Finally Time to Blog

Our week at the provincial house has been relaxing and much needed. Our language classes take place in the morning for a few hours and then we either have a cultural discussion in the afternoon or time to study, shop, read, or blog! Last night the six of us brand new Northwestern PCTs made an impromptu dinner of fried soya pieces, spaghetti sauce and macaroni and it was fabulous. Our dinner plans were shifted a bit because the grocery store had closed for a holiday, National Youth Day, and we had to think of what to make with the few groceries we had left over from our site visit. Tonight I’m going to try my hand at making chocolate chip cookies and soya fajitas. After weeks of eating unfamiliar food, communally cooking American food is a blast. We’ll see how I do in my hut when I’m preparing for just myself.

I decided to write today a bit more about my job, my community, and my new home.
I had the opportunity to talk with the head teacher at the school where I’ll be based. The basic school is a government school for 1st through 8th grade and I’m very impressed with the head teacher’s level of personal ambition for his own education and his drive for finding resources for his kids. There are 1300 students who are registered and only six school rooms to house them all. The school lacks space, teachers, and funding in general. My community has suffered greatly from the loss of lives to AIDS and most families do not have the 12,000 kw/term for each of their children to attend school consistently.

Zambian families are extremely tight and count the children of their siblings as their own. This causes those of us who have been trained to accept the nuclear family as norm no end of confusion when we see strange children in our yard that call themselves a “sister”/”brother” to the children we live with and see every day. It’s nearly impossible to decipher the family relationships in American terms of a two parent family with a series of children. Because of this, most families simply adopt the orphans of other families members who have passed on from either HIV related illnesses or other diseases as part of their own family unit, making some families very large. Since most villagers do not actually have a salary, but live off their land and get cash only once a year during harvest, finding funding is extraordinarily difficult.

In this challenging environment, my primary job will be to help with capacity building in getting a resource center established at my school that can aid in zonal and district level administration. Without getting into acronyms and job specifics, I will be working to assist with teacher trainings, aid in monitoring schools within my district’s jurisdiction, facilitating HIV/AIDS awareness classes, discussing options for generating income to help support teacher training (etc.), help track the community schools in our area that use IRI for education, and really be the go-to person for my school. From all the training we’ve received from PC, my general understanding of my position is to listen to my community, figure out what I can assist with, and then get in on grassroots development. I’m terrified and thrilled about the challenge.

I’m attempting to get some photos uploaded, but the network keeps crashing here in this internet café, so I may be successful in only getting one or two up. I will try to include a photo of my new home.

I will be living right on the compound of a carpenter, his wife, and four beautiful children. Because it’s rainy season, much of my house is incomplete, but I was able to see the framework of my teeny tiny hut and make some suggestions. I have just asked to put in some windows so if a spitting cobra comes to visit my house, I’ll be able to see it immediately from the door. The carpenter I’m living next to is busy building a bed frame, table and chair, bookshelves, and a clothes shelf so I'll be at home when I arrive in April. I’m thinking of how to Martha Stewart my home in a way that makes it most comfortable for the next two years without very many resources.

Many of you have inquired about sending American things my way. I have heard through the grapevine that I’ll be getting a few packages in “anytime from now,” (one of my favorite Zambian sayings, and I thank you, thank you, thank you in advance. It can feel very isolating to be away from technology, news, and familiar people, so getting mail and packages from home feels like a wonderful holiday!

Here’s my wish list:

Granola bars
Snack foods
Add water foods: Easy Mac, Soups, Etc.
American shampoo/conditioner
Body spray
Batteries (AAA or AA)
CDs or DVDs (I have a portable CD player and access to a DVD at the provincial house.)
Disinfectant wipes/Anti-bacterial gel
Photos!!!!!! (Preferably laminated or in a cover so they don’t get destroyed by dust or water.)
Chocolate
Hard Candy
Spices (Tony’s spice makes even nshima taste good)
Olive Oil
Lotion
Velveeta Cheese

I’m off again to do some studying and will report again as soon as I can. Just two more weeks until I swear in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer! Hoorah!

Stacey J.