Katey in Zambia

2009-01-17T17:49:00.002+02:00

Well, I'm back in America on one month of home leave. Its almost over but it has been a wonderful trip seeing family and friends. There were two "mini reunions" of sorts for rpcvs from Zambia which were a lot of fun and refocused me on the great things about Zambia. Now I am excited to get back to work there.
I have posted a lot more pictures with this access to free internet, so enjoy them. They are mostly from my time in the village, though I now live in town as part of my new position.

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039636&l=93d6e&id=17701516

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039635&l=2f260&id=17701516

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039634&l=d0735&id=17701516

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039623&l=dc275&id=17701516

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039622&l=090ae&id=17701516

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039619&l=81762&id=17701516

Its been a long long long time eh?

2008-10-19T10:19:00.002+02:00

After recieving many complaints, mostly from my Mom... I have finally found the time to update my blog... sorry for the delay.
Since the last post a lot has happened: 1. I finished my service in the village 2. I moved to the provincial headquarters and began my job as the provincial coordinator (PCVL) 3. I went on vacation to Kenya... and many other things inbetween!
1. I wrapped up all of my projects and left some for the new volunteer (who has since moved into the village). The goodbye was sad, one little girl refused to come near me and cried as I biked out of my village for the very last time with pounds and pounds of groundnuts on my bike rack (given to me as rememberance gifts/going away gifts). However, it was time to go. Not only was 2 years just enough time to get some projects done and really accomplish something, but I was ready for a change of pace! I still hear from my village every once in a while, and my neighbor named her baby Katey after me shortly after I left, what an honor!
2. After leaving the village, I became PCVL which is more of an adminstrative position that allows me to work with the Lusaka office, provincial and district government counterparts, volunteers, and volunteer communities. Its a wonderful change of pace, those who know me know that I enjoy being busy and multi tasking, none of which really happened in the village.
3. I just returned from a vacation to Kenya where I got to revisit the old haunts of my college experience there. It was amazing to be back where I first fell in love with life in Africa. It was also amazing the number of people who remembered me four years later, though they had no idea I would be returning! My friend Liz came along with me on the trip to Lamu and Mombasa where we were able to relax, drink tea with people in their homes and catch up on what was happening in everyones lives.
I realize this post is rather mundane and boring, but now that I have caught you up, and now that I live in a house with running water and electricity in a town where there is internet, Ill try to be better about posting the more interesting tidbits of my zamlife!

the end is nearing

2008-04-15T11:44:00.002+02:00

It has been wonderful being back int he village after my visit in America. After I returned to Zambia, I travelled with myPCV friend Maggie to Mpulungu on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Northern Zambia. While it ws lovely to relax on the beach and see another part of Zambia, we aren't sure it was worth the 36 hour trip (one way) to get there!
After the brief holiday to Mpulungu I came back to my village. Things are really picking up as I near the end of my time here. I will leave my village at the end of July to begin my 3rd year extension position in Chipata. The CATF is starting to take greate initiative as the umbrella organization for HIV/AIDS monitoring in the area. The sewing IGA group (Taonga) is beginning to show the community its worth by spending its profits on food for HIV+ patients in the area. It is certainly nice to see things take off on their own... afterall, "sustainability" is the ultimate goal in Peace Corps. It is going to be hard to say goodbye to people and projects here though since development of HIV prevention and care is moving relatively smoothly. I am also excited to see what else the people here do when the next volunteer arrives in September.
When I returned to the village, I gave them some gifts send bymy parents in America. The 3 small boys were all sent shirts that have characters which light up when the shirt moves. Poor Elias, the youngest of the 3, is scared of the lights! Soon enough he will be used to it and wear the shirt proudly to church or child weighing (the 2 occasions when he allows his mother to dress him... otherwise he much prefers his "birthday suit"... what 2 year old doesnt?

quick tidbits

2008-01-31T18:52:00.000+02:00

Life in the village has been good. Its always excellent to get back into a routine, back to work, and be in my own hut after being away. Christmas and New years wee relaxing and I was eager to get back to work.
Other than my 3 current projects (sewing IGA, youth friendly corner, and community AIDS task force training) I've been spending a lot of time just soaking-up village life. The time between now and the end of July is just going to FLY by!
One day EVERYONE painted their nails with the polish I bought the girls for Christmas. I planted a field of corn and soya with the help of every village kid- I guess its more entertaining to hoe in my field and watch me than work with their parents in their own fields. I watched half of a movie at my nurse's house, the solar power ran out... since it is the rainy season and all. I do laungry and pray that it doesn't rain.... but inevitably it takes 3 days for ANYTHING to dry. I hang out and chat with anyone who is around. I confuse the new teachers at the school who, no matter how much I explain who I am, are still confused every time I walk through the school on my way to work or to fetch water. Finally, I eat a lot of mangoes... sadly the mango season is ending... but guavas will be here soon!
Work is going well, which is rare for the rainy season so that is keeping me motivated! Unfortunately we did find out that a little boy that I adore tested positive for HIV at 18 months old (both of his parents are HIV positive). That has been one of the toughest things to deal with in my service here, and my life in general! He is an awesome kid. We have been eating breakfasts together now so that he gets breakfast (since no one usually eats before going to the fields and return around 10am or 11am). He is IN LOVE with hot chocolate... "AKet, nipeko ho cho cho, ho cho cho" "Katey, please give me hot chocolate"... adorable, right?
I am looking forward to seeing americaland and the people there in a month... the week i am there is just going to fly by!

Sewing along

2008-01-23T09:28:00.000+02:00

A while ago I started a group comprised of representatives from all of the HIV/AIDS groups in my area: Zumwanda Cooperating HIV/AIDS Partners (ZCHAP). The group has big plans and lots of ideas for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) support, as well as community outreach HIV/AIDS education programs. Each group represented has been able to implement their own programs (home based care, education, etc.) but the cummulative group, ZCHAP has no government supporter or funds. The group therefore decided to start an income generating activity (IGA) of their own in order to fund their programs. The idea of a sewing business was born.
With the kind support of friends and family at home as well as the DCHS National Honors Society, the club was able to purchase a sewing machine and all the start-up materials necessary for their business. A member of the group is teaching others how to cut fabric and sew. They are sewing school uniforms and will begin shortly to make purses and other bags to sell.
The whole venture is proving entertaining and rewarding. Entertaining as they teach eachother and laugh and exclaim that the other has failed before they start over again. Rewarding because its a big project and its actually coming together nicely!

a day in the life:

