So a lot has happened since I last posted but I will try to give a brief overview of some of the major events that have taken place.
I attended a kitchen party with a few of my teachers. a kitchen party is like a bachelor party but not. it is for women only and the people who attend bring gifts. the bride wears a nice chitenge dress and her bridesmaids wear matching ones. the bridesmaids line up and do a dance/march into the area with the bride following. the bride is covered with a chitenge so no one can see her face. she is escorted by an elder person. her head is down the entire ceremony and never smiles. she sits on the floor, the groom gets to uncover her but before doing so has to pay money to the family. then he unveils her. the bride then gives cakes to each side of the family. and rolls around on the floor as a sign of respect. they leave together. she comes back in seats on the floor, head down still while everyone shows off the gifts they bought. a lot of dancing, singing and eating. i am attending another one at the end of the month. i also have been to two weddings now. they are very similar to the kitchen party. the bridesmaids and groomsmen come out first dancing in a line followed by the bride in white with her head down. they sit in a certain area with people all around them. one by one people bring forth plates, dishes, cups, chickens and money. so the night before the kitchen party is another party. not sure what they call it. it is where the bride learns how to please his man in bed by learning traditional dances. i have yet to attend a real one but the teachers wives at my school showed me some of the dances at their house and it was pretty....interesting. i didn't know hips could move in so many directions.
i went to this thing they have every month at our local 'clinic' called Under 5. all the children under 5 get weighed and vitamins and shots. this is also a chance for women to get birth control aka family planning here in Zambia and they have VCT, volunteer counseling testing. the one i went to also had a make shift ultra sound area. which means they lied on the floor and a 'nurse' listened to the heart beat and felt around on the moms belly. so the women who want shots as family planning have to go to town (this is what i saw in my village could be different elsewhere), buy a needle and at the under 5 they exchange the needle for a shot. i tried asking more but they just kept saying thats how it works.
so after i finished my community entry, the 3 month period of observing and understanding the workings of my village we had IST. In service training. this was held in lusaka and was for two weeks. we covered so many topics like adult literacy, starting a library, how to report to peace corps the work we do in the village, gardening, etc. it was a really nice time for all of my intake (red group) to get together again and share how our community entry was going. after that some of my friends traveled to livingstone for 5 days. it was such an amazing restful vacation. we did a safaris, sunset cruise aka booze cruise, and river rafting. i almost died rafting and will most likely never do it again, but it was fun while i did it. i have video and pictures can't wait to share with you guys. this was my second time to see the falls. first time i saw it at the end of rainy season and this time i saw it during cold/dry season. it was def. a big difference. i got to see my friend bunji, that was neat. i would rather bunji every day of my life than raft again. (ok so that is a little dramatic but until you see the video, you can't judge my near death experience.) while at the falls we were at the top of the falls and saw a camera crew and some people gathered around. apparently a local had gone out with an illegal tour guide to try to swim in the devils pool area. he drown in the process. they found his body the day we were at the falls. very sad. while at jolly boys, the backpacking lodge we stayed at, we met two peace corps volunteers from south africa. they were older around 55ish and had running water and electricity. they found it very interesting how we lived in the bush.
this is a very hodgepodge (sarah o.) entry but its been a while and this is what i could think of off the top of my head.
so for this term i am co teaching three days a week, monday, tuesday and wed 7:30-11 and planning those days after class. on thursdays i will travel about 15 km each way for a hiv/aids life skills group at a training college. the pupils range from 18-25 and speak english. i am also trying to start an adult literacy group. that is hard since it is going into rainy season.
next weekend i am going to lusaka for the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. my friend emily from eastern and i are also going to stay an extra night and celebrate our birthdays. hers is in november but close enough.
Be free.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
23-5-11
went to mukwela clunic-an hour bike ride both ways. sat in on a VCT (volunteer counseling training?) it is a class for pregnant women and their partners to learn about HIV/AIDS and how they can pass it along to their child. they then get tested. the clinic is much different then the one that is 10km from me. mukwela clinic has several buildings a maternity ward and computers for keeping data. I then visited a training center where they have carpentray, livestock, catering, and tailoring. I also weighed myself at the clinic, gained ten pounds (not even joking) since leaving training. got a box of condoms to give to my villagers. I came home and my host mom , mutinta, had saved me lunch :) chopped some wood with my neighrbor my neighrbors boyfriend came over
24-5-11
a chicken stole my bread this morning off my lap. i took it back from him. sat in on a grade 6 english class. saw the storage room of my school which would be perfect for a school/community library. picked some tomatoes with some ladies.saw some teachers caning the pupils hands for not coming back to school inthe afternoon to sweep, and slash the grass. helped my sister with some math. she used her fingers, toes and her sisters toes to help count. we had soya pieces (tofu) with some crushed red pepper and garlic powder (thanks jbone for the seasonings)
25-5-11
met my neighrbor clifford to start our comminuity walk which lasted 8 hours and four meals later. i visited the house of the old volunteer my first meal was chicken, okra and nsiam. saw a commerical farmers house and his beautiful grave yard. had some fresh honey, sweeter than sweet and some corn. then went to the headmans house, ate with his sister, okra, rape eggs, and nsima. he grows tobacco. next to another headmans house who has 3 wives and only 12 children. ate some okra, rape, eggs and another veg. caome home and had some pumpkin leaves, okra, and nsima. i got watermelon seeds from one of the villagers.
26-5-11
had my neighrbor make fritters. knocked down a wall in my house. hung a curtain leading into the bedroom. got water. carried my sister on my back. jumped rope with the kids. had a close encounter with a cow that i thought was on the lose but wasnt. we had eggs and nsima for dinner.
