Photographs of my first month and a half of training...

With my host family's daughters; Erin, Agnes, and Gertrude

                                      First site visit in Central Province. My tent is in the center.

Walking to the school for a visit. It was raining. Many children don't do to

school when it rains. Some children walk miles to get to school. Bridges can be washed out.

                     Outside a school. The children are learning thier letters by writing in the sand.                       

                                      

                          I visited a school. I took this photo to show my son Ryan who is a teacher in the States.

                 A friend I made during my first site visit. His name is Davey. He is holding maize; a staple crop.

                  

                                            I'm still true to my running club Shenipsit Striders.

                          My teacher Ba Joyce. She teaches the language Kikaonde. She is from Kikaonde land in the Northwest Province in Zambia. Three percent of the population of Zambiaspeak Kikaonde.

                                           The children love to have their photographs taken.

            I took this photo while I was riding my bike home. The children like to run along side my bike. Notice they are barefoot. They are returning from school and some children run miles along side me.

      My future home in the Northwest Province in Mumena Village. I will live here by myself. It has two rooms: a bedroom and a sitting room.

             This is the house I currently live in during my training. I live with a host family. The father of the family is originally from Northwest Province and speaks Kikaonde. I practice speaking the language with him when I'm home.

                   My host brother, Gift. I have him Lego bricks. He and his friends play endlessly with the bricks.

           Peace Corps Volunteer Trainees getting ready for their first site visit. There are two groups in my intake: LIFE (the group I'm in) and RAP. RAP works on fish ponds. We were split up in small groups and stayed with a Peace Corps Volunteers to learn how to live in a village.

                      Here my fellow trainees were competing with other groups collecting as many food items we could find outside.

                                                                      Inside my hut.

     This is my outdoor kitchen at my future site. The kitchen is separate from the house. This structure is called a kanzanza in Kikaonde. The structure in the forefront is a drying shelf for dishes. I will live without electricity or running water for two years. I will cook my food over charcoal. The food I will buy will be fresh and mostly vegetables. I will rarely eat meat. If I do eat meat I will eat freshly killed chicken; which I will not prepare myself. My diet will be the healthiest I will have ever experienced. 

Finally got onto my blog, yay:-)

Please be patient... I have not had access to my blog until now, I will post regularly the end of April when I get my laptop out of storage.

Anyway, I made it here in Zambia safely. I am in training and have a few more weeks left before I leave for my site in April. I will live in the Mumena Village in the Northwest Province near the city Sowezi. I am learning the tribal language Kikaonde.

Right now I live in a mud hut on a small farm with a family of six. The father is a native Kikaonde speaker so that is one way I learn my language. I also have formal language classes several times per week.

I have many, many photos waiting to be uploaded so please check back.

Ginny