Zambia Digest Vol. 3

so i'm back in lusaka after spending a couple of weeks in feira a.k.a. "the bush." we were staying in a house (i'll send pictures) made out of plaster and grass thatch. it's super-cute. the first couple of days were spent making courtesy calls to all the government official and tribal chiefs so they know we're there and what we're doing. so i met a chief. with ashy legs. me, not the chief. well, his might have been a little ashy too. the first one we met was not in the greatest health. his liver is shot from drinking this really strong distilled alcohol called kachaso that people make in their yards. it's supposed to be really dangerous, can blind you, etc. when we got to the chief, everyone was very formal and deferential and alice (the professor i was with) and i are just trying to sit quietly and smile and follow the example of what everyone else was doing. so one of the workers did like a whole step routine before he shook the chief's hand; we're lookin' at each other like umm are we supposed to do that too?? we need to have a practice session before we can do that. luckily a simple hand shake sufficed.

and let me just say that feira is unreal. it's almost like a time warp. some of the houses in the villages literally are huts made of brick with grass roofs. the professor who came with me to feira is the director of an international development institute, so she's travelled all over africa, the middle east, central and south america, and she said that she's never been anywhere before where the houses look like they probably did about 100 years ago! zambia is just an extremely poor country. this goat project is a good fit because everyone - EVERYONE - has goats. and they just wander around free; they don't require much maintenance. we met with the people in one of the villages and they estimated that 60-80% of the baby goats are dying before weaning - with good management that number should be around 10%. the good news is there are a few relatively simple things we can recommend to help turn that around so i'm excited about doing the training! i'll be training community extension officers in a two day session, then they will be training farmers in the villages. then i'll be doing follow up visits to the individual farms and villages to help with further training and answering questions, as much as i can. so that's pretty much what i've been doing.

i will also say that the landscape, with the baobab trees, mountains in the background and wildlife, is BEAUTIFUL. and the sky at night and the sunsets are gorgeous. i have never seen a night sky like that. also, there's a huge baobab tree that they used to chain the slaves around before they took them on the ships; there are some slave huts as well. amazing. and the people there are so warm and friendly. like i mentioned before people are always singing and always greet you. when we got to feira, some little kids were following us saying "hi how are you?" all excited they could use their english on someone. when i responded they got all giddy, started giggling and ran away. all kee kee-in' and whatnot. so i think they had a meeting and distributed a memo because after that EVERY time i see a child they blurt out "hi how are you?" in their cute little zambian accents. i rode in the back of the pick up on the way to the market and every time we passed some children, whether they were on a hilltop or on the road, they were waving, all excited, and i'm waving back like i'm miss america. in the back of a toyota hilux. hilarious!! feira doesn't get too many foreign visitors, so of course when there a couple everyone knows!

highlights:

1. there is a group of, i guess about 20 kids that sing at the top of their lungs in the distance for like 2 hours every night. harlem boys' choir got nothing on them. ok, maybe they're a little less...how you say..."refined" than harlem boys...but they sound good. for real.
2. i'm learning to drive stick on a 1970's land cruiser. i named her big bessie, but she also goes by one eyed bessie. or princess. she's sensitive, she has a complex about her size so we try to keep the positive reinforcement going. we have to jump start her every time we turn off the engine or stall. they have wired the button that beeps the horn to the starter motor so you have to press this button before you try to start the ignition. so i said "ok how do you beep the horn now?" there are two copper wires that i have been instructed to press together delicately in order to sound the horn. i couldn't even make this up if i tried. the first day bessie got there, alice, the professor who is here with me until tomorrow, bravely volunteered to teach me how to drive manual. so after a 20 minute driving lesson at the "airstrip" a.k.a. cow and goat pasture, and after a few episodes of having to have the four guys who came with us push the car to get it started (stalling? what stalling? when in doubt clutch it out! thank you gil), the program director comes knocking on my door and says "ok now we're going to pick up 16 goats. you're driving." alrighty then. so i drove like 40 minutes on bumpy dirt roads in big bessie hoping hoping HOPING i didn't stall (the car was also full of people as well - about 7) until we get to the village. good news, i didn't stall on the long part of the drive! handsen (director) is like "ok turn right here." i'm like "all i see is bush!" "no no, right here!" and then i see a foot path about 2 feet wide. bessie, let me tell you, is just a little more than two feet wide. and by the way, the path has people on bicycles, and people walking, on both sides, coming towards me.
3. everyone has a cell phone, even in the poorest areas. i'm like "how you got a motorazr...and no shoes??" but that's how it is. i guess we have people in the states living in subsidized housing driving mercedes right? hmm...
4. more jamesisms:
*"tamika, you know we have women here who bleach their skin? know what we call them? FBI - formerly black individuals."
*"your eyes do not choose what your motner-in-law looks like." interpret that as you will.
5. so there's a shop keeper in the market who i find so amusing. he's this little man named most, and he's full of soundbytes. this will be a new soundbyte installment to accompany the "james-ism digest." mr. most-isms:
*mr. most: yes, i've been to the states.
me: really, where have you been?
mr. most: michigan
me: oh ok. what were you doing there?
mr. most: well...you know i am a short man.
(that was his final answer.)
6. on the drive to feira, we stopped at one of the COMACO store houses to pick something up. there was this crazy dwarf there who ran up to me and held out his hand, palm down. i don't know what he wanted me to do with it. he was lookin' crazy so i just folded my arms, nodded and smiled. then the prof went to the back of the storehouse to do her "business." do you know that dwarf followed her right back there and ogled her while she was handling the biz!?! madness. but hilarious.
7. the district agricultural officer is a zambian who went to school in moscow for 7 years. there's another woman here who did the same. they speak russian fluently; they were teaching me some words! who knew i'd come to zambia and learn some of the language from my fatherland. : )

and this blog has been long enough...thank you for your attention if you've read this far... : ) if you haven't read this far, you're wack. but then you didn't read this far to know that. small details. SO i'll have e-mail access until the weekend, then back to feira! i hope you're all well and that your summer is going great!