Service in Zambia

Happy Ending

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:44:00 +0000

Wow! It's been a while.
Let me summarize the last month as quickly as possible :)
I had a great time in Botswana with my brother, Kai. We went to a premier camp (i.e. really fancy) in the Okavango Delta called Mombo. We basically drove around in high grass and looked at animals. It was fantastic! We even tracked some rhinos and I saw 25% of Botswana's black rhino population... meaning i saw one out four haha
Then I went back to South Africa and met Rae, Sophie and Amy for our Baz Bus trip! We drove in a small bus from Joburg to Cape Town with stops in the Drakensburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Storm's River and Wilderness. My cousin also came with us. We did some hiking in the mountains which was absolutely spectacular. In Durban, Sophie and I got a bit lost in their bus system when we tried to do the grocery shopping. On one really long day of driving (14 hours), Amy and I had a dance party... a bit difficult because we were sitting down, but I think we busted some pretty sweet moves regardless! We did a walk along the Otter Trail in Storm's river and canoed in Wilderness.

Cape Town was loads of fun. We were staying on Long Street, which we discovered has a very busy and noisy nightlife haha. It was great. We went shopping at the malls, visited the markets, toured Robben Island, checked out the Botanical Gardens, met some of the Baha'i students studying in the area... It was really great. Oh, and we got some body peircings! Amy and I got our noses pierced and Rae got her ear (scaffolding) pierced.

Then I had a few quiet days in Joburg before I flew home.
It's been good to be home. I haven't unpacked yet, which i think may be indicative of my subconscious fear that if I settle back into my life here, I'll never leave, or I'll loose what I gained from my year of service... or maybe I just can't be bothered!

Whatever the reason, I have a feeling that this happy ending isn't really an ending. My year of service has only set my up for a life of service. When I look around at the people I worked with in Zambia, and the people I'm surrounded by at home, I get really excited because I can see that there is so much good yet to be seen in this world. I must admit that while I've been adjusting to the reverse-culture shock of being home, I've felt really low, paralyzed maybe with my uncertainty about what to do with myself, with my own inaction. I think I just need to give myself a bit of time to arrive, to unpack, and hold on tight to everything I've learned by being away.

I can't wait for life!!!

Miss K - Aunty Karrie

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:52:00 +0000

Well, these are my last words from Banani. My next post wil most likely be from Botswana or South Africa. Yikes.
Yesterday I had my last music class with the grade 1-2s and at the end I told them I wouldn't be there next term and that I'd miss them. No response. So I had to ask them if they'd miss me, and they said they would. I can see that I'll miss them more than they'll miss me, the sweeties.

I'll really miss being called Miss K and Aunty Karrie.

We've all been hanging out with a young couple, Aaron and Sam, from the States who are working with the Pollock's development project. The other night we stayed over quite late and had to climb over the locked gate to get back to the dorms. It was very sneaky :)

Last week we spent an afternoon at a nearby lodge called Ibis with the group that has been deepening together with Taher. There should be a picture of us. Rae and I went to town together for the last time. We got a ride in with karen and we got to do some shopping with Aaron and Sam. I bought so much african material! We also finally bought a whole bunch of supplies for the primary school with the money that a Junior Youth group raised in Montreal!
This week is going to be a flurry of packing and cleaning and returning borrowed items. I feel stressed just thinking about it.

We're starting to get really excited for our trip to South Africa. I know we're going to have a wonderful time.

I feel like that because this is my last post during service, I should say something deep and meaningful. This self-imposed expectation is giving me writer's block! I think the most that I can say is that this has been the most challenging, fun, frustrating, eye-opening, heart-breaking and soul-moving 8 months of my life. My advice to anyone thinking about doing a period of service is this: stop thinking and just do it. It's worth it. I'm so glad I was able to come here, do what I did and meet the people I know now.
"Let your actions cry aloud to the world that you are indeed Baha'is, for it is actions that speak to the world and are the cause of the progress of humanity." ~ Abdu'l-Baha

Although my next month is more travelling than service, I'd like to dedicate it to the youth I've been serving with: Rae, Amy, Sophie, Anita, Mahnoosh, Shiva, Corinne and Neda. We are spiritual sisters now and I hope that you are confirmed and blessed in everything you do, and that you continue to bring happiness to everyone. Love you all!

