David in Zambia

The End...

2010-07-23T04:40:00.002-04:00

Well, the end of my journey in Africa (and hence the blog) is here, but I wanted to write one final time to thank you for your support this past year. It is surreal that I only have three days left in Zambia. What has made this year truly beneficial for me is not only that we were able to develop a sustainable program but that I was also able to learn and grow so much in the process.

Teacher Training

At the final tally, we were able to train 32 teachers in our teacher education curriculum this year while also being able to train 2 instructors who will guide the program once I depart. Based upon our rubric scoring of exemplary teaching traits, the teachers in our pilot program were able to make a 46% increase of those traits over the 8 months in which we mentored them. We were also able to note substantive changes in many teaching practices such as increases in experiential learning techniques used.

Back in the USA

It is time to move onto a different phase of my life though. For your information, I will arrive back in the USA next Tuesday, July 27th, and I will be speaking at two churches in Thomaston, GA, on Sunday, August 1st, if you are around and want to hear about my experiences. I will be preaching at New Life Church for the morning service and at First Baptist Church for the evening service. Feel free to contact with me if you want more information about those services. Also, feel free to contact with me when I arrive back in the USA as I will have approximately three weeks before I start school at Duke. During that time, I will be traveling around the Southeast but feel free to email or call me.

Thank you for making this program possible. It has truly been a blessed year, and I thank you so much for your encouragement and support. I truly believe that without your support we would not have been able to accomplish all that we did. Thank you!

Jonathan Hoffner Photography

2010-07-19T03:36:00.003-04:00

Do you like the pictures above. Well, I did not take them, but Jonny Hoffner did. Jonny and Michele are my friends who traveled the world and visited me during Christmas. They have finally put their pictures from their trip on their website. You can purchase any of their photos if you click on their store, or you can just view their really cool photography.

http://www.jonathanhoffnerphotography.com/fineart.html

Take a look. You may find something you like.

A Glimmer of Hope

2010-07-19T03:17:00.001-04:00

Sickness is apart of Africa. It seems like every other day someone is not at work because they are sick. Recently, two of my good friends were diagnosed with malaria. I can comprehensively say that I never want to get malaria. Luckily, I have yet to be sick while in Zambia. I have a week to go, and I am knocking on wood like it is my job

From my experience here, I can say that there are many depressing things such as sickness and poverty that you encounter daily. The amazing thing though is that right next to the depressing situations there are also glimmers of hope. For example, while sickness is prevalent in the communities in which we work, there is also hope in the water projects the Jubilee Centre is starting because by bringing clean water we are able to fight water-borne diseases like cholera.

When telling the story of Africa, you have to tell both sides of the story. There are some amazingly sad situations, but there are also glimmers of hope. All is not lost.

On the funny side of life, two members of a team from the UK recently developed allergic reactions after they ate caterpillars for the first time. They were able to laugh about their sickness which is good because I was definitely laughing at them. I don’t think that they are going to need to worry about that allergy when they get back to the UK. “Excuse me, are there caterpillars in this dish?” Imagine if you asked a waiter that. Try it next time you are out to eat.

Dr. Chiluba I Pressume

2010-07-16T08:31:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, my friend, Dan Weber, and I were sitting at a meeting at our favorite coffee shop when who decides to show up but the former president of Zambia, Dr. Chiluba. We did not recognize him, but we realized that he was someone important because he had body guards and drove a Mercedes.

As Chiluba was leaving, a Zambian told us who he was. Immediately, Dan and I ran after him with our camera to get a picture. After we talked to his body guards, Chiluba got out of the car to take a picture with us (we presume it was because we are white.) Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, the man is short! I had to lean down to put my arm around his shoulder which makes the experience all the better.

For a little history lesson, Chiluba stole around $75 million dollars from Zambia but was acquitted of the charges last August before I arrived in Zambia. There was major disappointment regarding his acquittal because Chiluba's reign was notorious for corruption. His wife was convicted of stealing money from the Zambia government, and there still is a civil suit in England against him for stealing $57 million from a secret Zambian account. I say $75 million, but no one really knows how much was taken.

To say that he is hated/disliked by some Zambians would be an understatement (the Zambians we were with refused to get their picture taken with him.) But his party is still in power; therefore, they will probably try to shut down my blog in the next couple of days. I just wanted the picture because I thought it would be funny to stand next to him...

Why I Love the Jubilee Centre

2010-07-09T10:32:00.002-04:00

Someone recently asked me, "Why do you love working at the Jubilee Centre?" Therefore, I decided to write a blog detailing not only why I think the Jubilee Centre is a great organization, but also why I believe I was able to be successful this past year. Without further ado, here are my four reasons...

1. The Chance to Start Something New: The Jubilee Centre (Lawrence Temfwe) believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. Yes, Lawrence and I saw a vision for this education program, but in reality we had no idea what it would look like. Even though we saw a need and a vision that could meet that need, who is going to trust a 24 year old with that vision?

Lawrence gave me the freedom to run with the vision, but let’s be honest that was a risky decision in many ways. The Jubilee Centre is an established network, but Lawrence had the audacity to allow me to start something new. Not many organizations would allow that to happen.

2. Relationships: Relationships are the most important thing in Zambia. I would not have been able to start something new as quickly as I did without the relationships of the Jubilee Centre. JC has deep connections in the communities in which they work. I was given instant credibility in the communities because I worked for the Jubilee Centre. It would have taken me at least a year to form relationships deep enough to start a new program. But the Jubilee Centre had already built those relationships; therefore, I was able to hit the ground running.

3. Indigenous Leadership: I believe very strongly in the power of indigenous leadership. I think that there are specific areas that outside leadership can be very useful. At the same time, I love the fact that there are only two Westerners working at the Jubilee Centre at the moment. Yes, it can create some very interesting working situations, but over the long haul, I believe that indigenous leadership is needed.

4. Strategic Location: The main reason that I love working for the Jubilee Centre is that I believe it is in a very strategic location. I don’t know of many churches, organizations, or people in the West who could work effectively with the people in the compounds. Because of cultural differences, etc., I believe that it is very hard for a Western church to partner directly with a church in the compounds. I believe that these partnership can and should take place, but I think they are very difficult to form.

Given that situation, I believe that the Jubilee Centre is in a strategic location to help form these sorts of partnerships. In terms of examples, think of Jubilee Centre like a power convertor. The voltage from the American church comes in at 220 volts to the Jubilee Centre, and they help form the partnership with the compound church by reducing that voltage to 110 volts. Then, the Jubilee Centre also performs the opposite transformation by increasing the voltage.

In conclusion, I just don’t think that the compound churches and the Western churches speak the same language (literally and figuratively). The Jubilee Centre facilitates so that the churches can work effectively together while both groups benefit. To put it bluntly, the Jubilee Centre reaches where white people can’t while also having access to resources and credibility.

Mapalo Data

2010-07-02T04:49:00.004-04:00

Sorry that the chart is so small (click on it to make it bigger), but this is a chart measuring the impact of the Jubilee Centre Teacher Training Program on each of the teachers in the pilot program. We rate our teachers on 12 skills that we believe make exemplary teachers in Zambia. We gauge their skill ratings based upon a rubric that was developed. In each of the skills, the teachers can be rated as novice, beginning proficient, proficient, or exemplary. A point value is assigned to each rating with an exemplary rating being worth 10 points. On a 120 point scale our teachers, on average, made a 17.8 point increase on the rubric which is representative of a 46% change.

Some people connect better with stories of teachers appreciating the training and changing their practice while others want substantive data. I am here to provide both for you. (There is also a graph of each teacher's progression for the visual learners.) For full disclosure, we have taken parts of this rating system from other sources. It is not our original design, but we have modified a lot of things to fit our situation in Zambia.

Who Is the Jubilee Centre?

2010-07-01T10:58:00.002-04:00

If you ever wondered what the Jubilee Centre staff looked like, here is your chance. The other people in the picture around the table are my family, and the other white guy in the middle is a guy named Dan Weber who has worked for the Jubilee Centre for the past four months. There is also a picture of the Jubilee Centre with their families at a picnic and a picture of the Temfwes and I. Enjoy!

New People and New Training Sessions

2010-07-01T09:19:00.008-04:00

With the months of June and July come a new group of people to Zambia: the summer missions teams. You see them all over town, and they are so easy to pick out. This summer we have two such teams at the Jubilee Centre. One group is from Wheaton College in Chicago, of which I am an alumni, and the other group is from a church in England called Holy Trinity Evangelical Church. The Holy Trinity group arrives today and stays for two weeks, but the Wheaton College team is working with the Jubilee Centre for two months.

I love observing these groups because I have been in their situation many times before. The first weeks of your trip you are constantly questioning, “What I am doing in this strange land? What do these people at the Jubilee Centre think that they are doing?” Though the students may not say it, the questions are written on their faces. I do love the student’s questions about poverty and the way the church should deal with these situations here. I also love when the students experience something that rocks their world. It is hard to see an orphan for the first time. Even if you have a cold heart, I am confident that talking to an HIV/AIDS patient or an orphan will affect you. Those are the difficult issues that you have to wrestle with when you come to work with the Jubilee Centre, but our goal is to help people process those experiences and what it means for them.

Part of my job for June and July has turned to helping coordinate the activities of these groups so that they can experience the ministries of the Jubilee Centre. For example, last week the Wheaton College group taught in one of the community schools in Mapalo. I trained briefly them before they started teaching, but the overwhelming response from the group members was that teaching is a lot harder than they expected. Spending time with the Wheaton team also allows me the opportunity to tell all of my Wheaton stories. After my story times, they probably think I was some sort of heathen who only goofed off at Wheaton. That conclusion is probably an accurate one...

In regards to teacher training, we just finished a training session for another community school in Mapalo. For this session, I just supervised as Emmanuel and Samson, my two instructors, ran the entire training. It has been very fulfilling to watch them take over the training sessions. I think the program is in very good hands as I prepare to leave Zambia. Over the next couple of weeks, there are still things that I need to do to ensure that the program is on firm footing when I leave, but I am very confident in the future of the program. I have attached two pictures of Samson, the one with his eyes closed, and Emmanuel, the one standing behind me in the yellow shirt, so that you will have an idea of who will be running the program once I leave.

World Cup = Loss of Power

2010-06-21T11:20:00.001-04:00

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

2010-06-08T10:22:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-01T05:09:00.002-04:00

Pictures from the Family's Visit

2010-06-01T02:57:00.003-04:00

To Livingstone and Botswana with the Family

2010-05-31T06:13:00.003-04:00

After my family visited Ndola for three days, we traveled down to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls, and then we went to Botswana to go on a safari. Highlights of the trip:

Victoria Falls: If you remember, in December when I visited the falls, we able to walk on the edge of the falls. That is when the water level was low. I cannot even begin to describe the difference now. The rainy season has ended, but all the water from Northern Zambia is now flowing through the Zambezi River and over the falls. When standing on the observation decks, all you see is a white cloud of mist. It is very hard to get a view of the falls. Plus, with all the mist coming up from the falls, it is as if you are walking in a shower. I am not exaggerating when I describe the amount of water in this manner.

Safari at Muchenje Lodge in Botswana: After seeing Victoria Falls and spending a night in Livingstone, my family traveled over the border to Botswana for a three day safari in Chobe National Park. As with my other safari in Kenya, it was a remarkable experience. Chobe is very different from the Masai Mara in Kenya though because Chobe consists mainly of the bush whereas the Masai Mara consists mainly of the savannah. This creates two very unique safari experiences. The animals have more places to hide in Chobe, but the movements of the animals also differ depending on the land formation.

Our lodge in Chobe (the Muchenje Lodge) was simply amazing. The lodge sits upon the cliffs overlooking the Chobe River and Namibia. The Chobe River flows from the Zambezi River; therefore, all the water coming over Victoria Falls spills into the flood plains of Botswana and Namibia at this time of year. That is why the river resembles a lake in our pictures. During the months of September through February, that “lake” is a small river. It is impressive to see all the water and to know that it is usually just a small river.

The animals in Botswana: The most impressive thing about Chobe is the large herds of animals. For example, it was not uncommon to see a herd of 50 elephants or 25 giraffes or 200 water buffalo. This is something that I did not experience in the Masai Mara.

We are also able to get “dangerously” close to the animals. There were definitely a few times where my mother told the guide that she did not want to be that close to the animals. I mean who wants to be 10 feet away from a lion and her baby cub. I do, but unfortunately my mother does not.

The highlight of our safari was seeing a LEOPARD though. Leopards are very rare to see because they are very shy animals. Our guide said that the last time he saw one was in September. We were not even looking for a leopard but just happened upon it while on a boat cruise on the Chobe River. The leopard is very elusive though; therefore, we had to track him for 20 minutes along the shore of the river just to get decent pictures of him. Even though we knew he was there, it was extremely difficult to find him. They blend in very well and are spooked easily. Seeing a leopard was my one wish for the safari, and it was granted. Chobe=Success!

In total, it was a great vacation with my family. It was amazing to be able to talk to them in person and for them to experience Africa with me. Lots of memories and lots of fun was had by all. The vacation is over for now though. It is time to train more teachers!