27-5-11
got a hitch to my boma with an open bed truck (canter). basically flashed everyone on the truck while attempting to climb over the side to find a seat (which was on the side of the truch with a stranger touching my butt the whole time) met up with larry bits in the boma and had lunch. my carpenter came over and i drew him my bookshelves I want. the under 5 clinic was supposed to happen today but they had no shots to give to the children(all the ones under 5) so they got nothing. bought some okra seeds.
28-5-11
made some fritters did 2 loads of laundry organized some stuff. got some clothes mended at the tarmac bought 15 eggs only 13 survived the bike home. showed clifford my snaps and my bataata. ate sweet potatoes with my bamaama. my neighbors other two children showed up today, alick and elick (her youngest is delick) my sister tried swinging from a branch and it broke so naturally she fell on her head. a car with a loud speaker was driving around informing the villagers to register to vote at the school over the next two weeks.
29-5-11
slept in until 8. went to church. they wanted me to pray and contribute to the bible study. i polietely declined. they also tried to get me to dance. I said I didnt want to embrass them with my sweet dance moves. had soya and eggs and nsima for dinner. got water with my sister. they eat rocks because a lack of iron. i tried and it was disguisting. gave my host mom condoms, made her demonstarte how to put one on with a candle. (thanks jbone for the candles)
30-5-11
had a dance party with amanda (my neighrbor) late to the staff meeting. got a hitch to choma to collect my package. turns out the hitch i got is the owner of a local community school. she works out in choma every monday at a step class (holla). stayed the night at the house because could not find transport and it was getting dark.
31-5-11
had lunch with tim ( PCV) in choma. headed back home. had rape eggs and nsima for lunch. visited with my friend mildred at her shop on the tarmac. there was supposed to be a tgm (teacher group meeting ) at 16 hours but i showed up to school and it was cancelled.
1-6-11
june 1! WHAT THE FRENCH!!! community walk part 2. went to a few farms, people gave me two bags of peanuts, watermelon, squash and eggs. met my future husband. found out that someone doesnt know that condoms are a way to prevent babies. i have my work cut out for me. one of my neighyrbors invited me to her wedding in august.
2-6-11
its so darn cold here It makes me not want to get out of bed i think i am depressed (just kidding dad). went to the tarmac bought a donut found out some info about people who own stores in the area etc. sat in on a grade one lesson that i really enjoyed. the grade two teacher walks around carrying a stick to beat pupils with. won't be working with him. did a load of whites swept and dance with rabecca my sister. lunch was cow, rape and nsima. my sister rabecca knocked down my mirror i hung with a tree limb and almost knocked her eyeball out. the headman royd came over, telling me again he wants to learn english. for dinner we had butternut squash and nsima. there was a meeting for the commerical famers in my area at my host families house. my husband came to see where i lived today. he said he would come to visit tomorrow. (he never showed)
3-6-11
had some funky tummy isues in the middle of the night. not cool. observed a grade one class LOVED IT. talked to lauryn apparently the hangover two came out. headed to the tarmac to meet tim. he came to visit for the day. we cooked roasted peanuts delicious. my neighbor gave us white rice with sugar. lunch was left over cow and nsima. dinner with soya, butter nut and nsima.
4-6-11
got a lot done today. fixed jungle oats for tim and I. did 2 loads of laundry, and my sheets. got water. swept everywhere even under my bed. a neighbor came over and gave me sweet potatoes, made those. wrote a funny letter to my friend deanna in northwestern province. hung my curtains on all three windows. learned some new tonga words with my neighrbors. some ladies collected tomatoes to take to livingstone to sell. we had soya beens butter nut, fish and nsima. the women asked me againwhen i would start teaching them english.
5-6-11
the kids share very well here. they saved fritters for their moms. went to church. first charged my phone at mildreds farm then to church. it was all intonga was completely lost the whole time. collected my phone and got a free soda. bought some saladi (cooking oil) at the tarmac. stopped by the school on my way home ate with the head fish rape and nsima. finised my book Dear Exile, Cried. missed my friends and family. went to cliffords house beacuse my mom was going somewhere and was not cooking. ate with them nsima, rape and veg. there is a guy who plays the guitar at the pilgrim church and walks around on sunday playing it. it makes me smile.
6-6-11
got a hitch to my boma to meet the debs got my hair done.hurt like heck. met some religiuos white people from america. now typing this blog.
thanks for reading
if anyone has any information on how to teach enlgish please send it to me either via email or facebook or my blog or mail. also dot math. !!!!
BE FREE.
amanda fixed fritters before going to church.
went to mukwela clunic-an hour bike ride both ways. sat in on a VCT (volunteer counseling training?) it is a class for pregnant women and their partners to learn about HIV/AIDS and how they can pass it along to their child. they then get tested. the clinic is much different then the one that is 10km from me. mukwela clinic has several buildings a maternity ward and computers for keeping data. I then visited a training center where they have carpentray, livestock, catering, and tailoring. I also weighed myself at the clinic, gained ten pounds (not even joking) since leaving training. got a box of condoms to give to my villagers. I came home and my host mom , mutinta, had saved me lunch :) chopped some wood with my neighrbor my neighrbors boyfriend came over
24-5-11
a chicken stole my bread this morning off my lap. i took it back from him. sat in on a grade 6 english class. saw the storage room of my school which would be perfect for a school/community library. picked some tomatoes with some ladies.saw some teachers caning the pupils hands for not coming back to school inthe afternoon to sweep, and slash the grass. helped my sister with some math. she used her fingers, toes and her sisters toes to help count. we had soya pieces (tofu) with some crushed red pepper and garlic powder (thanks jbone for the seasonings)
25-5-11
met my neighrbor clifford to start our comminuity walk which lasted 8 hours and four meals later. i visited the house of the old volunteer my first meal was chicken, okra and nsiam. saw a commerical farmers house and his beautiful grave yard. had some fresh honey, sweeter than sweet and some corn. then went to the headmans house, ate with his sister, okra, rape eggs, and nsima. he grows tobacco. next to another headmans house who has 3 wives and only 12 children. ate some okra, rape, eggs and another veg. caome home and had some pumpkin leaves, okra, and nsima. i got watermelon seeds from one of the villagers.
