http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/43869
Just to reiterate, the pictures website is http://pictures.ewb.ca/v/chapters/west/umanitoba/2006/SJinZambia

This is quite possibly my last posting so I hope that everyone enjoyed and are inspired to go out and make a difference in the world. Whether you do something huge or something little, remember, you can make a right decision and you can make a wrong decision, but the worst decision is to make no decision.

Your ever crazy friend,

SJ]]> Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:34:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/43869 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/43185 - an EU funded project for Mining Sector Diversification Project. Basically they help people to mine gemstones and precious metals in a country that has trouble seeing past their large amounts of copper.
- the Environmental department which are working really hard to educate people on the Kyoto accord and are working on their promise of getting rid of all ozone UN friendly products like CFC's in aerosol and refridgerators
- The energy regulation board which is trying to market a waste product from the energy industry as a replacement for propane.
- cultural dances including a man in a large scary mask who would dance if he got money and then headbut the person who gave the money (pretty sure it was meant to be a kiss though)
- DAPP who have developed a manual borehole driller and swear to me that it works
- The Young farmers stand which was actually run by people nearing middle age, but that is just semantics. In this stand there was a booth for all the different provinces that highlighted the different agricultural practices that take place.
- OPPAZ, GART and KATC which work together to develop new agricultural techniques tin the areas of conservation and organic farming. Absolutely fantastic groups working to help alleviate poverty with education and environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

so I could go on for pages and pages, but that wouldn't be very interesting so I will just not. Instead I will move on to the rest of my month. Basically i spent the rest of the month of August working on my market analysis of TDAU, which I gave to TDAU and the new business development officer. I also worked on some small market related projects.

Oh yeah and I went white water rafting on the mighty Zambezi river! and saw Victoria Falls (mosy-oa-tunya) but that has nothing to do with development at all.

I spent the last week going out for lunch and supper with friends in Zambia to say goodbye. Was sad but also really good because I didn't have to pay for anything (Zambian tradition I swear) and everyone made me really awesome food. ESPECIALLY my host mom Patricia who made an entire spread for me and we finally got to bed at like 12 that night after a really awesome supper. And some nonalcoholic champagne and some alcolic beer and red wine. no hangovers though which is more than I can say for some of the other JF's who met us at the airport the next day. After a 32 hour flight, couple days of laid back in Toronto, a week of playing with my new nephew who is the cutest baby ever, I am now in Winnipeg again paying my tuition fees late, and getting to class late as per usual.

Hope everyone who read my blog enjoyed my ride as much as I did.

SJ




]]> Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:09:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/43185 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/41975
As you can see I have been sparse on posts lately, so this is going to be a catch up post.

In the interest of market research in Village settings, I went out to the Eastern Province starting from the 23rd to the 28th of July. I took my friend Lukali with me as a translator. I paid for her travel and in return, I got free translating, free accomodations, and free meals. I think I probably got the better of that deal, but she got to see her mother for the first time in 2 years. Funny enough, I got to see "my mother" for the first time as I am now Sarah Riley Chiwama, the second born to Mrs Chiwama. but on to the meat of the story.

So our first stop was in Sinda, where we stayed with Mrs Chiwama. Here I went to the market and interviewed all the relevant businesses. After that I went for a leisurely walk with Lukali, and her brother Isaac to his school. On the way back we went by the dam which was gorgeous.

Sunday we got up, cleaned the house (a must on Sundays apparently) and then went to church. Pentacostal of course. In a country of 90% catholic religioun, I can't seem to get myself invited to anything but a pentacostal service. Anyways, it was nice, with some really fun songs complete with hopping and turning around numerous times. Sinda is a village and as in many villages, seeing a white person is a rare event. As such most of the children spent the majority of the service turned around looking at me.

After church we went to visit a friend of Lukali's and were given lunch. I sat listening to Lukali and her friends talking in Nsenga with interludes of translated conversation with me. They were very fascinated by me but most of them couldn't speak english. As we were walking away, Lukali told me that they had said they liked me because I was the first Muzungu who had sat and ate with them and not been "skittish" about their children and the yard and house.

Next we went back to the house where we were given a second lunch. this lunch consisted of nshima of course, Kapenta, which I detest, Impwa which I can't even keep down, and Deleley which is okra floating in liquid pretty much like phlegm. I ate the nshima.

