The Tukwatankane Women's Club

There's a women's club in my village that I've been working with for a few months now that consists of some of the some of the most physically imposing, strong willed and joyous women I've ever met.

They're great to work with, but it's been somewhat of a process getting to this point.

These women work incredibly hard day-in and day-out.  Working with them wears me out, so it's a good thing we work only a few days per week on the fish pond.

The group is called the Tukwatankane Women's Club. Tukwatankane means, "We're united" in the local language, and that's a fitting title as the group was formed to aid the members by improving the women's lives through creating more income through collaboration.

At first I didn't work with the group very much because they didn't seem serious.

Initially all they wanted was for me to teach them the same things that the volunteer before me had taught -- how to make fried pastries. I kept thinking that they weren't serious if they hadn't learned it the first time. What would change now?

About six months later they came to me and said they had a new idea: they wanted to build a fish pond. They had seen the production of my friend Mr. Nshimbi's fish pond (the first and, until then, the only in the area) and wanted to build their own. I responded, "Absolutely. We start tomorrow."

This was a project I could really get behind. We were going to build something we could all touch, stock it with fish to farm, then eat and sell our product. And, it would benefit the groups' members and their families through better nutrition and income generation.

The fish farm is constructed of earthen walls, and a lot of hard work.

I've learned during my time that to make the most positive change and assist those who really make a difference then working with women is the way to go. I was eager to get going.

We didn't start the next day though. Instead, we had to have a meeting with the whole group first to discuss how the project would be done. It should be noted that at the meeting, I became a member of the women's group -- the only male member.

Myself and the members of the Tukwatankane Women's Club.

After the meeting we went to work. We mapped out the pond and then began the laborious process of constructing a fish pond in Central Africa where hoes, strong backs and lots of hours of work must all come together to build a fish farm.

The actual structure is simple: earthen walls that slope down into the center. This slope is necessary so the fish will have an ideal place to breed and build nests.

The pond construction began at the end of May and some five months later it finished.  Now, we're planning on stocking the fish pond in mid-November.

But the construction of this is not as simple as its explanation.

About twice a week I join my fellow members in constructing the pond. Some women dig out the soil chucks, almost like sod, and pile it where the rest of us then form a line, pass the pieces to one another and place it along the wall.

I'm always last in the line because the women seem to believe I have an engineer's eye and build a better wall than most. It's the easiest job, which is also why I believe they gave it to me -- they don't think I can do the work.

Here, the women are constructing a "crib."  This structure will hold the food that they'll be giving to their fish.  An algae bloom will form due to the food they put in the pond, and this is what the fish will feed off of.

In truth I probably couldn't keep up if I were doing the digging. These women are far stronger than me. A couple of them look like they could be NFL fullbacks, and their resiliency is impressive. I don't have the mental or physical wherewithal.

So, they give me the easiest job and forced me to sit when they believe I must be tired. I love working with them -- they take care of me. They even help to pull me out of the knee-deep mud when my legs get stuck, which I hate to admit is about once every half an hour.

When the women are out there, away from husbands, they're free. They gossip, laugh and carry on without any worry. To them it isn't only about work; it's also their time for socializing.

Fish farming is a great way for rural Zambians to increase their livelihoods and food security.  This project has been one of my best so far during my two years of Peace Corps service, and the group has been one of my favorites to work with.

I don't understand a lot of what they say, but for me I'm happy to be out there in the bush, working with some tough "bamamas" and building a fish pond -- a fishpond that will bring improvements to their lives.