to answer a few questions...

This blog entry was written last Friday before I left for Simwaba village to stay with Lindah and her family…

Also, again apologies for the lack of photos. It seems that uploading photos takes a substantially long time. If and when I have a faster internet connection I will see if I can remedy the lack of imagery.

I received a few comments and questions regarding what I will be bringing to A2N and more specifically the community I will soon become a part of. Still thinking from the outside of the community and having spent three weeks getting ready I have some ideas, but I know they will change. As per a request from Dr. Temba, and of its own necessity Mary and I have put together work-plans for the next three months. They are ambitious and as Dr. Temba said, “let’s see if we can get half this stuff done.”

A large part of what I will be doing will focus of ensuring the usefulness of the Information Kiosk” that is currently not being used to its full potential.

The Info Kiosk is quite a neat little place. It is equipped with one (soon to be two) computers, a World Space Radio (for downloading info), a cellphone + charger, and a solar panel to run it all. The Village Community Facilitators (VCFs) have been using it as their office, its intended purpose, but the plan is to make it more accessible and friendly to the larger community. From computer training, to downloading information on goat-rearing and other income-generating-activities, to using the phone to check the price of maize in other provinces, this little box has quite the potential…so our job here is big.

Other parts of our work-plan include activities like establishing connections with stakeholders in the community (NGO and government types), facilitating discussions around the issues that come out of the profiling and how the community can and would like to address these, contributing to articles and project proposals to obtain funding so they community can actually address these issues, and all the while trying to enhance the replicability* of the project in other areas since this is after all the pilot and we want to learn something from it (and not to mention writing really long sentences).

As far as what I specifically bring to the project, already my presence has been a bit of a motivator for the community, and having a muzungu (foreigner) around definitely draws attention and interest to the project. Beyond that one of my biggest goals is to really motivate the community to see what they’ve accomplished already and use that as the driving force in pushing for more. There is a fine line to walk between the community depending on me and them really having ownership of the project and it’s a challenge I’m very conscious of. I’m not sure how this will manifest itself in the coming weeks so wish me luck I guess… :\

Another one of my more tangible contributions will hopefully be in assisting the community in putting together their project proposals and creating a framework for how to really express how much work they’ve put into this project, and why stakeholders and donors should be interested. These will also be kind of cool for me to look back on too. :)

Now to address a few other comments that I received…

Culture – While I have been here for three weeks and definitely witnessed Zambian culture, probably offended a few people, and definitely made a bit of an ass of myself, I’m not sure how much I’ve learned about culture here. Witnessing it is one thing, but understanding is definitely another. Here are a few rudimentary remarks based on experience and observation:

There is always room for one more person on a minibus because personal space is pretty tiny, but mostly in a good way. It’s an expression of friendliness and closeness that pretty much pervades everything I’ve seen. Small children call me auntie, because every female adult is their auntie, and they like to hold your leg, or your hand with no sense that you are a stranger. Everybody you meet wants to be your friend, and shakes your hand when you meet and when you part. This closeness can occasionally cross my personal space but that space gets smaller with exposure and for the most part it is quite endearing.

Gender is definitely a factor, but I have yet to figure out exactly what that means. It is hard to generalize because my experience thus far has gone in different directions and as I mentioned, observing culture is one thing, but understanding is definitely another. Sometimes the women I meet seem very shy and reluctant to speak to me, especially in comparison to some of the men, but sometimes they do not. As it has been a mixed experience I’m not sure what factors are at play here. At community meetings there is also a divide between the men and the women. Usually the men sit on chairs or benches, while the women sit close together on a grass mat. Again, though I have yet to understand the consequences of this and question why it is so. While it is common to assume that gender issues categorically disadvantage women, I feel as though there may be ways in which some of the cultural norms make create advantages for women in certain ways. I hope to explore this idea in the coming months.

So those are the two obvious ones that stick out in my head. I hope I can include more about culture in a more integrated way in the rest of my blog, but if there are specific questions that can help my frame my observations and writing, please let me know as it can be hard to explain culture without reference points (for example, try defining Canadian culture…).

Next question: Bugs and temperature. Without making the Junior Fellows currently in Ghana jealous, neither one of these is much of an issue (yet). Lusaka is pretty un-buggy and I haven’t gotten a mosquito bite yet. Others have, and mosquitoes consider me a delicacy in Canada so I don’t know what the factor here is other than luck. The village may be another story.

Also, it is “Zambian Autumn” so I’m told it’s currently cold, but it’s a bit of a joke to me, because it feels just like “Canadian Summer.” The coldest and driest month is July which means temperatures between 5-10 degrees at night so I’ve got a wool blanket and a toque ready just in case it actually feels cold. Most of the days here and nice and warm during the afternoon, while in the evenings it is preferable to have pants, socks and a sweater. I also have not seen one drop of rain, although it was cloudy one day and I thought it might happen.

So that’s my pre-village update. Posted rather late, but hopefully interesting.

In the mean time, safe journey,
~Kate~

*I know this isn’t a word, but it captures what I mean. Suggestions on a real word that means this are welcome, except “duplicability” since that sounds silly.