Wow! And Thank You!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out yesterday that I received a Distinction on my dissertation, and will also be awarded my MA with Distinction. I am somewhat surprised, and very grateful to everyone that helped me along the way.

So… to Jock, thank you for everything, especially for having faith in me when I did not! To Craig, thank you for the laptop, which made my dissertation possible and my life a lot easier! To Terry and Stephanie, thank you for putting me in touch with great people to interview. To all the Filipinos that gave up so much of their time to tell me their stories, thank you for making it all worthwhile. And to my family, friends and Xavi, thank you for your unfaltering support.

Don’t worry, I won’t start a PhD for at least a few years…:)

Football, Church, Nyanja and Bucket Baths...

Last weekend was eventful here in Lusaka… I started it off on Saturday morning by going in to work at 8am. I was there to help Mwelwa, a young Zambian woman who volunteers at NZP+ and who needed assistance drafting a funding proposal for the Lusaka District Chapter. No part of me wanted to spend Saturday morning at work, but when I am surrounded by such dedicated volunteers working so long and hard to fight a disease that they have, it’s hard to say no. So I said yes, and I was dreading the thought of getting up so early on a Saturday. But, as on most days, I was awake by 6:30am - thanks to the early-rising sun and the early-rising Zambians that are out and about and making noise by 6:00am - so it really wasn’t all that bad.

On Saturday afternoon I went to a football (soccer) game. It was the final of the ‘BP Top 8’: Green Buffalos vs. Kabwe Warriors. I went with Samuel, a boy who works at a vegetable stand across the road from our apartment that Mel and I started frequenting a couple of weeks ago. We have come to know the whole family quite well, including Samuel, his seven brothers and sisters and his parents, all of whom are absolutely lovely. The soccer itself was quite good, as was the people-watching. That evening I went to see a great concert of Burundi drummers at a local bar. Sunday morning Mel and I had arranged to go to church with Samuel at 8:00am. At 6:30am my phone rang and after a few seconds of sleepy confusion I realised it was Samuel calling to say that we should meet him later, at 9:30am. For someone who gets up at 5:00am every day I’m sure it never occurred to him that 6:30am might not be what a Canadian would consider a reasonable hour to phone someone! When we showed up at 9:30am Samuel came out wearing his Sunday best: a shirt with a tie that didn’t even reach his belly button – short ties are all the rage here in Lusaka. He greeted us and then, noticing our empty hands, immediately asked: “Where are your Bibles?” Samuel carries his with him everywhere (it even came to the soccer match!) so it was probably hard to comprehend that we didn’t even own one. He thought he had extras in the house, but his sister Paulina and his father had taken them, so we headed off empty handed. When we arrived at the Tabernacle Baptist Church, which is located in a school room, the Ashley Makes a Fool of Herself Show began: First, I went to sit down next to Samuel, not noticing that the room was divided into a women’s side and a men’s side. He politely suggested I might want to sit on the other side, so Mel and I found a seat at the very front next to two other women. Then the lady beside me leaned over to say that they were reading from John 15:8-12 – I don’t know where she thought we were hiding our Bibles but when she finally realised we didn’t have any she looked quite surprised, to say the least. Someone quickly lent us theirs and I proceeded to open it, from the front, and start looking for John… Having little experience reading the Bible I had no idea where John was to be found, which was obvious to my neighbour who eventually pointed me to the right page. After that I let Mel be in charge of finding the readings. Not that there were many – most of the service was singing, which suited me just fine and helped to soothe my embarrassment. There were only 53 people in attendance, and the choir itself had just six members, but it sounded heavenly. Having an unheavenly voice myself, I was not inclined to join in, but our neighbour kindly offered her hymn book to us, asking "Do you sing in Nyanja?" – at first I thought “yeah right!” but fortunately Nyanja is written phonetically, so we were able to sing along from time to time when hymn books were used. Fortunately my voice was suitably drowned out by the natural talent of everyone else in the room. They sang one song in English for our benefit, and the kids bible study group sang a little song and recited what they had learned about prayer: “When de we pray? Always!” – tres adorable. The one sermon, which was tres Zambian in that it was long, slow and meandered all over the place, repeating the same message 4 or 5 times, was also in English as well as Nyanja, so all in all we did quite well. I thought the embarrassing moments might be over when ‘Announcements’ came, which required all visitors to stand up and be greeted by the congregation with special clapping. At the end of the service visitors were also the first to go outside and stand by the door to shake hands with everyone as they exited the church. Everyone was so kind and happy to meet us that I realized that what I thought had been an entirely embarrassing experience didn’t seem so to them. People here are much less judgmental than I unfortunately seem to be used to. We were told they expected to see us regularly, and I think we will be quite happy to oblige.

