Though I still don’t have an answer, I finally understand why people ask this question. Our first time out in the field involved travelling through the “bush”. With miles and miles of shrubs, small trees, and dirt, many people lived in small accommodations on the side of the road, selling fruits and vegetables, usually potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and musala (a leafy staple). A main road winds next to the Luangwa River, which separates Mozambique from Zambia. Many farm animals like to cross this road…and you can probably infer what happens next. A moment of silence for that chicken…and that goat…and all those bugs that met their fate on the windshield. Thus, begins the tale of our first field work trip: over the past week, we visited a small village in the southeastern corner of Zambia called Luangwa, at the borders of Mozambique and Zimbabwe, near the Lower Zambezi National Park. We left on Sunday and drove for about 4.5 hours, arriving at dusk. Since our original lodge no longer had space, we made our way to Justfeeli Lodge, which has me humming the chorus of Maroon 5’s “Just a Feeling” song every time it’s spoken (if you don’t know this song, please go listen to it. It’s one of their older songs, but soooooo good). Lodging accommodations were exceptional with the staff there very friendly (as almost all Zambians are) and they would watch the World Cup with us each night. On the first day, we left early to go to the river’s edge to see where the Luangwa and the Zambezi river met. We were able to see the early morning catch of bream and see the first baobab tree that David Livingstone (famous explorer renown for “discovering” Zambia and loved by Zambians) saw when he crossed over and set foot in Livingstone. Then, we headed to the training location and many of the agents got lost to our training location, so while waiting, we met a group of women pumping water from a well (my engineering mind went crazy analyzing how durable and structurally sound the pump was, especially since I’d never seen a pump before), and I tried my hand at pumping water into a well. Later, I found out that the women pumped twice as fast as I did, but they were still courteous enough to let me pump for them and didn’t complain (or maybe they did…I didn’t understand the words they spoke in Nyanja). But when I had to leave, one woman, balancing water on her head, placed her hand over her heart and that was the sincerest thank you I had ever had. The training began with 7 new people wanting to become agents. We gathered in a somewhat run-down building and the training commenced. Drew and I frantically took notes, observing the training and detailing aspects we could improve upon. I won’t bore you with the details of the training, but this went on for two days and we learned a lot, talking with these new agents. On the third day, we met up with 5 existing agents and 2 sales and service representatives (more experienced agents who help existing agents with problems). We met in a thatched house that was built by Zimbabweans and let me tell you, thatching should be the new roofing style of all houses (or at least researched by the Civil Engineering Department). Not only was it structurally sound and quite pretty to look at, but it kept the heat out, especially since Luangwa is known to have some of the hottest temperatures in all of Zambia. But I digress. With these existing agents, it was interesting to hear all about the challenges that they faced in the field and seeing how the refresher training better enabled them to discover solutions and work with their fellow agents.
Anyways, just remember folks, don’t drive down the freeway at 65 MPH when there are animals crossing!
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It has only been 4 days since I landed in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, but it feels like I’ve been here for years. Due to surviving the 24-hour flight to Lusaka (16 hours to Dubai, then 8 hours to Zambia) and the initial adjustment period of learning the layout of the city, buying groceries, dealing with stomach troubles, and figuring out internet services (not to mention jet lag), I had never felt as exhausted as I did when I entered Lusaka. Everything hit so quickly that I barely had any time to react. For the first few nights, I went to bed before 9:00 PM and woke up at 7:00 AM, and still felt exhausted throughout the day. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from finals catching up to me or the culture shock, but in all honesty, it was a rough transition. Fortunately, this adjustment period has come to an end, and it is truly exciting to be back on my feet and getting a sense of familiarity, many thanks to the friendly people of Zambia and two other college students from New York who are living in the same house and working at VITALITE too. While I expected to have some difficulty due to the language barrier and isolation due to being foreigners, I am pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of everyone that we have met. Many Zambian coworkers have given us suggestions for places to eat, clubs to visit, vacation destinations, and cultural references such as handshakes (there’s a secret way of shaking hands apparently!) and native words. I’ve really enjoyed having conversations with everyone and anyone, including a lady at the gelato stand. Z: “Where are you from?” Me: “America” Z: “Ah, no wonder you’re English is so good.” Me: “Thank you! But my family is actually from China, I was just born in America.” Z: “Can you speak Mandarin?” Me: “Yeah, I can. Can you?” Z: “I’m learning at the local university. Ni hao ma?” And this starts up a conversation where we shared a few words in the other’s native tongue, shared new words to learn, and bonded over the gelato flavors. Although it was a simple and short conversation, it was so genuine and enjoyable and not unusual at all. Through these conversations, people everywhere love to laugh and joke and maybe it’s coincidental or the fatigue or the slower pace of life, but I have truly appreciated this aspect. Therefore, despite the rough start, things are moving forward and I’m so excited to head out into the rural areas of Zambia to continue research. Tomorrow, I leave for Luangwa, a small fishing village, but tonight, I danced and laughed my heart out at the annual VITALITE party. P.S. For those of you who know my partner in the field, Drew Descourouez, and his incredible thoughts, well, let’s just say that every day is a new philosophical discussion that has me contemplating every aspect of my life, so perhaps that has increased my appreciation of Zambia.
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