Caterpillars :(

We arrived back in Ndola today. We did not go through the Congo this time but took the long way through Zambia. There were not as many potholes in the roads; therefore, it was a much more enjoyable ride than the one through the Congo. Nothing much more to report than the fact that the fuel crisis is not over. The outer reaches of Zambia still do not have fuel; therefore, we had to carry 35 liters of fuel in containers in the back of our truck. Even with all that fuel, we barely had enough to make it back to Ndola.

One thing that you realize is that there are no guarantees in Zambia. Even the simplest activities are adventures. In other news, it is caterpillar season. I don’t just mean that you see caterpillars everywhere. I mean that it is time to harvest and eat them. I have had them before, and I don’t want them again. Caterpillars were being sold all along the road in rural Zambia and now they are showing up in the markets in Ndola. For some reason they are a delicacy in Zambia.

A Day in Samfya

My day spent in Samfya was very enjoyable. There are four American missionaries here; therefore, it was very fun to converse with them. I spent the day talking to them about life in Samfya and talking to their education coordinator. The education coordinator and I had a pleasant time exchange ideas.

Samfya life is a lot different from Ndola life. Their power and water supply is sporadic, and the missionaries have to drive an hour and a half just to go to the grocery store. Their grocery store is not as good as mine and is missing many basic necessities. I am definitely lucky to be living in Ndola where I can get most anything I need.

The missionaries house is located in one of the most beautiful places in Zambia that I have seen. It sits on top of a bluff that overlooks the lake. Last night we sat outside eating our dinner and watched the storms form over the lake. A night like that is a welcome break from the city life of Ndola. In all it has been a very productive and relaxing trip. The guys here are doing so much to transform the town of Samfya. Whether it is helping the people start farms or grow chickens or providing educational supplies, there are constant projects focussed on raising the quality of life in Samfya.

Through the Congo to Samfya

Today I arrived in Samfya safely. My traveling companion is a guy named Mysheck Fefelo. He is in charge of coordinating the church activities for the Jubilee Center. We left Ndola at 6:30 in the morning and headed toward the Congo. We debated for a while whether to take the way through the Congo because it can be very troublesome for Americans. Luckily, I have a Zambian work permit that looks like a Zambian passport; therefore, the Congolese think that I am Zambian.

In fact, one immigration officer asked me if I was Zambian and of course I told him yes. Mysheck started telling the people that I was a Zambian raised in the USA. The trick for getting through the Congo is to smile and become good friends quickly with the immigration officers. It is ridiculous how many people you have to pay to go through there. There are literally four people in a line, and you have to visit everyone one of them while they look at your passport. Then you have to hand them anywhere from $1-2. They just put the money in their pocket and don’t give you a receipt. Knowing that I am American they know I have money; therefore, their price goes up. Mysheck and I therefore always let him pay. When anybody asked for money from me, I would always say, “No money.” and then point at Mysheck. Of course I had wads of money in my pockets, but if they saw that we were in trouble.

The border towns (see pictures) are crazy places. Everybody is trying to sell you something, or they are always wanting to wash your car. I literally had a guy come up to me and ask me if I wanted to go window shopping. I said no to his question at which time he told me that window shopping is going to look for a girl with whom to have sex. In response I just looked at him like I did not understand. (The dumb look always works when you are in a foreign country.) The spread of HIV/AIDS was exacerbated because of border towns such as these. The towns are know to have a high percentage of people with the disease, and when men, truck drivers especially, come through unfortunately many of them have sex with the girls. Many of the truck drivers have to spend three or four days at the borders waiting to cross the border; therefore, their likelihood of the disease increases with their sexual activity. In turn when they leave, they spread the disease to other parts of Zambia/Africa. It is a very unfortunate situation.

