Community Entry

My dear friends. Please forgive my lack of posting. I have found it
quite difficult to access a data connection adequate of writing and
posting to the blog. While I cannot post from site my hope is to post
once a month when I come to town. During the last several months a lot
has happened. The first three months of service is a period called
community entry in which we are not allowed to leave our district. The
purpose of this restriction is to promote community integration and
get used to life in the village.

During those three months in the village I was able to ease into
teaching as well as develop a system for daily chores such as fetching
water, sweeping, and cooking. I took this time to get to know my
village, the people, and the needs within my community. This time was
rich with discoveries some frustrating and some refreshing. I learned
about all the struggles the school children face in acquiring an
education from the home to the government run school systems. I
experienced the sorrow of funerals when one of our grade 6 students
passed away tragically and I learned how common death is in the
village. I saw people with simple lives smile with joy and felt the
same joy living alongside them. I felt the frustration of everyone
expecting handouts from the Muzungu living among them. I felt the hope
that every villager does when the grounds began sprouting new life. I
experienced sickness and ailment and watched as countless villagers
got malaria or walked long distances to clinics for other health
problems. I rejoiced along with my school kids every time we
high-fived for a completed assignment. I’m not one to easily admit it
but I dare say I felt the sting of home sickness. I felt the
excitement in tiny victories. I learned to have the same conversations
all day every day with a new person. I learned to ALWAYS greet
everyone. I extended my non-existent Bemba skills to toddler level
communication. I learned that chitenge is awesome! I learned that our
bodies are highly adaptable and capable of many things we would never
think possible. I’ve learned that I am resilient and strong.  I’ve
grown to understand just how hard sustainable development is and the
importance behind it. I have had to face my fears.

In the 3 months at my site I was able to get to know my school through
lesson observations, co-planning, and teaching. There are several
challenges in the education system that range from teacher and student
absence to lack of resources and funding. The urban schools are in
much better state than the rural schools where accountability depends
on the individuals within the districts. Despite the archaic systems
used to run the education department they are slowly making positive
changes that are pushing the education sector in the right direction.
This year Zambia has certified some 1,300 new teachers that will be
entering the workforce to help reduce the deficit of teachers.
Additionally there is an initiative to electrify all schools and while
the proposed target year won’t be hit nationally at least the goal
remains and will continue to be implemented slowly over the next 5-10
years.

I also introduced moringa trees to the village and a few adults and a
handful of my neighborhood hooligans helped plant the seeds using
termite soil, ash, and trash for planting receptacles. For those who
don’t know the moringa tree has a crazy amount of vitamins and
minerals and the leaves are high in protein. The tree grows quick and
can be highly utilized. The nutrition this plant holds is under
utilized and the few villagers who knew something about moringa were
super excited when we began planting. Right now there are 10-15 small
tree saplings growing and I plan to plant as many as possible
spreading them around the village.

One of the many requests from my village when I arrived was an adult
English program.  I have a small group of men, women, and a few
children who come to school every Tuesday night for two hours to work
on phonics and basic English.

During community entry I had the pleasure of collaborating on a
project to build a rainy season food dehydrator at a friend’s school.
It took us the better part of the afternoon and I watched as the other
volunteers directed people on how to build and use the dryer once
constructed. The next day I also got to sit in on the building of a
fuel efficient stove and oven. I’m hoping to be able to help build
some of the stoves in my village next cold season as they can’t dry
sufficiently during the rains.

It was an exciting three months and I enjoyed the opportunity to stay
in my village though I look forward to coming into town to stock up on
groceries and supplies.