26-5-11
had my neighrbor make fritters. knocked down a wall in my house. hung a curtain leading into the bedroom. got water. carried my sister on my back. jumped rope with the kids. had a close encounter with a cow that i thought was on the lose but wasnt. we had eggs and nsima for dinner.
27-5-11
got a hitch to my boma with an open bed truck (canter). basically flashed everyone on the truck while attempting to climb over the side to find a seat (which was on the side of the truch with a stranger touching my butt the whole time) met up with larry bits in the boma and had lunch. my carpenter came over and i drew him my bookshelves I want. the under 5 clinic was supposed to happen today but they had no shots to give to the children(all the ones under 5) so they got nothing. bought some okra seeds.
28-5-11
made some fritters did 2 loads of laundry organized some stuff. got some clothes mended at the tarmac bought 15 eggs only 13 survived the bike home. showed clifford my snaps and my bataata. ate sweet potatoes with my bamaama. my neighbors other two children showed up today, alick and elick (her youngest is delick) my sister tried swinging from a branch and it broke so naturally she fell on her head. a car with a loud speaker was driving around informing the villagers to register to vote at the school over the next two weeks.
29-5-11
slept in until 8. went to church. they wanted me to pray and contribute to the bible study. i polietely declined. they also tried to get me to dance. I said I didnt want to embrass them with my sweet dance moves. had soya and eggs and nsima for dinner. got water with my sister. they eat rocks because a lack of iron. i tried and it was disguisting. gave my host mom condoms, made her demonstarte how to put one on with a candle. (thanks jbone for the candles)
30-5-11
had a dance party with amanda (my neighrbor) late to the staff meeting. got a hitch to choma to collect my package. turns out the hitch i got is the owner of a local community school. she works out in choma every monday at a step class (holla). stayed the night at the house because could not find transport and it was getting dark.
31-5-11
had lunch with tim ( PCV) in choma. headed back home. had rape eggs and nsima for lunch. visited with my friend mildred at her shop on the tarmac. there was supposed to be a tgm (teacher group meeting ) at 16 hours but i showed up to school and it was cancelled.
1-6-11
june 1! WHAT THE FRENCH!!! community walk part 2. went to a few farms, people gave me two bags of peanuts, watermelon, squash and eggs. met my future husband. found out that someone doesnt know that condoms are a way to prevent babies. i have my work cut out for me. one of my neighyrbors invited me to her wedding in august.
2-6-11
its so darn cold here It makes me not want to get out of bed i think i am depressed (just kidding dad). went to the tarmac bought a donut found out some info about people who own stores in the area etc. sat in on a grade one lesson that i really enjoyed. the grade two teacher walks around carrying a stick to beat pupils with. won't be working with him. did a load of whites swept and dance with rabecca my sister. lunch was cow, rape and nsima. my sister rabecca knocked down my mirror i hung with a tree limb and almost knocked her eyeball out. the headman royd came over, telling me again he wants to learn english. for dinner we had butternut squash and nsima. there was a meeting for the commerical famers in my area at my host families house. my husband came to see where i lived today. he said he would come to visit tomorrow. (he never showed)
3-6-11
had some funky tummy isues in the middle of the night. not cool. observed a grade one class LOVED IT. talked to lauryn apparently the hangover two came out. headed to the tarmac to meet tim. he came to visit for the day. we cooked roasted peanuts delicious. my neighbor gave us white rice with sugar. lunch was left over cow and nsima. dinner with soya, butter nut and nsima.
4-6-11
got a lot done today. fixed jungle oats for tim and I. did 2 loads of laundry, and my sheets. got water. swept everywhere even under my bed. a neighbor came over and gave me sweet potatoes, made those. wrote a funny letter to my friend deanna in northwestern province. hung my curtains on all three windows. learned some new tonga words with my neighrbors. some ladies collected tomatoes to take to livingstone to sell. we had soya beens butter nut, fish and nsima. the women asked me againwhen i would start teaching them english.
5-6-11
the kids share very well here. they saved fritters for their moms. went to church. first charged my phone at mildreds farm then to church. it was all intonga was completely lost the whole time. collected my phone and got a free soda. bought some saladi (cooking oil) at the tarmac. stopped by the school on my way home ate with the head fish rape and nsima. finised my book Dear Exile, Cried. missed my friends and family. went to cliffords house beacuse my mom was going somewhere and was not cooking. ate with them nsima, rape and veg. there is a guy who plays the guitar at the pilgrim church and walks around on sunday playing it. it makes me smile.
6-6-11
got a hitch to my boma to meet the debs got my hair done.hurt like heck. met some religiuos white people from america. now typing this blog.
thanks for reading
if anyone has any information on how to teach enlgish please send it to me either via email or facebook or my blog or mail. also dot math. !!!!
BE FREE.
amanda fixed fritters before going to church.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
let me break it down...
