Holy Cow...I mean LAND!!

We made it to Israel!! I'm in Tel Aviv after nearly 24 hours of travel and a 6 hour stop in Ethiopia. It was crazy coming into the Israeli airport. After being up all night, totally starstruck, braids flying every which way with my array of mismatched attire and the fact that i'm usually a mess in life anyways i was therefore seen as an instant threat and politely interrogated several times. The airport officials here don't mess around...but i could bring my water and shampoo not to mention my tweezers...these guys are armatures, don't they know the havoc i could've caused with these dangerous items? The people of Israel are beautiful. Dark features and shining eyes. It is so strange to be in such a pronounced Jewish culture. Such a mesh of Orthodox, Reform, Zionists and so many more I can't grasp. It is surreal. I'm in Israel! Tomorrow we will be going to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem for Christmas. A trip to the Dead Sea is in the plan as well. I am deliriously wide eyed and with wonder. This place is so rich with culture, history, tragedy and triumph. I just talked to a French woman very active in Doctors without Borders in a coffee shop...yes real COFFEE...brewed, not stirred....who just got back from Gaza and had incredible stories. She said one night they were in the clinic and there was an air raid and they heard firing and bombs all around them and they turned on the news and were watching the activity all around them from inside the building. So crazy. I'm learning from Hannah all about the rich history of this place and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict ahh its so interesting and heart breaking.

Anyways i'm pretty much in shock here. a few reflections. One: the glory of water fountains. I was thirsty and just simply bent over and got a drink...a COLD drink of sweet water. It's so good...once it hits your lips. Dogs...there are actual breeds here. Not just starving mutts twitching with fleas and worms. I loveeee the dogs, and on leashes as PETS...what? I'm not in Zambia any more toto. Things here are so accessible. I can buy gum...in several locations. The cars are small and fuel efficient and there is tarmac EVERYWHERE...endless tarmac...and little green walk guys and and and one kid per adult IF THAT. I do miss my iwes (village kids). ok i've only been here a few hours and listen to me. I can't express how i feel to be here...it's all just too much. I'll get some sleep and compose myself and send some more coherent reflections later