Naw Ruz!

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:58:00 +0000

Happy Naw Ruz!
Naw Ruz is the Baha'i New Year, but it's also the Persian and Zoroastrian new year as well. Our 19 Day fast is over, and I'm eating as much as I can today hehehe

For the past few days, the youth have been working on a hip hop dance that we presented at the Naw Ruz party this morning. We also sang some songs and had a little play. Last night was a formal dinner at the school. It was really pretty. Most of the students have gone home for the Easter weekend, so I only hae about 10 girls in my dorm! It's nice and quiet.

We've also started playing Ultimate Frisbee almost every afternoon. During the fast, it was one way to keep you busy until supper time! Now it's just fun :)

It's been a really uneventful weekend apart from last night and this morning. Wait, no. The other night I had to extract a spider from our room because Shiva was scared. It was quite big as you can see... but not the dangerous kind.

I will be leaving Zambia in exactly two weeks! I can't get over it. I'm really going to miss hearing all the kids call me 'Miss K' or 'Aunty Karrie' when I leave. I should make a list of all the things I'll miss here so that for the next two weeks I really take time to appreciate them... these aren't in any order!
• The kids at the primary school
• My children's class
• The girls I serve with!!!
• The community
• Being woken up by the noisy gate of my dorm
• Shouting QUIET TIME and LIGHTS OUT each night
• Having toast for breakfast every day except weekends
• Hearing the doves and noises of the bush
• Having my back covered in flies (they just sit on your shirt)
• Youth deepenings
• The music here
• Being squished in a minibus
• Having sandy feet
• Everything...

I hope the pictures work!

Fasting

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:05:00 +0000

Sorry for the delay, it's the Baha'i month of fasting now so my brain activity is a bit slower than usual... I love fasting. As a Baha'i, for 19 days in March I don't eat while the sun is up, but before sunrise and after sunset I can eat as much as I want! I think my favorite part of fasting is being more conscientious about praying and meditating every day, and seeing the sunrise. It's just a very spiritual time, although it can be tiring. I think that the difficulties of fasting are also a reminder of our spiritual nature, so in a way, having it be a bit difficult is good :)

Last Friday we had an Ayyam-i-Ha party with the children's classes. We had a treasure hunt, a piñata, a water balloon fight and some arts+crafts! The kids had so much fun. I had so much fun watching the little kids take a swing at the piñata and miss. Every time. It was so cute.

This week passed quite uneventfully. I've discovered napping though - usually napping makes me grumpy, but I'm starting to really enjoy it!

Taher Taherzadeh, a Baha'i who recently moved to Lusaka and who's father is a well-known Baha'i scholar, has come two weeks in a row to Banani to host youth deepenings (studies). They've been really great. Yesterday we were asked to give 5-10min introductions to the Baha'i Faith just to practice speaking, and it was really interesting to see other people's styles of speaking. For the next few weeks we'll be studying about the Covenant, which I will tell you a bit more about when I understand it better!

Yesterday, Shiva arrived from South Africa. She's a new volunteer and she'll be living and working in my dorm with me. She's from Australia, Zimbabwe and Botswana and she's really nice. It'll be great to have another dorm mother with me!

The photos are of the Ayyam-i-Ha party, a dance party the volunteer's had in Rae's room during a power failure and Traditional Dress Day at the school.

VirtueSquad, Clinic and Dedication

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:37:00 +0000

Happy Ayyam-i-Ha! The Baha'i calendar is organized into 19 months of 19 days, which leaves 4 or 5 days left over. So in those 4 (or 5 days on a leap year) we have parties and do service projects. This also means that the Fast is coming up! 19 days of eating only when the sun isn't up. I love the Fast.

Ok! Lots of things to update! The midterm was a wonderful break. It passed slowly, but we kept busy with sewing our new handbags and practicing our VirtueSquad play for the fundraiser.
The primary school's performance at the arts festival was very haphazard. First, we weren't on the program because they never received a confirmation from the school. Luckily they squeezed us in in the end. Second, we were performing in a big gym, so the acoustics were terrible, the audience was noisy and there weren't good microphones... so essentially you couldn't hear the kids sing. But anyway, I could hear them and they sang well, and I'm sure the experience was good for them.

