GLOW club love

Today I had a meeting with my GLOW club that was especially inspiring and great. The topic of the day may not really seem like an odd trigger for me to feel so good about the club, but hopefully I will explain it well enough. I had asked the girls what they wanted to learn about in the club and one of the first things they said was “condoms”. So today, I went to the school with my wooden penis (something given to all volunteers during our PEPFAR/AIDS training) prepared for an awkward session. In the states, I would never have imagined myself able to lead such a frank and open discussion about sex and condoms with grade 9 girls. It is still a bit jarring for me to think that these 12-15 year old girls have probably already experienced some sort of sexual encounter, but I have to be able to move past this and accept the fact that it is happening. The best I can do at this point is just try to equip these girls with the necessary information for them to stay safe… Anyways, of course my teacher counterpart was absent, so not only was I teaching teenage girls about condoms, but I was doing it on my own, struggling to come up with any Bemba translation for a number of words related to condoms. Luckily, one of the girls who had attended the camp was at the meeting and had learned about condoms at the camp. While she was hesitant to help display the process, she was a trooper and helped me translate to the group. There was lots of giggling and pointing, but overall the lesson went well. I’m not sure all of the girls entirely grasped everything I was saying, but I put it out there and did my best. As with any meeting I hold at the school in a classroom, the windows were crawling with little children peeking through trying to see what the white woman is doing. Thankfully the older girls chase these younger students away with a stick, relieving me from this entertaining yet dangerous task. Now, to the reason this particular meeting made me feel inspiried… After we finished all the condom business, the girls wanted to sing some songs. The two who had attended the camp have taught the rest of the girls all of the campy songs that they learned at camp. While their versions are a bit different than the ones we taught them, they do a great job leading the group. One of the songs they all particularly enjoy is more of a skit. The girls stand in a circle, and one stays in the middle to act as a “Sugar Daddy”. One girl leads a sing and repeat song that goes, “we are women, we are strong, we help each other carry on”. Once the repetition is complete, the “sugar daddy” stops at a girl in the circle and involves them in a dialogue and tries to entice the girl with phones, money, cars, and trips to America. The girl in the circle vehemently turns the sugar daddy down, so the girls continue singing the song while the sugar daddy finds his next victim. Again, each girl the sugar daddy approaches turns him down so at the end he says “you don’t want my money?” and the girls reply in unison “We don’t want”, the sugar daddy says “you don’t’ want my cars?” and the girls say “We don’t want!”, and the sugar daddy concludes with “you don’t want any of my things? Why?” and the girls say ,because ‘we are women, we are strong…” so on and so forth. The girls always fight over who gets the play the sugar daddy and will repeat this whole drama about 4 times, or until an adult (me) stops them. They really do seem to enjoy the club , which makes me feel great.
With my Close of service rapidly approaching, I have been struggling with defining my service to myself. I feel like I haven’t done enough, that I didn’t really achieve any development here, and that people may not remember my contributions to the community. The feelings of guilt that I have are overwhelming and it’s quite frustrating. However, seeing this club in action makes me feel a lot better about my service. At least the four girls who attended the two different camps have been impacted in a big way. The girls who are now a part of the club seem to be benefitting from the club veteran’s guidance and the actual presence of the club. It seems as though there is a trickle down effect of the empowerment that we hope to instill in the girls at the camp reaching the girls in the club now. Who knows if any of them will remember me, but hopefully they will remember some of the lessons we are incorporating into the club.

