I biked 15 miles

I prayed in iciBemba with 6 prisoners

I got left alone with those same 6 prisoners (for 10 minutes only and they’re minimum security)

I Was denied access to a prison-wide address by the visiting deputy commissioner on prison conditions. I already have made my conclusions about prison conditions but justice sometimes is served best by not voicing my opinions to certain authorities. Losing the privilege of access to deserving prisoners who are very willing to learn from the agriculture workshops I do doesn’t help anyone.

I Gave a arms-out-running-hug to my “little boyfriend” a 4 year old neighbor who started preschool this year.

I paid $1.75 for 16 mangoes.  Note: pureed mango plus chilled lemonade=heaven.

I spoke to Chinese men about sewer lines. (can’t plant trees on top of sewer lines!)

I handed over funds raised by family and friends to the high school principal to help pay for two well deserving gr 11 boys’ school fees.  That was rewarding.

I talked about climate change.

I finally got my favorite shopkeeper to give me a ‘free gift’ with my purchase of flour.  The lollipop was delicious! I love the Zambian concept of mbasela or free gifts or discounts.

I examined samples of compost tea under a microscope – wanna see beneficial bacteria or amoeba at 400x magnification? These little guys are magical for applying in your garden.  They help to naturally improve the nutrients vegetables can access in your soil. Cheap soil improvements =more vegetables=more money in your pocket=less household food and economic insecurity.

Yes, these are not exaggerations my friends. I really did all these things before lunch.    New experiences, attempts at justice, rewarding hugs, and tasty foods; whatever you want to call the reasons for being a Volunteer. These are just some simple examples illustrating reasons we wake up and work each day as Volunteers.

Have I convinced you yet to become a Peace Corps Volunteer?!

My plan for Mango Season:

1. Create local entrepreneurship skills in the next generation of Zambians.  I’ve encouraged some nearby kids to collect and sell me mangoes.  They are actually triplets which is highly rare here and receive an elevated status.  The parents of twins or triplets receive higher status and are commonly called “mother/father-of-twins/triplets”.  It’s considered a special blessing from God, and I think those parents get a special holiday for them.  These 3 are excited for their new business endeavor.

2. Master all mango recipes and innovate more.  Last night was mango (+banana) pancakes.  They were by far the best pancakes I have made in my life.  Tonight is mango/banana smoothie with local fresh milk.  Tomorrow is a cake starring the mango and featuring pears/apples/bananas.  Called it a fruit-upside-down-cake.  Stay tuned for the mango adventure, and please submit any recipes I ought to try.

Mangoes.

Totes: $10 (50,000ZMK) These are PERFECT for grocery trips to save on plastic!

Handbags: $10 (50,000 ZMK)

Small clutches: $3 (15,000 ZMK)

I’ll even throw in mbasela- the Zambian term for free ‘extra gift’ one can plead for after making a sizeable purchase at a shop.  All prices are flexible in this country too, so I MAY be persuaded as well.

A gift which gives back- it’s great.  Here’s the twist, you choose where/who your money supports.  Read the suggestions below, but whatever your passion, I’ll find a worthy place to give it.

*Support the nearby Kakolo Basic School buy giving school supplies. $10 buys alot of pencils and notebooks.

*Support Samson or David by contributing to their school fees.  They’re brothers and my neighbors here at the farm.  They’re both in grade 10 at Kamfinsa High School, and are both smart kind boys.  For dedicated readers who remember 2 posts ago, Samson is the boy whom I teaching to type and encouraging his cute boyhood crush.  $10 will pay for about 2 months of school fees.

*Buy some tree seedlings to plant at my nearby school.  (choose your tree-we have dozens of exotic and indigenous species) $10 can buy 5 fruit tree seedlings or 50 eucalyptus trees. Carbon storage!

*Help support the nearby clinic in their construction of a labor ward.

*Support the programs of an Irish volunteer who works with Kitwe’s street children

*Support a local football (soccer) club with a new ball $12 will buy a football.

Whatever your passion, I’ll find a place to contribute.  Let me know!

