The Results are IN!

Making a Difference

               Just returned from my COS (close of service) Conference in Siavonga, Southern Province on Lake Kariba.  I had a wonderful time with all of my intake but it’s hard to believe that there are only 2 months left in my service. Time has never flown quicker.  I wrote the following a week ago in my village and it seems appropriate to this moment.

When I started my Peace Corps application over three years ago most people wanted to know why on Earth I would want to devote two years of my life to a place in the middle of nowhere, far from home to work with people I did not know.  People told me that I would not make a difference- there are so many problems in the world that my contribution would be just a drop in the ocean.  I would be lying if I said that during my service I have not had similar doubts.  I have had many projects start and fail for one reason or another and I have had more than my share of self-doubt.  

               Over the past two years, I have been working as a teacher. I came to Peace Corps with little teaching experience except for a semester stint of being a teacher’s assistant while at university. Baring a brief three months of Pre-Service Training, all of my experience has been gained on the job. In the first few months, faced with an unfinished school building and limited resources I was unsure of my ability to do a good job teaching the large classes I was faced with. On top of this, the head teacher gave me the grade 9 class to teach English. At the end of the school year the grade nines take a test that determines whether or not they will progress on to high school.  Faced with limited resources and training, I seriously wondered if, instead of helping these teenagers, I was doing them a disservice.

               However, with each term my confidence grew. My students and I became more comfortable with each other and I became more comfortable teaching.  During Term three, we spent hours together three times a week after school doing extra English, Math and Civics work to prepare them for the exams they were taking in November 2013. The results finally came in this week and I have never been more pleased, surprised or proud of my students. Out of the forty students that show up to class regularly thirty-four of them passed English, three of them with merit. Twenty-three of them received marks high enough overall to go on to high school.  To put this in perspective, before I began teaching grade nine, the previous class had only 8 passed on to high school. This year, in the two neighboring schools of similar size only 5 passed on to high school.

I don’t for a moment think this was all down to me. The pupils worked so hard, asking questions during class and prep and coming back to study in the dark classroom with flashlights and candles long after us teachers had gone home. It’s nice to know, however, that in some way I helped 23 students to grow and go on to high school, when maybe otherwise, they would have not.

Revived!

--Written November 2013

It’s been a long time since I’ve kept this blog- I’ve never been a good journaler. So much has happened in the intervening months that its hard to know where even to start. ], but lets give it a shot, shall we.

I wrote this journal entry over a period of days in my village. Electricity came to my village for the first time in February and  I have recently started bringing my computer to my site and charging it once a week at one of the teacher’s house who has power.

Time seems to have disappeared. As I write this I have just 5 months remaining in my service. Where has the time gone?  Because I’m not sure. Term three is almost over and the Grade nines who I have been English begin their  big two week examination period tomorrow ( 11/11). The results of these exams determine if the student can advance to the 10^th grade or not.  High School is not compulsory in Zambia so many children end their school at the 9^th grade.

My big-huge(!) Project of my service has been the library. In America, Libraries in schools are something we take for granted. But in rural Zambia getting your hands on even one book can be challenging. illiteracy, even for children in grades as high as grade 9 is a huge problem. In June, I helped the school and PTA members to organize a fundraising walk around the village to raise not only funds but also awareness about the project and the importance of a library. Nearly every one of the shop owners in the market area contributed but in was nowhere near our estimated budget so I wrote a grant through peace corps which was funded in august! Things have really started moving, though this being rural Africa, at a slower pace than I would like. We are renovating a classroom and painting a Map of the world on the side of the wall. World Vision and Oppe Elementary School in my hometown have generously donated books. The soon-to-be librarian and I have only sorted and recorded half the books and already we are at 637 books! Fingers crossed for us that we will be able to complete the project before I finish my service!

More to come soon!

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading our World) Needs YOUR Help

 Two posts in a month? Say it ain't so!

This April, I, along with 9 other volunteers, will be hosting a camp for about 20 Zambian teenage girls. This camp is a week long and tackles issues such as HIV/AIDS, women’s health, female empowerment, leadership skills and career planning. We also incorporate fun sessions such as arts and crafts, playing sports, sewing sanitary pads and making camp T-shirts. We also invite female professionals in the community to talk with the girls. After the camp is over, each volunteer, our Zambian counterpart teacher and the 2 girls return to our school to begin a Girls Club. Early Marriage, teen preganacy and girls dropping out of school after grade 7 are huge issues in rural Zambia and this camp can go along way to combating this issue.