2007-12-21T08:24:00.000+02:00

people have been wondering... so one day, i just wrote down everything i did. you are welcome mom!
700: wake up. No one is in the village except 2 or 3 children. Everyone else has gone to the fields
800: Warm water over brasier for tea and cream of wheat.
900: Walk 1.5 km to the clinic. meet a friend along the way who, just as everyone in my village did yesterday, tells me I've been away too long and that I am very fat. (This translates into "American" as, I've missed you, I'm glad you have returned healthy). The last half kilometer to the clinic I am shyly greeted by small, giggling children on their way to school.
930: I arrive at teh clinic, weave my way through the swarm of people waiting to be seen and greet the nurse inside who is pulling school exercize books from a shelf (the closest thing to a patient record here). He begins a tyrade about being overworked and we both agree that the clinic is sorely understaffed now that everyone has been transfeerred to urban areas. This has left only him to do the work of 3, and he is on-call every day all day for emergencies and baby deliveries.
1000: I go to my friend's house (the other nurse who has just been transferred) and help her pack. This involves me stuffing hundreds of foam pieces into a pillow case, and explaining the cultural inuendos in the movie "Sideways" which she recently watched.
1100: I excuse myself and walk to the chief's village in search of a counterpart that I am inviting to a workshop in Chipata. She, of course (as nothing works out as planned the first time around in Zambia) is in town today, so I leave a note for her. While waiting to find out that she is away for the day, I chat with another woman and her 2 teenage daughters. They are not only shocked... but horrified to hear taht I am an only child. We debate whether I should have 2 or 10 children, and why I am not married yet at the ripe old age of 23! Then we move onto food and I list everything I can think of that we eat in America and repeat over and over that we don't eat sima. Another woman appears with her toddler at this point, chuckling that her (now screaming in terror of me) daughter saw me and announced "Mama, look, a green person!" (I guess it would help to add at this point that I wore a green shirt and skirt today). Everyone laughs, and the previous conversation is recounted to the new woman as they intermittantly shove the terrified child towards me and she screams.
1130: I return tot he clinic via the small shops which sell sugar, matches, candles, cooking oil, and cookies. I see some of my favorite kids, who are sad taht I won't shake their mango-pu.lp-ridden hands when I greet them. Mango season has just begun here. You can't walk by a mango tree without spotting a child up the tree in search of the perfect mango.. or being hit by a mango pit or stone as children throw them into the tree to knock the not-quite-ripe mangoes down.
1135:Back at the clinic I sit down to write 15 identical notes called "bushnotes" which will be delivered to the recipients by passing them from one person to another int eh direction towards their home. The average time for a delivery 10km away is 3-5 days. These particular notes invide an HIV/AIDS group to a meeting about income generating activiteis and to show them their new sewing machine that I recently bought in town (thanks New Hope friends and family!). I thne ask the same nurse from earlier whether or not my funds were approved to train a group of teenagers to run a Youth Friendly Corner where they would be peer educators about sex-ed and STIs (formerly known as STDs). I am told that I need to wait another month becuase the funds I wanted (not much at all... $30ish for a week-long training) will be used to purchase a second goat for world AIDS day. Oh! And World AIDS day will be celebrated a week late due to poor planning (not surprising.. AT ALL!)
1200: I say my last goodbyes to teh transferred nurse and she invites me to visit her in Ndola sometime. I say yes, and wonder when I will take the 4day journey across the country. Then I walk home in the heat. Its supposed to be the rainy season here already, but it hasnt rained in 3 weeks. The sun is blazing and there isnt a time when I am not sweating... even in the shower and as I sleep. Please, rain, come back soon and cool this place off!
1230: I cant bring myself to start a fire for lunch so I mix up some powdered milk and eat muesli (my big purchase in Lusaka) for lunch.
1245: The 10 year old girl next door, Miso, comes over to chat. I teach her how to make friendshiop bracelets and we talk about the different animals in America and Zambia.
1400: Its too hot. I surrender tot he heat and take a nap in my hut.
1545: I wake-up, start the brasier and warm water to bathe. After my bucket bath I cook some green beans I bought in town the other day and eat them in my kitchen while chatting with people who pass by.
1700: My headman comes by to chat... but really to tell me every detail of his stomache illness (don't worry, I'll spare you the details)... people still think I am a doctor! Then he compares Livingstone (where I have just been) to America (where he has never been).
1800: Now it is dusk and all of the girls are returning from teh borehole with water to cook their dinner. I will write a few letters, read, and text some other PCVs before going to bed around 20 hrs.

There is no such thing as a set schedule in the village, nor a "typical day", but I guess this is pretty average. I hope this helsp all of you who have been asking!

... and then I got Malaria

2007-12-09T07:40:00.000+02:00

First of all, sorry for not updating, I know some of you are a bit angry!
The past few months I had a seminar in Lusaka and spent Thanksgiving in Livingstone with all of my volunteer friends from my district (PCVs and VSOs). It was a blast, we went to visit our friend you used to volunteer in Lundazi, but moved down to Livingstone. We had a feast, hung out, and hitched in the sleeper cab of a semi (the best hitch I have ever had!)
As far as work goes, there are some kind folks back home who wanted to help in some way with the work I am doing here. After much thought I decided that the most sustainable use for their donations would be to purchase a sewing machine and textile inputs for a small business. The business will be owned by a group of people who all work with HIV in my area. They are people living with HIV, home-based care givers, and orphan care givers. If all goes well, they will be sewing and selling school uniforms, school bags, purses, you name it! Ill keep you updated on the prospects folks! Anyway, the sewing machine has been purchased and is waiting to be transported the 30km from town. Next step: the kind students of my hometown will be working on a humanitarian project regarding microfinance and their practical application will be funding this particular microfinance activity. I'm excited for all the adventure and ups and downs that this project will surely bring! It is my biggest project yet!
When I was sitting in my hut, I wasn't sure what else I would write about, and thought that this would be a really boring blog entry... and then I got Malaria. In the end, my one piece of advice is: DON'T GET MALARIA! It was aweful, I thought I was dying! At 330am in my hut I had to prick my finger and make a blood slide to send to Lusaka. Then at 530 am I wobbled out of my house and spoke few words in Tumbuka to relay the message that I needed a vehicle to pick me up and take me to town as I couldn't walk much past my own latrine, let alone to the clinic to arrange my own transport or call town to arrange it! Two kind men from my village ran to the clinic, found a mini bus (that usually isnt working.. so i was very lucky). It came back, picked me up from my front door (where I was lying on the concrete floor...suffering) and took me to town. In town I stayed with my VSO friends and worked on keeping food down, lowering my 104 fever, and trying to have coherent thought. When these 3 things were accomplished and I was still feeling aweful, I got on a bus at 3am to travel 5 hours to Chipata where there is a PC House. From here I rested and recuperated and am feeling much better. I will survive! Thanks for everyone who has been thinking of me and contacting me to let me know so.
Now I begin a week long workshop for counterparts in Chipata, and then Im off on Christmas vacation! Woo hoo!

