Zam-definition I

Zam-tan: a msungu (white person) tan that appears to have a movie start tan until they take take off their kitenge (wrap) or trousers, tee-shirt, and Teva sandals and everything that's covered up is unsightly pale.

The word 'msungu' is used by Zambians meaning white person. It is not an offensive word even though it sounds like one.

A kitenge is a wrap worn as a full-length skirt worn by women. Zambians traditionally wear kitenges and the material comes in multiple designs. They can be very fashionable. Kitanges have over a hundred uses, such as a sling to carry their babies, a head wrap, towel, apron, a head cushion when women carry heavy loads on their heads, and a cloth to sit on the ground which is necessary because traditionally at gatherings men sit on stools or chairs while women sit on the ground or floor.

Not only do women in Zambia cover their legs and shoulders, but men cover their legs, too, with trousers. Men rarely expose their legs.

The word 'pants' is used when referring to underwear.

Zambians dress conservatively, though in the cities men and women tend to be more liberal with dress.

One of the things I appreciate about Zambian society is breastfeeding is socially accepted and it is common to see women breastfeed their babies in public.

It is offensive for women to expose armpit hair. If a woman doesn't shave her armpits she has to cover up.

                                                        Those aren't my feet, btw.

Community Entry...the beginning of my new life in Zambia

     I am in my second month of community entry and I am the only Peace Corps Volunteer in my village. Community entry in the Peace Corps is the first three months at site which allows Peace Corps Volunteers to settle into their home, become familiar with the surroundings and meet people in the community.

     My first two weeks of community entry were the most difficult because I felt like I had lost my identity. I didn't have my friends to help confirm who I am. I didn't have them there to laugh with, talk with or cry and complain with. I had to learn how to do this on my own. There really isn't anyone to turn to in those instances.

     I have become very strong over the past several weeks. But, I have also made some new friends and these new friends are from a different culture from my own. We eat different foods, have different worldviews and beliefs. Zambians have a difficult time comprehending divorce and how a woman can get by on her own. Also, they are perplexed with how I am able to live apart from my children. Zambians have very tights bonds not only with their immediate family, but with extended family members. They find it very odd that I only have two cousins and I have only met them once.

     But Zambians are accepting people. My host family has made it clear to me that I am a part of the family. And I really am. I feel very welcome going over to their house. I  go over almost every evening to eat dinner with them. I feel as though I have known these people all of my life. I come over and plop down on the couch and watch television with them. Yes, they have electricity which I don't have even though I only live about 100 meters away. But, anyway, I like this family and I am growing to love them.

     Once community entry ends I should be well integrated in the community. I will begin my work as a forestry extension agent helping the community members understand how they can improve their farming techniques and improve their lives in many different ways. I will work with people individually and I will hold workshops on malaria prevention and conservation farming. I will be available as a resource to help them acquire seed or obtaining fruit tree seedlings to plant at their homes to help with food security. I may also be able to help guide some of them on how to take on an income generating activity such as bee keeping.

     I hope to make some kind of difference in these people's lives. They already are making a difference in mine. I still have two years ahead of me for so much more exposure to a life that is so different from the one I've lived my whole life. I am very thankful for this experience.I am looking forward to see the kind of person I am yet to become. 

Zambia - Week two of community entry

I am going into week two of community entry. I want to write about it while it's fresh in my mind.  My first night here I was disappointed with my site. I wanted to leave. I had arrived to my site two days earlier than planned, and my hosts weren't prepared for my arrival. The grass was high so I was afraid of snakes, the lock to my door needed to be fixed, and my permanent shower had not been built yet like I was told it would be at my second site visit.

I didn't have enough daylight to unpack my things, so all of my stuff sat in my bedroom all cluttered and unorganized. I went to bed that night, trying to block out the loud music from the bar by the street. I was miserable. I felt like no one cared that I moved to my site. I was disappointed.  That was how I felt at that time. In retrospect it is understandable that I didn't receive a proper greeting upon my arrival because of my unexpected earlier date of moving in.