i love you alllllll

yay

NHC training

The road that leads into Mwamba

Some of my NHC members and me rethatching my roof

My kids and I in front of my hut

Dancing at a festival in the village

It's mushroom season

Holiday Cheer

Mwapoleni Mukwai…Greetings

It seems these last few months have flown by and it is hard to believe I am almost at the end of my 11th month in Zambia. Christmas has surely snuck up on me. Mwamba is void of the usual seasonal cues…Christmas music, lights, consumer craze, snow…it’s strange to think people are gathering with families in the states, wrapping presents and fighting snowy roads. Christmas in the village is much more rooted in the original purpose of celebrating the birth of Jesus without all of the clutter (which I, for the most part, enjoy). People go to church and usually slaughter some chickens and a goat, if lucky, feast, brew village beer and celebrate. The day before and after are typical work days, there’s really no rest during planting season.
It is officially rainy season and has been dumping at least once a day. The land has turned green and farmers are busy planting their fields. My thatched roof just got patched in time for the heavy precipitation and my leaks have been mended so I felt ok about leaving the place on holiday.
Speaking of…I’m not sure if everyone knew I am off to roam the Holy Land for Christmas. Yes, I’m going to Israel with two Peace Corps friends (Hannah & Lyndsey). Hannah lived in Jerusalem for a year and one of her best friends is getting married the 26th. I joked with her that I wanted to join her there and a few weeks later she extended the invitation. I really couldn’t fathom making the trip, especially on Peace Corps stipend, but I decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Hannah is Jewish, knows the language and land and has many friends there, and Lyndsey is a spirited Lutheran who truly lives her faith…the perfect trio. I still can’t believe I’m going. We fly out the 22nd and have a 6 hour layover in Ethiopia where we hope to taxi to dinner if we can persuade the border officials to wave the entry fee. We arrive in Tel Aviv the 23rd, will be in Bethelehem on Christmas, then stay in Jeruselem till the 27th, head to the Dead Sea for a night and be back in Lusaka the 4th. I’m continually in awe of the incredible opportunities that fall into my lap…and ever grateful.
The last few months at sight have been really busy. Because I am so close to the boma (Kasama) My community is very active and involved in many different groups and projects and there are endless work opportunities. I’m working on a bunch of different projects including an OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) community preschool. I am hoping to fund construction and get it going with a Peace Corps Partnership Proposal which I am working on and will be completed in January. I will give you more information on how you can help out once it is approved and in motion. The community is really excited and I’ve had people at my door wanting to register kids already.
As far as my CAHP (health) work goes I just trained my 3rd Neighborhood Health Committee and it was great. I had the previous group come and facilitate some of the health sessions to give them practice in teaching health education and they did a wonderful job. It is so cool to see the students become the teacher. They were proud, empowered and beaming, and so was I for that matter. It was nice to see people really come out of their shell, especially the maayos, who tend to be more reserved in educational settings. One of my Nutrition Club members had a baby on her back while she gave her talk on Safe Motherhood and it was just precious. I really want to focus on giving the skills of sharing knowledge because these clubs and groups will have to be comfortable in that realm to encourage change.
My trainings are usually 4 hours for 5 straight days. They include club strengthening and health education and are exciting and exhausting. I give certificates at the end and usually require they help out with the following training. This past group, Ndoloka Village (6k from Mwamba) was so grateful for the training they sent me home with a bike load of parcels, including a giant mushroom, mealie meal (nshima flour), onions, tomatoes, bananas, cassava, cabbage ect. They are such a generous community and would give me the clothes on their backs. I am always in awe of Zambian hospitality. I’ve been here almost a year and I’m still treated with such grace. I love work, my hut, and my villagers. It helps to ease some of the holiday melancholy and longing for my friends and family at home.
I want to end with a reminder how much strength I gather from and am ever grateful for all of your love and support, especially during the holidays. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I wish all of you a cheery holiday season and I hope you revel in the love that surrounds you…. nalimutemwa –lisa

Mwapoleni Mukwai!! (Greetings). I am in Lusaka on my way to Lake Kariba in Southern Province, home of the Tonga tribe. It is my first real vacation and I am really excited for a break. So much has happened since I last wrote. Things in the village are going really well. I am still really busy and trying to put all of my various projects into action. Work with my Neighborhood Health Committees is going well. I just trained my second group and have a third in December. Im also working on various other trainings and workshops including Soya cooking/Nutrition, Anti-Aids clubs & HIV education, and a preschool project. I've been able to attend some cultural events including the big Bemba festival last month. President Mwanawasa helicoptered in and gave a speech among the traditional dances and performances. Each tribe in Zambia has a traditional festival once a year and I was excited to be able to go. Zambia is so rich with song and dance. It is remarkable to see the little ones and the elders shake and twist to the drums.
As I experience more and more here I continually learn about the nuances of the Bemba culture. The Bembas are the largest tribe in Zambia and the language is the most widely spoken of the 74 here. They are known for their sense of humor, strange cuisine (monkeys, caterpillars, and termites among other things), and tribal unity. One interesting thing I just learned about is when a woman is menstruating she will place a red bead on the bed to let her husband know it's that time of the month. He will take it and put in on the table and when she is finished she will replace it with a white bead meaning she is pure again. The women here are something else. They are tough as nails and I often see them in the fields working, carrying 20 liter water jugs on their heads with a child on one hand and another on their backs. They never stop working. It often takes hours to prepare food considering they go collect it in the bush, pound and cut, gather firewood, fetch water, and then begin cooking. It has been such an enriching experience to witness, and take part in.
The rains are coming and my roof is a bit leaky. My villagers have been gathering grass to re-thatch my roof for months (they take really good care of me). The nightly lightning and thunder storms have been a refreshing change from the dry heat of October, however I'm nervous to see what the full power of the rain brings. My villagers have been warning me about the snakes because they tend to seek dry warm places during the rains. A few nights ago I arrived home after dark and opened my storage room (across from my hut) to put my bike in and I heard some rustling. I figured it was the mouse who has made a home there. I flashed my light in the back corner and next to my spare bike tube (which has startled me before with its long black shape) was a long black tail. I stood there in shock for a good 10 seconds before it registered what it was. "wait a second...this tube has a TAIL" It moved and I screamed, bolted out of the room, and stood hyperventilating for a few minutes before I ran to my neighbor who came with his 6 kids (all carrying sticks) to save the day. Turns out it was a 30 inch black cobra who was probably seeking shelter and following the mouse. I was hysterical for a few hours, but then I composed myself and was able to relax. I was pretty proud considering my paralyzing fear. I only had nightmares for the next 2 nights and vowed to get a cat which i'm working on. Ohh life in a mud hut!
I am looking forward for the land to turn green and for my farmers to start cultivating. Most of my village is having a rough start to planting season because the Government decided to cut way back on fertilizer subsidies this year and failed to tell anyone in advance. A lot of my villagers requested 10-12 bags and only received 2 . People are in quite a flurry about it considering the bags run about 120,000 kwacha and they usually get them at 50-60,000 through the gov. People didn't have time or the information to budget for the cut back so they will be suffering next year when harvest comes. Fertilizer is a make or break asset to a farmer here in Zambia.
I'm really happy here and loving Zambia and the village. I can't express how lucky I feel to be here and how much I appreciate your support, letters and packages...Ok I'll try to update again soon.
MUCH LOVE...lisa