new photos

2007-10-06T08:27:00.000+02:00

http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023270&l=5a336&id=17701516

sorry, theres just a handful

long time, no update

2007-09-04T09:42:00.000+02:00

A lot has happened since my last post!
I went on vacation with my parents in South Africa. I was completely overwhemed by the malls in Cape Town, but did get to fulfill my craving for McDonald's chicken nuggets (go figure! I move to Zambia and want McDonald's for the first time in I don't know how many years!)
We toured around Cape Town and the winelands. The highlights were clearly the food (sushi) and wine... oh! and the cheese! Overall it was a very nice trip, although I still wish family and friends from America could see Zambia and my village here! (hint hint)
Back in Zambia I went to Josh's village to help him host "second site visit"... this is when new volunteers get to practice language, HIV/AIDS facilitation, and try out life in the village. Daira, Asha, and Michelle are the 3 new Tumbukas- we love them! The 5 of us had a really good time (despite me being horribly ill for a few days!)
On site visit Asha began referencing stories from a blog she had read (i.e. banana pancakes!) and was familiar with some of my stories already. She was embarrased to admit it, but it turns out shes been reading this blog since she got her invitation for PCZ. I admit its pretyt strange to meet someone for the first time who already knows a bit about you! Anyway, this blog entry serves as a "shout out" to Asha's friends and family who are surely continuing to read this blog! She is doing just fine and will soon be telling us all stories about her teaching the 1,000 kids at a school 500m from her (soon-to-be-completed) house! Although, I did hear from her that in her first week in the village she ate a lot of bread and honey... apparently Josh's efforts to teach how to cook on a brasier have been lost on her thus far (ha!)
Afrer site visit, I nursed myself back to health and then went to training for the new volunteers to assist their trainers for the last two weeks, it was nice to meet all of the other new volunteers!
After all of this "hooplah" I finally returned to my village to find my long-in-the-making (5 months) mud hut STILL unfinished. I then played a game I like to call sit and watch my house not be built and ask a lot of questions that have answers like: it just didn't happen; soon it will be finished; ah, yes, its not done yet; another day they will come to work; i know there aren't walls, but Ketty, we dug the hole for your latrine at least!. Mostly I am grateful that as of august 21 I have lived in a village for 1 year so answers like these are no longer as frustrating... but rather, added amusement to my day. (*since writing this entry in my hut, my house has been completed, and i can FINALLY move in on thursday... hooray!)
Other amusing tales from the village include being yelled at my an elderly man (so i couldn't really argue out of respect for him) becuase he didn't get a mosquito net during the national net distribution program... I just explained over and over that theonlly net I have is the one over my own bed! The other day I was sweeping and swept 2 baby scorpions out of my house. Liz came to visit a few nights ago and ran around with a big stick trying to kill a BIG mouse... who we later named Ralf S. Mouse after those "mouse and the motorcycle" books... becuase we swear he did a double back handspring with a tuck from my roof to my wall to scurry outside!
Thats all for now.

oh south africa

2007-07-09T09:54:00.000+02:00

and you thought this would be a post about my trip thus far... dun dun dun... the goal here is only to say that fast internet is glorious, and that there are new pictures posted... due to the fast internet. oh, and malls are scary, really really scary.

http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018697&l=fb2be&id=17701516

these are pics from libby and blessed's wedding... an fyi to those in america, the site i use doesnt save the pictures at a very high quality online. i still have them saved on my memory card though, so if you wanted anything bigger than a snapshot, let me know.

http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020068&l=d001d&id=17701516

http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020069&l=bf259&id=17701516

Libby's Wedding and Such

2007-07-05T08:52:00.000+02:00

This post has two audiences in mind: folks back home who want to know what I have been up to for all this time without posting, and peace corps volunteers who are bored and reading other blogs... wondering what ever happened to that wedding Libby was having!
So, since the pcvs are probably paying for internet, I'll tell the story of Libby's wedding first. Her family and friends that came from the states are lovely people (and I'm not just saying that because Kara gave me a really pretty dress!). I must say it will probably be one of the most memorable weddings I ever attend due to the mix of two cultures in what is such a traditional event! I had a great time hanging out with everyone, meeting Blessed's family and friends as well as Libby's. Those of you who know me well will not be surprised that i turned into the wedding planner of sorts to help out... thanks mom for that trait... and all that catering of weddings i did in hs! In the end I think it was a perfectly lovely wedding... the only thing that could have been improved would be throwing the MC into the pool (which I REALLY wanted to do!). There is a common practice of hiring an MC to conduct the reception (as there is traditionally a lot of dancing.. into the reception, to the cake to cut it, etc.). This MC however was rude and loud and not liked by many. Oh well...now we can all laugh about it right!? Thats all you'll get from me about the wedding... check libby's blog later.. im sure she'll post. Also, i should have posted pictures of the wedding as of today!
Now, my life in the village can be summed up in one phrase: i dont have a house. as you know, i have moved villages and am living in a temporary hut (which is in shambles). My house was supposed to be well on its way to being built by the time i left for Libby's wedding, but alas, not even weeds were cleared. Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time at site tracking down the appropriate people, and the people they blame, and the people that they blame to discuss my house, or rather the lack thereof! I think I finally got through to them, maybe not in the kindest way, but I hope it all works out and I have at least walls and poles for a roof when i return from vacation with my parents in south africa!
I did have one FANTASTIC training, not sure if I already wrote about it... but it was an IGA (income generating activities) training for a pta, neighborhood health committee, cooperative group, and home based care group in a particular zone of my medical catchment area. It was hard to crawl out of bed (as it was early and FREEZING!) and bike the 20km to the workshop, but both days I was pleasantly surpised to find people very punctual, attentive, and willing to discuss such controversial issues as female condoms! (as many people, especially women, are so shy to talk about sex that talking about condoms, let alone female condoms is often difficult and one feels that there is a room full of 13 year old boys giggling about it! Anyway, it was one of my proudest moments thus far in Zambia since it was very successful, and community initiated. They wrote me, asking to conduct the workshop becuase they identified IGAs as a possible tool to fight the economic imbalance due to HIV in their community.
My new village... despite the lack of house is lovely. I am enjoying their company and slowly getting used to an even smaller world... there are only 19 people there now.. wow. who would of thought life could revolve around so few people on a daily basis! I have also been back a few times to visit my old village. They are so different, and I love them both ... but i find myself missing my old village.. especially Barbra and Efrieda... a lot sometimes. Its good to go back and see them, I feel like an aunt talking about how much Efrieda has grown etc etc.
Well, i cant really feel my fingers its so cold so it hurts to type. ill leave it at this short update and say... enjoy the pictures!... when i finally get them posted... maybe in cape town?? maybe later today??? who knows!

pictures

2007-05-31T18:51:00.000+02:00

finally, and at long last... you too can have a glimpse of my new village and other random things... click on the previous links from previous posts... and this other link:
http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018697&l=fb2be&id=17701516

random

2007-05-27T19:53:00.000+02:00

Well folks, I tried to put pics up again of the new village... but, again, i am in zambia... so i will have to try again later!

All is well over here, not much in the way of village work lately as I have been out of my village for a few weeks now attending Peace Corps meetings, writing grant proposals, and being in limbo without enough days to get back to the village between these meetings. It has been nice to catch up with the other volunteers though, as we don't see any of them up in Lundazi!

I have been sewing a lot lately, and it looks like one of my HIV/AIDS community groups will be sewing bags etc. for an income generating activity to support orphans and vulnerable children... so, keep that in mind, and when their small business takes off, I'll let you all know back in the states and I am sure they would be elated to have orders from you... and you can make a difference in the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS "one bag at a time". I know its really cheesy, but many of you have been asking how you can help me with my work. This might be the best way... because its not me who needs the help, its my friends over here in Zambia who are trying to start a sustainable project! I am crossing my fingers that all goes well becuase they have some really good ideas about sensitization and support programs!

In a week or so I'm headed back to the village until July, so I am sure I will have things to report... stay tuned and keep the letters coming!

I've moved!

2007-04-24T10:22:00.000+02:00

This computer is reading everything in Dutch... thanks to Irma (a VSO volunteer here). So I hope that you are all able to read this blog entry in English... I don't know many people who can speak dutch!

