I finally got here and am getting settled in. My village is about 600 people. It is called Kawama in the Mufumbwe district in the Northwestern Province. My house is very nice and cozy. I have gotten everything unpacked, put away and have been having fun cooking for myself.
I got to bike into Mufumbwe with my Batata (about 15 kms) to meet with the land management office and forestry office. I will be setting up a tree nursery in my town. I got to go to the courthouse and stayed in the main office while my Batata held court, he is a judge. I was not allowed in the courtroom, but did hear a little through the door on one case that was a man accusing a woman of killing his goat with witchcraft. I did get to look around the town a little an found a few shops I can shop at. We then rode back home. The ride is not bad, it's all on the tarmac (road) and its a straight, fairly flat road.
I have found out that I am not good at carrying water from the borehole to my house. The women and girls carry the water on their heads in jugs up to 20 liters. I can NOT do that. I do good just carrying it on my bike and they laugh at me.
The girls start at about 3years old learning to carry things on their heads. I saw a woman pick up a 70 kilo sack of ground nuts (peanuts) put it on her head and pick up her baby and walk back to her house. They have awesome neck muscles and abs.
I have found 2 forms of TV. It's called chicken TV and children TV.
First, since I haven't been around chickens much, I didn't know they were so comical to watch. I laugh at their antics and have learned where sayings like "talking like a bunch of old hens" come from, and watching the same 2 get in a fight with each other several times a day for no reason, that I can see. Watching the rooster stand around, crow and try to get the hens attention. Of course, at 4am I do NOT find them interesting crowing in my yard. I am working on getting a hutch built so I can have 3 hens of my own.
The children are very entertaining, they love to play in my yard, also at 5am! They like to ask questions and see what I am doing, I am their Muzungu (white person) TV. They like to dig through my trash pit to see what goodies I am throwing away. They will do anything for candy. When I was unpacking one of my little sisters, Melda, sat in my doorway and watch me all day. She told me the names of everything I unpacked. She sang songs and asked questions.
I found a soccer field close to my house and got to watch a game. I have visited a couple of farms and bought 5 kilo of potatoes and some Chinese cabbage. Looking forward to cooking them! I also visited a goat farmer and was happy to learn he saved the dung so I gave a quick lesson on fertilizer. I was also able to talk with them about farming techniques and expanding their crops.
Life in a world that is still very dependent on the Colonial way of life is challenging. When Zambia was under British rule, buildings were built for them, so were roads, schools and utilities. From what I've read of their history, when the British left the Zambians said they could handle everything themselves. But the people still wait for someone to come and fix things for them. One of the boreholes in the town is not pumping good. Instead of having a local look at it and fix, as I am sure someone could, they are very industrious people, they wait and ask to have some NGO come to do it for them. The school buildings here is in disrepair. The buildings are falling down, paint coming off the walls, floors are gone, they have asked me to find someone to rebuilt them for them. They build all kinds of tools, buildings and homes, but they wait for an NGO to come to the rescue. They are very dependent on others. During my training my Bamama had a dish drying rack that was broken, she complained about it for a long time. I finally got a brick, used it to prop up the broken leg and it was fine. How long does it take a country to do for themselves?
I am not good a lighting a fire with charcoal, but I'm learning. For now I get up in the morning go to my family's to get hot coals from them and at night get some for my evening meal.
I have learned to take a bath and wash my hair in about 1/2 a gallon of water. The water is so dirty! It's amazing how dirty you get in a day. I also learned I'm becoming adjusted to things I never thought I would tolerate. Flies on your face - all the time. Bugs in your house - everywhere, always. A bug flew in my oil I was heating to cook with, I just flicked the bug out and put my food in, no biggie! gnats in my food - it's protein.
I think I am doing good, but there are still rough days, when I can't figure out what I am doing here! What can you do, it's Africa!
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