School is out, holiday time has officially begun, although with Easter and end of term tests (which take two weeks, during which there is no teaching) it seems like we've been on holiday for a while already. After a few fairly stressful weeks in placement it was great to be able to get out of placement, meet some of the other internations and swap stories over a few drinks.
We spent Easter at Lake Kariba, a 280km long lake on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border which was created when the river was dammed in the late 1950s. Its a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and greenery, with the water stretching as far as you can see. I think the stresses of placement had really taken their toll, and we all spent most of the time comotose on the beach, with one eye open for crocs and hippos. The most strenuous of the weekend's activities was a canoe trip to the dam wall, which we spent mainly in histerics and whining are 'we there yet?'. Dry land, a beer and some good food was a much better option.
The most surreal part of the weekend was the transition from village life to what could have been anywhere in Europe. There were so many other white people it was overwhelming. Its funny to think that what has most suprised me in the past few weeks has been the massive superspar at the shopping mall, the bright lights and variety of foods from home was a massive culture shock. The fact that a small packet of Jordan's musli cost K60 000, almost 8 squid, brought me back to earth with a bump though.
Back in placement the holiday theme continued as one of the other internation vols, Ashleigh, came to stay for a week. We spent the week picnicing, climbing caves, swimming in a dodgy dam and exploring the local area with Mumbwa friends, which was a great way to end the term.
Now I have about 3 weeks off to travel, so the plan is to bus around Zambia and then maybe down to Zimbabwe, all on a bit of a shoestring. We've invested in a cheap tent for roughing it, and leave this afternoon for Mongu, the capital of Western Province and about an 8 hour bus ride away for a Lozi tribal festival. We've been told we can sleep on the bus when it arrives though, so I'm sure it will be an experience.
Sorry for the lack of photos, uploading is pretty slow out here, but some will come shortly!
Friday 16 April 2010
Only in Zambia...
I think I'm becoming so used to living here that nothing really suprises me any more, and I've found myself thinking nothing of incidents which prevoiusly would have had me in fits of laughter on the floor or chucking up in the toilet. There are some conversations I've had over the past few weeks which could only have happened here.
1 - Dog poo turns into plastic. Yes this is really what a fellow Zambian volunteer thinks happens. Gross.
2 - On a morning run a while ago I was stopped by a man and asked to pray for him as he get headaches (a very common complaint here, along with body ache). He says the doctors can't cure it. I suggest he drinks more water, his reation is that I'm a medical genius, followed with profound thanks and God's blessings. I think I'll start charging for such advice.
3 - Over Easter we were sharing a dorm with a witch doctor. Apparently he can cure HIV by 'negociating' with the virus. Unfortunatly he can't cure people on a mass scale as the US and British government would hunt him down and kill him because they've brought too many ARVs. As well as curing HIV he can massage my friend for tiredness (a kind offer she refused) and will pray that I soon fall pregnant. Not quite sure I'm ready for kids but that seems to be beside the point.
4 - Sitting in the staff room one morning before my lessons one of the male teachers walked in with a box a female condoms which had been sent in by another NGO. None of the teachers had ever seen them before, so demanded I opened one and showed them how it works. It was like taking a PSE class full of teenage boys, they were at the same time facinated and shy, with a lot of bloke jokes and condoms being waved about the place, but with about 15 adults who are normally pretty reserved. Half way through the headmistress popped in, looked around at what was going on, stayed to listen for a few minutes and walked out again, and then later congratulated me on teaching the teachers. Still not sure they'll take off here though.
5 - Another staff room conversation quickly developed into a question and answer session on sexual practices in the UK. Here in Zambia condoms are still pretty looked down upon, there are a lot of comments on eating a sweet with the wrapper on. There are a lot of strange sexual practices, many involving herbs and traditional medicine to dry the woman out, and others which seem to be a local version of viagral. It basically came down to explaining that whites like it wet while blacks like it dry, a point they were amazed by. I feel I will never be shy talking to anyone about anything again.
