Hailing in Rainy Season

It's hailing, yes hailing, in Mwense this afternoon.

Shaun and I have come down to the boma today to meet with the Mwense District Women's Development Association at their office in the boma. I am sitting in their office now and the hail pounding on the metal-sheet roof is deafening. It's so loud that covering my ears isn't keeping the pain of the noise away. I need to leave the office. Luckily, there is a small walkway outside where I can stand and not get as pelted by the hail as if I were standing under the mango tree outside. This walkway is still under metal sheets, but the sound has somewhere to go, rather than just bouncing around the office walls and into my eardrums.

Even out here on the covered walkway, where all of us have gathered, stray pebble-sized balls of ice pelt us. I am in the middle of this walkway, but Shaun is on the end near You And I Restaurant. He is laughing as he gets hit by the ice pebbles bouncing off You And I Restaurant's roof and onto him. The whole scene is incredible: what was just 20 minutes ago a brown, dusty ground in front of the office is now a wet, puddled clay mud carpeted in ice pebbles, little clear pebbles of ice. And just 20 minutes ago, we were sweating and fanning ourselves due to the typical and very high temperatures the end of dry season brings. Literally, when I arrived to the office after lunch it was over 100F, and now there ice is falling from the sky and covering the ground.

 

 

During the hailstorm, men hide under the metal sheets at You And I Restaurant

During the hailstorm, a view of the mango tree in front of the MDWDA office in Mwense.

 

As strange as this seems, it is actually quite normal. It wasn't until the hail started that I realized this same phenomenon happened this time last year. I don't know the scientific reason why the first big, hard rains of rainy season bring hail, but our Zambian friends tell us this happens every year at this time. I see it as is the clashing of seasons: as the hot dry season is coming reluctantly to the end of its reign, rainy season forces its way to power. There are days like today when aging dry season flexes its muscles making it unbearably hot, causing rainy season to respond (to our delight) with a thundering, stormy, cooling downpour. It makes me think of a scene I once saw on a game drive: a lion and an elephant exchanging roars and trumpets as pride and herd passed on a slender riverbank.

Rainy season had better seize that throne, or we're a bit screwed. No rain means no water for gardens, crops and fish ponds, which means no food or income. Rainy season had also better force out dry season because the rain is the only thing that cools things down. And we really need things to cool down- it's really, really hot.

Salaula Business in Zambia- Part 1

Our good friend, ba Kelvin, stopped by our house today to tell us that he has moved from our village, Chebele, where he was raised, to Lukwesa, another small town in Mwense District about 35km from Mwense boma. Kelvin is single, about 23 years old, finished Grade 12 a couple years ago, speaks great English, and is very intelligent. Despite all these fine characteristics, he did not score well enough on his exams to be admitted into college, the main path to formal employment. So, he has moved to Lukwesa and started his own business selling secondhand clothing, called “salaula” here in Zambia.

He is doing surprisingly well: he confided in us that he's bringing in 1 million Zkw a week ($200 USD), 300,000 – 500,00 ($60 – 100 USD) of which is “profit”. By “profit”, he means revenue above all expenses, excluding his own labor; like many small businesses in Zambia, he does not consider his own labor as an expense. That said, he's making more money than a Peace Cirps Volunteer earns from his stipend, which is commeasurate with what a school teacher earns.

Kelvin earns his money by travelling to Lusaka where he buys secondhand clothing from mostly Chinese, Indian and Zambian merchants at Kamwala Market. Kamwala Market is the huge open-air market in Lusaka where all manner of goods are exchanged. Kelvin visits different “salaula” merchants there and picks out clothing he thinks the people of Lukwesa and Mwense will want to buy. He spends about 500,000 to 700,000 ($100 – 140 USD) on clothing- shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers, shoes, etc. Then, he transports his merchandise up to Lukwesa (by Peace Soldier or Juldan buses), where he sells the clothing at the Lukwesa market. His customers are mostly fellow Zambians who live in Lukwesa and nearby villages, Mwense boma (the capital of Mwense District) and Kazembe. He also has a large Congolese customer base who cross the border (the Luapula River) at Lukwesa to purchase goods for less than they cost in DR Congo. These Congolese customers either use the items for themselves or they turn around and sell them for a profit in DR Congo.

I find this story of Kelvin's recent success very encouraging- as does he!- because Kelvin comes from a large, poor, not-politically-connected family in an impoverished rural village. Just eight months ago, after he did not get into the trade college in Mansa, he seemed to have resigned himself to being “just a farmer”- his words.-  as that was the only other way of life he'd been exposed to. However, now he's widened his view and his perception of what's possible for him.