The next day I felt better. There was a crew of community members, men and women, slashing the tall grass and weeds surrounding my hut. My host attempted to fix my door and reassured me he will improve my temporary bath shelter prior to rebuilding my permanent bath shelter.

My next challenge was walking to the stores and market. I had done this during my second site visit, but I knew I would enter the fish bowl, yet again, while walking past people on the street.  I dressed in my kitenge, short-sleeve shirt, and Tevas. I made my way toward the stores and I was the center of attention. I felt secure. I felt in control. Children came running toward the road yelling msungu (white person) and 'how are yooo!' in their Zambian accents. I greeted everyone along the way with a few claps, and a 'how are you' in Kikaonde. I eventually made it to the store, then off to the market where I purchased tomatoes for dinner that evening.  I did it. Even still, it is difficult walking in public in my village. My being shy and reserved, this is a huge challenge for me.  I am one out of a handful of white people who live in this village of 3,000. This explains my celebrity-like status.

I have met a few people who live near me. I have new neighbors who moved in next door. The husband is a church pastor. I met him and his wife and I was able to use my Kikaonde. They were impressed to say the least. They also have several children, about six or seven, and they all live in a hut the same size as mine.

The children in the community visit my compound often. I call it a compound because it is a space that includes three building structures: kizanza (outdoor kitchen), kimbusu (latrine), and my hut. Oh, and I forgot to mention my temporary bathing shelter which is made up of three 'walls' held up with branches and covered with black plastic.

There is a lot to get used to in this culture. People are always around, they come by to visit on their way to where ever they may be going. I'm never alone unless I lock myself up in my hut which I have done a few times already.

I am as strange to them as they are to me. I know eventually I will blend in, and the feeling of being the 'odd one' will dissipate. This is a tough time for me. Probably the toughest since I arrived in Zambia. But I'm willing to take on this challenge, and I am so glad I'm here in Africa.

I was sworn in today...

     I was sworn in today at the house of the Zambian ambassador today in Lusaka. It has been a fantastic experience. The day started out pouring rain, but when the ceremony ended, the sun came out. The ceremony was followed by a light lunch and we took several photos of one another. Tomorrow I will say my final goodbyes to my fellow volunteers I looked upon as a family for the past three months.
     There are two other volunteers I trained with who will be coming with me up to Northwest Province as well as five other PCVs from the RAP group. The next step is to move into my new hut in Mumena Village. I will spend the next three months fixing up my hut; I will paint my sitting room walls bright yellow, get a garden started, and start searching for a dog. I talk more about the reason I decided to get a dog in a later post.
     The signifigance to the first three months as new Volunteers we are required to stay in our district and get to know the villagers and fix up our huts. Once the three months begin work. I am the only Peace Corps Volunteer in my area. The closest Volunteer to me is 30k away.

   

I will be heading up to Northwest Province with this group to live and work for the next two years.

 

New Peace Corps graduates.

Unexpected use of a computer...

     I am currently in Lusaka; I had a dental appointment to fix a fractured molar, and now I am waiting to return to the training center. I am at the Peace Corps medical headquarters right now and there are several other volunteers here waiting to be screened by doctors and dentists before their close of service, or COS.
     My time as a Peace Corps Volunteer Trainee is coming to a close. In two weeks I will graduate and become a Peace Corps Volunteer and move to the Northewest Province to my site and begin my work.
     Until then I am preparing for my Language Proficiency Interview; a recorded interview with a Language Cultural Facilitator which takes place Monday. I have to score intermediate medium level in order to pass. I have been spending most of my free time studying for this test. If I don't pass I will still graduate, but I will have to stay an extra week after graduation spending most of the time in intense language training.
      Once I graduate I will update my blog regularly. I have so much to write about, so more to come soon.
Ginny

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