Saturday night was our fundraiser for the construction of the National Baha'i Center. It went really well! There was a small garage sale, a bake sale and a talent show. Some of the talents were really funny! The children's play was cute, but the kids forgot most of their lines and didn't talk loud enough... which was to be expected. I think they had more fun at the rehearsals anyway, but they were excited by their costumes! I sang 2 songs with Kawawa, they were fine... we did a remix of Queen of Carmel that wasn't as amazing as I'd hoped because the beatboxing threw me off a little. Karen did the funniest skit of a makeover, but her 'hands' were actually the arms of a person sitting behind her.... you get the picture!

Opening Sunday was gruelling! It was incredibly hot, and we were working hard searching through bags all day long....... we took exhaustion to a new level!

Being back at school is nice. Being busy makes time go by faster.

Amy and I went to Lusaka for our night off. We stayed with Musonda, a Baha'i there. We had a pizza supper, saw a movie (27 Dresses) and then slept at her place. In the morning, we left at about 7:30 and she dropped us at the shopping center. We shopped around, Amy got her ear pierced and then we went to Arcades (the other shopping center) to meet Farzin Rahmani, his wife and his friend who are in Zambia to support a health clinic about 45mins out of town, in a village near Chongwe. First, we went shopping for curtain rods for the clinic. We couldn't find anything small or cheap enough, so we settled for plastic pipes. Haha - whatever does the job right? Then we drove to the clinic - about 20 minutes of that drive was spent on bumpy dirt roads - and arrived at the clinic. We were supposed to meet the Chieftainness but she never arrived. We got a tour of the clinic, a pretty rudimentary arrangement of a few offices, and some wards. Suffice it to say that I do not have a burning desire to deliver my baby or get sick out in the villages, thanks.
What was interesting was that we got to sit in on a meeting between Farzin (who has basically adopted this clinic, and visits every year or so to improve it and give funds) and the headmen of the local villages. They were discussing plans for a daycare center that will be built for orphans to attend during the day so that their parent/grandparent can go out and work to earn money. It was interesting the way the headmen would talk together, and also to notice the different levels of initiative among the men... most of them are more laid-back, but a few were more go-getters. I could picture my parents doing their old work in rural hospitals in South Africa, I'm sure the situation looked similar to what I saw today.
Amy and I were very inspired and ready to go home and become doctors, even though Amy really doesn't like medicine! It's hard to know where to start. So you help one clinic... what about the rest of the world?
I think if everyone does a bit of good in whatever way they can (and there are SO many ways!) we'll get the world back on track.

We also spent a short time with Taher Taherzadeh. My family met him on pilgrimage in Haifa last year and he's since moved to Lusaka. We're really excited because he's offered to come and run classes for the youth here on different Baha'i topics. His father, Adib Taherzadeh, is a well-known Baha'i scholar.

Only 4 more days off! Actually, Tuesday was my 6 month anniversary of arriving at Banani. I'm going to dedicate the next month to the Baie D'Urfe Baha'i Community because I miss them and pray for their advancement in the field of service. There is a bright light in my town, it illumines the dark even all the way here in Zambia! Specifically, the junior youth group service projects that have raised over $400 for the primary school here, and of course the prayers I know have brought me confirmations here.
Love to you all!

(lots of pictures! 1)Kawawa and I and Ryan and Scott singing "Can you feel the love tonight", the kids were Timone and Poumba! 2)Picking guavas from the tree 3)At the arts festival with the Primary choir 4)A braai at Karen's with the new youth, Mahnoosh 5)Agents L, O, V and E from the VirtueSquad play 6) Ryan in his Robackbite costume with Rosie as the gangster, JustIce)

Midterm

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:03:00 +0000

Hi! It's midterm break now and we've been doing a lot of relaxing... and cooking! There are lemons on the trees now and we picked guavas from a tree behind our appartment! That was fun. Mostly we just read, watch movies or go to the pool. It's actually so relaxing it's almost boring. The power has been going out a lot still, so our cooking schedule is kind of "Quick! cook everything right now!" I cut Sophie's and Rae's hair the other day. I should start charging for haircuts... in chocolate :)

The last week of school went by really fast. Nothing very exciting happened. On Monday Sophie, Mambwe (a youth who lives at the Institute) and I went to Lusaka to do some shopping. We treated ourselves to ice cream and a movie! We saw 27 Dresses... I'm not sure when that came out in Canada, but we enjoyed it. Some of the things we've been doing is one night, we went to Karen and Garth Pollock's house for some games, we played things like "This is a pen, a what? A pen!" and Psychiartrist... I'll try and post a movie of some of it. We're also making handbags with Bonnie Moore, it's fun to be creative!