I think the secret to Kelvin's ambition, creativity and success comes from his father. Kelvin's father, ba Godfrey, is a pioneering and committed fish farmer in Chebele. He is quick to take on modest experiments with new income-generating farming practices (like conservation farming, rice farming, fish farming and beekeeping) and then scale them up as he sees their profitability. He is also one of the few fathers ensuring every one of his 7 living children are educated through Grade 12, which means he works very seriously to raise money for school fees. He is faithful to his wife and family, abstains from alcohol (“problem” drinking is an underaddressed issue in Zambia), and is constantly seeking information about nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, sanitation and other issues that ail the community.

I look at Kelvin's budding entrepreneurship and see an evolution of ba Godfrey's diligent commitment to build a better life for his children. This, along with his positivity, is the foundation Kelvin, consciously or not, has used to build his business. He is not hindered by obstacles, but encouraged to find alternative opportunities. Starting his salaula business is a case in point- rather than giving up on a career when he could not get into college, he has created his own employment- and found himself on a path that could potentially bring more prosperity and freedom than working for someone else would.

Our friend, budding entrepreneur ba Kelvin, with his newly purchased merchandise. We are inside the very nice shop he rents in Lukwesa.

This Afternoon's Bus Ride Back to the Village

Today, we were on a small bus riding from Mansa (capital of Luapula Province) back to our village. There were 25 seats (6 rows of 4 seats, plus the driver) on the bus. There were 42 men, women and children and 3 chickens on the bus. Nine passengers were in the back row- 5 adults and 4 children- and the conductors were still trying to pick up more passengers along the way. That struck me as very efficient use of space.

Picture Above: the bus stop in Mansa where we catch the Peace Soldier Bus Company's bus north to our boma, Mwense. The bus you see is the bus we took int he journey discussed above. The employees are packing the passenger's luggage on the trailer behind the bus.

Picture Above: Here's the bus again at the end of our journey, as is stops in Mwense boma to let us off. The women toward the front of the bus are selling things like bananas, groundnuts and roasted maize to the passengers. As a side note, that is one of the things I love about traveling through Africa- if you want t snack you just have to lean out the window at a stop; you don't even have to get out of your seat to get a fresh snack or fruit, roasted veggies- even fish and chicken! The gentlemen at the back of the bus near the trailer are taking off our luggage (our backpacks).

Even the Garden of Eden had a Snake...

And while I'm on the topic of our garden, you'll appreciate this behind-the-scenes story about what happened when Shaun was digging the beds for our soybeans and moringa...

While digging these beds, Shaun almost stepped on a Puff Adder snake, whose venomous bite would have been life-threatening. Shaun was digging along with his hoe when our neighbor's son yelled, “Shaun! Insoka! Snake!” Shaun thought the young man was pulling his leg, as Shaun has often done to the young man when joking around at the house or the swimming hole. So, Shaun responded with a laugh, to which the young man yelled, “Insoka- MOVE!” He pushed Shaun out of the way and swung his hoe down on the ground just inches from where Shaun's right foot had been. Shaun looked down, and, what do you know, there was a 2-foot long, black and tan snake! Shaun's heart jumped to his throat when he saw the snake and realized our friend wasn't joking. Shaun was inches from being in a really, really bad way.

Our friend's swing at the snake wasn't enough to kill it, but it did move the snake out of the grass and into clear view on our sandy walkway. The snake was stunned and we took advantage of this to crowd around, get a good look and even a picture. Then, Shaun slammed his hoe down on the snake, severing its head and definitively ending the snake's life. The decapitated body writhed in the dirt and our friend picked it up with his hoe and flung it into the bush where no one travels. The head we buried in the hole made by Shaun slamming his how into the ground. Then, after taking a breath or two, everyone went back to work... although more cautiously.

Here's the picture we took of the snake:

Wait- You Said You Wouldn't Have Electricity or Running Water

It's true- we live off the grid, despite being just 4km from the township where many have electricity, albeit not 100% of the time. Our village does not have electricity or running water, so here's how things work...:


No Electricity at Night:
When it gets dark, we stay in. Unlike our Zambian friends, we can't see at night and need some kind of light. At night, we rely on candles and wind-up or solar-powered flashlights to see- and with the creepy-crawlies around, we want to be able to see what's going on in the dark corners!