CHIPOOPOLO

Yesterday evening, the Zambian national soccer team won the African Cup of Nations. Chipolopolo (the nick name of the team meaning "copper bullet"), was not expected to get this far in the tournament and was thought of as the underdog. However, they played incredibly in every game- especially the final versus Ivory Coast yesterday. I happen to be in the capitol right now doing my final medical checkups and helping out with a diversity panel for the new trainees. So a few friends and I tried to go out to a pub to watch the game. However, apparently showing up an hour early wasn't early enough because the bar was already at capacity and no one was being let in. Luckily we had just met a nice South African man who let us watch the game at a friends house. It was a bit bizarre being in a person's house we had just met that evening, but we had a great time. The two teams were very evenly matched and ended the first 90 minutes in a tie at nil. The overtime came and went without a score, and they were therefore put into a shootout situation. After 5 shots each, the two teams were still tied, so sudden death came next. Ivory Coast missed their 3rd shot and Zambia made theirs, so we won! It was quite the nail biter, and it took all of us a bit of time to calm down from the stress of it! The best part of the night was standing outside moments after the final shot and hearing the entire city erupt in noise. We were in a residential neighborhood, but it sounded like we were in an arena from the roar of the crowds. Since Wednesday when Zambia won the semi-final match, people have been draping Zambian flags and chitenges over their cars and persons. The national pride that I've seen here is absolutely incredible and inspiring. Going out to the mall yesterday we saw entire families in Zambian chitenge outfits- just the cutest thing. People had their faces painted and drove around with people hanging out the windows, and horns blaring. Because the team was such an underdog in the tournament, the excitement was even more intense. Right now there is a French coach who has really brought the team to the level that it's at now. Back in 1993 on their way to the World Cup qualifying match in Senegal, 18 Zambian players and most of their coaches died in a plane crash. Since then, the team has been rebuilding, but this win has been dedicated to that 1993 team. I am indescribably proud of Zambia, it's team, and it's people for the pride and dignity with which they have won this title.


I've been in the capitol for almost a week now. I've actually never spent this much time here without a jam-packed Peace Corps schedule. I sat on the "diversity panel" as a non-christian for the new LIFE intake on Saturday. It was interesting to see all these fresh faces straight from America, so filled with hope and excitement for the beginning of their 2 year adventure. As with anything, as I approach the end of my tenure here, I am starting to think a lot about the beginning. I have such a horrible memory, and it's sad because I've forgotten so much about the beginning. In fact I think I lost a lot of the photos I took during training - which is a whole other story, but sad in itself. Anyways- I'm also here to go through 2 days of medical "exams" for my Close of Service.Essentially, they want to make sure that I don't go back to America with any parasites or other horrific diseases... Here's to hoping for the best!

I'm beginning to plan my final trips here in Africa which has been an adventure in itself. One of my closest friends, Kate, who I went to Augie with has recently sworn in as a PCV in Cameroon. She is going to fly down to Zambia in April once I'm finished here. I want to show her Victoria Falls down in Livingstone, and do all the touristy things down there like safari, and white water rafting. I also want her to see my village for a bit so we'll head up there and hang out. Luckily the volunteer who is going to replace me won't be quite moved in yet so we'll still be able to stay in my hut (SO weird to think about someone else living in my hut!). Then we're going to take the train from Mpika to Dar es Salam. I'm super excited about this train ride because I LOVE trains, and the scenery through Tanzania is supposed to be beautiful. From Dar, we'll take a ferry to the island of Zanzibar which is big in spice trading and beautiful sandy beaches. The original plan included me travelling back to Cameroon with Kate from Dar. Unfortunately though the travel logistics of me getting to Cameroon are turning out to be hellacious. You need a visa to travel to Cameroon and you need it in your passport before you arrive. However there is no Cameroonian embassy in Zambia which means I can't get a visa. We've tried getting PC Zambia, South Africa, and Cameroon to help - but the process would take over a month and at this point it's just too close for comfort. So it looks like Kate will be heading back to Cameroon solo and I'll go straight to America from Dar. I'm really bummed I won't be able to see her site because her situation sounds so much different from mine. She is a health volunteer in an anglophone part of Cameroon and while she has only been at site for a few months she has already helped to deliver two babies! She lives in an apartment type building and has running water and electricity for a few hours a day. Because Peace Corps Zambia has been my life for so long now, it's hard to imagine a Peace Corps experience like hers. I love visiting volunteers here in country, and it would just be so cool to see what a volunteer's life is like in a West African country. The good news is, because of the timing, I now may be able to make it to my Aunt Mary's 70th birthday celebration in Savannah, Georgia.

I've included the link to my Dad's Avon breast cancer walk page. He is raising money to walk in the marathon and a half in Chicago in support of research and awareness for breast cancer. This is the third time that my Dad is doing this walk, and he's 64 years old. I'm 24 and I don't think I could walk a marathon and a half over two days. He is an endless source of inspiration for me, my brother, and my mom, and we are so proud of him. Please, try to help him out by donating whatever you can. Every little bit helps, and he is working incredibly hard right now training for this feat. If an old farm boy can walk a marathon and a half, you can spare a few bucks to help him out.

