World Cup = Loss of Power

Sorry about the absence from the blog. So on Friday, the whole country of Zambia was without power. This was definitely a first and got my mind thinking about what would happen if the USA lost all of its power. Everyone in Ndola was postulating about the cause of the power outage. Some days I think that Ndola is a small-town because rumors spread around this place like wildfire.

The most frequent rumor I heard on Friday was that Zambia sold all of their power to South Africa so that South Africa could effectively run the World Cup. Whether this is true or not, I do not know. If it is, I kinda have to laugh. If the money Zambia can get for their power is greater than the money the entire country of Zambia can make in one business day, why don’t we just sell our power every day and close this country up because there are many African countries that are desperate for power. O.k. maybe we did South Africa a favor or maybe there was a premium on the price for electricity. I don’t think that the rumor was true, but it would be ridiculous in my opinion if it was.

Yes, with the power outage, I did miss the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup match on Friday. It was a bit upsetting, but on another note, the World Cup has definitely provided a change of pace for Zambia. EVERYBODY talks about the World Cup games. It is the topic of every conversation and the “thing” to watch every night. It is definitely very fun to be in Africa while the World Cup is going on.

Future Plans

Many of you know that I committed to work for the Jubilee Centre for one year. My plans were to come to Jubilee Centre, to help set up the teacher training program, to help strengthen their policy initiatives, and to learn as much as I could within a year. Well, at the end of July my year will end; therefore, many of you may be wondering what is the next step for myself and for the training program I helped developed.

Let us start with the training program. As I wrote in my last update blog, I am training two of the Mapalo teachers, Samson and Emmanuel, to continue the Jubilee Centre program once I leave Zambia. During the final training sessions in June and July, Samson and Emmanuel will teach every session under my supervision. Also, we have already scheduling more schools to be trained in August and beyond. This program continues to expand and in my opinion that expansion will continue after I leave.

What about me then? Through my work with Teach for America in Washington D.C. and the Jubilee Centre in Zambia, I have realized that systems need to change to adequately care for the poor. I can train one thousand teachers, but if an education system (and the administrators of that system) continually overlook the needs of the poor and disadvantaged there is only so much that can be done. That is why I believe policy and advocacy work is so important.

To be effective in my efforts to help transform systems and society though, I need further training on the policy front; therefore, starting in August I will be attending Duke University to pursue a two year program for a Masters in Public Policy. Because the focus of my studies will be poverty policy, I will have the opportunity to study many issues I have experienced first hand the last couple of years. I am very excited for this opportunity and for the chance to further my education in this area.

More Pictures from Family's Visit

Pictures from the Family's Visit