A Zambian Christmas

Andy and Ashlee enjoyed their Christmas dinner with an interesting group of English speakers from across the globe at the American doctor's house. There were guests from Australia, England and the States and quite the potluck spread. We only spoke to them for a few minutes, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The weather was really hot which made it even harder for it to feel like Christmas.
They were thankful for the boxes the received from Aimee and Aundre, Clara, and Jerry and Wanda. They always love to receive gifts and always find Jerry's finds most interesting. This last box was a huge box of Luzianne Iced Tea bags, 100 slim jims and Halloween candy. They love every bit of it!
They dropped 5 rolls of film in the mail recently so hopefully I will have more photos posted soon.
Merry Christmas to all from the jungles of Africa! God Bless and let's keep them in our prayers always!

The Animal Report

Tosh

Ashlee and Andy have a new puppy and is name is Fuzzy Nut. I wonder which of our beloved friends came up with that one. I am going to go out on a limb and say Andy. Actually the puppy belongs to one of the villagers' but he has started staying in Andy and Ashlee's gazebo so they have just sort of adopted him. Tosh didn't like it at first but and left home for a few days but is now back. He is a very friendly puppy and Ashlee says it feels good to come home to something that is happy to see you. Animals are not treated well by the people. That would be hard for someone like Ashlee who is such an animal lover to handle. That is why the animals come around their house a lot. Ashlee says it is kind of like the kids, be nice to them and they keep coming back. Andy's brother, sorry I am not sure which one, sent them some flea and tick shampoo and Ashlee washed him up. She said it killed about 90% of the fleas. His ticks were so bad they were between all his toes. It said on the bottle to shampoo for five minutes which Ashlee determined was physically impossible, but she did the best she could.
She was telling us about a parasite/maggot that gets into the laundry if they don't dry the clothes adequately before wearing them. They had gotten kind of lax on that until recently. She thought there was an infected bite on Fuzzy Nut's head so she tried to squeeze it to release the infection and she squeezed hard enough that a large maggot came out of the sore. If they do not adequately dry their clothes the parasite gets into the clothes and then buries under the skin. She said that her run in with the sore on the dog freaked her our enough to double dry the clothes. (Are we sure we are up for this trip guys?)
Ethel their chicken died. You can see the chicken house in the new pictures on the Fickr site or check this one:

Chicken hut

They now have a new chicken and they have named her Deep Fry since that is what will most likely happen to her in the end. Now that is keeping it real. Ashlee went to church on Sabbath and the benches that were built with the money donated by the Columbia SDA Church are finished and they will be done with the pulpit and chairs for the roster soon. The next project will be finish the floor and then bring electricity to the building.
The river is out and rising ever so slowing closer and closer to them. Most of their garden is coming up Andy had planted 6 new banana trees in their yard. It had been raining most of the week so they are pretty much house bound. Ashlee has been quilting and got a garbage bag of scraps from the tailor for 25 cents.
When Mom and Dad talked to them Ashlee wanted to know all about Carl Peterson (the Chief's GM that recently retired). She likes to keep up on the sport when she can.
An outbreak of Cholera has come into Zambia so they have been advised by PC on how to handle that with sanitation and chlorinating every thing they drink.
They are counting down the days until our visit. Ashlee has it marked on the calendar and it was only 136 days till we would be there for our visit.

The Mango: So sweet and yet so bitter

Ashlee was under the weather last week, She notices a blister like rash on her face and concentrated around her mouth which was extremely uncomfortable. She called up the PC and they said it is a common condition that volunteers run into. It is a poison ivy-like rash that is developed from the juices on freshly picked ripe mangoes. So the fruit that she has been impatiently waiting on for months now has now created some serious heartache. The solution? She must take care when picking the fruit and then thoroughly rinse it and let it sit out for several hours and then she can enjoy. A bit less instant gratification, but definitely better than a blistered face. She said she took some benadryl and was out of it for over a day waiting for it to go away.
The weather had been changing all day when we spoke today. It started out cloudy and switched to sunny and 92 degrees and had been rained most of the evening. The rain at night makes sleep a challenge even with ear plugs. At least their roof doesn't leak, which is more than their friend Sarah can say. She had to sleep under a poncho a few nights to keep from getting soaked. Her village is supposed to help her rethatch her roof so that should make things a lot better for her.
Andy and Joseph have been working on getting a tree farm together. The recently met with the chief and they made the presentation to him about he tree farm and he liked it so much he gave them 50 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) of land to start the tree farm and promised them more land when the first one was completed. The chief was going to also start a tree farm on his own land.
Ashlee had been working with a nurse from the local hospital (from Hong Kong or Singapore) on the malnutrition they were seeing in the babies and small children admitted to the hospital. They identified the children admitted for malnutrition and then visited the villages where these children came from to try and teach about how to avoid malnutrition. They visited many of these villages, using a car to get so far and then walking several miles per day throughout the villages to visit the families and learn about their diet. Ashlee said it took 45 minutes to ride her bike from home into the hospital each morning and then she leave from there to visiting the villages, and then return to the hospital and she ride her bike 45 minutes home again. It makes for a long but rewarding day.
One of the things they are trying to introduce is the use of peanuts as a source of available protein. The villages have peanuts, or ground nuts as they call them, but apparently need help in understanding how to use and store for prolonged supplies. They also have a funded project to introduce soybeans into the villages as an even better crop from a nutritional standpoint. She is working on teaching the villages how to plant, harvest and store. She was going to create a manual on the techniques for future Peace Corps volunteers as several of these villages are scheduled to get volunteers placed in them in the next year. It seems like there are high times and lows working as a volunteer, but this works seems to be rewarding for them both and they are seeing progress in their work.

Note from an American wife

Got a text from Ashlee today:

"Someone asked how much Andy paid dad for me today."

I told her next time to tell them that he is still paying.

A Day for Thanksgiving

I was happy to hear that Thanksgiving dinner was coming together and when Andy said he got a turkey the first thing that came to mind was a frozen Butterball, of course. What he actually meant was he had bought a living, breathing turkey and they kept it in the lower house at the Provincial house for the week. Ashlee said they had to get up at 6 am to prepare the turkey, including killing it, which she left to the others, plucking it, cleaning it, gutting it and then getting it ready to cook. She said that was an experience, but not one she needs to relive any time soon. After getting the turkey seasoned and in the over then were able to roast it for about an hour before the electricity went out. So they stoked up the grill and got some hot coals then they buried the bird in the coals and were able to cook it the rest of the way.

There were 32 volunteers that attended the feast from all around the Provence. Ashlee organized everyone preparing a dish and it was a fairly traditional dinner. They had green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pasta salad and rolls as well as the turkey. The house is meant to hold quite a few less than 32 people, so they were packed in. Andy and Ashlee always get dibs on the sick room in the house as they are the only married couple and it is the only room with a double bed, so they were happy to have their own room. The festivities went on all day and when we talked to them it was evening and they were winding down to a German movie that came from China and was subtitled in English which didn't actually make any sense in the English language. Ashlee had given up on it before we called. It was funny at first, but became annoying.