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR?px=3845908&pg=personal&fr_id=2171&et=T3yLZc-04rhpVPEXhivlhw&s_tafId=553691

While nothing significant has happened to me as of late, I just thought I would put a few thoughts out here that might be of interest to some... First, I went up to visit a friend of mine in Mbala. She lives about 380 km north me, just near the Tanzanian border. While she only lives 12 km from the Mbala town- the bike ride to her site takes about an hour and a half because of the rolling hills and rough terrain. Needless to say she doesn't get a great deal of visitors. She has a beautiful home and a wonderful family that stays just near her. She is a fish farming volunteer so I got to see a couple of her ponds that looked really good and I was incredibly impressed by. As I only have a few months left, I was glad to get a chance to see another friend's site. We put so much effort into making our lives manageable here, it is such a special treat when we can have a friend visit. Our villages are our homes and the people who live around us are our family. While Peace Corps Volunteers are also our family, the villagers are the people we spend the most time with, and we are always telling stories about these folks to our friends. Therefore it's nice to put a face to a name that you hear about from other PCVs. A note on Zambian culture: As a white person in the village, I stick out a lot. Most everyone knows who I am, and I am treated as a bwana (rich person). Therefore, wherever I go in the village, I am given the penultimate symbol of respect: the chair. If I attempt to sit on the ground with everyone else, I am usually chastized until I sit on whatever chair they have brought out for me. This may be simply a plank of wood that is about 3 inches off of the ground, or it might be a plastic sack filled with grass, or it may be a village stool that my butt barely just fits on, or it could be an actual finely made chair. It is incredibly embarrassing how much people will fall over themselves to give me a chair when I am usually perfectly content sitting on the ground. As I do stand out in a crowd here, I feel much better trying to fit in and be among the people rather than being separated. Similarly, whenever there is a large group eating nshima, I am always forced to eat INSIDE with the leaders of the meeting or the most affluent of the group. This frustrates me beyond belief. First of all, it is usually stifling hot inside any home which makes eating uncomfortable. Secondly, like I mentioned, I do not like being set apart from the villagers and them forcing me to eat with people they put above themselves. While this bwana group of people usually gets to eat first and their meal includes the best of the relishes, I would much rather be sitting outside on a reed mat eating with mayos than with people from town who act like they are better than the villagers. I usually bike with my ipod on my arm... Most people think that I am biking around with a solar panel on my arm... There are usually around 3-7 churches in one village. In every village, the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness churches are by far the nicest ones. Throughout the country, these churches are almost identical. They're all made out of really nice brick, have tin rooves, and usually a very manicured yard area. I have to admit that I know little to nothing about the Jehovah's Witness church, but I have to assume that the churches here get their funding from the states to build these really nice Kingdom Halls. Rainy season is in full swing right now. This means it rained almost everyday in my village for two weeks. The rain usually comes in the afternoon and will last through the night until morning. Therefore if I wake up and there is any semblance of a sun outside, then I will hurriedly wash my clothes. It is not uncommon for my laundry to be wet for three days because there is no sun, and everything is just damp. I can't even begin to explain how disgusting and frustrating it is for clothes not to dry! With the rain also comes the end of all meetings. If there is a meeting or gathering scheduled of any kind, and it is raining, then it is automatically assumed the meeting is cancelled. Similarly, children and teachers do not go to school if it is raining- even if they live right next to the school. Therefore, unfortunately I spend a lot of my time sitting in my hut and reading during rainy season. I just finished "The Grapes of Wrath" recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had never read the book in it's entirety before, and as I always am with John Steinbeck, I was enthralled. A lot of the sentiments characters in the book were expressing about their America in peril seem to apply to today. "Where is this country going?" It's sad, but something that a lot of people seem to be thinking about lately. I am going to miss the kids in my village (my kids) so incredibly much when I leave. Lately, when they are over at my house, I will tell them that I am going to miss them so much when I go to America (Nkaya ku America pa April, na nkafuluka sana!). Usually they give me a blank stare and as I walk away they'll mock my Bemba. I would be lying if I said this didn't make me sad. I hope they'll miss and remember me. I've given them enough candy to give them multiple cavities, so at least they may remember me that way ;o).

