solwezi part two

okay, here's the real post i meant to put up today:

The drive from Lusaka to Meheba was nuts. It took close to 16 hours. We had some very harrowing/hairy situations in two of the towns along the way. I would say that it was the most stressful road trip of my life but would rather tell you details in person. Very relieved to finally cruise into the settlement late Thursday night.

First week in Meheba has been absolutely amazing. Our home is a square compound with a small courtyard in the middle. It feels a little like summer camp + Casa de la Ninez in Quito. We each share a room with a roommate. We have two very nice ladies that help us with the cooking. We have a tiny bit of electricity from solar panels on our roof, but it all goes to charging computers. This means we have no lights, but using candles is actually soothing and nice. The days are sunny and warm and the nights are clear and cool. When the sun sets, we usually sit around a fire in the courtyard and eat dinner. Food is mostly carbs….tough on me…but it’s yummy. Beans, rice, rape, onions, flatbread, some pasta.

So far we’ve had a lot of meetings with all the people in the camp we have to kiss up to in order to get approval for our project. We hope to bring in a team from Grassroots Soccer to provide a refresher training course to the 11 staff and coaches of our Community Sports League. We’re also looking at a mobile VCT clinic and a mobile ARV unit. These services are not offered in Meheba, and it’s just too tough on the refugees to travel into Solwezi for them. My partner Joe is a solid dude and we are going to make good things happen.

Yesterday we rode wayyyyyy out to Zone F to check out a clinic offered by a medical missions group affiliated with the Church of Christ. The bike ride was killer, but it was worth it. The staff was really nice and receptive to us. They were not offering HIV tests, so we donated 100 rapid tests and all the related supplies to their clinic. Also left lots of condoms with them. After Meheba, this group will spend the next week offering free clinics at various sites throughout NW Zambia. Very impressive. Many of the volunteers were from Abilene—small world.

The diversity in the camp is unlike any I’ve ever known. I’ve met people from DRC, Angola, Rwanda, Sudan. I can usually strike up a conversation with the Angolans who speak Portuguese, although I am very bad and have forgotten almost everything I’ve learned. I am able, however, to tell everyone that my college roommate was from Brazil and as such I was interested in learning Portuguese. So Nicola, if you are reading, please know that you have already acquired a bit of notoriety in Zambia. I think my feeble skills may pay off in terms of our schmoozing because the UNHCR director of the camp is from Mozambique. The second time I saw him, he greeted me in Portuguese, which is a good sign. It all comes down to what

Physically, things have been strenuous. Some of our bike rides have been over one hour each way. I think I was envisioning the type of bike ride I took to and from class at Stanford—very easy, smooth bike with functioning parts, paved roads, etc. Not the case. All our bikes break all the time, and they seem to be stuck in the worst gear. The roads are tough….some places have a few inches of very fine sand and it feels like a beach. I have been so sore the past few days. Also sore because I have been trying to earn some street credit with the soccer players in the camp. On Sunday we played a pick up game and I scored two goals (nice!). Today we played again and I rolled my ankle (boooo). I’m fine though. It is so nice to feel welcome playing soccer—I remember feeling a lot of hostility when the girls would play in Ecuador. Everyone here is so friendly and warm.

Okay, that’s about it. Lots of big meetings coming up this afternoon and this weekend. Fingers crossed for successful schmoozing!

Addendum: Today in Solwezi has been action packed. Picked up more than 40,000 condoms from the UNFPA office. Wasted an hour on internet this morning and accomplished very little (well, a little facebooking). Ate a chicken shawarma (read: PROTEIN!). Bought a Finding Nemo watch for $9. Bought some red wine at Shoprite. Had a long meeting at New Start, the mobile VCT NGO. They want to work in Meheba, but the conversation is going to have to involve IOM and others at the Lusaka level. So I better get back to my emailing.....

solwezi

hi all

i am alive and well. currently battling very slow internet in solwezi. will try to get my post up later today

love
me

World Refugee Day

This morning we went to a celebration for UNHCR and World Refugee Day. We marched in a procession to open a (small) ceremony. It was pretty neat. Met a few of the UNHCR Lusaka officials we have been emailing with the past few months. Then we ran by IOM but couldn't get a meeting with the woman we wanted to see.

Next we stopped at SFH (Society for Family Health) and had what I consider to be one of the best meetings of my life. SFH has a division called New Start that does voluntary testing and counseling (VCT) all over Zambia. They have a functioning office in Solwezi, the nearest town to Meheba. They have a mobile clinic that does VCT, and also recommended to us another NGO that has a mobile clinic for antiretrovirals (ARVs).