As per the title of this blog entry, I've moved villages. I am still in the same catchment area for my clinic, so I am still working with the same groups on the same projects, I just go home to a different hut in a different village now. There were a plethora (yes Liz, I just used a big word... eventhough I'm not sure I spelled it correctly!) of reasons for my move... most of which are hard to explain but I'll narrow it down to water, saftety, remoteness, and distance from the clinic. Overall, its a miracle that my first village ("L") was accepted by Peace Corps as a host village in the first place. I feel blessed to have lived there for 8 months and made not only friends with the members of that community but was really treated as a member of the community in many ways. I will miss living there, especially Barbra.. the little girl who was a terrific friend and help to me during my stay there... but now I only live 13km away from "L" and can therefore go visit for a day any time I want!
When I left Luwawa (Peace Corps was in the area so they helped me move all of my stuff) there was mayhem, but everyone understands that my moving was mostly out of our control and that they did nothing wrong, and if I could have, I would have moved the entire village... just picked it up and placed it right next to the clinic. The new village ("D") has been extremely welcoming and I am making fast friends with the women in the village, especially my neighbor closest neighbor. It is a very different village from "L" where there was basically no cash economy. "D" has a hammer mill (for grinding maize into flour) and many of the members of the family who would traditionally live in the village live in the town nearby and are owners of various businesses. Needless to say, its been an adjustment. Overall I have loved both places equally, but for different reasons since they are so very different.
Right now I am living in a temporary hut (its an actual hut, just not mine) in "D" 4m from the hammer mill. This gives me constant entertainment of talking to the women (and often holding their infants) while they are waiting their turn to grind maize. In July my very own hut will be finished on the other side of the village... which is surprisingly smaller than "L" (there are 22 people in "D", whereas "L" is now at 62 with the birth of twins last week).
Another important part of my move (besides the logistics of being closer to the clinic and all of the care groups, support groups, NGOs, orphan groups, and widow groups that I work with) is that the new village seems to have had more of an impact from HIV in that most of the adults are older, and one woman in particular is a widow caring for 3 of her orphaned grandchildren.
Needless to say, I have begun yet another adventure within the adventure of being a PCV in Zambia!
I have just recently returned from a trip to Victoria Falls for Easter vacation... AMAZING! and am excited to get back to work with my community before meeting up with my parents in July! I will try to post new pictures of my new village and of Victoria falls after writing this so that you can imagine what I am talking about a bit!
Among PC news, I will be helping to train the new HIV/AIDS volutneers for a week when they arrive this summer! I am excited to be a part of the training, and especially excited to welcome 3 new HIV/AIDS volunteers to our (Liz, Josh, and I) district here in Eastern Province! Also, through the ever strong Castle Rock grapevine (although not quite as efficient as the PC rumor mill) I have heard that yet another person from Castle Rock will be joining PC Zambia! That will keep it at a constant 2 at all times. Who knew Castle Rock would have such a presence!
As everyone has been asking in letters etc.... Yes, I am healthy now. No, I still don't have a new bicycle (but rumor has it I will have one by the end of june! ... not new really, but less used and damaged than the current one!)
Speaking of letters, they are much appreciated... thank you! I haven't been to the town closest to my village in a while, so another volunteer was able to bring my mail halfway to me... it was like Christmas in my hut reading all of the letters (and MEGAN'S wedding invitation!!!).
Stay well all of you... I am sure I have more stories, just can't remember them right now.

PICTURES!

2007-02-28T16:59:00.001+02:00

well all, im pretty sure i got more pictures to upload... enjoy them at: http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015289&l=9fdb2&id=17701516

and

http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006490&l=d5fd1&id=17701516

and

http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015350&l=1c4c1&id=17701516

A Night at the Clinic

2007-02-19T09:59:00.000+02:00

So, in short, I slept with a member of my clinic staff.

Now that I have your attention, here is the story:
Last Wednesday I rode my bike the 10km to a meeting at my clinic only to find that only 2 of the 17 people supposed to be there actually showed up (conclusion: cancelled meeting). I was feeling a bit under the weather so I decided it might be better to wait a bit before heading back home (i.e. for the sun to go down a bit). At about 4:30 PM I went to go get my bicycle, only to find my rear tire completely deflated. The handy bike-lady that I am, I quickly turned it upside down, removed the tire, removed the tube, found the leak, patched it up, put everything back together and was on the road again in about half an hour.
This would have all been fine and dandy if my tire hadn't deflated again just in front of the Chief's Palace 3 minutes away. So, I got off my bike and walked it back to the clinic. I got my friend who works at the clinic to help me again and he tried to patch the tire... no use. So then we called upon the BEST "mr. fixits" in the world... young village boys in Zambia! They tried EVERYTHING... fire, charcoal, stones, all sizes of rubber, different glues, different patches... but to no avail. Then the sun went down. I obviously wouldn't be returning to my village Wednesday night.
It was then arranged that I would stay with the single, female nurse at her house for the night after being entertained at the third clinic house by nigerian films (if gillian is reading this... yes, just like the ones the creepy priest used to show at his house). So, I found myself a bit under the weather, wearing someone elses pajamas, and sleeping (well barely) next to them in their bed (mind you, she just arrived at my clinic last month, so while she is awesome, we don't really know eachother!). It was a good night overall... ate some sima, etc.
The next morning another flock of village boys arrived to assist with the bicycle tube. Try as they did, there was no use... it was not repairable! I couldn't realistically walk the 10km back to my house to fetch some things, and then the 30km to town to get it fixed... enter the art of "Zam-rigging"! I was then given the tube from the Zambian bicycle used by the clinic (their only form of transport when the motorbike doesnt work), which really isnt the right size for my bike, nor does my pump work on it. Anyway, I made it home to tell the village I was alive after an unexpected night away, and that I would be gone for a few days to fix my bike (AGAIN!). Then I made it safely to town (well, mostly... i did fall off of my bike once and scraped up my leg).
Luckily I didn't have to go all the way to Chipata, and Jeff was kind enough to send TWO new bike tubes to me via another volunteer. I got sicker, and am still in town fighting off the flu before I make the trek back to the village just in time for Liz and Josh to come and visit!
Well, there you have it, the summary of yet another chapter in "The Adventures of a Mzungu in Africa: Zambia"
Yes, you are welcome for 2 updates in such a short span of time!
Oh, my Dutch friend Irma was telling me that Josh, Liz, and I are all weird... now if anyone knows Liz, they know why, and Josh has his signature quirks as well... but I asked what made me weird. Irma's response, "You're just so Glow-In-The-Dark". Take that as you will I guess.
Missing everyone... you should come visit me!!! Zambia is AMAZING!

At Long Last!