COS Conference

New Years eve was spent in the village. I decided I wanted to see what a major holiday is like in rural Zambia. I spent most of the day baking bread, banana bread, and brownies for my family. I cooked soya mince as a relish, and they prepared chicken for our supper. It was a lot of fun just sitting together and talking about what people do on New Years Even in Zambia (drink and go to church). The father from my family, Phillip, was going to go to church with his sister and a few of our other neighbors at around 19 and apparently stay until 6am. I gave him my headlamp after dinner and away he went in his nicest suit, in the dark, to pray at church for a good new year and thank God for the past year. I stayed with Poulin and the kids and handed out glow stick bracelts which they all found very entertaining. Earlier in the evening, Phillip had approached me with a piece of Hanukkah gelt I had given to the family in a Christmas parcel, and asked me if it was real money. He was quite concerned that I was giving him some sort of coin money that he didn't know how to use or where. Everyone thought it was quite funny when I showed him it was just some bad chocolate. The rest of new years eve went pretty badly as I spent the night vomitting and being sick in a myriad of other ways. While it was unpleasant and probably the sickest I have ever been in my life, it was definitely memorable. I was picked up by Peace Corps the next morning and taken to the central province house. Because of logistics and fuel costs and whatnot, they were unable to get me down to Lusaka until the 2nd of January. I saw the Peace Corps medical officer and he gave me some medicine, but by that time I was mostly feeling better. We determined it was some sort of food poisoning. It took a few days for me to get an appetite back, but I wasn't worried about losing that! Luckily, I had to be in Lusaka on the 3rd for the beginning of my intake's Close of Service (COS) Conference. Getting sick turned out to be a blessing in disguise since I would have othrwise had to find my own transport down to the capitol. We all stayed a guest houst together on the 3rd and then had administrative meetings the next day. The purpose of this conference is to prepare us for when we leave the country in April. We talked to a career panel of RPCV's (Returned PCVs) who all work in Lusaka which was pretty interesting. On the 4th, they took us to a really nice hotel outside of Lusaka in the bush. I'm now sitting in a gorgeous chalet with air conditioning, a beautiful bathtub, and huge down comforters and pillows. They bring us here as sort of a treat and it's been wonderful. The food is fantastic, there's a pool, and the best part is getting to hang out with everyone. We've had meetings that deal with learning how to market our Peace Corps service, writing a resume, dealing with leaving the village, etc. Last night, we had a nice candle-lighting ceremony where each of us was given another member of our group and we had to talk about them. It was really emotional for a lot of people, and it has been a really good time for reflection. I was put in charge yet again of another side show so I tried to condence 2 years of photos from a bunch of us into 15 minutes. It didn't turn out being too difficult and I think everyone enjoyed the show. I've been having so much fun here, it's just now starting to process what is actually happening. My roommate is sleeping, it's early in the morning, and I'm getting incredibly sad at the thought of leaving this place. Zambia is my home right now, and noone likes to leave home. These people are my family right now, and leaving family is like leaving a part of yourself.