When you cross into the Congo, nothing changes except that you drive on a dirt road instead of a paved one. To imagine it just think driving down a dirt road through a forest for two hours with houses like the one shown in clusters or communities. The one noticeable change is that you do have drive on the right hand side of the road instead of the left. It is weird to switch in the middle of your journey. The Zambian countryside is just like the Congo- forest with brick huts in communities. Seeing rural Zambia makes you appreciate what you have. Though they mostly can’t access them, the urban poor at least have some conveniences around them. The rural poor have NOTHING around them.

Safya is interesting because it is adjacent to a huge lake; therefore, it is a fishing town. In a land locked country like Zambia the lake surprises you. The name of the lake is Lake Bangeweulu, which literally means "where the water meets the sky." The lake is very odd in the fact that you can not tell the difference between the water and the sky. They are both the same color, and it is very hard to distinguish the two. Many Zambians have never seen a lake this size and marvel at it. The sad thing is that because there are no fishing regulations, the lake has been overfished. It is a peaceful place though. Because it is much smaller and less hectic than Ndola the Zambian pace (a.k.a the slow pace) is much more distinct here. That’s it for now. I will be sure to write more about my travels around the Zambian countryside.

Police Frustrations

Today was a frustrating day. Most of the day went very well. I was able to play some good tennis at night and was very productive at work. On the way home someone hit my car from behind. It was not too bad of an accident, but my back bumper was destroyed and my trunk will not close because of the crash. Luckily, I was traveling with two Zambians; therefore, they talked to the people and took care of the logistics. The other driver admitted fault and was very nice. He did not want to report the accident to the police and would pay to have it fixed. I said that we needed to report it, and my Zambian friends agreed. It was the right decision and I would make the same decision again, but that does not mean that I don’t regret it.

It took ONE HOUR for the police to come to the accident. We had to rent a cab, go to the police station, come back and still wait on the police officer. When she finally got there, she gave us a sob story about how she was hungry and breast feeding; therefore, she needed a coke and a doughnut in order to do her job properly. I told the guys that that was ridiculous, but they said that we had to do it to make her happy and make sure everything went ok. After she came to the scene, we then had to drive back to the police station and wait for thirty more minutes while she wrote up the police report. It was a two and a half hour ordeal. I was never mad at the guy who hit me, but that police lady sure did get my blood boiling. My Zambians friends say that it is like this every time you deal with the police.

One of my favorite Zambian stories is told by Martha Temfwe, Lawrence’s wife. A long time ago when their boys were young and Lawrence was in the states, a couple of robbers came to the house. All the doors and gates were locked; therefore, the robbers could not enter the house. Knowing that they were safe inside the house Martha instinctively called the police and told them the situation. The police promptly asked her if she could go outside, get in her car, and come pick them up because they did not have any gas in their cars. Martha hung up the phone and waited for the robbers to leave. Zambia oh Zambia what will we do with you!

Time to Travel

It is time for me to see the rural parts of Zambia. I am traveling tomorrow with a couple of people from the Jubliee Centre to Samfya, Zambia to observe some ministry projects we have in the northern part of Zambia. It should be fun to say the least. There should be a lot of wilderness, and we travel over the longest bridge in Zambia. If you look at the locations of Ndola and Samfya, you will see that it saves time if you pass through the Democratic Republic of Congo. Therefore, on the way there we will do just that. It will definitely be an adventure because the guards at the Congo have been known to give Americans trouble. If you know anything about the DRC, to say that it is a lawless piece of land is a very accurate statement. This will be my first time through the DRC so we will see how it goes. Hopefully, I can get through with no hassle. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and upload them when I return. Until then I am off to the bush.....

Gas Is Back!

Well, the gas crisis has ended in Ndola. As quickly as it came, it went away. It was anticlimactic and disappointing. I wanted the drama, but I guess no drama is better than waiting a day in line for gas.