2007-01-29T12:25:00.000+02:00

Sorry to all of you who have sent me: text messages, letters, posted comments, and sent emails expressing your anger at my not posting for a LONG time!
Here is a rundown of my zam-life since November! Oh, and Happy New Year!
December:
1. There was one bad week in there where I met a snake at my front door at night (which my neighbors killed after I yelled in (surprisingly) comprehendable Tumbuka for them to come and get the snake); my roof leaked (badly); and I was stung by a wasp which made my hand swell to twice its size (I have a scar... ask to see it sometime!).
2. I went on vacation to Malawi for Christmas with some other PCVs and their friends from the states (see... their friends visit!). It was a wonderful vacation! We saw a bunch of different places in Malawi from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay. The most impressive part of Malawi was its development in comparisson to Zambia... the roads were paved (well) and painted! and it seems as though someone introduced a bit more urban planning! Needless to say, I was impressed, but happy to return to the familiar Eastern Province of Zambia and get back to work!
January:
1. I returned to the village and work really has picked up! I have meetings 5 days a week now (a lot of cycling) which is totally worth it knowing that something is getting accomplished! My biggest project right now is collecting information about all of the orphans in the area and starting a community school which will integrate HIV/AIDS education. For this project I am working with a VSO volunteer who lives in town. Its early now but it looks like it will be a success!
2. My house still leaks, there are bats that live under my bed (but the mice are gone!)... and I had a bike accident that would have been much worse had I not been wearing my helmet. These three things are grouped together becuase the end result is an egg with herbs in it burried in the floor inside my house to ward off the witch craft which (according to my headman) has caused my recent bad luck. For now the bats are still there, my wounds are healing, and I will buy more plastic for my roof.... the dogs huddle around my house though becuase they can smell the egg and want to eat it (so i guess that wards off any other pests that my have thought about moving in).
3. Along the lines of my bike accident... without ice, the next best thing is apparently hot compresses. So... in a surprisingly not awkward encounter while i was in a haze of my (minor) head injury a 40 year old woman boiled water, escorted me to my shower shelter, stripped me of my clothes and pressed hot compresses all over my head, back, arms, and legs where i had been bruised and scraped from the bike. It was interesting... but worked a bit! **** Don't worry Mom! The headache has subsided... I am FINE and back on my bike again!****
4. My bicycle, as a result of the accident is finally on its last leg! A crucial cable has now frayed beyond repair (which is why I am now in town on a quest to repair it!). Hopefully PC will finally be able to locate the part becuase I can't go back to the village until I have the part to repair my bike and ride it back! I would welcome the chance to be in town for a while if it didn't mean that I had to cancel multiple meetings (in a land where cancelling meetings means sending a letter through 5-10 people hoping it gets there in time so that people aren't dissappointed with you!) and trainings! Worst of all, I was finally going to start teaching HIV prevention at a school nearby... but the first day has been put off and put off and I clearly won't be there for what was supposed to be the "new first day" tomorrow.
All in all work is going well, life is going well, and clearly the bad things make for better stories! Remember that I haven't written since November, so its hard to remember what went on! On a high note, here's a story about Frida... a toddler in my village:
When bathing one night she pointed to the bottom of her foot (where her skin is lighter) and told her mother: "look, AKatey is right here!" Then, the next day she saw the birthmark on my hand and said to me "look, theres Frida, thats just like me!" So, as my Dad would say... humanity's essential similarities have prevailed and only a little child could point out the obvious... that we are all alike in some way!
Greetings from Zamland!
(Justin: you may send a letter now... I would have done so, but don't have your address!)
Oh, and I'm sorry, no picture updates... there's not much sun in the rainy season, which means not much solar power, which means not much recharge for my batteries, which means no camera!
Be well all!

so i went swimming today...

2006-11-20T18:52:00.000+02:00

at a dam... and when i got out... i had leeches all over my feet... i'm going to take a shower now. Just thought you'd all like to know.

Consider this the new and improved ... from the last post

2006-11-17T19:56:00.000+02:00

Well, I find myself in the internet cafe again... this time with a short list of things to tell about my life thus far in Zambia. However, I cannot read the previous post while writing this one, so please excuse any repeats!
Last week was site visits. This means that my supervisor from Lusaka came to visit my site in the bush to provide emotional, technical, and logistical support for me. All of that went well, including her efforts to get me more information about how to train Traditional Birth Attendants on preventing mother to child transmission of HIV! However, more important to my day to day sanity... which is integral to my sucessful work here in Zambia was the fact that a Peace Corps vehicle would be coming to my site. This was my chance to restock my canned tuna and flour supplies as I bike everything to my site and these things (among the other various purchases in the BOMA) are usually pretty heavy and bulky. Needless to say I am very thankful for the chance to have gotten these things brought to my site. My supervisor visited Josh and Liz the day before me... and Liz, knowing that the only fruit available to my in my village is mangoes, was nice enough to send a bushel of bananas (roughly 100 I'd say) from her yard! However, in the 20 or so hours that they sat in the vehicle overnight, they ripened very quickly and by the time they reached me there was nothing I could do but cook with them. Benjamin (my new hen) has not started laying eggs yet though, so banana bread was out of the question. Instead, I set out on a two day venture of cooking about 150 banana pancakes... thats roughly 3 for every person in my village! They LOVED them and I had a good time teaching them another way to get fruits and therefore vitamins into their daily diet.
The people in my village really are soaking up any and all information I give them, and any and everything I do. I had had just about enough of sitting by and watching everyone in my village suffer from coughs, colds and intestinal problems... so I decided to hold a short little workshop in my mphala one afternoon. I made a cool poster about washing your hands by pouring water over them instead of sharing the same dirty water in a bowl passed from person to person. I talked about the importance of soap in washing hands, but realize that soap is expensive so I emphasized the necessity to use soap especially when you are sick. I also talked about using chlorine or boiling drinking water to purify it. Finally, I talked about the fact that the lack of pit latrines in the village (mine is the ONLY one!) poses a great health danger to everyone there as diseases are spread quickly when waste is not disposed of properly. I had this meeting thinking that it would be good Tumbuka language practice and that maybe one household would start pouring water to wash their hands and maybe they would boil their water once. However, I was pleasantly surprised and given renewed hope in the desire of my community to help itself with the knowledge that I can share when most began to pour water to wash their hands, one family boiled their drinking water, and the headman is now enforcing that 7 latrines be built for the 7 houses in the village. Woot! Success!
Now, being at in service training I am getting even more ideas about my future work here. Today I have been thinking a lot about sustainability and am thinking that my 2 long term goals will be to create a Community AIDS Task Force (CATF), and organize a month long event wherein rural communities in Eastern Province are given the opportunity to know their HIV status through mobile counseling and testing services (VCT). Ideally the CATF would be formed through community elections and I would train them. Then they could work with me on forming anti-aids clubs in schools, teaching at under 5 clinics, strengthening community groups of people living positively with HIV, and work on translation projects for both HIV/AIDS materials as well as with a local NGO that has a program on food security for HIV + patients on ARVS. The VCT project would ideally... and this is a HUGE project to take on... but ideally it would be a month long event wherein a mobile VCT unit goes to a different PCV site community each day to offer VCT, educate, connect HIV+ people with counseling services, support groups, and ARVS, etc. It would hopefully be a way to get testing available all over Eastern province to those who otherwise don't have the chance to know their status which is a huge part of the battle here in Zambia at least!
I will continue to work on clean water projects as a secondary project (but really it goes along with my HIV/AIDS and nutrition work quite well becuase its hard to live positively without access to clean water). I have a meeting with a counterpart in my BOMA next week and hopefully we can come up with an action plan to get the ball rolling a bit faster on a catchment wide water and sanitation project! If anyone has any ideas, or knows of possible donors to fund boreholes I would appreciate a letter about it. Its hard to research NGOs and international donors from my mud hut!
Less on a work related note, but more fun stories about my time here... I was at my clinic a few weeks ago for a short meeting and its just too hot to ride my bike back in the middle of the day. So I just sat and wrote some letters at the clinic. I ended up talking to some pregnant women outside and practicing my tumbuka (by saying over and over again that I have a hard time eating okra when it is cooked to the consistency of slime... and that it has no nutritional value when you cook it with village baking soda!). It was really fun to just sit and chat with these women... most of whom had walked over 15km to get to the clinic, leaving well before they were in labor to arrive safely, only to wait many days before they go into labor and finally give birth. Its a fun time for them and there is just a great vibe amongst the group of women that are always perched on the porch in front of the delivery room of the clinic!
My last story is about when I was in the BOMA last time and needed to buy a hoe. I bought the hoe and in walking back to the VSO house where I stay there was stopped MANY times by people asking me if I could farm? if I had a farm? was I going to grow maize? what is a foreigner like you doing with a hoe?... and the best part was that I could respond in Tumbuka that I had a hectare field and that I would be growing maize, okra, sunflower, soya, and millet! Man, it was a good day!
Well, that seems to be it for the collected thoughts version of a blog post... hope you enjoyed!