The youth are organizing a Fundraiser (to raise money for the Baha'i National Fund here, towards building a new National Baha'i Center) and it consists of a potluck supper and talent show. We've written a play for the children, similar to The Incredibles only our bad guys are called Anna Mossity, Robackbite and Jello-see. Our good guys are Consulstation, Uniteam and Just-Ice. I think it will be really funny if the kids learn their parts!

Actually, I made pita bread a few days ago! I was so impressed with myself because it had a pocket in it! I thought it would be really hard to make the pocket, but it did it by itself! I also made soda crackers. They were less successful because the power went out and they sat on the counter for a few hours, but they were ok. The catch: we left them in a tupperware on the counter and that afternoon, someone came in our open back door and STOLE the crackers! They vanished! It was upsetting because I'd even made hummus (not smooth at all... no blender) to go with them. grrrr.

Anyway, I'll post some more pictures of the children practicing their play when I get them.
I was thinking of the youth at NEBY (North Eastern Baha'i Youth Conference) this past weekend, hope you all had fun!

At What-i

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:39:00 +0000

I think I should talk a bit about phrases/words that Zambians use here. Here we go:

Ka: a prefix to designate something small. "Where is my ka-thing?" Sometimes they add 'ma' after 'ka'... for effect? "Behind the ka-ma-wall."
Chi: a prefix to designate something big.
At what-i: something close to the equivalent of "what?" Usually a question...
Sure: often used instead of "really?" i.e. "sure?"
Ay: to finish a question, an affirmation like "right?" ex: "You have my bag, ay?"
Iwe: means 'you'... often accompanied by 'ah-a' ex: "ah-a, iwe!" or "ah-a, youuuu"
umblella/ploblem/hory/kelly: umbrella/problem/holy/karrie... the r-ls get switched around often.
I'm asking for: instead of saying 'do you have' or 'can I have' the girls say "I'm asking for salt."
Even me: me too.
Penalt/caref/soverenity: penalty/careful/sovereignty ... lots of haplologies :) that's my word-of-the-day

Here are some pictures of my children's class, we learnt about unity and how Baha'u'llah says "Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch." Here we are taking a unity walk, trying to find unified ants/flowers/fruits/leaves.

Montreal Fire (Dedication)

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:05:00 +0000

This week has been pretty productive. I'm a junior youth animator for some of the girls in my old dorm and we've started planning a service project: health and hygiene at local schools. We're going to fundraise on Visiting Sundays by organizing a 1-hour daycare. On Saturday I started the junior dance workshop and we've learnt most of the Racism dance already! Sunday was a Visiting Sunday and the youth were actually visited! A youth who served here a few years ago is visiting friends in Zambia and she's stopped by the school a few times. She brought us pizza and cokes - she knows what we miss here!

I'm trying not to have my feet on two continents at this point... I'm starting to look forward to going home, and that makes me realize how special each day I have left here is! 'Living in the now' is complicated business.

I'm not really sure of the significance behind the name 'Montreal Rain' but that's the name of a choir made up of some the most amazing people and some very precious friends of mine in Montreal.
In general, I don't really associate 'rain' with the youth of Montreal. They're more firey than wet. Really, they're like fireflies... bright lights you see on dark, quiet nights that compel you to come closer and get a better look. And when you come closer, you're enchanted and hooked to their energy, light and love. Their energy is inspiring, their vision is wonderful and their actions speak louder than any testament of mine ever could. All I can say is that I've seen strangers become family and hearts melt into open arms in the midst of your positive and reviving spirit.
So guys, this next month is for all of you. I'll remember your zeal when I get tired and your laugh when I need to be cheered up. Keep twinkling and blinking - you'll light up any forest if you stick together.