Since both of our headlamps have broken, we light several candles around the house each night. Thus, we go through our candle stash much faster than other volunteers seem to. But, it's not a problem because in the township we can buy candles for about 10 US cents each. Next time you have a power outage in the evening and have to light candles, think of us :)


Cooking:
When we want to cook, Shaun grabs some charcoal from the 50kg sack we keep in our house. He breaks it up with a hammer, then fills our charcoal brazier, lights the charcoal with dry grass (which is proving an issue in rainy season) and then swings the brazier until the charcoal lights and we have a cooking fire. Then, I cook, which really isn't as tricky as I thought it would be, once I got over not being able to regulate the heat.

As a side note, Shaun and I an agreement that since I'm in charge of all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc., his duty is to start the brazier.


Charging Stuff:
For small appliances like our mp3 players, GPS and digital camera, we have a small, portable solar panel that allows us to charge things via USB cable, as well as rechargeable AA batteries. It works pretty well, especially since it still charges under overcast skies.

For larger things, we've set up at our house what I like to call “Zam-tricity”. We've rigged up a car battery to an inverter, which we plug our phones, Nook (eReader) and laptop into in order to charge them. Each sunny day we're home, we give the car battery a booster charge by hooking it up to our solar panel that we set up in the sun in back of our house (so as not to advertise to passers by that we have it). The solar panel gives enough of a charge to the battery so that we only have to take the battery into town for charging once a month (as opposed to once a week otherwise). We expect we'll have to take the battery into town for charging more often during rainy season because there will be less sun of which to take advantage.

Now, taking the battery into town is an excursion of its own. We don't have access to vehicles and paved roads, but we do have mountain bikes and a decent enough dirt road to get us to town. Shaun loads up the battery (concealed in a chitenge or Ralph's shopping bag Mom sent) on the back of his bike, and he rides down the dirt road to our welder friend in the town's market. We leave the battery with our friend overnight and he charges the battery for 4,000 kwacha (about 80 US cents). The ride there is the easy part because it's mostly downhill. However, the ride back to our place is all uphill and it starts with a very steep climb from the market, which levels off into a more gentle uphill slope to our village.


Communication:
There's a post office in the township just 4km from our house. However, we have pretty good Airtel (formerly Zain) and MTN network coverage at our site/house. So, with our Nokia internet mobile phones, we find Facebook and e-mail a better way to stay in contact with folks at home. I'm amazed at this every day: we can post status updates and pictures, receive and sometimes send emails, read the news, even surf the web. Yet, our village doesn't have basic electricity nor running water. It's a very interesting situation I find myself pondering often. One of these days I'll tackle the subject in this blog.


Drinking water:
We get our water from a stream about 3 football fields away from our house. Actually, I should say our village helpers (village teenagers, 13-17 years old) get our water for us at the stream. We pay them a very attractive 500 kwacha (about 10 US cents) per container of water they fetch for us, and we have a couple teens who come by everyday to ask if they can get water for us. They take our two 20-liter jerry cans down to the stream, fill them up and carry them back- on their head- to our doorstep. Those containers are heavy- I have no idea how the kids carry them on their heads.

After the kiddos bring back the water, I pour a capful of chlorine in the water to treat it. We shake the containers and then let them sit for 30 minutes or so to allow the chlorine to go to work. After that, I pour the water into our two heavy-duty, Peace Corps-issued, 5-liter water filters. I've been told we should be filtering and then chlorinating the water, but (1) that's a big pain and (2) so far we've had no issues or illness.

Because we get our water directly from a stream (as opposed to well or, even better, a borehole) the candles for our filter get slimy and dirty pretty quick and then stop filtering the water through. So, about once a week, I take apart our filters and clean the candles with an old toothbrush. It sounds like a pain, but it takes less than 30 minutes, and in the village, you have time for these kinds of chores... plus it's water- it's a priority :)


Bathing:
We do not have an indoor bathing area, but rather an outdoor, grass bathing shelter (“ulusasa” in bemba). When we first moved in, our ulusasa had a dirt floor, but our counterpart cemented it for us. He also cemented a walkway from our front porch to the bathing shelter so we don't have to walk in the mud- I love it!
In our bathing shelter, we have a 5-gallon solar shower which is basically a black plastic bag that warms the water inside using the sun's rays and then sprinkles your bathing water out of a hose attached to the bottom of the bag. During the hot season, we get warm showers, but lately during the rainy season, our showers have been cold (but quite refreshing) because there's little sun to warm the water. We're not motivated enough to get a brazier going to heat water in the mornings just for bathing, so a cold shower it is. And it really isn't a big deal when we're in the village. We find we get dirty enough that getting clean outweighs the need for warm water- hehehe


Dishes:
Dishes, of course, are all done by hand and I often have little helpers for this chore, too. Little girls in the village come by most mornings and ask if they can do our dishes. When I have dishes for them, they literally squeal with delight! We pour a basin of water to soap up the dishes and scrub off the food. Then I fill another basin with water to rinse off the dishes. Then, when the suns comes out, I like to set the dishes out in the sunshine to dry (covered, though so the dust doesn't get them dirty all over again). And if I have helpers, I always thank them with a “sweetie” (usually a fruity gummy vitamin).