We got onto a bus to go to Chipata, the capital of the eastern province. Once there we met up with Bnyam and ate supper at Lukali's aunt Anne Temba's house. Bnyam and I decided that we could go together to a village Mgubudu on Tuesday, leaving Monday for touring Chipata.

Monday was spent mostly touring Chipata and interviewing Chipatan businesses. Went well but after all the walking, Lukali and I went to sleep early, early for me being before 9 oclock. Next morning we got up and attempted to search out a bus to Mgubudu. we thought we could catch a bus at 8:30 or 9:00 but as alway happens in Zambia, we set off in a bus by 11:00. We finally got there after a hour long bus ride of me and Bnyam singing, embarassing Lukali, and making the whole bus think we were totally crazy.

Now we start on our trek to speak to villagers. We first walk to the house of Mr Phiri who has helped Bnyam before. I walk in and am in instant heaven as he has 6 kittens. I cuddle with them while Bnyam discusses the plan for the day. We set off to meet villagers. Now by this time our plan of meeting with 15 or 20 villagers is a bit overzealous as it is about 13:00, but we meet 3. Overall it was a good day, and a good village experience for me. Then we head back to Chipata, where I think I managed to eat some Nshima before going to bed.

The next day we bussed to Sinda, and stayed the night with Mrs Chiwama again. I spent the afternoon, having my hair pulled, rather harshly really, into braids that I am told are just the height of fashion. They came out 2 days later, after I went crazy from my head itching.

So the trip home on Thursday should have been unexciting if not boring. first, I saw three monkeys!!! pretty awesome. and then the luggage compartment flew open on the bus while we were driving. It took us about an hour and a half to get the stuff back because some kids (bad ones) saw the luggage fly out and hiked it into the bush. All the luggage was recovered, but some had been torn open. Now obviously these kids were not the nicest, but what is of note is that there were some other kids who stood and waited for us to come so they could point out the direction that the luggage had been taken. Pretty fantastic really, and I can honestly say I doubt whether that would happen in Canada.

Well that is the end of my trip to Eastern Province. Sadly I have to start working now, so The trade show post will have to come later. Hope everyone had a good long weekend.

SJ]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2006 02:03:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/41975 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/41563
As you can see, I am getting worse and worse at this. In my defense I was outside of Lusaka for a week and I couldn’t get on the Internet. I will try to go through and brief everyone on what I have been doing.

First I promised I would describe the Kitchen party. When a couple gets engaged, the girl has to then start something like marriage classes from respected women in her family, usually aunts. These aunts spend at least 2 months showing her how to cook, how to clean, how to keep the house for her husband, and yes how to please him in bed. I am told there is a special dance that must be done before, which I would like to see but obviously not in context. At the end of these two months, the couple throws a kitchen party for the women who know them.

A kitchen party is like a mix of the Canadian wedding shower and Female stag party. The kitchen party is scheduled to start at 1 PM. However as with everything else in Zambia, the only thing you can rely on is that nothing goes to plan. The kitchen party I went to started at about 14:30. All the guests sit around waiting for the girls group to arrive. This group is composed of the girl and her teachers under a cloth, surrounded by all the females in her family. The master of ceremonies leads them. The MC is a woman who has no hip bones and is instead held together by elastic bands. I say this because she can shake her booty like nobodies business. And she does it all with a whistle making all kinds of noise. So the MC leads the girls group onto the stage where they all sit down, the girl and her teachers still covered by a cloth.

A prelude ensues where more elastic hip shaking takes place to drumming and singing. Here I would like to say that by this time some of the ladies (loose term possibly in some cases) are getting quite sloshed. Some of them randomly jump on the stage and start dancing. Some of them just make lots of noise in their seats. At the kitchen party I was at 90% of the crowd was quite well behaved but I definitely got some booty shakin in my face with someone yelling “Mozungu, watch me dance”.