Unless and until the believers really come to realize they are one spiritual family, knit together by a bond more lasting than mere physical ties can ever be, they will not be able to create that warm community atmosphere which alone can attract the hearts of humanity, frozen for lack of real love and feeling. (From a letter dated 5 May 1943 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
See you in a few months!

Water

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:43:00 +0000

(Having problems with the pictures...sorry)
Water is really great. Especially running water. 14 hours without it will remind you just how fantastic H2O really is :) We've also had quite a few power outages, but because we have a generator for the kitchen, it hasn't bothered me much. I know that it's annoying for the staff because they don't get the generator-power. Power is also good.

Sophie's birthday was on Friday, so after children's classes (which went very well! It was my first lesson on cleanliness, I found a blog on children's class ideas that was helpful and we talked about how the body is the home of the soul and needs to be clean so the soul can thrive... and we did a craft) we sat around and told funny stories about Sophie. There was one time that she was boiling the kettle, but it was taking a long time to boil. Sophie reassured us, testing the water with her finger, "it's warming up! I feel it!" then amy finds the kettle unplugged. we would have waited a long time.
We also laughed about how Sophie is becoming increasingly gangsta... probably due to amy's influence, and because she's watched a lot of Martin Lawrence movies lately!
And we ate all the candy her grandparents sent her - there's a picture of us, pre-sugar high in the new youth room.

Yesterday, Sophie got her birthday cake (the kitchen makes a cake, about 12" by 8" and you aren't allowed to take it out of the dining hall). Usually we've managed to sneak it out the dining hall and eat it later, because it's a bit much to finish in one go, but this time we were bold (and hungry) and we at the WHOLE thing! There were 4 of us. We were impressed with ourselves, in a guilty way...

Also, Sophie was thrown in the pool on Friday - a Banani tradition. Actually the tradition is to dump buckets of water on the person, but we were more efficient :) There's a photo of her on the way to the pool.

We had a nice Feast on Saturday afternoon, I'd missed our Feasts over December. There is a picture of the children's program presentation, and my snazzy pink dress from Nika!

My prayers are with the youth in Montreal for their intensive teaching campaign! Youth will move Montreal.
Also a shout out to Amelia, hope you have a great birthday!! And Tami, you know you're getting on when your baby sister is grown up!! Have a super one babe :)

Dedication 5

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:20:00 +0000

I'm a bit late for this month's dedication, but the rest of January is dedicated to Hand of the Cause Ali-Muhammad Varqa. He was the last surviving Hand of the Cause of the Baha'i Faith and he passed away on September 22, 2007. As a Hand of the Cause, he played an important role in protecting and advancing the Baha'i Faith. My family and I heard him speak twice last December when we were in Israel for pilgrimage and I'll never forget the way he, a very old and frail man, was assisted onto the stage and then addressed us for the next hour or so with such radiance and joy. Some of my friends who worked at the Baha'i World Center in Israel told me stories of how Dr. Varqa would always be the first one in the office in the mornings, even in his old age. I hope to be as hard-working and radiant as he was.

Something new that happened today is that a package from my friend at home, Nika, arrived today! I'm going to be well-dressed for the rest of term because she sent me a beautiful dress and skirt.
Also, I've been emailing my new friend Roya who's planning to do her year of service here next year, and the principal showed me her application letter! It's so exciting to think that other people are going through the same thing I was last year :)
I'm also going to try and get involved in the health program the Institute runs, to get some experience in the health field. We'll see if they can use my (unskilled) help!
I've really been enjoying my work as a sports and music teacher... I'm getting good at blowing the whistle and conducting a class choir :) I feel a lot like my older sister Mika, she was my soccer coach for one summer. With the grade 4-5s I do the same exercises as she taught me, "Around the World" for soccer etc!

Entropy

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Apparently I haven't said anything about my new work! This is exciting stuff.
I'm teaching music and Phys. Ed. in the Primary school with Sophie this term! We have an average of 2 sports lessons and one music lesson everyday in the mornings. The afternoons we have off. I'm have a great time with lesson plans (I love making lists!!) and getting creative with exercises/songs... I made one class do yoga!