We, the farm which I’m partnered with under PC, began our second set of organic farming and permaculture workshops at the country’s largest prison.  Skills-wise, I like these workshops because they give more useful skills to inmates to apply to make a better living on their farms after they’re released.  It also honors the dignity of a group of people who are for the most part marginalized in all societies. Environmentally, it is promoting a much more environmentally sustainable system of agriculture.  Economically, permaculture or organics is a better option for most of Zambia’s agriculture.  Most farmers are small scale and chemical and fertilizer imputs are expensive and out-of-reach for most.  Nutritionally, organics is also the way to go, and not just because ‘organics’ is trendy in America.

Let me explain what made this session one of the quintessential PC days.  In our introductory discussion, one participant stood up to say that he found one of the primary benefits to learning about and practicing permaculture was that it was for everyone.  Anyone can practice permaculture he said, so it promotes social equality.  Verbatim.  No need to be rich to become a large commercial farmer with many imputs or machines.  Practicing this type of agriculture is available to everyone as it is low or no cost as it imitates nature and uses natural techniques.

How profound!  How succinct and all-encompassing of an explanation! The belief and pursuit of social justice and equality is the ultimate purpose of the workshop project and the motivation of its trainers. (We’re similar in motivation but very diverse in nationality; I’m American with Zambians, Zimbabweans, and an Australian.) It was great to set the tone and feel that we’re on the same page.  This participant is bright and shows alot of potential to make use of these skills upon his release.  It gives me faith and pride to continue to work for these prisoners and hope they’ll make use of what they’re practicing.

Zambia also celebrated 47 years of Independence on 24th October. In conjunction with the celebrations I guess, 650+ prisoners nationally were pardoned by the newly elected President Sata.  A percentage of those were from this prison where our workshops take place, and one of those pardoned was my favorite and most promising participant.  Good luck to you sir, I have great faith in your ability to practice and further promote these permaculture principals.  I hope to keep in communication with him.  Another participant from our first set of workshops has also been released as his sentence was complete.  Good luck to you both.

1. Meeting the development goals of interested countries by providing trained women and men.

2. Building friendship by educating host country nationals about America.

3. Building friendship by educating Americans about the culture and people of countries where we serve.

Ten recent adventures-I’ve-gotten-into-recently-while-working-towards-achieving-the-3-goals-of-Peace-Corps:

1. Meet a great Irish priest with holy water in his car cupholder. Not sure just which goal that falls under, but it was sure funny.

2. Get asked by a Zambian if you knew Oprah Winfrey (of course, we sms daily!) Definite goal #2…

3. Discover the price of a field mouse for your dinner is about $.40 or K2000.

4. Complete your first set of rewarding permaculture workshops with a hard-working group of deserving prisoners. Goal #1.

5. Get introduced to two more Zampop artists and someone who goes by ‘DJ Beezy-Weezy’.  Goal #2 I guess. For you enthusiasts reading, I met General Ozzy and his young brother Roberto.

6. Begin practicing how to drive manual. Eesh, I’m a bit embarrased to admit I don’t know up until now.  How does America let us get a liscense when we only know automatic?! Don’t worry Peace Corps, I wear a seatbelt and only drive around the farm where I work, not on roads.

7. Witness another country’s political election process. To complete Goal #3, ask me about the elections through another medium.

8. Get elbow deep in a rich pile of decomposing compost.  I’m eating pizza with homemade tomato sauce this week thanks to that compost enhanced garden!

9. Find a microscopic eelworm which is a destructive garden pest. I felt an immense sense of pride and success after last week’s challenge of relearning how to use a microscope, collecting  proper soil samples for analysis, and identifing this eelworm.  I did have help from two entomologists in town– it was some serious science. Video clips of this .02mm long eelworm are available upon request. Goal #1.

10. Start helping a neighboring high school boy with his typing and general computer skills.  There are plenty of free learn-to-type software programs out there.  Another exercise was using MS Publisher to design and print a birthday card for his school crush.  How great is that!? Bet Bill Gates doesn’t know he’s assisting in young love a continent away.

Alright, I hope this has been entertaining and informative. Stay well.

Let me highlight culture norms through the example of lunch.  Culture norms greatly dictate lunchtime protocol.    Your job status and gender and marital status all play a part in where you eat. It is logistically necessary as we’re all eating nshima from communal bowls.  Only so many people can fit around a bowl of nshima and relish, but their are unspoken rules as for who can share with whom.  It’s highly amusing sometimes, and feels like high school again, where there are cliques and under no circumstances can one move from one to another. 

