Dedication

I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm only writing about this now, but I've decided to dedicate each month of my service here to a different person.

My first month here was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Shapour Javanmardi. He was the most loving, warm, and self-sacrificing man I've known. He was the grandfather of some very close friends of mine, but he was so kind to all that I often thought of him as my own grandfather. He also loved Africa and spent a lot of time in Mauritius. So in my first month, I tried to be warm and self-sacrificing like him, especially with the girls in my dorm. I have often felt his spirit with me and I know his memory will continue to inspire me.

My next month of service is dedicated to Monir Joon, the grandmother of some other close friends of mine. She was a gentle and caring woman. She loved to help her community and was a wonderful grandmother. She didn't speak very much English but despite this, her spirit always resonated with me. I hope in this next month to improve my qualities of service, patience and compassion, qualities she unceasingly demonstrated.


In the next few weeks there will be lots of fun activities! This Friday is a birthday party for Tahirih, where we will be learning Tongan and Zambian dancing with the other Baha'i youth. Then next Friday is a goodbye party for Neda, who is going back to Tonga. That begins the midterm break. During the break, the rest of us volunteers are going to a national park (South Luangwa) for 3 nights. We will probably be sleeping in tents in the trees, with wild animals walking around below us. We will also be able to go on guided walks and safari drives through the park. It's a 10 hour bus ride, though, from Lusaka to the park, so it's time for me to become hardcore African ;)

These are some pictures of the other Baha'i youth who are here.

All the way to Lusaka

The days go by so fast here!

Last week I went with some students to a nearby school to do tutoring. Every week, the students here go on a service trip: some do sports, others tutoring etc with local schools. I went to Nachiyaba school and supervised the tutoring. I tried to help some girls with the alimentary canal (as I know it, the 'digestive system') but it was really difficult because they couldn't understand my accent and I couldn't understand theirs!

On Saturday, I went out for lunch with Amy, Sophie, Corinne, Michel and two others. We went to a farm/restaurant where we got some real South African sausage called boerewors. It was nice to leave campus for a while.

On Tuesday, our day off, Tahirih and I went to Lusaka on our own! We took a minibus-taxi to Lusaka, which took an hour. We started by standing on the wrong side of the road, but managed to wave down a bus and squish into it. Now I feel really African! We did some shopping and then went to visit an NGO called Children in Need, where someone I know works. We learnt about the Street Life Program that has been going on, which basically consists of removing street kids from the street, putting them in centers, sending them to school if possible and contacting their families if they are interested in returning home. We went to a shelter for girls, aged 12 to 18. Some of them had run away from home and been living on the streets where some would sniff glue.
It was a really inspiring visit. Tahirih and I were talking about how can we help the world... and we decided that that daunting task should be taken one person at a time :) and also by strengthening morals, culture and spirituality, families would be stronger, children wouldn't run away and then Street Life wouldn't be necessary in the first place.

That whole day we felt safe. Zambians are very helpful with directions luckily! In the 5 minutes it took us to find the right bus, Tahirih and I had more requests for our phone number and lunch dates and marriage proposals than we'd had combined before that! So it was a very busy and educational day off!

The pictures are the youth volunteers with Mrs. Mukendi, the matron, and Ms. Lengwe, our coordinator; Rae and I after our bus trip; an area of Lusaka called Garden where the girl's center we visited is.

Week 1

If I had to describe the culture of the Banani dorms in one word, I would say LIFE. (Sometimes when I'm tired I will also say NOISE...) The girls have lots to say, and they say it with great enthusiasm :) so though at first I was a bit surprised by the set "quiet time" hours before bed, I now look forward to that time more than I ever would have thought.
I've been working in the finance office, doing some account stuff that I don't really understand, and a lot of yearbook design. I got a flu over the weekend, but it didn't last long.

Tonight, Tahirih and I had supper with the Pollock family. It was really nice to eat something other than cornmeal (called mchima) with tomatoey sauce and meat and coleslaw - which we get a lot of here. The Pollocks have two sweet boys who are lots of fun to play with. Mr. Pollock is the Counsellor (advisory and guiding position in the Baha'i Faith) for the region of Zambia and Zimbabwe. He travels a lot so it was nice to meet him - I was beginning to think he was just a rumor!

We also had our first Feast (a Baha'i gathering that happens every 19 days) and also our first Sunday Devotions (a multi-faith devotional service that the students host each week). At both there was lots of singing which was so nice - musically nice as well, everyone seemed to find the perfect harmony and it sounded so uplifting.
Each Saturday there is entertainment for the girls, this week it was a dance. And can these girls ever dance! Any vague idea I may have had about being a passable dance at home was completely shattered when I saw how these girls can move. I'm going to have to take some lessons before I venture out onto their dance floor!

Here are some photos of me and my grade 8 girls :)
The first one is (L to R) Martha and Miyanda in the front, Marlyn and Regina in the back and me
The seconde one is another Regina, Ruth and Sanka and me.

Working at Banani

Muli shani! (How are you! in Bemba)
I'm happily settled into life at Banani International School and today I'm about to start my work as a dorm supervisor. Currently, all the volunteers for the school have arrived and we're having lots of fun together.

Here is a bit about all of us:
Neda (from Tonga has been here since April, works in Administration, in charge of grade 10s and does dance workshop with the girls)
Tahirih (from Pennsylvania has been here for a week, in charge of grade 10s and will work as a TA in the primary school)
Corinne (from Australia is in charge of grade 9s and is a teacher who volunteers in the primary school teaching grade 3-4)
Sophie (from England, is in charge of grade 6-7 and will work in the primary school helping with phys ed)
Amy (from New Jersey and Ecuador, is in charge of grade 11-12 and will work in the library)
and me (from Canada and South Africa, will work in Administration and help with the yearbook, in charge of grade 8s)

Today the students arrive and our work really begins!

There is another part to the campus of the school which we call the Institute. It's a five minute walk to their buildings from our side of the campus. Basically that is where the work of the William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation is done by some youth volunteers and other employees. That is also were the Counsellor (a guiding figure in the Baha'i Faith) has his office as well as the National Spiritual Assembly (the national administrative body of the Baha'i Faith).

The youth from both sides of the campus as well as a few Baha'i students at the high school have weekly get-togethers where we study themes in the Baha'i Faith, or plan events, or, as we have recently begun, start a youth choir! The lady in charge of these get-togethers (Sheila Hart) is a wonderful choir director as well! So on Friday night we were singing "Wimbawe" and "O God, My God, My Beloved, My Heart's Desire" with real bass singers!

So far, no snakes.