This week has been long. It takes effort to get back into a routine. The youth are reading Some Answered Questions together in the afternoons (a book of answers on a range of topics by Abdu'l-Baha, the son of the Prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith) and we're going to try and stay in shape using our workout DVDs. The new youth, Anita, is adjusting slowly but surely.

Next week the new grade 8s arrive. We have two days of orientation with them to get them acquainted with the rules of the school and the campus... and each other! I'm excited to play team-building games with them.

I'm really liking my new room! I'm finding that the stuff you have will expand to fill the available space though. Entropy.

Oh! the pictures are of my pet lizard, Eddie Lizzard, who kills my bugs and keeps me company. He had fluff on his chin... and Baha'i classes :) notice how nice and green everything is now!

Back at Banani :)

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:16:00 +0000

I'm so happy to be back!
I thought I might have a hard time adjusting to being back here, but I'm really glad to be here. I really missed the other volunteers and staff members, and even though the weather is quite awful (serious rain...) I'm very happy. As you can see, we had a home-coming party, with Anita who is the new volunteer from Congo. I'm home!

I had a WONDERFUL week with my gran and her partner John. It was quite productive in that I got lots of shopping done, for the primary school as well as for myself. I saw lots of family as well, and had a great new years eve with my friend Shanta from Maxwell. We went dancing with a group of baha'i youth and their friends. I also visited the Baha'i center in Johannesburg for the 19 Day Feast. Going away for a few weeks was just what i needed to step back, have a rest, and get ready for the next 3 months.

Rae just got back from pilgrimage in Israel, where Baha'is go to visit holy places, such as the Shrine of the Bab (above). She's come back all fired up and telling stories that remind me of when I was on pilgrimage exactly a year ago.

Things that have changed here are that we've swapped dorms. I've moved into the senior dorm so I have the grade 11s and 12s. I'm a bit sad to leave my babies, but I'm looking forward to getting to know these girls. This means I have a bigger room and my own bathroom, but I also have to stay up till 10 (instead of 9) and I have more girls to look after. It will be fun..
zambian love,
Karrie

Mabibi

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:40:00 +0000

I got back from a lovely trip to the beach, about an hour south of Mozambique. I had 4 days with my uncle's family at their campsite. First, I flew from Joburg to Durban to meet up with my cousin Nick (we went to his work's christmas party but I had to borrow clothes from his roommate because I only had my beach clothes.... awkward!) and we drove to Mabibi together. I did some wonderful snorkeling, and I got a respectable sunburn as well! We had a christmas tree, decorated with seashells and a wonderful christmas dinner (cooked by my aunt who is a chef, so I had the best camping food ever!) It was nice to see Nick again, but it was different because usually we're surrounded by all the gang of cousins and this time it was just the two of us. We missed everyone else a lot!!

I spent the night of Christmas Day with my grandmother and aunt, because they didn't have any party for chirstmas, so we had fun popping crackers together. Now I'm staying with my other gran and her boyfriend and I'm having lots of fun! It's almost like getting a new grandad, as all of mine have passed away. Last night night my cousin Johnt and I went to our uncle's house where I met some cousins I hadn't met before, and we talked for a long time with our aunt and uncle, Cherryl and Alan.

Today we went on a hike to Suikerbosrund (Sugar Bush Area) and it was beautiful. I'm somewhat out of shape though! It was just nice to get some sky... even though I live in the bush in Zambia, we don't have the opportunity to go walking around or anything.