So a lot of people have been I think unclear really about what I am doing in Zambia so let me give you some more details about my job. My program is called the Rural Education Project aka RED. It has three mains goals: Volunteers will support teachers in basic and community schools in developing innovative teaching methodologies, Volunteers will support school improvement by providing opportunities for youth to participate in innovative learning opportunities that promote lifelong learning, Community members will benefit from non-formal educationgal activities that promote lifelong learning. Under each goal there are multiple objectives and I will not bore you with those. I will give you some ideas of the activities I can do to achieve the 3 above stated goals. Co-plan/co-teach, assist teachers in implementing child-centered teaching methods, co-produce and use teaching and learning aides, engage in continuing professional development activities with teachers-this means TGMs which stands for teacher group meeting. It is basically a meeting twice a month for one hour lead by the teachers to help implementing teaching methods. The TGM I went to was discussing the tracking of literacy rates. How to asses and how to keep track of the data of pupils in each reading level. I can also start clubs such as drama, debate, pen-pals, school gardens, girls club, literacy clubs or even a library. I am also to work with HIV/AIDS. this can be with a life skills club or collobrating with the local clinic to have programs about HIV/AIDS.
For the first three months at being at my house, I am not to do any of the above activities. It is called Community Entry (CE). I am to observe lessons, attend PTA meetings, TGMs, and visit the other schools in my zone. I am also to meet the DEBS (which is basically the superindent of the district). His office is about 28 km from my house. I have yet to met him because he was not around when I went. I am also to meet other NGO's in the area. I met with CARE International and met with the Ministry of Health. I have in my district CINDI (CHILDREN IN DISTRESS) world vision and africare. I also met with the chief who lives in Kalomo. I also have met with several Headmen in the area. I have been to 4 of the 7 schools in my zone. Most of my schools are at least 40-50 minutes by bike away. Most likely I will not being doing much work with them because of the distance. I can work with whatever school I want and however often I want. For example, I want to co-plan/co-teach at my Zonal School, which is only 3 km away, 3 times a week and have a literacy club at school 2 times a week to teach English. It can change from term to term. A term is 3 months and they have holiday in april, august and december. I can work with different teachers each term and if I dont want to teach I can only co-plan or help create teaching and learning aides. My zonal school is called Nazilongo Basic School.
I live in southern province in the district of Kalomo in the Village of Nazilongo. Within each district they are broken into zones with a certain amount of schools in each zone. each zone has a school called a zonal school with a zonal head teacher (what we would call a princepal). Within my zone I have 7 basic schools which are grades 1-9 and 2 community schools. The community schools are funded by the community and lack many many things that a basic school has. Most of the time the teachers, maybe 2-3, are pupils who did not pass the grade 7 exam and are now teaching the classes. The teachers are more than likely paid for by the community and often times not even paid.
Each schools has a head teacher (principal) a deputy head (Vice principal) and a senior teacher. The teachers live in the area in houses that were built specifically for the teachers. At my schools I have 13 teacher currently and 3 student teachers. One teacher is getting married in sept. so she is moving to another province to be with her husband. When you finish school, the ministry of education (MOE) places the teachers in a school they do not a say in where they are going.
I hope this helps!!! Now I am going to give you a massive update about what I have been doing since I arrived at my house in April.
Before getting posted we had to go shopping for everything:
plates, bowls, knives, brasier, silverware, tupperware, tubs to do laundry in, tubs to wash my dishes in, sheets, comforter, food, charcoal, reed mat, etc. I did that shopping in Choma which is another boma (bigger village) that has a grocery store and internet cafes etc. I bought cement for the villages to cement my house. It is amazing.
28/4/11
picked up my head teacher at school to take her to my house to help unload the cruiser. was greeted by my neighbors. my host mom, mutinta, helped me get water from the pump. carried it on my head. put my tent up because my furniture was not ready yet.
rode the the tarmac (road) they have 3 shops that you can buy soya pieces (tofu basically) sugar, flour laundry soap etc
went to my boma, Kalomo, found the internet cafe, good food place, they even have a gym and a pool table
organize all my papers form the PC
tried making soya not great. tried making chips (fries) with potatoes, apparently you have to soak the potatoe before you try and cook it. still cant get my fire to light so I started using methalated spirit in a tuna can and it works so much better than charcoal. and ox cart pulled up to my house while I was reading. It was jacob, a headman with 2 wives with sand for the cement job.
30/4/11
went to church with a teachers wife, pentacostal church. It was good. they start at 8 for bible study and then the service starts at 10-1230. found a place to charge my phone on the tarmac and there is a farm also by the church that was power that I can charge stuff
ate with my family soya and nsima )a food they eat at least twice a day, it is finely ground corn kernels made into a paste). couldnt find my bike lock keys so we had to cut my bike lock off so i could ride home
my neighbor kid, amanda swept and did my dishes. sewed my citenge so it wont gray. made some eggs and toast. my neighbor kids came over we did some math with the flashcards I brought with me.
1/5/11
played ball with the kids. they make a ball out of plastic bags they find around the area. had okra and ramen noodles (thanks dad) they try to eat the spaghetti with their hands. tried making bean burgers that was a bust
4/5/11
did laundry went to kalomo charged my spearks and phone. took the mini bus to Kalomo for only 10,000 kwacha (the exhange rate is 1 usd =4650 kwacha) bought a crate for the back of my bike to put my groceries. the men came to my house to cement. one of my neighbors kennedy brought over pictures of the previous volunteers. meet my host dads brother. had a fresh killed chicken for lunch. they keep asking my when I will be teaching them english, carried 20 liters of water on my head. my host dad plays football (soccer) a lot
6/5/11
gave okra to my host mom for her to cook for us to eat. my bed finally came. got a hitch on the back of a truch to kalomo. bought avacodos apples and bananas. went shopping at the DAPP (its an NGO that does lots of projects but they also have a store basically a goodwill) got the name of a man who does locks so i can get mine done each month
8/5/11
went to macrons a resaurant about 18 kim from my house off the tarmac that has amazing chicken and chips and american music videos tried making fritters that was also a bust. dropped off my citenges for the tailor to sew the edges and picked up my fully charged phone and speakers. my friend drove me to kalomo to buy more cement for my house and my veranda. my grade 4 neighbor amanda killed a chicken for lunch and dinner. i drank sweet beer, which is not alcoholic at at but made from sweet potatoes and sugar. not great. went to school at 15 t meet with the head to discuss community entry calendar
10/5/11
organize my wardrobe closet, read some books from the PC found a store on the tarmac that sells fresh rolls for only 3000 kwacha for 6 rolls HEAVEN. burned the shit out of my hand trying to cook soya pieces.
