Hey everybody,
Thanks to everyone who has been emailing me, pressuring me to get back to the blog... Things have been incredibly busy here, which is a great thing. However, the longer I stay here, the harder it becomes for me to describe life in the village and all of my everday activities. Its like the unique, outlandish things that happen here in Zambia have flip-flopped, and are now normal (for me), while everyday American things like HealthCare concerns seem more ridiculous and strange than ever. Guess I'm adjusted...
Things have been going exceptionally well, I really couldn't ask for a better project, site, host family, or PC Volunteer neighbors. The fish farming projects have been accelerating quickly, I now have 5 groups I meet with, and another prospective group which will hopefully start up soon. Today I taught a group their first fish farming lesson, all in Bemba. Its a pretty gratifying feeling, I hope they understood my 2nd-grade language skills. Good thing I'm not teaching rocket science (or 2nd grade math, for that matter)..
Last week I went to Lusaka for a week to help train the new fisheries (RAP) volunteers. It was pretty wild to think that I'm halfway through my service, and that I've been here for more than a year. Also, it was unusual to be the 'senior' volunteer in the situation. I did my best to answer all the questions tossed my way about practically applying the learning the trainees are receiving, and also tried to bring as much positive energy to the group as possible. Luckily, things are great here so that wasn't too difficult - saying things like "I can't believe we get paid to do this (Okay, not much, I know)" and being completely honest makes it really easy to bring a positive perspective as a trainer. Also, the work I've been doing is so rewarding that I didn't need to embellish in that area either. The new group was very enthusiastic and talented, and as I think about the influence that then-current volunteers had on me as a trainee, I hope that I stayed upbeat in my responses, while bringing some of the real-world village problems to the forefront. Really though, who wouldn't love this?! I get paid to mountain bike through lush forests in Africa, and then play in the mud all day (I know many of you are thinking, 'I wouldn't love it'. But hey, thats how I feel about deskjobs)
I promise to have pics posted as soon as I find an acceptable Internet connection, and also I have a blog entry about a community school in the area that is progressing nicely. All of this is time-dependant of course. I've been at site a lot, but also doing lots of traveling for PC work and other assignments. Next week, 4 trainees will come to my site to stay for a week and see what fish farming in the village is all about. I hope they have a good time, and I can help give them a quick view of what their life will be like in the next 2 years. At least we'll be busy, so they'll get an accurate depiction of what my life as a volunteer is like. The great thing about this experience really is that everyone makes it his/her own. If you want to sit in your hut and do nothing all day, you probably could. But then, what would be the point... I never have been one to sit around idly.
Brett comes the week after the trainees leave, so that will be incredible. I think this whole experience is really gonna blow his mind, just as it did mine. He will just have less time and a less suitable platform for adjustment. I probably won't post until after he leaves, but I will try my best to get some time for another post soon. Thanks again for reading, hope its proved interesting so far... after all, there's still another year left! Good thing, Im not ready to leave..
All my Best. I miss you all back home - thanks again for the emails and phone calls!
- Justin