My biggest fear concerning this summer has been that we will be unable to connect the Meheba community with any sort of specialized health care (either in the settlement itself or in Solwezi) because it just does not exist that far from Lusaka. Infrastructure is so limited! Literally I have been losing sleep for months over how we are going to improve VCT uptake....things are looking promising so far. It is amazing how much more effective a face-to-face meeting is compared to months of an email chain.

So we basically flipped out...I hugged the two women at SFH...they are giving us two free boxes of condoms with leaflets attached to the wrapper with really excellent illustrated instructions for condom use + facts about sexually transmitted diseases. This leaflet is amazing...might save us a little bit of time in terms of explanations of the importance of condom use. We also promised we would buy $100 of their social marketing condoms once in Solwezi. SFH felt like a really good place.....very good to know that they exist in the world.

Had a shawarma for lunch (reminds me of VILA/Quito) and ran back by the flat to put on flip flops. Next we have a meeting with the Lusaka distributor for Axios, a company that donates rapid HIV tests and some ARVs for use in African countries. This man donated 1,000 rapid tests for our project last week. Hopefully he can help us get the remaining supplies we will need for test administration--more latex gloves, blood tubes, blotter solution, etc etc.

We are leaving early tomorrow morning to drive out to Meheba. Fingers crossed that there are no issues with diesel along the way.

Lusaka

We arrived at 6 this morning. The sun was rising as the plane landed and it was incredibly beautiful.

This morning we had an orientation meeting at the FORGE flat and then spent the rest of the day running errands and shopping for project supplies. We bought red ribbon and safety pins to make HIV/AIDS awareness ribbons. Also got about 50 yards of canvas to make into public-service-type banners to put up throughout Meheba. Comparison shopped for disposable latex gloves (overpriced everywhere) and alcohol pads (nonexistent so far). For lunch we had a traditional Zambian meal of nshimi (grits-like mush with a hint of corn tortilla flavor) and chicken.....here it is customary to eat with your hands. Nice! Went to the bank and a garage where our minibus was being repaired, which wasn't really a garage at all, just a parking spot along a busy market street. Ate some fresh sugar cane, which reminded me a lot of the DR.

There is a shortage of diesel fuel in Lusaka at the moment--lots of long queues at all the stations. We had to work some connections in the towns along the route to Meheba to have enough diesel purchased in advance and waiting for us when we drive out there Thursday. Rumor has it the drive can take 7 to 14 hours. Nice! Cars drive on the left side of the road here. I keep trying to get into the car on the wrong side.

Tomorrow UNHCR is hosting a parade for World Refugee Day and they have invited us to walk in it. Joe (project partner) and I have some big meetings lined up with IOM, SFH, and a rapid test distributor to discuss specific ideas for collaborative testing and education projects in the coming months. So excited to be here.....

Heathrow

Hi from London. First flight was a bit delayed but we made it fine. Tired this morning. My British friend Guy had a family emergency so I have changed plans and am hanging out with a couple other FORGE kiddos in the airport. I have purchased 35 minutes of internet time and am happy as a clam.

Farewell shenanigans in NYC were hilarious...Karen got yelled at by an angry man on the street fixing his bike who called us all lesbians....this was on the way to dinner at Tortilla Flats (where they made an excellent east coast attempt at chile con queso) with Sage, Emily, Karen and Adriane. The waiter got very excited about the fact that I am going to Africa (he kept saying Zimbabwe) and sent over lots of tequila shots. The lovely ladies helped me get all my bags into a cab and stood in this happy precious line waving me off in front of Cafeteria. At JFK some kids in our group saw the actor who plays E on Entourage....I really like that show. Jim and Joe insisted on more nightcaps before we got on the plane. Lots of American high school kiddos on the plane....made me a little nostalgic for our Europe trip in 99.

Okay, Joe is going to use the rest of this internet time now! Tally ho!

Step One: Cut a Hole in a Blog

Okay here goes.....welcome to my personal blog for my summer adventures with FORGE in Meheba. I'm in NYC at the moment, handling some last minute emails and phone calls. Looking forward to a farewell picnic in the park in a minute. Tonight I fly to London and then to Lusaka. Very excited, very nervous....still not quite convinced that this is all really happening.

Vanity Fair's July issue is a very cool one: focuses on Africa, guest edited by Bono. I highly recommend it.