It's Been Almost a Month...
...since you've heard my rambling, so I thought I'd bring you some more. So much has happened since September ended, life gets more and more interesting each day.
Before I go into the what happened though, I think I should talk about how Zambia never ceases to amaze me, and how I admire the people, places, and things here in a great way. Yesterday I went to a place called Nanga farms around which there is a sugarcane farm and factory, the sugarcane farm is 12,000 hectares, that means we drove for kilometers and we were still gazing upon the ocean of greet. And it's in Southern Province, the place with the least water in the country, and they use irrigation systems that keep their crops lush and beautiful and forever producing the sugar I put in my Cibwantu/Monkoyo (a local drink called sweet beer in english that is non alcoholic and made from a root of a certain plant and pounded maize, it's quite good).
Zambia amazes me because almost everything I eat and drink comes from the labor of people that I actually witness on a daily basis, in the village gardens and farms and even in the huge sugarcane farm like I saw the other day. Also most people I meet are growing a good percentage of the food they eat, even when they work for the goverment as teachers, nurses or whatever else, they also run their own farming business in a sense by rearing crops that they can both eat and sell for profit. Now I know there are farms in the states, but I've never met a farmer as I am somewhat of a city girl so this is all very new and beautiful to me.
On an even more personal note, so much is changing inside and outside of me. I have so much more quiet time, so much more time to think in my mind and out loud. Although I've grownup as an only child, I have never lived by myself until now. Although I'm always surrounded by people, at times I feel very alone.
I have to keep checking myself as I move around each day. As hard as this may be to believe, it's quite easy to sometimes forget that peopole are living in poverty and that people are hungry. You see, people don't allow their hardships to stop them from moving, working and at least trying. Matter of fact, people can't stop moving becausewithout at least puttin in their effort, they will have no chance for survival where I live. Sometimes I slip into that mindset from back home that people are out to get me and take advantage of me so I put up my guard. But the truth is, the only thing people here are out to get is food for their families and a way, hopefully the best way, of surviving. Now, don't get me wrong, not all folks are honest, some try to get a little money and a little extra here and there, but this is a very Christian community so people are generally honest, I don't feel any lack of security (especially in the village), no one has stolen anything from me, and no one has really cheated me beyond overcharging me or not doing things in a timely fashion.
So I have to check myself. I have to remind myself not to be selfish. I have to try to be patient when people take their time when I'm in a rush. I think my mind has been experiencing a bit of frustration lately. I finally let a bit of water flow out of my eyes to rid myself of the frustration so now I feel a bit better. Besides things moving much slower than I'm used to, there is the many questions and requests I'm confronted with in my meetings, in my home, while walking down the path. No matter how much I try to encourage, teach and explain sustainability, I'm always confronted with questions about waht I'm brining, what am I giving? How can I help them find someone to give them money? What am I going to do about hunger? Can I help them get money for their chicken-rearing group? Can I help them get money for bee keeping? The list is endless and always ends with needing money. It never fails, I get one of these questions in every meeting or gathering even after pushing how important it is to depend on internal resources and each other to find ways to improve livelihood from within before they go looking for donors who may give money or food that will only last them 5 minutes when education and behavior change can last a lifetime. So I pray for patience.
On the workfront, things are flowing well. I am about to begin my first trainings in November. Right now I am doing needs assessment then I will start teaching Neighborhood Health Committees how to operate most effectively, and try to get the ones not up and running up and operating so that they can contribute to health care and health education in the villages.
On Wednesday I taught grades 7, 8 and 9 at one of the basic schools in my area. It was quite fun and interesting. It's amazing how different the young people interact on each level. In grade 7, the young girls are most dominant, always volunteering to read and answering questions. In grade 8, the girls seem a bit oppressed by the young boys who think they are smarter then them, so they remain quiet while the boys do all the talking in class. Then in grade 9 the girls become dominant again. I had roughly 2 - 2.5 hour periods with each class and my lessons were around gender and HIV/AIDS basics, the 4 transmission fluids, and ways for prevention, etc. I had one young man stand up in grade 8 and tell me, from his mouth, that "boys are more intelligent than girls, and more distinguished." I thought about asking him to define distinguished for me but instead I moved from the front of the class and sat in the back and asked him to go to the front and teach the class for me because according to his philosophy, he was more intelligent than myself so he should be more qualified to teach this lesson. He said, "No, but you are a madame!" I said, "No, I'm just a girl, less intelligent than yourself." And he was embarrassed but I think he got the point. In the Gender activities I did, we talked about the difference between gender and sex and discussed gender roles in Zambian culture, it was quite productive. And then after the HIV/AIDS lesson they had an opportunity to ask questions so answered questions like: "People say that you can cure AIDS by sleeping with a virgin, is that true?" and "Where did AIDS come from?" and "Do condoms really work, I've heard their not 100%?" and "Can I get AIDS by touching someones open sore if I have an open sore?" They were all good questions and I'm glad they came up and I answered them to the best of my ability. I will be going back into classes at the beginning of next year to do lower grades and to work again with 7, 8 and 9, I hope to visit other schools as well and teach at least 1 or 2 times per month between training Neighborhood Health Committees and doing HIV/AIDS workshops, so we'll see how it goes. Although I have free time, life is still very busy.