They had traveled to the BOMA for the week as Ashlee had AIDS training and Andy had to travel to Lusaka to get his tooth repaired. Ashlee went a few days ahead and they are only allowed a limited number of days at the Provincial House. Andy came a few days later and left the next day for Lusaka. He make the journey the next day and stayed with the same young couple. When he arrived at the dentist they informed him that his tooth had been given to someone else. The tooth that was custom made for his mouth. Frustrating! So he returned to the BOMA for Thanksgiving. It is two days travel each was to get to Lusaka, so he was not a happy camper. They will both go next month as Andy does not wish to go make the trip alone again. I guess you can't be too surprised in a country and runs the way that Zambia does, but it still is aggravating.

Ashlee also had an interesting week with AIDS training. Several volunteers were there for the training and they got quite an education. There a couple of interesting stories to share, and Ashlee promised a letter with even greater detail. She said the PC hired a local artist to make several wooden penises for the volunteers to demonstrate how to apply a condom. She said the artist earned his fee as he made the penises anatomically correct in a variety of sizes and colors. She said the volunteers loved them and all decided that they would have to keep them as artwork. This was shocking to the Zambians.

One of the reasons that condom education is difficult is the beliefs the of the people. One man kept saying that they couldn't use the condoms when the women are pregnant. The volunteers were perplexed until the man said he couldn't wear the condom while the baby was in the womb because the baby needs to be watered to survive. So they believe that the man has to water the baby in the womb with his sperm for it to survive. How do you even rebut that one?

Ashlee said that sex is very different in their culture. It is not optional for a wife. She is expected to give it up any time, any place and there is no law against a man raping his own wife. Families also encourage their young daughters to have sex with men in the village as they often receive gifts in exchange. How sad! But I guess to a degree, many American women practice the same kind barter system for sex but at least it is of their own free will.

They are planning to build up their DVD library before coming home. There are all kinds of bootlegged videos. They just bought a DVD of all of Michael Jackson's videos. They also found one that has 20 James Bond movies. Andy was excited by the Best of Jackie Chan. The quality is hit or miss, but they can often get movies that are in the theater for cheap. Occasionally you see a head walk by as they are often filmed in the theater and then reproduced.

The are staying at the Provincial House through Saturday as there is an Olympic themed costume party on Friday night. Costume hunting is fun there are so many cast offs from the states that make for great costumes.

Clothing is a funny thing in Zambia. Ashlee needs a camera at all times to catch some of the hilarious things she sees. Much of the clothing that is sent to Africa is clothing that is rejected by the Christian charities so many people are walking around in vulgar T-shirts with no idea what they say. Men are also often seen in women's clothing which is a riot. Some of the T-shirts they have seen are "I like boys" (homosexuality is illegal) "Where do you want it? The yapper, the snapper or the crapper?", a young boy wearing a Tinker Bell T-shirt that says "You wish you were me" or men running around in "#1 Mom" shirts.

They bought some raw hides for their dog Tosh, but she couldn't figure out what to do with them, so they brought them to the Provincial House dog, Boss. He is a huge dog, twice Penny's size, but is the dumbest dog. They gave him the turkey carcass, and he just stared at it. Pets are a different thing there. The are excited to get their cat when they return home. It is finally big enough to ween. They are planning to name it Cream Puff. Which doesn't relate to the cat's appearance at all, they just think it is funny. Ashlee describes it as a mouse killing machine and hopefully it will be in full effect be the time we visit. This time of year the creatures become more of a pest. Fortunately Andy and Ashlee have a tin roof, but for those unlucky enough to have a thatch roof, the pests are falling into their houses as the rain drove them out of the thatch. Rats, mice, snakes and other creatures have been falling into the huts of the other volunteers. Most will line the insides of their roofs with plastic, but the locals just deal with the inconvenience. Yuck!

The mangoes are finally ready and that is another reason Ashlee is excited to return to their house. She has built a dryer and will try to preserve quite a bit and also wants to make some jams. That part sounds good to me, but you can keep the live turkey, falling rodents, and being used as a sexual ATM.

By solar powered light

Things were winding down for the evening when we spoke to Ashlee today. She was reading by the light of the solar powered light I recently sent to them . It has several different settings and they have found that on the middle room illumination setting they were able to able to use it three nights so far in a row without charging it. She said that the highest setting is actually too bright, so that is good to hear. I have been working with the manufacturer to try and their village to the list of recipients of their Buy One Give One (BOGO) program. Unfortunately they can give to afford to ship the lights to Zambia with the current purchase price, but have agreed to sell them to us at the discounted rate they give to not for profit organizations. I am working out the details to start fundraising for the purchase of these lights so that we can possibly take them with us when we travel to Zambia in May. Ashlee was very excited about how well they work and the possibility of starting some kind of program where the lights would be the incentive. She said that one of the problems the students have with school is there is no way for them to do homework in the evening. Have a solar light in the home would allow the students to help their parents after school and do their studies in the evening. As soon as I have more details I will do a posting.
Andy had already retired for the evening as there were storms the whole previous night which kept him up most of the night. Ashlee said that unlike Missouri where the weather typically comes from the West, they had a three storms today that came from three different directions. She said there may have been hail last night because it was extra loud like drums banging on the roof all night.
They area already making plans for Christmas. They will go to the doctor's family in Kasempa for dinner and to spend the night. Ashlee said she visited them a few weeks ago and swam in the pool. She said it was so wonderful and the cleanest she has been in months. Daren and Alyssa have become good friends and they enjoy having some American friends nearby.
The decided to be a bit adventurous and try to make it to the village by a different path. They started out in the direction of the village and followed the path as it winded through many small villages that were completely off the grid. Many of the villages being along a small foot path off the main path. They saw children who watched them with curiosity as two white people on bicycles with helmets on rode their bikes along the narrow foot paths. At one point they came to a river and Andy had to carry their bikes across. Another thing for the children to wonder at. Zambia if finally in bloom and Ashlee's said it is an amazing transformation. She said there are 4 or 5 kinds of orchids that have come to bloom in the village. Purple and other vibrant colors. She said there are some many things in bloom that her sinuses are completely blocked, but it is very beautiful.
They have been working on their garden and have just started to see things popping through the soil. They were starting to wonder if anything was going to grow, which was making them look bad since they are there to teach agriculture. But once the rain started their garden immediately started to grow and so has the grass around their house. So far they have green beans, beets, cucumbers and green peppers starting to show. Right now there is very little food in the towns and they have been relying on the goods we have sent them from the states. She said the government comes around to make sure the villages have food but the only thing they measure this by is the corn meal or sheema. They call the rest of the vegetables and side dishes relish and sometimes there is nothing but the sheema to eat. There is little to no understanding of a balanced diet. The main foods that are available now are mushrooms that are in season that the people gather from the forests and are the size of a larger platter, and fish and crabs that are starting to be more abundant since the recent rains have raise the water level in the river. Dried beans are a way to get a bit more protein in their diets during these times, but it is difficult as they really need to slow cook all day and if the people are working in the fields there is no one to keep the fire going. There is always cabbage, but Ashlee said she doesn't care if she ever eats cabbage again in her life. The mangoes on their trees area bout three weeks from being ready to eat, but the locals have been eating them for a while now. She said she broke down today and ate a green one and if kind of tasted like mango. She can't wait for them to be ripe, along with the bananas. The plantain trees that they thought had died have been growing with the recent rain and she said they are growing a couple of inches a day. Another common protein source during this time of year is caterpillar. Ashlee has opted for vitamin supplements, but Andy occasionally dabbles in the local meats.
Their neighbor and motherly figure, Doris, was telling Ashlee a story that she shared with us. She heard a squealing from her front yard and she went out and found a spitting cobra constricting around a small rodent (Ashlee wasn't sure what kind, but it is larger than a rat, but smaller than a pig). She killed the cobra with her hoe and took the creature home and fed it to her family. She was quite proud of herself. Ashlee says she is quite the statuesque figure but she could envision her our in the yard hacking away at the snake. She said Dorris has become a dear friend. Sometimes she shows up and tells Ashlee, "I think we will eat together tonight". Last week when their boss, Don, was in town and spent the night she brought over sheema and relish because she knew Andy and Ashlee's mill for grinding corn was broken and it was important for Don to eat well.
The people are telling them at the rains came hard and early this year, so they are relieved to know that what they are experience is atypical. They have been having trouble sleeping even with their ear plugs. They are getting excited for a family visit. Every conversation usually ends up on food and the mass quantities they plan to consume when we are visiting. That is fine with me. I also like to eat!