Greetings from Zambia. I apologize for my sparse correspondencelately, things have really been busy. Work is coming along ratherwell and I finally feel like I am getting the hang of the way thingswork here. I didn't realize it would take me 6 months to becomfortable with the work infrastructure in the village. I took theavailability of information and the basic organization of the statesfor granted. It seems like you can find out almost anything with thestroke of a computer key or a phone call, but here you can askquestions till your blue in the face and receive ten different answersand you wont find what your looking for until you have been around fora while. I understand now why this is a 2 year commitment. It ishard to become familiar enough with the system to work or changeanything in a shorter amount of time.

The work opportunities are vast here, especially in the health field,and it was overwhelming for a while to decide what to focus on. Itseems like every one of the 6 health thrusts (malaria, tb, hiv/aids,integrated reproductive health, child health/nutrition, andwater/sanitation) is a problem in the village and there are so manyprojects to undertake. After realizing that 33% of my areas childrenunder 5 years old are underweight, I decided to focus on child healthand nutrition. I asked all of my NHC's to form nutrition clubs intheir zone to support underweight children and mentor their parents onnutrition. I told them I would train both the NHC and Nutrition clubtogether on the health thrusts. Trainings are a big part of myproject and provide knowledge and guidance to NHC's and various clubs. A lot of the time people are a part of a club, but don't have theresources or information to make the club thrive. Some of my longtime NHC (Neighborhood Health Committee) members didn't even know whatan NHC was, or what their roles and responsibilities were.

My zones were excited about the project and one had a communitymeeting the next week, formed their nutrition club and we had a 6 daytraining the first week of September. I had to pull it together injust 2 weeks, but I had help from one of my counterparts in a near byvillage and a peer educator I met in Kasama, and the training wentreally well. It was 4 hours a day in the Kasonde Mwamba (7.5 k pastmy village of Mwamba) Catholic Church. It was an incredibleexperience and I enjoyed teaching very much. The 12 members of the NHCand the 12 Nutrition Club members showed up every day with the pensand paper I gave them and were excited to learn. My goal is to have each NHC participate in the next training so thatwith each zone that is trained, I am doing less and less facilitation. It is vital to have the club members become confident in spreadinginformation so that the health education will thrive when the PeaceCorps leaves the area. Sustainability is key.

