Hello AMELIKA!
My time in Zambia has been a whirlwind of CRAZY adventures so far. I just finished community entry in my village, which is the three month entry period where you are pretty much learning about your community and its people, practicing your language, and determining your community’s needs. If you can believe it, I have already been in country for 6 months. The next 21 months is going to FLY BY.
My village’s name is Siamabele, just outside of Siachitema village. I am having an absolute crazy time adjusting to life in the village. So far my time has mainly been spent at the basic school in Siachitema. I have been observing and co-teaching with another Zambian teacher, and solo-teaching two grade 8 English classes (with about 30-60 pupils in each class depending on the day). In September term 3 starts. I will be teaching those two sections of English by myself, and follow them through grade 9. I can’t wait to be in charge of my own class, and not have to worry about co-teaching any more. Co-teaching was, well, an interesting experience….
VILLAGE LIFE. I have met a few of the Headmen, which are the village leaders under the Chief. We have discussed plans for September, which include a women’s group that will take place in my chikuta (a big open walled hut 15 feet from my hut). I hope to also have an adult literacy club, which might also be part of the women’s group.Two birds one stone right?
VILLAGE LIFE. I have met a few of the Headmen, which are the village leaders under the Chief. We have discussed plans for September, which include a women’s group that will take place in my chikuta (a big open walled hut 15 feet from my hut). I hope to also have an adult literacy club, which might also be part of the women’s group.Two birds one stone right?
During my community entry I spent a lot of time at home in my mud hut. Just a lot of reading and chilling out in my village. I have become quite the reader as of late. Finished two 1000 page books (Sword of Truth series), two Chelsea Handler books, and one Jane Austen novel (who doesn’t need a little Austin?) Life in the hut is pretty peaceful. I am enjoying not having all of the distractions of life in America. I like the quiet. I am finding a lot of time for self-reflection and writing music. Wait till I come back and release my album. Ha! No, seriously...
There have been a few problems with my hut itself so far. The occasional bush baby and giant rat have put a genuine hatred for vermen into my very soul. R.O.U.S. anyone? Where is Westley to fight them off?) Ever since getting my cat Toby, that situation has gotten a LOT better.
Apparently the builders of my hut were expecting the volunteer the size of Frodo Baggins, which just isn’t me. So while I am gone in August, they are going to completely tear it down, make the doorways higher, re-grass the roof, and put new crossbeams up.
Apparently the builders of my hut were expecting the volunteer the size of Frodo Baggins, which just isn’t me. So while I am gone in August, they are going to completely tear it down, make the doorways higher, re-grass the roof, and put new crossbeams up.
Food. Food here has been an adjustment. The staple food is nshima, which is ground up mealy meal from maize, boiled in water, until it has a mashed potatoes consistency. It is eaten by hand with a relish like rape (sort of like collard greens, I know, crazy name for a vegetable), cabbage, pumpkin leaves, village chicken, or small fish called kapenta. Vegetables are especially good with pounded ground nuts…yummmm! I eat nshima and a relish every night for dinner with my host family. It is delicious to me now, but in the beginning I could not stomach it. It gave me a LOT of stomach issues…
LANGUAGE. My Chi-Tonga has gotten progressively worse since being in the village. Which is strange. I definitely need to get a tutor in September... People always want me to speak in English, so I think my local language has suffered in the process. I can greet people until the cows come home though. Haha.
SCHOOL. The schools in Zambia are completely different from schools in the US. It is much like being in England, 100 years ago. If you can imagine that? A lot of the pupils have to walk up to 20 kilometres to get to school, and many of these kids do not have shoes… The mornings here in the cold season are absolutely freezing. I honestly don’t know how they do it. It has to be painful… Also many pupils wake up at 4am just to go to school, and don’t head home until around 5pm. Which also means they are not only exhausted, but hungry as well. There is no school lunch provided obviously, and if kids do bring something, it is usually a bottle of chimbwantu, a local drink, which is made pounded grits of maize, mixed with water, and if they are lucky, sugar. The conditions are rough, to say the least.
At the basic school, I have been spending my time organizing a library. The volunteer before me had hundreds of books shipped from the states. So I have been trying to categorize and log them. This will be a great resource for the school, since there is not really much of a reading culture amongst the pupils. For example, most kids have not seen a picture book. I remember in my first few weeks at the school, during club time I took grade 8 and 9 students and just read to them Stella Luna (which FYI most kids could not grasp the idea of a talking bat). They laughed and laughed, because they had never seen a picture book before. I think these books will be fantastic for encouraging English learning. They were SO into listening to me read those books, I am sure they will love sitting by themselves and reading once the library is set up.