11/5/11
the villages finished cementing my house today. went to choma to pick up a package from Jbone. got my solar chargers. got a letter from my head teacher to give to the DEBS to introduce myself. came home to find my host dad sicker than shit laying in the yard in the hot sun. he said his hands and feet feel like things are crawling in them. his friend was praying that the demons come out soon. found out that amanda is staying with not her family and doesnt even sleep at the house i see her at every night.
15/5/11
got a hitch to the pentacstal church in Kalomo gave him a fritter and an apple instead of kwacha. the church was good had a piano drums and singing. also had people fainting at the end awkward. went to macrons for lunch. no shops are open in kalomo on sunday. met the chief and some other important people and NGO in the area. the HR person for the ministry of health asked if i drank and told me he would pick me up at my house and take me boozing with him. had some visitors from safety and secruity from lesotho. they wanted to see how we live in the real africa. my host mom asked for candles, she has also asked to borrow my bike, sugar and oil. amandas dad is an alcoholic that is why she does not stay with her family. he also has two wives.
16/5/11
went to school for staff meeting. introduced my self and what coplanning/teacing will look like. traveled to another school in my zone, tara basic school. the head teacher at that school has solar panels and I was able to watch some news. toured his school and came home. he also has a car and dvd player in his office at school. they have a school garden. the teachers asked me to give them things like books, pens etc and one teacher asked to use my bike pump. told her no. helped my host dad water his cabbage. helped my host sister, rabecca find sweet potatoes for her snack at school.
18/5/11 tried to go to another school got lost went to kalomo and day drink instead. played some pool and listened to american music. went to school sat in the staff room and helped a teacher with some homework for his distance education class. the teachers have the same issues that american teachers do. bought some chicken sausages and had it for dinner, my host mom mutinta cooked it for us.
19/5/11
made some jungle oats (oatmel) my host dad goes to the tarmac to drink beer a lot. went to moonde basic school. the head was not around so i met with the deputy head. i had been to that school before on second site visit so I did not stay long. i went to the clinic. found out some info everything the clinic has to offer is free. free condoms free family planning(birth control) free malaria meds FREE. cleaned my insaka (gazebo) my neighbor lady, doreen had peanuts and fish drying on her tin roof and put a child on the roof to collect the food before it rained. doreen went to choma and bought fresh fish for us to eat.
20/5/11
it was open day at school. at the end of every term the pupils take exams in grade 7 and 9 they determine whether the pupils passes on to the next grade. school is also supposed to be free from grades 1-7 grades 8/9 cost about 40,000-100,000 kwacha depends on the school and the needs or projects they have going on that term. open day is held, should be held every term to give the pupils their report cards to tell them the grades in the class. they also rank the pupils and hand out notebooks, pencils and rubbers to the pupils who rank well and also most improved. the program started late and went until about 13 hours. i have about 400 pupils at my school and only 36 parents showed up. if the parents who child ranked well the parents would go up and carry them back to their seat one parent gave the child money and another gave food. it is really exciting i think i can make this is a big deal and hopefully will encourage the pupils to work hard if it is made into a big production.
21/5/11
got a hitch from some local white zambians who own a farm and gave me a bag of oranges.
this is taken from my journal so it is not everything i did in a day as you can tell. just trying to give you a run down of what i do. i collect water about every 3 days i also have a water filter that i fill to purify my water to make it drinkable. i did laundry this morning. i have a solar shower that i set out at the beginning of the day and shower around 16ish. i eat with my family for lunch and dinner and normally only have some fruit for breakfast.
again it is very random but at least a glimpse of what i do.
below is a list of words zambian vs. american
revision-review/study
knock off-end time
snaps-photos
tropics-flip flops
tomatoe sauce-ketchup
takeaway-togo
softie-soda
complusory-mandatory
flat-apartment
lift-hitch hiking
trousers-pants
tarmac-road
pupil-student
tick-check mark
coke light-diet coke
filing station-gas station
petrol-gas
sketch-drama
rubber-eraser
I think that is all for now. Thanks for reading hope this clears up any questions
Be Free.
For the first three months at being at my house, I am not to do any of the above activities. It is called Community Entry (CE). I am to observe lessons, attend PTA meetings, TGMs, and visit the other schools in my zone. I am also to meet the DEBS (which is basically the superindent of the district). His office is about 28 km from my house. I have yet to met him because he was not around when I went. I am also to meet other NGO's in the area. I met with CARE International and met with the Ministry of Health. I have in my district CINDI (CHILDREN IN DISTRESS) world vision and africare. I also met with the chief who lives in Kalomo. I also have met with several Headmen in the area. I have been to 4 of the 7 schools in my zone. Most of my schools are at least 40-50 minutes by bike away. Most likely I will not being doing much work with them because of the distance. I can work with whatever school I want and however often I want. For example, I want to co-plan/co-teach at my Zonal School, which is only 3 km away, 3 times a week and have a literacy club at school 2 times a week to teach English. It can change from term to term. A term is 3 months and they have holiday in april, august and december. I can work with different teachers each term and if I dont want to teach I can only co-plan or help create teaching and learning aides. My zonal school is called Nazilongo Basic School.