So what can you do about it? Well, I'm so glad you asked!

Camp G.L.O.W is grant-funded through Peace Corps though the majority of our funding comes from friends and family back home. 
To donate please click on this link:

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-611-008

The grant is under Perry,S. and all money donated will go directly to helping these young girls. Any amount of money, even just $5 dollars, helps. (Euros are accepted as well)

We also accept in-kind donations (care packages). During the camp we do several arts-and-crafts projects with the girls and much of the materials are very difficult to find in Zambia and basically impossible to find up-country here in Luapula. 

We are kindly requesting donations from family and friends in the states in
order to help make this camp a great success! Here’s a list of some
of the supplies that we are looking for:

-Craft supplies (beads for bracelets and necklaces, elastic string,
pipe cleaners, fabric pens, puffy paint, supplies for t-shirt
decorating, etc.) This is very much enjoyed by all the camp
participants!!!

-Sewing needles and thread
-Toiletries (soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, lotion,
combs for curly hair, sanitary pads, manicure kits)

-Notebooks, notepads and pens/pencils

-Fun accessories (headbands, hair clips, hair elastics, plastic jewelry, etc.)

-Small purses or makeup bags

-Lip gloss or nail polish

-Plain white t-shirts (mostly sized small and medium)

-Socks and underwear (size small)

-Anything you think our camp participants would enjoy!!

Mail is very slow in between US/Europe and Africa and can often take over a month to get here. If you send a package please please send it before the end of February.

Please address the package to :

Camp G.L.O.W. Luapula
c/o Hannah Lippe, PCV
Peace Corps Zambia
P.O. Box 710150
Mansa, Luapula, Zambia
AFRICA

Please, Help us make this camp a huge success for our girls, Your help can truly make a huge impact in their lives!

One year already?

Hey everyone, I’m back!  I can’t believe I haven’t updated my blog since October. It hasn’t been entirely all my fault though, our provincial house has been without wifi since Thanksgiving.  I have a lot to catch you all up on.  Here we go…

November

The main highlight was of course Thanksgiving.  It was my first Thanksgiving ever away from my family so I was a little nervous that I would get homesick but we were all so busy that there was no time for homesickness!  Thanksgiving week we had our semiannual provincial meeting, which meant that all the Peace Corps Volunteers in Luapula were in Mansa already. The day before Thanksgiving, after the meetings were over, we PCVs had our annual Thanksgiving kickball game. Kickball is definitely a game foreign to Zambia (baseball too for that matter) so we attracted a small crowd of people wondering, I’m sure, what we were up to. We spent most of Thanksgiving day cooking. I was in charge of making the stuffing.  Nobody however told me how much stuffing I was supposed to make so I  spent the entire afternoon making two industrial sized trays of stuffing.  was a stuffing-making machine.  For our for dinner we had all our Zambian staff in Luapula come as well. That meant that there were over 50 people at Thanksgiving dinner in our house.  We ran out of forks so I ended up eating Thanksgiving dinner with chopsticks! Eating traditional American foods, like mac and cheese and apple pie with chopsticks was definitely an interesting experience.  I have to say though, it was a wonderful way to spend my first Thanksgiving away from home.

December

               School was out for the month long Christmas holiday.  I spent most of the month hanging out at my site and visiting a few friends. My friend, Kara (another PCV) , also came to spend a couple of days at my site  before we both traveled to Mansa for Christmas with some other volunteers- we even had a Christmas tree!  For New Years we headed down the Livingstone to see Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is set of waterfalls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Falls are one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and spectacular.    

Also, my cat, Scout had 4 kittens  (though one died after a few days) while I was away. Watching them grow big enough to give away was great, they are so cute!

               January

               School started up again on the 14^th of January and after a month of traveling, I was definitely ready to be back at site. This term I’m going to be teaching grade 9 and grade 6 English. This year the grade 9s take their big examination which determines if they continue into grade 10 or not. No pressure right?

It’s hard to believe that I have already been in Zambia for over a year!  Where has all the time gone? Things are going to be picking up in terms of projects so I’m sure that I will have lots to share with y’all!

Until Next time!

Nine Monthaversary

Happy Saturday!

Friday marked nine months since I boarded a plane in New York City and flew to Zambia! It’s hard to believe that in just three months I will have already been in Zambia a year.  At the end of November, just one month from now, I will have one term of teaching English under my belt. It’s crazy. It’s also crazy knowing that life back at home is going on without me- friends move cities, graduate college or get new jobs. The little nephew who could barely crawl in January is now able to talk to you on the phone.  Time feels like it barely moves here but maybe that because it’s moving so fast.

