Niya ku Nyansonso

So I am currently sitting in Solowezi, the provincial capital, at the peace corps house after vi sting another CHIP (the health program) volunteer in the province and then traveling to my site. It was neat to see another volunteers site and what things she has done. I think her situation is going to be very different from mine. She is close to the mines and hers is definitely more "urban". We ate very well while we were there went to her clinic, went to the school, attended a community meeting while having language classes in the afternoon. All in all it was very nice and a very needed break from training.

I learned that if a pregnant women follows around a person for along time then her baby will begin to resemble that person. Pregnant women are not allowed to eat eggs, not good since that is a good source of protein. Men who eat ground nuts increase their "strength". Women are not allowed to add salt to there cooking when they are menstruating, totally a way for men to control women. Also, there are little monsters with backwards feet that if a child sees they will die but adults are safe. Those are just some of the beliefs, I thought I would share.

Next I headed to my village. English is not spoken by alot of people so I will have to improve my Kaonde skills. I couldn't communicate well with the villagers. There is no market, carpenter, or seamstress in my village so I will have to be diligent about my food and other supplies that I need at site. I think that once I get a garden going it will be easier to get fresh fruits and vegetables. Some of the staple vegetables I can buy from people that farm them if they have extra.

The clinic that I will be working at has three rooms, and intake room, a storage room, and a "ward" (room with beds). They do have a fridge, however, there is no electricity which means that we can't give out vaccinations. Also basically anyone who comes in to the clinic is diagnoses with malaria which I don't think is actually the case. If you have sores on your mouth I am pretty sure that you do not have malaria. The catchment area that the clinic serves is very small so the clinic is not busy ever, apparently, according to the clinic coordinator. There is supposed to be another worker at the clinic but he went to Solwezi in July and has not returned. They aren't sure what happened to him or if he is coming back.

I also met with the committee who is responsible for bringing me to Nyansonso and one of them is the deputy teacher and he asked me to bring back a library in October, I can guarantee you that wont happen. I am a facilitator not a enabler. They also do not have enough teachers at the school so they want me to teach science to the students. I am not sure if I have a good enough grasp to teach in Kaonde or if the students have a good enough grasp of English. We will have to see what happens.

My host was very concerned that I would be able to walk long distances or carry things. She wanted to make sure that I did not get tired. It was very sweet but I she definitely underestimates my ability. On the other hand she over estimates my appetite. She wants to get me fat. I would finish a meal and then she would bring 4 hard boiled eggs for me to eat or for breakfast a bowl of porridge. I had trouble finishing all of this. I definitely know why I have gained weight since being here. These Zambians like to feed me.

The area that Nyansonso is in has many trees and is really quite beautiful. I took a few pictures but haven't been able to upload them. As soon as I do I will let you all know.

That is about it. Tomorrow I head back to our training site for more classes and tests. On September 20th there are the presidential elections here so send good vibes for safe and peaceful campaigns and elections. There have only been a few isolated incidents of violence so I think it will all be fine.

Keep me updated on your lives it is always nice to hear from you.

Ellen

August 28th Email

The biggest news i have for you all is that i found out my
site. I will be staying in nyasonso village which is located in
the mufumbwe district. It is 7O Km from the mufumbwe boma, the
nearest 'town' with two restaurants and, some shops the post
office etc. But it is in between the boma and provincial
capital. The closest volunteer is 3O km away on the way to the
boma and she is a girl in my intake group that i know well,
leanne. Apparently the village that i am at is the smaller of
the three sites which i am happy about. It is also not far from
the tarmac which will make hitching and getting places
easier. It is supposed to be close to a protected forest. The
rural health center(RHC) is supposed to have been newly upgraded
from a health post so newer facilities. I am the first volunteer
and my water source is a protected well,not the best source but
cleaner than some, less than 1km away. So that is what i
know. On monday i meet my host who is someone from my village
that is supposed to help me be introduced to the community. They
probably can tell me more and hopefully stuff about my living
sitation like if i am on a family compound or not. Just wanted
to share with you before i send it out to everyone.

