a bit about work and a bit about other stuff

So, a comment from AZ wants more about my job. Thought I gave a few examples of work related things but guess I should explain more about the Peace Corps program. PC Zambia has 9 weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST) before being officially sworn in as volunteers. Then we go to our sites and begin our 2 years of service with a 3 month community entry period. We’re supposed to get to know our area, our community and people there. Basically get to know people, let them get to know you, figure out how to live in rural Zambia and start trying to figure out how you’re going to work there, what kinds of things seem feasible and weeding out who’s actually interested in working with you from those who just want to be friends with the white girl. We’re not really expected to work much or start any projects, just get to know people and explain what it is we’re supposed to be doing. We’re also not really supposed to leave our villages during those 3 months, not supposed to leave our district except for 1 official provincial meeting, and no vacation or anything. The point is to try to integrate into the community, learn about the problems there, and about what the people’s needs and wants are, not just come in and start telling people what to do. So when I posted those last posts I had just finished that 3 month community entry period. I think I said but I was at In-Service Training (IST) also known as Reconnect because we get to reconnect with our training group that we haven’t seen for 3 months.

So now that I’ve been back at site for a few months I’m trying to get the ball rolling on some projects and trying to start planning things. But dealing with getting my house built is still eating more of my time than I would like. Not much happens quickly here-not house building, not arranging meetings, not starting or doing projects. And I think it would be a mistake to rush into a (big) project without planning. That’s one reason why I haven’t posted about my work-it’s just starting.

But things are moving.
I’ve taught short nutrition lessons at the Under 5 Clinics-baby weighing mostly but they/I “sensitize” the mothers on various health topics before the weighing starts. And sometimes the clinic staff comes (from 17km away) to do vaccinations and such.
So far I’ve been talking about trying to eat a balanced diet with all the food groups and how young children need to eat multiple times throughout the day. I hope to encourage gardening some through talking about nutrition, like that a way to have a variety of different foods for a balanced diet is to grow them, thereby also diversifying your crops. Then I also plan to talk about soybeans (referred to as soya here), about how nutritious they are, different things you can make from soya, and then encourage people to grow it so they have it for nutrition, to sell and to add in crop rotations for improving nitrogen in the soil.
I taught about and made a compost pile with the 8th and 9th grade agriculture science classes. When it’s finished rotting (and if we make more), we’ll be able to use it instead of fertilizer on the school garden, maize field and when we plant our tree seedlings in the field during rainy season.
Hopefully I’ll be starting a tree nursery with my school this week. We’ll plant some trees around the school boundary and for a windbreak. I’ll also plant a few of several different (leguminous) nitrogen fixing trees, at least to have examples of them to show people the different types and, hopefully, also show the benefit of soil improvement.
I’m helping the headmaster at my school come up with a basic business plan for the small shop he’s starting.
I hope to work with a few groups on beekeeping. It’s a good income generating activity because there’s a good market for both honey and wax, mostly just requires good management (though sometimes that’s easier said than done), and the few outside materials needed are fairly easily obtained from the forestry department or NGOs who also promote beekeeping and have expertise to offer. The forestry department will even come out to villages and purchase the unprocessed honey, avoiding the difficulty and cost of transport but not always giving beekeepers the best price.

So those are some examples of things I’m doing or hope to do. I’m still spending too much time trying to get my house finished (though it’s started now), so I’ll be glad when that’s finished.
Though they ran out of bricks and have to make more so who knows when it’ll be done. I’m fairly confident it’ll be done before rainy season though I’m afraid it’ll be down to the wire. I got frustrated with the whole process for a while, but I’m trying to go back to just being patient now.

Thanks for the packages everyone! It’s so nice to know people are thinking about me and sending me treats and useful things. You all (especially my mom) have been taking such good care of me with packages that really I get more excited about nice chatty or newsy letters than I do packages. Not that I’m asking you to stop sending packages, I just really love hearing from friends and family. I don’t always have enough cell phone battery or time in electricity to type emails, but if you write me a letter I’ll do my best to reply. That said, my request for granola bars is still standing. :)

Oh yeah, I went on vacation to Livingstone/Victoria Falls. I’ll just say that Vic Falls definitely deserves it’s place on the list of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. I’m also happy to report that Livingstone is a really nice place. That’s a bit of a relief to me since I anticipate going there quite a few times if all my potential visitors come and want me to accompany them to see Vic Falls. If you’ve looked up anything about Vic Falls maybe you’ve seen something or heard about Devil’s Pool. We walked out to swim in it. Don’t want to try to describe it, but it’s hands down the coolest thing I’ve ever done.

I have to say I really don’t like blogging, but I suppose my potential readers (=my parents) are in luck today as I’m sort of in the mood for it. I’m at the provincial house basically by myself enjoying electricity and a mental break from the village. But now I’ll try to do a little work to prepare for planting the school tree nursery.

Oh, the other thing I wanted to say is that if you’re looking for a way to support me, you can also support Peace Corps, my fellow volunteers and their communities by contributing to their projects. Volunteers and their communities can apply for a grant to be funded by you, our loving friends and families. I don’t have one myself as I’m still new, and don’t really plan on it, but it’s a possibility in the future if the community is motivated to do a worthwhile project. If you’re interested, check out the Peace Corps website and click on Donate to Volunteer Projects. You can look for projects in Zambia, or any that you think are worthwhile. My friends, Zambian and PCV, will thank you!

(I wanted to post pics but they won't upload. sorry sorry)