Well hello there...

Time is funny. So much has happened in the last few months. The rains have come and gold has turned back to green. The bush has extended to the sky and the little dirt paths have been choked by the foliage. The critters have come out of hiding and the bush is alive with cultivation. Most of my villagers are in the fields from sun rise until the expected afternoon downpour. I am really enjoying life after a bit of a slump, and work is still moving. Unfortunately because of the world food crisis, prices of food have gone up so much so that we are unable to sustain the preschool with a chicken coop. DON'T FRET... we have transformed the coop into a beautiful classroom, and we are working on a new income generating project. We are trying to get a grinding machine, where everyone takes their maize to make flour for the staple food of Nshima. The closest one to Mwamba is 12k and people bike from many villages around us to reach the mill. There will be a lot of demand and it will not only benefit the school, but the surrounding communities. I am really excited about this new venture. We are trying to raise some more money for the extra costs and are going through an NGO that a former Peace Corps Volunteer and good friend of mine just started in the states and I, of course, will let you know how you can help.

I was fortunate enough to attend my second traditional pre-marriage ceremony in the village. I can't possibly describe the beauty and strangeness of this event. However, I will try to paint a simple picture. This ceremony is for women in the village who are about to be wed. It is a 2 day affair and the second day goes non-stop from 13:00-7:00 the next morning. It is exuberance, intensity, exhaustion, dancing, singing, drumming, passing and receiving of knowledge and ritual, all rolled into one. The ceremony I attended included 3 girls, all of whom were younger than me, who were to be married. They start in a remote location in the bush where a group of 'elders' who are maayos (mom's) in the community who act as the traditional teachers. They are accented with a white dot on their forehead and tirelessly facilitate the events. After events in the bush all return to a room totally cleared out except for drums and wall paintings. Through song, dance, drama, and wall paintings, teach the girls what it is to be a good Zambian wife. They teach about taking care of the household, drawing water, cleaning, cooking, birthing children, raising those children, and of course pleasing the husband...in every way imaginable. The climax of the ceremony is when the fiance's, and their parents, and the men's teachers, join the women and their leaders for the interpretation of the wall paintings. The most elderly of the women in the room will take a stick and facilitate the explanation of each picture painted on the wall. It is incredibly fascinating. The pictures range from the wedding day, the household jobs, cleansing of the body, to sexual positions. The explanation of all hundred pictures or so all come in song and dance form and take 2-3 hours to go through. This is just one small example of the endless hours of ritual. I ended up starting from about 18:00-7 the next morning and I was on cloud 9. After almost 2 years of living in Zambia, I was still completely in awe of what I was experiencing. I only wish I could've documented it so I could watch it over and over. The songs and beat of the drums transformed me to a magical place. The voices are so powerful and the energy infectious. Though many tribal traditions have been smothered by colonization and Christianity, ceremonies such as this one are still very much alive in rural areas. I just have to say that if you think a wedding shower is tiring, you have no idea what these poor girls go through. You can see the exhaustion seeping from them. By the end they have a hard time keeping their heads up. I am understanding, in very small bits, why the women here are so strong and unique. God Bless Zambia!!

Well thats it for now. Tune in next time. I wish you all the best of holiday seasons!!
lisa