In other news, I went to a new church service by myself yesterday. The only problem was that I did not know this service was only in Bemba (the tribal language) . Therefore, I sat on a wooden bench for three hours listening to a language I don't know. I tried to pick out the words that I do know- Jesus, grace, hello, thank you, etc.... There was one song that continually said "Thank you, Jesus!" I was pumped to understand! All the other times I have to be honest, but I zoned out. The one time they did speak in English was when they had the guests stand up. At which time they said, "I see one in the back. Let's have all of our guests stand up as we greet them." I am pretty sure they said that in Bemba before they said it in English. But when I did not move, they decided to use English to get a response out of me. Well, here is to visiting a church next week that I can understand. Peace and love!

Rain :)

We had a teacher training session today (they happen every Wednesday and Thursday). Today's topic was Rules, Consequences, and Procedures: How to Run an Efficient Classroom. The session went really well. Sometimes during the week I have a tendency to get discouraged about the work I am doing. In my opinion it is a natural thing, but at the same time you have to be aware of the difference that you are making. I realize that difference when I am delivering the sessions to the teachers. You can see the light bulbs start to flicker. That is always a good feeling. At the same time, we have to take this learning in the session and put it into practice in the classroom. It is useless unless we see changes in the classroom.

For example, today's lesson went great. They are understanding the concepts of how to create effective rules and procedures. At the same time the basis of the lesson is that effective rules and procedures create efficiency in the classroom which in turn creates more teaching time. The Zambian culture is not based upon efficiency though. It is the exact opposite; therefore, I am not only teaching a new concept, but a counter-cultural one at that. That is why follow up is so important for these lessons.

Today, we faced a new challenge- the rainy season. When it rains it pours here and it poured today. The rain season starts this week and continues until the end of March. I have included a video of what the rain is like. It is INTENSE! I don't believe the video does it justice. I was literally yelling at the top of my lungs to be heard by the teachers because the roofs are tin and there is no insulation. All of the teachers were also having to sit on one side of the classroom because the rain was coming through the windows on the opposite side. TIA- This is Africa!

Fuel Shortage

New developments in life: There is a fuel shortage in Zambia. Yippee!!! Who knows how long it will continue, but I have three fourths of a tank of gas. That should last me a week and a half. People literally park their cars along the road to reserve their spot in line for fuel and then leave the car. Sometimes the lines are over half a mile long. Next time I go by a gas station I will have to get a picture for you. Also, people now just congregate around the gas station as if they just think that fuel is going to magically appear out of the ground. It would be sweet if it did, but having a work oriented mindset when I drive past I always think to myself, "Is there nothing better for people to do?" I guess not is the answer to that question.

The government says that fuel is coming, but nobody trusts what the government says. I believe the shortage is the result of a problem at the oil refinery in the country. There is only one refinery so when something happens to that one refinery you are going to have problems. I think this is the reason. I can't say this is the reason with 100% certainty because no one has given me an answer to that question with conveyed 100% certainty. I just listened to a radio special on the situation, and they did not even address the cause of the shortage during the ten minute program. Either it is assumed that everybody knows the cause or nobody knows the cause. I am praying that it is assumed everybody but me knows the cause. We could be in a lot of trouble if nobody knows the cause. Peace and love until my car runs out of gas and I have to sit in line for a day.

Angels in the.....

I believe that angels come in different shapes and sizes. Some people continually ask me how do you survive in Zambia without modern conveniences. First of all it is not all that bad and secondly my answer is angels. And my two angels are Bob Shepard and Vicki Huckaby of Thomaston, GA. When Vicki came to Zambia a few weeks ago, she thought long and hard about how to get a Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich to me. There was no possible way for her to travel all the way with the sandwich in tack. Therefore, she and Bob decided to just get a bag of the breading and bring it over. (Bob once worked for Chick-fil-a) That means that I don’t get just one chicken sandwich. I get 100! (that’s an estimation:) Last Saturday, I made my first chicken sandwich. It was the most amazing thing ever. It did not taste exactly like a Chick-fil-a sandwich, but it was close. A special thanks goes out to Bob and Vicki for helping me “survive” in Zambia.

