This is a chameleon I took a photo of hiding in some squash leaves. They are pretty common and most folk fear them quite a bit.










This is my friend Maambo facilitating a session with the children on gardening and why we do it as well as what is needed. Kids were distracted by me taking a photo.










This is all participants from a training I attended at Kanchomba farm institute for the program I am attached to.










This is sidney and sidney. They both work and stay at the farm where my maize and stuff is. They are sitting on a dish drying rack.











This is an example of what happens in my field. I think this was probably monkey damage.

I just came back from my small farm today.

Monkey and bush/wild pigs have been disturbing my crops so I have lost a bit of maize and some squash. I also planted pigeon pea on some land where I want to plant maize next year. The pigeon pea should make the soil nutrient-rich. I was looking at the pigeon pea growth and deciding how best to prepare for next planting season. I will likely dig in the soft parts of the pigeon pea around October this year.

I was also there to see how dry my maize was so I can begin preparations for harvesting. I should harvest around 200 kg of maize so we are looking into using an ox cart to bring it the 20 km distance from where the farm is to where I live. The family I live with will assist me.

Two weeks ago I was in a rural area for a training concerning the same program I work with. The training was entirely in local language so was exhausting for my listening skills. It was great for learning language but I was tired when the training closed.

A week ago, immediately following the training, I spent some days with a Japanese friend I met in Thailand as he will return soon to Japan. He is in Zambia working with the Japanese development organization JICA. We ate nice food and chatted.

I then went to Chaminuka resort for a final PC conference. I heard that the cost was 220 USD a night per room in which two volunteers stayed. The facilities were nice and the food well prepared and varied. The conference was for volunteers nearing the end of their contracts and was to stimulate thought and preparation for the end of life in Zambia and return to the states.

We have been generally told that return to states will be challenging. I agree on that point but am wary about taking specific advice regarding this as we were given advice before and during our arrival here to Zambia. Staff and other volunteers said that living here would be difficult and that we would consider ending our service early from time to time.

Being that neither was true for me, I think that some of the specific advice given regarding return to states may also not hold for me personally. I think that return will be challenging but not as overwhelming as the picture that some are painting.

As I have told others, sifting through advice is a skill I am learning. Sometimes advice seems to have more to do with the giver than the recipient.

Anyway the final conference was thought provoking and we’ll see how we all cope with returning to states and deciding what to do with the rest of our lives.

Other than that I’ve been working, smiling, biking, gardening, farming, and learning.

Still enjoying!

love. niko.

So.

I have been at site and in Zambia for about a month from vacation.

I have been working with the JFFLS program that I previously mentioned and we are trying to coordinate activities at the main site and work on activities at a Cuulu (around 12 km from me and 7 from main Pemba site). We are trying to construct structures for growing mushrooms, honey production, and equipment storage at the main site. We are also trying to stimulate more activity with regard to growing vegetables and such at Cuulu. There are two other sites that are working and are further away (about 25 and 120 km from my home respectively) and I have less direct contact with them but we are trying to visit from time to time.

I am also growing maize at a farm and a small garden near my house in my off time. I have gotten stronger again from working the fields and biking the 17 km to where my maize field is twice a week. I may add I have only eaten my own maize since august and will not likely buy commercial until I am no longer living in Zambia. It is nice to subsist in what you grow. Fulfilling. I planted sunflower and pigeon pea (as a green manure) as well, but the management is poor. The maize is doing ok, but the rains just stopped and that may affect the harvest. The garden is mostly herbs that I want to introduce to the project, but I will probably grow some greens (collards, chards, etc.).

I am also working with a youth group made up of late teenagers and early twenty-somethings. They do peer education, film viewing and discussions, and condom promotion. I squeeze this in sometimes when I am not involved with project work and offer them materials and advice, though they do well on their own.

I am also working on PhD applications in the field of nutrition/food science. I am starting with initial groundwork and requirements and am so far looking at Cornell and Davis. It is a process.

I am also submitting paperwork for extension at site, which is a bit of work.

My language is getting better, but by no means fluent. I can get most of what people say, but when they start speaking fast or loosely, I get lost. I translated for some folks recently and it was taxing, but I felt like I can actually express myself, at least if we are not using the conditional tenses.

Things that are nice lately are:
Fresh mushrooms, fresh roasted maize, fresh curcubits (squash, cucumbers), field greens (cleome, amaranth, blackjack), people, and babies.

Mosquitoes and other biting critters are annoying at this time. I literally coat myself with DEET when I go to the farm and still return with unknown and itchy bites. Small price for delicious produce, I guess.

Anyway, that’s the news. Hope everyone is well and I’ll eat something fresh for each of you. Best and love.

niko.

This is world AIDS day 2006 in Pemba, where I live. Lots of folks and the area member of parliament came.









This is taken from where we stayed in Vilankulos, an old charming town that felt a bit sketchy. I felt as if people were casing us constantly. They might have been. Probably due to the numerous tourists coming there.






This is morning in Tofo, on the coast of Mozambique. it was incredibly hot and beautiful. The ocean was warm and the sun was scorching. i think this picture should be around 5:30 in the morning.










This is another angle at the same time and place in Tofo. It was rough to wake up to this every morning. I usually took a dip to wake up, which was sometimes not that intelligent, but was fun as I got hammered by waves.






This is some huge prawns we got in Maputo. delicious meal. Had to take a photo for memories.










This is an island off the coast of Vilankulos. Too beautiful. I had a cold but remained conscious enough to marvel at the beauty.











