What We'll Be Doing in Zambia

We are very excited about our upcoming service and although there remain many curiosities about what the next 2.5 years will be like for us, we want to share with you what we know so far.  This is a longish post with good links to explore, so you might want to grab your cup of coffee and get comfy.  ;)


Country of Service: Zambia (sub-Saharan Africa)
Program: Rural Aquaculture Promotion (RAP)
Job Title: Rural Fish Culture Extension Agent
Staging: July 20-22, 2010 in Atlanta, GA
Pre-Service Training (in Zambia): July 22, 2010 - September 24, 2010
Dates of Service: July 22, 2010 - September 23, 2012


Zambia At-a-Glance: Zambia is a landlocked republic in sub-Saharan Africa. It's located in the tropics south of the equator and neighbored by Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola and DR Congo. Many visit Zambia for safari and to see Victoria Falls (i.e. there's amazing things to see if you come visit us). There are 3 seasons: hot-wet (Dec-Apr), cool-dry (May-Aug) and hot-dry (Sept-Nov).  English is the official language (although there are over 70 "tribal" languages spoken), and the majority religion is Christianity.  Life expectancy in Zambia is approximately 38 years and official estimates say 15% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS. 

This will be a completely new environment for Shaun and I, and we look forward to learning about Zambia's complexity, as well as why so many volunteers fall in love with the country.

Check out these links to learn more about Zambia:
Peace Corps Zambia Program page
The World Factbook- Zambia page


Overview of Our Living Conditions: We'll be living "at the village level" with neither electricity nor plumbing, but rather in earthen houses lighted by kerosene lamps and cooking over wood or charcoal.  Drinking/washing water may need to be carried from as far away as 20 minutes on foot.

I've learned from returned volunteers (RPCVs) that we'll find Internet access at the Peace Corps houses in the provincial capitals. The nearest to us may be a full day's journey away, so we'll likely only visit every 3-5 weeks. I aim to update the blog and share pictures whenever we make these visits.

Here are links to videos other Peace Corps-Zambia volunteers made, and I highly recommend checking them out.  I found these on YouTube and they've really helped us visualize life in Zambia.  Thank you to PCVs Carrie Pavlik, Travis Estes and Summer Moore for posting these!

ZaMovie Part 1 (by PCV Carrie Pavlik)
ZaMovie Part 2 (by PCV Carrie Pavlik)
Zambia Tour Peace Corps (by PCVs Travis Estes and Summer Moore)


Overview of Our Jobs and Working Conditions: The RAP program supports Zambia's Dept. of Fisheries improvement of rural livelihoods by promoting "integrated aquaculture" as a small farm business that provides farmers income, nutrition and food security. As RAP agents, Shaun and I will be working with Zambian fish farmers and our primary duties will be to help communities:

a-  build and manage their own aquaculture systems
b- operate these as small enterprises
c- strengthen the fish farmer associations.

We may be the 1st, 2nd or 3rd volunteers at our post, and we'll likely be the only Peace Corps volunteers for miles.

For transportation, Shaun and I will each be provided an all-terrain... wait for it... bicycle...
to transport us across the 1600 sq. km of our project territory.  RAP volunteers commonly ride over 100 km/wk over extremely rough terrain. We are looking forward to being PHit ("fit" with a capital PH)!  I've told Shaun's brother, Nick (an avid mountain-biker), that we're going riding with him when we get back- watch out, Nick!  :)


Overview of Our Pre-Service Training:  By all accounts, Peace Corps provides its volunteers excellent, comprehensive training before their 2 years of service. Ours will start with several weeks of intensive language training. We'll be immersed in the local language (as yet TBD) and village life from the day we arrive by living with a host family (whom we're excited to meet!).  Once we have a basic grasp of the language, we'll start our technical/job training. This will also include sessions on health and safety, cross-cultural issues, development issues and Zambian culture.

We've been promised that RAP training is rigorous, leaving little private time or individual space.  So, please be bear with us, as we'll have very limited email/blogging time between now and October.

Phew!  That was a long one- thanks for making it to the end!  And stay tuned for more posts & pictures.


Best!
Megan