Communication Blackout!

Sorry for the lengthy period of time since my last blog post!  Wow - a month goes by so quickly!  The internet here has been pretty patchy, but as they say here, "it works when it works." It's hard to believe that I've been here for over 5 weeks already, and in about 3 more weeks I'll be back home. It's been another great summer so far!

This is a teaser for my upcoming post about my trip to see Victoria Falls (or Mosi-Oa-Tunia, "the smoke that thunders") a couple of weekends ago... it was the absolute highlight of my trip so far!

Adventures in the Zambian Marketplace

In an attempt to get out of our very preserved Western-lifestyle-bubble within Zambia, this weekend we decided to venture out more into the Lusaka community… and what better way to experience Zambian culture and lifestyle than through the marketplace?

One of the many side streets of the Kamwala shopping district.  This particular street was lined with shops selling fabrics for clothing, upholstery and drapes.

On Saturday morning, we met our friend Rhodha in Kamwala, the main shopping district in Lusaka, to shop for African fabrics.  Here, many women wear beautifully printed fabrics as skirts, or chitenges, on a daily basis, so each of us was hoping to purchase some such fabric to bring home.  When Rhodha described the shop to us, I pictured this cute little specialty shop located on some street, just like all the clothing shops at home… but that was definitely not the case with this shop!  Kamwala is a huge, sprawling market district with potholed-red-dirt roads (some of them were more like craters than holes) and a sea of people, cars and merchandise.  According to our driver, Immanuel, the shopping district is divided into many different parts, each with a particular focus (fabrics, groceries or housewares), and even has country-specific sections – such as Indian, Chinese and Tanzanian shops.  Immanuel is quite the character though, so I’m not sure if he was just making it up or not!  We wandered through numerous fabric shops looking at all of the different chitenge fabrics – there was such a huge variety that it was difficult to choose!  In each shop, the selection was slightly different, but ranged from religious to geometric to floral to animal prints and even to soccer teams and Bob Marley or Pokemon-themed.  Each of us (or at least each of the girls) left Kamwala with at least a few meters of beautiful chitenge fabric… now I just need to figure out what to make with mine!  It was so exciting to be able to see how Zambians live in Lusaka on a regular basis – to see the hair shops, the dried fish stands and the displays of Zambian Chipolopolo (the national soccer team) merchandise… I absolutely loved it!

My favourite chitenge shop that we visited!  All four walls were lined with coded pieces of cloth that were grouped according to price.  In order to find the ones that we liked, we stood in the middle of the floor and turned in circles until we found the ones we were interested in while people pushed their way to the counter and shouted their orders from the back of the room... it was so much fun!

And So the Work Begins!

Over the past few days, Mohit and I have begun our assignments at UNZA (the University of Zambia).  For the summer, we have been assigned a few main tasks to be completed before we finish at the end of July… and this week we have begun the assignment that we both feel the most excited and intimidated by.  UNZA offers a Short Course (3 weeks long) in Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation for professionals, so our main task for the summer is to conduct an evaluation of the Short Course from the perspective of employers of former graduates of the program.  Along with our two Zambian co-workers, Rhodha and Edgar, we are trying to contact as many employers as possible and then meet with them to conduct individual interviews.  We hope to ascertain from each interview whether the Short Course provides enough knowledge and applicable skills in the areas of Monitoring and Evaluation (for project and program implementation in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors).

Mohit and I outside of the Intercontinental Hotel, the nicest hotel in Lusaka.  The hotel is also the location of the Zambia branch of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) - and this picture was taken after our first meeting at the CDC, where we were discussing another continuing education course called Epidemiology for Data Users that is currently offered at both the Zambian provincial and the district level.

By the end of the next two weeks, we hope to have completed all of the data collection – and each of us are going to visit as many employers as possible in order to assist UNZA in making any modifications to the Short Course itself.  So far, the organizations we are going to be interviewing are highly varied and are really interesting!  This week, Mohit and I are going to visit the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Foundation for Democratic Processes, the Ministry of Health, the Justice for Widows and Orphans Project and the Society for Family Health – so each of those visits are going to be experiences in and of themselves!

In our little global health family, we have developed a routine of eating dinner, then sitting at the table for hours, just talking and playing cards.  So we have been on the lookout for a different activity to fill our evenings - and when Mo saw a man selling Monopoly on the side of the road, he threw open the bus window and bought the game... turns out that it's completely counterfeit - and actually looks nothing like Monopoly.  The box depicts money in Franks, but the board depicts money in USD, while the money itself is in Zambian Kwacha.  hahahaha but at least we tried!

Zambian Super Fans

This past weekend, our group traveled to Kitwe in northern Zambia.  Located in the “Copper Belt,” Kitwe is Zambia’s second-largest city – and is home to a number of different types of mining.  The entire purpose of our journey was to meet with a professor from Copper Belt University (CBU) to discuss the potential for further collaboration between our two institutions – but the experience certainly extended far beyond that single meeting.