Merry Christmas to all! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday this year. My Christmas was fantastic! I spent the 23rd-26th at Mutinondo- a privately owned piece of land that is used for camping and tourist visits. It’s about 80 km south of Mpika and about 30 km into the bush (east). The couple that owns it is elderly and really quite friendly. They acquired the 10,000 hectares of land back around 1995 when an American wanting the same piece of land backed out of the deal with the local chiefs. Mike and Lari are white, and Lari was born in Zambia (both have English families). The land is incredible out there- huge rolling mountains that look like the backs of animals who have fallen asleep . The Mutinondo river runs through the area and has a bunch of waterfalls alon the way. The ten of us who went hitched or took cabs to the turnoff and then got picked up by Mike. The drive after turning off of the tarmac took about an hour so it’s a wonder that they found this area. Mike told us that when they were first deciding if they wanted to go ahead and take the land, they would just walk for days in different directions and take in the scenery. There were no villages in this area when they first started up and it was very important to them not to have to relocate anyone. Incredible to think that these people may have been some of the first people to walk around there in hundreds of years. The campsites there were really nice- with hot showers, nice sinks, mirrors, cooking and storage areas, picnic tables, and drop toilets that had an eye level window cut out so you had a view whiles doing your business. I don’t really think of myself as a camper and I think the reason why is because of campsites that are UNLIKE Mutinondo. It’s so frustrating to go camping here and not have a place to sit or a firepit to cook in. I know that sounds pretty hoity toity and stuck up, but I feel like I’ve pretty much been camping for the last two years in my hut. I don’t really feel the need to go somewhere else and sleep in a tent only to have to sit on the ground, search for water, and not bathe… ANYWAYS- this was a great place to camp out. We actually got to set our tents up in this huge insaka so in case it rained, we would be protected. We went hiking up a huge mountain on the first day and took in some really beautiful views. We also went horseback riding and swimming in waterfalls. In fact one of the waterfalls had such a gentle slope down, we slid down the drop and got to jump in these incredibly deep holes set in the waterfall. For Christmas dinner, we ate at the lodge with some of the other guests (white Namibians and South Africans staying in the chalets). There was ham, turkey, potatoes, vegetables (BROCCOLI!!!), and 3 different Christmas desserts, and of course lots of wine. The dining room was all lit by candles and lanterns and definitely created a very festive Christmas atmosphere. It was indescribably odd jumping down waterfalls and getting sunburned on Christmas day, but so much fun. I couldn’t have asked for a better holiday. They day after returning home after my nice little holiday, I went to my first Zambian wedding. I wasn’t exactly invited, but my counterpart was and had asked the families if it was okay for me to tag along. When the day came however, my counterpart was too sick to bike the 25 km to the wedding. I figured I just wouldn’t go since I didn’t really know anyone else who was going and would try to find another one to go to before I leave the village. But no no no… Lawrence, bless him, wanted me to go so badly that he called the father of the groom (the Catachist at the Catholic church, so I kind of know him) and told him to expect me and make sure that I got a good seat. Oy vey. So I biked the 25 k myself and arrived at the school where the ceremony was to take place. People of course know about me, but I just kind of stood under a tree and waited for something to happen. Eventually a group of women invited me over to sit with them which was very kind. People were bringing all of the desks from the school outside into a shady area and it turned out we were waiting for a priest from town to show up to officiate the ceremony. Two hours later, he rolls up and things start to get underway. A local bwana teacher drove the bride and groom into the school yard honking his horn and driving like a crazy person. Surprisingly, the bride was wearing a big white dress and veil and the groom had a nice suit. Because the groom is a teacher and his father is a catechist, this was a more fancy wedding than most are in the village. Essentially the ceremony was a mass including the Eucharist which was something I’ve never seen in Zambia so far. The couple never smiled once and there was no kiss, but there was some slight pinkie holding. A church choir sang a lot of songs and there was the odd mayo getting up a dancing a bit. The ceremony lasted about two hours so by this time it was getting to be late afternoon and I had a long bike ride ahead of me. I decided to skip out on the reception and just head home. I know I missed out on the fun part, but hopefully there may be one more wedding in the village before I leave. Everyone LOVES weddings here and just say it’s a big drunken dance party, so I’d really like to see what that’s all about. It is really good to be back in the village for practically a whole week finally! I was going to be heading up north almost immediately after Christmas but decided to stick around for a bit. I just can’t stand transport here and hate packing up and leaving the village all the time. I have to be in Lusaka on the 3rd, so I’d rather not be there any longer than necessary. My garden is growing slowly but surely. We haven’t had much rain at all so far, so things are kind of precarious. The villagers are especially worried since they have planted all of their crops already. I’m hoping we get some substantial rains soon because I know that my house is leaking, but I’m not sure where. I haven’t been in the house during a strong rain yet this year, and I’d like to try to fix the leaks if possible. I don't think Ill be able to post before the New Year so I'd like to give my new years greetings now. I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe New Year. My thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of those volunteers in Mozambique who have experienced a tragic loss. 2012 will be a year of new beginnings for myself and I can't wait to see what new adventures life has in store for me. I have been so incredibly blessed with this amazing life, and I pray that I continue to experience new and exciting things and meet more great people.

