Community Library Link

Here's the info and link promised in my last post!  I have partnered with my school to try and construct a library on the school grounds.  One of the many problems teachers and pupils face in the Zambian education system, especially in the rural areas, is the overwhelming struggle with illiteracy.  Learning resources are so scarce, and as a result it is a big challenge for teachers to effectively teach literacy and for pupils to become literate.  We want the library to be a safe space for pupils to be able to have access to and read books independently, improving their literacy skills and enhancing their education.  Unfortunately, the community cannot complete this project on their own..  We need YOUR help!  Below the pictures is a link to donate to this project with even more information about the community's needs.  Anything you can give will be a huge help, and all donations are tax deductible!  So please strongly consider donating to this cause.  Chimupati would greatly appreciate it!

Chimupati Primary School

Chimupati Primary School

Chimupati Primary School

(The internet cooperated long enough for 3 pictures.  More to come soon hopefully!)

Donate to Chimupati's Community Library project here:
Community Library Project

Oh hey, I'm still here

So about this blog thing...  It's really hard sometimes compress everything I experience in this country into a nice tidy post for people to read.  I guess that's why I've fallen off the map a bit in the last year.  And it's been about exactly a year since I've posted.  Oops.

Path to my house

Path to my house

I've been up to a lot in the past year.  Since I last posted, I took over teaching Grade 8 English (now Grade 9 English) full time at my school in Chimupati, visited Livingstone over the New Year, had my MIDTERM (!!!) conference in May, and am trying to start a community library project at my school.  I've been out of the village quite a bit because the community has been repairing the post-rainy season damage to my mud hut and re-thatching my grass roof. Currently, I'm on term break from school until September 9th when Term 3, the final term of the school year, begins.  So the timing works out well because I don't have to worry about missing school or a lot of work. 

Balloon fun in the village

My school

It's hard to believe that so much time has gone by here.  I only have about eight months left!  Time is completely different.  The days seem to go by so slow, but large chunks of time fly by.  It really feels as though August just started and it's nearly over. 
I feel like I have no time left to do the things I want to accomplish in my village.  Term 3 starts in a couple of weeks and it will be my last term teaching.  I'll be continuing to work with my same class, who are now Grade 9s.  They will be writing their Grade 9 placement exams in the beginning of November, which will determine whether they will be able to continue on to Grade 10 next year.  So there is a lot of pressure to try and catch them up as much as I can and work on teaching them standardized test-taking skills, which pupils are not taught.  I am also hoping to start a community library program at the school.  I have recently completed writing a grant through Peace Corps in attempt to raise money to build a library block for pupils to use for independent learning.  *SALES PITCH* If you would like to help create a safe space for pupils to take ownership of their learning, you can donate to this awesome cause and really help my community.  I will post the link to my community project in a separate post with more information (and maybe pictures if the internet cooperates), where you can read more about the project and donate if you so wish.  My community and I would really appreciate the help!!! *END SALES PITCH*  Making things happen in the village can be very slow and frustrating a lot of the time, so it feels really good when I have a good lesson with my pupils, or when I motivated my school to work with me to complete prep needed to complete and submit my grant.  I am really hoping I will be able to work with the village to make this building happen.

I'm spending a lot of time trying to maximize the time I have left here.  Currently, I'm in Lusaka spending some time with good friends who are about to COS( Close of Service), or finish their contract and go home.  It seems like it gets harder and harder every time a group of volunteers leave because you get closer to these people the longer you have to spend with them and it means that I'm getting closer to leaving here as well.  This time I'm trying really hard not to think about the fact that the next group to COS will be my group...

Well, this post has been scatterbrained enough, so I think I will end for now.  I'll be better about writing more consistently.  I promise.  I'll leave you with one of my favourite Zamsongs.  This came out a bit ago, but still, so, so good.

A Little Zam Culture in Yo Face

So one of the most wonderful things about Zambia is the completely infectious Zam-pop music that the entire country listens to.  So, I figured I should work on a little Peace Corps Goal #3 (to teach Americans about the culture of my host country) and share some of my current favesies with you guys.  I'll try to do this every once in a while so you can hear some of the best Zam-pop songs being played all over Zambia!