The Family In Ndola

2010-05-31T05:22:00.002-04:00

My family has been in Ndola for the last three days. Tomorrow, we leave for Victoria Falls and then onto Botswana. My family has throughly enjoyed seeing the communities in which the Jubilee Centre works while experience life in Ndola. We have also had some time to just relax and enjoy life together which has been good since I have not seen them in nine months.

Two notable things have happened since they have been in Zambia. First, I am still evidently a terrible driver because I received two more traffic tickets this past Thursday, one for speeding and one for careless driving (two separate incidents. Who gets two different tickets on the same day?). That is 4 tickets since I have been in Zambia versus 1 ticket for 9 years driving in the States. Really? Has my driving changed that much over the past nine months? I think that they are out to get me.

Second, this morning (Sunday) we thought we were just going to church at one of the Jubilee Centre network churches. As we walked into church, the pastor asked me, “Who is preaching, you or Lawrence (Temfwe, the executive director of the Jubilee Centre)?” I responded, “Well Lawrence is not here, and I cannot get in touch with him on his phone.” The pastor then says, “Great! You are preaching in ten minutes then.” Five minutes of preparation and then I gave a 45 minute sermon. To tell you the truth, I am not surprised by these things anymore. For five minutes of preparation, I think the sermon went well. Now, my family is onto Livingstone, Zambia and Botswana. More updates will come..

(The pictures of are my family with the orphan they sponsor in Mapalo, at a friend’s house, and one of Brittany being swarmed by the children.)

The Family Is On the Way

2010-05-19T08:59:00.002-04:00

It is time for more visitors! (Visitors are one of the best parts about living in Africa!) My family (dad, mom, brother, and sister-in-law) leaves today from DC to come to Zambia. In total, they will be in Zambia for 10 days. I am super pumped to see them! It has been over nine months since I last saw them. I am traveling down to Lusaka tomorrow to pick them up. If you care, here is the itinerary for their trip:

Friday-Monday: Visiting Ndola and the Jubilee Centre

Tuesday: Traveling down to Livingstone, Zambia and seeing Victoria Falls

Wednesday-Friday: Safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana

Saturday: Leave for the United States

Yes, it is time for another safari. I absolutely love safaris! That is probably the reason I love visitors so much. They always want to go on a safari, and I will always obliged. Alright, I will be sure to keep you posted on all the fun things my family and I do.

Zambian Newspaper

2010-05-12T04:02:00.003-04:00

In the Zambian newspaper on Sunday, there appeared this memoir. I have come to realize that there are some things that I will never understand about Zambians. If I lived in Zambia for 20 years, I still don't think I would understand why someone would write a memoir containing the words "savagely murdered." If you want to write a memoir, why not just say died or even just murdered.

I come back to my original point. Because of my upbringing, I don't know if I can ever understand why someone would write this. I am sure that people have their reasons, but for once in my life, I am o.k. with not knowing. Even though I have become very comfortable in Zambia, there are definitely days where I stare into the sky and say "Where am I again?"

Who You With?

2010-05-07T06:11:00.003-04:00

I think one of the biggest surprises for me since being in Zambia has been the lack of freedom within the “democracy” of Zambia. Every couple of years, The Economist produces a ranking called the Democracy Index. The Democracy Index measures the democracy of each country based upon a series of questions and then ranks the countries based upon their respective scores. While living in America, I understood the basics of this index, but since being in Zambia, this ranking has taken on new meaning for me.

The fact remains that there is a lively debate on how and if one can measure democracy. My goodness there is even a debate on what constitutes a democracy. But living in a place like Zambia, that is not classified as a full democracy, for an extended period of time has provided me with the unique opportunity to see the differences in “democracies” and to understand how a systems can be rated as full democracies, flawed democracies, and hybrid regimes.

For example, I heard a rumor last week. Remember that this is a rumor. I cannot substantiate this information, but I do think that this information is credible. Presidential elections are to be held in Zambia next year, but in order to vote, one must possess a National Registration Card (NRC). Most people have a NRC, but those applying for new cards are supposedly asked one question: “Which party are you with?” If you answer the ruling party (MMD), you are allowed to obtain a NRC. If you answer the opposition party, you are turned away and cannot obtain a NRC. Not having a NRC means that you cannot vote.

If this is the case (again I call it a credible rumor), then it is very easy to predict who will win the election. Little maneuvers like this add up over the long haul to stall the progress of democracy.

One major issue though is the fact that Zambia is constantly comparing itself to its neighbors, and therefore, overlooking their own issues. They say, “We are not as bad as Zimbabwe, Angola, or the Democratic Republic of Congo.” My goodness China rates better than all of those countries on the Democracy Index. It would be like the Georgia Bulldogs comparing their football achievements to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. My goodness Tech plays in the ACC! Who wants to lower themselves to those standards? Next, we are going to be comparing ourselves to North Korea (or the Big Ten, Big 12, or PAC 10) (Yes, I just made a college football and foreign policy comparison!)

I am not saying that the Democracy Index is law. Zambia, by the way, is rated as a hybrid regime and 97 out of 167 in the 2008 results. I just wanted to add a little credibility to the index. I guess that is assuming my opinion means anything.

Stealing Hymnals

2010-05-04T07:10:00.003-04:00

I have a confession. I stole a hymnal from my church this past week and fell asleep in church. The falling asleep part was because my church starts at 7:30 a.m., I was tired, and the sermon was boring. I know those are just excuses, but I stole the hymnal because I heard this hymn for the first time and really liked the theology behind the hymn. I did not have a pen to write down the words of the hymn; therefore, I had two options. I could either steal the hymnal or tear the page out of the hymnal. What would you choose? I decided to steal the hymnal! (it is pictured below) Here is the hymn that I loved:

Hark, my soul! it is the Lord;

Tis thy Saviour, hear his word;

Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,

‘Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me?

‘I deliverd thee when bound,

And, when wounded, healed they wound;

Sought thee wandering, set thee right,

Turned they darkness into light.

‘Can a woman’s tender care

Cease towards the child she bare?

Yes, she may forgetful be,

Yet will I remember thee.

‘Mine is an unchanging love,

Higher than the heights above,

Deeper than the depths beneath,

Free and faithful, strong as death.

‘Thou shalt see my glory soon,

When the work of grace is done;

Partner of my throng shalt be:

Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me?’

Lord, it is my chief complaint

That my love is weak and faint;

Yet I love thee, and adore;

O for grace to love thee more!

This hymn is sweet because first it makes you think you are in a Charles Dickens novel. Second, it is sweet because I love the theology behind the last stanza and specifically the last line: “O for grace to love thee more!” It is only by God’s grace that we are able to love him. That is good because I stink at loving God. My love is many times weak and faint. Maybe you don’t want to hear a “missionary” tell you that, but that is just life. There is hope for me though, and it is not through my actions. It is through understanding the grace of God and his actions toward us and responding to that love. I really think that we are the most “spiritually healthy” when we admit many times that we don’t truly love God and we are honest about our beliefs and feelings. So many times though I have been in churches that don’t encourage us to be honest about the fact that often times we don’t love God. Maybe ya’ll are better than me though. Maybe you can just will yourself to love God. I honestly can’t say that I can do that. I can only love God when I have properly understood the grace and love that has been given to me (see Romans 6:14). Actions should flow out of that knowledge, but without that knowledge actions are useless in my opinion.

(Stepping away from the pulpit) Maybe there is no hope for me though because I stole the hymnal. Ha ha! Don’t worry I will return the hymnal next week.

Empowerment

2010-05-04T06:17:00.002-04:00

Training in Kitwe is officially done after four very tiresome days of work. I forgot how tiring it is to teach for a whole day. When training in Ndola, the longest I had taught for was an hour and a half, but when training in Kitwe, I had to teach six hours a day. Teaching for six hours is very tiring. No wonder I took naps in the afternoon when I taught kindergarten. Some days I would fall asleep while the kids were in class. Just kidding!

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, I took Emmanuel and Samson, two of my teachers from Mapalo, to train teachers with me. Emmanuel and Samson absolutely loved the opportunity to train other teachers. It was a great learning experience for them, but it was also a great learning experience for me.

I learned that to empower people I have to give up control! I always want to be in control to make sure that things are correct; therefore, giving up control is hard for me. But releasing control is necessary when training people. Whenever Emmanuel and Samson were teaching, I was constantly having to control myself from adding too many comments. Yes, if material needs to be communicated clearly, I need to step in and make sure the teachers are trained properly, but that was not my problem. My problem was that I wanted to micromanage the presentations and wanted everything exactly like I would state it. Who wants a boss like that?

At least I realized this tendency in myself early. Emmanuel stated that his goal was to present a session without me adding a comment. Ouch! Of course, he did not mean it as a knock against me, but instead meant that he wanted to cover the material adequately enough so that I would not comment. Anyway, one of my goals is to empower these teachers and Emmanuel and Samson to make a difference. I can’t do that though if I micromanage and don't allow them to lead. I will still hold myself and our project to a high standard but that can be done while allowing others to lead. The process may not be as pretty along the way, but the end result will be a lot better.

That Is Just Life

2010-04-26T11:25:00.000-04:00

I had dinner this weekend with an American couple who recently moved to Ndola. The couple is volunteering for an organization that works in communities similar to the ones in which the Jubilee Centre works. The couple has only been in Zambia for a week; therefore, they were sharing their initial impressions of the communities and what has stood out for them. After being here for over 8 months, it was very interesting to hear them share.

They continually said things such as, “I can’t believe all the naked children. There are so many children everywhere. They just burn their trash in a whole. The poverty is so vast. People just use the bathroom wherever they feel. The smell many times can be very pungent.”

These are all very true statements. The truth of the statements is not what struck me. What struck me is the fact that I don’t really notice these things anymore. Going into the compounds has become so much apart of my life that I am not struck as much by the depravity as I once was. It has just become life to me. It is almost as if I just expect to see a child eating a dirt pie on a daily basis.

One of the joys of being able to live and work in a place like Ndola for an extended period of time is that I am able to understand the situation and the problems to a greater degree than if I just spent two weeks in a place. I am able to become comfortable in this setting, and therefore, am able to experience the place to a greater degree.

At the same time, I don’t know if I want to become comfortable with the state of life in many of these communities. I don’t want to become comfortable with the fact that people live in mud brick houses that could collapse with the next rain storm. I don’t want to become comfortable with the fact that people defecate near their water source or do not have access to a quality education. I don’t want to become comfortable with the lack of medical facilities or the inability of the church some times to grasp its mission.

But how does one truly become comfortable in a place while still desiring and believing that the place can make changes for the better? One of the things that I dislike about many Zambian’s attitude toward poverty is that people say, “This is Zambia. We are a third world country, and we will always have people living in the slums.” I think when someone constantly sees poverty of this nature that attitude that can develop very quickly. My hope and prayer is that my heart and mind stays sensitive enough so that I never accept the “status quo” or “inevitable.”

Life Update

2010-04-21T23:50:00.001-04:00

OK. I realize that I have not been posting recently; therefore, I have a little bit of a life update for you.

Teacher Training

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, the teacher training in Mapalo is finished. After eight enjoyable months, we had our graduation ceremony on April 1st. The teachers were very appreciative of all that we had done for them and even gave me a gift in appreciation for all my work. It was definitely a moment of pride for me to see them finish the course.

One set of teachers down but another set to go though. Tomorrow, I will start training teachers in Kitwe for four days. Kitwe is a town approximately 45 minutes away from Zambia. (See posted map) This course will be shortened, but will cover 70% of our curriculum. In Kitwe, I will be training 25 school teachers who all teach in community schools. Schools are off during the month of April; therefore, for these four days, we will be having full day sessions to cover as much as the material as possible.

I will not be the only one training teachers though. For these sessions, I will take along two of my brightest teachers, Emmanuel and Samson, who I trained in Mapalo. With my supervision, they will be presenting half of the sessions. The goal is for Emmanuel and Samson to continue training teachers once I leave Zambia. I will not be in Zambia forever; therefore, part of my focus has turned to training others on how to train teachers.

Rest and Relaxation

After all the hard work over the past eight months, I have taken time over the past few weeks to relax a little. At the end of March, my cousins, Andrew and Kristin Timm, visited me for a couple of days after they climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It was definitely a joy to be around people who have known me for longer than 8 months. I personally feel like I can relax more when I am around someone who knows me well; therefore, Andrew and Kristin’s visit was definitely a time of relaxation.

Highlights of Andrew and Kristin’s Visit

Going to a 4 and a half hour church service. I thought the service was only going to be 3 hours long. After that service, I am evermore convinced of the grace of God because it was truly only by the grace of God that we made it through the service.
Bargaining for souvenirs at the market. At the markets, you have to bargain, but Kristin did not understand this concept like I wanted her too. After she was ripped off the first time she bought something, I took her money away from her and bought everything else at a fair price. Kristin was not upset with me for that, but she was embarrassed by me because I will get the price that I want. I refuse to pay “white man” cost at the market; therefore, I am not the most loved man at that market. I have made such an impression at the souvenir market in Lusaka that they even recognize me now. Needless to say, Kristin was a little embarrassed with my techniques and quietly disowned me three times under her breath. But she got everything she wanted at a fair price.