Next after much delay, the man’s group comes. There are 2 men surrounded by his family members bringing a big basket of fruit to symbolize that the family will be fruitful. For me this part was confusing because the main man is walking and then there is this other guy who is not really explained. After some clarification I found that the main man is the best friend to the groom and the groom is supposed to walk behind quietly unnoticed. This is done from what I can understand so that the eligible ladies in the crowd don’t get interested in the groom but are sort of distracted by the friend. The groom then gets on the stage where he takes the sheet off the bride and her teachers. I couldn’t see the entire process because his whole family was helping but something happened. Then he sits down across the stage. The bride is taken by the MC and kneels in front of her husband to be and sort of flops to one side. She sits back up straight and promptly flops to the other side. She gets up and the groom kisses her on the cheek. The MC who is jiggling profusely and whistling away gets them both up and leads them down a walkway. At the end the groom keeps going and the bride turns around and heads back to her spot. Now the whole time the girl is with her head lowered and humble. This is because her future mother in law is present and she has to look like a humble and quiet woman.

The MC starts opening presents now and at every present the giver has to come up and dance while the present is being shown. Thankfully, I was never called up because my hipbones are still intact and my booty shaking is not up to par. This goes on for a long time with random interludes of eating and a mother and mother in law thanking ceremony similar to the husband part. After all this, the party starts to liven up in some areas as the women drink more, and disperse in others where the women choose not to be associated with such nonsense. By nonsense I mean, there are stories of women who start dancing without clothes and similar cultural taboo occurrences.

While I thought I would put other things in this email, I apparently have written too much already. Therefore everything else will have to come later.

SJ
]]> Fri, 04 Aug 2006 04:19:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/41563 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/40835
This post is going to be all about how a good family situation can make life look so much better. Before as you all know I was living in a church, but what I might not have made very clear was that The family was always polite but never friendly to me. I was looked at as kind of a bothersome guest they put up with because I was paying. I don't like to be really negative towards them because they were never mean to me but I was pretty stressed out while I was there.

However now I have moved in with a new family in Avandale compound. It is more expensive to get to University because I have to take the minibus, but I am so much more happy it is worth it. ON Saturday night, in true Apoorva style, I named the spider in my room. His name is Frank Chiquito, and he is the coolest spider I have seen. He sits so flat he could be paint on the wall. I have a suspicion that Frank is actually a few spiders as he seems quite large sometimes. While this would seem to have nothing to do with the family, it actually shows that I am relaxing and feeling at home after only a week and a half in the new house.

I live with Martin and Patricia Mangenda who have three children but only two live with them. The beauty of it all is that they named the two living with them after themselves so I simply can't forget their names. Then there Martins brother Christian and his friend Moses living with us as well.

Big Martin is a talker. If you are foolish enough to get him started you will sit listening for at least 20 minutes. But he is entertaining and he has travelled to many places and knows a lot about Zambia and Africa.

Big Patricia is a sweetheart. The first day I was there, I asked if I could help with supper. After being barred from the kitchen in the first house, lest I ruin the nshima, I was surpised when she said yes. So up till now I have cooked nshima at least 5 times. I grant you it is not as good as Patricia's but it is still edible and they all manage to strangle it down so it is ok. I sit and chat with Patricia after work every day while we make supper and I think it gives me some insight into Zambian lifestyle.

Little Martin is 6 and he is shy. it takes some prompting for him to talk to me, but he will. He loves spiderman and will do the craziest things when I turn the camera on. He is always biking on his little bike and I tell him he will have to train so he can win the tour de France someday.

Little Patricia is a talker as well. She is 4 and is way smarter than I was at that age I am sure. She can quote most of the ads on TV verbatim, which isn't because she watches too much tv (although maybe that too) but more because there are only about 4 or 5 ads on Zambian tv. Nevermind, she started to dance one day to the music on TV and very seriously outdanced me by about a million times. I was properly shamed and have decided I apparently need to brush up on my dancing skills before displaying them in front of her.

Christian is a really great uncle to the kids. He is watching out for them all the times, checking if they have done their homework, walking them to school, making sure they eat their vegetables. He is a really nice man. He is staying with the family only because he was sick for awhile and needed to be in Lusaka. Now he says he is getting better and will soon go back to Kitwe. I hope rather than know that his sickness is not what you are all thinking it might be. Moses, man is he ever shy. I can hardly get him to talk at all, but he smiles shyly when I talk to him, and I think it is really cute.

So that is all for now, hope you have enjoyed this post. Next post will be about the Kitchen party I went to this weekend.

