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