I live in southern province in the district of Kalomo in the Village of Nazilongo. Within each district they are broken into zones with a certain amount of schools in each zone. each zone has a school called a zonal school with a zonal head teacher (what we would call a princepal). Within my zone I have 7 basic schools which are grades 1-9 and 2 community schools. The community schools are funded by the community and lack many many things that a basic school has. Most of the time the teachers, maybe 2-3, are pupils who did not pass the grade 7 exam and are now teaching the classes. The teachers are more than likely paid for by the community and often times not even paid.
Each schools has a head teacher (principal) a deputy head (Vice principal) and a senior teacher. The teachers live in the area in houses that were built specifically for the teachers. At my schools I have 13 teacher currently and 3 student teachers. One teacher is getting married in sept. so she is moving to another province to be with her husband. When you finish school, the ministry of education (MOE) places the teachers in a school they do not a say in where they are going.
I hope this helps!!! Now I am going to give you a massive update about what I have been doing since I arrived at my house in April.
Before getting posted we had to go shopping for everything:
plates, bowls, knives, brasier, silverware, tupperware, tubs to do laundry in, tubs to wash my dishes in, sheets, comforter, food, charcoal, reed mat, etc. I did that shopping in Choma which is another boma (bigger village) that has a grocery store and internet cafes etc. I bought cement for the villages to cement my house. It is amazing.
28/4/11
picked up my head teacher at school to take her to my house to help unload the cruiser. was greeted by my neighbors. my host mom, mutinta, helped me get water from the pump. carried it on my head. put my tent up because my furniture was not ready yet.
rode the the tarmac (road) they have 3 shops that you can buy soya pieces (tofu basically) sugar, flour laundry soap etc
went to my boma, Kalomo, found the internet cafe, good food place, they even have a gym and a pool table
organize all my papers form the PC
tried making soya not great. tried making chips (fries) with potatoes, apparently you have to soak the potatoe before you try and cook it. still cant get my fire to light so I started using methalated spirit in a tuna can and it works so much better than charcoal. and ox cart pulled up to my house while I was reading. It was jacob, a headman with 2 wives with sand for the cement job.
30/4/11
went to church with a teachers wife, pentacostal church. It was good. they start at 8 for bible study and then the service starts at 10-1230. found a place to charge my phone on the tarmac and there is a farm also by the church that was power that I can charge stuff
ate with my family soya and nsima )a food they eat at least twice a day, it is finely ground corn kernels made into a paste). couldnt find my bike lock keys so we had to cut my bike lock off so i could ride home
my neighbor kid, amanda swept and did my dishes. sewed my citenge so it wont gray. made some eggs and toast. my neighbor kids came over we did some math with the flashcards I brought with me.
1/5/11
played ball with the kids. they make a ball out of plastic bags they find around the area. had okra and ramen noodles (thanks dad) they try to eat the spaghetti with their hands. tried making bean burgers that was a bust
4/5/11
did laundry went to kalomo charged my spearks and phone. took the mini bus to Kalomo for only 10,000 kwacha (the exhange rate is 1 usd =4650 kwacha) bought a crate for the back of my bike to put my groceries. the men came to my house to cement. one of my neighbors kennedy brought over pictures of the previous volunteers. meet my host dads brother. had a fresh killed chicken for lunch. they keep asking my when I will be teaching them english, carried 20 liters of water on my head. my host dad plays football (soccer) a lot
6/5/11
gave okra to my host mom for her to cook for us to eat. my bed finally came. got a hitch on the back of a truch to kalomo. bought avacodos apples and bananas. went shopping at the DAPP (its an NGO that does lots of projects but they also have a store basically a goodwill) got the name of a man who does locks so i can get mine done each month
8/5/11
went to macrons a resaurant about 18 kim from my house off the tarmac that has amazing chicken and chips and american music videos tried making fritters that was also a bust. dropped off my citenges for the tailor to sew the edges and picked up my fully charged phone and speakers. my friend drove me to kalomo to buy more cement for my house and my veranda. my grade 4 neighbor amanda killed a chicken for lunch and dinner. i drank sweet beer, which is not alcoholic at at but made from sweet potatoes and sugar. not great. went to school at 15 t meet with the head to discuss community entry calendar
10/5/11
organize my wardrobe closet, read some books from the PC found a store on the tarmac that sells fresh rolls for only 3000 kwacha for 6 rolls HEAVEN. burned the shit out of my hand trying to cook soya pieces.
11/5/11
the villages finished cementing my house today. went to choma to pick up a package from Jbone. got my solar chargers. got a letter from my head teacher to give to the DEBS to introduce myself. came home to find my host dad sicker than shit laying in the yard in the hot sun. he said his hands and feet feel like things are crawling in them. his friend was praying that the demons come out soon. found out that amanda is staying with not her family and doesnt even sleep at the house i see her at every night.
15/5/11
got a hitch to the pentacstal church in Kalomo gave him a fritter and an apple instead of kwacha. the church was good had a piano drums and singing. also had people fainting at the end awkward. went to macrons for lunch. no shops are open in kalomo on sunday. met the chief and some other important people and NGO in the area. the HR person for the ministry of health asked if i drank and told me he would pick me up at my house and take me boozing with him. had some visitors from safety and secruity from lesotho. they wanted to see how we live in the real africa. my host mom asked for candles, she has also asked to borrow my bike, sugar and oil. amandas dad is an alcoholic that is why she does not stay with her family. he also has two wives.