2006-11-14T16:25:00.000+02:00

I always finally get to the internet cafe and then have NO IDEA what to write! So, I guess we will see where this blog post takes us...
I have a ton of mice in my house... but they dont like to eat food, they like to eat plastic, my mefloquine (anti malarial drug) and wooden spoons. I'm pretty sure that all of the mefloquine has made the mice bald insomniacs who are immune to malaria... and they ate an ENTIRE spoon in ONE night!
I have completed my community entry and made the 3 day journey back down to Lusaka for inservice training... woot! Its been really great to see all of my friends from pre service training who live in other provinces!
Work is going pretty well in the village... its finally become a natural place for me to be. I have been conducting a lot of meetings at under-5 years old immunization clinics out in the bush... which means i ride my bike a LOT! My farthest meeting is about 25km away... and I bike an average of 15km a day. In Lusaka I'm really missing my dear old bike!
I've got big plans for the next two years, there are all of these projects I want to do, and my Tumbuka is getting pretty good! I want to train peer educators, start income generating activities to buy chlorine to sanitize the horrible water in my catchment area, I'll continue filling out grant proposals with my community to apply for boreholes (since my dambo ... 8 foot in diameter stagnant pond... and only source of water... and very similar in the rest of my catchment area... is dried up this time of the year), I want to work with Liz and Josh to translate educational pamphlets into Tumbuka which seems to be the forgotton language of Zambia... wow, theres just so much I can't list it!
I did make a breakthrough with the little kids who scream bloody murder at the sight of white people... I bribed a little girl in my village with one of the 150 banana pancakes I made last weekend so that she would come near me without running in fear. Then at an under 5 clinic there were 2 year old twins, a boy and a girl. The girl was terrified of me, but the boy just toddled up, shook my hand, climbed on my lap and started touching my arm and playing with my hair (very common for kids who have never seen a foreigner). Then when it was time for him to leave, he refused to go with his mother and said he wanted to stay with me, how cute!
I'm currently in the process of trying to upload more photos on the internet, but it seems to be taking REALLY long... so sorry Mom if it doesn't work out this time around! (one of these days)
Lets see here, what else is new... i guess I can't really think of anything now... another post will be forthcoming. Sorry for the sporatic entry, I'm just a little overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the capital!
Oh, I have kept forgetting.. but a shout out to Josh B. for leaving his handle bar extensions on his bicycle when he left... I inherited them and wouldn't be able to do all the work I do without them, they are lovely... THANK YOU, and you are missed!

a pumpkin goes on an adventure... and other stories from the bush

2006-10-13T11:58:00.000+02:00

So, apparently one cannot hold productive meetings until anyone who would be at these meetings has first come to your home to "welcome" you to their community. In my case, this meant that an 8am meeting finally happened at my headman's house at around 2:45pm at which I was not allowed to conduct any business, but was to introduce myself, my job description and recieve gifts from the people who came to visit me. However, this was 2 days before I cycled the 70km to Liz's site for a festival. Needless to say I didn't have time to cook and eat the pumpkin (along with the rice, and mealy meal, and groundnuts, and tomatoes, etc) that was given to me before I left. However, I was so excited to have a pumpkin that I wrapped it in a chitenje and strapped it to the back of my trusty bicycle and began the ride to Liz's village. I am happy to report that approximately 80% of the pumpkin made it there unharmed and Josh Liz and I were able to enjoy a delicious meal of steamed pumpkin with sugar and cinnamon... oh the highlights of life in the bush.
Among other random things.... on our way to Chipata yesterday Liz and I had quite the transportation adventure... it included: a man who "smashed a pig" with his car; a carribeaner (sp?) holding together a crucial part of a car; a giant hole in an essential part of a car; Liz's life flashing before her eyes; almost losing my eyesight from a shattered windshield (don't worry Mom, I'm aok!); a minibus literally falling apart as it drove down the road; a minibus driving through a cornfield; and finally embarasssing taxi drivers by asking them if they wanted to give us a ride to the toilet so that they would stop harrassing us!
Also: there is a large hill in between Liz's clinic and her house... at the top of the hill she kindly stopped on her bicycle to say, "Katey, just go as fast as you can down the hill and stay in the center of the path, theres a lot of sand." So, trusting her as usual, I followed her advice, only to find my face securely planted in a mound of sand and my body mangled in my bicycle. What Liz really meant was, "stay to the edge of the path through the sand, but then get to the center of the road quickly as most of it has washed out". All josh saw was a cloud of dust, and when he caught up, asked "Hey Katey, you alright?" to which I did not reply, but Liz looked at him and said "Eh, she's fine!".. oh the woes of bicycle riding!
I have my very first project now... I'm helping my community write a borehole grant proposal... which is sweet because then they will possibly have water. While many people point out that I may just be doing it for myself (since my pond gets worse as time goes on and I have to scrape the mud off of my candles in my filter every 12liters or so ... for comparisson, Liz hasn't cleaned her filter candles once since moving to site) I point out that nothing happens in a timely manner here, so I may reap the benefits of a borehole at the end of my service. I just hope it all works out becuase I am able to meet more people in my community this way, and they see that projects get finished! woot!
Lets see here... when I get back to the village I'm building a chicken coop so that Lucy will finally have a home, and I'm going to start a garden to get some variety in my diet. The biggest challenge, however, will be farming the 2 acres of land that have been alloted me in my village... maize, millet, sunflower, and soya HERE I COME! so, if you're into farming... come visit me in the next few months, I'll put you to work!
Sorry there aren't more pictures to show, I forgot my camera in Chipata last time.. there should be more updates just before Thanksgiving!
Miss you all, hope to hear from you soon!

Picture updates

2006-09-19T20:07:00.000+02:00

Hello all... I'm in Lusaka for meetings and so I have super fast internet to upload some pics of my zamlife... so check out the link on the lefthand side of the page, as well as this link to my facebook photos http://ups.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006490&id=17701516&l=d5fd1 ... there were too many to put in one place I guess! I hope this gives you a better glimpse into my zamlife... or at least something fun to look at while you procrastinate at work! (or home for that matter!)... nothing much new to report though... taking the bus back out east tomorrow... woot!

