Day 3-4

Yesterday we visited World Bicycle Relief, a non-profit who manufactures bikes here in Lusaka, employing local workers.  The bikes are then donated to girls locally to ride to school.  Once donated, the bikes are theirs to keep and family members can also use them during off-school hours and breaks.  I donated $25 of your donations pooling money together with other students, and we were able to purchase 3 bikes ($150 each) which we are taking to the village with donate to some girls we meet. 

We were also blessed by a visit to our hotel by a woman named Olive Mumba who started her own school, called "Birdland School" here in Lusaka.  It is a high quality private school with a sliding fee scale ranging from $25 per semester to $150 based on the need of the families.  I am considering donating our money to this school because it would go a long way in educating more than one girls for an extended period of time. Mrs.  Mumba said many families enroll their daughters in the school but then end up withdrawing because they don't have the money.   I will wait to visit all village schools first however, to assess which school is in most need of our donations. 

We were also visited by a young woman whose family is well-off and sent her to America to study engineering at a college in Virginia.  She returned to Zambia and is now working in the copper mining industry (Zambia's largest export) as a manager.  She is one of only two women in management positions out of 6000 employees.  In a dominantly male environment, she shared of being harrassed and teased regularly but holds her own, and remains loyal to serving her country's exonomy and supporting her family.  She makes approx. $2400 per year when she could be making close to six figures in the US comparatively.  She is a truly remarkable example of a woman dedicated to improving the economic state of Zambia through education and initiative - not to mention an inspiration to women in Zambia to get an education. 

Today (Wed) we toured the University of Zambia and saw what college life is like here, and a few of us went off on our own to talk to students.  It is easier to ask the students the tough questions about health and education because they are not offended and will answer most anything!  In the villages we will likely not be able to do this, nor will we want to, in risk of offending those living with more traditional values.  (ie. People do not talk about AIDS, Maternal Health, or anything personal even with their loved ones.) 

Dinner time, gotta go :) 

Love,
Emily

Day 1 and 2

We arrived in Lusaka dazed and jet-legged yesterday.  We were greeted by Leslie, our professor at the airport, and made our way to the our arranged transport. A group of well-dressed men were conducting a TV interview outside the airport doors - we later found out this was related to the upcoming presidential elections in Zambia.  Zambia's president died in June 2011, and there is currently an interim president in position. He has "called for elections" to be held in September though people are skeptical as to whether the elections will be fair.  It should be very interesting to watch the events unfold over the next few weeks.

The rest of the evening was honestly a blur as I fought to keep my eyes open until we crashed at 7pm :)

Today we visited a neighborhood where my professor lived in the 1990s.  We spoke to a priest a local Catholic church who has worked to raise money to build a surrounding building for youth activities and a church office.  He rents parking spots in the large dirt plot in front of the church to neighbors for a fee in order to pay for the construction.  The building was started in April 2010, and as you can see in the photos is still but a shell.  Most impressive was his energy and enthusiasm to help his community, and most importantly provide a place for unemployed youth to congregate - instead of drinking which is a huge problem here among unemployed men. (The unemployment rate for young men is close to 90%)

Lusaka is a big city with a population of approx 1 million, full of billboards advertising for cellular companies, banks and fast food. Areas of town are segregated into poor tin shacks and gated communities, displaying the growing divide between the poor and the rich, and the ever-shrinking middle class.

Next we visited Kasisi Orphanage, 15 km outside of town, a Catholic orphanage run by two polish nuns.  Started in 1927, Kasisi has been taking care of orphaned kids, due to women dying in childbirth or else one or both parents dying from AIDS.  It is funded by Polish businesses and British Airways, and is the nicest orphanage I have seen which was a great start to the program.  I will let the photos do the explaining... :)  A beautiful safe sanctuary in the middle of a struggling area.We generally just played with the kids, and I had the pleasure of carrying around a little boy who had a toy elephant which he pulled out of his pocket secretly to show me :)

We will be in the city until Friday and I will try to post more, though there are 18 of us and one computer so I am trying not to be a computer-hog.  I am having difficulty uploading photos so stay tuned!

Love you all and talk to you soon!


Emily

Welcome

Dear Family and Friends,
I will be writing and posting photos from this site throughout my time in Zambia.  Thank you for your support in donations for the Tikondane school and community center.  We have raised nearly $800 in cash and a 50 lb suitcase full of much-needed shoes and school and art supplies. 

My next post will be from Zambia!  Stay tuned...

Love,
Emily