Laundry:
Yep, this is all done by hand, too. Unlike fetching water and dishes, I do this one all on my own. It's actually quite nice to do in the heat of the afternoon because I usually get wet and it cools me off. One basin is for soaping up and using my Zambian bamaayo skills to scrub out the smells and stains. Then, another basin of water for rinsing out the soap. Then, I hang the clothes up on the line outside to dry.

Because we have to worry about bot fly laying their eggs on our damp clothing, when the clothes have dried on the line, I fold them up into a designated laundry bag and let them sit for 72 hours before we wear them. If the bot fly larva doesn't come into contact with human skin within 72 hours, then you don't have to worry about it burrowing into your skin and creating... yuckiness. My practice of waiting 72 hours may be overkill since I hang our clothes to dry on a wire, not a bush like I've seen most Zambians do. Better safe than sorry, I say.

And rather than wait, I could also iron our clothes with a village charcoal iron to kill the larva and dry the clothes. However, I haven't found one yet and even if I did, I'm not sure I could get Shaun to go through the hassle of lighting a brazier to get hot coals to fuel the iron... we also don't have a surface (like a table, etc.) good for ironing. So far, it's much easier to just wait a few days.


The “Toilet”:
We don't actually have a toilet because we don't have running water, nor anything to sit on when we “do our business.” We have a pit latrine (hole in the ground) sheltered with mud-brick walls and a thatch roof (fancier ones have a roof made of metal sheeting). In Bebma, it's called an icimbusu, or “chimbus” for short. Perhaps one of these days I'll write an entry on the “chimbus”, but for now I'll leave it at that (who knows, maybe you're snacking as you read this).



So, that's how we're doin' it!

Please Send Us Letters & Goodies from Home!

Greetings from hot and rainy Atlanta! 

Shaun and I are here for a few days for Peace Corps-Zambia Staging (orientation, paperwork and lots o' shots!) before we go overseas.  We figure PC brought us to Atlanta to prepare us for Zambia's hot-wet season (Dec.-Apr.)   :)


Many of you have asked us what communication will be like for us and where you can send us letters and packages- which we're very much looking forward to receiving!  We recently received Peace Corps' "Family and Friends Letter," so I've pasted below excerpts that I thought you might find helpful.  For quick reference, here's our mailing address during Pre-Service Training (July-Sept 24):


[Name of Volunteer], PCV
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka
Zambia


Helpful Communication Info:
1. Irregular Communication.
     Mail in Zambia is fairly reliable. Volunteers find they generally receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true in sending mail from Zambia. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail may simply not arrive. We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.


2. Telephone Calls.
     Telephone lines in Zambia are fairly reliable. During the pre-service training though, opportunities for the trainees to call the United States will be limited. Most Volunteers purchase cell phones, although coverage is limited and international air-time is expensive. Volunteers may or may not have residential phones; however, some Volunteers, use public phones, or find that a neighbor or the organization they work with has a phone they are able to use to make and receive calls. They will be able to inform you of telephone numbers where you might reach them once they arrive at their permanent sites (in October).


     The Zambia Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Lusaka through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communications are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Volunteers may have access to e-mail at Internet cafes on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.


3. Sending packages.
     Family, friends and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:


Name of Volunteer, PCV
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka
Zambia


     It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently.  That said, RPCVs I've spoke with recommended that family and friends at home send packages in "flat rate" boxes/envelopes to save in shipping costs.  

     For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Lusaka. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, c/o U. S. Peace Corps/Zambia, 71A Kabulonga Road, Kabulonga, Lusaka, Zambia (the phone number for the Peace Corps office in Zambia is 260-21-1260377, as DHL will need this information). If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com . Other courier services do operate in Lusaka - DHL is only one possibility.


I hope this was helpful for you.  Please know we'd love to exchange letters with you, so please write and catch us up on what we're missing at home!  Unfortunately, as denizens of the Digital Age, we didn't collect many of your mailing addresses, so please include them in your letter because we certainly will want to write you back. 


Many thanks for tuning in, folks!
- Megan 

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