In other news, I offer a new section to my blog. It is entitled, “Ask Bram?” It is very simple activity. I will be taking questions from you and answering them on this blog for everyone to read. So if there is something you have always wanted to know about Zambia, me, or anything in particular about life, send that question to askbram@gmail.com. Hopefully, I will have some questions to answer soon. Peace and love.

Ultimate Small World Story

Background: Before you read this story, you have to know the details of Alma, Georgia. Therefore, click here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma,_Georgia. Alma is the hometown of mother's mother and is the definition of rural Georgia. Think cows, dirt roads, Baptist preachers, two stop lights, and 3,000 people in the whole town.

Today, I went to buy more school books from my friend who gave me free books last Friday. He owns a small stationary shop in downtown Ndola. As I was checking out, my friend, Manu Patel, asks me what state I am from. I tell him Georgia, and he tells me that his son runs a hotel outside of Savannah. I say that is cool and am sort of surprised that he has Georgia connections. Just as a natural flow of conversation I ask him where the hotel is located. He tells me Alma, Georgia and my jaw drops. I tell him that my grandmother is from Alma and that I have visited there often. We laugh for a second, and then thinking that there is only one hotel in Alma, I ask him if his son manages the Days Inn. He laughed again and told me that yes his son managed the Days Inn in which I have stayed.

What a small world! Whoever thought you could make Alma, Georgia connections in Ndola, Zambia. I don't think that I have ever made an Alma, Georgia connection in my life. Not to be derogatory but I didn't think people who live in Alma have connections outside of the state of Georgia. It is just that kind of place! Kinda crazy what surprises await you.....

Whoops!!!

Some nights I get tired of cooking for myself; therefore, I go out to this really good Italian restaurant. It is only about once every two weeks, but I really enjoy it when I do. I sit there by myself and read a book. Besides traveling I don't think I have ever eaten at a restaurant by myself, but I kinda enjoy it/I still don't like it. The bottom line is that I am getting used to spending time alone, but I still love people way to much to really enjoy time alone. That is not the point of my story though.

Last night as I was leaving the restaurant, I started driving down the wrong side of the road!!!! I realized it after 5 seconds, panicked, and swerved back to the left. Luckily no cars were around and no body saw me. That is the first time I have done this. I am convinced it is because I let myself get comfortable behind the wheel; therefore, I reverted back to old habits. Before this I have always been very conscious about driving on the left hand side of the road, but I guess that I just let myself get too comfortable. Hopefully that will not happen again because it was rather scary when I realized what I had done.

Training Curriculum and Kitwe Visit

Today I wanted to give you a brief insight into the training program we developed. In the program we first teach basic core leadership principles that can be applied to the classroom, and then we teach them "best practices." Best practices are proven teacher strategies that help children learn. We only focus on five leadership principles, but we think that if the teachers can truly develop these principles they will be successful in the classroom. If a teacher can 1. set big goals, 2. invest others, 3. plan purposefully, 4. execute effectively, and 5. continually increase their effectiveness, they can make significant gains within the classroom. Within each of these leadership principles are different subcategories, and each of these subcategories entails one session. For example, here is part of our training schedule for Mapalo.

1. Plan Purposefully

a. Objective Driven Lesson Plans October 15th

b. Classroom Procedures and Rules October 22nd

c. Differentiated Instruction: Zone of Proximal Development October 29th

d. Age Appropriate Understanding of Children November 5th

e. Levels of Critical Thinking November 12th

2. Invest Others: A Child Centered Education

a. Creating a Welcoming Environment November 19th

b. Student Interest: Can and Wants November 19th

3. Set Big Goals

a. Setting Goals November 26th

b. Long Term Planning December 3rd

c. Assessments December 3rd

Hopefully, that gives you a little bit of an idea of our training philosophy even though it is kinda hard to do without sitting down and looking at the documents . After we finish the leadership training, we move to training them on teacher best practices. The program for Mapalo, the community in which I work at the moment, will last until the first of April.

