My Desk / Office / Dinner Table

I recently wrote about how much writing I’ve been doing, and mentioned that some of my writing happens in the forest.  That’s true, but more of my actual work and writing happens at my desk. 

As one of the first things I purchased when I moved in it has been worth every penny, dime, or Zambian Kwacha.  My desk was made by a local carpenter, and aside from my bed, I spend more time here than anywhere. 

So here is my desk.  Let me give you a tour of it… 

My desk / office / dinner table

Sitting on my desk is a radio that I’ve adorned with characters from “The Office.”  I put Andy Bernard next to the power switch, because every time I turn the radio on I think about how Andy had to turn off his anger after he punched a hole through the wall.

I have candles, lots of candles.  The sunsets about 6:30 every night here, so how is someone without electricity suppose to see?  Candles, that’s how.

Piles of papers (to the top right).  Like any office I have papers and if I’m not careful they’ll grow and grow until they cover the full surface.  Making my desk a shelf.

I’ve got a few pictures of family and one of Michael Scott.  If you have to question the latter photo, then you don’t know anything about me.  If you don’t see your picture up there, I apologize.  I’d be happy to put it up, but you’ll need to send it this way.  So go ahead… send away.

Let me see, what else is there?  There’s a picture here, so look for yourself.  Just know that I spend a lot, an awful lot, of time toiling away there: writing reports, letters, playing Monopoly on my Kindle, and doing insightful thinking.  

Rare Ceremony A Privilege To See printed 08/01/12

This article was originally printed in the Battle Creek Enquirer on Aug. 1st.  

Every year, towards the end of June, my area holds a festival to celebrate Chief Chizela (the local chief), his subjects, the recent harvest and the area’s rich cultural heritage.

The festival is complete with singing, the pounding of drums, a lot of dancing, and local foods. Of all these, the dancing was my favorite by far.

Traditional warriors waiting for the chief.

Never would I dream of attempting to mimic one of these dances, because the resulting laughter would ring in my ears for days.

But it is still entertaining to watch even if I’m too scared to participate and my favorite of all of the dances was called the “Lion Walk.” It involved five men beating drums, 12 or 13 women singing, and another four women imitating a lion as it stalks its prey through an imaginary Zambian forest.

This whole scene conjured up images of National Geographic for me, as if I was the first outsider to ever view it.

A traditionally dressed warrior during the procession to the festival ground.

The festival itself is only one day long, but the preparation for it starts weeks and weeks earlier with the gathering of grasses and timber from the surrounding communities. These materials are then used to create a kind of parade ground and additional structures for the ceremony’s attendees. There are no collapsible stages or stands like what we would use in the United States. The natural construction gives the whole scene a very authentic and traditional feel, which is exactly what it is…the Ntongo Traditional Ceremony.

On the day of the ceremony thousands and thousands of people flock to the Chief’s palace where the ceremony is held. Additionally, local members of parliament, government officials and other chiefs from the surrounding chiefdoms are in attendance.

All the chiefs come and meet together, then when it is time to begin a rifle is fired into the air and a procession begins with the chief’s group going from his home (the palace) to the parade ground. The procession is lined on both sides of the lane with onlookers (just like a parade in the States) and as the chief comes closer the drums and the njimba (a traditional instrument that looks like a xylophone) beat louder and louder. As the chief passes, people get in line behind him and make their way into the parade ground.

Men playing the njimba and other percussion instruments.

There the chief sits front and center, with the other chiefs and distinguished guests flanking him. To his immediate sides are men dressed as traditional warriors, and in front (seated on the ground) are women dressed traditionally as well.

Once he’s been seated the program begins and there are songs, dances and speeches. The entire event is a unique experience because though there are more than 250 chiefs in Zambia, only a handful still have ceremonies of celebration like this.

The chief's structure with traditionally dressed women and men surrounding it.

It’s a tradition that’s being continued every June and I’m very lucky to have been able to at least view and participate in one of them even if I’m too scared to dance at it.

My Project List

Peace Corps takes a really hands-off approach as far as telling each volunteer what they should work on and in what manner they should work on their projects.  I love this.  Every site and every volunteer is different, so why try to think of a way to make them all uniform – with the same projects.   I like that I’m able to assess my community’s needs, consider what projects are possible, and go about them as I see best fit.

So what kinds of things am I working on here in Mufumbwe District in my first 6 months?  Here’s a list:

• Demonstration Garden – Gardeners here work really hard everyday.  In order to water their garden beds they use 20 liter buckets, which weigh about 40 lbs.  That’s a lot of labor and a lot of time spent on one activity, so my garden was created to show techniques for improving the water holding capacity of the soil.  By using these specially dug beds I water my garden once, maybe twice per week, instead of 3 or 4 times like other gardeners. 