Just about dinner time...

Ashlee was in the middle of making a Zambian dinner when we called. Andy offered to take over so she could talk and she hesitantly accepted. She is one that has learned to prepare the local cuisine and she was worried about his first time being unsupervised, but she finally succumbed and let him finish up.
Andy is recovering well from his injuries. He is still a bit sore but it is not slowing him down. He will travel to Lusaka before Thanksgiving to visit the doctor and get his tooth capped. Ashlee has to be in Solwezi at that time for HIV/AIDS training so they will travel to Solwezi together and then Andy will go on to Lusaka. Ashlee has decided that she would prefer not to stay in the village solo if she can help it. She will be able to stay at the provincial house while he is in Lusaka and they will travel home together when he returns. That works out well for them both.
They are the envy of the volunteers because they receive so many packages. (Thanks everyone!) Their friend Sarah has a disappointing visit to the post office but reported that Andy and Ashlee had seven waiting for them. So the next day they rode into town. They said sometimes they have to unpack the packages and load up their backpacks to get everything home so sometimes they aren't sure what came from who, but either they still love every bit of it. This time the big score was the car charger from Andrea that will allow them to use the crank charger to juice up their Internet phone, which is critical now during the rainy season when sometimes they do not see the sun for several days at a time. They also were excited about two boxes from Jerry one with Little Debbie's and tons of mac-n-cheese and the other all candy! They figure they burn enough calories to justify scarfing down a bunch of candy, which they immediately did. They also got a box from one of Andy's brothers, Bev, some grad school applications for Andy and one from the PC volunteers that used to live in their house that had a log of Velveeta. They have been finding new things to try with the cheese including Sloppy Joe's, tomato soup and Zatarans. They are always super excited to get anything from home so keep it coming!
Ashlee is excited about the approaching World AIDS Awareness Day, December 1. She has been doing some training and other preparation for the upcoming event. She visited a prison last week as a part of their HIV/AIDS awareness program. They met with 25-30 prisoners and taught them about circumcision, condom use and ways the disease is spread. She said one of the main ways that it is spread in the prison system is the sharing of clippers which use razor blades. It is difficult to approach one of the ways the disease is spread which is homosexual sex. It is illegal in Zambia for men to have sex with other men so they do not provide condoms in the prisons. I guess that would be promoting illegal activity, but it is increasing the spread of the disease and education is very limited.
Joseph, one of the local men that has befriended Andy and Ashlee, has decided to try and come to the US for a university education. His house burnt down recently and he has decided that is they path he should travel. Ashlee was telling him to look at Andrews online as it has such a strong international presence it is a good environment for foreigners. He said that he looked at it and will try to get accepted.
I could hear Andy calling in the background and Ashlee apologized for saying goodbye when there were a few minutes left on the calling card, but the food was hot and she wanted to join Andy. Not a problem at all. There is no microwave to keep it warm. When its hot its time to eat. Enjoy!

Finally home

Aimee Gray
Andy is finally home! Ashlee sounded very relieved. She said that she felt safe enough from strangers as her neighbors are very protective of her and would come to her aid, but she was more worried about other things. She said every mosquito that hit the net at night made her jump. One day she found a snake skin outside the outhouse and so she used the bucket inside the rest of the time. She said all she could think of was getting bit on the butt and having to run to the neighbors' and pull down her pants and try to explain that they need to suck out the poison.
I was curious about the adds from the newspaper that she sent in the last letter and so I asked if the people actually believe in all the charms and spells. She said they absolutely believe in it and it is called juju. She said even the Christians believe in it. It is a big part of the culture, but one she can't really understand.
The first rain was all they heard it would be. Terribly loud and it lasted for hours. She said that she was so glad that Andrea sent ear plugs and sleeping pills as it will be very difficult to fall asleep in the storm.
It has been ridiculously hot. The have been spending several hours each afternoon lying of their concrete floor.
For now Andy is not allowed to ride a bike or to gather water so Ashlee has been doing that and riding into town for things they need and to check the mail. He is feeling fine, but is on restricted duty for a while.
The workshop they did last week was very successful and Ashlee was very energized by it. It was a nutrition workshop with two parts: Eat a Healthy Diet and Grow a Healthy Diet. She said many of their response to the things they were teaching them were interesting. They would not believe her concerning the amount of water the should drink. Their cups are very small and so they were teaching them that they need to drink 12-16 cups of water each day. That was astounding to them considering most of them drink only 1-2 cups per day. One man asked if it was bad that he only drinks monkoya, the fermented corn drink that is popular. One person asked if it was bad to only pee once per day. She said they have absolutely no concept of a balanced diet or any basic nutritional concepts.
She learned some interesting statistics about their village. First it has approximately 500 people. The education level is typically the 8th grade. There is one person in the village with a 9th grade education, 1 with a 2 year college degree and 1 with a university degree. That means that Andy and Ashlee triple those statistics alone. The people ask a lot of interesting questions like: Are there black people in the United States? Which she says they know there are because they know rappers and singers like R. Kelly and 50 Cent, but they do not relate the two. They are also quick to recognize the difference in skin tone between African Americans and themselves. Ashlee said that an acquaintance asked her if she could not tell that he was "from a mixed background" because of his skin and she said that, yes, compared to all the others he is lighter, but she doesn't look at him as different from them because in the US there is such a wide range of color amongst African Americans.
They were relaxing and about to sit down to dinner and a box of wine Andy managed to haul back with him and they were hopefully that it would knock them out for the night. She said it is unbearable at night right now. You wake up in the middle of the night completely naked and completely drenched in sweat with no relief in site. Makes for difficult sleeping. Hopefully they slept peacefully for once.