At the basic school, I have been spending my time organizing a library. The volunteer before me had hundreds of books shipped from the states. So I have been trying to categorize and log them. This will be a great resource for the school, since there is not really much of a reading culture amongst the pupils. For example, most kids have not seen a picture book. I remember in my first few weeks at the school, during club time I took grade 8 and 9 students and just read to them Stella Luna (which FYI most kids could not grasp the idea of a talking bat). They laughed and laughed, because they had never seen a picture book before. I think these books will be fantastic for encouraging English learning. They were SO into listening to me read those books, I am sure they will love sitting by themselves and reading once the library is set up.
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| My eight grade students! Well, some of them.... |
A lot of people in the states keep asking me what they can do to help the kids at my school. A big issue is hygiene, so if you can donate things like toothbrushes or toothpaste I would love to give them out (of course after we talk about dental hygiene etc…). Families simply cannot afford to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste. Also things like, soap, and vaseline do wonders….
The government issues them one notebook and one pen once a term. Education is not free. So a lot of my kids don’t have a proper pen or pencil to work with, they run out of ink … So if you would like to send pens and pencils that would be fantastic. The notebooks they become worn out easily because the quality is not so good, so it may be nice to have an “in class notebook” that will remain at school. They can use that to practice their English, by writing their own stories etc. A big problem I have seen in my school is most kids have a hard time using their imagination to come up with their own thoughts, stories, etc… I would love them to have a place to jot down their thoughts and dreams during class, without the fear of being judged or reprimanded if they are not using proper English.
I will be running a camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) with other Southern Province volunteers in December. It is a great program designed to teach young girls how to run their own girls club in their communities. ASAP I will have a link, where you can donate $ directly through your credit card etc. to our project. We will need money to send girls to the camp. The money you contribute will pay for transport, the lodging, and food etc. I will bring 2 girls from my school, so this is a way you will be able to directly help me in my school. More info to come!!!!!!
If you would like to send me things for the pupils or myself, my address is:
Amanda Eilefson
PO Box 630569
Choma, Zambia
If you want to text or call me my cell number is +260976171521 ( I hear Skype calling is cheaper?)
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has written to me or shipped things to ZamZam. It is so nice reading a letter from a loved one, or having American food every once in a while, especially when I am missing home. Can’t you just picture me eating some mac and cheese in front of my hut, while the sun is setting behind my huge musiwe tree? The clothes have also been so useful. Clothes tend to fall apart here for some reason. Rah-ro! Must be all the hand-washing and hanging… On another note, I am so sorry that some of the letters I sent months ago were lost in the mail. Some have been returned to me (which is SO frustrating, I have NO idea why). Anywho, I just sent them out again. They are months overdue!!!!! So, you know who you are… Be on the lookout for mail from me.
Last month I was finally able to do some of the touristy things in Zambia. I got to see the magnificent Victoria Falls. It truly was breathtakingly beautiful. Not to mention all of the cool vervet monkeys and baboons running around. They were AWESOME. I also was able to take a trip up to Lochnivar National Park. We, the Southern Province RED (Rural Education Development, sorry for all the acronyms, it’s a Peace Corps thing) crew ended up staying at a BAR, and hiring a park ranger to take us around. That’s Zam life for you. Things always work out, just not how you expect them to… Anywho, the picts are on facebook if you wanna check them out! LINK: www.facebook.com/amandaeilefson
This week I head to IST (In Service Training), which will be held in Lusaka. I will be with all my old buddies from training again for two weeks. How much fun will that be? Then after that I am going on vacation in Malawi for a week, to Lake Malawi. Can’t wait to see that! I plan on traveling a LOT while I am in Africa, I want to hit up as many countries as I can. In fact, next year we are planning a trip to Tanzania. I can’t wait to see the Indian Ocean and Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Anywho guys, I really am having a life changing experience here. The cycling and food alone have caused a complete change in my body and mind. I am having such a realexperience. Life is at its most basic here, and I feel like I am truly alive for the first time. I think back in America I was just existing, but here I am really living. It has put a lot of things in perspective for me, and I think now I know, no matter what, I will always be okay. No matter what job I come back to in the states, I will be fine. You really do only need food, water, and love. Everything else is just fluff. Until next time my friends…
Love,
Amanda/Cholwe (my Tonga name)
``Do something scary, the payoff is awesome.``