This is the same island as above and the boat we came in on.





This is my family in Pemba, Zambia. Top left is Mutinta, to her right Beno, to his right the old man, to his right chiwana or garfield, me, khola to my right, and mpendcili standing to the right of khola.

new year

A lot has happened in the past couple months. In early December, I attended an in-service training for my intake of volunteers and those that came a year later, also under the HIV/AIDS program here in Zambia. It was good to see people and share stories and ideas and to see the changes people are undergoing as a result of being here as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I then returned to my Zambian home and proceeded to assist in starting the new cycle for the project I work with. This involves choosing local facilitators and validating the vulnerability of new participants. I am also trying to help the general community in any way that I can with regard to HIV/AIDS activities. This involves keeping informed and chatting with everyone.

I left to Mozambique for 17 days the 17th of December, however the 16th, I found myself at a funeral for the junior wife of the headman at my old home in Keemba. She was a friend and family member here and it was very sad. I actually chatted with here 2 days before she entered the hospital to die 2 weeks later. She was suffering from malaria, high blood pressure, and diabetes. They think the two chronic illnesses contributed to complications while having malaria.

Basically my whole old village was there and I greeted tons of people. I was escorted and informed about the tradition and significance of each part of the funeral by my good friend and colleague Dominic Phiri (pictured before).

The 17th of December, I boarded a plane to Mozambique with my friend Frank Wong from Emory who mow works here north of where I stay by about 600 km.

We stayed near the ocean about half the time and swam, snorkeled, and ate copious ocean critters. We met tons of great folks (mostly travelers from other countries) and stayed in Maputo, Tofo, and Vilankulos (in southern Mozambique). It was way awesome. The ocean was warm and beautiful.

I returned January 2nd to Zambia and home the 3rd. I have since been looking after my maize and garden and getting the project I work with up and running.

Other than that, I am planning on extending my service here through July 2008. I will come back to states for about 6 weeks around the holidays this year and try to visit as many family and friends as possible. I also plan on applying to graduate school for a degree in food science/nutrition for August/September 2008 entry.

That is it for now. I hope the New Year has greeted everyone well and all are surrounded by love.

Best.

Niko.

This is Mr Milambo, my good friend and Nchimunya, a boy that I work with. They are near a beehive that we keep as part of the project we work with. Mr Milambo is a agriculture extension officer and also does other random things that keep him extraordinarily busy





This is a photo of me with some of the kids that I work with. They want to use this for a website or something.

Anyway, it is one of the few existing photos of me available here.






That boy Nchimunya likes to flip whenver the mood strikes him. I caught him in the middle which was no small feat (for either of us).







There is a cute miniature gecko that I wanted to take a photo of with a pen demonstrating how small the animal is.







This is the backyard of my friend frank where I spent some days resting. It is about 500 km from where I live and work.




This is the old man that is my nearest neighbor. His name is Cleon Benos and his father was greek. He is very funny and kind and we get along great.









This is mpedcili, which means I am still here. She is a daughter to the late siblings of the wife to the old man above. They are keeping here and making sure she grows up with at least some opportunities. She is about 16 years.












This is a young boy to the old man. He is known as Beno. He is about 19 years. He lives in the country capital and is studying computers. He is good to hang with when he is visiting his parents and not at school.

October

Well, I have been here well over a year now in Zambia and a bit over a year in Southern Province.

The new project/site is going well. I am learning quite a bit and becoming adapted to my new surroundings (with electricity).

We are preparing for graduation of the current students enrolled in the program that will likely happen with fanfare around the middle of November. We are also finalizing some funding applications for the project that involves brainstorming, budgets, goals, and logistics for the coming year.

I am actually at my home only about 5 days a week as I find myself at our district planning headquarters about 60 km away in Choma very often. Peace Corps has a computer there and I use Internet to download and send necessary materials for the project. I get a little tired and busy as the project meets Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday and I find myself in Choma at least one other day a week. This usually leaves me Saturday as the only day that I am really at home and resting. It is worth it, though, as the kids are great.

Let me say a bit about the participants. The participants range in age from 13-18 and have been previously identified as vulnerable in some way. I would say that some of them can write, and less can write well, even in local language. They are fluent in the local language, but only a handful is able to communicate well in English. They understand well enough, but getting across new concepts is very challenging and something I usually rely on a translator for. My Tonga is getting better but trying to catch young peoples dialect is challenging even for me in English, much less another language.

Facilitators are also involved in the project and come both from within the community and from within line ministries. They are supposed to create a curriculum; lesson plans, and come to the teaching site to facilitate sessions with the children/project participants. The current reality with regard to facilitators is that coordination and interest sometimes appears to be lacking. . Lately, for a number of reasons, I have been the only facilitator in attendance. Others come sporadically due to family obligations, household work, official work, or other things. We hope to change this by my presence and by electing new community facilitators for the next cycle that will come regularly. This will hopefully lighten the load on the few that do attend now and encourage them to come in the future.

Rainy season is coming again and I hope to plant maize, sunn hemp, sunflower, and beans on a large scale (~1 kg of seed each) and have a small garden for vegetables and herbs. My neighbors, the nurse and her husband are still getting along famously. We greet each other daily and frequently chat. The old man speaks incredibly fast “old” Tonga that is making me come up to speed fast. He also speaks English, but he understands me better if I speak Tonga.

Anyway, life is still good and we are trying to do the best that we can.

Best and love.

niko