Other than those highlights, our time was spent relaxing, catching up, and seeing the sights of Ndola.

Then last week, Lawrence Temfwe and I went away for a while for a time of resting, reading, and writing. We were preempting burn-out. You have to be careful about that around here. Needless to say, with training sessions, celebrations, times of relaxation, and all the traveling involved, I have not been around the office a lot lately. Life has been good though, and I am very excited to start training teachers again.

Policy Article

2010-04-13T06:50:00.003-04:00

Lawrence Temfwe and I recently wrote an article about policy changes needed for community schools. The article was published in the Zambian Institute of Public Policy Journal. I have decided to paste the article below. Enjoy!

Community Schools: Hope for Poor Urban Children
In Zambia today many children in low-income communities have no access to conventional schooling. In some urban districts up to a third of the children in primary schools attend what are known as community schools. These schools are operated by unpaid and untrained volunteers who teach in community buildings which are of very inadequate standards.

In recent years, “the number of community schools has grown exponentially from 883 in 2000 to 2,129 in 2005.”[1] More recent figures are not available, but the number has only continued to grow. In 2007 the Ministry of Education issued The Operational Guidelines for Community Schools, which promised to provide, among other things, “equitable financial and material resources to all community schools.”[2] But this undertaking has not been met, and, most disappointingly, the Education Act remains silent on community schools.

Community schools play a vital role in most urban districts. In Ndola they educate 33,964 children, which is 29% of primary school enrollees. Though most of these community schools have registered with the District Education Office, resources and support are still not provided. The two most pressing needs are teacher training and equitable funding. If only the Ministry of Education will attend to these, the quality of education provided by community schools can be greatly improved
First, First, teacher training. The main reason for the success of community school teachers, despite difficult situations, is their impressive commitment to the education of the children in their community. Because of this, the Ministry of Education does not need to bring in trained teachers from outside the community, but instead to provide training for the existing teachers. Such training could be a short but intensive course covering basic pedagogy. A four month course, combined with continuous assessment, would impart the basic skills needed to provide a quality education. Hitherto there have been few courses of this nature. But presently the Jubilee Centre, a Christian NGO in Ndola, is running a pilot training course for twelve teachers in three community schools in the community of Mapalo. These schools serve 632 children with an average class size of 40 students. Before the course, their teachers were largely untrained. During this course, all teachers have demonstrated improvement in the skills taught, i.e., setting goals, thinking critically, planning purposefully, investing in children, increasing effectiveness, and employing best practices in the classroom. The Ministry of Education should now provide serious training to complement the remarkable commitment shown by community school teachers.

Second, equitable funding. The Ministry of Education must put in place a clear and transparent grant process for the distribution of community school funds. There have been countless stories about the misallocation or disappearance of these resources. There have even been stories of them being given to schools which do not exist. The Ministry must provide guidelines to make sure that funds are distributed in an equitable manner. The guidelines must include a rating rubric that explains how the funds are distributed. Only when a clear and transparent grant system is operational, will it be practicable for the community schools as a whole to ask for additional funding.
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Once these challenges have been effectively tackled, it will appropriate to turn to the question, ‘Should Zambia’s community schools become either private schools or government schools, or should they remain as an independent category?’ We believe they should be given a choice. If community schools meet the requirements and want to become government schools, let them be absorbed into the system. If they want to continue to operate as community schools with support from the government, they should have that option. However, in order for community schools to receive government support, they should have to enroll a minimum of 70% of their students from low-income families. This stipulation will provide a clear distinction between private schools and community schools.

There has to be an educational hope for the poor. But it may not lie in government schools. It may just lie with community schools, provided they receive sufficient support from the government to make this hope possible.
[1] National Implementation Framework pg. 41
[2] Operational Guidelines for Community Schools pg. 10

Small Video

2010-04-06T03:48:00.002-04:00

Ok, I just realized that the video I posted is small and you cannot read the writing at the beginning. My blog will not allow me to make the video bigger; therefore, I have posted the words below for your enjoyment.

1. Teachers are attempting to be developmentally appropriate in their instruction.

2. Long-term plans are now written by the teachers.

3. Teachers are now teaching in small groups.

4. Teachers are now using games to review and teach concepts.

5. Experiential learning techniques are now used in classrooms.

The End of Mapalo Teacher Training

2010-04-01T05:36:00.002-04:00

Well, it is over. After eight wonderful months of mentoring teachers in Mapalo, our training program has come to an end. It is kind of sad, but it is time to move on and train other teachers. Yes, there definitely were difficulties while running this pilot program (one school quit), but I could not realistically ask for better results given that this was our first time training teachers. To cap it off, I have attached a video detailing the changes we have seen in the schools. Enjoy!

Reckless Driving and Corruption

2010-03-17T11:32:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, on my way back from Lusaka, I was stopped by the police for reckless driving at which time I received my second ticket since being in Zambia. Good thing they don’t keep track of tickets because if I continued at this rate I will have my license revoked.

Let me paint the scenario for you. I am following Lawrence Temfwe from Lusaka to Ndola, and Lawrence is what we would term a “speed demon.” On the road from Lusaka to Ndola, he averages 80 mph. That is totally fine with me, but I was not cited for reckless driving when I was going 80 mph. I was cited for reckless driving when I was driving 35 mph!

While following Lawrence, we came upon a truck that was going 20 mph. Lawrence passed the car right before a curve, but I said to myself that it would be reckless and dangerous to pass on the curb. When we came to the next straight away though, I did pass the truck. Unfortunately for me, the police officer who saw me said that I passed on a solid white line. Who cares that the lines are not visible on the road or that the car was going 20 mph on a road where the average speed is 65 mph.

The point of the story is not to prove my innocence because technically I was breaking the law. The point of the story is to illustrate my first encounter with corruption. While paying my ticket (you have to pay on the spot), the lady told us that we could pay half the amount of the ticket, but that we would not get a receipt. That means the money would go into her pocket, and that there would be no record of my wrong.

It was very tempting to just pay her the money and move on. The way they said it made bribery feel innocent and harmless. I internally debated what to do for about a minute. I finally decided to pay the full amount for two reasons. First, I knew that it was the right thing to do. I could not contribute to a corrupt society. I wish this was the main reason that I paid the full amount, but it was not. The main reason was that I would much rather have more of my money go to the Zambian government than some of my money to a corrupt policewoman. If she had been nice to me, maybe I would have decided to pay her the pocket money.

Before this experience, it was so easy for me to look down on people that feed the system of corruption, but until you are in that situation, do not judge. It would have been so easy for me to pay that woman and drive quickly on my way. No one would have known. Moral of the story: don’t judge until you have experienced it yourself. Next moral of the story: I have a disdain for authority. Immediately after I was given the ticket, I began to drive more recklessly. The ticket did not curb my behavior because I thought to myself, “If you are going to charge me for a vacuous offense, I am going to make sure I get my money’s worth.”

Life Changes

2010-03-16T13:13:00.001-04:00

So I have been thinking a lot lately about changes I have made in my life because of my experience in Zambia. Let me start with the biggest and most significant. I ONLY WEAR ONE SHIRT! O.k. I have to admit that I still wear one undershirt and a collared shirt sometimes, but many times I wear a collared shirt without an undershirt. For those of you who don’t know me, this is a BIG change in my lifestyle.

Ever since 7th grade, I have worn at least two shirts at all times. Most times I wore three shirts, and sometimes I wore four if I wore a sweater. My brother and many others have relentlessly made fun of me for this freak characteristic. Wearing at least two shirts always made me feel safe. It was a way of being prepared for any freak accidents that could happen in a day. It was also a fashion deal for me. I would always match my undershirt with some part of my outer clothing. Sometimes I matched it with the Polo man on my outer shirt. Other times I would match my undershirt and my flip flops. Other days I would wear three shirts and all of them would match in some way. I know that now that I was being ridiculous. It was a big deal for me, but those days are over.

After all of these years it has finally gotten too hot to wear two shirts. One day I wore a collared shirt without an undershirt, and I really enjoyed it. Therefore, I started doing it more often and actually dread some days when I have to wear an undershirt. What’s next? No shirt? No comment.

In all seriousness, I have been thinking about the changes I have/ will make because of my experience in Zambia. This is just the first one that popped into my head. I promise to write about some serious changes soon.

International Women’s Day and Youth Day

2010-03-09T02:35:00.000-05:00

How many of you knew that yesterday, March 8th, was International Women’s Day? If you did, did you celebrate? Well, I celebrated because International Women’s Day is a holiday in Zambia. Don’t ask me. From the information I can gather nobody does anything out of the ordinary except that no one goes to work. I cleaned up my house, went for a run, went out to lunch with some friends, and did work from home. There is not much to do in Ndola on days off; therefore, I don’t appreciate the holidays here as much as I appreciate the holidays in the states.

The weirdest thing though is that this is not the only federal holiday this week in Zambia. Friday, March 12th, is Youth Day. I am not making these things up. All offices are closed on Friday to celebrate the youth of Zambia. I thought Americans were the only ones to take weird holidays. I was wrong. It looks like it is a worldwide trend.

So, if you don’t want to go into work on Friday just claim that you are Zambian and have to celebrate Youth Day. I am sure that your boss will buy it. I will write you a note if you need one. To validate your claim go take a kid to the park. I think that I am going to work on Friday so someone can claim my day off for themselves. Now I am off to celebrate another people group. I wonder which one we get to celebrate next week. Babies? Aborigines? WASPs?

Zambian Cultural Value: Hierarchy

2010-03-01T09:02:00.001-05:00

Let us continue our previous discussion of Zambian cultural values. Another thing that Zambians value is their hierarchy. I think a few of the reasons for this are because of the age issue previously discussed and because of the lingering effects of the colonial age which only ended 35 years ago. Whatever the reason, one must know that you are not supposed to disagree with someone who is above you in the hierarchy.

This hierarchy can be a social hierarchy or a tangible hierarchy such as those that exist in the churches many times. Whatever the hierarchy, I have never enjoyed or liked hierarchical structures. I understand that if used properly they can increase efficiency, order, and delegation of responsibilities. At the same time, I think that many times within hierarchies leaders try to create minions who will not question their authority. We many times call these people “yes men.” They always tell the leader that he is right and never disagree with his opinion.

I have never and will never operate as a “yes man.” My mother said that I have been like this since birth. I was your prototypical strong willed child who when told to do something would immediately push back against that command. I am still that way to this day. You can be the President of the United States, and if I don’t agree with your opinion, I am going to express myself. Of course, I always try to do it in a respectful manner that does not devalue the person, but I will express myself. The Zambian culture does not value this trait unfortunately.

One of the main places you observe this hierarchical structure is within the church. Most churches have a bishop, and no bad word is every spoken against the bishop. The red carpet is rolled out for these men which also annoys me. I am of the opinion that everyone should be treated equally, but in Zambia your treatment depends on your position in the hierarchy. In my opinion things are this way in America, but they are more overt in Zambia about it. In America, we just put up a facade many times to cover up our treatment of people within the hierarchy.

Let me again state that I love the order and structure of many high church traditions. That is one of the reasons why I love Anglican and Presbyterian churches. At the same time though if the bishop is not preaching truth or is not being held accountable, I have no problem with questioning him. I have gotten many a looks when I have questioned what a bishop says. I have also gotten many looks when I have questioned the treatment of bishops compared to the poor. In general, I have just gotten looks because I question things too much. I don’t just accept things, but in Zambia the prevailing attitude is acceptance without questioning.

Whether I like it or not, I am having to learn how to stroke people’s egos to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. O.k. stroking someone’s ego sounds bad. Let’s say I am having to learn how to efficiently operate within this hierarchical structure. I can butter up the police officers with the best of them (there is a good southern phrase for you, “butter up.” I still got it :). Let me translate my conversation with a police officer for you. “How are you today, sir? Yes sir, I have all of the documents right here. Thank you so much, sir. Have a nice day!” really means “This is a pointless checkpoint and procedure, and unfortunately I am presently questioning whether you are corrupt. I know though if I stroke your ego and feign my respect that things are going to go a lot smoother for me.” Maybe, I need to just stop feigning my respect for people and actually give them respect. The problem is again that I do not respect someone based upon their position, but I respect someone based upon who they are. What is worse: my feigning of respect or actually disrespecting them?

O.k. my analysis sounds worse than the reality of the situation. I have not challenged the authority as much as I have wanted, and I have only upset one person when challenging authority. It is something that I try to approach very cautiously, and I often times have learned to hold my tongue and nod my head, a.k.a. stroke people’s ego, because of the sensitivity of the cultural situation. The key is learning when to challenge. I think that it is in relationships that we are able to challenge the cultural values held by all people. That is why the most honest discussions which I have had have been with my coworkers at the Jubilee Centre. If anything, I have probably not challenged as much as I should. (I keep it bottled up inside. It’s a real healthy procedure you should try sometimes.) Lawrence Temfwe is constantly telling me to challenge more often people’s assumptions at the Jubilee Centre. It is a constant learning experience for me because through this experience I am coming to a greater understanding of the values I hold and why I hold them. My value of time, efficiency, and success is constantly being challenged, and I am having to wrestle with why I value those qualities. Needless to say, I am learning a lot.

