love everything below, some can be more of a love-hate relationship. Only SOME.
1) Our neighbourhood rooster that loves to cock-a-doodle-doo every morning bright and early (yes, even the weekends!)
2) The hundreds of children that cheer MUZUNGU every time I walk by. Having your own cheer team really makes me feel like a celebrity.
3) The fact that I am still as clumsy and spacey here as in Canada. This morning I actually managed to wipe out so bad during my early morning jog that I actually scraped off my entire right shin.
4) The somewhat warm, but mostly freezing cold showers I get to take every morning.
5) The fresh tomatoes and sweet potatoes I get to eat everyday from Mama’s garden.
Much more to come later!
Placement Tidbits
Like I mentioned last time, last Friday morning was mostly comprised of presentations from the different departments at Bwafwano. Just to give you an idea of what our team will be dealing with this summer, I’ll quickly run through the various programs running at Bwafwano.
Back in 1996, Bwafwano was created by a few Zambian nurses along with its first program HBC (home base care). HIV/AIDS patients initial treatments were done at hospitals, however long-term care wasn’t really being addressed by the Ministry of Health. So along came these beautiful nurses who realized the importance of starting home visits to treat sick patients. Patients were and are still today treated mostly for HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and now increasingly diabetes. In Chizanga specifically, malaria seems to be the worst problem. While malaria is prominent, HIV/AIDS is still a looming darkness over Zambia, with nearly 50% of its population infected.
So in order to treat these problems, the home-base care program was created. Nurses began visiting sick community members in their homes to treat them or simply accommodate them. Their jobs grew from simply treating them to cleaning their homes to helping bathe the children, among other chores. Soon Bwafwano realized there were many other problems in the community. Since then they have opened a community clinic, a community school, and are running a sexual health and reproduction education program (SHREP), and a lab for people to come and get tested for HIV, a Income Generated Activities program (IGA), and an Orphan and Vulnerable Children program (OVC). It’s really incredible to see how accurately these dedicated community members were able to identify the key issues in their community and work their best to attend to them. Most of these programs are run by one person only, leaving Bwafano understaffed and overworked.
While half the group will be placed with Bwafano, the other half will be placed with Lupwa. Lupwa is a new partner this year and luckily I get to work with them this summer! Lupwa’s main goals are to connect the child to the family and community. In Zambia, there are many children who are abandoned either because their parents have died or because their parents just don’t want them. Thus, many of these kids end up on the street. Lupwa works with the police and other organizations that deal strictly with street kids to help re-integrate the abandoned child into his/her family or community. Instead of investing directly into the child, Lupwa attempts to dissect the root causes of their abandonment and life on the street. They then attempt to link the child back home, if it doesn’t work they find alternatives. The process is rather intricate and I will talk about it more when I start to really work with them. What’s interesting though is that Lupwa is the only organization in Zambia that does this work. It’s still unclear what I will be doing, but a big part of my placement will be to learn how their organization runs. To do so, I will be working quite a bit in the field. I am excited!!
So those are our partners!! I hope you are as excited as I am! I am really eager to learn, so I’ll keep you posted.
Back in 1996, Bwafwano was created by a few Zambian nurses along with its first program HBC (home base care). HIV/AIDS patients initial treatments were done at hospitals, however long-term care wasn’t really being addressed by the Ministry of Health. So along came these beautiful nurses who realized the importance of starting home visits to treat sick patients. Patients were and are still today treated mostly for HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and now increasingly diabetes. In Chizanga specifically, malaria seems to be the worst problem. While malaria is prominent, HIV/AIDS is still a looming darkness over Zambia, with nearly 50% of its population infected.
So in order to treat these problems, the home-base care program was created. Nurses began visiting sick community members in their homes to treat them or simply accommodate them. Their jobs grew from simply treating them to cleaning their homes to helping bathe the children, among other chores. Soon Bwafwano realized there were many other problems in the community. Since then they have opened a community clinic, a community school, and are running a sexual health and reproduction education program (SHREP), and a lab for people to come and get tested for HIV, a Income Generated Activities program (IGA), and an Orphan and Vulnerable Children program (OVC). It’s really incredible to see how accurately these dedicated community members were able to identify the key issues in their community and work their best to attend to them. Most of these programs are run by one person only, leaving Bwafano understaffed and overworked.
While half the group will be placed with Bwafano, the other half will be placed with Lupwa. Lupwa is a new partner this year and luckily I get to work with them this summer! Lupwa’s main goals are to connect the child to the family and community. In Zambia, there are many children who are abandoned either because their parents have died or because their parents just don’t want them. Thus, many of these kids end up on the street. Lupwa works with the police and other organizations that deal strictly with street kids to help re-integrate the abandoned child into his/her family or community. Instead of investing directly into the child, Lupwa attempts to dissect the root causes of their abandonment and life on the street. They then attempt to link the child back home, if it doesn’t work they find alternatives. The process is rather intricate and I will talk about it more when I start to really work with them. What’s interesting though is that Lupwa is the only organization in Zambia that does this work. It’s still unclear what I will be doing, but a big part of my placement will be to learn how their organization runs. To do so, I will be working quite a bit in the field. I am excited!!
So those are our partners!! I hope you are as excited as I am! I am really eager to learn, so I’ll keep you posted.
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