On Tuesday, six of us started Nyanja lessons, which we will have for four hours a week for the next 3 months. So far we have learned:

Dzina langa ndine Ashley – My name is Ashley.
Ndili ndi zaka 25 – I am 25 years old
Nichokela ku Canada – I am from Canada.

We also learned the days of the week, and how numbers work (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5+1, 5+2…10, 10+1…2x10, 2x10+1….). Each number is quite a mouthful. Six, for example, is "tasanu ndi kimodzi" – which explains why everyone just uses English numbers!

Work is hectic, and a bit overwhelming at times, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Drew, Mel and I have managed to convince both ZARAN and TALC to let us facilitate a Strategic Planning session with them in early December, in the hopes that we can clarify just what exactly each organization will be doing in 2006. I am also going to be working with some other VSO Fundraisers to hold a workshop on proposal writing and financial management in about 10 days. And I am trying to figure out when I can start traveling out to visit NZP+ Support Groups in other areas of the country to continue developing a project plan to build Fundraising Capacity. In between, Xavi (who is now in Mozambique) and I are trying to figure out our Christmas plans, which, with all of Africa at our doorstep, isn’t easy!

Life is not always adventure and excitement though: last Friday night I stayed home to take advantage of the fact that we had running water and happily spent the evening having a relaxing bucket bath…

When the rains come

The number of times I have heard someone refer to the ‘rains’ coming in the three weeks I have been here is incalculable.

“The mangos will ripen when the rains come.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t be so hot once the rains come.”
“Victoria Falls will be much more beautiful once the rains come.”
“You will need to be more careful of mosquitoes when the rains come.”

But with all the sun we have had here I was starting to wonder if these elusive rains would, in fact, ever come. I needn’t have doubted. They have come, with a vengeance. The first downpour was on Saturday: I walked into a grocery store and there was not a cloud in the sky, but by the time I came out, loaded with grocery bags, the sky was a veil of blackness. The drops, each one like a full bucket being dropped from above, started falling about halfway through my walk home. Luckily it didn’t last long and I managed not to get soaked. I didn’t learn my lesson however, as the following day I headed out again, with no umbrella or jacket, admiring the blue skies above and ended up walking most of the way in the pouring rain. I could have gotten a ride from one of the many of Zambians that pulled over to offer me a lift, but I figured since the rains had finally come I may as well become better acquainted...

Slowly life is settling down into a routine. It’s proving a bit hard to juggle work with three different organizations, but along with Mel and Drew, who are in the same situation, we are trying to coordinate our work with the three as much as possible. Yesterday I visited some Support Groups of people living with HIV/AIDS to review the projects that they had planned and received funding for. They were all very pleased to have me there, and were so kind to me. They are doing really great things despite all that they have to struggle against, so I know the work I do here will not be in vain.

I have finally uploaded a few photos online (see My Photos link). There aren’t many, as I really haven’t had my camera out that much, and they aren’t terribly stunning, but they will at least give you an idea of where I live. Hopefully I will soon find more time to take pictures of the many interesting sights I see each day.

Ndili bwino (I am well)

Two weeks and five days down the road, things are going well here in Lusaka.

I am finally beginning to settle in at work. It would probably take 2 years to feel entirely settled, but unfortunately I only have 6 months, so that is not a luxury I can afford. To make matters more interesting, it turns out I am working with not one but three organizations, all of whom have work to be done that would require me to be full-time at each...