SJ]]> Tue, 18 Jul 2006 03:47:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/40835 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/40679
In an earlier post I explored the concept of poverty and how to define and see it. In this post I want to talk a bit about the concept of livelihoods and vulnerability to shocks and stresses. Anyone who wants to look a bit more into livelihoods, I encourage you to look at ......

On the 23rd of August I travelled up to Ndola in the copper belt province. Ndola is the capital of the copper belt province and up until lately was a bustling city. Now, because the mines have started to move farther away and President Chiluba and the SAPS forced Privatisation of almost all government companies, most of the large industry that filled the industrial area have moved out, leaving huge areas of inactivity and many many people without jobs.

In Ndola, I stayed with my officemates brother, Mr Lang Imasiku, and his family. He owned a small civil engineering company and kept the family in upper middle class standing. Josephine Lang is a Payroll Officer at a company in Ndola. Of their many kids, only 2 were there when I was there, and 1 neice. This family was so nice to me, they took me around to see the sights, they fed me a ton of food, and they could just not do enough. I left Ndola on Friday the 30th of June to go to Siavonga for an EWB Retreat. What I didn’t know until later was that on Saturday Mr. Lang Imasiku was taken to hospital because he had a heart attack. On the next Wednesday they were optimistic about his health but by Thursday he had taken a turn for the worst and early on Friday morning he passed away.

What I think is important to discuss is not that he died, people die everywhere, but rather that the repercussions of his death on his family are significant. They have now lost the major money earner in the family setting them back in areas of finance. As far as I know there is no insurance plan set up for the family (if there is even such a thing in Zambia) and so they have to take the brunt of the loss. What this means is that the 2 children who are in university now, and the 2 that are in school still are in danger of losing their chance for education if someone else in their extended family doesn’t step up.

When you dig a bit deeper, the facts come out that actually Lang came from a family of 11 and his passing leaves 3 now. I don’t think I need to point out that some of these deaths were probably due to AIDS. So what does that leave? It leaves 3 families responsible for the children of 11. While it is possible to survive, and they probably will, the entire family is at an incredible risk to shocks in the future.

This brings me to the important question of chicken and egg significance, that which has to come first, available jobs and job security, or the infrastructure to lessen the shocks hitting families. Of course, this is the challenging question faced by NGO’s and governments in underdeveloped countries every day. When it comes down to the bare hard facts, a person who has a job, even a good one, and is educated well, cannot go forward if he/she has 17 dependants. However, even a great system cannot hold up if people can’t get jobs and therefore can’t raise any money. And either side of this debate is complicated by the fact that AIDS is putting stresses on every family in Zambia in some way or another.

What I think is ironic is that I thought coming to Zambia, I would be able to answer some of those hard development questions. Instead, all I can come up with are more questions, and I have serious doubts about there being answers or at least right answers.

Confusedly yours,

SJ

]]> Thu, 13 Jul 2006 03:31:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/40679 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39878
So a short post today to let everyone know where I am at. I am off on a bus north to the copper belt province to do some investigative interviews for one of our projects, a timber kiln meant to provide a value adding service for small scale producers. This should hopefully get me out to see some of rural Zambia although that is only if plans don't fall through. I will go up to Ndola and stay for the weekend with my officemates brother. Then on Monday I will go to stay with Mr Enright who operates a timber kiln unit. He will hopefully have set me up some tours and interviews with some small scale timber providers so that I can see what the situation is for them and whether our project is feasible economically and logistically. Then on Thursday we will be seeing the kiln and viewing the design for ideas on how we can build one of our own. So then on Friday I will be back to Lusaka to leave right away to go to Siavonga in the south for an EWB retreat weekend. Finally I will get back to Lusaka on the 4th of July.

The other thing that is going on with me right now is that I have decided to move from my current house to another one. I liked the area, the distance from work, the family, and the house. What I was not so fond of was that the house was also the base for a pentacostal church which met 4 times a week. This means that over half the time I was there I was in church not integrating or in my room not integrating. Either was I was having a hard time getting close with my family, and so I decided I would have a better look at a Zambian family at another house. So now I am moving to another family in a different area. I have to take a bus to work and back, but the family is nice and they have assured me that they go to a church away from the house on Sundays. I will be moving in with them when I get back in on the 4th of July.