6 - This weekend just gone we ran a peer leader training camp at Mumbwa for 50 pupils from SPW schools in the district. I was put down to run the question and answer session, with 3 other volunteers. There were a lot of questions on sex and masterbastion, which 2 of my fellow volunteers felt necessary to explain with graphic hand movements just as the local Ministry of Education walked in. Classic timing.
7 - White people die from malaria while black people only die from HIV. Apparently a medical fact. From someone who wants to be a doctor.
8 - A missionary family from the States live in the same town as me. Over dinner one night one of the kids asked me 'Have you turned black yet?' Unfortunatly I think most of my tan is actually ingrained dirt
There have been plently of other hilarious and shocking incidents, but if I don't note them down they just seem to be lost in the haze of craziness which is living here, and many of them just become part of everyday normality. But I'm sure there will be many more to come!
1 - Dog poo turns into plastic. Yes this is really what a fellow Zambian volunteer thinks happens. Gross.
2 - On a morning run a while ago I was stopped by a man and asked to pray for him as he get headaches (a very common complaint here, along with body ache). He says the doctors can't cure it. I suggest he drinks more water, his reation is that I'm a medical genius, followed with profound thanks and God's blessings. I think I'll start charging for such advice.
3 - Over Easter we were sharing a dorm with a witch doctor. Apparently he can cure HIV by 'negociating' with the virus. Unfortunatly he can't cure people on a mass scale as the US and British government would hunt him down and kill him because they've brought too many ARVs. As well as curing HIV he can massage my friend for tiredness (a kind offer she refused) and will pray that I soon fall pregnant. Not quite sure I'm ready for kids but that seems to be beside the point.
4 - Sitting in the staff room one morning before my lessons one of the male teachers walked in with a box a female condoms which had been sent in by another NGO. None of the teachers had ever seen them before, so demanded I opened one and showed them how it works. It was like taking a PSE class full of teenage boys, they were at the same time facinated and shy, with a lot of bloke jokes and condoms being waved about the place, but with about 15 adults who are normally pretty reserved. Half way through the headmistress popped in, looked around at what was going on, stayed to listen for a few minutes and walked out again, and then later congratulated me on teaching the teachers. Still not sure they'll take off here though.
5 - Another staff room conversation quickly developed into a question and answer session on sexual practices in the UK. Here in Zambia condoms are still pretty looked down upon, there are a lot of comments on eating a sweet with the wrapper on. There are a lot of strange sexual practices, many involving herbs and traditional medicine to dry the woman out, and others which seem to be a local version of viagral. It basically came down to explaining that whites like it wet while blacks like it dry, a point they were amazed by. I feel I will never be shy talking to anyone about anything again.
6 - This weekend just gone we ran a peer leader training camp at Mumbwa for 50 pupils from SPW schools in the district. I was put down to run the question and answer session, with 3 other volunteers. There were a lot of questions on sex and masterbastion, which 2 of my fellow volunteers felt necessary to explain with graphic hand movements just as the local Ministry of Education walked in. Classic timing.
7 - White people die from malaria while black people only die from HIV. Apparently a medical fact. From someone who wants to be a doctor.
8 - A missionary family from the States live in the same town as me. Over dinner one night one of the kids asked me 'Have you turned black yet?' Unfortunatly I think most of my tan is actually ingrained dirt
There have been plently of other hilarious and shocking incidents, but if I don't note them down they just seem to be lost in the haze of craziness which is living here, and many of them just become part of everyday normality. But I'm sure there will be many more to come!
Monday 5 April 2010
Photos from Zambia so far
Women's day with other female teachers from Makasa school.
Cultural dancing at our SPW school event on Child Abuse and Child Rights
Cultural dancing at our SPW school event on Child Abuse and Child Rights
Guava bobbing race
Cooking traditional style on my front step - also where the snake came to say hi!
Cooking traditional style on my front step - also where the snake came to say hi!
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