Hey Everyone,

So in Zambia, people have a few common questions for me. 1. Are you married or do you have a boyfriend? 2. What do you do in Canada? 3. What church do you go to? In Canada asking what church you go to is a touchy subject, you don’t want to offend someone’s religious beliefs. In Zambia, almost the whole country is Christian so it is not rude at all to ask point blank when you meet someone for the first time what their church is.

I decided to write this post about religion because I found out on the weekend that the reason there are so many church meetings in my house is that my house is the church! So try this on for size, it has been years since I have attended any church, and I have already been asked 4 times in the last 5 days to come out and pray with the group. For 2 hours or more each time. It may shock you to hear that I don’t really think that I need to pray and sing 3, 4 or 5 times a week. Once a week would be plenty for me to deal with. Not that I am openly judging them for deciding to pray so often, but I would like to be not judged for not praying so often in return.

I don’t want to give a skewed perception though, most of the country is Catholic, once a week churchgoers who think everyone should be Christian but are not overly religious. However, I have found one of the religious fundamentalist hotspots, which gives me an inside view of a different sort of Zambian Lifestyle.

I am starting to see that while I thought I was very open to all religions, I have opinions and prejudices especially against fundamentalism. It is hard for me to not judge someone when I see a person who can't afford to buy a drink of water from the store, and stays in 3 or 4 times a week praying for this situation to change instead of spending that time, going out and getting a second job or trying in some other way to get more money. Maybe there are no other jobs available and I am being a jerk, but I think that the key to development is that the people have to be selfstarting in economical areas that aren't always immediately obvious. Trying to hold off my judgements till I can see more of the picture. Stay tuned for more updates in this area.

Well, I will leave you to think about how you would deal with that for now. Have a good week.

SJ

Hey Guys,

So, I now have 4 projects at TDAU that I am helping with. Modification of a Hay thresher for better productivity and also for the ability to be engine driven is the first one. It seems like a smaller project, one that I guess will be done soon. The other major project is a timber kiln. Right now the small time timber cutting processes involve cutting all timber good and bad and then selling it for a very low price. If there was some training for what was good timber, that would be a great help already but timber is still not of high quality until it is cured. This means getting the moisture content down to less than 12 percent. This will raise the price of timber 10 times. It also cuts out the middle man who would buy the uncured timber and then sell the cured timber back as just timber or as furniture and crafts. Ussually this is done in South Africa I am to understand. So essentially this could not only make more money for the small timber suppliers, it could also create market opportunities within Zambia. This project is huge and will definitely take more than 3 months, but I think that I would like to be a part of it if I can. Wish me luck because I know nothing about timber kilns.

So I moved in with my family yesterday. I am living with a lady named Violet, her mother, sister, and 4 neices and nephews. It will take a few days to get used to it, but I think it is going to be a nice place to live. I live in Helen Kaonda compound in Lusaka. It is named after the wife of the first president of Zambia and it is a nice compound. It is tightly squeezed between Kalingalinga and Mtenderes which are both safe but poor compounds. and it is a 30 minute walk from work, so if Violet doesn't have her way with me and forces me to eat tons of food, I think that I will come back all fit and trim. However I doubt that I will be able to hold Violet at bay so I probably will come back a big ball of Sarah.

Other than that I only have one more comment, and that is that for anyone who thinks that Africa is always hot, I am now sitting at the computer in my office wearing my jacket because it is not as cold as it gets in winter in Canada but definitely fall temperatures. Pfft and I thought I was going to get a tan! If anything I will come back with tanned hands and face and the rest as white as ever.

Well I should get working. Hope I find you all well.

SJ

Hey Everyone,

I know it has been a week since I wrote last. It's been pretty crazy this week. First a 30 hour plane ride with a nice long 12 hour layover in Nairobi airport. Then Thursday, touring Lusaka's main road, Cairo Road, the main market, and what we thought was Chibolya a compound but was actually Saweto on of the less nice markets in Lusaka. Then on Friday I spent the day at the Lusaka museum touring TDAU's (the department I am working with) display and presentation. Saturday I went with Paul Slomp to see about living arrangements which are still to be settled. Sunday. Well Sunday i needed to just relax and let it all sink in. HOLY CRAP I AM IN LUSAKA ZAMBIA! Today I spent the morning at work and now I will go back to the hostel and come back tomorow morning.

So now that I have explained what I have done, I can tell you what it is all like. I am sure I will miss parts because it is a lot to write, but I will try my best.

Lusaka, this city is huge and my very first impression was of mildly ordered Chaos. I am told that it is very similar to other places in Africa and India but it sure isn't like the small town I grew up. There are a bazillion people and at least half of them want to talk to you. so walking down any street in Lusaka you get calls, "hey mozungu (foreigner) how are you (pronounced ow ah yU)" In the markets you can't walk more than a few meters without people asking whether you want a pair of pants or something else. But on most of the roads the people are just so nice and they just want to talk to this person who is so different. It is flattering most of the time because I am always in the spotlight and everyone wants to talk to me. I have even been told by a guy hanging out of a minibus, that he loved me. I doubt he did but it was an interesting thought anyways.

TDAU or the Technology Development and Advisory Unit, ROCKS to say the least. They are building so many different technologies to help small scales businesses and farmers. When I was at thier display what I thought was that some of these things would have been useful on our farm at home. The best part of it is that it is designed for Zambians by Zambians. I think that if I can do anything to help them to facilitate the great work they are doing already, I will be doing pretty good. Dr Tambatamba who is the director of TDAU is such a nice man as well as everyone else that I have met so far. I hope to make some really great relationships (non romantic of course) with everyone and by the end of the summer not want to go home.

Living arrangement... well for now I am living in a hostel because my living arrangement is undecided. Paul arranged with a school headmaster in a compound called Ngoma to talk to his teachers and see if there is a place for me to live. However Dr Tambatamba from TDAU does not approve of this particular compound and would rather I lived somewhere else. so until further notice I am in the hostel. Anyways the hostel is nice and well situated if a bit pricey.

Well I will go now and get something to eat for dinner. See you soon.

SJ

Hey Guys,

So pretty soon I will be getting on my 30 hour flight to go to Lusaka Zambia. I have been through a pretty intense week of training and I am thoroughly worn out. I have started to think more about what I am doing really and how huge it is. Of course there are bigger things but it is such a shock to be like wow I am going to be on a flight to Zambia in 6 hours. No turning back now!

I guess for me it is just a case of how huge of a change this will be making on me. I may not be able to do much there although I would like to make awesome change, but essentially I think that the biggest and most apparent change at least to me will be my attitudes and my area of comfort. I wish I could pass this feeling on to each and every one of you because it is such a scary and yet awesome feeling. It is like being Alice and I am standing on the edge of the rabbit hole, and the only thing I know is that no matter what I expect it is going to be completely different.

I just want to say finally that you are welcome to take my trip down the rabbit hole with me and I hope you enjoy it as much as I expect that I will.

SJ

HOLY CRIKEY! I am leaving for Toronto tomorow morning. OK so that doesn't sound major, but it is the first step to going to Zambia. I will be training in Toronto for a week before going to Lusaka. In this week I fully expect to take a complete and utter beating from the ridiculous amount of learning that I will do. oh and the lack of sleep which should keep me on my toes a bit.

I have talked to someone who was working with TDAU last year, and she really helped me prepare for going over. She told me such things as Nsheema is good, how to say good morning (forgotten already aren't I awful!) and that I should probably bring mittens. Well looking at the time I guess that I should be jumping into bed. Hopefully I will be back on here soon with an update.

SJ