Turkey , Bats & GLOW

Thanksgiving was really quite lovely this year as the 40 volunteers in Northern province celebrated together at our provincial house in Kasama. Because we are so many these days, some of us had to stay at a nearby guest house. We had meetings beginning on Tuesday, and ended up cooking through about 3 days to get ready for Turkey day. We had two turkeys, five chickens, and most of the regular fixings. After this nice weekend, I headed south to Central province. The plan was to meet up with two guys from my intake so we could go to Kasanka National park and see the bat migration there. One of my good friends Bart was pretty sick though so we ended up staying at the Central provincial house in Serenje for two nights. We then hitched about 80km north to get to the national park entrance. Kasanka was the first privately run national park in Zambia, so the managers came and picked us up at the entrance. We camped out one night and got to see about 5 million bats at dusk. These tan fruit bats migrate here beginning in October to feed on the fruit trees here (mostly a bush tree fruit called amasuku). They come from as far away as equatorial Africa, but mostly originate in the DRC. At dusk they head out up to 50km away to feed on the trees. I read somewhere that where they roost, the weight of all of the bats on one tree can be the same as about two elephants! It was really quite a site as the bats came out of a line of trees about 200 meters from where we were allowed to stand. Looking up, I saw more bats than sky. Incredible. I have to admit I was a bit nervous we might be victims to the bat’s waste, but luckily none of us were hit. The park also offered an early morning viewing of the bats, but due to time and money we weren’t able to participate (in fact, the three of us that travelled there together had greatly underestimated the costs we would incur at the park—mostly the transport throughout the park, and barely had enough to pay when we left). However, as we were being driven back to our campsite after seeing the bats at dusk we saw the small herd of elephants that stay in the park. There were about 11 off to our right and one just ahead of our vehicle. The driver stopped and revved his engine to apparently scare the young elephant away. It trotted off a bit, but then stopped when it was behind our vehicle and started to charge after us! The driver floored it, and we sped away as the elephant eventually gave up its chase. It was a really exciting experience. How many people can say they were chased by an elephant! I got extremely lucky hitching the 300km home by myself as I got picked up by a super bwana (fancy) lift. It’s times like these, when people selflessly pick dirty white people up on the side of the road and drive them long distances for free, that my faith in humanity is restored. In the second week of December, I completed my 7th and final application to Graduate School. It really has been quite a process trying to work out all these applications here. It seems like back in the day when I was applying to undergraduate, things were a lot more simple and streamlined. Everything is online now, down to ordering copies of my transcript, and GRE scores, and the letters of recommendations that I needed from professors and bosses. With limited internet access up at our provincial house, I had to do a lot of the applications in waves. Most of the programs I applied to are ‘International Relations/Studies/Development. I do have two oddballs in there (A Masters in Community Planning and a MA in Cross Cultural and International Education), so we’ll see what happens. None of the schools are in Illinois, so it will really come down to cost when I have to make a decision. I’m really indecisive, so I’m not especially looking forward to making this choice. During the second week in December, I participated in my second Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). The nine of us volunteers who stay in Mpika all brought two girls and one teacher from our community to Lwitikila Girl’s School. It’s a beautiful private, Christian boarding school near the Mpika town. We used this venue last year and had such a great time. This year, we decided to invite the teachers for only one day of sessions, while the girls stayed the entire week. Last year we had problems with the teachers asking for ‘sitting fees’ (money like per diem that is usually paid to them here in the Zambian culture when they go to workshops or other meetings through the Ministry of Education), as they were staying the entire week. Dealing with teachers here can be quite difficult as they feel they are not a part of the village (even though they live in the village). Since they are usually the most educated people in the community, they will sometimes have a sense of entitlement. Plus, since the government always pays them these ‘sitting fee’s, they can’t seem to understand why Peace Corps has a strict policy of NOT paying sitting fees. To be fair, last year their room and board were all covered, and we gave them a thank you gift as well. So instead of dealing with the awkwardness of unhappy teachers, we had them come on a Sunday and leave on a Tuesday this year. Since the month of December is their break month, they want to be with their family, which is understandable. Plus, the reason we bring them to begin with is to teach them how to run a GLOW club back at their school. To be honest, they really don’t need a week of lessons to learn this. This change this year went really well, and I think it will be a permanent change for future years. The purpose of the camp for the girls is to teach them about female empowerment and talk about issues that they may not get to discuss at home. It’s often the first time some of these girls get to leave their village, and you can tell they are just thrilled. We teach them goofy camp songs, play team building games, lead them in craft activities, and even take them swimming at Lwitikila Falls (again a first for a lot of the girls). The educational sessions have topics like assertiveness, confidence, motivation, rape/sexual abuse, business skills, the female body, and goal setting. We even had VCT services available for them and all 18 of the girls participated and were tested for HIV. I asked one of the girls I brought (a nearby neighbor of mine) if she was missing home at all , and without a beat she said , “Nope”. I think all of the girls had a great time. I feel like this has been one of the most influential programs I have been able to participate in here, and am so glad I’ve been able to do it twice now. All of the funds that we had were donated by friends and family at home, and I can’t thank everyone enough. If you donated, you really made a difference in 18 girls’ lives. I think this is an experience in their life that they will never forget. Now I’m celebrating Haunkkah in the village. Two of my friends came over on the first night and we made both homemade and boxed latkes (courtesy of my Aunt Cassie in America). It was really nice to have people to celebrate with. I remember last year lighting the candles alone in my hut and crying thinking that I had a whole other holiday season to get through by myself. This year, I keep thinking that this is the last ____ (fill in the blank) I’ll have here in Zambia, and that makes me want to cry a little. So strange how much my feelings about this place have changed. I’m heading to Mutinondo today- a wildlife park about 80 km south of Mpika town- with 9 other volunteers. We’ll stay through Christmas, and I’ll head home on the 26th. The first day of 2012, will be spent heading down to Lusaka for our Close of Service (COS) Conference. Everyone from my intake will go to the capitol for medical appointments and meetings meant to prepare us for the end of our service and transition back to America. The nice part is Peace Corps puts us up in a fancy resort for two days as a treat. I’m really looking forward to this and to seeing all of my old friends for one of the last times.