How Old Are You?

2010-03-01T08:49:00.000-05:00

One thing that you have to know about Zambia culture is that age matters. If you are young, it is very hard, if not impossible, to earn respect. Leadership and authority are based upon age. I knew this coming to Zambia, and I knew that it would be difficult to start and lead a program because of this fact.

Therefore, I took proactive steps to make myself appear older. For example, I grew out my facial hair so that I would look older. I will admit that my goatee does not look good, but it does make me look older. Another step I took was to make sure that I was extremely professional when interacting with the teachers. This includes making sure that I am extremely knowledgeable about the subjects that I am teaching. It also includes telling my credentials in a positive light. When people ask what I did before coming to Zambia, I always say that I taught school in the inner-city of Washington D.C. and got my Masters in Education. I never tell them how many years I taught unless they ask. This has been a difficult line to walk though because I have also tried to develop personal relationships with the teachers and many times the professional and personal do not mix. I feel in many ways that I have been successful in this endeavor though.

My feelings were validated this past week. After the training session on Thursday, I drove one of the teachers home. During our time in the car we began to talk, and he told me that his birthday was next week. Of course, I told him congratulations and asked him how old he was going to be. He told me 26, and I thought to myself, “Oh crap! You are my youngest teacher. Don’t ask how old I am?” (I am 25 by the way.) Unfortunately, my fears were validated when he did ask how old I was. I turned the tables on him though and asked him how old he thought I was. He briefly paused, thought for a second, and then said that he thought I was in my mid-thirties. VICTORY!

How many times in life do people rejoice when someone thinks they are ten years older than they actually are? How many times will I rejoice at that fact? What would my response be if you told me at 30 that I looked and acted 40? Whatever the case, to be successful in Zambia I needed to convince people that I am old and have the right to speak. I wish that the culture was not that way, but I cannot change that. But to do the work which I have been assigned, I just have to work to exude the qualities which the culture values. And one of those happens to be age.

USAID Training

2010-02-27T01:57:00.000-05:00

What was your day like this past Monday? Well, mine started out as usual until 9 o’clock rolled around; at which time the whole staff was informed that we had to cancel everything we had planned to work on and that we were expected to be in staff development for the next two days. That is Zambia for you! I can begin to see why people never plan around here. A fatalistic attitude can definitely set in when all of your well-devised plans are upset by people who have a disregard for planning.

Well, obviously my attitude was not very good, but when I arrived at our conference hall for training, I was very excited to see that my tax dollars were at work. The training was funded by USAID. Yippee! Even in Africa, I am able to experience the joy of American tax dollars.

The purpose of the training was to lead the staff through a self assessment exercise to detail the strengths and weaknesses of the Jubilee Centre. It sounds great in theory, until you realize that this is not America. First of all, the training did not provide sufficient training on the proper way to self assess. This is very important in Zambia because most Zambians have not had many opportunities such as this that require critical thinking. In schools critical thinking skills are not stressed; therefore, the skill of analysis is generally lacking. The presenters did not seem to realize this though in their presentation.

Second, it must be noted that Zambians have been lacking in life opportunities. This is not a fault to anyone, but it is just the way of life. When self-analyzing, it is important to have an ideal situation against which one can reference. Unfortunately, that ideal situation in our minds is based upon the opportunities and experiences we have had. Considering this, the expectations for the ideal situation in the Jubilee Centre were very low in my opinion; therefore, people kept grading themselves higher than we should have. For example, when discussing planning our frame of reference was very low. Compared to other Zambian organizations, we do an excellent job planning for our programs. We are setting our standard too low though when we just compare ourselves to other Zambian organizations. Unfortunately, this is the only frame of reference most people in the Jubilee Centre have had. Again, it is no body’s fault, but I do not feel like the presenters/organizers considered this to the extent that they should have.

The problem in my opinion is that this training was just brought from the States without any true understanding of the situation. Now, I trust that the people are USAID are not stupid and actually tried to tailor the training to the situation. Unfortunately, this is what one continuously sees with many aid organizations. If they truly understood the organizations with whom they are working though, they would have a two step process of analysis. First, they would come through, personally analyze the organization, and help the people of the organization come up with action steps for a six month period. Second, after six months had ended they would come back, formally teach how to self analyze, and then provide more guidance during the process of self analysis.

What can I say though? They did not really ask me how to run their program. I did provide my opinion on their evaluation though. I just thought you should know how your tax dollars are being spent.

Random Teaching Updates

2010-02-19T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well, it is time for a few random teaching updates. First, the teachers continue to make drastic improvements in their pedagogy. When I observed this week, every classroom but one was completing an activity related to their subject matter instead of just making the students copy notes. That is a drastic improvement from the beginning when one out of 12 classrooms was completing an activity. What is even more excited is that the teachers are now starting to collect and analyze data on their classrooms (data gathering and analysis were recent lessons). With these new pedagogical practices in place, we will now be able to analyze the academic progress of the students. YIPEE!!! (I know I get excited about the weirdest things).

In other news, I recently ran a power point presentation for one of my sessions. For some of my teachers, it was their first time seeing a projector or a powerpoint. During the session, I once thought to myself, “I am teaching in the middle of the slums with a powerpoint presentation. This is weird but really cool at the same time. I wonder how many people actually get an opportunity like this.”

Finally, I was thinking yesterday that I am going to miss these teachers. For this particular group of teachers, their training ends in March. I have developed many close relationships with these individuals; therefore, it is going to be difficult not seeing them every week. I never thought I would feel this way. Sorry, I know this post is kinda random, but those are just some thoughts that have been floating through my head recently. Peace and love and have a great weekend.

To Infinity and Beyond (or to Kitwe)

2010-02-15T09:11:00.005-05:00

Well, as expected, our little education program at the Jubilee Centre is expanding. Today, I went to Kitwe, a major town approximately 45 minutes from Ndola, to talk to a school administrator about training her teachers. Lawrence and I had already talked briefly to her about setting up the program, but today we had a very productive meeting in which we outlined the training she wanted. During the month of April, we are going to train her teachers and maybe the teachers from three other schools in the area.

I am very excited but hesitant about this training. First of all, I am very excited to be able to help these teachers and for a chance to expand the program. At the same time, I am hesitant because we are changing the format of the sessions. Because the schools are located in Kitwe, I can not give the individual attention to the teachers like I have done in Ndola. This is difficult for me to let go of because I feel like the success of the program has stemmed from the fact that I have been able to walk beside the teachers as they attempt to change their practices. With Kitwe being a distance away, I will not be able to do this. Instead, I will do a few site visits before the training to chronicle the teaching practices. Then, I will teach four days of intensive sessions. Finally, I will do site visits afterwards to chronicle any change in practice.

I am not saying that it is not going to be successful. From my visit today, the teachers seem eager to be trained and to grow as educators. It will be a different from the present structure, but we will have time to analyze the effectiveness afterwards. Maybe, I am wrong. Maybe, we will see that the effectiveness of the program is actually due to the curriculum instead of my individual attention. We will see come May.

“BUT I HAD TICKETS TO THE SUPERBOWL, JESUS!"

2010-02-09T05:50:00.003-05:00

Presently, it is 1 a.m. on Monday morning, and I have just awoken to a new day. More important than that, I have just awoken to watch the SuperBowl. I am pumped! I forgot today was the SuperBowl until an American mentioned it to me, but when reminded, I immediately thought to myself, “You have not watched a football game the entire year. This is your last chance. YOU CAN’T MISS THE SUPERBOWL!” Not only is this the first time I have watched a football game, but this is also the first time I have watched TV in almost six months. There are a bunch of first happening right now...

Once Jesus asked one of his disciples why he was not in church. Jesus’ disciple told him that he was watching football, and when Jesus challenged him, the disciple retorted, “BUT I HAD TICKETS TO THE SUPERBOWL JESUS!”. Ok, that is not in the bible but that scene is in one of the funniest videos ever. (Click on this link or search Vintage 21 Jesus Films on Youtube to find the video. It is well worth your time.) My friends and I probably watched these movies at least 100 times in college. Some people call them sacrilegious, but I think they are great examples of the misconceptions that people have about Christianity.

Anyways, because I did not sleep last night guess what I am going to say to my boss tomorrow when he asks why I am sleeping at my desk. “BUT IT WAS THE SUPERBOWL, LAWRENCE!” Don’t worry Lawrence does not care one bit. I am watching the game in his house and sleeping on his couch. How many of you have that kind of relationship with your boss?

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

2010-02-08T01:52:00.002-05:00

Three people this week asked me if I take the pictures that are on my blog. I am going to throw out two equations for you to help you figure that out.

EXCELLENT PHOTOS = JONATHAN HOFFNER

AVERAGE PHOTOS = DAVID BRAMLETT

I am not a good photographer and don’t pretend to be. Jonny gave all of his photos of Zambia to the Jubilee Centre to use; therefore, I have access to them. I figure why not put them up if they capture some of the things I write about. So, without further ado, here are some more of Jonny’s photos from Zambia.

Other Ministries of Jubilee Centre

2010-02-02T09:30:00.002-05:00

Raise your hand if you think that the Jubilee Centre is an education NGO? For those of you that raised your hand, first that is weird. Second, you are incorrect. I don’t know if I have mentioned it before but the Jubilee Centre is actually a Christian NGO that trains churches in holistic ministry. When we say holistic ministry, we mean that the gospel of Jesus Christ should reach all aspects of a community. That means that we train the pastors theologically while also helping them set up ministries to their communities. That includes ministries to the orphans and vulnerable children in the community. That is where the teacher training comes in. Many of the churches that we work with run schools which educate the orphans and vulnerable children (community schools). Lawrence, the Executive Director of the Jubilee Centre, saw the need in these schools and recruited me to come in and help. We will expand the training to schools outside our network of churches, but this is where we have begun.

That is all good and great, but why am I writing about this now. Well, because the Jubilee Centre helps facilitate the ministries of these churches, it has many branches of work ranging from youth ministry to HIV/AIDS home-based care. Over the past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to visit some of the other projects run by the Jubilee Centre. One of the projects that affected me the most is a kitchen run in a compound called Chifubu. Fifteen churches in this compound provide volunteers and resources to run this kitchen, and six days a week this kitchen feeds children who are either orphaned or infected with HIV/AIDS or TB. Some receive meals three days a week while other receive meals all six days (it just depends on the severity of their situation). I had been to this kitchen before, but on Saturday, I truly realized the situation of these children. And it struck a cord with me. The fact that the only meal that some children receive is from the kitchen would not leave me. You could say that this thought haunted me.

I don’t know why seeing these children being fed affected me so much. When living here, after a while you forget that many of the situations you encounter daily are very difficult. You begin to see it as normal, but I am glad for the times that tug at my heart. I am glad for the times that remind me that I should be concerned and that I should feel compassion for these people. When this work becomes a job instead of a calling, I am in trouble. And when my compassion dwindles, I will also be in trouble. Thankfully, I don’t see that happening right now. I increasingly feel a calling to fight for and have compassion on those who do not have access to the basic necessities of life. Through all the difficulties, that is why I enjoy my job.

Differences

2010-01-27T02:54:00.001-05:00

I love the You Might Be a Redneck if... jokes. I thought it would be cool to do a You Might Be in Zambia if... post. These are not really jokes because I promise you that each of these has happened to me..

You Might Be in Zambia if...

you find random bugs like crickets crawling on you while sitting at your desk.

you observe people urinating in your yard about once every two weeks.

you constantly hear the world muzungu (white person) wherever you go.

you saw a five year old girl peeing on the sidewalk in the major downtown area of your town while her parents stood beside her. This girl also tried to talk to me while she was peeing (true story that happened on Saturday).

the one movie rental store only has bootleg copies of the movies.

you have to sprint out of the grocery store to stop a thief from breaking into your car (happened yesterday)

50% of the cars emit visible black smoke from their tailpipes and you swear you are going to get lung cancer every time you breath

Those are just few of the things that you sometimes experience when you live in a place like Zambia. No, I did not catch the thief trying to break into my car, but I did chase him away before he was able to take anything. It was a dramatic experience though as I had to jump over a metal barrier to exit the store. I think the onlookers thought I was crazy. That is a usual occurrence though whether I am in Zambia or the USA.

A Regular

2010-01-23T05:10:00.000-05:00

It is good to be known. Growing up in a small town, I enjoyed (and hated) going into a restaurant and being known. When I was young, sometimes my mother did not want to cook; therefore, we always went to Norris’ Fine Foods on those days. I would always order a pizza burger with french fries and a side salad (ranch dressing). It was a great joy one day to have the waitress ask me if I wanted my usual.