While the "pilot program" is on going in Mapalo, we are already looking at expanding the program to other communities schools with whom we have contact. Lawrence Temfwe and I are traveling tomorrow to Kitwe, a town about 45 minutes away from Ndola. There we will engage the pastors and school leaders to see if this is something they want for their community schools. The program would look different in Kitwe though. Instead of offering an hour and a half session each week and constantly monitoring the schools, we would run an intensive three day session when the teachers have time off, and we would only engage in a limited amount of school monitoring.

Things are still going well in Mapalo. The teachers are still excited, and I can begin to see change in their teaching practices and mentalities. For the past two days, I saw educational games being played. When I first walked into the school, I never thought this was possible. They also know when I am coming to the schools; therefore, they may just be doing it to show off to me. Whatever the reason, students were having an engaging and meaningful educational experience and for that I am thankful. Until next time....

Honest Business Practices

I went to the store during lunch today to pick up bread. As I was walking out of the store, a man walking beside me said "Hello!" I replied with a cursory hello as I continued walking to my car not paying much attention to the man. Then the man started talking about my haircut at which time I recognized that he was my barber. We chatted briefly, and I told him that I would be in this week to see him. It was a welcome surprise even though it should not have been a surprise at all (the barber shop and store are right across the street from each other).

Anyway, I got into my car and started to drive off when I saw someone running at me. My immediate thought was to grab my gun, but I remembered that I left that with my mother so that she could defend herself on the rough streets of Thomaston, GA. After thinking about some self defense moves, I saw that it was again my barber who was running at my car. I rolled down my window, and he told me that he overcharged me on my last visit and that he would give me a discount this time when I came in to see him. He could not have overcharged me that much because the haircut was only $2. He told me that he would only charge my 5000 quacha this time ($1.11). I really don't care about the discount, but I just thought about how nice and honest his actions were. I had no idea he overcharged me and would have never have known the difference (I am an ignorant American in some regards and in other regards language difficulties make it difficult to question things like that). He did not have to offer me the discount but was honest and upfront about his dealings. So many times you hear of corruption in all spheres of life in Africa. Sadly to say this is many times true, and this is definitely a problem. At the same time, it is not everyone. My barber it turns out is a very honest businessman even when nobody is holding him to be. I thought a story of hope is something that needed to be told because I know that the 24 hour news stations are not telling you stories like these. May there be more stories of hope in our lives because I know that I don't get tired of hearing them.

By the way, for those of you reading this blog who do not know my family, my mother is a precious woman who is in no way like the woman I have depicted on this blog. Even though I may make up stories about her hitting me in church and her carrying a firearm, she has never once hit me and does not own a gun though she did steal our neighbor's gun once (JUST KIDDING MOM :). I told her nobody believed those stories for a second (see earlier post if you are wondering what story), but I just wanted to briefly defend her honor. Here is to my precious mother. But all the other stories on this blog are true, and I will defend their veracity until the day that I die. Peace and love!

Free Books!!!

Today I went to purchase books for a few of my schools. A person in the United States sent money over to purchase the books. This is a desperate need because some of my teachers before now did not even have a single book from which to teach. It is definitely a sad state.

Anyway, I ran around Ndola today finding different books. The books that my teachers teach out of are student practice books. Until today I had never seen a "teacher edition." Well, I purchased most of the books from one store and then went around trying to find some other resources that the first store did not have. I ended up going back to the first store, and when I started looking at the books again they handed me a bunch of books for free. They also started handing me free teacher editions. I never told them what I was doing, but they kept handing me free stuff. Why they did not just give me all the free stuff the first time I came into their store I don't know, but I don't really care. The bottom line is that I came away with twice as many books as I should have. It will be a happy day when they receive the books next week!

