Events, emotions, witchcraft, general thoughts, and anticipations...among other things.

Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing great. If you haven’t already sent me a letter, I’d love to be your pen pal. My address, again, is:

Marcus Kendrick/PCV

P.O. Box 850010

Serenje, Central

Zambia

Today seven friends and I are hanging out at Manda Hill, one of the two major shopping malls in Lusaka (which are right across from each other, interestingly). We took a taxi here from the hostel that we stayed at last night. We really wanted to get out of the village and have some “us time” before we swear in as official volunteers on Friday April 23^rd, at which time we’ll move to our respective villages across the country and not see one another until we reunite for In-Service Training this coming August.

After our half day of language training yesterday, Saturday, we hitched to Lusaka (28 miles west of Chongwe were we live) and spent the afternoon at Arcades (the other mall). Chris and I watched “Clash of the Titans,” and the girls watched "Date Night." After our movie, Chris and I got some real food (real, real…not a greasy or salty “relish” to be eaten with nshima, haha). And what was next to do but, of course, to pick up liquor from the grocery store to enjoy at the hostel. You see, we only have access to a very limited number of beers in Chongwe: two Southern Africa lagers (not a fan…think Budweiser with a kick), and then expensive imported brews: Heineken and Amstel. I don’t allow myself to say “I miss ___” so as to not become overly nostalgic for home, but I’ll make an exception here: I miss Blue Moon!!! Before hanging out back at the hostel, we did go out to a fancy dinner last night and I got to have a Cosmo, yum.

I’m not sure if I’ve said what kind of a stipend we are receiving as volunteers, but during training we are getting 12,000 Kwacha per day. The exchange rate is 4,629 Zambian Kwacha to one US dollar, so you do the math. Okay, I’ll do it for you: about $2.60 per day. One US dollar will buy you: 37 guavas; 4.5 oranges; 0.75 Zambian lager beers; maybe two loafs of bread; almost one jar of peanut butter or jam; or one-third of a one-way trip from Chongwe to Lusaka on a crowded minibus (dang dude, put your arms down!).

For better or worse, our meals are provided to us by our homestay families, so the 12,000 Kwacha have the potential to go far if you do not spend much time at the mall in Lusaka (thank God for credit cards and mom and dad! Ps, hugs to you guys!). Zambians tend to absolutely abuse their food with vegetable oil and an insane amount of salt. I cannot wait to build support in my soon to be new community in Central Province for a life-skills community group where we can address such issues as a healthy diet and nutrition! Once I do swear in, I will get a base stipend of approximately 1.4 million Kwacha per month (which is equal to roughly US $280/month), plus vacation allowance and medical travel allowance (both of which amount to a total of an extra US $50 per month, I believe). I will also get near complete control over my diet, and I’m excited that we received a Peace Corps cookbook called “Where There Is No Takeaway” with great village recipes.

This said, I will be comparatively living the “high life.” You see, it is estimated that 80 percent of Zambians live off of US $1 per day (although the teachers I will be working with will be making a little bit more that me)! I sincerely wonder what line of work people are in who drive around in Mercedes and BMWs in Lusaka. The life of the wealthy in Lusaka is so juxtaposed to poor rural life that it makes me almost speechless in a desire for a greater degree of sustainable development to occur here, and at the same time it makes me desire to live a comfortable life somewhere in the developed world once I am done with the Peace Corps. Our perceptions of financial security, among other aspects of our existence, prior to arriving in Zambian have been flipped upside down, and, this has been a beautiful time for me, at least, to explore my fundamental values. By my visiting Lusaka this weekend it is evident I still have a ways to go before I am completely fine without at least intermittent access to the comforts that I knew once in America. I wish I were paid a bit more during training; I want so much to bring my three teenage bandume (brothers) from my homestay with me to Lusaka to watch a movie at the cinema. They have never before been to the mall. Or should I expose them to the mall at all, for fear that they may become envious of our sense of consumerism or materialism? Will it fuel the detrimental trend of draining the developed world of skilled men and women who are seeking a “better” existence in more developed nations? Is it my place to worry about such considerations, coming from a desire for sustainable development to take place here? Oh the ethics of international development!

In the first weeks of Pre Service Training we were shown a chart of the emotional highs and lows we are likely to experience as volunteers across the entire 26 months we will be in Zambia. I will say that it seems to be somewhat true: I have experienced mini roller coasters in my emotions, motivation level, and perceptions of life in Zambia. Because training has been described by some as a “shit show” where we are not focusing enough on the bigger picture of why we’re doing international development work at all—and because of a lack of organization and a sequential presentation of ideas and concepts—Pre Service Training has been almost needlessly intense for us. In addition, we aren’t learning enough specific and applicable tools to use in the Zambian classroom, and our Associate Peace Corps Director for the Rural Education Development (RED) program is less than fully supportive of us, which makes it is easy to become frustrated. Not to mention many of our language instructors flat out are not very good, and we are spending four hours of our day with them in an often irritated mood.