This tradition continued when I went to college in Chicago because starting sophomore year I ate at the same restaurant for breakfast twice a week. It was a small, local establishment and soon my friends and I became good friends with one of the waitresses. Her name was Shirley, and she was basically our grandmother in college. She would constantly make fun of us while also making sure that we were being good little boys while away from our families. To top it off Shirley knew my breakfast order by heart. My senior year I figured up that I had spent more time in that restaurant than the Wheaton College library. The total was probably about 350 hours at Egg’lectic (the restaurant) and 10 hours at the library. Needless to say Egg’lectic has a lot of my dad’s money.

Anyway, I now have a restaurant in Ndola that I can call home. It is called Suliwanji. We go there for lunch at least once a week because it is very good and very cheap. A heaping plate of chips (french fries) cost $1.50, and there are enough chips on a plate to feed two people. Ok, it is not healthy and to be honest a bit shady, but it is good. Unfortunately, Suliwanji was burned down in November. Therefore, it has been closed for the past two months, but this week it opened back up. You should have seen the smiles on the waitresses when we walked in today. It was their polite way of saying, “Welcome home.” Needless to say, all is right in the food world.

In the working world this week, we continue to see progress and excitement from the teachers. Yesterday one teacher said to me, “I am actually excited about teaching this year. There are so many things I want to change in my classroom so that I can become a great teacher. My attitudes on education have changed because of your sessions and your help.” I am also happy to report that 75% of the teachers have written long term plans for this first term. I honestly never thought that would happen. The progress and excitement of these teachers keeps me going.

Challenges

2010-01-16T08:13:00.002-05:00

Well, we all knew that challenging circumstances would come. This past week we unfortunately had a school drop out of the program. The reasons are vast and complex, but let’s just say I disagreed with the situation and the administrators making the decision. Unfortunately, I don’t make every decision. I mainly feel for the teachers. They were putting the lessons into action and I could see their attitudes about education changing. With this specific group of teachers, we only have two and a half months remaining; therefore, I also question pulling the teachers out in the middle of the program.

In the good news department, one teacher quit her job at one of our schools and took a job at another school. She desperately wanted to continue the sessions though; therefore, I made the decision that she could continue since we are halfway through the program. It is exciting that the teachers still want to come and improve their teaching skills though many decisions are not being made in their or their student’s best interest.

For your information, we just started a new school year in Zambia. Students change grades in January, and the schools run on a three months on/ one month off schedule. Since this is the beginning of a new year, I have already noticed a “pep in the step” of some teachers. We will continue to work hard to keep this attitude, but needless to say I am encouraged to see these teachers excited about teaching.

Since everyone loves pictures, I have included some pictures of the children that Jonathan Hoffner took while in Ndola. Obviously, they are a lot better than my pictures. Again, Jonny and Michele will have pictures of their travels up on their website later this year. I will be sure to inform you when their pictures of Zambia are up. Peace and love.

A Slow Beginning to January

2010-01-13T02:17:00.002-05:00

Ok. I admit that I have not blogged in a while. There is one main reason for that. To be honest nothing that interesting is happening. Life has settled into a routine. Since being back from Kenya, I have settled back into visiting schools, writing curriculum, and presenting sessions to teachers. I wish there was more to report, but that is life as I know it.

Culture shock was not as bad as I expected coming back from Kenya even though I think the potholes in Ndola are getting bigger. I met with a few teachers yesterday about writing long-term plans for their school year. They had tried to write their plans but were stuck on a few things. It was exciting because I was once told by another missionary in Ndola that I could never get these teachers to write long-term or daily lesson plans. I am happy to report that my teachers are constantly proving that lady wrong.

In other news though I encourage you to look and think about this story. It concerns a law in Uganda that will kill and imprison homosexuals. The law has been making headlines in the United States press for the past couple of months; therefore, you may have heard about the controversy. Even though the sponsors of the law are Christians, I personally deem the law un-Christian and am saddened by its existence. Presently, Lawrence Temfwe and I are writing a short response to the African church regarding this law. I will be sure to post it when we are done.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/08/world/AP-AF-Uganda-Gay-Death-Penalty.html

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/07/world/AP-AF-Uganda-Gay-Death-Penalty.html

Masai Mara Safari III

2010-01-04T01:43:00.001-05:00

Final Day on the Safari

This morning we woke up early for a sunrise morning game drive. I hate to use the word amazing so much, but that is an apt description for this whole experience. The animals were not out as much early in the morning, but we were in for a surprise. Our guide spotted a jackal being chased by an antelope. We just stopped to watch the chase. It was not very intense but just interesting. Eventually, the chase stopped and the jackal came close to the Land Rover to sniff a rock. We were passively paying attention to it when, in an instant, the jackal had a very small antelope in his mouth. Evidently, the mother had hidden the baby, and the jackal had found it. This was totally unexpected. The jackal did not get a kill though because the mother antelope quickly charged the jackal to save its young. The most exciting part was just that the whole experience was unexpected.

While this morning was an exciting end to our safari, last night still provided a spark as a lion roamed around our tents and chased water buffalo through the camp. One would think that you can’t sleep during events such as these, but safaris are very tiring. Once ten o’clock comes, it is hard to stay awake. Even though the lion was around our tent, we did not wake up all night.

I fly back to Lusaka early tomorrow morning, and there will definitely be culture shock. Nairobi is very developed compared to Zambia and the safari was very posh; therefore, going back to the slums will be a shock. It will definitely take some time to get used to, but it is all apart of life in Africa.

Masai Mara Safari II

2010-01-03T04:42:00.002-05:00

8 P.M. on Second Day of Safari

Best Two Days Ever? YES!! YES!! and YES!! Yesterday, we went on a three hour safari ride, and we hit the jackpot. Before the safari even started, there was excitement in the camp because a lion was spotted by one of the tents. Once on the safari, we saw the lions, zebras, and antelopes, but as dusk was approached, life got interesting. The lions decided it was feeding time. The adventure began with one female lion trotting toward a pack of topi (small antelope). At first she did not look very intent on killing the topi, but then she started to pick up speed when the herd of topi ran away. Finally, she ran full speed and picked off a baby. We were speeding behind it with seven other Land Rovers in tail. The lion played with the baby because it was trying to allow its youngsters to learn how to kill it. We have film of the whole episode, but unfortunately it is too large to upload. During this episode, I am constantly yelling, “KILL IT!”. I know this is gruesome, but I have always wanted to see a kill. One guide did not want to see the baby killed though; therefore, when the topi was trying to escape he drove in between the two animals. At that moment, the only thing between the lion and his dinner was our Land Rover. The lion stared at us, decided that the topi was a better dinner, and eventually pinned the topi down again.

Michele Hoffner was terrified of the whole experience. When the baby escaped with the help of the other Land Rover, Michele yelled, “We saved it!” At which time, I responded, “We don’t want to save it!” After we drove to safety, the guide who intentionally tried to save the baby was then surrounded and harassed by the other guides. The policy is that you don’t interfere with nature’s course. You are supposed to leave as little a “footprint” as possible. That is why there are no fences around our camp and why we stay in tents instead of permanent structures.

Well, a kill on New Year’s Eve is one thing, but the evening was capped off with a magnificent sunset over the plains. It was absolutely amazing! Not only was the sunset amazing, but on the opposite horizon, a full moon appeared over the mountains immediately after the setting of the sun. There was also a demonstration by the Masai tribesman which was really incredible. Click on the link to read more about them. One could not have written a more perfect script. I don’t know if a New Years celebration like this can be topped.

Today, we went down to the main part of the Masai Mara National Park. The highlights for today were seeing two baby lions with their mother and a baby cheetah with his mother. The baby cheetah was possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. It was only three months old and was covered in fuzz (see the picture). It was incredible to watch the mother cheetah scan the horizon for enemies and food. One could tell that it was soon going on a hunt, but unfortunately we were not around to watch its endeavor. Throughout the course of the day, we also saw zebra, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, jackals, hippos, crocs, mongooses, wildebeest, water buffalo, storks, vultures, warthogs, and many different kinds of antelope.

Last night no animals came into camp. It was a little of a let down, but on our way back from the safari drive today we saw a lion about half a mile from camp. Presently the lion is walking around the outside of the camp stalking water buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest in the plains. The lion is approximately a hundred and fifty yards from our tent trying to find a meal. Don’t worry. Again, I tell you that we have to walk around camp every night with an escort. Our escort is a Masai who carries a spear and a flashlight, and I have full faith in him. Tomorrow, we wake up at 6:00 a.m. to see the sunrise and find a leopard before flying out later in the morning.

Masai Mara Safari I

2009-12-31T04:25:00.004-05:00

3 P.M. on First Day of Safari

Best days ever? I might already declare so. This morning we flew from Nairobi to the Masai Mara National Park. The flight was simply amazing. We flew in a twelve seat plane over the Kenyan bush and then landed on a dirt runway in the middle of the plains. Our guide met us at the airstrip, and we immediately went to see animals. On our way to the camp, we saw hippos, crocs, zebra, zebra carcasses, impala, warthogs, and antelope. We should be able to see the all of the Big Five here (lion, leopard, water buffalo, cheatah, rhino).

Our camp is simply amazing. It is a bush camp which means that we have luxury tents situation in the middle of a grove of trees. There are no fences around the camp! Let me repeat that there are no fences are the camp! Our tent looks onto the plains where water buffalo graze two hundred yards away. At night the buffalo and hippos come into the camp. The camp hires Masai warriors to scare away the animals. We cannot walk around at night without a guard. How cool is that? The hippos and buffalo also come and sniff your tent at night which I am really looking forward to.

I could go on and on about the camp. The food is delicious and everything is catered to your needs. I could really get used to this. Presently, we are sitting on the porch in front of our tent watching the rains fall over the plains while reading and journalling. At 4 p.m., we will have tea and biscuits and then depart for a three hour game drive. If this place offered me a job right now I would instantly take it. Of course I would finish my work with the Jubilee Centre, but I am that in love with this experience. Jonny and Michele feel the exact same way. I am off to lay in the hammock and read my book until the game drive.

(By the way, the really good photographs on this blog were taken by Jonny Hoffner. I will tell you later when his photography of Africa is ready to be purchased.)

Nairobi, Kenya

2009-12-30T13:16:00.003-05:00

Today was our first day in Nairobi, Kenya. We are staying at my friend, Stephen Rigby's, apartment, but unfortunately, Rigby is not here. He was a roommate of mine at Wheaton but is presently on Christmas vacation. It is sad that I will not see him while in Kenya, but we are hanging out with his friends and having a blast.

Today, we visited Kibera, the second largest slum in the world. When you arrive in a new city, what person says take me to see the slums? I do. I know that it is weird, but poverty is one of my passions. Therefore, if I have a chance to gain more knowledge, I am going to take it. Because we were with Kenyans, we visited a family there and had to chance to talk to them about their situation. Today, we were also able to visit different sites in downtown Nairobi included Uhuru Park and the site of the American embassy bombing.

Throughout the day, I have been comparing and contrasting Zambia and Kenya. Nairobi is much more developed than any place in Zambia. I did not expect Nairobi to be this developed. I can find most things I need in Ndola, but in Nairobi, I can find everything I would ever need. I am so thankful also to travel on smooth roads. Even on the paved roads, potholes are your enemy in Zambia. I have not found that to be the case in Nairobi. Maybe I have gone to the wrong places, but we have traveled a lot in Nairobi today. Some of the roads in Kibera are better than the developed areas in Zambia. Anyway, the slums are pretty similar though Kibera is larger and more compact than the slums in Zambia. I also think that the Zambians have higher quality housing in the slums than the Kenyans.

Those are just some brief and scatter contrasts from my first day in Nairobi. By the end of my time in Kenya, I will hopefully be able to provide a more coherent analysis than that. Tomorrow, we leave for our safari. Three days and two nights in the bush. We are very excited. I have included for you pictures of Kibera and Rigby's friends/our hosts, Kennedy and Kinyash. Off to get eaten by a lion...

Christmas and More Traveling

2009-12-29T10:05:00.003-05:00

Christmas in Ndola was definitely a blessed time. I am very fortunate to have Johnny and Michele with me. Having them around has brought a different sense of excitement to my life, and it has also kept my mind off of not being with my family during the holidays.

Christmas is definitely not celebrated as much in Zambia as in the States. In many senses, it is just like any other day. Many shops are open, and people can be found milling about. It definitely was a different experience. Johnny, Michele, and I made the most of it though. We bought cheap presents for each other, had stockings, and made a fake Christmas tree. As you can see from the pictures, our tree was made out of a green towel. It looked really good in our opinion. Along with the presents we bought, we also tried to steal each other’s personal items and wrap them without the other person knowing (Michele's jacket in the picture). Oh, the joys of Christmas in Zambia. Who says you have to have extravagant gifts to have fun? For all of our presents, decorations, and stockings, we probably spent $40 total. We just made sure the experience was fun. (Those are elephant window shades for my car btw).

I think this Christmas, more than others, has taught me about the gift of friendship. I know that I mentioned it before, but I cannot begin to describe the joy of having my friends around for the holidays. I guess you don’t know how blessed you are until you have something taken away from you. I think that blessing becomes clearer when the thing, which was taken away, is given back.

