Greetings from South Africa!
I am a medevac. Cool right? No not at all. So in the beginning of August, I came down to Lusaka to get my gum pain checked out and I visited with the new PC doctor, told him I had been experiencing body aches and fatigue for the past couple weeks. He did a physical and I had pain on my left side so immediately he thought I had a kidney infection. I was put on anti-biotics and I told him I can't stay in Lusaka because I was committed to helping CamFed with their one week girls' camp in Chinsali. So against doctor's orders, I headed back up North feeling a bit better.
A few days into the camp, the fatigue came back, the antibiotic did not seem to be working, the pain in the left side became much more intense and I developed a rash on my upper tummy. I thought maybe it was a reaction to the medicine they gave me, but the doctor-he is very good-called every day to check on my status and when he heard I developed a rash, insisted that I come back down to Lusaka that day. Lucky for me, a CamFed vehicle was going down as well so I got a free ride with them. I was so sad to leave the camp-it was great and CamFed Zambia is a great NGO-I really enjoyed working with them. So I visited with Dr. Harry on Thursday and at this point, I was feeling very bad-nauseaus and dizzy. He checked and I had a fever as well-so I continued with antibiotices, slept a lot and they tried to figure out what was wrong with me. Took more blood and could not figure it out. I was switched to a different antibiotic because they thought I had another infection but during the weekend, fever continued and I was feeling like crap. Come Monday morning, I was sent for x-rays and told I was heading to South Africa first thing the next morning. Though I really did not want to go, I had no choice so made the necessary calls to my villagers and said my goodbyes and next day-hello South Africa. I was met at the airport by a PC driver and he took me right to the hospital in Pretoria-Little Company of Mary.
I met with Dr. Cedric who is the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer-he is great! And I was admitted right then and there. The flight was painful-I could not sit comfortably and so immediately at the hospital, they did blood work, I had a CT scan, an MRI and all came back ok so final diagnosis was that I had a virus infection that got into my blood which was causing the muscle/joint pain. They confirmed that I had dengue fever-I had a big rash on my back that I had no idea about...and so I was at the hospital for about six days. It was weird -my first time ever to be admitted to the hospital and of course, it would happen in Africa! But the hospital was so nice, very clean and I had my own room. The nurses were great and made sure I was very comfortable. I was visited every day by Dr. Cedric who also made sure I was ok. I started physio-therapy while at the hospital and it was so painful at first I really could not stand it...but I have been in it for about two weeks now and it's getting better. So I was released from the hospital on Monday-I arrived the Tuesday before so I was ready to be out. I was taken to the PC office, met with the medical assistant who organized for me to be taken to the guest house where all the medevacs are staying. It is this beautiful guest house in a nice neighborhood in Pretoria. It is an old victorian style home and my room has hard wood floors. So nice! Breakfast is provided and it is delicious, we have a great variety. I cant' complain-they certainly make our stay very cozy during our time here. So I met volunteers from the Gambia, Burkina Faso, Togo, Uganda, and Swaziland who are all here for different medical issues.
I have been seeing the therapist every other day and there is definite progress. I am going again tomorrow and then Thursday, hopefully I can get on a bicycle and if there is no problem after that, I am good to go back to Zambia. I am so ready to get home-my poor villagers probably feel deserted. Luckily I was able to call and check in with them all and everything is fine at home, yay for that.
It is strange being in Pretoria. A land full of white people who speak Afrikaans-it is so different from being in Mpika. I just don't fit in very well here and miss being able to speak/understand the local language. And it is just so clean here. I have gotten to know the other volunteers and everyone's living situation is so different, even though we are all PC africa. I have it the roughest but I wouldn't trade my little hut with no water/electricity for anything else. Everyone else lives with families in cement homes, have flush toilets and electricity-crazy!! Oh Zambia...
So that's about all going on here-I am overwhelmed with the malls, fast food, McDonald's and bars...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Visitors at the Fritz Ritz
Hey All--
So I have been in Lusaka for the past couple of days for dental issues but going back up north, against the doctor's wishes, to help the NGO CamFED-Campaign for Female Education-with a one week girls' empowerment science and technology camp in Chinsali, the district north of Mpika. It should be quite interesting--Mary Ellen and I are the two PCVs who will be helping so we are excited because we are hoping to use CamFED as facilitators for our Camp GLOW in December, which speaking of, my grant proposal for our Mpika Camp Glow got approved with no questions so that is so exciting!! I will be writing to you all asking for help, so please if you want to know more right now, let me know!! But anyways, being in Lusaka with free unlimited internet access is quite amazing...especially coming from Mpika where it's soooo expensive just to type on a computer, let alone use the internet.