We departed from Lusaka on a 6:00am bus on Saturday morning, thinking that the station would be much quieter and easier to navigate early in the morning.  So I was completely shocked when we got there and the bus depot was already a thriving mass of semi-controlled chaos.  There were men (presumably workers, but I’m still not sure) yelling into our vehicle to figure out where we were going or what bus we were taking, cars forcing their way through mobs of people and a smattering of Zambian super fans amongst the crowd all decked out in Zambian flags.  (Saturday was the day of the Zambia-Ghana football (soccer) match in one of the preliminary qualifying rounds of the World Cup of Soccer – and the game was located in Ndola, a community almost halfway between Lusaka and Kitwe.)

As we drove, we saw cars, mini-buses and full-size buses covered in Zambian flags or scarves with people dressed in national team jerseys hanging out of the windows cheering, waving and blowing their vuvuzelas.  The energy, excitement and pride of the Zambian people were so palpable on Saturday that it made each of us wish that we were going to the game!  We even saw a bus that had driven all the way from Livingstone (where Victoria Falls is located – roughly 6 hours outside of Lusaka, and Lusaka is 5 hours from Ndola... so they were really committed fans!) that had a banner proudly displayed on the front and super fans hanging out of every window, so obviously excited about the upcoming match. 

The Zambia-Ghana match was the first international football match to be held in Zambia’s new stadium – and the stadium was enormous!  With the capacity to fit tens of thousands of people, it starkly contrasts with the simplicity of Zambian daily life – people living in thatched homes, peddling their produce on the side of the road while earning an average of USD$1600 each year.  However, the Ndola stadium was actually built by the Chinese government (and have actually just begun construction of an even more grand and massive stadium in Lusaka) for the Zambian people.  The Chinese have even provided roads (materials, labor and construction) within Zambia.

Once we arrived in Kitwe, we found a large flat-screen television and watched the Ghana-Zambia game with the rest of the country – and it was so exciting!  Zambia won the game 1-0 and the crowd in the stadium went crazy!  A blur of green, orange and yellow, the fans were screaming, blowing their vuvuzelas and dancing.  In the streets, cars began honking their horns in celebration, just like the hockey super fans do at home after a big game.  While our business meeting was positive and wonderful, it was experiencing the passion and pride of the Zambian people that made the journey so worthwhile!

Stepping Into a World of Juxtapositions

Hey Everyone!  I have embarked on another 8-week summer educational adventure through the Cornell Global Health minor program… to Lusaka, Zambia in southern Africa!  After 48 hours of almost sleepless flying, a missed connection and a brief moment of exhausted hysteria, I have arrived safe and sound – and am already having a wonderful time.  I’ll be spending these eight weeks with three other undergrads – Mohit, Jenn and Chris – but we’re going to be working as two separate groups for the majority of the time, so Mohit and I are going to be really good friends by the end of the summer! 

Mohit modelling our first authentic Zambian lunch!  Today we went to a local restaurant for nshima ("n-shee-mah")  with vegetables.  Here, we ate with the "African knife and fork"... also known as the fingers.  In a way, it reminded me of being back in Southern India.

Lusaka is the capital city of Zambia – and this African city truly feels like a fusion of East and West – or of India and North America, but definitely the Indian-like component is more visible.  There is an interesting clash of sparkling shopping malls, western fast food restaurants, mini-buses dangerously packed with passengers and the almost inexistence of street addresses.  But, just like India, each of the Zambian people that I have interacted with thus far are (or at least seem to be) genuinely nice people and live a relaxed, “hakuna matata” (or “no worries”) type of lifestyle. 

This summer, we are living in the guesthouse of the Zambian-Italian Orthopedic Hospital – it’s beautiful.  The compound is peaceful, safe and quiet; we have clean water to drink and running water to shower with and an old bunny-ears-type television that gets three alternating channels (we’re most excited about the occasional access to Disney Junior).  But the best part is that this hospital is run by Catholic nuns… I have to admit I was so excited to finally meet a nun in real life.  Sure, The Sound of Music was great, but this is even better.  Sister Margaret, the nun who primarily looks after us, is one of those graceful people with a quietly powerful presence – and she definitely runs this hospital.  We’re all hoping that we can become friends with her by the end of our 8-weeks here!

Mohit and I will be working with the demography department of the University of Zambia (UNZA) and NASTAD (the National Alliance of State and Territory AIDS Directors), a United-States based HIV/AIDS organization for our 8-week service-learning project.  As of now, we’re not really sure what exactly we’ll be doing, but I’m sure we’ll figure it all out soon… and hey, that’s part of the fun of something like this.  Today, though, we had the opportunity to sit in on a course material review for a 14-part series on project and program planning offered at UNZA.  A joint initiative between the CDC, UNICEF, UNZA and NASTAD, this short-course program is designed to train individuals to effectively plan, organize and run a project in their communities, based on their own community needs.  It was really interesting to observe this daylong process – and we actually get to be involved in the editing and revision process as well, which is exciting.  Overall, I still don’t really know what to expect or what’s coming next – but so far I’m having a great time with wonderful people in a surprisingly charming city.