Mampi- Walilowelela

7 Months Down?

After 4 months, finally back with a blog post.  So much has happened, and I'm not really sure where even to begin.  I guess I should start with the biggest event of the past 4 months:  in May, I was removed from my site in Northwest Province for Safety and Security issues and relocated to a new province.  Everything is ok and I am ok, but it was decided that it would be best for my personal safety to not return to the site.  So instead of completing my Community Entry, I spent about 7 weeks living in Lusaka while we figured out where I would move and to learn a new language.  It was extremely difficult and challenging.  I was only able to have two weeks of Bemba lessons, and my teacher pushed me through the entire curriculum that is normally taught over three months during PST because he knew that I had done well learning Kiikaonde.  Luckily my teacher is a trainer for both Bemba and Kaonde so I could talk to him in Kaonde to better help me understand Bemba.  Living in Lusaka for such a long time was also a big struggle.  Lusaka is extremely expensive to live in and very overwhelming after being in the village, especially when you want nothing more than to be in the village.  Spending so much time in Lusaka was a good opportunity to meet a lot of volunteers from around Zambia that I likely never would have met otherwise, however.  Volunteers are always passing through Lusaka for Medical or program conferences, so there were always people around to do things with, if I wanted to spend the money.  Even so, ironically, those 7 weeks were some of the loneliest I've spent in country.  It was a relief to finally move to my new village and no longer feel like I was losing my mind. 

I've had about a month now to settle in to my new home and develop my new routine.  It is very different from my old site.  Where there were always people to talk to moving about in my old village, my new site is very isolated.  My only neighbors are my family that keeps an eye out for me.  There actually isn't much of a village at all because the area is considered a forestry area, so people aren't allowed to live on most of the land because of the trees.  So I spend a lot of time in my hut on my own trying to pass the time because there are so few people around and my family spends a lot of the day working at their farm.  I occupy my time by doing a lot of reading, unpacking, and fantasizing about killing my family's goats, as goats are somebody's cruel, sick joke on humans and undeniably the worst thing on the planet.  Otherwise, I spend as much time as I can at my school observing lessons and preparing to take over Grade 8 English when the next term starts in September.  I've really enjoyed spending time with my teachers.  They're a good group and they've been very welcoming. 

After about a month in my new village, I had to travel back to Lusaka during the first week of August for my IST (In-service training) conference, which lasted 2 weeks.  Everyone from my intake was there, and it was so great to see everyone after being 3 months apart.  Apart from having to sit through 8 hours of sessions everyday, we had so much (too much?) fun.  It's so strange that we won't all be together again for another 9 months, when we return to Lusaka for our Midterm conference.  Now that IST is over, I will be heading straight back to the village because being gone for the past 2 weeks has been long enough when I've only been there for a month.  I think I need as much time to myself to prepare lesson plans for the next term and learn more about the community. 

It is after 23:00 here, and way past my bedtime (I'm usually in bed by 20:00 in the village).  Until next time, which should be a lot sooner this time around. 

The Real Deal

So it's been a while since I've posted, lolz sorry.  The last month or so has been a very busy one.  Last month I had the opportunity to spend about a week in the village where I will be working for the next two years.  I was also lucky to spend a couple days with the volunteer who lived there currently and whom I will be replacing.  She is the best and did a lot of great work which I am excited to continue during the next two years.  Since my second site visit the RED intake has been super busy preparing to make the transition into the rural villages.  We finished the last of our training and language classes and took the final Language Proficiency Interview, which requires a minimum Intermediate Low proficiency level to pass and be cleared to be placed in your village.  Luckily, everyone passed their interview, so the 33 of us were able to participate in the swearing in ceremony where we became official PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) last Friday.  The swearing in is a pretty big event; this year it was held at the US ambassador's home in Lusaka.  Many current PCVs attended as well as the Zambian Minister of Education and of course the Peace Corps Zambia Country Director.  The ceremony was long awaited, and we could not have been happier to be done with training, for reals. 

Since swearing in, we each have traveled to the province we will be living in and have been staying at the Provincial Houses, where we have been doing the last bits of shopping for our homes.  I'm already missing the rest of my intake like crazy.  There are 6 of us that have been placed in Northwest Province, so we've been together through the transition, which has been great.  Volunteers often become closest to the people that live in the same province, and couldn't be happier to have been placed with Gracie, Abe, Daniel, Katie, and Sharon.  There have also been a bunch of current Northwest PCVs helping us the past couple of days.  Not only was it great to have their advice for moving into the vil, but it's been awesome getting to know the other people that live in Northwest.  The Northwest PCVs have a reputation for being kind of crazy and weird, and after the past few days I already know that I wouldn't want to be placed anywhere but here.  Northwest PCVs is good people.  We've already been initiated into Solwezi Mabanga (Solwezi Nighttime), a first experience I definitely won't forget.  You won't find details about it here.  Sorry.  (I'm not sorry)  Anyway, us new volunteers are one by one being placed in their villages to begin Community Entry.  Some people who live in provinces closer to Lusaka have already been placed in their villages.  Katie and I will be placed tomorrow (today for us).  There are so many emotions.  I'm excited to finally be able to move into my home and start learning about the village I am to help, but scared and nervous to be so completely on my own for the first time in the three months I've been here.  It is such a contrast to training, where we were constantly with our intake, following a training schedule all day long.  Community Entry is a three month long period where I will integrate into my community and establish my new home.  This time is meant to learn about the village and make relationships with the people I will be living.  It is Peace Corps policy that we are not to leave the district in which we live because it is so important to be in the village for these first three months, so for the next two months or so I will not have access to internet because I will not be able to travel to Solwezi and the Provincial House.  Don't miss me too much. 

