imyaka imo

one year

soooooo fast it was.

The new LIFE (the ag/forestry program, =my program) trainees arrived in country this week. they come on first site visit tomorrow, to see how we live. not to my village but to my friend's so i'm going for a few days, to meet some new kids and to help out. that's a lotta water gotta be fetched for baths for 5-6 people.

the year's gone so fast, i feel like i can still remember what it felt like to be new and see a village for the first time. just gotta remember to cut them LOTS of slack. i'm so used to everything now, gotta remember it's ALL new for them.

As for me.....
Really excited about the girls club at my school! It's called Girls Power. The girls chose the name. Lots of girls are coming every week and they seem really interested, both in the fun stuff (songs, games, a party later) and the serious stuff (we talked about "sugar daddies" last week, how maybe they give you money or a nice dress but they can also give you a baby or HIV). It's not as cool as my friend's girls club where the girls are actually leading it themselves, but still going really well so far.
Chongololo (my environment club) is ok. we didn't meet the first 3 weeks because the teacher i was depending on kept being busy or out. but last week we talked about bees and they seemed interested and asked lots of good questions, from 5th graders up to 9th.
I taught about recognizing and using your personal and local assets to a women's club. Showing them to look to themselves and their local community first instead of looking for outside assistance, when starting any project. Asset mapping we call it. I've done it with a few other womens groups and it's gone really well everytime. It's really simple, so it's easy to teach and understand, but also seems to have an impact. at least gets them excited and aware of all the resources they already have available to them, without anyone from my "donor country" giving them anything.

My community just started back up their "youth" club. In Zambia, "youth" goes up to age 35. I need to find out if there's anyone as young as even 20 or 21 in the club. kinda doubt it. but it's good nonetheless. since they're just starting, I think maybe they can benefit from me teaching/encouraging project planning. starting with the abovementioned asset mapping. encouraging them to think things through before diving in deep to a project that might crash and burn. setting themselves up for success. i hope. problem is they meet the same day as the girls club. youths at 14:00, girls at 15:00. so i told them if they actually start at 14:00 (a major feat really), i can come for an hour, but if they're late (as normal), too bad, i'll be leaving for girls club. The "youths" might want to do beekeeping. i hope so. it's something i now feel confident i can help with and that can actually make money without much labor.

Enjoying my new house! finally. i'll try to remember to take pictures. it's big, much cleaner, virtually rat free, and now decorated. even have a few zinnias blooming in pots out front. Blair's Guest House in Mambilima is ready for visitors! (one is coming in March! soooooooo pumped!)

I got an oven made in the village. It wasn't really what i asked for and it needs some modifications, but i baked mango bread and no-flour peanut butter cookies. Mango bread was delicious! I'm sure sad mango season is over already. loved it for sure. guava season is coming but i don't love them so much.
Women's groups and the youths want to learn about cooking and baking different things. yes, i made mango bread, but no, if you know me, i am NOT a cook. especially when anything i'd make involves ingredients not available where i am or to people in my community. it was kinda stressing me out trying to find time to first practice cooking/baking then collecting materials and going to teach it. i have some recipes using locally available stuff. so now i've decided just to copy them and give them to the women. they know how to cook and bake much better than me anyway. hopefully just give them some new ideas.

So i'm doing some other projects, but right now kind of focused on the clubs at my school. i like my regular schedule and (semi) reliability. I like having something set every week. gives me work but not overwhelming and it's predictable. of course, also predictable that it'll get cancelled for any number of reasons. but now i am used, as they say. when someone tells me they're going to do something or come somewhere, I say ok, good. but don't really believe it til i see it.

There. I blogged. New years resolution kept through february, at least.

Don't forget--I love letters and granola bars.