update

I am currently in Livingstone relaxing after attending a second site visit.

The second site visit was near Monze town in the Southern Province of Zambia. Three other trainees and I facilitated a workshop for about 30 Zambians (adults) about HIV/AIDS. I presented parts of the immune system and assisted with other things.

We had a language and technical trainer that functioned as mentors and assistants with translating to the villagers.

It was fun though exhausting and we are now at a campground doing some R and R before heading to a District health meeting in each of the districts that we will be working in. I will go and present my background and working plans to district Ministry of health officials. After that I will head to Lusaka to hang with Emory folks and finally to Mwekera to finish training.

I am finally getting used to the pace, which is comical as this pace will be over in the next couple weeks and I will be operating on village time, which is apparently verrrrrry slow. I am looking forward to changing gears though.

I have found out that I will be near Monze town for my 2-year Peace Corps service in a village/area called Keemba. It is where my host mother’s family is from and she is very excited to visit during my stay. I got a chance to check out Monze and feel as if it is bigger than the town I grew up in. I will only be 30 km from it, which will make my stay here less “bush” than I had previously thought. I will probably be able to check e-mail about every month in theory, so we will see.

The previous address for the Choma house will work for mail and I will post any address that I get in Monze. Monze is a 3-4 hour bus drive from Lusaka and roughly the same from Livingstone for any of you that would like to visit. Transport is very easy to Monze, though I have yet to figure out how easy it will be to my site.

Anyway, this is the second post as my other one was lost after about an hour of work so I will try it now.

Love and hugs to all and I hope everyone is enjoying good health and company.

Amusyaale (stay well)

Niko.

in Zambia

Hi All.
I have been on a whirlwind tour of Zambia in the past three weeks (or so).

Upon arriving we stopped in Lusaka for about 36 hours, during which I visited the main office and got a lot of paperwork, lectures, etc..

We then moved to the Central Province where I had a site visit for 5 days in the Kubundi district. We split up in Lusaka into our 4 language groups (Tonga for me, southern province of Zambia).

We basically lived in a village with a language instructor and saw what some current volunteers do for this time.

After that, we headed to our training site near Kitwe town in the Kitwe district at a place called Mwekera. I moved into a Tonga-speaking homestay and have been living with them for the training which consists of at least 8-hour days, 6 days a week involving language, technical, and other skill development.

I am incredibly busy and have just now been getting adjusted to my new life (for the next 6 weeks).

After that I will head to the Southern Province where I will be put in a new site previously untouched by PC volunteers. I will then have lots of time.

I have figured out some things such as: I will not have a phone and e-mail will be every three months or so. Snail mail is the best bet and the address for the next two years is as follows:

Niko Welch
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 630569
Choma, Southern Province, Zambia

I am very well though my schedule is kicking my booty. Today is my day off and I already washed all my clothes (by hand) and helped cook nshima for lunch. My homestay father is waiting for me so we can do a bit of planting upon my return.

Love and hugs to all.

Best.

Niko.

(i'll try to update before I head into the field, but no promises as my day off is pretty hectic)

heading out

Hi All,
Just wanted to update everyone about what has been going on in relation to my Peace Corps service.

I have basically finished my Master's of Public Health degree and am only finishing up loose ends like communication and presentation of my thesis work regarding instant noodles to various folks that assisted me during the project.

I will be in Zambia for Peace Corps working as an HIV/AIDS community mobilizer. I have what experience I have garnered in the past two years here at Emory, at the international AIDS conference in Bangkok, and at various volunteer positions I have had while here in Atlanta.

I have much more to learn though (don't we all).

I will be leaving the country from Philadelphia the 24th of May for Zambia and plan on being there about 2 months for training in Kitwe (northern Zambia) after which time I will be assigned to a post (village, I hope) in another part of Zambia.

When posted, I will have to remain there without leaving for the first three months. After that, I will be allowed to visit cities and/or leave my post.

Peace Corps service lasts two years and I may extend another year. Depends on the situation.

You all are welcome to visit after I have been at my post for three months (not allowed before then) and I recommend that you wait at least 6 months so that I know my way around.

I may take a trip to Guinea/Senegal in search of djembe knowledge at some point, so let me know if anyone is interested in meeting up.

E-mails for the duration are equatoriano2003@yahoo.com and niko74@gmail.com.

Mail can be sent during training in Kitwe to Nicholas Welch/PCT, c/o Peace Corps, PO Box 21527, Kitwe, Zambia.

I will update my two-year address when I know which region I will be assigned to.

Feel free to post to this site, keeping in mind my web access is going to be limited for the next coupl years.

Best to all.

niko.

testing

Just testing to see how this works.


niko.