Community Entry Part 1

2006-09-14T10:25:00.000+02:00

I have just arrived in Chipata for meetings after spending my first 3 weeks at my site. I was posted on August 21 in the early afternoon and .. yes... I cried when the Peace Corps truck drove away, but was fine in about 3 minutes and completely overwhelmed by all 58 people in my village coming to greet me and move things into my house for me. All in all its been an awesome 3 weeks and horrible at the same time. My community is great! There is a little girl about 4 years old who is my sidekick and by far my favorite! My hut is more like a mud mansion with two large rooms and a door separating them. I have 4 windows which is also sort of unheard of. As promised I started (or rather mentioned it to my headman and the village began to construct in warp speed compared to most Zamprojects --- 2 weeks) to build my underground mphala, which is awesome, HUGE, and deep! The meetings have been coming slowly to introduce myself to important people in the community, everyone in general, and specifically schools, health clinic staff and neighborhood health committees... all, I have finally heard, is slow because they are waiting for the mphala to be finished as it is to be "my office" and a meeting place for community groups that I work with.
Girls in my village fetch my murky water from a pond about a 15-20 minute walk away, people help me start fires for cooking, a woman helps me sweep and mop my house.. I mean really, I do nothing in the way of housework excluding boiling my water once a week and cleaning my water filter twice a week.
Now to the horrible part.. the second week I got a nasty cold and felt all alone and for a few days just wanted to get on a plane and get back to the states... but that freakout is over now, and I am happy to be here again! Knowing that I would see Josh and Liz this past tuesday for a visit in the BOMA and then an overnight trip to my village got me through a lot... man, they're great! All said and done I have probably cycled close to 300km in my time in my village... needless to say its getting easier as I go! My village is fairly secluded from everything else, including other villages and tuk-shops (which sell small items like soap, cooking oil, and cookies).. not to mention the clinics and schools I will be working with... but its nice to be able to get back to my hut at the end of the day and know everyone who is around me. I wouldn't say I have made any 'friends' in the village yet per se, but there are some really great women that will be great to chat with at length in a few weeks when my Tumbuka is EVEN BETTER... its coming along nicely now which is great!
I have been talking a lot about nutrition in my village so far becuase I am not really in a position to start any real projects yet, so casual conversations are the best mode of education now. I have been preaching about the benefits of soya A LOT.... so was thrilled when a woman in my village brought me into her house last week and said that I would be eating lunch with her that day and that they were eating "body building foods" (aka protiens) for lunch (I eat lunch with a family in my village everyday... I LOVE sima which is corn mushy stuff). I then commented, 'oh, so you have soya today from your harvest?" she replied 'no' and proceeded to reach above her head to what I thought was a rope hanging from the top of the partition wall (which is above our heads but does not reach the thatched ceiling)... but much to my fright the 1ft. rope was actually the tail of a LARGE rat.... probably 2-3ft. in length, definetely larger than a chihuahua (if thats how you spell it)... I was SO surprised and scared by the whole thing (becuase I wasn't sure if it was dead or alive... it was dead) that I just turned and walked out of her house.. needless to say I didnt eat at their house that day and wasnt allowed by their fire as they cooked this rat that resembled something from the swamp in "Princess Bride' AGGG!
There are so many stories from the village... I went to a maturity ceremony for a girl; I named a 2 day old baby Margaret and then had to pay the parents money; I RECIEVED MY VERY FIRST CHICKEN!!!!!! She was a gift from the Chief in my area and I named her Lucy, she should be producing eggs by the time I get back! WOOT!; I went to see traditional dances in a nearby village; I burnt my hand while cooking over a fire... etc. etc.
For now though, I will close and say that I miss you all, please write me as I get to check my mail twice as often as my e-mail and it is HEARTBREAKING to arrive at the postoffice after a 30km bike ride up and down hills to be told that there isn't any mail for me at that time... and ask anyone, I try to respond to your letters soon and there are usually pretty entertaining stories of my village and transportation antics!

Everything is moving at warp speed!

2006-07-25T12:30:00.000+02:00

Well, second site visit is over (well almost... I'm still in my 4.5 day commute from the town I will be nearest to in Eastern Province back to training in Copperbelt Province, and when in Lusaka, do as the Romans and use high-speed internet right?).
The site visit went, I will leave it at that.... it wasn't all it was cracked up to be! It did show me that there is a LOT possible for each and every volunteer if they put their mind to it though! Everyone will be doing something a bit different related to HIV/AIDS and nutrition. I am hoping to work with youth organizations for peer education, under-5 clinics to educate mothers and soon-to-be mothers and mother-to-child transmission... oh and I hear its hard for me to farm at my site due to the distant water source... so I have decided to raise chickens (go figure) as one of my "lead by example" projects! All of this is pretty hazy right now as I have never stepped foot into the village that will become my home for the next two years, but I am sure it will be an awesome experience!
As far as travel goes, busses on my journey back to training leave at 3am on consecutive days, so I am trying really hard to be coherent right now. I have a headache from the screaming toddler in front of me for the 6-7 hour ride... but other than that it was better than the times that the minibusses broke down in kenya or that one time Gillian and I were on a bus with my host mother and it slid some feed down the side of a cliff... hmmm... no experiences like that in Zambia (yet).
Speaking of transport. To get to the internet for the next two years this is the ordeal that I will go through. Leave my house in the late afternoon on a 3-4 hour bike ride to the nearest town, wait around in town until dark, get on a bus at dark (8pm) and wait on the bus until it leaves soemtime around 3am, then get into the provincial capital at 7 or 8am and go to the PC house there and wait for the internet cafe to open, then go back to the house to hang out, wait all day and most of the night to walk back to the bus stop in the early morning to make the trip backwards. All of this being said... WRITE ME LETTERS! No, but seriously... where have all of you gone, what are you doing, whats new? whats old? tell me a funny story, draw me a picture, send a cheezy postcard... then I will have your addresses and can write tales of my adventures and just random thoughts back to you!
As far as packages and sending things goes... my maglite has a shortcircuit and I could use a new one, or a good flashlight that takes AA batteries. I am not missing anything in particular yet... but we will see how that goes! I'll keep you updated, and you know me and what I like anyway eh?
My new address to sum all of this up is:

Katherine King/ PCV
P.O. Box 530376
Lundazi, Eastern Province
Zambia
Africa

Use it, love it, and I'll love you back!
On yet another note, I have been slacking on the pictures, but my closest neighbor in homestay and the girl that I have seen absolutely every day of my service has done a much better job at documenting our lives, the important parts, the funny parts, and the parts when we just go crazy from boredom, stress or a combination of both. So check out her blog for a link to pictures: espector.blogspot.com ENJOY! you will surely laugh at a few that she is trying to post today... just be patient if they don't get posted now now... they will be there soon soon (theres your first taste of zamspeak!)

Lots of love to everyone! (oh, send your phone numbers in letters too... you never know, I could come across some extra kwacha to make a quick phone call in your direction!)
peace,
Katey

i forgot to write about...