12 October 2008

Aimee Gray
When we spoke to Andy on Sunday he was starting to get bored with Lusaka. Initially we tried to call Ashlee, but she didn't pick up. Andy said that the first rain storm of the season had been through a few days earlier and Ashlee probably had not had any sun to charge the phone. Ashlee left for their home on Monday as she had a large presentation coming up and Andy had to stay in Lusaka for physical therapy and to get a temporary crown on his tooth. Their friend and nearest PC volunteer, Sarah, stayed with Ashlee a part of the week and had been with her through the storm, so that was a relief.
After Ashlee left Andy was moved to a host family. He said it was a beautiful home with all the amenities of home. He has been spending his days jumping on a mini bus and riding around to various parts of the city. One day he made friends with a local man who invited him over to watch rugby for a while. On another day he was nosing the Presidential Palace and pretended that he did not know where he was and buddied up with one of the guards who let him on to the grounds. He said it was loaded with different types of monkeys. So he got a first hand look of the palace grounds. He visited the National Museum which he said was quite interesting. He has also been visiting several hotels to scope out the best place for us to stay when we visit next spring. He said the most interesting and "mind blowing" places is the city market. It is packed with every type of vendor and people everywhere frantically trying to sell you their wares. I can' t wait to see it all.

Mwaikalai Mwane

How to hate a goat....

Andrew G. Fritz
Ok, so I'm sure most of you have heard news by now of my crash. Since the codeine is wearing off I figured I would get around to sending out an email. To begin with, the circumstances are ridiculous. Riding my bike back from what will be a new volunteer site in our district next year I was clipped in the rear tire by a fast moving sedan. Here's the best part, though - it was so they could avoid hitting a goat. Consequently, I have decided to organize an anti-goat campaign in Kasempa (which is undoubtedly doomed to failure due to the fact that goats are the village equivalent to a bank account) for the remainder of my service. After clipping my bike, I lost control and veered down an embankment beyond the shoulder. The driver continued to speed away as I stated cursing them in both English and Kaonde, a testament to the fact that in times of stress I can count on my language skills in this country.
Gaining speed as I went, my body decided that it would be a thrilling ride if I continued this path without my bike as I shot over the handlebars. I managed to tuck myself into as much of a ball as I could, which helped significantly with lessening the bodily impact, and began a comfortable roll over fairly grassy terrain. Unfortunately, the large tree in my path thwarted my efforts to walk away without injury. I took the brunt of the impact with my right arm, shoulder, face, and head. After a few minutes of unconscious relaxation, I awoke to find blood starting to come out of my mouth with several pieces of teeth. I put my teeth in my bike bag, dusted off the broken helmet, bent my rear derailleur back into place, and began the roughly 20 kilometer ride back home.
Later that day, a doctor Ashlee and I know at the local mission hospital gave me an initial checkup to ensure no neurological damage. We spent the night at his family's home and went to Solwezi in the morning with help from our forestry office. After putting my arm in a sling and munching some ibuprofen, our Peace Corps liason for Nortwestern Province took me fill out a police report and get donuts. The donuts were great on the painfully long bus ride to Lusaka the next day. After arriving in Lusaka, I have had numerous doctors and dentists poking, prodding, and taking x-rays with some fortunate results. Apparently, I am quite a blessed young man.
The roots of my teeth are intact, and healthy - so I only have to be fitted for a crown and fill two small chips. There are no broken bones, only a slight separation in my shoulder which will heal itself with the aid of a sling for a few weeks. The majority of the damage is to soft tissue, which is keeping me in Lusaka for a week of ultrasound therapy followed by exercises I can do in the village. In a few days, all my bruises should be gone, and I will soon be on my way home to wage war on the goats of Kasempa district.

Thank you for all your concern and love. The support system at home makes it much easier to be here. We (Ashlee and I) will let you know if anything changes, or if there are any updates to my condition. In the meantime, if you see a goat - kick it hard for me.

Much love,
andy

4 October 2008

Well it has been a crazy week in the Fritz hut-hold. As Bev reported earlier this week, Andy was in an accident on his bike on Tuesday. He was cruising along on his bike when a woman in a car swerved to avoid hitting a goat and got his back tire. He went off the road and was able to tuck and roll, fast thinker! The bad part is that he rolled right into a tree. Fortunately he had his helmet on. He hit his head and shoulder on the tree. He chipped two teeth, sheared off a molar and hurt his shoulder. Two lessons we all can learn: There are women drivers everywhere and you are always second place to somebody else's goat.

Andy was able to ride a good distance home where I am sure he scared Ashlee half to death. They called the forestry department and three hours later someone arrived in a vehicle and took them into Kasempa. When I heard from Ashlee she said not to worry because she has his teeth in her purse....alrighty then. They went to the hospital where their American doctor friend came out of surgery to examine Andy. He thought that he was fine but needed to x-ray his shoulder and get his teeth repaired which required traveling to Lusaka. Their friend insisted that they stay with them that night.

Ashlee said their PC contact was awesome and she was in touch with them every 30 minutes to an hour that day to check on Andy. She kept asking Ashlee if Andy was acting strange. Ashlee said, "Actually, yes, but I assure you that is quite normal." The same lady made all their arrangements for doctor's appointments and a hotel for them in Lusaka. They stayed a night in Solwezi at the provencial house on the way to Lusaka and that is when we first heard from Ashlee. The next day they took the bus to Lusaka.

They had three doctor's visit on Friday. Ashlee had a funny side note. She said that the doctor's offices had a lot of American magazines and so she grabbed one to catch up on some gossip. She looked at the magazines and they were all from 2001 and 2002. She said that reading material is like currency there and American writings are highly coveted. They had Andy's shoulder x-rayed and found out that he needs physical therapy for two weeks. They saw a dentist that said that Andy's molar was sheared off but is still alive so they will be able to crown it. So Andy will need to stay in Lusaka for the next two weeks and get treatment on his shoulder and the new crown on his tooth. They didn't say, but I would guess also getting his other damaged teeth repaired. Ashlee will travel back on Monday or Tuesday as she has a meeting to prepare for and present this week and they are expecting a PC friend, Kersey, the end of the week. So for the second time Ashlee will have male company while Andy is away. She was sure the village would be talking about that.