Sort of as an aside, I don't know whether the news caught this in Canada, but there has been a strike at UNZA where I work. Of course TDAU is not striking, but all the teachers are, which is causing problems for students who were supposed to have exams this week. SO for the last week and a half I have had to go home 4 times because the students were demonstrating at the university. Usually these are peaceful demonstrations, but there are times when it gets out of hand and so we have to leave work just in case. I just want to assure everyone, in case they have seen anything on the news, I am ok, and I have never been in any danger. But that doesn't mean it isn't a bit exciting to see the places I go everyday on the news!

Well I should go, so that I can get up to Ndola on time. I hope everyone has a good week and as I probably won't be able to get on before the 1st, HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!

SJ

]]> Fri, 23 Jun 2006 03:11:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39878 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39683 So before I start this post I want to make a comment directly to the Chapter Exec back in Manitoba. Holy did Apoorva ever show me up with a 6 page letter on her placement. I feel sort of inadequate now but hopefully my posts here are doing a good job of letting you know how and what I am doing.

First a disclaimer, Lusaka is a city. It is not more dangerous than Winnipeg and definitely not more dangerous than Toronto or Vancouver. However as a foreigner and someone who is very obviously different, my white skin can look sort of like a target for people who want all sorts of things, some not good. PS for anyone who didn’t know, I am of british lineage and yes I am naturally a pale fishbelly white colour. So don’t for a minute think that I am bashing Zambia as being a hyper dangerous place it is actually relatively safe in most places.

Lusaka is a city that is less about rules than about general best practices that you only know from being here. This makes for a very interesting free feeling environment that can be kind of scary or kind of liberating depending on the situation. For example when this is applied to traffic control, cars can look pretty damn scary. It means that it is very hard to do something wrong, just maybe easier to do something stupid.

When I walk in the compounds to my house, a lot of people want to talk to me. You actually wouldn’t believe how frustrating and flattering this can be. The cutest thing ever is little kids who will be running around with their friends and one of them won’t see me and keep playing while the other stop to stare. Then the shock on his or her face when they turn around and see to their surprise quite possible the first white person if not ever, then in this area at least. It is just like holy crap and then a quick blurted, “How are you” or “HI”.

My general keep safe practice for the first little while since I got here was that kids are safe, elderly are safe, women are safe, older men are generally safe. SO this leaves teenagers who are completely unpredictable, and men who are more likely to be interested for more than innocent reasons, especially if they are holding chibouku (the most horrible beer sickness I have ever seen). Not to say there aren’t exceptions, and I don’t like to paint all men, of any country, race, city with the same brush, just that I can’t say from looking at them that they are safe.

Guys who are in the between stage of teenagedom and twentisomethings were the most often scary for me for the first little while. Quite often a boy would see me as I was walking by, kind of like look me once over and then in a mounting excitement at seeing me say something that I totally couldn’t understand. They never seemed to be the same comments and because I didn’t know whether they were insulting or not I would keep walking. Often after I leave, the boy or boys will start laughing uproariously. When I was walking with the lady I live with the other day though, some guys did the same thing, and I asked what it was they said. She told me that they were so excited to see me that they weren’t saying anything; they couldn’t construct words in English or in their own language. That made me think, because to these boys I am sort of like a celebrity walking in their own compound and here I am assuming they are being mean or derogatory. Does that mean that it is my responsibility to pump up every boys ego that I see? Not really, and it is difficult with the common stereotypes of white women to be just a friendly figure.

Having said that, it can be tricky to figure out how people are going to react. A quick look in the eye can generally distinguish a mentally handicapped person, which is good because there are some who freely walk the streets but a sane person who is rude is not so easy. And a seemingly friendly person who wants to walk home with you now knows where you live. In a city where I am seen as being automatically rich because I am white, this makes my home a target for burglary. I have yet to feel physically unsafe in Zambia, but a target for muggings is common.

Well, now I am off to see Kalimba reptile farms, just outside of Lusaka. The people in my office say I can’t leave Zambia without seeing some of the sights so I am in the process of trying to see some of them. Wish me luck with the crodociles!

SJ
]]> Sun, 18 Jun 2006 07:49:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39683 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39362
So the question that has been wandering around in my head for the last few days is What is Poverty? We had a session in our training that had us try to define it. I gave the answer that to be in poverty is to lack the ability to create your own chances and make your own choices. Or something along those lines anyways. Now that I am in Zambia though, I am trying to see it. Poverty, I have to say, is an elusive thing, a concept that is not easy to define in practice even if it is a bit easier in theory.