Choosing a Church

Well, if you read my monthly update, you saw that I have not settled on a church. I want to desperately settle on a church and get “plugged in,” but it is very hard for me to choose a church. Sometimes my critical mind gets me in trouble, and this is one example of that time. I have come to accept that the church is imperfect and will always be that way, but that does not make it any easier for me to choose. One of the main questions is how much do I want to challenge myself when choosing a church in Zambia. All churches are different from what I have experienced before, but do I need to go to a church that is very different from my previous experiences? If I wanted to choose a church that is extremely different from my upbringing, I could always go to a Pentecostal church in the compounds. A former American who worked for the Jubilee Centre choose to do this and got a life lesson in the process. He said that every Sunday there was always a big breasted woman breast feeding two children at once during the worship service. He said it was hard to pay attention while that was happened, but at the same time he and his wife felt like they should challenge themselves and go to a church outside their comfort zone.

That is great for him, but do I need to push myself that much. I totally believe that everyone should experience a true African worship service at least once, but I don’t know if I personally could settle into such a community. Maybe that is a copout answer. Maybe I am choosing the easy way in order to be comfortable. There is no easy answer though because there is a fine line between truly knowing yourself and your needs and continually trying to push yourself to experience new, different, and stressful situations.

One thing that I know is that I can’t go to a church that preaches a prosperity gospel. I define the prosperity gospel as an understand that the belief in God will benefit you financially. You see this teaching many times in America, but you see it more often in Africa. I can’t go to a church that preaches this because it is not the gospel. It is a distortion of the true message of Jesus and what He claims to provide to his people. Many churches here continually preach that this is your year of breakthrough for blessings. Then if you don’t receive your blessings, you are evidently sinning. This is not biblical and is not the gospel of Jesus Christ (read Job for one example of why this is not biblical). I can’t go to a church that preaches this because it frustrates me very much. I want to yell in the middle of a service because this is not the gospel and not the purpose of the gospel. (At the same time I want to yell in church in America many times. I once did yell in Thomaston at FBC, and my mother slapped me. Ok, that was a complete lie, but I once wanted to yell to see what kind of reaction I could get from my mom and the congregation. Anyway I digress.) Because so many people are poor the preachers are just telling the people what they want to hear to make them happy. I wish I could say that this was the case only in Africa, but it is also the case in America. Constantly, we are just telling people what they want to hear instead of preaching the gospel. Some churches in America preach the prosperity gospel while others preach that the gospel just requires you to do good and be better than your neighbor while forsaking any sacrifice that may be required. The church is losing relevance and prophetic vision by the day because it gives up preaching the gospel in favor of preaching what people want to hear. That is one of the reasons that the Jubilee Centre focusses on training church leaders because when the pastors and leaders truly understand their vision and the call of the gospel they can effectively communicate the gospel with out fear. May God save the church before we hurt ourselves and may I choose a church before I hurt myself.

It Can't Be....

I will admit that I benefitted nicely from the American team being here. My father brought over two suitcases full of “supplies” for me. There was Bath and Body Works Jasmine Vanilla hand soap which is the best soap made by man. I like to call it ambrosia for your hands. There was also a five pound bag of Chik-fila breading; therefore, I can make my own Chik-fila sandwiches in Africa. There was a season of both House and the Office, more books, gatorade mix, my tennis racquets, homemade brownies, Starbucks coffee, and many more things. It seriously was Christmas come early. My mother also included my birthday and Christmas gifts. I will hopefully have enough self control not to open those until the respective dates.

