Keeping Busy

So I just got back early this week from helping Christi host first site visit with the new RAP volunteers that just landed in Zambia. We hosted 4 guys to will be heading to Northern or Luapula provinces when they complete training. It was a fun-filled 3 days. I think they were a bit overwhelmed the first night. Considering they were only in country for two days before heading to the village they did quite well in my opinion. It was fun sharing pc horror stories and my medical stories. I had to scare them just a bit ;) We visited two of Christi’s best farmers, Mr. Sakala and Mr. Zimba. Here is a photo of their farms and ponds. We ate some fabulous Zambian food, which the boys liked quite a bit. They did better than me on my first site visit…I hardly ate due to anxiety and being overwhelmed. To the right is the long road to Christi's village.

The last night was the best. Jeff and Rich “Fuzzy” came out with the landcruiser and we all went to watch “N’yau” dancing. This is the Chewa tribes traditional dance. Its quite different from my tribe, the Ngoni’s,but very cool to watch. They even came back to Christi’s house and gave us a VIP show which is unheard of. I think there’s never been that many muzungu’s in chiwoko ever and they wanted to celebrate. Then we continued the dancing at Christi’s house where we all enjoyed great music and tasty beverages. It was a successful evening, however I felt sorry for Dale when he woke up covered in ants. Oh well, its Peace Corps.

Right before “first site” visit I held a fish farming training at Madzimoyo (about 5km) from my village. I had 25 people attend, 19 men and 6 women. It was an all day event where I taught pond construction in the morning and pond management in the afternoon. I was very pleased with the training and happy to see that everyone seems very eager to start fish farming. I did the training in collaboration with another NGO and the entire training was done in Nyanja. I’m sure I sounded funny, but I think the farmers appreciated me using the local language. The construction of several ponds have begun and some of them are almost finished. I’m very excited about this.

I’ve also started working with Madzimoyo High School with fish farming and some gender workshops. Christi and I will be organizing a Boy’s Empowerment and Girl’s Empowerment weekend at Madzimoyo at the end of September and beginning of October. The workshops will be 4 days long and the goal is to empower these kids and teach them the importance of their education and allowing them to see that they can achieve their goals in life. I’m very excited about these two workshops and I’ve found that I’m extremely interested in this area of work. Gender issues are such a problem here and by starting with the youth we hope to sensitize them and maybe they will grow up with the belief that men and women should be treated equally. That’s a long way off for Zambia, but hopefully one day things will change.

In February, Christi and I will be organizing “Youth Career Week” which is exciting and involves all the volunteers in our province bringing two kids to Chipata for one week learning about career options and HIV/AIDs related awareness. Then in May we hope to host the first “Women in Business” weekend where women from our villages come together and share their business stories and learn more business skills.

I’m also teaching grade 11 english and math once a week and love being around the kids. They have very unique outlooks on the world and I love sharing stories and ideas with them. Its truly rewarding. Christi and I have also started a foundation called the Browen Foundation. The project deals with deforestation and recycling paper to preserve Zambia. We currently have a group of board members and are currently looking for a facility where we can set up shop. Its an exciting and unexpected project and I think it has the potential to have quite an impact. More details to come once things start happening.

So as you can see I’ve been super busy. The one year mark hits and everything just falls into place. Its amazing really, but I’m really happy here and finally feel like I’m doing something. I’ve met some amazing Zambians that I really enjoy working with and I’ve made some really good friends in the village. This experience is turning out to be more than I hoped for.

I’m in town right now writing a proposal for a grant to send two of my farmers to Lusaka for some agriculture training in September and October and I’m also filling out my PC quarterly report for the RAP project. All of our reports are sent to Washington to keep track of the programs successes. Next week I’m heading to Cape McClear (on Lake Malawi) for some R&R. I’ll be on the beach next week soaking up some rays and snorkeling around the islands down there. Its funny, because I have no money, but somehow I’ll be able to do this trip on less than $200. I love Africa ;)

I hope everyone has a very Happy 4th of July!!!!

“The first year is always the hardest.”

People tend to say this about a lot of life changing commitments like college, marriage and even Peace Corps. And I’d have to say they’re probably right.

Time continues to amaze me. It keeps going by faster and faster. This past year has been filled with many ups and downs, twists and turns. To get a complete picture its best to start at the beginning, one year ago.