For the Network of Zambian People Living with HIV/AIDS (NZP+) I am developing a project plan that will help them build the fundraising capacity of their Support Groups of people living with HIV/AIDS. This will help make Support Groups more active, independent and sustainable. To plan the project I hope to be able to spend quite a bit of time visiting various Support Groups around the country to assess their capabilities and needs in project planning and fundraising. Although, with only 2 days a week to dedicate to NZP+, I will most likely have to dedicate quite a few weekends to such visits. For the Zambian AIDSLaw Research and Advocacy Network (ZARAN) I am reviewing their Strategic Plan to identify potential projects and then assisting them to draw up subsequent proposals for funding. And for the Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC) I am doing a variety of things, but first on the list is to visit some Support Groups of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) who have secured funding for small projects and assist them with implementation and financial management. There is so much to do and so much to learn (starting with about 1 kajillion acronyms!) that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. But I'm also getting more excited with each day and looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. Fortunately, I am also working with amazing people who make any confusion or frustration well worth the while.

Settling in at home has been somewhat easier. Mel and I have become firm friends with some of our neighbours, which has made all the difference. Simon and Emmanuel are brothers aged 4 and 10, and have taken to coming around unannounced, which is fine with us except we can’t really figure out why they come around… They have a computer, a TV, and loads of toys at their house, and yet somehow they still seem to want to hang out at our house, where there is just... us. Although Emmanuel did say he thought we should buy a TV, which he figured would cost about 25,000 kwacha, or $6 Canadian! Sunday they dropped by and spent the morning drawing us pictures, which we have promised we will put up on the wall. Then I showed Simon some pictures of Canada, and every time he saw the ocean he exclaimed “Swimming Pool!” Their older cousin, Thelma, also lives with them and comes over quite often. She is 17, an Adventist, Vice-Head Girl at her school, gets up at 4am every morning to do her schoolwork, and wants to be a computer scientist. She's also the sweetest, mostly lovely girl imaginable. She loves talking to us about life in Canada and Australia, invites us over to watch terrible Filipino soap operas when her aunt and uncle go out, and is always there for us in times of need. The other day, for instance, we decided to cook a new recipe out of Mel’s African cookbook: sashila (pumpkin leaves with groundnuts (peanuts)). Thelma came in once we had already started cooking and realized we were about to use whole groundnuts instead of pounded groundnuts! After having a laugh she ran to her place and got a groundnut pounder (wooden bowl and a big stick) and proceeded to pound and sift our groundnuts for us. Seeing we were obviously in desparate need of help, she has also agreed to give us lessons on how to make Zambia’s staple food: nshima (maize meal porridge). I have had it many times, always with a fork, but today at a workshop on Anti-retroviral Treatment Literacy, I had lunch with the participants who finally initiated me into the world of eating nshima, and everything else on the plate, with my hands. Strangely, I seemed to make more mess than anyone else in the room...

And when I find time, there is no shortage of things to do and see here. Last Saturday I was fortunate enough to be invited to a “Kitchen Party.” We would call it a Bridal Shower but, as I quickly discovered, it is unlike any Bridal Shower I have ever seen or heard of. Just imagine a large garden hosting 2 enormous tents, about 300 women dressed in traditional chitenge suits, a group of women playing traditional drums, a pile of gifts (all kitchenware, which provides a clue as to where Zambian wives spend much of their time) the size of Mt. Everest, and four Mzungu girls. There was enough drinking, dancing, yelling and general mayhem to last anyone a lifetime and everyone had a great time. As for me and my Mzungu counterparts, we were often dragged up to display our (attemped) dancing (i.e. hip-shaking) skills - a cause for great laughter from the whole crowd. The bride, however, had to sit without speaking or smiling throughout the whole event, which marks the end of a one month initiation where she learns, among other things, to please her husband. The rest of my weekend was spent at a much more subdued poetry reading and a monthly craft market where there were so many expats that, as another VSO said, "if anyone ever wanted to wipe out the staff of every Embassy and International NGO in Zambia, this would be the place to do it."

In other news, I returned to the clinic a week ago (twice in my first 2 weeks in the country!) for an infection in my foot. It stemmed from a tiny blister that I stupidly ignored, and before I knew it my whole ankle was swollen and blue... Fortunately, it's on the mend and I hope to manage to stay out of the clinic for at least another month! Cross your fingers for me:)