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.

4 May 2008

Andy and Ashlee have had a great first week in their village. When I spoke with them yesterday they had just returned home from playing volleyball with their village at the church and were experiencing their first big thunder storm. They gave a speech that they wrote in their new language to the village. There is one local man who speaks very good English and he reviewed their speech for them before they gave it and they only had one word wrong so they were very excited about that. After their speech they had the village tell them what they would like to learn from they while they are there. Ashlee said that she was a bit surprised to hear that they wanted to learn how to do a household budget and learn about business planning. They also wanted to learn more about raising chickens, what to do with bananas and how to do karate. I went to the book store yesterday and got a book and set of flashcard for them to learn the basics about karate and Aundre mailed it out this morning. Andy said that he would try to teach them some basic stuff, even though he does not know much about karate. If there is anyone who knows anything about it and would like to mail or email them some additional information that would be great. I picked the book that was the easiest to understand and had a lot of pictures.

Ashlee said that everyone in the village has been great so far. They are respectful of their privacy and they had been warned that the children would hang around and stare at them, but so far the kids have helped pitch in with work when needed, but have not been bothering them. She said the previous couple had the children over to color each day and so they have been keeping that up. She said that she tells them words or points to things and the kids all draw it and then help her with the words. So far they have really enjoyed that time. If you ever send a packaged she asked that you include a couple of dollar store boxes of crayons as she said it looks like they will go through them pretty fast. I sent a couple of boxes in my package. They are going to work with the village school to start an art club as there is not art program in the school which she said will be great experience for them as they both plan to go into teaching when they return to the States.

They saw an Adventist church in Kasempa and decided to go to services on Sabbath. There is an Adventist church in almost every little town. Ashlee said that they were shocked to see her boss, the school principal, head mistress, language teacher and several others they had come in contact with at the church. Her boss asked them if they had come to town to look for him and when they told him no, they were Adventists and were coming to church, he was thrilled. She said that the sermons are in English and are then translated into the local language so that will be a good learning tool for them. The language teacher for the private school was there and it sounds like she may help in tutoring them which they were excited about. They can get Bibles and hymnals in their language so they are also planning on order each of those to help them learn. They were very excited to meet so many Adventists so far from home. Ashlee said that most of the people in church were educated professionals and they all spoke good English for the most part. She said they will plan to go every week.

They also made a stop at the market and bought a delicious pineapple which is very expensive ($1 US) for the locals, but Ashlee said is was very good. She said they can get a head of cabbage for $.50 and tomatoes for $.25. Fruit this time of year is pretty limited so she said if we send packages to add dried fruit. As soon as mango season hits they will have fruit coming out of their ears but for now it is pretty limited. I sent them some dried apricots, fruit leather and some Vitamin C drink mixes. She said that they have a great BOMA, nearby town (6K), that has everything they need so they are very excited about that. Some other volunteers have a 50-60K trek to the closest BOMA.

They are very happy and getting settled in. They should have their solar charger soon and will have their phone on all the time. More later…

1 May 2008

Yesterday I had a nice visit with Ashlee. 26 min. for $5.00 and that is money well spent. They were resting in the gazebo, that has a hatch roof, and they said it was very cool. They were resting from a long hard day in their new home. They have a small brick house with a cement floor. They were able to get a new bed mattress and have gotten the netting up around it to help with the bugs. She said her kitchen right now is buckets with tight lids. They had a welcoming party of 5 boys that came to check them out. They offered to help so she put them to work scrubbing the floor etc. One of the Boys decided he would rather help Andy catch mice.

A dog they have named Tosh came with the house. He is friendly and helps with the other rodents that are around. A cat may be in the future since I guess they are better at doing this job than dogs. But Andy loves the dog.

They were tired cause it is a 10 min. walk to get water and they had used a lot that day. They could hire someone to get water for them but think they will do it them selves to try and fit in. Ashlee says Andy needs to find smaller buckets cause she lost over half on the way home, but got a nice foot washing out of the deal.

They should have phone coverage where they are now when their phone is charged. Till the solar charger gets there, they will have to go to the closest town and they have permission at the Forestry office to charge their phone. It is about 15 K, so distance on their bikes.

Their yard has 6 mango trees and banana trees. There were ripe bananas last week when they were there but gone now, so some one else must have needed them. The garden has gone up into weeds so they will have a good job getting that ready, Ashlee took a lot of seeds with her in hopes to plant many things. Her project right now is to use the plastic bags they have by cutting them up and knitting them into what I think she said was a rug.

She mentioned that she has heard from some of you by E mail and says thanks. They are getting them even though it says they are out of the country. They only have 10 min each on the computer before they have to pay so keep sending them your e mails even thought they can't respond.