2006-07-16T18:42:00.000+02:00

MY BIRTHDAY!
So now I am 22... heres how the day went.
Liz, my PC neighbor hung a happy birthday sign in my pit latrine (at squatting level) so that it was the first thing I saw. Then she played me a really funny birthday song on her ipod. All of the trainees sang me happy birthday. Josh went and got the charged cell phone in the dark (a social no no here i guess)... but anyway he rocks, got the cell phone, brought it to my hut at night, almost got eaten by liz's dogs and my host father got REALLY confused... I did get to talk to the fam on my birthday though!
So thats what a Zam-birthday is like. Tomorrow is the 9 hour journey from Lusaka to Chipata for the night, then off to my BOMA (nearest town) for my future site to do some meet and greet and see what the life of a volunteer is like!
Miss you all!
Katey

Site Yeah Yeah!

2006-07-15T16:34:00.000+02:00

So today, just now, I got my site placement. Turns out its close enough to bike to Malawi... only on vacation though, with PC permission. The first things that my PCVL told me about my site were... "Katey, there are a few things you should know about your site and you are just going to have to deal with them. You don't have a water source (but your villagers will go get water and boil it for you, so don't worry... the last volunteer who was there for only 6 months never got sick, its okay); you have a giant hole in the middle of your compound with a fence around it (you could turn it into a really awesome cooler in temperature insaka of sorts); you do have a huge house (on PC Zambia terms) and since you are the second volunteer the floor has already been cemented. So, off I go to Eastern Province tomorrow to visit another volunteer there to see what this whole PC thing is really all about. Miss you all!
Katey

Training and Photos

2006-07-02T10:20:00.000+02:00

I'm in Kitwe again, just like every Sunday, escaping the training program for one sweet day every week to visit the market and see electricity.
I think that I have uploaded pictures onto flickr which is linked to this blog, if not... I'll try again in a few weeks I guess!
Zambia is treating me well, its colder here than I expected, but in August it will start warming up, and the Eastern Province I hear is one of the warmest! I live with a host family right now... its interesting living under someone elses roof... well not really their roof, I have my own hut, but still.
Everything here is pretty slow as per all of Africa it seems. The most common saying is "Anytime from now" because no one wants to be wrong as to what time something will happen, and it sure won't happen quickly!
On my way into town the minibus I was on was stopped at two police checkpoints... which is common, but then we stopped a few more times, so a half hour journey turned into an hour and it was pretty strange there for a while, not gonna lie! Can't really explain it, but we did get lots of strange looks with the muzungu (white foreigner) in the front seat the whole way.. ha! Well, since the journey was so long, I am running late to meet a friend to buy food at the market to make an American meal for our host families.
I miss everyone very much... and some of you ECHEM.. J.Ho...G-fizza... Justin... etc... need to send me your addresses, I have letters with stamps on them, but no addresses!!
All my love from across the world,
Katey

in zambia now

2006-06-10T18:50:00.000+02:00

Tonight is my second night in Zambia and I am LOVING it! Its great to be back on the continent!
I've been having a grand time with the trainees but I'm excited to get this show on the road.
After talking with embassy people and getting 3 more shots in a string of 15 total, we went shopping to prepare for our first site visit in Zambia where we visit a current volunteer. (the best part is that he is raising chickens as part of his nutrition project, how perfect!)
I also chose my language today... Tumbuka... 3 volunteers total are learning it, so it will be our "secret language", especially becuase I am fairly certain I will NEVER meet anyone in the states that speaks a language spoken in a tiny part of Zambia eh?!
Overall I'm just overjoyed to be here and you all should write me a lot because this is my last internet for 9 weeks... so snail mail is the way to be... and its a whole lot easier to return letters than to write everyone at once!
I miss you all!

Tutaonana, hakuna kwaheri

2006-06-04T06:38:00.000+02:00

The kiswahili phrase says it best... "see you later, no goodbyes".

I've spent the last 3 weeks transitioning from college student in a perfect little UPS bubble to a Peace Corps trainee. Its been a good transition, don't get me wrong. I have enjoyed the time to move away from Tacoma and move back in with my parents and spend quality time with them. This has been the best visit with them, well, ever.

To tell the truth, however, I'm just tired of saying "goodbye". 3 weeks is too long to slowly say goodbye to everyone, yet the right amount of time also... I have been given the gift of spending quality time with most people that I hold dear. It has been very overwhelming as well. I am most excited about finally starting this adventure because it marks the end of my constant feeling of "leaving" and loss, and marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life, it is now the "going" part of this crazy transition in my life. I much prefer to "go" than "leave".

All said and done, I depart for Philly tomorrow morning, so this blog signals, as Ron Tom so eloquently pointed out, not the end, but rather a new beginning... my own personal commencement. I am not saying "goodbye" per se, but rather "see you all later", as I hope that my friends will remain a part of life throughout all of the adventures I embark on. "See you later" friends, keep in touch!

Love, love and ninawapenda!

Packing

2006-05-25T05:21:00.001+02:00

Just in case you were wondering what someone packs when moving to Zambia for 27 months (and becuase a few of you have asked to see my list so you know what I will already have in Zambia), I have compiled a list (in no particular order because thats just how confusing packing really is!):

raincoat. fleece. long-sleeved shirt. hoodie. 3 t-shirts. underwear. socks. bathing suit. zip-off pants. 3/4 length polo shirt. polo t-shirt. capri pants. baseball hat. 3 skirts. blouse. dress. 2 pairs of Chacos. flip-flops. hiking shoes. tennis shoes. dressy sandals. slip. toothpaste. shampoo. face wash. face lotion. 3 toothbrushes. flashlight. power of attorney. will. photos. washcloth. USB drive for camera. nail clippers. eyedrops. credit cards. drivers license. wallet. powder. sunscreen. aloe vera. body wash. vitamins. dental floss. comb. PJ pants. razors. can opener. cookbook. ziplock bags. juice mixes. umbrella. head lamp. sleeping bag. tent. leatherman. iPod. speakers. solar charger. camera. AA batteries. AAA batteries. rechargeable batteries. battery charger. hairbands. bobby pins. 2 nalgenes. sunglasses. watch. alarm clock. Timbuk2 bag. money belt. journal. ID photos. sewing kit. sleeping pad. maps of US/Zambia/World. notecards. measuring cups. Tamaflu. wet wipes. address book. WHO card. sudoku. crossword puzzles. tank tops.

Hopefully I can fit it all, and if not, oh well. Remind me again why I got a tent? Come and visit me so that I have a use for it at least!

Note that I didn't have very much room for books, they'll be the last things packed. If you read a great book and no longer want it, and think I should read it too... send it to me!

Welcome

2006-04-26T05:46:00.000+02:00

Welcome to my blog. This is a place for my family and friends to read about some of my experiences in Zambia as an HIV/AIDS Peace Corps Volunteer. I will be posting as computers are available!

Letters are most practical, so write me! My address for the first two months (probably through July) is:

KATHERINE KING/PCT
PEACE CORPS
P.O. BOX 21527
KITWE, ZAMBIA

Some suggestions for ensuring that letters (and packages) get to me safely:

Don't forget to write "Air Mail" or "Par Avion" on letters, I have also heard that writing "Used Religious Materials" on packages makes it more likely that they will get to me. A note about packages, I have to pay taxes based upon the worth that you claim for the package when I recieve it, so underestimate if you send packages.

KEEP IN TOUCH! (and don't forget to include your return address so that I can write you back!)