For the past 3 weeks I've been out of
my village. The first week I had to renew my visa to stay in the
country while I wait for my official work visa. I ended up staying at
the provincial house here in Mansa for the 4 nights we are given each
month. We made pasta, cheesy bread, popcorn, burritos, etc. We
watched movie after movie, lazed around, and enjoyed the end of
community entry.
The next week, all of us from the RAP
2012 intake traveled down to Lusaka for IST (In Service Training) for
lectures and discussions with our trainers, counterparts, and other
staff. Overall it was quite helpful and gave at least me some good
ideas and motivation to get back to the village and start some new
projects. In the evenings we headed out to the malls and did out
shopping, movie watching, and discovered some all you can eat
buffets. They weren't expecting to host dozens of volunteers who just
spent 3 months in a village eating the same foods week after week. We
got our money's worth.
Finally, after IST, a group of us from
Luapula headed east to Malawi for a bit of R&R. Nkhata Bay was
our destination, with a stop over in Chipata, where the Eastern
Province Peace Corps house is located. They have 2 grocery stores!
Whoo! We started off early in the morning and made it in about 8
hours with 3 hitches and a taxi. Turns out the taxi driver we ran
into is one of only a few taxi drivers I've met who charges us a fare
price and is on time. On our way back to Lusaka a week later I asked
him to pick us up at 5:30. At 5:29 he beeps his horn outside.
Crossing the border into Malawi and
traveling up country was quite an ordeal. First you have to exchange
your money, since you have to get up there where there aren't any
ATM's. So you pull out some Zambian kwacha from the ATM in Chipata,
then head to the border. As soon as you pull up at the gate to cross
into Malawi, a dozen guys bombard the taxi trying to get us to change
currency with them. We finally ended up yelling at them all to shut
up, we'd pick one of us to exchange money, quote a price, and wait
til someone took the deal. Turned out not to be as much of a mess as
it looked like, but still quite stressful. So here's the conversions
we had to deal with. 1,000 Malawian kwacha is worth about 3 USD. 1
USD is worth about 5,000 Zambian kwacha, or 5 Zambian rebased kwacha,
because they just changed their currency, dropping three zero's. So,
we were dealing with 4 currencies. But, these guys we were exchanging
from weren't from the government, they were in it for the money, so
they had to make some money from the exchange, which meant I had to
do math so we wouldn't get ripped off. Overall I think we came out
quite well, despite their complaints of not getting $50 or $100 USD
bills. Whatever.
So we head into Malawi and book some
taxis that constantly complain about the price we agreed on, begged
for money in advance because they don't fill up their tanks before
they get a fare, etc. I could write a book about how much I hate taxi
drivers around here, but I'll just say it's a miracle I didn't end up
in prison for attacking any of them.
Long story short, we made it to Nkhata
Bay, to Mayoka Village. The Bay is actually the site for a small
segment in Planet Earth, a series on the Discovery Channel, that
highlighted the uniqueness of Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi hosts over
2,000 species of African Cichlids found only in the rift lakes. They
are sought after by pet stores because of their unique colors for
freshwater fish, some being bright blue, some with black stripes,
some yellow, and even others red. It's quite a sight to see. I
managed to go scuba diving 3 times, including a night dive, where
dolphin fish “hunt” with us and follow our torch lights to find
prey that didn't find a good enough hiding spot that night.
Mayoka Village is a great place. Built
on the side of a hill, the whole place reminded me of Neverland, I
wished they had zip lines to take us everywhere. Bats would fly
through the trees, shy but curious monkeys would stop by and peek at
us, and sometimes a random crab would take off running across the
dining room.
We arrived on a Monday, and saw that
every Tuesday they took anyone who wanted to go out on a boat trip to
go rock jumping, snorkeling, beach volleyball, and fish eagle
feeding. We crammed about 20 of us on a tiny boat that struggled the
whole way along the coast to an inlet a few kilometers away. About
half way there, the boat captain stopped the engine and began
whistling. He picked up a fish he had brought with him, waved it in
the air and whistled again. Far off in the distance, a white spec
dove off a high limb and coasted along the water. The captain threw
the fish into the air, landing several meters from the boat. The
white spec had now grown into an African Fish Eagle (looks quite
similar to a Bald Eagle) swooped down and grabbed the fish with its
talons just like you see in all the pictures and videos. We kept
heading down the coast and ended up in a small inlet with some rocky
walls. We took a quick stop to climb up a big rock to jump off, then
headed to the beach for volleyball.
Our stay ended way too soon. But after
being gone for 3 weeks, I was glad to start heading back to my
village. 13 hitches later, I sit in the provincial house typing this
entry. Tomorrow I'll head back to my hut and begin village life
again, pumping my water and watching the sunsets on my porch.
Work
I've had several people ask about the
work I'm actually doing here. I guess I haven't mentioned much about
that yet. So. I'm a Rural Aquaculture Promotion (RAP) volunteer,
which means I'm promoting the use of fish ponds and growing fish as a
means of food security, a source of protein for children or
vulnerable groups like people with HIV/AIDS, and a source of income
and jobs.
My village has a local group of farmers
that was set up in 2007 as a fish farming group. The previous
volunteer in my village helped them out with 4 fish harvests and just
before he left he applied for a grant from PLARD which was awarded,
but stalled with the paperwork. For most of community entry I was
calling/texting/emailing back and forth to track down what needed to
be done and how to get the money to my group. In fact, for most of me
service I will work as a liaison between my farmers and their needs,
and what different NGO's and government offices can supply/support.
