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24 Hours in the Village - Caitlin's Perspective

6/28/2014

8 Comments

 

By Caitlin

Picture
Zambia for me felt familiar, like going back to your college town. I was excited to eat nshima, the staple food, test my memory of the local language and see the beautiful landscapes and my friends in the village. I was excited for Jed to see how amazing the people of Zambia are and how they are warm and generous despite the inherent adversity of village life.  However, I was admittedly nervous to return, for many reasons.  Maybe my friends in the village had moved or passed on. maybe the school I had worked with was no longer in use, leaving an education dearth where there is a great need. Maybe no one would remember me or care that I came back.  

To my surprise, I found little improvements in my former community and of course, they were happy to see me and welcomed me as if I had never left. While the government schools I worked with were still having the same inanely long meetings about the same topics they can't seem to resolve, the community school in my village that I worked with most, had recently been upgraded to a government primary school.  This makes a huge difference: now the school will be assigned a trained, salaried teacher, where previously the teachers were volunteers from the village. The upgrade also means new school buildings to replace the mud/thatch structures where the kids had previously been learning. They will receive textbooks and supplies instead of hand-me-downs. 

I was happy that a few ambitious villagers have had some new opportunities. One friend of mine is enrolled in a teachers course and we found him at the roadside doing research for his assignments on the internet on his non-smart phone! I would not have thought anyone in my village knew what the internet was, although he may be the only one. Another of my good friends got a job as a field officer supervising Early Childhood Development programs in the area, resulting in a preschool in the village. All these things gave me hope for the kids I came to love. 

Unfortunately, some things change and some things stay the same. A few drunk men still accosted us, wreaking and slurring. Some girls in grade 6 or 7 when I was there now are married with a couple kids. People who are sick still have to walk 5k to get to a clinic. However, as we say in the village, "pan'gono pan'gono," or little by little. Hopefully, I'll return in another 5 years and find peoples' lives improved in new ways and maybe I'll be able to contribute in some way. 

8 Comments
Dan G. link
6/28/2014 06:29:42 am

Thanks so much for sharing this! Such a great story and such amazing photos. I'm so happy you were able to return to your village, and pleased but not at all surprised by how happy they were to see you. :)

Safe travels!

Reply
Kerry
6/28/2014 01:19:53 pm

Pan'gono pan'gono. Caitlin this is awesome, I'm so happy you got to go back and how things have progressed.

Reply
Caitlin
7/7/2014 03:20:56 am

Kerry! They are vastly improving Sinda Road which literally runs behind my old house. We could have been easily visiting each other!

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Doe Doe link
6/29/2014 03:40:20 am

This trip is illuminating so much love. Stay safe - love you

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Rob
7/6/2014 11:44:17 am

Nice, Caitlin, that they remembered you. Good that the school got an upgrade! I wonder what changes in the village will occur if the education advances. Will there be a big out-migration to the cities, like Capetown? In five years, things may be very different,.....or not. Very interesting write-up. Thanks.

Reply
Caitlin
7/7/2014 03:18:46 am

Thanks, Rob! Yes, people often move to Lusaka or other cities when they can afford to. Unfortunately, there are not many jobs and sometimes they move back to the village where they can grow food and live with family.

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Lara
7/7/2014 05:14:40 am

Caitlin - I'm so happy (and by that I mean "jealous") that you got back to Eastern! You probably didn't get up there, but I hear the road is now paved all the way to Chama. Crazy! Did you get Jed out for a night of dancing in Chipata?

Reply
Robyn Michaels
7/8/2014 08:55:54 am

I served in Blantyre, Malawi. I support the Zambian Children's Fund in Lusaka. Can you find out anything about how they are doing? I know they have a rest stop business along the road to (I believe) Zimbabwe.

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