They are currently staying in a Chinese hotel in Lusaka. There is another PC couple there for medical treatment. The husband has a bulging disk in his back. Unfortunately they do not have the treatment he needs in Lusaka, so he will have to travel to South Africa for treatment. Andy was fortunate with his tooth as they thought he may also have to go to South Africa.

It was Ashlee's birthday 26th on Saturday. Kinda of a stressful way to spend your birthday, but they did have a nice day. They went out for a good breakfast and had cappuccino which they were psyched about. Then they went to a movie with some other volunteers: House Bunny. Didn't sound like they would recommend it, but did say there were some funny lines about PC volunteers that made them all laugh. When we talked to them yesterday they had just returned to the hotel from the movie because Andy was not feeling well. He was sick to his stomach and had a fever. Ashlee thought that he was just exhausted. He was going to lay down for a while and if he wasn't feeling well later Ashlee was going to order some Chinese food from the hotel and stay in. Hopefully some rest has him feeling better.

We talked about the weather and their plans for their garden. Ashlee said she may get started on that when she gets back to the village as the rain will soon start. The have built up the grave like beds of soil for planting their wide variety of plants. They have waited until now as hauling water would be very difficult to keep the plants watered but they are considering hiring a village boy to carry water to the plants when the dry season comes around again so they can have more fresh veggies all year. When they left home Ashlee said there were hundreds of thumb sized mangoes on the trees in their yard. That will be fabulous when they start to ripen! I am sure they will eat themselves sick.

Ashlee said they received two packages last week: The birthday box that Bev sent and a box from her coworkers from Portland. She was very excited to get everything and said to tell everyone thanks! They had to leave them with a friend as they have not been home since they picked them up. All the clothes fit and the games and food were great. They said that they enjoy doing the puzzles. Ashlee would like some easy puzzles of all types and Andy would like medium difficulty crosswords or sudoku. They also love to get reading material! Andy likes mystery/action novels and Ashlee likes historical fiction. They both like sports and political magazines and Ashlee said she can always ready some gossip magazines, so feel free to throw your old magazines in your next box. I think Andy should have pretty regular access to the Internet while he is in Lusaka so be sure to email him in the next couple of weeks as he should be able to respond and Ashlee will have the Internet phone and will also be able to receive your messages and calls.

Let's all send out a prayer that Andy has a speedy and complete recovery from his injuries and Ashlee is safe and at ease as she travels back to Kasempa and while Andy is away.

21 September 2008

Andy and Ashlee celebrated their two year wedding anniversary on 17 September. They had to go to Solwezi to write their quarterly report so they decided to stay at a hotel for the night. Ashlee said they had plans to some things, but after they got in their room they found out their AC has a remote control so they jumped in bed, cranked up the AC and watched ESPN all night. She said they watched PTI, Around the Horn and several other shows as well as a bunch of stuff about baseball that they didn’t really care about but watched anyway. Andy found some nori when he was in Lusaka getting a tooth fixed the week before so they had some sushi for their anniversary. That has been their tradition. I had sent two sets of the chopsticks from their wedding that they also used. That was a special reminder for them. The next day they stayed at the provincial house. They ran into a man selling strawberries so they bought a bunch and ended up making all kinds of strawberry dishes. Andy also fried some chicken which was delicious.

They had just had a meeting with their village that was very well attended so they were thrilled with that when we talked to them. Sometimes they don’t get very good turn outs and that is frustrating. They had 13 women, 4 men and several children. They were teaching about conservation farming. They gave them seeds as a part of a project where they give them seeds one time and then they have to learn how to glean them from their crop for the next year.

They are already planning for our family for visit next April and Ashlee has been talking with the village women about preparing us a Zambian meal when we are there. I think we are all getting excited about it!

7 September 2008

As a follow up to Ashlee’s letter about the language she said that another one she is having trouble with is tomorrow = yesterday. How do you figure out when you are doing something when there is no difference between yesterday and tomorrow? Curious. Ashlee asked that we send gum in their care packages because what they have tastes terrible! They now have an internet phone and can receive emails, but still can only respond when they are at the provincial house.

Andy and I are going to work on a Western house design for the village. They are going to start raising and processing pine trees in the region and he would like to show them how to build a wood framed house. This would help to reduce the amount of wood needed for construction as currently it takes a lot of wood to burn to fire the bricks that they use to build. There will be challenges as they do not have the other traditional building materials that we have including treated lumber for sill plates, house wrap and exterior sheathing that we use to protect the wood from rotting. A girl from my office, Charmalee, who is from Sri Lanka, has some experience in this type of work and she and I are teaming up to design and detail a house for them. Andy said that getting a set of metric blueprints would mean the world to the village. He has been working with a local contractor on the bridge projects and with Andy’s extensive construction experience he feels that he could guide them through the construction process. I have already been thinking up ways to make that process smoother by maybe laminating the plans as they do not have a way to reproduce them. We are starting this week to research construction techniques that may be applicable. Maybe by the time we go the Zambia next spring they will be underway.

31 August 2008

When we spoke to Andy and Ashlee they were stuck in Solwezi because the recently deceased president, Levy Mwanawasa, body was making the rounds to the cities and villages for viewing and so all the traffic was coming into Solwezi but not out. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7570285.stm So they stayed a few extra days at the provincial house on their way back from a week of training in Lusaka. They were curious to see how the country would react as this is the first elected official to pass away. So far everything has been peaceful. They are very interested to see how the election process works in Zambia. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7607444.stm Ashlee was telling my how the mourning period is 7 days and there is hour upon hour of wailing.

They enjoyed their training where they learned about grafting trees so provide a variety of fruit types. They were grafting oranges on to lemon trees. They also had training in growing bananas and business planning. They will hold weekly classes on business planning with the village.

Ashlee said that she had 7 chickens hatch from her chicken Ethel, but 4 had already been killed by hawks. Hopefully they will be able to keep a couple of them alive. An epidemic has been going around that is killing the chickens so they were going to find out how to get vaccinations for the birds.

Ashlee has started a knitting club and met with the town council to get it approved. That will be a valuable skill to teach the ladies. Ashlee said she has started to work out a lot of different patterns including socks to teach them. Mom’s knitting club has been sending Ashlee needles and yarn to get started, as well as yarn to do the rag rugs. Mom found a pattern online for making a loom out of a cardboard box so they should be able to figure out a way to make that work.