Anyways, I am presently sitting in the Lusaka airport boarding a plane for Kenya. That is where my friends are traveling to next, and I decided to join them for a few days. We are going to be spending New Years on a safari. I bought a stupid safari hat the other day and I am very excited to wear it. Don’t worry I will take plenty of pictures. Also, don’t worry none of your donated money is going to this trip. All donated money goes to ministry needs not pleasure trips. This is just a Christmas present I decided to give myself. I made it to the new year; therefore, it is time to celebrate like a tourist. Also, don’t worry I am not missing work time because the Jubilee Centre is on a two week break. Just wanted to ease any concerns people may have had.

If you want, you can also check out my friends’ blog at hoffnerworlddomination.blogspot.com. They update it every couple of weeks during their trip around the world. You can also check out their website at jonathanhoffnerphotography.com. Sorry but their pictures from Africa will not be up until the summer. Their photos of Zambia are amazing so go buy you when they put them up.

White Water Rafting

2009-12-19T03:20:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, we went white water rafting on the Zambezi river for the whole day. All the water from Victoria Falls flows into one narrow gorge which creates world-class class IV and V rapids. Class V rapids are the highest level rapids in the world that you can commercially raft and there is one rapid on the river which is one of the most difficult rapids in the world. It is such a thrill and actually a lot safer than hiking to the edge of the falls.

I have included some pictures of our rafting day. The end of the rafting was a lot more enjoyable than I imagined it being. In the past, one had to hike 700 meters up out of the gorge to be transported back to your hotel. I have done it before, and it is a horrible experience. Try to imagine a full day of getting pounded by the river and then having to hike your way up a very steep gorge. But now they have installed a trolley so that you don’t have to hike out of the gorge. Even though I have spent a couple of days surrounded by natural creation, my most enjoyable moment was seeing that trolley working. You have no idea how hard it is to hike that gorge until you have tried it. Even though it felt like the trolley was going to fall off the wire, it was a welcome relief to a tired body.

Victoria Falls Part II

2009-12-18T03:12:00.000-05:00

Usually, a trip to Victoria Falls is complete after you walk on the sidewalks and spend an hour looking at the majestic water falling 700 meters. Our trip was not complete though. We observed that some Zambians were swimming in a pool at the edge of the falls. It looked very fun and dangerous, but we wanted to do it. The problem was that is was in the middle of the falls. Therefore, we found a Zambian to lead us through the Zambezi River to the middle where the pool was located. The Zambian’s name was Elvis. This adventure took an hour of wading through the waters and jumping from rock to rock, but we finally arrived at the edge of the falls.

We were only able to do this because it is the dry season for the falls. During the wet season, the rocks which we are standing on are covered by water. After taking pictures at the edge of the falls, we went swimming in a natural pool that forms at the edge of the falls during the dry season. This pool empties over the falls, but it is totally safe to swim in during this time of year. Unfortunately, we could not spend hours swimming in the pool because we had to get back to our guest house to be picked up for our sunset cruise.

I have to admit to you that these decisions were not smart. Standing at the edge of Victoria Falls and swimming in a pool that flows over the falls are stupid choices. Would I recommend doing this if you have the chance? Totally. Not safe, not smart, but totally worth it.

After our adventures at the falls on Friday night, we had an amazing opportunity to go on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi. We were able to see crocs and hippos while experiencing an amazing sunset. I have included pictures for your enjoyment.

Victoria Falls Part I

2009-12-18T02:37:00.003-05:00

Friday was an action packed day in Livingstone. We drove from Lusaka and arrived at Livingstone at 12:00 p.m. We immediately went to Victoria Falls. I have been there twice before, but this time presented a few unexpected challenges.

Because we were pushed for time, we decided to eat our lunch (bread and fruit) while walking around the falls. This felt like a good decision until we were attacked by baboons who desired your food. One baboon approached us from behind while we were looking at the falls. When we turned around, it was charged at us. Michelle threw our bread at the baboon and stuffed the apples in Johnny’s bag. The baboon was not satisfied with the bread though. While Johnny was wearing the bag, it decided to attack and claw at the bag trying to get the apple. Fortunately, the baboon could not get in the bag, and we managed to scare it away.

The baboon was relentless though. It followed us throughout the Falls and when Johnny’s bag was open, the baboon decided to attack again. Johnny grabbed the apple from the bag and decided to throw it in Michelle’s direction. What a great husband Johnny was at that moment. Why should he endanger his life when he can just throw what the baboons want at his wife? We gave up trying to save our food at this point and gave the rest of the apples to the baboons. They left us alone after that. The baboons were also turning over the trash cans in the park. It was crazy to see.

Throughout the excitement of being attacked by animals, we were able to see the Falls and take lots of pictures. I have included some pictures of the baboons about to attack Johnny and some pictures of the Falls. If you ever have a chance, Victoria Falls is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the world’s largest continuous waterfall.

Lusaka, Traveling, and Twilight

2009-12-17T02:34:00.000-05:00

I arrived in Lusaka safely. Traveling is a lot different without Zambians to guide you everywhere. I find myself being more self-aware and nervous without Zambians around. I always think to myself: What am I really going to do if these policemen or policewomen stop me and want a bribe? It is a constant thought while traveling because you have to pass through many police check points. Recently, when Lawrence was traveling to Lusaka, a policewoman just straight up asked him for money. Lawrence did not break the law in any way. The policewoman just wanted money from him and asked him for it. Of course, he told her no, but needless to say, I don’t want to be in that type of situation without a Zambian present. Luckily nothing like that happened while traveling to Lusaka. Presently, I am sitting in the Lusaka airport waiting for Johnny and Michelle.

Johnny, Michelle, and I spent yesterday in Lusaka. We had to run around the city doing different errands, but it was a very enjoyable day. As always, Lusaka is a bustling city, but we have managed pretty well. We have seen two movies in the theater while being down here. It is hard to describe how relaxing it is to see a movie in Lusaka. It is a nice theater and a serious piece of heaven/America.

Michelle loves the Twilight series, just like every other girl I hear; therefore, we did see the new movie in the series. I knew nothing about this series before I saw the movie, but I will have to say that the movie kept my attention. This was only part two in a four part series so by the end of the movie I desperately wanted to know how the story concludes. I am neither going to wait for the movies nor read the books though; therefore, I read the story on Wikipedia. From what I read, I don’t like how it ends. I never thought I would blog about Twilight. What am I doing? I should delete this whole post. Well, it is 5:30 in the morning and we are off to Livingstone in 20 minutes.

Off for a Vacation?

2009-12-15T05:16:00.004-05:00

I am off tomorrow morning, Wednesday, for a vacation with some friends. We will be traveling down to Livingstone in southern Zambia. There we will be seeing Victoria Falls and also white water rafting on the Zambezi River. I am sorry that I have not been blogging as much. I will try to write blogs while traveling and post them when I get back. It may be sporadic, but hopefully I can write some thoughts for you. Until then....

Life Updatele

2009-12-10T07:04:00.004-05:00

I figured that I should provide a life update since I have not written in a while. Our teacher training program is officially on a break for the month of December. The schools in Zambia run for three months on and then one month off; therefore, December is an off month. We decided not to run the training program in December just to give everyone a break. Therefore, this week I am just working in the office writing the curriculum for the remaining training sessions. When we start back in January, our sessions with the current schools will last for the next three months until the end of March. Then the teachers will exit out of our program. For those who read my monthly update, we are continuing to see progress in different teaching skills. We still have a lot of work to do, but progress is being made.

Next week, a couple who I knew at Wheaton, Jonny and Michelle Hoffner, are coming to visit for a couple of weeks. They are presently traveling for six months around the world and have decided to bestow their presence upon me for the holiday season. I am very excited about their arrival. After they arrive in Lusaka, we are going to go to Livingstone, in southern Zambia, to see Victoria Falls and to be tourist for a little while. Then, we will come back to Ndola to spend Christmas up here.

I personally can't believe that it is the holidays. It does not feel like it at all. It is 80-90 degrees everyday and there is nothing around to remind you that it is the Christmas season. One grocery store has tacky Christmas decorations up, but that is about it. I once hated all of the tacky decorations, but now I wish that I could see just one inflatable Santa on somebody's lawn. Maybe, I will have to buy one in Lusaka if I find anything. Speaking of Lusaka...6 days until I can get a Dr. Pepper there. Yippee!!!

For those who keep clamoring for pictures, I have provided a few. Two are just of the landscape of Zambia. You don't see these pictures in the beautiful urban environment in which I live, but when you get out to the bush, this is what you will find. Another picture is of me leading a training session. Another is of the trash pile found in Mapalo where everybody just dumps their trash. I have heard of people finding plastic bottles here, filling them with pump water, and then reselling the water as bottled water. Finally, there is a picture of boy who has made his own toy car out of wire. Many times you find the kids playing with toys such as these.

Ask Bram: Volume 1

2009-12-10T06:57:00.002-05:00

Ok, the internet is back. Hopefully, it will stay that way. I have decided to start the Ask Bram portion of my blog. Below are some questions, that I keep receiving. If you have any questions that you want answered, just send them to me and I will answer them here.

What do you normally eat?

This is not really different from my food intake in the United States. For morning, I eat either cereal or yogurt with some sort of fruit. For lunch, I have a sandwich, usually peanut butter and jelly, some Pringles and usually an apple. Dinner is more varied. I usually cook chicken with some rice and some sort of vegetable (usually green beans). Other times I will cook spaghetti. Other times I will eat a just eat salad for dinner. Some nights I am really tired; therefore, I just eat microwave popcorn. I know it is not the best thing, but sometimes I don’t feel like cooking and cleaning up after a long day of work. On the weekends, I get more creative because I have more time. I may cook up an omelette on the weekends or make cookies.

The biggest difference from the states is that I don’t eat out. There are a couple of places in Ndola, but I don’t visit them frequently. Once a month, I may go get a pizza. Sometimes I do go with my Zambians friends to this shady joint to buy french fries. It is shady, but it only cost $1.50 for a huge plate of fries. I definitely would not go to this place at night without my Zambian friends. To tell you how shady this place is, we have to park our car where we can see it because there is a high likelihood it will be broken into if we don’t. Unfortunately, it burned down a couple of weeks ago. They are in the process of rebuilding it, but our life has definitely been missing something in its absence.

What food item do you miss most?

What I miss the most is probably a good latte. There is one coffee shop/restaurant in Ndola, but their lattes are not the best. They are alright, but I could really go for a good latte. I know that sounds a little bit pretentious (my brother calls me a coffee snob by the way), but I can really enjoy a good latte when I get the chance. A problem could also be that the coffee shop is not really designed for comfort. It is designed more as a restaurant; therefore, I am missing the coffee shop feel just as much as I am actually missing the coffee.

How's your car?

My car is running well. After a month and a half, the insurance company finally paid for the repairs; therefore, the car is doing good considering it is a 1996 Toyota Carina. Next week is the big test though. On the 16th, I am leaving for Lusaka and then Livingstone to take a little vacation with some friends. That is 1400 kms round trip. I don’t think that the Carina will have any problems, but you never know.

Is it hard to adjust driving on the left side of the road?

Not really. I have fully adjusted to that aspect of driving. It would definitely take concentration for me to come back to the states and drive on the right hand side of the road. The adjustment is really not that hard except the fact that you constantly have to be thinking while driving. There is no relaxing drive to the store because you are constantly having to figure out which side of the road to be on. I can now start to relax because it has become second nature, but at the beginning this was not the case.

What is the local language and have you learned any yet?

The local language is a tribal language called Bemba. I don’t know very much Bemba unfortunately. I know basic greetings and words like yes and know. If I truly wanted to know Bemba, I would move to the bush where no one knows English. In Ndola, especially in the city, every one pretty much speaks English. English is also the official language of Zambia. In the compounds, less English is spoken, but I can still get by. I should be learning more Bemba, but because it is not a necessity, it has not made it high upon the priority list.

Does the toilet flush in the opposite direction now that your below the equator?

Yes, it does. I have not researched why, but for those of you who ever wondered, it does flush in the opposite direction.

Tomorrow, I will be sure to answer more questions for you. Talk to you soon.

Sorry :(

2009-12-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

I apologize but the internet was out all last week and has also not worked the past two days. I am presently at an internet cafe trying to respond to emails. I have had to prioritize when I do have an internet connection and unfortunately the blog has not made itself high on my list of things to do. I apologize if I have not answered your emails also. I am going to start writing blogs at home and hopefully then I will be able to post when I am at work. Until the internet decides it wants to cooperate...

New Advocacy Initiative

2009-11-27T02:40:00.000-05:00

For those of you who do not know, I was a kindergarten teacher in the inner city of Washington, D.C. before coming to Zambia. During that time, I began to understand the importance of early childhood education especially in the life of a child from a low-income background. When I started reading the education policy for Zambia, I was appalled at the lack of vision and understanding of early childhood education that was demonstrated in the policies. It is my firm belief that if we want to close the achievement gap between high-income and low-income students, one of our focusses must be on providing high quality early childhood education to low-income students.

