This is NOT Goodbye

Time flies when you are having fun...i have been through a lot in my last four months in Africa. I have met so many wonderful people in both Kenya and Zambia. However my time here has come to an end well at least for now. I leave for Canada in 2 days and i am very excited to be going home. However, after being amongst my people i feel as though i am leaving a home as well. I am having mixed feelings about going home but i know that i will return soon to Zambia. Is it possible to be sad and happy at the same time?? Well i think i am proving that now as that is how i am feeling.

On my last day in Kabwe, the team from one of the HBC's sang me a farewell song in Bemba and gave me a Bemba name. My name is Subilo which means Hope, they said that they believe i am their hope and that i will not allow the world to forget about Zambia and its stuggles. I am not one who wants to be given such a task but i feel as though that is one of my reasons for coming to Zambia. After witnessing the things i have, how can i forget, anyone with a heart should never forget.

I will speak to those i will see when i get home to express myself, as i have seen so much and have experienced so much it is hard for me to put it into words. This is the end of my blog until i start it again in February 2009 when i am coming back to Zambia to continue with capacity building in gender analysis and proposal writing.

Ryan=)

FYI

I have been sick for the last three days I think I caught a bug from one of the kids here in Zambia…I am doing better now but I have lost a bit of weight. However, now I am eating and have more energy. It has been frustrating because I am usually an energetic person who is always on the go, so it was hard to be still and stay in one place for a long period time. I have been getting quite a bit of work done here in the last month; it has been exciting, challenging and interesting working with the local people and with the different CBO’s (Community Based Organizations). I visited another mobile clinic in a different part of Kabwe, Zambia…here I met a cute boy named Andre…. he is in the picture with me, he was the cutest little boy I have seen since I have been in Zambia, and he was so friendly and sat on my lap and loved to smile in pictures. No matter what hardships I am facing I love Africa and I think that everyone should at least visit this blessed Nation at least once in their lives. I have been privileged to be amongst such wonderful, humble and spiritual people, they are actually changing me more than I think I am changing them.

I also went to an African wedding last weekend, it was so good, a lot of dancing and singing and beautiful colourful traditional gowns…I have some videos of it on my camera I will be sure to show them once I arrive home. I have never been to anything like it in all my life. Weddings in Zambia cannot be compared to the weddings in our western culture, they are much more exciting…he he he!!!!

I have also met some wonderful friends, I have another mother here in Zambia her name is Loveness and a grandmother named Mary…they are awesome ladies who have taken care of me when I visit their projects and I will be having a traditional meal at their homes before I leave for Canada… which is in less than 40 days!!!!!!

Ryan=)

Updates

So i have been in Africa for just under 3 months. I can't beleive how fast time is going by. I am really enjoying my time here, i am meeting new friends both Zambian and American. I have plans to go to Livingstone (where Victoria Falls is located- one of the seven wonders of the world, and white water rafting) in November with a friend of mine, that should be fun.

Lesson Learned
- Through my time here i have discovered that Zambian do not value time, they value relationships, so sometimes meetings would go on for such a long time, where in Canada the meeting would of been done in like 3o minutes. In a way this is a blessing because if forces me to focus on the people rather than the work. This has proven to be helpful when i am trying to get information from the patients so that i am able to collect data. They open up to me once we have a conversation about thier family and thier personal lives.

I have only learned 3 greeting phrases in Bemba and i sound absolutely ridiculous saying them out loud, but it is neccessary becauseit is good manners to greet and shake hands with everyone you meet (thank God for hand sanitizer) I feel as though when i come home i will be shaking everybody's hand that i meet...he he he!!!

I know the town very well now and it is becoming like a little home for me, but don't get wrong i miss my home a great deal and the countdown is going to when i will arrive back into Canada...even though it will be bloody cold when i arrive in December.

Please continue to pray for me as i go through the adventure of a lifetime.

Ryan=)

Adventures in Zambia

I have just returned from spending the week in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. I had a great time. I spent time with the director and my supervisor from Canada. I also traveled with them to a place called Siavonga which is about 3 hours outside of Lusaka. We went to visit remote remote remote villages where there are mobile clinics. We traveled through dirt roads as there is are no infrastructure in this area to support cars. The villages were about 40 km from town, without the mobile clinics located in these remote areas many people would die without health care. Most have to walk this distance to see a doctor and many do not make it back home. I witnessed these mobile clinics and saw the great work that they are doing. At one of the clinics i took some pictures of children which you will see in this post.