They have befriended a boy from the village whose father lived in Lusaka recently died of TB which is a result of HIV. His family would not let him leave the village to attend the funeral and now he has been left to fend for himself with his education which is nearly complete. Andy and Ashlee are going to sponsor him (10,000 quatra which is only a few dollars) in return for work around their house for this year, but are trying to find a sponsor for him for the next year. He is the cousin of the boy that does quite a bit of work for them now at their house.

Ashlee said that she had received a letter from Christi, her high school friend, who has recently traveled to Russia with her acting group to teach the children about playwriting. They think that it may be possible for her group to visit Africa in the future for a similar program. Ashlee was very excited about this prospect and hopes they can get the details worked out.

Mujy Byepi Mwane

3 August 2008

Well after 2 weeks of diarrhea Ashlee is finally starting to recover. They had to stay at the provincial house for 5 days as she was not able to hitchhike back to their house due to her illness. They planned to stay only for a few days, but it got stretched out. Not a good reason to extend your vacation, but at least they had lots of movies to pass the time. They had been at a going away party for another volunteer and drank some local beverages which maybe the culprit but Andy managed to only be ill for a couple of days. They were tested for malaria but they were clean.

Andy’s bike is now out of commission and since they are American bikes they cannot find parts anywhere nearby so they have to wait until they go to the city this week to get them. Hopefully by now they have what they need. Andy has been riding Ashlee’s bike into town for what they need as he is the better rider. Plus I don’t really like the idea of Ashlee riding around by herself.

Ashlee finally got her chicken. It has laid 12 eggs, but refuses to stay at their house. She came from the neighbor and so she goes back over there to lay her eggs. They decided to let her have a few chicks and plan to take them back to their house after they are born, so hopefully that will keep her close to home. Her name is Ethel (for those of you who don’t know that is our grandmother’s name). Ashlee is also planning to add a duck sometime soon. She said that chickens there are like a bank account you save up what you can so you can trade them when you are in need. They are very valuable. The pigs all got wiped out by an epidemic a while ago and the locals really want to get them back. Ashlee said she is encouraging ducks and that is why she wants to get one. The pigs have parasites called jiggers in their droppings that get into your feet. So she said she does not care to have that to worry about. There are however a lot of predators for the fowl including wild cats, snakes and hawks. They were telling us about watching a hawk catch and kill a chicken the other day. They get a lot of entertainment from watch the local wildlife.

They said things have been a bit strange around the village the last week because the man who used to live in their house died and the village has been in mourning. Approximately every two hours around the clock they start wailing and carry on for a while and then take a break. They are not really sure what they should be doing, but they think they people understand that it is not their culture. They said that the man’s son is an educated man with a degree in science who has travel the world but has now returned to the village to live. What a strange thing that must be. Travel the modern world only to return to a village with no electricity and no running water. But I guess for him it is home. They said it is a common thing. The local school principal actually went to school in Minot, ND and spent 5 years in Germany and is now back in the village.

They are going to buy an internet phone this week when they are in the city, so they should be able to receive email all the time. They won’t be able to reply as it will be very expensive but they will be able to get messages every day. They said they would let us know when that is up and running.

Ashlee is planning to help the ladies build a loom so that they can make rag rugs to sell. They have a lot of brightly colored fabric that will make for beautiful rugs, plus it will give them another source of income. She said they can buy a bag of scraps for 1000 quatra and turn around and sell the rung for 10,000 quatra, so it could be a pretty lucrative project. They have been a bit discourage lately as they haven’t been getting many people to turn out for their meetings, but they said that is common and so they are trying not to get frustrated. Andy has been working with the Kasempa Town Council to design a bridge that will be built. He has been doing blueprints of options and seems to be enjoying that.

13 July 2008

When we spoke to Andy and Ashlee yesterday they were just cuddling up with a cup of hot cocoa. It has been cooler and Ashlee was in long pants and long sleeves. There disagreed about the actual temperature, Ashlee thought 60-70 and Andy thought it was warmer, but the villagers are still wearing their sweaters, so it must still be winter. We talked to them about the food that we sent to see if they still had some left.

They are trying to ration it out, since the “Hungry Season” starts in November and they do not know what to expect. They said it typically runs from November to January. We have been trying to figure out the right time to visit and had been thinking about Christmas, but knowing that it will be rainy and a time of famine, makes us thing that late spring would be a better time. I promised them that we would load them up on food as it gets closer, so they can go ahead and enjoy what we sent now, but I understand that sense of uncertainty.

I asked what meat they have been eating and so far it is mostly beef and chicken. There was recently an illness that came through that killed most the pigs and they have not been replenished. Ashlee said they were offered some warthog recently, and had she not been there she was certain that Andy would have purchased it. She said it was in a burlap sack and not appealing so she turned it down. She said that hippo meat is popular, but only in the rainy season. She thinks it is illegal so it probably won’t be in the shops, but she said they would like to try it some day.

They went on Friday night and stayed with the young American doctor and his family. There was a mission group visiting so there were a lot of Americans. Ashlee said she got to take her first shower in a month and while she couldn’t stay in too long because hot water is limited she did get behind her ears and belly button cleaned out. She said it is hard to get fully clean in a bucket. She also enjoyed being able to lie in bed and read past dark. In the morning they made French toast with the kids.

Ashlee said it is interesting that knitting is now work and not just a hobby, but she is enjoying it. She has been trying to write down patterns for what she knows. If you go to the fabric store she would love to have any of the free crochet or knitting patterns that are available and yarn is always needed. She met a lady that will soon be leave that had a whole box of clothing patterns that she gave to Ashlee so she is hoping there are some good patterns in there, but she has not had a chance to look through them yet. She has also started teaching an English class and Andy is teaching the kids Karate. They started teaching some organic farming techniques to about 10 local farmers. They are technically not supposed to be working yet, but the people are anxious to learn what they have to teach so they have started early. They said some places they have visited when they tell them that they can come back later tell them to do it now or not at all. They said that they other volunteers are in the same boat. They are still struggling with the language, but they can get the point across. They have a lot of English speaking people around so they are not picking it up as fast as some of the volunteers who are in more remote areas.

They are hoping to go to the Provincial House next weekend. They are only allowed to go every so often and they are ready for a break. They were warned that 6 weeks is about the limit before you need to get away for a couple of days and they are just reaching that point and are definitely ready for a weekend of television, electricity and running water.

7 July 2008

I missed reporting last week but we have talked to them pretty much every weekend. They seem to be doing pretty well. They are moving forward with their PC projects and Andy will start teaching some classes very soon. When we spoke to them on 29 June 2008 they had been to the Agriculture Show, which is like a state fair, where they had a booth. People come from all over and bring their best and largest crop items to show off. Andy and Ashlee did some demonstrations on organic farming and composting. They were able to meet people from all over the district that typically would be too far to visit. They told the people that if they want them to come to their villages to do demonstrations and teach to call them and they would make the trip. It seems that there was some good interest.