The first training got the area moving and I've had multiple requestsfor trainings. I am planning another one for the second week ofOctober, which is the height of hot season and will probably be achallenge. I am missing the cool evening air. The days have becomequite uncomfortable and I have had to make multiple trips a day to thewell to keep my garden alive. I have tomatoes, onions, and cabbageoutside of my hut, and it's glorious to see my own produce sprout andgrow. I waited for weeks for my cabbage to grow in the middle of thegreen leaves that were sprouting and I thought it was strange that theballs in the middle weren't forming. I just figured cabbage took awhile until one of my neighbors asked why I wasn't eating it one dayand I realized it was Chinese cabbage. Here I was waiting for theround cabbage I was use to to form as my edible cabbage was dying. Iguess I have a long way to go in my gardening career. I willdefinitely not confuse my tomatoes…that's for sure!

During the dry season (April-November) the people of Zambialiterally burn the entire country. Instead of slashing the tallgrasses that grow around the bush, they simply light it on fire andevery night I see an orange glow in the distance as the fire rages.It's incredible that a country that is 95% flammable is set ablaze andamazingly kept under control. I still don't know the trick. One dayI looked out my window and saw the 15 foot flames a few yards from mystorage hut and prayed it wouldn't spread to my thatched roof. I'mjust waiting to come home one day and find my hut burnt down, butIt's still standing so far. The bush is beautiful right now, thehillsides are covered with turning trees, from green to red, to orangeand then brown. It's nothing like autumn in the states, but it's niceto see some color in the mass of green and brown.

I hope to get more pictures out to people and up on the blog, butI've had some unfortunate luck with my camera. The lens broke at theend of training and after sending it back to the states, paying tohave it fixed, and transporting it back with some visitors to Zambia,it was stolen out of their luggage. I am hoping to get a replacementsoon. Theft has been my biggest problem so far in Africa. I had mywallet stolen at a busy market in Lusaka and a few small items takenfrom my hut (soap, laundry line, ect). But overall I feel really safehere. My community is very protective of me, and if there is ever aproblem, the village Headmen and Chief get involved right away.Zambians have a very jovial in nature and peaceful spirits. It seemslike people know my name everywhere I go and I almost feel too welcomeat times. My favorite thing is to hear the kids shouting at me as Iride my bike on the dirt trails, "muli shani ba Lisa!" (how are youLisa), or "mulya kwisa ba Lisa?" (where are you going Lisa?).

I started to give English lessons to one of my counter parts, who isalready quite competent, but wants to polish his grammar andvocabulary. Good thing spelling isn't involved or we'd be in trouble. I found myself at a bit of a loss trying to dig into the vault ofthose jr high English classes. I think it will be a good opportunityto practice Bemba as well. We were doing sentence diagrams and aftermy example I asked him to give me a sentence. He thought and said"Lisa is very fat." I laughed for a good minute and he lookedconfused. I explained that though that is a compliment here (Ihope), it is quite taboo to call a girl, or anyone for that matter,fat in the states. I thought it was the greatest sentence he could'vesaid and it made me smile. In a country where food is scarce, havingenough to put some skin on your bones is a sign of prestige. If onlythey knew how obsessed Americans are with staying thin. What a world.

Overall I am feeling a lot more confident in my ability to access mysituation and create sustainable change in my area. I really love myvillage and am becoming attached to the people I work with every day.My Bemba is still lacking and It is one of my main frustrations, butluckily there is at least one person in each club or group I work withthat can translate for me. I hope to dedicate more time to learningvocab and hopefully it will start to click. For now, I am stillpainfully incompetent. I still long for home, friends, and family. Ialways feel a boost of confidence knowing that all of your thoughts,letters, and sentiments are coming my way. I am learning so much fromthis experience. My life will forever be changed by Zambia and I amthankful every day for this roller coaster I am riding. The ride goeson….until next time! lisa