16/5/11
went to school for staff meeting. introduced my self and what coplanning/teacing will look like. traveled to another school in my zone, tara basic school. the head teacher at that school has solar panels and I was able to watch some news. toured his school and came home. he also has a car and dvd player in his office at school. they have a school garden. the teachers asked me to give them things like books, pens etc and one teacher asked to use my bike pump. told her no. helped my host dad water his cabbage. helped my host sister, rabecca find sweet potatoes for her snack at school.
18/5/11 tried to go to another school got lost went to kalomo and day drink instead. played some pool and listened to american music. went to school sat in the staff room and helped a teacher with some homework for his distance education class. the teachers have the same issues that american teachers do. bought some chicken sausages and had it for dinner, my host mom mutinta cooked it for us.
19/5/11
made some jungle oats (oatmel) my host dad goes to the tarmac to drink beer a lot. went to moonde basic school. the head was not around so i met with the deputy head. i had been to that school before on second site visit so I did not stay long. i went to the clinic. found out some info everything the clinic has to offer is free. free condoms free family planning(birth control) free malaria meds FREE. cleaned my insaka (gazebo) my neighbor lady, doreen had peanuts and fish drying on her tin roof and put a child on the roof to collect the food before it rained. doreen went to choma and bought fresh fish for us to eat.
20/5/11
it was open day at school. at the end of every term the pupils take exams in grade 7 and 9 they determine whether the pupils passes on to the next grade. school is also supposed to be free from grades 1-7 grades 8/9 cost about 40,000-100,000 kwacha depends on the school and the needs or projects they have going on that term. open day is held, should be held every term to give the pupils their report cards to tell them the grades in the class. they also rank the pupils and hand out notebooks, pencils and rubbers to the pupils who rank well and also most improved. the program started late and went until about 13 hours. i have about 400 pupils at my school and only 36 parents showed up. if the parents who child ranked well the parents would go up and carry them back to their seat one parent gave the child money and another gave food. it is really exciting i think i can make this is a big deal and hopefully will encourage the pupils to work hard if it is made into a big production.
21/5/11
got a hitch from some local white zambians who own a farm and gave me a bag of oranges.
this is taken from my journal so it is not everything i did in a day as you can tell. just trying to give you a run down of what i do. i collect water about every 3 days i also have a water filter that i fill to purify my water to make it drinkable. i did laundry this morning. i have a solar shower that i set out at the beginning of the day and shower around 16ish. i eat with my family for lunch and dinner and normally only have some fruit for breakfast.
again it is very random but at least a glimpse of what i do.
below is a list of words zambian vs. american
revision-review/study
knock off-end time
snaps-photos
tropics-flip flops
tomatoe sauce-ketchup
takeaway-togo
softie-soda
complusory-mandatory
flat-apartment
lift-hitch hiking
trousers-pants
tarmac-road
pupil-student
tick-check mark
coke light-diet coke
filing station-gas station
petrol-gas
sketch-drama
rubber-eraser
I think that is all for now. Thanks for reading hope this clears up any questions
Be Free.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
update from the bush
so I moved into my new house about 3 weeks ago. My community cemented the inside of my house. and I got a place to put all my solar things. I have been to one school to visit and see what their needs are. I have just been living the bush life and getting a schedule. Today I tried to go to a school but got lost and ripped my skirt and ran out of water so I went to my boma (aka town) and shopped. I have a meeting at school today called a TGM aka teacher group meeting. I have 7 schools in my area that I am able to work with but they are at least an hour away by bike if not further so I dont know how much I will be working with them. I think I want to concentrate my time at one school and see what I can do for them. I went to visit the ministry of health (aka deparement of health ) last week and was asked if I drank and the guy said he could pick me up from my hut and take me to the boma to drink with them. awkward. not much too add because I do not have my journal in front of me to tell all that has happened. It looks like I have my work cut out for me beacuse my 4th grade neighbor cannot even regognize the alphabet. Everyone I have met wants to learn english. Sorry this is so random but I don't have much to say
Love you guys
BE FREE.
Love you guys
BE FREE.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
I am a Peace Corps Volunteer
So we had our swearing in ceremony on 21 april. it was at the ambassadors house. i felt like i was back in america. I also stole some toilet paper from his pool house. we had some speeches by steve schwartz (google him) and by tom kennedy the country directory and some local zambians. we sang the national anthems and sang some songs in different languages and had some dancing. I had a dress made for the ceremony (i have pictures on my facebook page so check those out). I also found out the Hilliary Clinton will be coming to zambia for some trade conference that is happening in lusaka. sweet. I won't be able to meet her but super awesome anyways. we went to a bar in lusaka after our ceremony it was a blast. So now we are hanging out at the provincal house until store open up which is on monday because of the holidays. I will be doing shopping for my house on monday and get posted on tuesday. I get my national registration card on tuesday also. I have pictures to post but that will come later. I also have a lot of videos but I am going to send my SD cards to home and have my family upload them, it is too costly to wait for them to upload here at a cafe. Thanks for all warm congrats from family and friends. I hear there are some crazy tornadoes in the midwest. stay safe and get in the lowest part of your house.
Be Free.
Be Free.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Update...
So i got called fat again for the third time since living with my family. the first time was while i was showing my host family pictures of my family in america and they said we were all fat. and this most recent time was because the volunteer before my looks like me because we are both fat. it is a compliment to be called fat in zambia.
we also got scolded by our training director because we took a hitch last friday on the back of a shake shake truck around 1130. o well. so the solution they came up with for us to be able to drink and be safe was to drive us to and from the bar and be home before dark. so last night we went to aaron's den bar in chongwe to celebrate our last weekend together. we made guacamole, sausages and had a lot of fun. well the bus that was supposed to pick us up didn't show until it was after dark. so i flagged down a trunk and we hitched in the bed of the truck home. it was fantastic.