My host family as i have already said is super nice. I found out
that my mom is a traditional birth attendant i really wish my
kaonde was better or her english was better so that i could ask
her more about it. Maybe in time. When zambian women are giving
birth they are not supposed to make a sound and if they do the
women in the room(only women are allowed in the room) can hit
her and they dont have pain medicine. Pretty crazy. So my mom
was talking about the baby crying then i attempted to say in
kaonde that i would also be crying and that it would be very
painful. The women almost died laughing at this thought. Now
they love to bring up me giving birth to a child. My mom is
convinced that by the time i am thirty i will have many
children. I think she might be jumping ahead a few steps. The
other night i was sitting outside rewritting my language notes
and noticed a big fire. The roof of the kitchen was burning. It
was crazy. It was so big and there is nothing you can do. The
well is a couple minute walk away and there is no way you could
draw enough water. From what i could figure out from my host
parents acting and kaonde is that mary, about six, took a piece
of straw from the kitchen roof, this is common, and stuck it in
the braiser, what people put fire in to cook on, and then lifted
it up and it touched the roof. The roof caught on fire and she
froze and then it was too late to do anything. Everyone came
over to watch it burn and watch the child be beat. The mom
picked a few branches from a shrub and whipped her wicked hard
multiple times. It was really uncomfortable. After someone
stopped her from hitting her mary ran away. Apparently it was
the evening entertainment. Training itself is going well, it is
tedious. Because of my background i know alot of the health
information being given but it is good to hear again. Next week
we have mid terms. Then the week after that we leave for second
site visit where we first visit a health volunteer in our
province then spend a few nights at our future site.

Send good vibes for peaceful elections next month. That is it
for now..sorry about the formating one day i will type this up
on a computer.

August 13th email

This is a copy of an email that was sent on August 13th

So i wanted to give you all an update now that i have been in country for over two weeks. But first i am going to warm you that i am typing
this on my number pad phone. Here are some highlights.I am living with a host family who are all very sweet. They do everything for me like heat up my bath water, cook, do my laundry etc.

Anyway the first night i was here i went to go use the pit latrine and
noticed some ants on the ground. There ants...what is the worst they
can do? It turns out these ants bite. They climbed up my legs up my
shirt and one even made it to my head. Since they bite you have to
individually pick each one off of you and them squish them. It was
quite a welcome to the host family. The next morning my mom swept them
up and burned them. The food here isnt awful. There is very little
variety and everything is drenched in oil and salt. Basically for
breakfast i have bread and peanut butter. They noticed i was only
eating two slices of bread and so they started giving me two of the
thickest pieces of bread. Each slice is equivalent to about three
normal slices. For lunch and dinner there is a combination of oil salt
tomato potato onion rice or nshima with some sort of protein at at
least one meal, egg fried or hard boiled then fried or meat or soya
pieces. I eat it but i am looking forward to cooking for myself. The
language i am learning is kaonde which means that i will be in the
north western province. The group that is going there is very nice. So
i am happy about that. We have four hour language lessons five days a
week which is pretty intense but i just try to keep up with it. Our
training is five and a half days a week so i stay busy. Sundays i dont
know what to do with myself with the whole day off. Other than that i
have internet on my phone so you can send me emails and i will see
them. My phone number here is +26O979688319 which you can call or
text. Skype isnt too expensive. some people have asking about things
to send. Here are a few things i have thought of: food( gum chocolate, dried fruit, sweet things, trail mix, granola bars snacks) pictures music books or magazines if anyone has an old cd walkman lying around it could come in handy but you cant write it on the customs form or else it might get stolen.
Letters are always great. padded envelopes are cheap and get here relatively quick too. I hope you are all doing well. Keep me updated on your life.

Stay well. Ellen

Preparation

I still have 1 month and 13 days until I begin this adventure but people have been asking if I was going to do a blog. Now I am not guaranteeing that this will be a regular occurrence, or that I will even update this again. I have no idea what my internet access will be like. I figured, though, you have to start at some where. So here is my attempt. This is where I will try and blog.

People have also been asking if I know my address, which I do, at least for the first few months that I am there. It is:

Ellen Taetzsch/PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka, Zambia

Beware that it takes a while for things to get there so don't be too worried if I haven't received anything in a month. But please mail me. Also send me your email addresses so if I send an email out then I can send it to you as well.

Also rumor has it that things sent to PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) are tax deductible. I am not exactly sure how to check that out, so one of you smart accounting people will have to confirm or deny this.