So I said there would be an update about my work so here goes it....
My busiest month of work was June, by far. I had so many community meetings lined up and everyone wanted to work, so that was great! I started working right away with my EHT on our behavior change study. We formed a committee with headmen from the different villages, teachers from the two basic schools, religious leaders and other active members of the community. Together, we planned how to implement the survey to the young girls. Kaole community, which is about 7 km south of where I live, is a community adamantly opposed to talking about/distributing or mentioning condoms so it was quite difficult to work with them at first, but after lots of conversation, they finally did see the value and my EHT and I were able to go into the school and freely talk about our study. So this was all going on in June. In addition to behavior change, my clinic and I organized a cooking demonstration for all the healthworkers in my community. It was a fantastic event! All 36 health workers came out, everyone brought what they were suppose to and they cooking all sorts of nutrition things that would help child nutrition. We also did a soya demonstration at this event and so we made soya milk and sausages-so good! Chris, my nearest PCV neighbor who came to Zambia in February with the Education program, came and my community absolutely loves him now ha ha. He took a great group photo of us so I blew it up and framed it and gave it to my clinic, they absolutely loved it.
I also started my HIV/Aids Outreach program with my counterpart from the Pepfar training and it went soooo well! Ba Dorothy-a lady who is half muzungu-her father was German- is HIV positive and a really great counterpart because she likes to tell people her story and encourage them to get tested. She came, along with Gilbert who is my original PC counterpart. So together, we met, planned activities and divided up the sessions then went out to a far village to do our outreach. We had a great turnout, about 50 people showed up both men and women, as well as the entire neighborhood health committee for that area. They loved the activities we did and at the end, we encouraged them all to come to the clinic the following Wednesday for World VCT Day. And success! At World VCT Day, the entire NHC came out together and got tested for the first time so it was awesome, I was thrilled at the progress. And the District chose my clinic to do their national event for VCT day so an added bonus of government money...always nice.
July I was away for the first two weeks for Malawi/Kasama but I returned to the village rested, relaxed and ready to continue work. By the end of June I was so ready for vacation, but as my previous vacation stated, it was not much of one in Malawi, thanks to transport issues! But when I got back to site, I had about a week to work before I was to host four new health trainees at my site for their first site visit. So during this week, I managed to get to both my schools and hand out the surveys for my behavior change study to girls ages 12-19. Between the two schools I handed out about 50 surveys, and out of 50, 18 girls are sexually active-the youngest being 12 years old! But according to their survey, all 18 said they use condoms for protection...very interesting. Now I am going to go back and try to get some more data from more girls but school is on break right now...
So on Monday, July 26th I got four new health volunteers at my site for their first site visit. Crazy to think that I was in their shoes a year ago but yes, Emily, Adrienne, Nancy and John arrived at the Fritz Ritz-yes isn't that a catchy title? Chris named my hut the Fritz Ritz during my one year anniversary party because I have an amazing site! So please everyone, come visit the Fritz Ritz. Chris and Courtney, another PCV who lives close by, came to help out for the visit. They were a great help and I really appreciated them being there because four newbies asking questions can be quite overwhelming! So the newbies arrived around 2 and since they had a long journey, we did not do much. I gave them a tour of the village, taught them how to fetch water and then we started on an early dinner of soya tacos. Chris is an amazing cook so I was glad he was there to help. The newbies enjoyed learning how to cook on braziers and loved the meal. The best thing about site visit is that the newbies bring you lots of yummy treats to eat...so now my kitchen is fully stocked, yay! The next day, I took them to meet my headman, he talked to them about roles of a headman and then we went to the clinic. My EHT and nurse met with the group, talked to them about how the clinic works and then we came back, ate a quick lunch before the cruiser came to pick us up and take us to Kaole School where I work with the anti-aids club. The students are so great, they are so motivated and love to perform! They did songs, dances and poems for the newbies then afterwards the new ones led them in some games. It was more just an opportunity for them to see school kids in Zambia, but fun nonetheless. We came back, and they were exhausted...they were still recuperating from jet lag so I don't blame them. We made popcorn and called it a night. The next day, we got up bright and early and I took them to White/Chilebela villages where they split into two groups and went with the NHC on village inspections. They seemed to enjoy it and this opportunity allowed them to see what NHCs are supppose to be like in village settings. After village inspections, we had a cooking party with the committee members. They taught the newbies how to pound groundnuts, cook nshima and kill a chicken! There was so much food and it was absolutely great. I think it was their favorite day, by far. So site visit was a success overall...my villagers were so excited that I had guests in the village so please everyone back home, come visit!! They left early the next day, which was sad but they now start their 9 weeks of intense training....I am so glad I am over that stage! It was a fun experience..and in a few weeks, I'll be hosting the new Mpika volunteers are my site...that will be even more fun because they will be my new neighbors!