 Take where I work for example.   The sawmill men eat as a unit and separate from the sawmill women.   They’re kinda like the Varsity jocks.   The machinists  eat from their workshop. They’re like the rival Varsity team, and  allow the tinsmiths to join them but shun the sawmill men. Then there is a very intricate hierarchy within the tree nursery workers. The general laborers eat in two groups, the younger guys and the older men.  Let’s liken them to the band geeks. They definitely never eat with the jocks.  I have more status so I join the nursery supervisor and women who declare their elevated status (separate clique) by eating separately as well.  The one older woman in this department is paid respect and eats at her own table.   As most of my readers know, I was a band geek myself, but in actuality my job is more closely linked to the nursery than sawmill, so in both respects it makes sense where I fit. Then there’s the two Zambian managers who show off their elevated status by eating their own relish which is usually higher quality to the rest.  They can maybe be likened to the popular kids.   The boss and his wife eat separately as well. 

I am able to move more as a foreign person and thus regarded as outside the established order. It’s highly amusing sometimes, but I find it important to follow such things in order to be successful in my job as a Volunteer in a foreign culture.

Friday late afternoon we took rides on the speedboat to the confluence of the Lunga and Kabompo rivers to begin our learning.  Confluence is the official term for the place where two rivers meet, and was the first lesson learned!  This cruise was such fun, and so much enjoyed by the pupils.  Joseph hadn’t ever seen a live crocodile and was scared when it suddenly slid back into the river. ‘ Did you see that?!’  Next we found a very active family of hippos. Me, the eternally poor photographer didn’t catch their open mouths too well.  The female didn’t appreciate our proximity and tried to jump and threaten the boat.  The pupils loved seeing all this activity and observing the natural protective instinct (next lesson!) and would hardly stop talking and laughing about it as the boat cruised back to camp.  I doubt I’ve ever seen such happier people, and just that made the trip (and all its logistical troubles, worthwhile.  

With our remaining sunlight, the pupils wrote thank you letters.  All are very grateful and appreciative for the individual sponsorship.  Letters will be mailed this week!  Dinner was delicious – whew, the boys sure could eat! The evening finished around the fire pit where we discussed what pupils had seen, learned and enjoyed so far.  We had an early bedtime to rest for our early morning walk.  We saw the sunrise Saturday morning from our campsite while eating the before-unknown American classic: the PB&J sandwich.  Apparently the boys didn’t think just one breakfast was enough so bought cookies as we walked to meet the ZAWA (Zambian Wildlife Authority) guide to take us on a walking safari.  After this Great Cookie Debacle, we faced the Great Pontoon Debacle.  The engine almost refused to start due to cold, almost making us unable to cross to walk through the wild portion of the park. 

We enjoyed a great long walk where many of our early evidence of animals was of an excretory variety.  Puku and impala had definitely been active overnight! Poachers had also been active overnight; we found their footprints too.  The pupils learned a lot from the fact poachers were still active.  Almost all the antelope we saw was skittish and fearful and ran before we got too near.   Late in the walk we came very close to some impala.  We saw a lot of baboons and a beautiful variety of birds and even learned a few things about the woodland type found throughout the park.  After riding the pontoon back across the river, we walked back to camp, disassembled the tents, and worked some magic loading all of us into the only vehicle available to us but better suited to a group half our size.  The pupils loved every minute of the trip and sang as a group during the whole drive back. 

Thanks again to everyone for assisting in making this trip possible.  This is a great opportunity  for the pupils to see wildlife near where they live, learn the importance of conservation,  and to be exposed to other careers such as ZAWA. Many thanks also go out to ZAWA for including our group under their reduced rates and for lending tents!  Thank you also to the district level agriculture ministry for the use of the vehicle. 

Lasly, I’ll answer what you’re all wondering about.  How did we become a party of 14.5?  The club matron’s baby boy joined the trip too. He’s a little cutie.