Its seems like yesterday that I was saying good-bye to all my friends and family getting ready to travel clear across the world in hope that I could make a difference and change and change my life for the better. I had no idea what to expect. I had one of those gut feelings that even though my rational mind said I was crazy upon boarding that plane, I was making the right decision. They always say hind-sight is 20/20 and I’m thankful everyday for listening to my gut and to have the courage to come to Africa even though many people didn’t think I could do it.

I guess I was a bit surprised by some of the people that thought I couldn’t do this. Upon further contemplation of this, I realize those people really don’t know me. Which is okay. I can see how people would think that a city-dwelling advertising chick like me might have a rough time in rural Africa. In actuality those people have only gotten a glimpse of one part of me. It works both ways though, because some people here have a hard time seeing me in my life back in Chicago. I’m still the same woman, my different strengths/weaknesses come out in different situations. Many people saw this as a way for me to runaway from my problems. But I have to laugh at this, because the problems I face here are much harder and run deeper with the conditions I live under, with people dying of HIV everyday and trying to bring development here when some people don’t want to change. So as you see, I wasn’t running away from anything/anyone. I would have just moved to the west coast ;) As my ex-boyfriend always told me, I have a lot of wonderlust and I really just want to see and experience the world. This past year has only enhanced that feeling in me.

Looking back a year ago before I left…
- I loved living in Chicago
- Wasn’t satisfied with my job
- Didn’t feel like a was making a difference
- Felt like something was missing from my life
- I wasn’t well informed about 3rd world issues such as poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDs etc.
- Took the American way of living for granted
- Never thought for two seconds about how great it is to have electricity, hot running water, a blowdryer, chocolate brownies, ice cream, turkey club sandwiches….you get my point
- Loved playing volleyball
- Could not speak another language
- Learned self-defense
- Hated public speaking
- Extrovert/Introvert
- Loved to shop – never underestimate the power of retain therapy
- Was a clean freak
- Lived paycheck to paycheck
- Felt like I was just going through the motions


One year later this is what I feel like now…

- Can’t imagine being anywhere else at this point
- Find great joy in working/living/teaching here….especially with the youth
- Still question whether I’m making a difference, but I know I’ve personally affected the lives of a few people here
- My job has “no boundaries.” I love making my own schedule.
- Finally realized that I do want to marry someday and have children, I especially want to adopt
- I’ve been tested here emotionally and physically and I’ve surprised myself at how strong I am sometimes. I’ve been through a lot here concerning my safety, health and relationships…and I’m still here. There’s no challenge I won’t take on now.
- I’m intimately informed about poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDs. I live around it everyday. Unfortunately I have to detach myself when faced with some of these issues. It’s for my own survival here. Some things are really hard to face and watch.
- I’ve realized how fortunate I am. I definitely took my life in Chicago for granted sometimes. I’ll admit I miss some of those things. Hopefully I won’t take them for granted anymore. I miss the comfort of my bed, the smell of fabric softner on my sheets, the cleanliness of restaurants, all the “options” we have as Americans and I miss going to the coffee shop and bookstores whenever I want. One things for sure, I never thought that I would fantasize about food so much. Its become an obsession. I dream about it and think about it a lot especially in the village.
- I can finally say that I speak another language…and its been one of the harder things for me. Communication is so important. I feel like I sound like a Dr. Seuss book all the time…see spot run. However as time goes on, its getting better.
- I love meeting new people. Hitch-hiking has really given me the confidence in myself and I usually meet really great/interesting people. Meeting strangers and public speaking are daily activities for me here.
- My celebrity status is both flattering and flat out annoying. Sometimes I try so hard to fit in and be a member of my community, but they will always see me as the white girl who’s educated and has a lot of money L
- Music has become so important to me now. I couldn’t do this without my music.
- I miss playing volleyball but love to watch the girls play net ball
- More extroverted
- I’m still organized and try to keep as clean a mud hut as possible ;)
- Feel refreshed after a nice bucket bath
- Still have no money
- I’ve become more accepting of others. I love my family here as if they were my own. I take pride in my friendships, they mean the world to me.
- I’m more compassionate. I’ve learned to be less critical. My tolerance level has more than doubled along with my patience.
- Simplifying my life was the best thing I could have ever done
- Reading has become a sort of job. I love it and have been so fortunate to have gotten to read some really great books here.
- I hate getting sick here. Its horrible. Getting sick has been some of my lowest moments in my service.
- Having my kids tell me they love me every night before I go to bed has been some of my best moments in PC. They say it in English too!
- Learning about a different culture has been so fascinating. Understanding it has been a great challenge. Gender/Racial issues go back hundreds of years here.
- Seeing the importance of family and made to feel like I belong here with them has been so amazing. More than I ever expected.
- Getting fish farming started here has been like pulling teeth. However I’m not quitting and its going to happen.
- Being alone is good for the soul. Loneliness is a state of mind. I’ve come to cherish my alone time.
- I’m more in touch with who I am and where I’m going in this life. I’m comfortable being me here.
- I’m more willing to step outside of my comfort zones.
- I’ve learned to face my inner demons.
- I try not to worry about the small stuff anymore
- I finally feel like I’m truly living.
- I’ve learned that race, gender, sexuality and religious beliefs make us all unique, however at the end of the day we are all human beings trying to co-exist in this world. We aren’t all that different, we all have feelings, wanting to love and be loved.
- And I’m happy here…most days ;)
- This list could continue on and on…