We have cultural day on tuesday which means all of our host families are going to come together at the training center and we are going to cook american food for them. we will have speeches, dances and gift giving. I plan on printing a few family pictures and giving them to my family on a frame. I also have post cards of Indiana that my dad sent me that I will write on the back and give to them. Then we leave directly after that ceremony to stay in Lusaka for two days and have our swearing in ceremony and shop for our hut. We will then leave from there to out provincal houses and stay for a few more days and do more shopping then we will finally be posted. For the first three months it is called community entry which means we are just trying to intergrate ourselves into our new community. we will not be coplanning or co teaching we will be assess the needs/wants of our community. we also are not allowed to travel at this time.
so apparently some of the peace corps volunteers know some zambian musicians one being Daliso. one of our trainers actually was able to dance on stage with him at a concert and a lot of volunteers have his number too.
I had my final language test on friday. which went well it could have gone worse, which is good I guess. we then watched some movies in the giant insaka (gazeebo). we watched Pineapple express and part of Love actually.
I got a dress made out of citenge for the swearing in ceremony. It only cost 50,000 kwacha and it is perfect. I had one of the girls draw a picture and gave it to the tailor and it is beautiful.
So more kids keep showing up on my compound because it is holiday now. they have holiday in april, august and december-it just means that there is no school during those months. so some of my kids, their parents work in bigger cities as teachers so they live with their grandma well now that it is holiday, the parents and their other children are coming to our house to stay for the holiday break.
so my sister got engaged and asked me to be her bridesmaid I said no of course. she is planning on a cruise maybe in october so hopefully I will be able to attend. and apparently my mom accecpted an offer on her house, not sure because she is on vacation in georgia with her friends and is ignoring my phone calls.
I had a strange interaction with my neighbor the other night. she came inside to the house where myself and my sister choolwe eat every night. the other family members eat outside on the reed mat. my neighbor, patrica, said she wanted to eat with us and so she sat down but did not put food on her plate so I told her to start eating. she said she alreay ate but wanted to sit and watch me eat. I also told her that some of us were going to a bar down the street and she wanted me to bring her back some shake shake (beer) i told her to come. she said she couldnt because her husband would beat her. very strange and not cool all at the same time.
so I am going to post some tonga words for Beckys class :
bag-bbeeke
book-bbuku
chair-cuuno
pencil-mpensulo
desk-desiki
chalkboard-bboodi
chalk-ncoko
pen-bbopeni
clock-nkoloko
ruler-lula
some of the words are corrupted meaning that sound like the english word. most of the words are said like they sound.
Thanks
Be Free.
we also got scolded by our training director because we took a hitch last friday on the back of a shake shake truck around 1130. o well. so the solution they came up with for us to be able to drink and be safe was to drive us to and from the bar and be home before dark. so last night we went to aaron's den bar in chongwe to celebrate our last weekend together. we made guacamole, sausages and had a lot of fun. well the bus that was supposed to pick us up didn't show until it was after dark. so i flagged down a trunk and we hitched in the bed of the truck home. it was fantastic.
We have cultural day on tuesday which means all of our host families are going to come together at the training center and we are going to cook american food for them. we will have speeches, dances and gift giving. I plan on printing a few family pictures and giving them to my family on a frame. I also have post cards of Indiana that my dad sent me that I will write on the back and give to them. Then we leave directly after that ceremony to stay in Lusaka for two days and have our swearing in ceremony and shop for our hut. We will then leave from there to out provincal houses and stay for a few more days and do more shopping then we will finally be posted. For the first three months it is called community entry which means we are just trying to intergrate ourselves into our new community. we will not be coplanning or co teaching we will be assess the needs/wants of our community. we also are not allowed to travel at this time.
so apparently some of the peace corps volunteers know some zambian musicians one being Daliso. one of our trainers actually was able to dance on stage with him at a concert and a lot of volunteers have his number too.
I had my final language test on friday. which went well it could have gone worse, which is good I guess. we then watched some movies in the giant insaka (gazeebo). we watched Pineapple express and part of Love actually.
I got a dress made out of citenge for the swearing in ceremony. It only cost 50,000 kwacha and it is perfect. I had one of the girls draw a picture and gave it to the tailor and it is beautiful.
So more kids keep showing up on my compound because it is holiday now. they have holiday in april, august and december-it just means that there is no school during those months. so some of my kids, their parents work in bigger cities as teachers so they live with their grandma well now that it is holiday, the parents and their other children are coming to our house to stay for the holiday break.
so my sister got engaged and asked me to be her bridesmaid I said no of course. she is planning on a cruise maybe in october so hopefully I will be able to attend. and apparently my mom accecpted an offer on her house, not sure because she is on vacation in georgia with her friends and is ignoring my phone calls.
I had a strange interaction with my neighbor the other night. she came inside to the house where myself and my sister choolwe eat every night. the other family members eat outside on the reed mat. my neighbor, patrica, said she wanted to eat with us and so she sat down but did not put food on her plate so I told her to start eating. she said she alreay ate but wanted to sit and watch me eat. I also told her that some of us were going to a bar down the street and she wanted me to bring her back some shake shake (beer) i told her to come. she said she couldnt because her husband would beat her. very strange and not cool all at the same time.
so I am going to post some tonga words for Beckys class :
bag-bbeeke
book-bbuku
chair-cuuno
pencil-mpensulo
desk-desiki
chalkboard-bboodi
chalk-ncoko
pen-bbopeni
clock-nkoloko
ruler-lula
some of the words are corrupted meaning that sound like the english word. most of the words are said like they sound.
Thanks
Be Free.
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