1. And we’re off!

2. The boat trip gets a thumbs up by the girls!

3. The crocodile who scared Joseph

4. Angry hippos! Sorry, a better photographer would’ve gotten both jaws…

5. The whole group crossing on the pontoon

6. Yep, I will trust my safety to any man wearing such a snazzy fur collar

7. The pupils enjoying a walking safari. Candid is hard- they always catch me!

8. Impala group we found.

As for the most important part of this quick post:

Thank you-  all my pupils have been sponsored!   I’ve even received support for a 2012 trip! Please look for pictures and stories from our trip planned for 29-30 July! Thank you again. 

 I’m greatly appreciative and amazed at the quick outpouring of support for my well-deserving pupils.  Here’s the appeal they wrote as a group with my encouragement:

(translated from KiiKaonde!) Respectful greetings. We are the Chongololo Environment Club.  We are wanting money to go to Jivundu National Park.  We want to see animals, natural resources, and we are searching for money to buy fuel for the speedboat to take a river cruise. We also need for transportation to the park and to buy food and drinks. We are requesting money because we are young school children who can’t find other money. We will be very thankful if the letter we have written reaches where you are.  Thank you from us at the Chongololo Club.  Twapwa Ateba. 

 http://www.zambia-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=900

http://www.zawa.org.zm/west_lunga.htm

Another update: the garden’s growing well. I’m eating cabbage and other greens already,  the beans are growing well, and the tomato and green pepper seedlings are transplanted.  Props to my groundskeeper, Timothy for all his help.

Here’s where you can help them and me!

I’d like support to take a group of 12 pupils a teacher and myself on an overnight trip to West Lunga National Park this July. Locally called Jivundu park, it’s one of 19 National Parks in Zambia. (Most of you know how much I love national parks…) In WLNP you can still find hippos, crocodiles, puku, impala, and other antelope. Most of the bigger game has been poached as the region’s dominant tribe are culturally hunters. WLNP is also home to many beautiful bird species, and the gorgeous confluence of the Lunga and Kabompo rivers. WLNP is however almost entirely inaccessible to the members of the small-scale farming community where I lived. Giving my pupils an opportunity to visit what’s nearby in their own country is something they deserve. This chance to see real crocodiles and hippos (animals they only know from pictures in school books) and to learn invaluable environmental and conservation lessons is a chance they deserve.

Here’s how I’d like your help.

Please sponsor one of my pupils! $25 will cover all costs for each pupil. These are costs such as park fees, transportation, food, and fuel for a ride on the park’s 2 speedboats. We plan to take an evening boat ride and lesson, then an early morning walk to see animals when they’re most active. Who can you help sponsor?

(Picture is on Facebook)

Sillah (far left in camo), Sandra (in blue in the back), and Martha (red shirt to my left) are cousins in gr 7,9, ad 8 respectively. Sandra is a very promising student who’s taken on some club leadership. Sillah is hilarious, and Martha is quite clever and asks to learn about many things.
Angela (orange tank top) is in gr 7 and sells fritters with her mother at the village market after school. No one knows how many fritters I bought from her in two years-too many!
Royce (in the back with arms around her friends) is doing gr 9 and is one of the school’s most promising students even with the challenges she faces. (Shh! She’s a favourite of mine!)
Xenia (far right in a blue sweater) is a tall girl in gr 7. She appointed herself as my official kiLunda language teacher.
Justina (middle row, left) is Angela’s best friend and also in gr 7. Maybe she came late, but she always came to club meetings.
Womba (licking her lollipop) is an amazingly determined gr 9 pupil. She wants to become a journalist. (ssh! She’s another favourite)
Mary (in white with a lollipop) is writing gr 8 and lives with her aunt. She always has a smile and is a very friendly girl – and crazy good at Go Fish!
Eric (in front) is a very hard working gr 9 pupil. He works to pay his own school fees each term and still finds time to be a clown in my pictures.
Musangu (not pictured) wants to be a pilot and is a very smart gr 9 pupil.
Joseph (not pictured) is also a very hard-working gr 9 pupil. He was shy at first about joining the club, but knows a lot about the importance of conservation and enjoys learning more.
Any support will be greatly appreciated and well thanked. Please contact me about which pupil you’d like to support. dickeybeth@gmail.com. My parents have agreed to help in keeping this simple, they’ll accept the support and then forward on to me here. Thank you very much.

Enjoy. Mwende mutende.
Stay tuned for updates from town life, and how I eat my meals from Cecil Rhodes’ old table. Yeah, be jealous.