It was difficult seeing my father fly away yesterday, but the Lord is good. When my dad first came to Zambia in 1996, I seriously don’t think that he ever imagined he would be flying away from Zambia one day while leaving his son behind. Sometimes there are small blessings of which we have to be aware. After dropping off the team at the airport, Lawrence and I had to stop at the “American” shopping center before leaving Lusaka for Ndola. We always love to get things there that we can’t get in Ndola, or that we can get a lot cheaper in Lusaka. I was in one store in the shopping center when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a can of Dr. Pepper. I said that it could not be because I have wanted a Dr. Pepper so bad for the past two months. I walked over to the store and sure enough there were cans of Dr. Pepper in the freezer. I grabbed four of them before anybody could steal them from me. There was nobody else in the store, but I was sure someone was going to steal them from me. I took them straight to the cash register not caring about the price. I asked the lady at the register if you could get these anywhere else in Zambia. She told me no, and that 12 cases come in every shipment. Of those 12 cases, the store immediately calls one individual in Lusaka who comes to purchase 2 of the cases. I need to know that person. She pointed to his phone number on the wall. I thought briefly about memorizing it, but I thought the phone call may have been a little too weird. One can of Dr. Pepper ended up costing $2, but I did not care. I purchased my four, thought about purchasing 12 more, and got out of the store as quickly as I could. I am sure that I freaked the cashier out, but it did not matter to me. I have not drank one yet because I am waiting for those special moments when I really hate Africa to drink them.

A Week WIth the Medical Team and a Surprise Meeting

Written on October 3rd

Well, I have been Americanized again after having spent a week with my father and the medical team from the United States. It was a welcome break from the normalcy of life in Ndola. After having to learn to survive by myself in Zambia, it was different being in an American group and having so much structure. I could get used to somebody cooking for me every night (as it was this past week).

During the week, the medical team ran clinics in a compound called George during the day. I mainly worked in the pharmacy because I have worked there many times before on these types of trips and know my way around. At the same time I would also take some of the team members on tours of the markets and compound. Many of the team members stated that it is a lot different walking around these communities than just riding through them. The realities of the situation become more real during the walks.

Last night, Friday, the team hosted a banquet for the pastors and volunteers that they worked with during the week. I thought it was going to be a very relaxing evening, but little did I know that I had business to take care of. I had received an email during the week from a friend of mine who stated that she had met the Zambian High Commissioner of Revenue on her travels in Kenya. She told him what the Jubilee Centre and I were doing in Ndola. During their talks, the High Commissioner, Mr. Mwansa, told my friend that he wanted to meet and talk to me. Well, things progressed very quickly since I was only in Lusaka for the week, and the only time which we could meet was on Friday night after the banquet. When the banquet finished around 8:00 p.m., I called him and he told me to come to his golf club. Lawrence Temfwe could not believe that Mr. Mwansa wanted to meet and talk because Mr. Mwansa is a very high ranking political figure in Zambia. In U.S.A. terms he is basically the head of the IRS.

Well, Lawrence wanted to talk with him as well, but he had another meeting that night. Therefore, Lawrence dropped me off at the golf club, and we tried to find him. The people at the club told us we had to speak to his assistants in order to speak to him. I wanted to tell them that I had been speaking to him all night on his cell phone, but I held my tongue. It turned out that Mr. Mwansa was getting elected the president of the golf club that night. While I waited for him, I started to talk to his assistants/bodyguards, Gift and Lusaka. Well, I spent about an hour and half at the club talking to his assistants while the voting/meeting happened at the club. Mr. Mwansa came and talked briefly to me, but he was busy with the voting and interviews. He was very proud to show me the president’s bar in the place and where his picture would be on the wall.

Well, Mr. Mwansa wanted to still talk about what we were doing; therefore, he said that he would drive me back to my guest house. His driver, he, and I got into his car, and we started talking about the programs that we are starting. About two minutes into the drive, he asked me if I have had dinner. I tell him yes, but that I would be glad to sit down and talk to him over dinner. He said that would be great and that we should go to his house; therefore, Mr Mwansa and I drove to his mansion.

I eventually called Lawrence and Martha Temfwe to tell them where I was and what I was doing. Martha basically told me that I was ridiculous. Well, Mr. Mwansa and I sat down and talked over dinner about his experiences visiting rural community schools and some realizations he had. Basically, he had no idea that these conditions existed in his own country. I told him that education experiences were not that much different in urban community schools not far from him. About halfway through our dinner, Lawerence and Martha showed up with Greg Smith and Boone Haygood, two Americans. Martha, Greg, and Boone sat in his living room sipping cokes and watching TV while Lawrence and I continued to talk to him about the state of the education system and what needed to be done. About 11:45 p.m., Lawrence and I said that we had to leave. Mr. Mwansa and his friend Lusaka would have kept talking for the night if we would have let them.