Livingstone and Joburg

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:21:00 +0000

shoh! so it's been ages since my last post. sorry.
Since I last wrote, school has finished! The girls went home and though
it was sad to say goodbye, we were all excited to have quiet dorms
again. Amy's mom arrived from the State, it was really nice to have a
mother around us again :) We also had the End-of-Year Celebration for
our children's classes. Very few parents came, but we still had fun
presenting. My class told the parents a bit about what they'd learnt
(some history of the Baha'i Faith, as well as concepts such as the
oneness of religion and the betterment of the world) and we performed a
short step dance, to show our unity!
Then we were off to Livingstone to see the Victoria Falls. We had a
great time there. We stayed at a hostel called Fawlty Towers, which was
a great place except for there were bugs in the beds. We went on a game
walk in the Mosi-oa-Tunya national park and we saw a rhino and also we
were almost chased by a herd of buffalo! We went to Livingstone Island
located on top of the falls and we swam in the river there and we were
even suspended by our feet over the actual falls!! see the picture.
Amy, Rae and I also bungee jumped. Amy and I went tandem. I would be
lying if I said it wasn't terrifying. It was. But it was still lots of
fun!
We also met the Baha'i community in Livingstone and did a session of
Ruhi with them, a world-wide sequence of books that each focus on a
different aspect of the Baha'i Faith, such as it's history (the book we
did there), or prayer, or service... It was really wonderful to meet
them and to be able to learn with them. The time we spent studying with
them was very different from what I was used to. Their living room was
very small and cluttered, there were flies everywhere and lizards on
the walls... but it was Africa!
Now I'm in South Africa. I'm staying with my grandma for a few days
before I go to the beach with my uncle's family. I'm having fun
visiting my relatives, today I had lunch with my mom's mom and my dad's
mom... My one gran needs a wheelchair but she didn't bring it with her
to lunch, so she sat in my other gran's walker and was wheeled to the
car by my gran! it was the funniest thing.

True Liberty

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:05:00 +0000

Hi again!
Rae and I went to Lusaka and had lunch with Cathy Thompson, who told us all about her interesting life! She's lived in Nepal, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Israel... basically her life has been one huge adventure.

When we were in town we had the regular business of some guys wanting to be our boyfriends... I realize thought that I should specify that my anecdotes are not applicable to all Zambians. Not all the men we see as us out (that's based more on personality... or insanity), and not everyone runs up to us asking where we are going or if we need help. But people are definitely a lot more helpful and a lot more curious than in Montreal.

We were at one very chaotic bus station and I saw a very practical example of what true liberty looks like. In the Baha'i Faith, the Writings talk about how "true liberty is submission unto [God's] commandments"... this idea appeared contradictory to me, because isn't liberty the freedom from rules? Ah. Well, at this bus station, there were buses reversing into each other, parked haphazardly, blocking the entrances and exits and you couldn't walk across the lot without almost being run over. So there were no rules for traffic ("freedom") but you can't survive that chaos! If some traffic laws had been upheld there, though, I would have been safe to cross and get on a bus and go wherever I wanted. So basically, with just a few rules to follow, we have the liberty to travel anywhere we want safely.

Time for a new dedication! This month won't be 'in memory of' but more 'in honour of.' As December is generally a time for families (over the winter holidays especially) I'm going to dedicate this next month to my family, specifically Tami, Matt, Mika, Kai, Robby and Mia :)
Love you guys!

One World

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:37:00 +0000

Last night, while I was supervising computers, some of my girls found my blog on the internet, so they all had a lot of fun admiring pictures of themselves... They felt very famous to be on the internet! And I guess in a way they are rather internationally known, because you read about them :)

Also last night there was a pretty big thunderstorm in the distance, so I got to see the most spectacular lightning but stay dry at the same time! I've never seen lightning forks that big before. And at one point, there was a frenzy of fierce lightning coming from a very localized area - it was beautiful to watch, but I hope everyone near that area is ok! I've always loved storms... I remember running outside with my friend Sam when we were young in the middle of a thunderstorm, and Tami and I went dancing in the rain just last summer! haha, but I know when I go home I'll be bored with the wimpy lightning.

I've had great news! I've been trying to organize some fundraising for the Primary school here. I've asked friends who run junior youth groups if they'd be interested in helping with it, because all the groups have some kind of community service aspect. So far, I've got requests for pen-pals and school supplies coming from Findland as well as Montreal, where one group has gone so far as to ask schools, university peers and radio channels to support them! I think this is just one example of the uniqueness of these junior youth empowerment groups. Not only is it teaching them that service to others is important, but it's exposing them to a world-wide community and the concept of the human family. If the younger generations can come to appreciate the oneness of the world and its peoples, I think the world will be a healthier, more peaceful place.

