Cold season is in full swing, which means wind, clouds, chilly weather, and absolutely no rain. Pretty fantastic if you ask me! As the villagers finish harvesting their maize from this past rainy season, they begin burning the fields, which creates lots of smoke: combined with the wind, and you’ve got a raging bush fire! On my morning runs I’ll find myself holding my breath for a few seconds to avoid breathing in the full intense bush fires. Cold season only lasts for a couple of months, but is quite enjoyable, even if only to see Zambians wearing hats, jackets, blankets, and even the occasional snow suit.
With just under a year left in Zambia, I’m finding myself busy and happy! At school I teach computers to the teachers, English club and girls’ club with the students, and planning and facilitating teacher workshops. In the village we have begun planning a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) event to take place on July 9th for the community to learn about and get tested for HIV. It’s already been a lot of work, but hopefully will be beneficial for my community to begin to feel comfortable talking about HIV and provide support and care for those affected by it.
One of the children in my host family, Max (the one I named when he was born about 10 months ago!), is very sick in Kasama general hospital. I’ve been in Kasama for the week for our bi-annual Peace Corps meeting with staff from the headquarters in Lusaka, so I’ve been able to visit Max and his mother every day. Medical care in Kasama is poor, as one might imagine from a town 800 km from the capital city in a developing nation, so it’s been trying to see Max as he is suffering.
2 months until Mom and Dad Martel touch down in Zambia! I’m very excited to see them and get to show off my life in this incredible country. They’ll be here in Northern Province on my birthday, so my village is planning a party for them, complete with traditional dancing and drumming and an enormous nshima feast! Until then I’ll be busy training for the Victoria Falls marathon, my first marathon I plan to complete on August 29th in Livingstone.
That’s about all I’ve got to update! I know I’ve been gone for awhile now, but hopefully you haven’t forgotten about me and how much I love receiving letters and emails about how you’re doing! I hope everyone is enjoying summer time and all the extra daylight, good food, and good friends that come with it!
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