The teaching routine is still the same: Teach mid-morning to early afternoon. Make lunch and then return to the school around 3pm for either adult literacy on Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday or meeting that are going on.  I love my adult literacy class.  They aren’t afraid to ask questions which I really like. This week, on Tuesday, I’m going to start teaching them about HIV prevention.  I’m a bit nervous about teaching men my father’s age about HIV prevention but I’m sure it will work out just fine.

My cat, Scout, is living up to her name. She goes out and hunts at night and generally stays out until morning when she meows at 5am for me to let her in. One night however, I heard her meow at my door.  When I let her in she dropped something large and grey at my feet.  A dead mouse. She then picks it up and plays with it for the next twenty minutes before eating it. All of it- including the bones- in front of me. At least I know she’s doing her job. Right?

Finally, October is hot season in Zambia. Which is just like summer in Texas- except without air-conditioning, ice and swimming pools. My Peace Corps friends and I have made two weekend trips to camp on the beach in Samfya just to try to get a bit of relief.  While at site though, my mud-brick hut absorbs the heat during the day, leaving the house relatively cool during the day. At night, however, it keeps in the heat.  So many nights I’ve woken up drenched in sweat.  There is a big river next to me. My students love to go swimming in it but I’ve never been brave enough to join them since there have been recent crocodile sightings in the river.  Instead, I think longingly of rainy season, which is supposed to start any day now.

That’s all for now! Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

 

Two Stories

Hey everyone! I'm back from a two month hiatus. Let me update you on whats been going on in my life-

August- I spent two weeks in Lusaka, the captial, at out inservice training. It was great (and kinda crazy) to be around all the amenities I'm used to having in America again. Afte our two weeks in Lusaka most of my intake went to Nkahta Bay, Malaw. Nkahta Bay is on Lake Malawi, one of the biggest fresh water lakes in the world. It was absolutely beautiful! I even learned how to scuba dive! No certification yet though.

September- School started up again. Term three runs from September to November. I'm teaching 6 and 8 grade English and I recently started up an adult literacy class. So far I think its going really well. I'm also still working with my Beekeepers trying to get that program up and running. I also got a black and white kitten to catch the mice in my hut. I've named it Scout but my neighbors call her Shupa, which means 'trouble' in bemba. and seriously, the cat is 'shupa.'

Now for two stories:

The first story takes place at the beginning of September. I was heading to Mansa for the weekend but was stopping in Samfya to meet with the Senior Officer of the Forestry Departement about the Beekeeping Club.  So my taxi left around 7:30, plenty of time reach Samfya in time for my meeting. However, about 10km from Samfya, the taxi runs out of gas. The driver tries to start the car about 5 times but no cigar. Luckily for us though we ran out of gas about 100m away from a police check point. So up comes the police officer on his motorbike. The driver and officer talk for a bit. The other passengers and I think that maybe the cop has some petrol with him or back at the checkpoint. Instead, our driver climbs up on the back of the motorbike and they ride off in the distance towards Samfya. So there we are sitting in the middle of nowhere, in the one place on the road there is no cell phone coverage. Cars are passing us offering us assistance but of course we can't do anything because the driver isn't there. And we can't leave because our possessions are locked in the trunk.  A minivan even drives by and gives us enough petrol to get to Samfya but of course we can't drive anywhere because...the driver has the keys. So two hours after we run out of gas, the taxi driver comes back- this time on the back of a bicycle and we continue on to Samfya. By this time I have of course missed my meeting but I was able to meet up with him in Mansa later that day so it all worked out. And don't worry during the entire ordeal I never felt scared or in danger, it was just more of a nuisance than anything.