So in my mind I’ve come a long way. However I couldn’t be here right now without the support of my family and friends at home. Thanks for listening when I need you.

Don’t get me wrong, this past years been a rollercoaster. There’s been a few moments when I’ve just wanted to come home. However I force myself to give it 48hrs and so far its worked out.

My kids here keep me going. They are the most precious kids I’ve known, second of course to my real nephews Sajan and Shrey. They make me smile when I’m mad and laugh when I’m sad.

Overall Peace Corps is quite different than I imagined, yet a lot like I thought it would be. Doesn’t make sense I know, but I guess you just have to be here. I think this first year will probably have been the most challenging and who knows what next year will bring. The physical challenges have been the easiest to overcome. It’s the emotional challenges that I have to continue to battle be it work related, PC related, friendship related, health related etc. I hope things continue to work out here, because I think its going to be really hard to leave this place.

So where do I see myself going after this? I still have plenty of time to figure it out and it keeps changing, but I like living among different cultures. So next stop, Asia! I want to teach English in China or South Korea. Eventually I’ll find myself on the west coast preferable in Portland, OR.

One final thought. I’ve realized over the years that if you have a dream, follow it, don’t give up no matter what, and it will happen. You can make it happen. I did. Since I was nineteen years old I dreamt of joining the Peace Corps and coming to Africa. One decade later, I’m here.

Quality Father/Daughter Time

So as you’ve already seen, my father came to Zambia on Saturday May 12th. He was my first visitor from the states and I was so excited to see him. I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what to expect, and I’ve never spent that much time with my father before.

He arrived at the airport in good shape. We hugged while tears filled both of our eyes. It’s a strange thing really…seeing someone you love for the first time in almost a year. It was a good feeling. I was a bit upset that his bags didn’t arrive, but its Africa and hey, what are you going to do? Dad was a great sport though, considering he only packed one set of clothes in his carry-on. We finally got the bags five days later, luckily the only thing missing was a soccer ball.

The first night we spent in Lusaka. Our accommodations were less than ideal. No running water, 50,000 kwacha deposit on towels we couldn’t use and dad got a bad case of the bed bugs…literally. Luckily they never itched. I decided to get dad’s feet wet the first day by going to the downtown market. Boy was that a treat. I was a bit scared as we were being brought into the back areas of the market. The only reason we were there was to buy jersey’s for the girl’s netball team in my village. My grandma, Marietta was kind enough to sponsor these girls, so we needed to pick them up. I think that was a bit of an eye opener for my dad. We had a nice dinner later with Christi and Matt at La Gondola.

The next morning we headed to Livingstone on a six hour bus ride that went quite smoothly. We stayed at the Zambezi Waterfront in the “adventure village.” Meaning that we spent two nights in a permanent walk-in tent. It was not bad. It got really cold the first night, but it was nice (in my standards at least). We headed for the booze cruise right away and spent a nice evening floating on the beautiful Zambezi gazing at elephants and giraffes on the side banks. The Jack and cokes were free flowing and we enjoyed great conversations with some PC volunteers from Namibia. The sunset was breath-taking. The intenseness of the colors always blow me away. The next day we decided to get up early and have breakfast on the waterfront while monkeys were swinging from the nearby trees. After some deliberation we decided that we would go on a 15min. helicopter ride above the falls. One of the better decisions that we made, in my opinion. It was amazing. What a way to view the falls. We literally saw the falls from every angle. In the air, from afar, right up next to them (getting drenched) and on top of them. It was great. Many great laughs since we were beyond soaked. The only hiccup here was all the haggling we received from the vendors trying to sell us souvenirs.