Alrighty well this is extremely long....but there you have it, all the happenings of Zambia from the past few months.
Please please continue to write and COMMENT! I would love to know that people are reading this blog...even if it is a diary of sorts on my life here...
Miss you all so much!
So I have been in Lusaka for the past couple of days for dental issues but going back up north, against the doctor's wishes, to help the NGO CamFED-Campaign for Female Education-with a one week girls' empowerment science and technology camp in Chinsali, the district north of Mpika. It should be quite interesting--Mary Ellen and I are the two PCVs who will be helping so we are excited because we are hoping to use CamFED as facilitators for our Camp GLOW in December, which speaking of, my grant proposal for our Mpika Camp Glow got approved with no questions so that is so exciting!! I will be writing to you all asking for help, so please if you want to know more right now, let me know!! But anyways, being in Lusaka with free unlimited internet access is quite amazing...especially coming from Mpika where it's soooo expensive just to type on a computer, let alone use the internet.
So I said there would be an update about my work so here goes it....
My busiest month of work was June, by far. I had so many community meetings lined up and everyone wanted to work, so that was great! I started working right away with my EHT on our behavior change study. We formed a committee with headmen from the different villages, teachers from the two basic schools, religious leaders and other active members of the community. Together, we planned how to implement the survey to the young girls. Kaole community, which is about 7 km south of where I live, is a community adamantly opposed to talking about/distributing or mentioning condoms so it was quite difficult to work with them at first, but after lots of conversation, they finally did see the value and my EHT and I were able to go into the school and freely talk about our study. So this was all going on in June. In addition to behavior change, my clinic and I organized a cooking demonstration for all the healthworkers in my community. It was a fantastic event! All 36 health workers came out, everyone brought what they were suppose to and they cooking all sorts of nutrition things that would help child nutrition. We also did a soya demonstration at this event and so we made soya milk and sausages-so good! Chris, my nearest PCV neighbor who came to Zambia in February with the Education program, came and my community absolutely loves him now ha ha. He took a great group photo of us so I blew it up and framed it and gave it to my clinic, they absolutely loved it.
I also started my HIV/Aids Outreach program with my counterpart from the Pepfar training and it went soooo well! Ba Dorothy-a lady who is half muzungu-her father was German- is HIV positive and a really great counterpart because she likes to tell people her story and encourage them to get tested. She came, along with Gilbert who is my original PC counterpart. So together, we met, planned activities and divided up the sessions then went out to a far village to do our outreach. We had a great turnout, about 50 people showed up both men and women, as well as the entire neighborhood health committee for that area. They loved the activities we did and at the end, we encouraged them all to come to the clinic the following Wednesday for World VCT Day. And success! At World VCT Day, the entire NHC came out together and got tested for the first time so it was awesome, I was thrilled at the progress. And the District chose my clinic to do their national event for VCT day so an added bonus of government money...always nice.
July I was away for the first two weeks for Malawi/Kasama but I returned to the village rested, relaxed and ready to continue work. By the end of June I was so ready for vacation, but as my previous vacation stated, it was not much of one in Malawi, thanks to transport issues! But when I got back to site, I had about a week to work before I was to host four new health trainees at my site for their first site visit. So during this week, I managed to get to both my schools and hand out the surveys for my behavior change study to girls ages 12-19. Between the two schools I handed out about 50 surveys, and out of 50, 18 girls are sexually active-the youngest being 12 years old! But according to their survey, all 18 said they use condoms for protection...very interesting. Now I am going to go back and try to get some more data from more girls but school is on break right now...