As much as I criticize the Zambian education policy and personally want to rewrite it every day, they did get something right in my opinion. They stated in the Education Sector Nation Implementation Framework that the Minister of Education would “provide subsidy (for early childhood education) to all OVC from needy families, as well as to children with physical and/or mental disability.” They stated that they would develop and operationalize a targeting mechanism by the beginning of 2009.

Now I don’t know if they have actually developed a targeting mechanism yet, but I do know that the Jubilee Centre, through our network of churches, helps coordinate the care of 3000 Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC). Imagine if we could get these children into early childhood facilities on the government’s dime. We have already written our first letter to the Minister of Education inquiring about the mechanism they were planning to set up and how we can help our coordinators apply for these subsidies.

To show you how messed up the system is consider this scenario. We, as a network, have 3000 OVC, and we want to get these subsidies and to place these children in early childhood centers. But the problem is that the only ECE centers are run for upper and middle class families. The system can not support this influx of children in this sector yet the Zambian government has made it very clear that they will not build or manage any ECE centers. While we may get subsidies from the government, it is going to be just as challenging to get these children in these centers and to convince the families of the importance of this education. In my opinion, this is just another case of the Zambian government writing something in their education policy to make the Americans and Europeans happy. The Zambians don’t really value this form of education. If they did, they would make sure to develop a system that fully supports this form of education for all children.

Right now Jubilee Centre’s policy is to push for things that the government has already guaranteed in their policies. Soon, we must push for reformed policies because the system is again going to prove to us that it does not work for the disadvantaged.

Thanksgiving Reflections

2009-11-27T02:34:00.001-05:00

Today has been a Thanksgiving unlike any other. It is unbearable hot, and nobody even knows that it is Thanksgiving. My experience is kinda like the question that asks if a tree falls in the woods with nobody around does it still make a sound? I will be honest. That tree makes a sound, and it is still Thanksgiving even though nobody is celebrating over here! I always loved Thanksgiving because of the break from school. The break allowed me to prepare for one last push before the end of the semester. While in college and TFA, I never did any work during Thanksgiving break, and I loved that time just to be with family and to relax. After work I am going to celebrate Thanksgiving with some American missionaries. I am looking forward to that opportunity, but it will definitely be a different experience.

David Temfwe asked me today what the pilgrims were thankful for. Off the top of my head I told him two things: the process of settling safe in a new land and for their new friends in their new land. At which time, David told me that I am essentially a pilgrim because those two things are things for which I can definitely be thankful. I could definitely add to that list, but I thought that it was funny how similar the pilgrims thanksgivings and my thanksgivings are. Yeah so the pilgrims were definitely thankful for their harvest and hence the celebration, but I am also thankful for my bountiful harvest at Quicksave (the grocery store).

As I get older though I realize that the things that I am most thankful for are often times the simplest things in my life. Yes, we have definitely progressed as a society since 1621, but in other ways we are not unlike the pilgrims. The pilgrims were thankful for the simply necessities in their life, food, freedom, and friends, and I still find myself thankful for these very simply things. The problem, in my opinion, is that our thankfulness for the simplicities ends after November 26th. What if this thankfulness extended throughout the month of December? I think the holiday season would look very different if we consciously decided to extend our attitude of thankfulness throughout December. Hey, I struggle just like the next person with this, but it is just a thought. Give it a try!

Church Decision and Thoughts

2009-11-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

After much internal debate, I have finally decided on a church. I am going to The Church of the Holy Nativity, an Anglican church in downtown Ndola. I made this choice for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that throughout my journey of church “shopping” I realized that I personally need order in my worship. That is a personal preference and definitely not a stipulation for all worship experiences. I love the liturgy and structure of the Anglican worship experience and the thought that many before me have gone through the same process and experience of worship.

The second reason is that the service is short. Call me unspiritual, but I can’t do three hour church services every week. I can’t do anything for three hours. I get bored watching movies for three hours. More than the time issue though, I hate inefficiency; therefore, if I think something can be done more efficiently, I can’t concentrate. Three hour services are great if they should take three hours. But if we could complete them in two hours, that really annoys me. I realize that this is my culture speaking, but a shorter service basically allows me to the opportunity to actually focus on the reason for being there. I know I have issues, but that is just the way I am. I have to switch projects at work every couple of hours in order to be productive. I work best in short two hour spurts. I know I have issues.

Thirdly, the church is a smaller congregation which allows me to get to know the people on a more personal level. Those are my reasons and the thought process behind my church choice. If you come visit me, will we go to the Anglican church? Probably not. I will probably take you to the slums to a church there, so that you can get a true African experience. Or we may go to my Anglican service at 7:30 a.m. and then catch another service after that. It’s called double dipping. It is what the saints do. I have never done it, but I have heard of legends who have. Just know that during the second service, I will be excusing myself to the restroom right before the preaching starts...

Another Rain Note

2009-11-23T10:05:00.000-05:00

I know that I am writing about the rainy season again, but it affects life so much here. The rains have really come now, and when they come they come hard. There are not many times of light drizzle. If it is going to rain, it is usually going to rain hard. I wake up at night many times to the rain pouring on my tin roof. In September and October I always saw men digging the ditches along the roads. The ditches were three feet deep already; therefore, I questioned whether they really needed to dig them any deeper. I was wrong. They probably need to dig those ditches at least five feet deep. It is amazing how quickly the ditches fill up when it starts raining.

During the rainy season the internet and power supplies are also very sporadic. You can have internet one day and the next day the internet will be down because of the rains. I have no idea how the internet is affected by the rains, but it is. Who knows why the power supply is affected but that is also the way of life. For example, this morning the power is out at the office. The power is out just on our street though. Why, why, why? No one really knows, but I am typing this right now with the hum of a generator in my ear. What a joy...

On a good note, with the rains come cooler temperatures. A break from the heat is always nice (especially when you have not experienced air conditioning since August). I am staying dry though. I have a good raincoat and an umbrella; therefore, I am more than equipped for the conditions.

Satan

2009-11-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

Did I get your attention with the title?

I think that I have previously written about my impressions of Zambian politics. One of the basic problems is that there is a lack of quality leadership among the ranks of the politicians. While the issues are very complex, one can not deny that this basic facet of a functioning society is missing. Most problems, whether they relate to the issue of voting patterns or to the issue of corruption, can be traced back to a lack of vision and leadership from all Zambians. While the Zambian culture does not necessarily promote innovation and optimism, the Zambians leaders must be counterculture in setting a proper standard for behavior and vision.

This has not been the case lately in Zambia. Over the past two weeks, the major headline in the news has been the fact that President Banda has been calling the leader of the opposition party Satan because Banda disagrees with the policies of this man. The man’s name is Sata by the way; therefore, that is how Banda sort of gets away with his name calling. Can you imagine if Obama came out and called Huckaby, Palin, or McCain Satan? Though different politicians or parties may think these things in America we at least hold ourselves somewhat accountable.

The saddest thing is not that Banda keeps calling Sata Satan, but that the Zambian people just accept that this is the way of life. There are definitely exceptions, but the majority just accept that things will never change.

“Politicians will always insult each other and get nothing accomplished. We will always be poor.”

This attitude and coexisting mentality quite possibly are the most difficult things about working here. At least when I worked in the inner city of DC, there was still some prospect of hope and change found among the people.

I was teaching a lesson on investment to a group of teachers. One of the parts of the lesson focussed on using role models in the classroom. It was so hard for the teachers to think of role models because no one has come up from the slums. There are no rags to riches stories except in the case of politicians who did it through dishonest gains. We can’t accept that this is the way that it is going to be. Someone will one day rise up from Mapalo to a position in society, and I will rejoice that day like never before. Then we will have a proper example that demonstrates that life can be different. We must hold out hope for this day because if we don’t we will be defeated.

Termites :(

2009-11-17T00:33:00.000-05:00

Try this for a food that many Zambians like to eat: TERMITES. Supposedly, a specific type of termite comes out during the rainy season, and they are a delicacy. It is amazing the things people consider delicacy. In some places you have snails (escargo) and squid (calimari), but in Zambia we have caterpillars and termites. Whatever happened to a good piece of chocolate cake? Can't we consider that a delicacy because I have not seen one of those in a very long time? Plus, it tastes a lot better than termites and caterpillars. I have eaten caterpillars, but I will not be seeking out the termites. I just think that if a little bug can destroy a wood house then it can probably destroy me if I put it in my body. Call me crazy, but that is just my thought process.

In other news my mother wants a picture of me on my blog. Not much has changed except the fact that I keep my hair short, and I also keep a goatee. Unfortunately, my blog will not allow me to upload pictures at this moment. When it does I will be sure to upload one. Peace!

Customer Service Please!!

2009-11-13T07:15:00.015-05:00

Well we are approaching the third week of my car not being fixed. (For those who have not read past blog posts, another man hit my car from behind a while ago.) The insurance company is still holding things up. Uuuugggghhh. It is really starting to get on my nerves that whenever I go over bumps my trunk opens and closes. The truck is tied with rope, but it still opens. It may be Christmas before my car is fixed.

On another note, I tried to open a basic banking account today. Little did I know that it would be such a trouble. There is seriously a checklist of ten things which you have to do before you can open an account. All I want is a safe place to put my Zambian money. It is not like I am trying to buy out Walmart.

I have gotten used to the adage in the USA that "the customer is your first priority." That is not the case in Zambia. There is a zero return policy at most stores and you better be able to jump through fifty hoops and frustrations if you are going to accomplish anything. It always makes life interesting because there are no guarantees.

In teaching news this week was a very good week. I saw teachers trying to implement differentiated instruction in their classrooms (that means that they are trying to teach to all of the student's skill levels instead of just teaching to the middle.) I also had the opportunity to meet one on one with most of my teachers. They were all very appreciative of the program and excited to tell me how they were going to change their teaching practices. One of my star teachers, Sam, told me this week not to get frustrated even if there was no implementation. He told me that it takes them time to change. It is hard to get frustrated when someone as nice as Sam asks you to be patient.

Answers- You Decide :)

2009-11-10T06:26:00.002-05:00

I received an email the other day from a guy in Seattle that I met during my first week in Zambia. His home church partners with a church and their school here. We presented the idea of teacher training to them, and they were very excited about the opportunity; therefore, their school, Morning Glow, become one of the schools that we are training. Little did we know, but their church's main concern with the school and their partnership was a lack of trained teachers. They had specifically just prayed for that and become discouraged over that situation when I show up out of the blue. They had never had any partnership with the Jubilee Centre before our arrival.

I was supposed to give a talk yesterday to a Women's Mission Union in Thomaston, GA yesterday over Skype. The only problem is that during the rainy season our internet is terrible. An hour before the scheduled session the internet goes out. I do the only thing that I know how to do in those situations, I pray, and I know the ladies were doing the same. One minute before we are supposed to start the internet comes on and is perfect for an hour. The internet connection is not dropped for the whole time which is a miracle in itself. Usually you talk for ten minutes, get disconnected, and then try to pick back up where you left off.

Two examples. If you are not a Christian, maybe you just think these are coincidences and don't really matter. Unfortunately, I know some Christians who would probably have the same response. I don't claim to know exactly how prayer works, but I know that Christians are commanded to pray. Some may be saying, "David would you still be saying that if those prayers had not been answers?" My answer is yes because I have many prayers that have never been answered. I believe in the power of prayer, but I also believe in the sovereignty of God and I know those two concepts can fit together.

What I do know for certain is this? Many Christians don't even have a chance to debate these occurrences because these occurrences are not happening in their lives. These occurrences are not happening because most American Christians are too safe. I am not saying you have to move to Africa to be a real Christian, but Christians need to get serious about setting ministry goals that are unattainable. Comfort and safety are ruining American Christianity. If you think that setting up a teacher training program in poverty stricken areas of Zambia is attainable, you need to go back and reread this blog. Only if we are willing to take the risk and set unsafe ministry goals will Christians need the power of the Holy Spirit. Many church ministries are very safe and don't require the Holy Spirit; therefore, we don't see occurrences like this in our midst. Just something to think about. :)

Water, Water, and More Water

2009-11-10T06:07:00.003-05:00

Another post concerning the rainy season:

You have not experienced Africa until you experience it during the rainy season. Everything changes, the trees bloom and the grass grows. It is a beautiful place, but what you have to realize is that the drainage systems are terrible/ nonexistent. When it rains, it pours around here; therefore, you have a lot of places that have at least two feet of standing water. I was in Mapalo today when the rains started. Mapalo is purely dirt roads with no drainage system. Many times on my ride back I thought that I would be stuck even though I was in a 4x4 truck. I seriously felt like that guy in Jurassic Park when he is driving through the jungle in the middle of the rainstorm. Only difference was that I did not get stuck, and I did not have spitting dinosaurs about to eat me.

I thought that I was safe when I reached the pavement at the edge of town until I came to the lowest portion of the Ndola where all the water flowed toward. In front of me was two- three feet of water for 150 yards. I said that there was no way I was going through that mess until I saw small cars going through it and making it safely across. That prompted me and my 4x4 truck to venture on the journey. It was scary. Your tires are always slipping and waves are constantly bashing your car because you have to go through a tunnel. I would not recommend the venture, but I finally made it safely. Someone must improve the design of this city because this is ridiculous. The problem is that everybody just accepts that this is the way of life. Acceptance of these facts is a tough mindset to challenge because people have never seen change or growth.