The grant is to help set up the group
to be more sustainable in their fish farming endeavors. This includes
mainly setting up brooding ponds. Brooding ponds are one of 3 types
of ponds I plan to help set up with the group. Traditionally they
have only had one type of pond. They bought fingerlings (baby fish),
stocked their ponds, fed them, harvested them, and saved the
fingerlings to stock for the next harvest. This method works for a
while, but is unsustainable for a couple reasons. Mainly, after a
while the fish stock will become inbred and will lead to smaller less
healthy fish. What I plan on doing is setting up brooding ponds,
which have healthy adult fish breeding continuously, supplying my
group with hundreds of fingerlings each month. Some will be used to
stock another type of pond, a grow out pond, which is used only to
grow the fish. Left over fingerlings can be eaten or sold as
additional income. The third pond will be a holding pond, a small
pond where we place fingerlings to be held until we can stock them
(or sell them).
Integration is another way I hope the
grant can help out with the group. A lot of the money is for building
a better fence around the 20 ponds the group has dug. Inside this
fence is enough room to add chickens and pigs, as well as plant some
crops which will help feed the fish and create income. The manure
from the animals will be added to the compost cribs in the ponds,
allowing algae to grow, which the fish eat. The animals will be added
to the growing list of things to sell as additional income.
I have started having meetings with the
group on Friday mornings. The first meeting 2 people showed up a half
hour late to tell me there wasn't going to be a meeting because
everyone was getting their fertilizer they had been waiting for for a
couple months. Other times it's lightly raining so no one shows up,
or there is a funeral so nobody can work for a couple days. But this
is their culture. One big thing that has been strange to realize here
is that everything that sounds weird to me or that doesn't make
sense, makes complete sense to everyone living here. I find it hard
to believe entire villages completely stop working in their fields,
give away all their animals to give as gifts and eat, and spend
literally days sleeping outside near the house of a funeral. But to
them, it's completely normal and nobody questions it. So when I
complain that nobody worked on the fish ponds when they said they
would, it's me that looks strange. But I'm learning and patient. I've
got the time if they are willing to listen, so I'm here.
For the next few months I hope to get
the fingerlings to the ponds. Right now, the group is clearing out
the ponds, which had become a bit overgrown for the last few months.
They will begin filling the ponds and getting the correct water
levels, as well as start feeding the ponds. Like I said, the compost
cribs will house all kinds of organic waste, which breaks down into
nitrogen (mostly), which algae grows from. Something like 70% of
these fish's diet is algae. But, we have to start early and get a
good algae “bloom” before we get fish, so they have something to
eat when they arrive. I'll know it's ready when there is a nice green
color in the water.
Other than fish farming, volunteers
pick up “secondary projects”, basically anything in their village
they want to do to help out. Some hold after school groups, work with
women's groups, help with HIV/AIDS awareness, etc. I'm hoping to try
to set up some tree nurseries, since goats eat any baby trees in my
village. There are literally no young mango trees. I'm starting to
plant some Moringa trees, which are great to have around since you
can eat pretty much the whole tree if you wanted. The leaves are
super nutritious, and so are the seed pods. Plus, they start seeding
as early as 8 months after planting. I'm also going to try and
promote living fences, like the one I set up around my garden. In
March, meetings will start for ELITE, a camp for boys I'll be helping
out with that teaches leadership, gender equality, farming
techniques, probably sports, etc. I don't know what the acronym is
for, but there is a similar camp for young girls called GLOW (Girls
Leading Our World).
I'm also part of a malaria net study, I
think it's partnered with the CDC or something like that. I can't
remember if I've mentioned it here on the blog or not. Basically nets
have been handed out in this part of the world for years, but they
aren't really sure how long they last. Some nets are supposed to last
a certain number of years before they need to be replaced, but no one
has ever really tested it in the village setting. That's when Peace
Corps comes in. We're here, and we're here for a while. So they
handed out nets to different households around our villages in both
Luapula and Northern Province, Zambia. Every few months, volunteers
head out to each family, take a look at their net, and count the
number and size of holes and location, then ask a few questions about
the usage of the nets and things like how and when they wash them.
Hopefully, after the study, the companies will know better how long
the nets last, which will help save them time/trouble/money and
dispense the nets more effectively.
I'm also hoping to get the community
involved in creating some form of a community hall. I was originally
thinking of applying for a grant to get a nice building built, but
the more I think about it and speak with people about what works best
for development in places like this that have been getting free hand
outs for generations, giving them one more thing may not be the most
sustainable solution. Instead I'm thinking of trying to convince my
community the benefits of building their own, something that they can
call only theirs. I think if they build something for themselves,
they will be more willing to keep it up, since it would be more of a
source of pride. That's my thinking anyway. But I think it will be a
good thing for the village, since there is no market or place to meet
anywhere. If farmers want to have a meeting they will sit under a
tree. If it's raining everyone stays at home. Having a central place
for meetings and getting out of the weather, as well as being able to
sell extra fruits from the garden I think will be a great thing in my
village.
I'll keep you posted on all my going's
on.
Also, for everyone who's sent a package
or letter, thank you so much! It really means a lot. It's great to
hear about what's going on back in the states, as well as snack on
beef jerky or M&M's (and especially sriracha).
Finally, here is a map I drew out of my
hut/compound. The chicken house will be built hopefully this month.
I'm planning on naming all my chickens. If you come to visit me and
one of the chickens has your name on it, you get a free dinner!