So on Monday, July 26th I got four new health volunteers at my site for their first site visit. Crazy to think that I was in their shoes a year ago but yes, Emily, Adrienne, Nancy and John arrived at the Fritz Ritz-yes isn't that a catchy title? Chris named my hut the Fritz Ritz during my one year anniversary party because I have an amazing site! So please everyone, come visit the Fritz Ritz. Chris and Courtney, another PCV who lives close by, came to help out for the visit. They were a great help and I really appreciated them being there because four newbies asking questions can be quite overwhelming! So the newbies arrived around 2 and since they had a long journey, we did not do much. I gave them a tour of the village, taught them how to fetch water and then we started on an early dinner of soya tacos. Chris is an amazing cook so I was glad he was there to help. The newbies enjoyed learning how to cook on braziers and loved the meal. The best thing about site visit is that the newbies bring you lots of yummy treats to eat...so now my kitchen is fully stocked, yay! The next day, I took them to meet my headman, he talked to them about roles of a headman and then we went to the clinic. My EHT and nurse met with the group, talked to them about how the clinic works and then we came back, ate a quick lunch before the cruiser came to pick us up and take us to Kaole School where I work with the anti-aids club. The students are so great, they are so motivated and love to perform! They did songs, dances and poems for the newbies then afterwards the new ones led them in some games. It was more just an opportunity for them to see school kids in Zambia, but fun nonetheless. We came back, and they were exhausted...they were still recuperating from jet lag so I don't blame them. We made popcorn and called it a night. The next day, we got up bright and early and I took them to White/Chilebela villages where they split into two groups and went with the NHC on village inspections. They seemed to enjoy it and this opportunity allowed them to see what NHCs are supppose to be like in village settings. After village inspections, we had a cooking party with the committee members. They taught the newbies how to pound groundnuts, cook nshima and kill a chicken! There was so much food and it was absolutely great. I think it was their favorite day, by far. So site visit was a success overall...my villagers were so excited that I had guests in the village so please everyone back home, come visit!! They left early the next day, which was sad but they now start their 9 weeks of intense training....I am so glad I am over that stage! It was a fun experience..and in a few weeks, I'll be hosting the new Mpika volunteers are my site...that will be even more fun because they will be my new neighbors!
Alrighty well this is extremely long....but there you have it, all the happenings of Zambia from the past few months.
Please please continue to write and COMMENT! I would love to know that people are reading this blog...even if it is a diary of sorts on my life here...
Miss you all so much!
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Joys of Transport
So it's been forever since I've been able to actually sit down on a computer and type out a thoughtful blog entry so sorry to anyone reading this back home...and hopefully there are readers out there :-) Hope all is well and you are able to enjoy summer fun activities!
Things are pretty good in Zambia. I hit my Zamaversary (Zambian Anniversary-new phrase that I just recently heard and love it!) on July 23rd and so the Mpika crew got together with the European volunteers and had a celebratory weekend. We had our favorite restaurant, Cims, make us pizzas and they were surprisingly, very yummy! We then went over to Melodies, a lodge across from Cims and toasted to some red wine and Mary Ellen (the other volunteer in my intake) created a game for us to play about the top ten things we've learned while being here in Zambia. Andreas-a German volunteer working at the diocese, Chris-my nearest PCV neighbor who arrived in February, Mary Ellen and I composed this following list:
10. Three wheelbarrows of sand, six wheelbarrows of crushed stone, and one bag of cement=hand mixed cement.
9. hitchhiking is a pain most times, but sometimes it opens doors of friendship.
8. There are no tigers in Africa.
7. Despite what your bamayo says, you CAN'T pick up burning coals.
6. Greetings are a must.
5. Soya is the new chicken.
4. Caterpillars aren's just a bug, but are, in fact, good eats.
3. How to sleep three adults in one bed.
2. An empty canter (pick up truck) looks like an amazing hitch but, guaranteed, by the end of the journey you will be squished and buried under bags and people.