We stayed at a place called Sandy Beach...it is located right on Lake Kariba. Lake Kariba is the largest man made lake in the world. It is so beautiful but i would never swim in it because there are crocodiles and hippos YIKES!!!!...i have some pictures from outside my room...ENJOY!!!

As well we went to the Kariba Dam which is right in between Zimbabwe and Zambia so i was in two places at the same time....he he he!!!

Annoying

Ok so one would think that spiders, cockroaches, scorpions would be the insects that would annoy people...actually i am most annoyed at ANTS...they are everywhere...i hate them so much....even when i clean they are there...looking for food, i think i take the most joy in killing them. I know in my posts i often speak of insects but they are a big part of my life here in Zambia (even though i think i make it that way..he he he)

I have been sick a few times since i have been here i think it was some chicken that i had. It is from this place called Hungry Lion...which is basically a chicken and chips place...i feel like this is all they sell in Zambia not sure if it is that way in other African countries. Anyway, i have not eaten the chicken and i seem to be better.

Zambia Updates

Since i don't think i have told you all what my job here is let me break it down for ya'll...

i am a monitoring and evaluating intern with Crossroads Christian Communications for those who don't know they are the umbrella organization for 100 Huntley Street (on channel 9, i think?) This job is an internship that is a requirement for me to graduate from grad school which i completed in June 2008. My job here in Zambia is to do reporting on HIV/AIDS mitigation projects and street children projects. So far i have been to several Home Base Care Projects in Kabwe where they took me into villages to visit many people, those living with HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. These projects are CIDA funded and i need to report back to Crossroads to advise if the activities being done are done properly according to donor requirements.

Every month in these Home Base Care projects, there are mobile clinics...these mobile clinics are put in place to allow those who are sick to access medicine and counselling if needed. The line up for those to see the mobile clinic nurses is a long cue around the whole building about 300 people come. However, a mobile clinic once a month is not enough as many people need medicine alot more often than once a month. As well alot of people in the villages are bed ridden and cannot access the mobile clinic when it comes into the project. As well there are VCT (voluntary counselling testing) this is where people from the project and those in the surrounding community can test if they have HIV. Their results are given to them in about 10 minutes. Whether they are found to be positive or negative they are given counselling by a trained counsellor. I had a chance to visit one of the mobile clinics, on Sept 18, 2008, i met the counsellor from the VCT she was explaining to me about how the test is done and how she counsels those who are found to be HIV positive. She told me out of every 5 people that come into the VCT, 3 people are found to be HIV positive. When she told me that i felt a big weight on my chest, i was overcome with emotion. I am truly blessed to be here in beautiful Zambia and this visit to the mobile clinic and VCT has pushed me to do a great job while here, because it will benefit so many people. The prevalance rate of HIV/AIDS in Zambia is very high leaving many orphans and a very youthful population.

I am now in Lusaka the capital of Zambia, where i am going through reports from mobile clinics from the last quarter. I have to make a report on my findings, however the gentelman that i am supposed to contact has contracted Malaria and is very sick. But i gotta roll with it because this is very common in Zambia.

Ryan=)

Electricity!!!!

We really do not know how lucky we are in North America. Here in Zambia, Electricity is a luxury that MOST people do not get on a regular basis. Honestly, i think i am doing ok with everything else i am dealing with the bugs ok...i saw my first cockroach two days ago and i took great joy in killing it. But having no electricity is probably the worst part of being here. When you are trying to eat, cook, do work, shower the lights always go off. It is actually quite annoying. I found out that our area having so much power outages is political. Our area in Kabwe does not have "big shots", or political leaders so we are not on the priority list to receive power. However i have read two and a half novels because of the lack of electricity...i have lots of candles and flashlights. I don't think i have read a single novel since university that was like 4 years ago..its sad i know=(

Anyway i just felt i needed to vent about that to you all

Ryan=)

Not too much to say but here are some pictures!!!

Hi all,

I am pretty much settled in now in my place and i am getting to know the town very well. Not sure if you all know but i am not a big fan of bugs...but i have to live with them...i have decided to accept them in my life...ha ha ha...and deal with the spiders (about the size of a silver dollar)...but that is neither here nor there!!! ha ha ha...please all of you continue to pray for my safety and strength as i go through this journey...

Here some pictures with the staff, beneficiaries and I in Kabwe, Zambia

Love Ry=)