The question is will there be fruit from this meeting? Mr. Mwansa is a very powerful man in Zambia. I believe that his heart is beginning to be opened to the true state of education in his country. He does have contacts in the education sector and does want to do something. We are going to definitely keep him in the loop about what is happening and the progress that is made. He wants to focus on the rural community schools; therefore, we are going to start thinking about how the programs we have started to put into place can be transferred to a rural setting. I don’t know what will come about because of this relationship, but it is a definite beginning of a relationship.

Asia in Africa

September 24th

September 24th

This was written on my way from Ndola to Lusaka where I will meet my father and his team. They arrive on Friday afternoon. I wanted to write to give an update on life and not just education related material. It was become hot in Zambia. I think that I mentioned this before, but the weather pattern is one where there is a wet season and a dry season. We are in the last month of the dry season. It is also the hottest time of the year. The heat is not necessarily the problem though. It is still a dry heat; therefore, coming from hot summer days in Georgia this is nothing. The problem is the dust. Everything is dusty- you, your car, your house, your shoes... Plus when the wind picks up, it sprays the dust into your eyes. It is a give and take because when the rainy season comes everything becomes muddy. Africa is full of extremes and this is just one example of that.

I forgot to mention in my last post that we held our first teacher training meeting yesterday, Wednesday September 23rd. I provided an introduction of the program to them, and we also played get to know you games. It went really well. The participants were eager to be there and seemed to enjoy themselves. In total we had 16 teachers from the four schools. I will not hold a meeting next week because for the entire week I will be in Lusaka. Again, Lusaka is about four hours drive away from Ndola.

During our meeting yesterday, we played a game called Four Corners. One of the questions during Four Corners was to pick the place you want to visit. The choices were the USA, Europe, Australia, and China. Nobody picked China; therefore, I asked them why. The teachers were very honest in telling me that the Chinese were racist against them. Throughout my time, I am slowly beginning to understand more clearly tensions like this. Asia has come into Africa with development assistance, but for the most part they are exporting the natural resources without truly providing for the people. They take the natural resources to China, manufacture cheap goods, and then bring the cheap goods back. The development done by the Chinese in particular centers around the economic centers that prosper them, and the Africans can see this. For example, the nicest roads are on the way to the mines. Yes, that has to happen to a certain extent to grow your economy, but at the same time Africans can begin to see that they are being fleeced. Some have proposed that this is the new type of colonialism that is developing in Africa, a strict form of economic colonialism. Some of this has changed in recent years as China is starting to help in more development projects not centered around their economic growth. For example, in Ndola there is a new soccer stadium being built by the Chinese, but the stadium does not fit into the culture. It has huge dragons around the entrance and an ornate Chinese wall around the outside. I would say that it is weird to see this, but at the same time this is what Africa is becoming; therefore, unfortunately you begin to expect this.

The problem is not that the Chinese are coming in to make a profit, but that Zambian government is not considering the long term ramifications of their decision to allow the Chinese to come in with such force. The Zambian government sees the short term benefits of jobs and development without understanding the real issues. The issue is that Zambia is not developing their people to take the leadership reins in the economic sector. This is a very difficult situation to analyze because of the many different factors that contribute to this relationship. One book that offers a balanced perspective on Africa and the Asian influence is Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden. He refers to the Asian situation as a new form of colonialism, but is still balanced in his analysis. It is a long book, but a very good read if you are interested in Africa and its current state.

One thing I do know for sure is that ordinary Zambians are starting to clearly see the situation and the treatment they are receiving. Their attitudes towards the Chinese are becoming more transparent. Hopefully, Zambia can figure out a way what truly benefits them before it is to late.