1. Always pack toilet paper.
So there you have it. One year of Zambia in a nutshell, haha. Well not quite...but my previous blog did sum up my feelings so I'll move on from our fun filled anniversary weekend to the joys of transport...
For Fourth of July, Angela, Kate, Meera and I decided to venture over to Malawi to celebrate our independence day on Lake Malawi. We figured that since we all live in the Northern part of Zambia that we would take the less traveled, but 'easier' northern route to Malawi. Well, big mistake on our part. Our holiday was one disaster after another. Angela met me in Mpika, we took the night bus to Nakonde-the border town of Tanzania/Zambia and got there in the very early morning. Kate and Meera left Mbala Friday morning and so Ang and I had to wait about four hours in the shady town of Nakonde. During our wait, we tried to figure out how best to get to Malawi and everyone suggested that we take a bus direct to Lilongwe. So when Kate and Meera got to us, we headed out to the bus station. Turns out the only transport going to Malawi is a canter truck-an open bed pick up truck. Since we had no alternative, and we needed to get to our destination, we agreed to go on the canter. Kate and Meera sat inside while Angela and I were crammed in the back of a very packed, overcrowded bed of the truck. We originally were fine in our seats, but in traditional Zambian fashion, we started the journey and about fifteen minutes in, we started picking up more passengers. This was the most frustrating part because there was absolutely no space and the driver just kept doing whatever he could for more money! And the worst part was we were on a dirt bush path...so if we broke down, nothing else would pass that could give us a lift out. So Angela and I did some serious praying as we were being more and more squished in the canter. Finally, three hours later we arrived at the border post and we were both livid with the driver. Kate and Meera had no idea what was going on in the back, but realized when they got out that we had a horrible trip down. But this was just the start...the driver apologized profusely, put us in the front seat and was really hospitable-we got to Chitipa, border town in Malawi in the evening so there was no way to proceed on to Nkhata Bay, which was on the other side of Malawi so the driver found us a guest house to stay in and offered us to eat with his family. We declined as we were all exhausted from a long day's journey. That night, we ate at the restaurant that was recommended by our driver, but got harrassed by a creepy waiter who told us he could get us a ride to Nkhata Bay if Meera would be his 'friend'...creepy so we left as quickly as possible. Right away, we started missing our Zambian home....
The next morning, we got up super early to try to hitch to Nkhata Bay. There was a beautiful Save the Children vehicle right outside our guest house and I thought, yes, this is God's way of helping us out so we all got excited that Save could take us. Well not quite. The guy who was in the vehicle was not very friendly and told us it was company policy to not pick up hitchhikers, and that if my dad did work for Save, he would know that too. Ugh. Well too bad for us. So we stood on the corner hitching down rides and finally, an empty canter truck stoppped and promised that he was going right away, would not stop to fill up truck and we would arrive in good time. So we, just wanting to be there already, jumped in. Ang and I took the front seat and the ride started out sooo well. But of course, luck was not on our side that day. About half hour into the trip, the canter pulls off to pick up a huge load of sweet potatoes. The villagers were still loading the potatoes into the bags so we ended up waiting for a very very long time. A car was passing so Meera hitched it down from the back of the truck and I tried to jump out to talk to the driver about getting a lift...but our driver noticed and jumped in the canter and started to move, so I assumed yes, we are going. Well our driver was just doing it as a ploy to get us to stay in the truck...we waited a bit longer than finally started to move, only to be taken over by another canter truck which angered the driver so much that we entered into a racing game. Ang and I started to be a little scared but calmed down when we came up to a police checkpoint. But this is where the craziness starts. Our canter pulls up right next to the side of the canter in front of us, and when the police lets the other canter go, ours starts to move even as the police are motioning for us to stop. We didn't stop and as the police was closing the barrier on us, the truck hits the police man!!!! WHAT! Who does that, right??? We were shocked and decided right away, we had to get off this transport because our driver was clearly a mad man!! So I get out to inform Kate and Meera about what was happening, and they tell me to flag down a vehicle while they gather our stuff. During all of this, the police were so mad that they took the keys of our canter truck so we could not go anywhere anyways. We flagged down a packed National Aids Council bus who agreed to take us, thankfully! We walked through the checkpoint as the bus went through, and just as we were waiting for the bus to clear the door so we could get in, the driver from the canter comes over and starts yelling and pushing us around! We were stunned. He was so irate it was scary. Even the AIDs council people had to come to our defense...we finally paid a quarter of the fare and got on the bus. At this point, we were all ready to head back to Zambia...but we proceeded on. The people on the bus were so friendly, and told us that we have to be prepared to always pay in Malawi for transport-a clear difference from Zambia. But they gave us the lift for free, got us to the nearest town where they told us how to catch the bus going to Nkhata Bay. We got on the bus right away, but about half hour out of town, it broke down so we all got out, Kate tried to hitch but no one was going our way...and finally, they sent another bus for us. We managed to get some good seats, and our journey was finally going ok. We arrived at Nkhata Bay just as the sun was setting and we all got a well deserved coctail to toast to our barely-safe arrive. Yes-transport is truly miserable some days. So we enjoyed our four days R&R before deciding to take a bus back to Lilongwe then enter Zambia through Eastern province which is the recommended way of travel. It was a piece of cake to get back, and once were in Zambia, we were so happy. It's always nice to get back home. So our Malawi trip was overshadowed by our horrible transport experience, so when we got back, I took my four days in Kasama to rest up..it was wonderful to just do nothing but sleep in, watch movies and relax.