However…what it absolutely has to come down to is that we need to be able to take care of our freaking selves! The Peace Corps cannot be at our beck and call while we are in the field; 10 to 50 years ago Peace Corps Volunteers had no access to cell phones (or telephones at all), or email—we should be able to survive likewise! Pre Service Training has been an excellent challenge to my overall resilience as a person, and I have realized that here in Zambia I must take a more active role in defending my mental health and my sense of hope and faith. One way I have done this is by leading a session for the other volunteers on the bigger picture of the Learner Centered Model, which emphasizes how everything is interdependent in a system (in our case, the education system), and just how viewing schools as a living system gives rise to greater hope and faith that we can affect meaningful change in this bottom-up (grass roots) approach, just like ripples in a pond.

Another way I’ve taken charge of my well being is by exercising. Prior to moving to Zambia I had Runner’s Knee (IT Band Syndrome) which made it unbearable to go jogging. I ran one Sunday four weeks ago and it acted up so I didn’t run again until this past Sunday. Amazingly, there was no pain! So I went jogging in the morning five times this past week in a loop in front of my homestay compound, and I feel so good everyday! I will definitely be keeping this up—and keeping up with stretching.

I also have to constantly remind myself that negativity has no place in my mind. Whether it is complaining, resentment, anxiety, anger, etc., harboring negativity here is a sure-fire way to become bitter and depressed, especially considering our remoteness from our American friends once we move to our respective sites in two weeks.

Going back to our language classes, I just have to enlighten you on my experience. My language instructor is a physicist who is fluent in Russian (and obviously English). You would think he would be able to teach us Bemba…but he’s a baaad teacher. I am constantly correcting his spelling and grammar errors in Bemba, and his organizational abilities (for being a high achieving student) are subpar. Then to top it off, the three of us in my language class know our learning styles very well (this is my fifth language, after all), yet he is unwilling or unable to cater to our needs, and he is super defensive. Grr! Anyway, what I really want you to know about him is that he is so well educated, but he—like most Zambians—believes heavily in superstitions and witchcraft. I find it almost amusing. We spent 45 minutes yesterday listening to him in class go on and on about how people have: had their heads turned around to face backwards due to voodoo; been transported hundreds and even thousands of kilometers in seconds by witchdoctors (or maybe he said witches); and, among other stories, morphed into animals (aka, animorphed…it reminds me of books I read in elementary school) and eaten people or caused them torment. And he claims that they must be true because “they were in the newspaper.”

When I asked him if I should tell my soon to be village community in Central Province that I fly around (and the typical story along these lines is that the person flying is naked) on a spoon at night, his response was don’t even joke about it! They will likely burn down your hut—maybe with you inside. Holy crap! Every time I think about this, I chuckle. First of all, what happened to fully clothed witches with hats that fly around on a broomstick? Second, do they really allow themselves to fear—or even believe at all—this stuff? I am very sensitive to how people perceive me, and not only would I certainly not say that I fly around (naked) on a spoon, but I would not confront—out of turn, anyway—this issue of witchcraft in my village, other than maybe to compare what Americans believe to what Zambians believe regarding witches. Cross cultural sharing can be oh-so colorful!

Anyway, this upcoming week is jam-packed. It is the last week of technical training, and the topic is on community integration (which will be our main goal for the next three months after swear-in). On Wednesday we have our mock final language exam (the real final is a one-on-one half hour oral exam on the Tuesday after next. Then on Thursday we have a final medical exam which will cover all of the information we’ve learned about in our medical sessions over the past several weeks. Also on Thursday are our cultural presentations: we have been asked to present to the group on different aspects of Zambian culture that are of interest to us. My presentation will be on the cultural celebrations of the Lozi people (specifically their celebration, the Kuomboka) and the Bemba people (specifically their cultural celebration, the Ukusefya pa ng’wena). I’ve done a bit of research, and I’m excited to get this intense week out of the way!

While I was in the movie yesterday I received a call from my counterpart in Central Province. He was calling to say that he has a great community entry program ready for me, and that everyone was highly anticipating my arrival in two weeks! That was so nice. Apparently they are cementing the inside walls of my hut this weekend, which will be SO nice. Not only do I not have to pay for this, but now I will not have to worry so much about termites destroying my walls! (Boy I can’t wait to move in; right now at my homestay in Chongwe, termites fall from the ceiling and frequently come up through the floor and through the walls. At least they are mostly harmless to humans).

Okay, well I have to get out of here and go check out the beautiful Africa art at the Sunday market. Take care everyone! And to friends of mine, don’t forget to write. It is SO nice to receive letters. It makes me feel not so far from home!

-Marcus :-)