One thing that I have been enjoying about the rainy season is the thunder. Growing up in rural Georgia, I loved the summer when the thunderstorms would roll in over the piedmont. I now am able to experience the thunder and lightening again here. I truly consider it a joy to be awaken at night by the clashing of thunder. It reminds me of home.

Nothing New

2009-11-06T08:34:00.006-05:00

Nothing much to report from Ndola. Life has finally developed somewhat of a routine, and that in itself is a weird feeling. Today I am just writing curriculum for our teacher training sessions. Tomorrow is my birthday which is weird in itself. My mother on Wednesday actually had to remind me that it was my birthday this Saturday. I had totally lost track of time. I am kind of sad because back in the day it was different. When I was young, I started thinking about my birthday in October and could not sleep the night of November the 6th. How I wish I still had that kind of excitement over the small things in life like birthdays. Now it is just another year that has passed by. Who knows what this 25 year of my life will bring? I did not think that the 24th year of my life would bring me to Zambia. Till next time... peace!

Christmas in November???

2009-11-04T09:34:00.002-05:00

Ok... I know that you experience this in the states, but I never expected it here. I walked into the grocery store on November the 3rd (Monday), and Christmas music was playing over the loud speakers. The place was also decked out in decorations. I was appalled! Now I love the holidays like it is nobody's business, but this is ridiculous. Of all the things American can bring to Zambia, we had to bring the fact that we start celebrating "Christmas" at the beginning of November. I put quotations around Christmas because all we are celebrating with this ritual is our ridiculous consumerism. I am not casting stones at all. I am in the same boat, but I still think our consumeristic boat is going to sink one day.

There is nothing that I can do about it though; therefore, I started singing along with the music. It is 90 degrees F outside, but I am singing Christmas songs in the grocery store. I already stick out like a sour thumb, but add to the fact that I now sing in the grocery store, I may get kicked out of this country for being a lunatic.

Caterpillars :(

2009-10-31T07:08:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-30T07:05:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-29T02:06:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-28T12:03:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-28T09:05:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-10-26T06:27:00.003-04:00

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 :)

2009-10-22T10:48:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-20T07:39:00.002-04:00

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.....

2009-10-20T06:07:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-15T10:44:00.003-04:00

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!!!

2009-10-15T10:35:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-14T08:22:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-12T08:18:00.002-04:00

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!!!

2009-10-09T10:32:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-07T08:43:00.002-04:00

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....

2009-10-04T09:18:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-04T09:09:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-04T08:56:00.000-04:00

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.

N

2009-09-27T11:44:00.003-04:00

Sorry guys but there will not be any updates this week. I am in Lusaka with the medical team, and we don't have access to the internet. I will be sure to still write and post date them. Have a great week!

The Numbers Lie

2009-09-24T04:45:00.002-04:00

Here is a little piece I wrote the other day about the "progress" in the Zambian education sector.

To give you a better reality of the education situation in Zambia, I offer you a segment I call the truth behind the numbers. According to the Millennium Development Goals Progress Report 2008, Zambia is likely to meet Goal 2 in providing universal primary education. In my humble opinion, this will not be a reality. While Zambia has shown increases in two of the three indicators for this goal (percentage of children in school and grade seven completion percentage), the percentages for the third indicator, literacy rates, has decreased. How are we supposed to say that we are likely to meet the goal when a crucial indicator, literacy, is decreasing in the 15 to 24 age bracket? The government may counter that because more students are completing grade seven the literacy rates will increase.

But literacy rates will not increase if there are still inadequate facilities, lack of teacher training, and discrepancies in resource allocation. Even if the student “completes” grade seven, if they have learned nothing it is an absolute waste and will not help the literacy rates climb. The government is good at making claims of addressing these issues, but their action leaves much to be desired. As I have observed and read, the government policy statements are not being fulfilled. This is an issue of justice because the government is not lacking in their fulfillment of government schools promises, but they are lacking in their fulfillment of community schools promises. Again, the orphans and vulnerable children get the proverbial shaft because they can not afford to go to community schools. Don’t think that educational inequality is only present in Zambia. It is present in America as well. Look at the funding structures for public education or the concentration of quality teachers.

The reason that I write this post is because I just finished writing a letter to the Minister of Education inviting her to come and speak at our “Stand Up and Take Action Campaign” Event in October. I found another strong point in my argument, the literacy levels; therefore, I am excited about the prospect of this event and her participation. Please pray that the Minister of Education accepts our invitation to speak. Don’t worry I phrased the letter very kindly and did not express my true opinions of their lack of follow through. At the same time I told her that we are going to be having a celebration of Zambia’s accomplishments. It is only going to be a celebration with some truth telling thrown in. It should be fun.

Those issues really get me going. They are abusing the data to make themselves look good to the Western world. This is a two way street though because the Western world does not understand the system here and does not care to understand it. They only want to place expectations without getting their hands dirty. They also want success stories to make it look like their money is well spent. Those are some major stereotypes and generalizations I know. There are exceptions to the generalizations.

I step off my soapbox now. Sorry about the lack of updates recently. Expect a new post soon concerning life in general. Peace!

I just want to cook!

2009-09-21T02:55:00.002-04:00

In other news, it has been three straight days with power outages starting at 5 p.m. every night. The power comes on again about 8 or 9 p.m. I don’t mind the no lights situation (I actually enjoy it), but it makes cooking difficult/ impossible. Lawrence said that last year this happened every night for five months. We will see what happens, but hopefully the trend does not continue.

The beginning of this week will be spent observing schools again, and then we have our first teacher training meeting on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. This first meeting will entail introductions and going over our October schedule. The program is actually getting off the ground which is great.

On Thursday I will be traveling to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. My father and his team from the states will be arriving on Friday in Lusaka. For a week they will be doing medical missions in one of the compounds of Lusaka. I will spend next week with them helping with their program. I am very excited to see my father, to spend time with the team, and to get American goodies for a week (like gatorade mix, yippeee!!!!).

First Week Reflections

2009-09-18T05:40:00.002-04:00

Alright, I am done with my first full week of observations of schools. I will observe again next week, and then next Thursday will be our first training session. My plan is to have a one hour training session each Thursday. This first one will just focus on introductions and laying out the vision for the program that I have designed. I will get into the specifics of the program later, but basically I plan to develop the teacher's leadership skills so that those skills can be applied in the classroom to make academic gains. Developing leadership skills will also help in whatever life trajectories the teachers take. I will also be teaching best educational practices after we have set up a foundation of educational leadership. There is a lot to do, but I will describe the program more later.

As far as first week observations here are my initial impressions. I can handle all the children in one classroom because there are no other options. Yes, Patrick there is only one teacher in that class with 60 students. That was the significance of the shirt. There is a lot of wasted time. Just like in America, the education system still follows the culture, but here that is evident in the wasted time. Teachers sit and grade student work while the class just sits there. The work is mainly copying some activity off of the board. We are mostly working with the students having no books and the teachers only having one student book. Teaching is nonexistent in that in most classes there are no questions asked of the students or by the students. Reading done by the students is almost nonexistent in the schools. The student's job is basically just to sit there and copy off of the board while listening to the teacher. Most of the copying exercises don't even accomplish an objective. I apologize for the random thoughts, but hopefully that paints a better picture of education in this situation. I also apologize for the bleak picture. It is not all hopeless. The best teacher I saw runs a school by himself. It is he and 250 children. He has different classes come at different times during the day. He was actually asking the students questions and allowing them to think. I am really encouraged by him also because he wants to be the best teacher he can be and wants to provide a high quality education for the children. Peace until next time!

School Video

2009-09-16T11:53:00.003-04:00

My sister-in-law Brittany asked a question on my last blog post. She asked if the children have summer vacation because summer is almost on us in Zambia. Zambian schools operate on a 3 months on and 1 month off schedule. It is year around school, and they change grades in January. Here is the video that I promised. It is of a first grade classroom. Yes, all of those students are in one class and yes, there is not much work being done in that class. On other notes it is getting hot here. The rainy season starts in November, but until then it gets hotter everyday. I really want a peaceful, cool, and windy Chicago fall day right now. It only feels natural, but it is not happening. Such is life though. Peace!

Ceremony and School Observations

2009-09-15T06:54:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the official opening of the Jubilee Centre’s Resource Center/ Conference Hall. There were festivities all day long and an opening ceremony in the afternoon. The Resource Center is located just behind the main office building. This week people from Willow Creek Church in Chicago are holding training sessions in the Resource Center. The Jubilee Centre has very close ties to Willow Creek. I have included a picture and a video of the ceremony for you. The video is of the whole crowd singing a praise song. I have no idea what the words mean. I just try to sing along. They could be singing the white man is evil for all I know. I have not gotten that impression yet though, so I think that I am safe.

I have also included pictures of the Mapalo Bread of Life School. To be honest some of what I saw today was worse than I expect. Disorganization abound in some classes, and at times it was hard to say that learning was taking place. At the same time there were also some classes with very attentive students doing their work. The work that they were doing is a different subject, but it was good to see some organization and care put into the instruction. All in all I saw good things and bad things today. I have much work ahead of me, but it is not insurmountable. I do have a video of the school, but it takes a while to download. I will be sure to post it later.

The Market and Burning

2009-09-12T10:09:00.003-04:00

Well I wanted to post a couple of pictures today to give you a better idea of life in Zambia. I am sorry for the poor quality on the first picture but that is of the market in Kansenshi (the neighborhood in which I live). Now most of my shopping I do at the modern shopping complex but I buy my fruits and vegetables here. Inside the market are rows of wooden booths in which the women sit all day selling their home grown food. They all have fly swatters to keep away the bugs from the food. It is kinda fun buying your food there. It makes you feel like you are really living the life. The other shopping place where I buy most of my food is seriously just like an American shopping market. I mean don't get me wrong about the American shopping market. I love that for all that it is worth. Today I found Bertolli's Olive Oil, Kellogg's Rice Crispies, Miracle Whip, Coke Zero, Feta cheese, and the most recent Time magazine. To be honest if I did not go into the compounds I could lose track of the fact that I am in Africa. Life is definitely different, from the underdeveloped nature of the city to the different customs, but you can find a semblance of western culture in a city as large as Ndola.

The second picture is of the burn pile beside my house. Yes, I agree that it is dangerously close to my house, but that is for a different story. My house is where the bricks are on the left. If you have ever been to most underdeveloped parts of Africa, you know that the way to get rid of trash or anything else is to burn it. You either burn it in a big hole in your backyard or you burn it in the ditch in front of your house. Therefore, there is a constant smell of smoke whenever you drive around the city. It is not like a pleasant smell of a burning campfire, but instead it is a rather putrid burn. Those are just two characteristics of life in Zambia. In the coming weeks, hopefully I can bring you more tidbits like these to give you a better idea if you ever want to come live or visit. Peace!

Photos and Story

2009-09-11T02:29:00.003-04:00

Well, I moved into my house. Here are pictures of my room, the den, and outside the house. I need to find things to put on the walls because they are pretty bare, and I also need curtains. And some plants around the front would be nice so that it does not look like a prison. That will come though.

I can’t believe that I forgot to write about my journey into Mapalo, the compound, by myself. Lawrence was very scared for me. He made sure that I had everybody’s cell phone number in case I got myself in trouble. The purpose of my trip was to visit the four schools with whom I will be working. I can't drive my car into the compound because if I did I would have to buy a new car in a couple of months. The car would be ruined because of the wear and tear. I have to drive one of the Jubilee Centre trucks or the bus. When driving there you have to drive about 10 mph because the roads are so bad. In the rainy season you need a 4 wheel drive vehicle, or you will be stuck. I got to the first school ok, but when I went to leave in the van and go to the second school the van would not start. They had just put a new battery in the van that morning; therefore, I played around with it for about ten minutes. I could get nothing to happen though so I called somebody at the office. They said that they would be there with a mechanic. Well, the drive is a 15 minute drive; therefore, I expect them to get there in about 2 hours.

Not wanting to waste time, I asked my guide Sam if we could walk to the other schools. Sam is the principle at the Bread of Life Community School. That was the first school I visited. He said that we could. Little did I know, but Mapalo is a very big compound and my four schools are not close together. We ended up walking around and visiting schools for three hours in the middle of a very hot day. Needless to say that I was very tired when I got back to the van. Guess what though? 3 hours had gone by and nobody had come. Oh, Zambia! I called someone again, and they apologized profusely and said that they would be right out. Lucky for me though one of the men at the Bread of Life just started fiddling with the battery. He spent about 15 minutes working on it but eventually got it to start. I took no chances on the way back and drove straight to the Jubilee Centre. It all worked out for the best though. Sam and I had a great time walking and talking. He is one of the main people that I will be working with; therefore, it was good for me to spend time with him. That is all for today. Enjoy your weekend!