Village life is going well and I'll write all about it in the next blog, which will be up soon, maybe even tomorrow!
Hope all is well back home...thanks to all those who have written and sent me things, it is always appreciated!! Please continue to write, comment or CALL me!!
Miss you!
Things are pretty good in Zambia. I hit my Zamaversary (Zambian Anniversary-new phrase that I just recently heard and love it!) on July 23rd and so the Mpika crew got together with the European volunteers and had a celebratory weekend. We had our favorite restaurant, Cims, make us pizzas and they were surprisingly, very yummy! We then went over to Melodies, a lodge across from Cims and toasted to some red wine and Mary Ellen (the other volunteer in my intake) created a game for us to play about the top ten things we've learned while being here in Zambia. Andreas-a German volunteer working at the diocese, Chris-my nearest PCV neighbor who arrived in February, Mary Ellen and I composed this following list:
10. Three wheelbarrows of sand, six wheelbarrows of crushed stone, and one bag of cement=hand mixed cement.
9. hitchhiking is a pain most times, but sometimes it opens doors of friendship.
8. There are no tigers in Africa.
7. Despite what your bamayo says, you CAN'T pick up burning coals.
6. Greetings are a must.
5. Soya is the new chicken.
4. Caterpillars aren's just a bug, but are, in fact, good eats.
3. How to sleep three adults in one bed.
2. An empty canter (pick up truck) looks like an amazing hitch but, guaranteed, by the end of the journey you will be squished and buried under bags and people.
1. Always pack toilet paper.
So there you have it. One year of Zambia in a nutshell, haha. Well not quite...but my previous blog did sum up my feelings so I'll move on from our fun filled anniversary weekend to the joys of transport...
For Fourth of July, Angela, Kate, Meera and I decided to venture over to Malawi to celebrate our independence day on Lake Malawi. We figured that since we all live in the Northern part of Zambia that we would take the less traveled, but 'easier' northern route to Malawi. Well, big mistake on our part. Our holiday was one disaster after another. Angela met me in Mpika, we took the night bus to Nakonde-the border town of Tanzania/Zambia and got there in the very early morning. Kate and Meera left Mbala Friday morning and so Ang and I had to wait about four hours in the shady town of Nakonde. During our wait, we tried to figure out how best to get to Malawi and everyone suggested that we take a bus direct to Lilongwe. So when Kate and Meera got to us, we headed out to the bus station. Turns out the only transport going to Malawi is a canter truck-an open bed pick up truck. Since we had no alternative, and we needed to get to our destination, we agreed to go on the canter. Kate and Meera sat inside while Angela and I were crammed in the back of a very packed, overcrowded bed of the truck. We originally were fine in our seats, but in traditional Zambian fashion, we started the journey and about fifteen minutes in, we started picking up more passengers. This was the most frustrating part because there was absolutely no space and the driver just kept doing whatever he could for more money! And the worst part was we were on a dirt bush path...so if we broke down, nothing else would pass that could give us a lift out. So Angela and I did some serious praying as we were being more and more squished in the canter. Finally, three hours later we arrived at the border post and we were both livid with the driver. Kate and Meera had no idea what was going on in the back, but realized when they got out that we had a horrible trip down. But this was just the start...the driver apologized profusely, put us in the front seat and was really hospitable-we got to Chitipa, border town in Malawi in the evening so there was no way to proceed on to Nkhata Bay, which was on the other side of Malawi so the driver found us a guest house to stay in and offered us to eat with his family. We declined as we were all exhausted from a long day's journey. That night, we ate at the restaurant that was recommended by our driver, but got harrassed by a creepy waiter who told us he could get us a ride to Nkhata Bay if Meera would be his 'friend'...creepy so we left as quickly as possible. Right away, we started missing our Zambian home....