One of the things I notice in Zambia is that everyone seems to think that if you are living on a farm, you are much worse off than in Lusaka and most likely in the depths of poverty. I went on a trip to Mansa from Sunday till Tuesday this week, and before I started off, the reply from Lusakans was “oh that is nice, but just so you know, it is just a village”. Now I don’t know what JUST a village is, because I grew up in what they would call a village, but Mansa was really nice. The infrastructure was much better than Lusaka, the people were much more open and friendly, and you only had to travel a short way to see absolutely gorgeous country side.

So now my question to you is this, what is poverty? How do you see it? What markers can you use to say this person is in poverty? I know from Canada, you can use how much you live on a day, you can use access to clean drinking water, you can use the Gini index and things like that. But how do you see things like that. This morning I walked by a lady who smiled a really big genuine smile at me and in the process showed me all her missing teeth. Is that poverty? Is not being able to put your kids into school poverty, or is not putting your kids in school even though you are able poverty? How about living in Lusaka in the slums with more access to social programs and maybe better access to jobs and money as compared to living along the road to Mansa with a nice open yard, brick hut with a grass roof, land in the back to get food from, but less chance your children will be educated well leading them to a life exactly the same as your own. Does it change the picture if the person in either situation is happy, and hopeful?

Another question I have is how do I help when I don’t know what I am helping? Do I help that person on the roadside work hard so they can get their kids to Lusaka to live in the slums? Because I can only help them raise their standard of living, they get to choose what they want to do with their life after that, what they dream of for their children. I won’t lie to you, I am biased in that I grew up in a village, in better conditions than a village here I grant you, but small town life nonetheless. I can’t imagine wanting to live in poor conditions in Lusaka when I could live in a village. I don’t mean that people shouldn’t aspire to better education or better health care or social systems. What I mean is that living in Lusaka because of those things and living in Lusaka because it is better are two different things. The impression I get is that people in Lusaka and people out of Lusaka have the rankings of better living in society going from a village to Lusaka to Western living.

Well as you can see this post is a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. I will leave it now for you to consider and hopefully next time I will be able to post more answers than questions.

SJ
]]> Thu, 08 Jun 2006 03:05:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39362 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39150
So I want to illustrate the two Lusaka’s I know to you. I will call it the long trek home from work, and Lusaka in the morning

The long trek home from work starts, well, at work of course. I usually leave about 5 or 5:15. So the sun is starting to lower in its insanely quick descent. So I start by walking down the university road towards the field I cut across. Everyday I start out by thinking I am going to be nice today, I am going to integrate today! So I try to smile or at least acknowledge the people I walk by. This ussually works on the university grounds although I do get some dirty looks, I think pertaining to me being a threat in some way. My theory on that is not entirely formed. Anyways I cut across the field and I get a bit more attention but it is still restrained to good afternoon or Hello how are you. SO then I hit Kalingalinga. This is where it starts getting a bit more tricky. Keep in mind the people at the university and cutting through the field are generally university students and so are a bit more educated or at least older. In Kalingalinga, no such luck. There are Older people, there are younger people, there are poor people, there are not so poor people. I start getting not looks but stares once I cross the border and while some people are still nice, there are more staredowns, and dirty looks. There are still the nice people in the middle who say hi, but now there is the other extreme too where guys will make some more daring comments. Usually I try to avoid these type of guys, but if I can’t I say no thank you and keep walking. Then I have to pass the boys school. This is the biggest trial. The boys are ussually playing soccer in the open area by the school but sometimes will stop playing to holler at me. Of course it is all in a different language so I don’t know what they are saying, but a whole field of boys hollering is fairly intimidating. Then there are the straggler boys who will wait till I am by and then make comments and laugh outrageously behind my back. Or the groups of girls who will walk by me trying to stare me down and if I smile or say hi they will just laugh that laugh that crosses all cultures, you know the one, the evil school girl laugh. So by this time I am trying to get home as fast as I can without running. About this time it calms down except for a few groups of guys who would like me to come and visit with them, but I brush that off and keep going. Finally I reach home and the relief is evident. Now for some nsheema and some prayer dodging.