I think that's all for now, feel free to share your feedback, you know I love it!
Peace
Before I go into the what happened though, I think I should talk about how Zambia never ceases to amaze me, and how I admire the people, places, and things here in a great way. Yesterday I went to a place called Nanga farms around which there is a sugarcane farm and factory, the sugarcane farm is 12,000 hectares, that means we drove for kilometers and we were still gazing upon the ocean of greet. And it's in Southern Province, the place with the least water in the country, and they use irrigation systems that keep their crops lush and beautiful and forever producing the sugar I put in my Cibwantu/Monkoyo (a local drink called sweet beer in english that is non alcoholic and made from a root of a certain plant and pounded maize, it's quite good).
Zambia amazes me because almost everything I eat and drink comes from the labor of people that I actually witness on a daily basis, in the village gardens and farms and even in the huge sugarcane farm like I saw the other day. Also most people I meet are growing a good percentage of the food they eat, even when they work for the goverment as teachers, nurses or whatever else, they also run their own farming business in a sense by rearing crops that they can both eat and sell for profit. Now I know there are farms in the states, but I've never met a farmer as I am somewhat of a city girl so this is all very new and beautiful to me.
On an even more personal note, so much is changing inside and outside of me. I have so much more quiet time, so much more time to think in my mind and out loud. Although I've grownup as an only child, I have never lived by myself until now. Although I'm always surrounded by people, at times I feel very alone.
I have to keep checking myself as I move around each day. As hard as this may be to believe, it's quite easy to sometimes forget that peopole are living in poverty and that people are hungry. You see, people don't allow their hardships to stop them from moving, working and at least trying. Matter of fact, people can't stop moving becausewithout at least puttin in their effort, they will have no chance for survival where I live. Sometimes I slip into that mindset from back home that people are out to get me and take advantage of me so I put up my guard. But the truth is, the only thing people here are out to get is food for their families and a way, hopefully the best way, of surviving. Now, don't get me wrong, not all folks are honest, some try to get a little money and a little extra here and there, but this is a very Christian community so people are generally honest, I don't feel any lack of security (especially in the village), no one has stolen anything from me, and no one has really cheated me beyond overcharging me or not doing things in a timely fashion.
So I have to check myself. I have to remind myself not to be selfish. I have to try to be patient when people take their time when I'm in a rush. I think my mind has been experiencing a bit of frustration lately. I finally let a bit of water flow out of my eyes to rid myself of the frustration so now I feel a bit better. Besides things moving much slower than I'm used to, there is the many questions and requests I'm confronted with in my meetings, in my home, while walking down the path. No matter how much I try to encourage, teach and explain sustainability, I'm always confronted with questions about waht I'm brining, what am I giving? How can I help them find someone to give them money? What am I going to do about hunger? Can I help them get money for their chicken-rearing group? Can I help them get money for bee keeping? The list is endless and always ends with needing money. It never fails, I get one of these questions in every meeting or gathering even after pushing how important it is to depend on internal resources and each other to find ways to improve livelihood from within before they go looking for donors who may give money or food that will only last them 5 minutes when education and behavior change can last a lifetime. So I pray for patience.
On the workfront, things are flowing well. I am about to begin my first trainings in November. Right now I am doing needs assessment then I will start teaching Neighborhood Health Committees how to operate most effectively, and try to get the ones not up and running up and operating so that they can contribute to health care and health education in the villages.
On Wednesday I taught grades 7, 8 and 9 at one of the basic schools in my area. It was quite fun and interesting. It's amazing how different the young people interact on each level. In grade 7, the young girls are most dominant, always volunteering to read and answering questions. In grade 8, the girls seem a bit oppressed by the young boys who think they are smarter then them, so they remain quiet while the boys do all the talking in class. Then in grade 9 the girls become dominant again. I had roughly 2 - 2.5 hour periods with each class and my lessons were around gender and HIV/AIDS basics, the 4 transmission fluids, and ways for prevention, etc. I had one young man stand up in grade 8 and tell me, from his mouth, that "boys are more intelligent than girls, and more distinguished." I thought about asking him to define distinguished for me but instead I moved from the front of the class and sat in the back and asked him to go to the front and teach the class for me because according to his philosophy, he was more intelligent than myself so he should be more qualified to teach this lesson. He said, "No, but you are a madame!" I said, "No, I'm just a girl, less intelligent than yourself." And he was embarrassed but I think he got the point. In the Gender activities I did, we talked about the difference between gender and sex and discussed gender roles in Zambian culture, it was quite productive. And then after the HIV/AIDS lesson they had an opportunity to ask questions so answered questions like: "People say that you can cure AIDS by sleeping with a virgin, is that true?" and "Where did AIDS come from?" and "Do condoms really work, I've heard their not 100%?" and "Can I get AIDS by touching someones open sore if I have an open sore?" They were all good questions and I'm glad they came up and I answered them to the best of my ability. I will be going back into classes at the beginning of next year to do lower grades and to work again with 7, 8 and 9, I hope to visit other schools as well and teach at least 1 or 2 times per month between training Neighborhood Health Committees and doing HIV/AIDS workshops, so we'll see how it goes. Although I have free time, life is still very busy.
I think that's all for now, feel free to share your feedback, you know I love it!
Peace
posted by Natalie | 7:27 AM
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2 comments