The next morning, we got up super early to try to hitch to Nkhata Bay. There was a beautiful Save the Children vehicle right outside our guest house and I thought, yes, this is God's way of helping us out so we all got excited that Save could take us. Well not quite. The guy who was in the vehicle was not very friendly and told us it was company policy to not pick up hitchhikers, and that if my dad did work for Save, he would know that too. Ugh. Well too bad for us. So we stood on the corner hitching down rides and finally, an empty canter truck stoppped and promised that he was going right away, would not stop to fill up truck and we would arrive in good time. So we, just wanting to be there already, jumped in. Ang and I took the front seat and the ride started out sooo well. But of course, luck was not on our side that day. About half hour into the trip, the canter pulls off to pick up a huge load of sweet potatoes. The villagers were still loading the potatoes into the bags so we ended up waiting for a very very long time. A car was passing so Meera hitched it down from the back of the truck and I tried to jump out to talk to the driver about getting a lift...but our driver noticed and jumped in the canter and started to move, so I assumed yes, we are going. Well our driver was just doing it as a ploy to get us to stay in the truck...we waited a bit longer than finally started to move, only to be taken over by another canter truck which angered the driver so much that we entered into a racing game. Ang and I started to be a little scared but calmed down when we came up to a police checkpoint. But this is where the craziness starts. Our canter pulls up right next to the side of the canter in front of us, and when the police lets the other canter go, ours starts to move even as the police are motioning for us to stop. We didn't stop and as the police was closing the barrier on us, the truck hits the police man!!!! WHAT! Who does that, right??? We were shocked and decided right away, we had to get off this transport because our driver was clearly a mad man!! So I get out to inform Kate and Meera about what was happening, and they tell me to flag down a vehicle while they gather our stuff. During all of this, the police were so mad that they took the keys of our canter truck so we could not go anywhere anyways. We flagged down a packed National Aids Council bus who agreed to take us, thankfully! We walked through the checkpoint as the bus went through, and just as we were waiting for the bus to clear the door so we could get in, the driver from the canter comes over and starts yelling and pushing us around! We were stunned. He was so irate it was scary. Even the AIDs council people had to come to our defense...we finally paid a quarter of the fare and got on the bus. At this point, we were all ready to head back to Zambia...but we proceeded on. The people on the bus were so friendly, and told us that we have to be prepared to always pay in Malawi for transport-a clear difference from Zambia. But they gave us the lift for free, got us to the nearest town where they told us how to catch the bus going to Nkhata Bay. We got on the bus right away, but about half hour out of town, it broke down so we all got out, Kate tried to hitch but no one was going our way...and finally, they sent another bus for us. We managed to get some good seats, and our journey was finally going ok. We arrived at Nkhata Bay just as the sun was setting and we all got a well deserved coctail to toast to our barely-safe arrive. Yes-transport is truly miserable some days. So we enjoyed our four days R&R before deciding to take a bus back to Lilongwe then enter Zambia through Eastern province which is the recommended way of travel. It was a piece of cake to get back, and once were in Zambia, we were so happy. It's always nice to get back home. So our Malawi trip was overshadowed by our horrible transport experience, so when we got back, I took my four days in Kasama to rest up..it was wonderful to just do nothing but sleep in, watch movies and relax.
Village life is going well and I'll write all about it in the next blog, which will be up soon, maybe even tomorrow!
Hope all is well back home...thanks to all those who have written and sent me things, it is always appreciated!! Please continue to write, comment or CALL me!!
Miss you!
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