Well, as usual, I'm sure there is much more I could write, but it's time I get to sleep before the big day ahead.  Oh, and as promised, here is the address for the PCV P.O. box in Solwezi, so you can send me packages and letters.  You lucky dogs.

Courtney Gandy
US Peace Corps
PO box 110264
Solwezi, Zambia

Either this address or the Mufumbwe address in my previous post are okay to use.  The Mufumbwe one is much closer to me so I will be visiting it more frequently, and also if anything is sent to Solwezi during my Community Entry I will not be able to pick it up, as I cannot leave my village for the next three months. 

Well, mulaale bulongo everyone, and I'll be back in a couple months! 

Court


-Also, I'm getting an adorable kitty for my house to help manage potential rat issues.  Pics will surely follow.

Welcome to Kashima (where the players play)

Hello!  It is still hard to believe that I've been here going on seven weeks.  In contrast to my last post, time has begun to feel like it is flying by.  The group is in Lusaka to buy supplies before we leave on our second site visit during PST (pre-service training [I need to make an acronym key.  For myself as much you people not even in PC {Peace Corps}]).  This visit we will be staying in the village where we will spend the next two years of our lives.We will get to visit the school we will teach at, meet our host family, and get to know the village we will be living in.  It seems surreal.  Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to meet our teacher counterparts and participate in a workshop with them.  Near the workshop's end, each trainee had to sign a community agreement, saying that we consent to spending the next two years in that community.  The fact that I will be living here for two full years has never felt so real.  The village I will be living in is called Kashima East, in the Mufumbwe district of Northwest Province.  While it's kind of far away from a lot of people and a lot of things, it is close to a National Park (so I expect visitors).  But the closest volunteers are 20km away from me, and the closest volunteer from my intake (Katie) is about 50km away.  So in Zambia terms, extremely close.  But I am extremely excited to spend the coming week there, and will surely have plenty to say about it when I get back!

Well, unfortunately that's all I have time to say for now, sorry for the short update.  The internet cafe I'm sitting in isn't very reliable, and we've already lost power once.  I'm hoping to upload some pictures tomorrow while I'm at the Northwest Provincial House, where the internet is a bit more stable.  Until then, kyawama shalaipo!


Oh, P.S., since I will soon be moving to Northwest Province, I will also have a new mailing address.  Send letters to:
Courtney Gandy
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 130050
Mufumbwe, Northwest Province, Zambia

I'll update an address for packages when I know what that is. 

-Court

3 Weeks Down....

I feel like I've been here forever.  The past three weeks have flown by, and we've been so busy I feel like I should be saying that I've been here for at least three months!  This is really the first time I've had access to internet since I've been here (other than my three day stay at CorpMed Services, an American run hospital in Lusaka) . 

Our group has already moved into our homestay, the host families we will be living with for the next three months while we learn our language and complete training.  I am learning kiikaonde (key-kah-own-day), a language that is spoken in the Northwestern Province of Zambia.  My host family speaks kiikaonde, so they've been speaking the language to me at home and helping me with vocab.  I almost understand what people mean when they say that you have to pick up the language when you are thrown into it, but I still speak so much English with my friends and the trainers that it really hasn't hit home yet.  Otherwise, my host family is great.  I'm the 14th PC volunteer they've hosted so they understand how to accommodate me.  And by accommodate, I mean they literally do everything for me from cooking my meals to boiling my bath water.  The first day I took a (splash) bath at home, I emptied out my water basin myself and then got yelled at because my bamaama (host mom) wanted to do it for me.  So I don't do that anymore.  I've already gotten pretty used to the food.  Lots of starch.  For the first two weeks I literally pooped like three times because of the nshima plug in my intestines.  I guess I prefer that to Mr. D (friendly name for diarrhea). 

It's funny that though we've only been here for three weeks, I can see how some things we considered novelty at home have already become precious commodities.  Like fresh fruit and vegetables.  Last week, someone was lucky enough to get fresh cucumbers to bring as a snack to class.  It was such a wonderful and kind of funny thing to watch everyone pass around a whole cucumber and take bites of it like they had never had one before.  Some of us also started getting our first packages from home in the mail, filled with treasures like Starburst and Jolly Ranchers.  How quickly we've come to appreciate American novelty.  I think that a lot during my 8km bike ride (one way) to the training center everyday.

There is so much more I could talk about since so much has happened in the last three weeks, but unfortunately my internet time is about up.  Our group took a day trip to Lusaka to visit the national museum and have free time at Manda Hill (a large shopping center/mall).  The access to internet, spicy Indian food, and air conditioning was much appreciated.

Missing you all like crazy and hope everything is well!  Kyawama Shalaipo! (Goodbye)