Lusaka in the morning
So I get up at about 7 (more like 7:15, I like my sleep) and get ready to go by about 7:30. I set out for my 25-minute walk. I leave the gate and enter this world of fresh new morning scenes. Helen Kaunda which I live in is a nice compound and so all the houses have walls. But these walls are usually nicely decorated and sometimes have flower gardens in the front. It is a nice quiet type of scenery. I start to meet people as I walk, mostly young school girls on their way to the school just west of the house. I guess they are still sort of asleep because most of them smile and say hi or good morning or sort of walk by in a daze. About this time I will walk by a dog or two relazing on the side of the road. Just hanging out, you know. I don’t pet it, because (according to Dr Wise) it has rabies, but it is kind of a nice reassuring sight for me. Now as I keep walking and start into Kalingalinga, the sun is still not fully up in its quick ascent and so everything still has that gorgeous hue that only the morning sun can give. I walk by the boys school, and the fields and grass are just brilliant in the sun. I cut across behind the catholic church towards the side of Kalingalinga and pass a really nice garden filled with I have no idea what kind of vegetables but overall it gives a kind of mystical quality to the garden and the house. In this alley I also pass groups of ducks, chickens, turkeys and their babies. It is hard to find something cuter than a whole group of baby chicks running after their mother. During this time there are families starting to come out of their houses and do house type chores. Mother fathers, children, and grandparents will call out good morning to me and send me on with a really nice smile. I smile and keep walking on my way to work. Once I am out of Kalingalinga I have to cross the road to get over to the short cut through the field. This can be a bit of a suspenseful time serving to jumpstart the heart because crossing the road in Lusaka is like taking your life in your hands. By the time I get to the field the sun is almost entirely up and it is getting nice and toasty. So my walk through the field filled with all kinds of vegetation you wouldn’t see in Canada mixed with some you would, is pretty relaxing. I meet some more people here, some on their way to work, some I don’t know where, but as a general rule they are pleasant and send me on with smiles that you feel to the bottom of your feet. I’m not sure why but there are almost never daring comments from guys in the morning, maybe because they are not yet awake. So I get to work, in a good mood and ready to start the day.

That is my best explanation to you of Lusaka. I hope you have a good day, and that your day is more like my morning than my long trek home.

Twalamonana (see you later)

SJ
]]> Fri, 02 Jun 2006 03:02:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39150 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39085
OK so guys I have decided that a post on food would be a good idea. So my first comment is that you can just walk down the street and get many types of food. Mostly raw, although there are shops that sell prepared food. so you can just walk down almost any street and buy a tomato or some sweet potatoes or candies or eggs or bread. Some things like tomatoes, I have to cook or I would get sick, but some of it you could probably safely buy and eat while walking. I generally don't but you could. Having said that we were sitting in our office today, and a woman just walked in and asked if we wanted to buy the ground nuts that she was selling, so sometimes you don't have to even walk anywhere to get food. I didn't get any, but my office mate did. So I told him that we call groundnuts, peanuts in Canada and he laughed at the funny name. so while I was working I decided to eat some of his because I am a bit of a fan of peanuts. first shock. the inner skin was pink! second shock, they actually taste like peas. weird, I know. so it is weird and good at the same time. So now I am not sure if this is a different type of peanuts, and the reason they are called peanuts is because they are supposed to taste like peas, or that these are ground nuts, a close cousin to peanuts. Anyways, I am limiting my intake because I very well might get sick from them. Heres hoping I don't because I actually like the taste.
So having explained all that, when you go to supper with a family in Zambia, you will have nsheema. Gauranteed, because they literally eat nsheema at every meal if at all possible. nsheema is sort of like a porridge made from ground maize, that ends up tasting like really whipped potatoes. It is served with a relish that you are meant to eat the nsheema with.

The key is the process though. First you wash your hands in a basin. You have these lumps of nsheema, many small or one big depending on the tribe, and you just grab a bit in your hand. Your right hand of course because you don't touch your food with your left hand, sort of like an unspoken rule. Then you roll it around in your hand. now obviously anyone who has eaten mashed potatoes knows that this would create a big mess with potatoes, but nsheema sticks together much better until you have a little ball. now that you have a ball you press an indent into the middle. This is so you have a sort of spoon to pick up the relish. Now you scoop up some relish and then shove it in your mouth. I would like to use a better word for that, but essentially that is what you do. then, you repeat the process.