Thanksgiving 2011

I now have my third bed of service. While it proved a bit difficult to get the mattress and bed to my site for Peace Corps staff, they are both brand new. It’s so much smaller than my last bed, I feel like I have significantly more space in my house. I can’t really do much with it as it’s in my bedroom, but it’s nice. Hopefully this new furniture will now eliminate the insect problem that I had been having of late. Who knows if the bed or mattress were really the problem to begin with, but at least it’s a solution other than moving. Keeping fingers crossed. Currently , I am up at our provincial house for what we call provs. This is a series of meetings where all of the 41 volunteers in Northern Province come together once every six months to talk about house issues and other Peace Corps administrative news. We have a member of the administration travel from Lusaka to be with us and update us on any new policies, developments, etc. Since we have so many people, and our house has a limited number of beds, some of us had to stay at a guest house around the corner. It just so happens that the November provs fall through Thanksgiving. It’s nice that our little family here is able to be all together and celebrate an American holiday that most Zambians have never heard of. I can't believe that a year ago, my parents were here with my celebrating Thanksgiving... Things were hectic trying to cook with a dinky electric stove, but we were really organized and shared all the duties well. We had a feast to rival most Thanksgiving dinners including two turkeys, 5 chickens, mashed potatoes, stuffing, applesauce (prepared by yours truly), green bean casserole, and salad, along with a plethora of desserts. It’s really nice to be able to have most of the traditional Thanksgiving foods even though I didn’t have my real family to share it with. Along with the meetings and cooking, we traditionally have a party to celebrate our togetherness. They are themed, much like many of the college parties I went to, and this year was no different. The theme was based around the alcoholic beverages here known as packets. They package different flavored liquor in plastic satchels a little bit bigger than a deck of cards. They are named things like double punch, fighter, leader, don’t kubeba, 500k, etc. I decided to dress like the ‘black panther’ packet and wear black, cat ears, and some whiskers. A good time was had by all. Back in the village, we’re gearing up for planting season which will come with the rains. While a lot of the country is already in the midst of rainy season, Luchembe is still fairly dry. Once it starts raining every day, the farmers will begin planting all of their crops. They’ll also do things like fix roofs as they want the grass to expand with the water and have a chance to settle with the rain. I’m anxiously awaiting these rains so I can plant my personal garden. I also am excited for two conservation farming plots I’m planning on helping with. My family and my counterpart will be employing various CF techniques like intercropping, pot holing maize planting, and incorporating agroforestry tree species into their fields. Hopefully they will do well, other villagers will take notice, and begin to use some of the ideas. I would just like to end by saying how very thankful I am for this experience I am having. I know I probably say this a lot, but sometimes I just have to sit back and look at my life in awe. Who in the world gets to do this? Live in an African village and try to help people. I’ve met some of the most amazing people here including Zambians and other volunteers. I am so thankful that the Peace Corps Zambia community has become my family here, especially those volunteers in Northern Province with me. We have such a great time when we’re together, and I am so very thankful that God has kept us safe and healthy. Here, in this place at this time, I am the happiest I have ever been. Of course there are days that seem like they’re the worst I’ve ever had, the good always outweighs the bad here. I am also thankful for my wonderful family back home. They have been such a rock of support for me for the past year and a half, I don’t know what I would do without them.