They are learning about how to acquire different and better food. It is all about who you know. There is a man in the village that can get/grows sweet red onions, and other foods, but he does not sell them at the market. You have to make friends with the guy and then he will let you have his vegetables. They have also made friends with an American couple from Tampa that are living in Kasempa. He is a doctor recently out of school and she is raising their two young boys and is currently 7 months pregnant. They were excited to meet other Americans and have invited Andy and Ashlee to visit any time. They are already making plans to visit with them this next weekend. They have a much more modern house with a decent kitchen. Dad observed last night that the husband will likely have to deliver his own child. That is kinda scary.

They have also found out who to talk to about getting clothes made in their village. Andy have a pair of interesting Capri pants made, which is the best kind to have for bicycle riding. His are green, yellow, blue and black with African shields all over them. They also learned that unless you specify otherwise, they pleat everything, so Andy knows to ask for no pleats next time. Sounds more like coo lots to me. Ashlee is also going to have some clothes made.

Jerry and Wanda sent them some seeds for marigolds that they received from one of their friends in Lithuania, and Ashlee has planted them so now the same marigolds will be on three continents. They received several packages in the last few weeks all of which they are very thankful for. They get so excited to get even the smallest things from home. Ashlee said she is having the hardest time with the food. She really misses food from home so be sure to include food on any packages you send. They also have an old battery operated CD player that I found in my old college stuff, so they would like to receive music too. Anything that is new that sounds good, or a mixed CD you make would be great. Andy is very into music. They said they played some music for the locals and the favorite was the Grateful Dead, but they love anything American.

Ashlee said that it is interesting that they have most everything to make Mexican food, but there is very little cross over. They have the ingredients to make tortillas but they really only use the corn for mush. Ashlee has been making tortillas and is planning to teach some of the villagers how to do so. Very one tracked minded concerning things. She said that one of their neighbors was cleaning out his garden since it is the winter season and there were several green tomatoes still on the vines. She asked is he was going to throw them out and he said he was. She stopped him and taught him how to make fried green tomatoes. The have everything needed, egg, cornmeal and seasoning. And they liked them. So rather than tossing all the tomatoes out he was able to feed his family. Something so simple has stretched their food supply out.

Ashlee said that she finishes her chicken coop, but now she can’t find anyone who will sell her a chicken. I guess they are pretty valuable. At least now she is ready. Andy has been working on a fence for their yard to keep the chickens and goats out of their garden. They learned that the pineapples in their yard will take 2-5 years to develop, but they are still hoping to eat one or two before they leave Zambia.

They have been told that the river that is ½ mile from their house will have crocodiles and hippos come the rainy season, so they are excited to see that. Hippos can be very mean, so they know to be cautious, but would like to get some good photos.

They have been lucky and been fairly healthy since arriving. Their friend Sarah has not been so lucky and has been sick three times since arriving and has a parasite which is common, but not great for the digestive system.

They had company and managed to have a decent American 4^th of July with burgers and beer. They have been put on warning concerning the issues with the Zambian president. He had a stroke on the 29^th while in Egypt and was moved to Paris. Rumors were leaked that he died, but that is not substantiated and the government is investigating how the rumors were released. I believe this is his second stroke so that is not good. It sounds like it is possible that they could be pulled out if government things to do not go smoothly. If you read anything about it text them with what you learn. They had only received a few reports via radio, but not much has been coming out. They are very anxious to know whatever we can tell them. I just sent them a text with what I learned this morning.

1 June 2008

We caught both Andy and Ashlee at home this week. They were reading by candle light as the sun had already gone down. They said it sets around 7pm since it is the winter season. They have both been going through a lot of books since they got there. Next week they are going to the provincial house for a group meeting and they are having a costume party called “Anything but clothes” and Ashlee was telling us about the costumes that she has been working on for them. There were a few large plaid plastic bags left behind by their predecessors that had some holes in them, so she made pleated skirt and halter top for her and shorts and a v-neck tank top with pockets for Andy using only the plastic bags and duct tape and coke bottle tops for the buttons. Two hours of the day are too hot to do anything outside so she has been working on the costumes for a couple of weeks. They had two peace corp. visitors in the last couple of weeks both of whom were very impressed with Ashlee’s ability to make costumes with no pattern. Sara, one of the volunteers, asked if Ashlee would come to visit her village and teach the ladies there some classes on sewing as she does not know how and that was a request from her village. Ashlee said they have a sewing machine already, so she is going to go stay for a few days and teach a few classes. Who knew all the skills we learned at home growing up would turn out to be so valuable?! Thanks Mom! There sure are all kinds of education that are important in life! Ashlee has also been knitting with the yarn Andrea sent to her.

Ashlee was describing the difficulty she has been having keeping ‘decent’ while trying to ride her bike as it is not acceptable to show above the knee, however walking around topless is completely acceptable. She has been wearing a long skirt most of the time but tying in knots on both sides to keep it out of the way. Andy said that they were warned that if you are a boob man the African women will change your mind in no time. They were telling us about a woman one of their friends saw who was actually breastfeeding a child who was riding on her back. I will let your imagination fill in the blanks on that one. Whew! Who needs TV with that kind of entertainment?

Ashlee said that the villagers were quite impressed with her volleyball skills in last week’s tournament. She said that she had served 5-6 aces in a row and one of the men turned to her and said “you are making points with those” and she just smiled and replied, “I know.” She said it was fun to play.

They are getting to know the two boys who live next door and are going to tutor them. She said they are in the 6^th and 7^th grade, but they are behind where they should be. They are really good boys and they enjoy their company and they help them a lot around the house. They are collecting manure for their garden and they have found they can barter with the kids to get manure. The previous people left around 1000 pencils and they pay the kids one pencil for each bag of manure. They have been generating some interest with the project and hope to teach the villagers about natural fertilizer. The cost of these products is also rising there so it is important for them to learn how to help their crops with a renewable resource. They don’t have an understanding of crop rotation or alternating plant types and the soils get tire and don’t produce as well so they are also trying to teach that basic concept. There is one man in particular who is always coming by to see what Andy is working on. Most people are hesitant, but this one guy is very interested so they plan to teach him everything they can and see if it starts to bring more people in as it goes. Andy is also planning to build a chicken coop so they can get a chicken and have fresh eggs and the occasional chicken dinner, but they cannot eat a whole chicken and there is no way to preserve any food so for now they plan to buy half chickens at the market.

They have encountered an issue they are not sure how to deal with. A common practice there is illegal production of charcoal which is made from illegally chopping down trees and treating it. They recently discovered that one of the villagers is doing this at his home. He has been a really friendly guy and they don’t want to make and waves in their village, but since they work for the forestry department they are kind of the enforcers of the rules, but don’t really know how to handles it.