So I should probably explain the relish. It is not the relish you put on hot dogs in Canada. There are different types but the most common are a mix of cassava, rape or cabbage leaves or a groundnut mix or baked beans. Anyways that is what we ussually have at my house and at the market. You can also have a meat or fish with the meal, if the family has enough money. So far I have had chicken, beef, a fish the size of my hand and little tiny fishes that I refuse to eat because they still have eyes attached. For anyone who knows me well, I swear that is the only thing that I have refused to eat while I was here. Oh and some unpasteurized milk, which can carry diseases. I will get sick enough while I am here, don't need to provoke it.

Anyways on the topic of food, the guys in the shop downstairs have invited me today to eat nsheema with them, made by them, so I am on my way for nsheema. mmmmmnnnnn nsheema. We will see if by the end of the summer I still say that when I get it for every meal!

Twalamonana ( see you later in Bemba)

SJ ]]> Wed, 31 May 2006 07:09:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39085 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39024
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
]]> Tue, 30 May 2006 05:48:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/39024 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38910
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
]]> Fri, 26 May 2006 11:14:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38910 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38765
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

]]> Mon, 22 May 2006 05:40:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38765 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38551
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]]> Mon, 15 May 2006 12:14:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38551 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38317
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]]> Mon, 08 May 2006 02:07:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/38317 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/37988
Short post, I just wanted to let people know I have an interview on City TV Winnipeg tonight at 6. So if it is available to you you could catch that.

SJ]]> Thu, 27 Apr 2006 15:46:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/37988 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/37906
I haven't quite got packing started because I still don't have all my supplies. Anyone who has seen me travelling before knows that I am having some trouble fitting my life into one back pack. But it is going to be an adventure and I am sure already I am going to be forgetting something essential. "Oh my goodness I forgot my head, I don't even know how that happened"

Hope you are all having a great week.

SJ]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2006 01:41:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/37906 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/37391
I just wanted to make a quick update as I am smack in the middle of studying for exams. So I found out the details of my project today. A shorter version is below for your viewing. I will be working in Lusaka with TDAU which is a consulting unit for agricultural technologies. I will update when I have a bit more time.

SJ

Project:

Marketing and Development of Agriculture Technology

Location:

Lusaka, Zambia

Partner Organization:

Technology Development and Advisory Unit (TDAU)

Org Description:

The Technology Development and Advisory Unit is primarily a consultancy unit that provides testing, designing, fabrication, manufacturing, training and marketing services on various appropriate small scale pro-poor technologies.

Based out of the University of Zambia located in the capital city of Lusaka, TDAU tries to address the problems related to how the lack of technology visibly manifests itself in terms of limited access to cleaner energy, safe water, efficient transport and communication, and adequate shelter, food and medicines. They believe that one way to bridge this divide is to "adapt" technology to work in environments with limited support services. Their main areas of activity include food processing, building materials and production, rural transport and renewable energy. ]]> Fri, 07 Apr 2006 20:55:00 EDT http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/37391 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/35949
Holy, so last post I was complaining about it being so long till I go. This time, I think I am going to complain about how much stuff I have to do before I go. This feeling could be because I have like a kazillion things to do this week, and I might go a bit batty before the week is up.

Well I should get back to my date with Bodley and Allen ( textbooks for Anthropology ). Till next time.

SJ]]> Sat, 25 Feb 2006 18:21:00 EST http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/35949 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4 http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/35058
So this is my first entry, and it is WWAAAY Before I go. I feel like I am ready to go now though and that is why I am writing already.

OK so the details in case anyone is confused. My name is Sarah Jane Riley. I was raised in Strathclair Manitoba, am going to University of Manitoba now, in Manufacturing Engineering. I am involved in Engineers Without Borders and through them I will be travelling overseas this summer to Zambia. My project is as yet undetermined, but the country is for sure.

I got back from the conference in January and I was so excited and ready to go to Zambia already, and then it was like oh man there is still 3 months before I go. I am still excited though and just can't wait for it to come. I am sure when it gets to my departure date I will think that I need more time, but hey thats the way life works.

Well till next time.

SJ]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2006 15:06:00 EST http://SJRiley.tigblog.org/post/35058 50.4 -100.450.4-100.4