• Demonstration Field – I’m cultivating a small field to show agroforestry techniques, which can help to improve yields for local farmers in different crops like maize, beans, and sweet potatoes.  These techniques can also improve soil fertility and maintain soil nutrients for years and years, while replacing some of the trees that are lost to deforestation.

This picture, taken during training, is of some fellow volunteers practicing crop yield improving techniques.  These are the same methods I'm currently using in my demonstration field.

• A Forestry Manual – Peace Corps gives each Volunteer in my program (Linking Income, Food, and the Environment – LIFE) a forestry manual with a part to aid in species identification, but the names are always in English or Bemba, a Zambian language not spoken in my area.  Due to this it is difficult for me to work with villagers and discuss the forest, because we’re literally both speaking different languages.  The manual will hopefully resolve this issue for myself and for future volunteers of this area.

• Teaching At A Local College – Starting in mid-September I’ll begin teaching a course about agriculture, forestry, and gardening at a local mission college about 12 miles from me.  It’ll be twice per week, and for four hours each class.  I’m really excited for it.  It gives me a chance to work in a more formal setting and I’ll have students that have to be attentive.  I’ll have 8 to 10 students and after they complete their three-year programs (I will only teach the first year students) they’ll go off, all over Zambia and (I’m hoping) spread the knowledge that I’ve imparted on them.

• Writing For The Enquirer – This is by far and away my favorite project so far.  It’s just fun to do.  I like living here and trying to explain what I see, hear, and how life is on a daily basis. 

• Workshops – Lastly, I’m doing a bit of traveling to other volunteers’ sites to help lead gardening workshops.  As of late I’ve been averaging one per week.  The workshops are usually with women’s of girl’s clubs, and the women are very hard workers, so I get to teach them and they get to impress me.  A win for me, a win for them.

Teaching a fellow volunteer's girls club some improved gardening techniques.

I’m trying to do a lot and as of now I’m enjoying it.  I’m staying busy and as things progress I’m sure I’ll add and subtract projects from the list.

Letter Writing

I wrote my dad a letter a while back in which I told him that I probably do more writing now that I'm in the Peace Corps than I ever did in college.  Between writing things like this blog, the occasional newspaper article, in my journal, reports for Peace Corps, and (my favorite of them all) letters to friends and family back home it feels like my hand and pen never get the chance to stop.  However, I love it and am enjoying all of the writing.

For those of you that have received a letter from me - you're welcome and I hope you enjoyed it.  For those of you that have not received one of my hand-written letters - send me your address and I'd be happy to write one up for you.  I promise that it'll have a really cool Zambian stamp on it, be full of laughs, and hopefully you'll learn something about this little corner of the world as you read it.

Writing a letter in the forest.  It's about as close to an office as I have.

The worst thing about writing these letters isn't the time it takes to write a hand-written 3 or 4 page letter or even the buying of postage to mail it (which really isn't that expensive), but it's the crappy pens here. Most of the American pens that I brought with me have long since dried up and been disposed of.  Zambian pens are lacking heavily, and because of no electricity I can't use my computer to write.  That means everything is written the old fashioned way - with time and crappy pens (apparently).

If anyone is looking for something to send me let me give you one hint: pens.  I'll use the pens you send me to write you a really nice thank you letter.  I'd greatly appreciate that, and you can take comfort knowing that somewhere in the Zambian forest I'm just sitting there on a log writing, writing, and writing.

Let Me Introduce Mr. Kook

One aspect of my job that I really like is going to do farm visits with local farmers in my community.  The purpose of these visits is for me to go see their fields and try to gain a kind of inventory about what techniques the farmers are using to grow their crops, specifically what is working and what isn't.  It's a lot of fun to do and the farmers feel really honored when I make the effort to visit them all, which isn't really an effort because it's my job.

I like meeting the farmers and seeing what they're doing, but something I like just as much is that nearly every time I meet a farmer I end up leaving with a ton of food.  That's because to show their appreciation for my visit they want to give me things like sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, oranges, and, recently, a chicken.

The farmer I visited, Mr. Musebo, was so happy that I rode all of the way out to his farm that he gave me about 20 pounds of sweet potatoes and a rooster.

Now at my house I have a rooster running around, usually chasing the neighbors' hens.  I've named him Mr. Kook and even though I usually hate roosters because of their need to create audio madness before the sun rises, I do like having him around.  He's my very own chicken and by adding him to my grass-thatched hut I feel like I'm pretty close to becoming a Zambian villager, minus the white skin and blue eyes.

Myself, Mr. Kook, and Mr. Musebo

The generosity that is shown to me by the Zambians in my community is something that I'm sure I'll write about pretty continuously throughout my two years here in the Peace Corps, but being given the rooster raised the level of generosity to an even higher level.  What could be next?