Our first day at the University of Zambia - Mohit and I are standing in front of the UNZA library with two of our co-workers, Maybin (standing next to Mohit) from NASTAD and Mr. Moyo (standing next to me) from the UNZA demography department.

Early Morning Adventures

I can't believe it, today is my last Saturday in Kenchanahalli.  Where has the time gone?  This time next week, I will be travelling to Bangalore, where I will fly out early the next morning.  I am full of mixed emotions - I am definitely ready to be home, but at the same time, Kenchanahalli (the people and the place) have such a special place in my heart that I will be sad to leave.  Never did I think this experience would be so transformative, so deep - and that it was possible to fall in love with a culture that is not my own.  There's just something about the gratefulness expressed in daily life, the genuine sense of family and community and the deep sense of spirituality here that are truly incredible.  This really is a beautiful place. 

For multiple reasons, Sudha and I weren't able to go out for our routine morning walks for the past week.  But this morning, things were back to normal when we struck out for Kenchanahalli at 6:30 this morning.  It's remarkable how many small details about the environment I forgot in just one short week of not seeing it by foot.  I forgot how sweet the air smells in the morning, the sound of women pumping water from the bore-wells, and how incredibly beautiful the sky is in the morning.

Sudha, my little Indian mother (nanna chica Indian amma), and I.

She has taken such good care of me throughout my stay in Kenchanahalli and has helped me to feel truly comfortable here.  Sudha does incredible hand-embroidery on sari material, and on Monday she's going to dress me like an Indian woman in one of her hand-decorated saris.  I am so excited!

The early morning sky is always breathtaking.  The clouds here are just so huge, they look surreal.  Sudha always smiles and says, "just like painting" - which is so true.

Sunrises - and sunsets - here are so much less colourful than those at home.  But instead of washing the sky in bright reds and oranges, it washes the landscape in a soft, white-ish glow.  The world always appears to be in a slight, shimmering fog at daybreak.

This bull is so funny.  Yes, this is a bull with his face shoved into a general store.  Every morning, this bull roams the streets of Kenchanahalli, walking from shop to shop lowing for bananas.  He sticks his head into a shop and, sure enough, someone will come out and feed him a banana.  Satisfied, he plods off to the next shop.  I just missed the woman feeding him the banana by about 15 seconds when I took this picture this morning.

Indian Wedding 2.0

Today my friend and coworker Ranjith invited us to attend his wedding in his home village, a couple of hours away from Kenchanahalli.  He married his fiance, Srividya, who he met 10 years ago in college - it was so exciting to be at a friend's love-come-arranged marriage!

Sudha was so proud that she was taller than me in this picture (she's standing 2 steps above me).  She was a huge help for the UCSF girls and I, she came to our house at 5:00am to help us put our saris on!  Really, I don't know how women can do it by themselves so easily.  

We travelled to the wedding, in Coorg district, in true Indian fashion - a huge rented Jeep with no doors.  Believe it or not, this Jeep comfortably fit all 12 of us.  The ride was awesome - the weather was warm, and the countryside was stunning.

When we arrived at the wedding, we went to the front to bless the newly married couple - Ranjith and Srividya are both seated, dressed in white.  We grabbed a small handful of rice and shook some on the heads of both the bride and groom before wishing them congratulations.  They both looked so happy.

Dr. Arundhati, and her daughter, Mansi, and I as we waited for the reception to begin.  A reception at an Indian wedding isn't a party, but rather the time for the couple to receive their guests - everyone files up to the stage to congratulate the couple, give them their gift and then have their photo taken.

Ranjith's sister, Ranjitha, was such a good hostess!  She introduced us to the family of both the bride and groom, ensured that we were fed and explained to us how the wedding ceremony functioned.  Karnataka is such a diverse state that traditions - including wedding traditions - vary within a 20km radius.  This wedding was a lot larger, but simpler than the previous wedding I attended.

Ranjith and Srividya.  She was stunning in her formal wedding sari - and was completely covered in traditional golden jewelry.

We were served a non-veg lunch!  This was one of the few times that I have eaten meat since my arrival in India... it's remarkable how little I miss it.  Here, it is much more common to be vegetarian than non-vegetarian, so people always assume you're "veg" unless you specifically ask for "non-veg" food. 

On our way back from the wedding, we stopped at The Golden Temple - a remarkable buddhist temple in a monastery.  The figures behind me are huge golden statues made entirely of gold.  At the time, the hall was full of monks praying... the sound of hundreds of their throaty voices mixed with a gong and conch shell horns was so beautiful.