The second story took place that Sunday on my return from Mansa. It/s well past dark by the time I get back to my hut. My neighbor, ba Mary must have been waiting to make sure I had gotten back okay so she came out to greet me. I open my door and there's no cat. I look in all over my house, still no cat. So I'm worried about my kitty that, at this point, I've only had one week. So I ask ba Mary if she's seen my cat. This takes a while since she speaks no English and my Bemba is still severely limited but we get there in the end. She says that she hasn't seen my cat  and goes back home. My 10 minutes later, though, there is a knock on my door. Ba Mary had asked her son, Martin, if he knew what had happened to my cat and as it turned out my other neighbor, ba Ennis had seen it, knew it was mine and was keeping it at her house for me! Ba Mary and I walk over there. Ennis says that I should come back in the morning when it's bright. Her little kids, though, ask to use my headlamp  and go into their house and find my kitty.  Both Ennis and Mary think its hilarous that I'm so worried about my cat and and talking to it like it's a "child."  Mary escorts me and kitty back to my house still laughing about how worried I was about my cat. So I look at ba Mary and tell her, "Ba Mary, I don't have a child so I have a cat." (One of the first things any Zambian asks me is how many children I have.) Mary thinks this is Hysterical and starts cracking up. As I walk into my hut I hear her crowing, telling Ba Ennis what I just said.

Well that's all for now! Hope everyone back home is doing g

Chapwa Community Entry!

Happy July Everyone!  I’m back in Mansa for the Weekend.  This Friday marked the end of our Community Entry period (Chapwa in the title of this post means ‘the end’ in Bemba).  The first three months of Peace Corps service are a time to be learning about our community so therefore we are not supposed to leave our site or district except for special circumstances.  Now, however it is all over!  And let me tell you the time has flown by so much faster than I thought it would- I can’t believe I’ll have been living in Zambia for 6 months already!

Things that have happened in the month since I last wrote…

My Birthday

My birthday was a week after the  provincial meeting (Happy 23^rd birthday to me!).  I was back in my village so for the most part it was very quiet.  However, Tembo, one of my close teacher friends brought homemade ‘birthday’ fritters to my house before school started.  After school, I went to hang out at the female teachers’ compound.  Somehow, they found out that it was my birthday.  The moment they discovered it was my birthday, they started dancing and singing in a circle around me.  The nearby neighbors heard and the women there ran to join in the dancing and singing.  Then one of the teachers grabbed my hand and brought me into the dance.  It was quite a way to celebrate my first birthday living here in Africa!

P.S. Shoutout to my amazing sister Marnie and family for the Birthday Care package I received today.  Especially to my Nephews, Will and Petey for the birthday card they made me. Thanks guys! You rock!

4^th of July

               July 2 and 3 were Zambian Holidays, which meant that we PCVs had a 5-day weekend! The Sunday of July 4^th, I met a bunch of other PCVs at the Beach in my BOMA (Town), Samfya.  Samfya lies along Lake Bangweulu, one of the Great Lakes of Africa. The beach we camped at was small (especially for how many of us were camping there!) but had white sand. Beautiful. The path down to the beach was quite a steep hike but wound through a wooded area that hugged the lake. Every-so-often there would be spectacular views of the lake stretching on forever.

Sunday night happened to be the Euro Football Cup Final. Spain vs. Italy. A few of the boys in the group and I went to a nearby waterfront lodge to watch the game.  I Had to support my boys in red (Viva la Furia Roja)! There were mostly Zambians watching the game (they were just as excited as I was that Spain won) but there were also three Europeans working for DAPP, a European NGO focusing on helping children in developing nations.  Every 6 months a new group of 3 volunteers rotates into Samfya. The volunteers this rotation come from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria. They sat and watched the game with us. It was great to sit and talk with them about their experience so far. It’s much different from ours!

On the 4th we had a bonfire, a dance party (thanks to somebody’s iPod and speakers) and even firecrackers that someone had brought so there were even “fireworks.” Happy Birthday America.

My Work

           And of course, I’m also working.  This past week and next week, the grade 8 English teacher I co-teach with is proctoring the grade 9 mock-exams. So I’ve been teaching solo. It was nerve wracking at first¸ standing alone in front of 40+ 13-year-olds. However, I’ve been enjoying it. I’m looking forward to continuing teaching them on my own next week and preparing them for their end-of-term exams in two weeks.

I’ve been continuing to help my village’s fledgling beekeeping group get off the ground. Friday, I accompanied two group members to Samfya’s Department of Forestry office to introduce them to the senior officer there. The Department of Forestry (DoF) can provide training, advice, and even materials to them-- things that, I, as an education volunteer, can’t provide. Plans have even been made for the DoF officer to come to Chinsanka to meet the group and see where they plan to put the hives. So things are starting to get moving with this project!

So that’s my life for now! Next month (August) I’ll be heading to Lusaka with the rest of my intake for In-Service Training. We’ll be there for two weeks and then bunches of us are heading to Malawi for a weeklong vacation. Can’t wait! J

Love and miss everyone back home!