They went to church on Saturday and were able to get a list of things the church needs put together. The pastor, in fact, has 25 churches under his charge. They said that once the church is completed if they build a house the Conference has said they will give the church its own pastor so they are working towards that. They are sending a package of recording and information to the parents to present at their church.

It is the burning season there and they said they burn everything to the ground. Ashlee speculated that it helps with the snakes, but they have never gotten an official reason. She said the smoke is irritating to her and right now it is pretty much every day. If it helps with the snakes that is good because their neighbor killed a 3-1/2’ spitting cobra the other day. These snakes spit poisonous venom at you and it can blind you. The antidote is breast milk and Ashlee said there is always someone around who breastfeeds so that is good. Actually any milk will do, but they told them breast milk is the best.

They did some shopping while in the village. Andy just got a new outfit. It is a LA Laker basketball uniform only in olive green and navy/purple. They said the outfits are available in just about any color but the Lakers purple and gold. The NBA logo has been replaced with SV. Everything there is a knock off. They wanted to get an outfit for Aundre, but they didn’t come large enough. They said they are very lucky because their Boma has so many things. They think it is because of the hospital. There is one store in town that has candy and soda that they get from Lusaka every week so that is nice.

They will be at the provincial house next weekend so they said not to call as they don’t know when they will be home. They are supposed to get a ride home from the peace corp. after the big party Saturday night but don’t know when they will reach their home on Sunday.

Everyone remember that June 14 is Andy’s birthday so you can drop a card in the mail and it will arrive late or you can text him.

25 May 2008

Ashlee was not home when we called. A nearby Evangelical church was in the village for a volleyball tournament and Ashlee was playing with their village. Andy had made it home and was getting dinner started. We could hear him clanging around with the pans. We could also hear the village dog barking and Andy told us that he was training the dog to keep the goats out of the garden. I think he was calling the dog Tosh but not sure. I asked what they fed the dog and he said mostly capente, which is a dried fish, but he will eat anything that is cooked, no raw veggies. They had received the package Andrea sent three weeks ago, so they now how the solar powered phone charger so when it is not cloudy they will have a charged phone. One up coming project is to plant guava trees in the village as there are none currently.

Ashlee got tired of waiting for Andy to get the solar shower working so she did that. From the way Andy described it, it sounded like they virtually shower in the open air until he surrounds the shower.

They met a nurse, I believe at church, who has electricity and the first thing she did was offer them a cold drink. Something they have not had for several months. She invited them to visit any time and I think they plan on taking her up on it. They made a trip to the hospital to talk about Dad visiting and they were excited for the opportunity. They found out that the hospital has an air strip so they can get supplies to the village if the parents bring them. It also sounded like the parents could get a on the plane too which would save a long and arduous drive. They also found that the hospital has a pool and tennis courts.

They are going to the provincial house next week and sounded like they were looking forward to that. They said they could use some light reading if you send a package. Magazines or fiction. Andy specification mentioned Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting. The can also use the magazines for teaching English so any and all kinds are welcome. And Ashlee asked for anything chocolate, but remember the heat so try to find things that won’t melt too badly. Andy also said that he could use short sleeved button down shirts if you are making a trip to the Good Will any time soon, just not in red. Apparently there is a prejudice against that color in the region, but they haven’t figured out why yet. A funny comment from Andy was how bad Ashlee stinks! And it is making her mad! I thought that was too funny not to pass along.

18 May 2008

They attended church on Saturday in Kesempa and with their village on Sunday. They were presented with a chicken by their neighbors, which is a symbol that they are welcomed into the village. They are in turn supposed to kill the chicken, cook it and share it with the village. They did not know how to kill or clean the chicken so they took it home and a man from the village was to come the next day and show them what to do. The feet of the chicken were bound and Ashlee thought it was cruel and since they were keeping it in the kitchen hut she untied the feet. Of course the chicken managed to get out and they had to recruit the boys from the village to help coral the bird. I can just imagine the site! Andy said that when the man came to show them how to kill the chicken but Ashlee couldn’t watch, so he learned how to do it for next time and is planning to build a coop so they can have a few birds. KFC doesn’t sound so good now, does it?

11 May 2008

When we spoke to Andy and Ashlee they were both tired because they hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before as mice were running across the tin roof all night. What do you say to that? They were sitting in the yard coloring with the village children. The kids come over randomly and want to color and draw and they have really enjoyed their time with them. They help with the language and laugh at Ashlee when she says things wrong.

It has been hot but since it is nearing the winter season people are wearing their winter clothes, including fleeces, in 95+ heat. They heard that there is a pool at the hospital in Kasempa so they are making plans to visit there. For now they are cooling off by bathing in their large tub. Ashlee has been working on getting the flower beds cleaned up and planting her garden. She is planning the plant large loofa vines around the kitchen hut while Andy has been working hard to get everything else working. Ashlee is planning to continue the canning education with the ladies in the village and Andy will be working on a variety of project including growing the honey business which currently employs 20 men and is a great income generator. Currently when they find a hive they will cut the tree down to harvest the honey so Andy is going to try and make pots that can be used for hives to help reduce the number of trees that are being cut down. They are saving the wood ash from their fires for building the kiln as it is an important ingredient so that the kiln is well insulated and can burn very hot. Andy thought they would have enough ash in a few weeks. They will also be continuing English classes in the village, a program set up by the previous volunteers.

They have been attending the Adventist church but the pastor for that church has 12 other churches so he is rarely there. They asked Ashlee and Andy to do some classes on HIV education as the people are “awed” by Americans and will listen to them concerning HIV/AIDS. It has been difficult to educate people as even the educators are still dying of AIDS and sex is not something that is talked about. Ashlee said that a man from the church was going around and introducing them to people as “one of us” and Ashlee finally asked why he was doing that and he said “ Well you are Adventist, so you are one of us.” They said they were amazed how welcoming everyone was especially after finding out they are Adventists.

Their diet for the last several weeks has consisted of sweet potatoes, onion, cabbage, okra, tomato and eggs. (Sounds like summer meals growing up.) They also have all the regular staples like pasta and rice. Ashlee has been making all kinds of sweet potatoes including a kind of curry stew, home fries and eggs, etc. Their current stove is a brazier that takes about 30 minutes to boil water, so dinner takes about 2 hours to prepare. Andy is planning to build them a stove in a similar method as the kiln and hopes to get that made soon. They have been treating themselves to hot chocolate in the evenings is she can get the water hot, but if not they just go to bed. With no electricity they go to bed when it gets dark.

They said that there is a really good article in the latest Forbes Life about Zambia that they wanted to recommend to everyone. http://search.forbes.com/search/find?MT=Zambia I am not sure which article they were referring to, but here is a link to several recent articles.