Then it was back to Lusaka for a day visiting Peace Corps headquarters where dad got to meet my boss and other people that I work with. I was dreading the 8 hr bus ride to Chipata because with dad being 6ft. 5inches he didn’t fit very well into the small seats on the bus. However, Jimmy Jack, a driver with PC told me he was bringing someone up to Chipata and that we could catch a ride. That was so wonderful. For the first 3 hrs we rode in a nice SUV and then was picked up by the PC landcruiser at the Luangwa bridge on the border of Zambia and Mozambique. It was a long trip and I think dad was ready to get out of the cramped cruiser, so around 19:30 we arrived at the PC house in Chipata. After getting dad a room at a local guest house I started going through all the luggage to see what everyone had sent. It was like Christmas. My mom and sister sent me a ton of things and people also donated things for my village and area schools. I loved it.

The next morning we headed to Kapatamoyo (my old village). Dad really wanted to see where I started my service and meet the people I still work with there. We were greeted with open arms. I do miss some of those people, but I’m happy I made the decision that I did. My family there is great and we ate lunch with them. I was really proud of my dad, eating nshima right away. He describes it as hard mashed potatoes, but I’d disagree. He seemed to like it very much and I know my family appreciated him for trying the local food. We met several of my friends and farmers. We even visited one of my fish ponds that’s in the process of being dug. I’m really excited. It’s the first fish pond in Eastern province to be dug with a PC volunteer. Hopefully it will be done in the next couple of weeks. Its really hard work, but I have faith in my farmers. It was a whirlwind day and probably a bit overwhelming for dad.

Friday morning dad met me at the PC house in Chipata where our Bi-annual Provincial meeting was taking place. Luckily he got to meet all the volunteers in Eastern province….there’s about 30 of us. Everyone was so nice to him and talking with him…made me feel really great. Dad was cracking his usual jokes and everyone loved him. It made me feel great that all my friends here were so nice and welcoming. The meeting lasted 4hrs but I think he enjoyed every minute. I was elected onto the GADZ committee. GADZ stands for “Gender and Development in Zambia.” It’s a committee I’ve wanted to be on for a long time because I feel very strongly about the gender issues people face here. Being on this committee means that I’ll be responsible for reporting all the GADZ activities volunteers do here and I’ll be responsible for holding a “Youth Career Week” and a boys/girls empowerment weekend workshop, along with having meetings in Lusaka. I’m extremely excited about this new opportunity. So in the afternoon we met up with my sister and mother from my current village and went shopping for food and our party over the weekend. It was a bit overwhelming with all our stuff. However, once we arrived in Fisheni, everyone was so excited to meet my dad. I think he was a bit surprised by how nice and warm they were towards us.

We woke up early on Saturday morning because I had arranged for the Ngoma dancers to come and perform for us at 10am. The Ngoma dancers are the Ngoni warrior dancers (my tribe). Since we operate on Zam time here, it started three and a half hours late. Typical. I wasn’t very happy though. In the end, the dancing and singing were great and we enjoyed every minute of it. We presented the girls net ball team with their new ball and jerseys….they were ecstatic, screaming, singing and jumping around. It was a huge deal for them and I’m truly thankful that my grandmother donated these. It meant a lot to me. I love these girls and they deserved it. I told them they could have them on one condition, that I get to play on the team ;) The whole day was captured on video tape and dad even tried some of the dances. That was quite a site. Good times!

Sunday morning my Ambuya made us porridge and we went and saw Chief Madzimawe. I hadn’t met him before and it was quite an honor for my dad to get to meet him. Outsiders are usually never invited to meet a Chief at his home. We had some transport issues but it all worked out. Then we headed back to Fisheni and I decided to show him around the rest of the village. We got back to my house later in the day and my sister had gotten a bag of charcoal for me while we were out. Usually she just puts it in my house, but she left it outside for some reason. Good thing. I happened to turn around looking towards my house as flames were shooting out of the bag. I ran over there and dumped the charcoal on the ground. The flames were within 6 inches of my grass roof. My whole house was within seconds of going up in flames. Wow, I was lucky. Only my plant was burned. So that was interesting. I was almost on a flight home with my dad. Then later in the afternoon, my family started cooking our big dinner. As celebration for my dad being here and appreciation for my family being so great, I decided to invite everyone over to my house for a huge dinner. There was 18 adults and about 12 children. We had a great time, eating all the traditional Zambian food. I had a porch made on my house and it fit all of us perfectly. I’d have to say it was one of my happier moments in Zambia, watching my father interact with my family here. It was a touching evening. I almost broke down thanking everyone for being here, including my father and how thankful I am for everyone and everything that they do for me. I was really proud of my father for adapting so well to the village and never complaining once. He even drew water from my bore hole by himself and helped sweep my mud porch, all while my Ambuya kept yelling, “Gender, gender.” Men don’t do the sweeping here.

