So cheembo is Meheba slang for "backwards" or "from the country" (or from the middle of the bush). We constantly refer to any broken item or silly behavior as cheembo. Cheembo is also the name of one of the two cats that live in the FORGE compound. Because I'm allergic, I was less-than-happy to discover we had feline pets, but we keep away from each other and they are actually pretty cute to look at most of the time. The second cat is called Eeway, which may or may not have a meaning in a local language. Eeway is a really smart conniving cat, but Cheembo is, honestly, incredibly slow....perhaps even a bit retarded. Recently Eeway got some mysterious cut on his neck, which is gross and refuses to heal because he keeps scratching it raw. So this past week has seen a number of emergency surgery attempts by our group to keep this wound clean and keep the cat full of painkillers. The last resort involved putting duct tape on Eeway's paws (to cover his little claws), as well as putting gauze and duct tape all around his neck. It is absolutely hilarious and ridiculous--I will send pictures at some point! It's sad for the cat, but pretty amusing for the rest of us.
Not everything has been 100% cheerful and sunshiney. Although our group is incredibly upbeat and energetic at all times, there are so many difficult situations that have been coming our way lately. A few weeks ago, Joe and I were in Solwezi and we ran into a Congolese refugee we know from Meheba who was returning from a trade fair in a nearby town. We all went to dinner together, and we asked a few questions about this man's plans to resettle to Norway next month. The conversation turned to how he had arrived in Zambia in 2003. He told us he had been involved in efforts to support peace and justice in the DRC and had been arrested several times. While in jail, he was tortured extensively. He rolled up his pants to show us some of the scars on his legs. When Joe asked if he was the firstborn son in his family, he told us he had two older brothers who had also disappeared in DRC along with his parents. He escaped from jail and took refuge with some Catholic nuns, who helped him later escape across the border to Zambia. There are more details about his family that were hard to hear. But as he told us, it was striking to realize that most of the people FORGE employs in Meheba have similar stories. I was really struck by the way he mentioned that he has no idea where his brothers and parents are. What's amazing about this man is that he is absolutely the most positive, upbeat person I've ever met. He is a pastor at one of the churches in Meheba and is just loved by everyone who meets him. Admittedly, I felt guilty later about what I consider to be problems in my personal life. There is just no comparison.
We had a medical emergency over last weekend, too. The mother of a FORGE employee passed away after some sort of weird "attack". The clinic staff in Meheba thought it was malaria (the standard diagnosis for anything non-diarrheal), but it sounded a lot more like a stroke to us. The ambulance that usually can run between Meheba and Solwezi was broken this past week, so we decided to use the FORGE vehicle to drive her to the hospital in Solwezi. There was no physician available in the middle of the night when she arrived, and she passed the following morning. It was really intense and sad on several levels. We attended the funeral and burial. I don't do well when males cry, so it was tough. All the headstones (well, wooden crosses) that were legible in the graveyard showed ages around 35-40. Intense. We're all still processing the past few days. It is impossible to convey the amount of need related to health care, transportation, and food rations in this community.
Wow. Sorry to get so heavy. I am still doing well, feeling great, sleeping a lot, getting some sun, reading a lot and thinking about life even more. My mom's birthday was on the 17th. Every time I think about my family I am overwhelmed with gratitude for how fortunate we have been and how lucky we are to know where each of us lives. Sending lots of big hugs to everyone.
As more details about the project are lining up, I am feeling incredibly motivated to use the remaining 3-4 weeks we have in the camp. We're conducting focus groups about HIV/AIDS knowledge and behavior among adults in each of the zones next week. I'm pretty excited to hear what the community has to say and am particularly interested in what variations might emerge based on nationality and/or tribe. Also, I think I mentioned earlier that one of the big Implementing Partners in the camp (CORD) just pulled out of Meheba. The UNHCR field officer approached us this week to see if we would be interested in overseeing the remaining months of the PEPFAR grant CORD received for Meheba--pretty cool. Should be interesting and might allow us to do a little more with the project than we had anticipated. Makes me (almost) believe that I am happy about what my tax dollars are doing in the world. We'll see.
The project managers (who will live in the camp for a year and oversee our projects) arrive this weekend! Will be fun to see them again and to have a full house.
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