Monday morning we made a quick stop at Madzimoyo High school to drop off some notepads, pencils, and erasers that were donated from the states. The Headmaster, Mr. Jere showed us around. Madzimoyo is a boarding school, and some of the dorms are so awful. Its hard to describe, but no one should be living under those conditions. I’m going to get more information and see if I can find funding to help build new dorm rooms for the boys and girls. After that we headed back to town to repack and head to Mfuwe to South Luangwa National Park. Its only 80km from Chipata but the ride is on some of the worst roads in the world…and I’m not joking. We decided to hire a cab because of the horror stories I heard with people taking minibuses. It was one long, bumpy, three hour ride.

Upon arriving at Flatdogs Camp in South Luangwa we were once again back in luxury. Flatdogs is a beautiful place. We had an entire Chalet to ourselves. The camp is right on the river where there are hundreds of hippos just hanging out. We were lucky enough to watch a “parade” of elephants cross the river to head for the villages at 16 to feed. It was quite peaceful. However I’ve never stayed at a place where you need an escort to go from the main restaurant/bar to your room at night. Its because the animals roam free and they don’t want anyone to get eaten….no joke. When we were there, a lion, some leopards and many hippos were roaming the grounds of our camp. It was great. We ended up going on a morning drive, a night drive and a walking safari. Each activity was four hours long. We saw everything. Each drive had its unique qualities, but we saw the most animals on our morning drive at 6am. We were parked about 8 ft from two male lions just hanging out and staring at us. It was incredible. Our walking safari which was so unique because you are walking amongst the animals included our scout, Jackson and our guide, River, with a 457 caliber rifle (I think I have that right). Apparently it’s the highest caliber of rifle. Each bullet was about 4inches long. I’d never seen bullets like that before. Unfortunately Jackson said he’s had to kill many animals over the years for coming after the group. Luckily he didn’t need to use it on our walk. It was so crazy though because around every turn you really needed to keep your eyes peeled, especially for buffalo, as they are the most dangerous and aggressive towards people walking in the bush. We had a fabulous time going on the game drives, drinking cocktails in the afternoon and watching the sun set over the Luangwa river each night. Many good conversations and bonding time. However, dad’s nickname is now batman, because each night a bat was in our room and he ended up killing 3 of them. We never did figure out how they were getting in.

So after three fun-filled days in South Luangwa we took the grueling cab ride back to Chipata where we packed everything up and attempted to hitch to Christi’s village in Chiwoko (about 60km from Chipata). The spot where we hitch is close to a taxi station, so instead of the taxi’s staying up on the hill, they all came down to us. Apparently they saw dollar signs with dad standing by my side. Its always an interesting conversation. We had so many cabbies try to take us even though their vehicles where filled to capacity. It was quite funny. Finally we ended up taking a shared ride. Christi met us at her turn-off and we began walking the 4km to her house. Luckily we got a lift half way to her place by the Zambian military in the back of their huge truck. Unlucky for us they were hauling fish. Fish guts were spilling all over the place. Needless to say we didn’t smell to good. Then as we continued the rest of the hike another cantor came and picked us up. We hopped in the back and got a lift right to her house. I have to say, considering the rides, my dad was a great sport. I think he really like it. But hey, that’s how we travel in Peace Corps. We spent the night at Christi’s house with her two friends from the states. Luckily my dad and her friends, Ruth and Beth were leaving Lusaka on the same day. So the next morning we put them on a bus to Lusaka and said some quick good-byes.

It was a whirlwind two weeks. I think my dad got a taste of everything, from the luxury of Livingstone and South Luangwa to the hardships of village life. I think the highlight for him was meeting all the people I live with and seeing what I do here. I think he’s confident that I’m really happy and safe here. Besides this cough I’ve had for six weeks, I’m doing great. I had a really great time with my dad and something I’ll always cherish. I’m glad he came to see what PC is all about and to have a better understanding of why I want to be here and what I’m doing. I think this trip has allowed my father to understand me better and to see who I really am.

So dad, I want to thank you for coming here to visit me and spending a lot of time, effort and money to make this trip happen. I truly appreciate everything you brought me, spent on me and gave to me on this trip. Thank you and everyone else for bringing things for my villagers. It means a great deal to me. I hope you had a great time…I sure did. I love you dad.