African Mourning

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:14:00 +0000

A few days ago the wife of one of the teachers passed away suddenly. I'd never had a chance to meet her (Mrs. Phiri), but she was a valued member of the community here. Last night we could hear the grieving coming from the house - a symphony of wails and cries from the family and friends, in unearthly tones that carried on for at least half an hour. I think that this kind of mourning is very healthy because the whole family and community comes together to support each other, and everyone has a chance to get out their grief in one torrent of emotion... This morning I was thinking about one of Baha'u'llah's Hidden Words, "to the true lover, reunion is life and separation is death." So really, if you are a spiritual person, one could regard our existence in this world as death, and our 'death' as the beginning of our true lives. That was my thought of the day :)

Amy and I have started a Ruhi Book 5 circle, training some of the youth to become animators of Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment groups. These are world-wide initiatives, aimed at helping young teens develop their power of expression, which helps their understanding of reality, and helps them form their own moral structure. It's my first time facilitating a Ruhi book, but so far it's going well!

One funny story I have is last night at Ruhi, there was a HUGE "safari ferrari" on the wall, which is basically a spider-like insect that moves FAST. So this creepy-crawly was as long as my finger and quite plump and juicy. But I managed to trap him in a tuperware and take him outside (he was much to big to fit into my dad's nifty bug-catcher...) In terms of my development here, I'm becoming very resilient to the presence of bugs. Normally if a bee buzzed within a 1 meter radius of my head, I would duck and run screaming for cover! Now I hardly flinch.

Otherwise, everything is fine! The school will close in 3 weeks (so fast!!) and soon we'll know what our jobs are and which dorms we'll be in for next year. My plans for the holidays to Livingstone and South Africa are taking definite shape, and soon Amy's mom will be here for a short visit!

Party's over...

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:43:00 +0000

The celebration at the school and at the Institute were great! All the girls dressed up and looked lovely! The programs were so full of music, I know I'll miss that a lot when I go home.
Rae and I went to a restaurant/farm/lodge place 15mins away called Fringilla for lunch, as a Holy Day treat! My had waaaay too much fun on the trampoline and other little-kiddie toys they had there, as you can see.
One thing I haven't talked about much yet is the driving here. The city driving is a bit chaotic, but I get more scared on the highway that connects the school to Lusaka - the Great North Road, it's basically the main road in the north of Zambia. The scary part is over-taking slow trucks and stuff, because you have to slow down as you approach them from behind, and then check if cars are coming the other way before trying to over-take them... usually I try my best not to look at the road, but when I do I make strange faces to keep myself from crying out!
I'm thinking of changing my bachelor's from nursing to nutrition... I need general opinions, so if you have advice, please tell me!
I feel like the rain is going to come pouring down on me, so I'm going to take shelter somewhere where the wireless internet doesn't work :P

Inswa

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:39:00 +0000

It's my mom's birthday! Happy birthday Mia :)
We've had a few impressive rain falls lately, but no thunderstorms yet. The rain is nice because it cools down the air and makes things green, but it also brings out all kinds of bugs. The other night my dorm was full of flying ants and we had to spray two cans full of poison stuff before the girls would go to their rooms... I'm going to get leukemia and brain cancer, I just know it. It's also hard to stay dry when it's raining, so I've been getting used to being perpetually damp.
One very exciting thing did happen yesterday though! I ate a fried termite! They're called inswa, and the local kids eat them a lot as a snack. At first I was very skeptical, but I figured that it would be really boring if I spent 8 months in rural Africa without intentionally eating something outrageous. So I did. It tasted like oil (it was fried) and crunchy. A bit starchy. So now I feel very brave :)

Tahirih and I went to Lusaka on our day off again. No marriage proposals this time, and no overly-squished bus ride. I've noticed that, unlike in Montreal, people always talk to you on the bus. At first, especially if a man addressed me, I'd be reserved and try not to encourage the conversation as much as possible without being rude. But now I can see that as long as you aren't alone somewhere suspicious, most people are just genuinely curious and friendly.

This weekend is going to be full of parties! It's a Baha'i Holy Day on Sunday night, the celebration of the Birth of Baha'u'llah, who is the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith. The high school does a formal dinner (we get ice-cream and cake for dessert!) and the girls all get dressed up. Then there will be another celebration at the Institute for the Baha'i community on Monday morning. So I should have lots of colourful pictures to post soon :)

Dedication II

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:06:00 +0000

As we are nearing the end of the month, I realize I should dedicate my next month of service. November is dedicated to my great-aunt Venise, or Aunty Vee. She recently passed away at the age of 86. She was still working when she passed away! She worked for most of her life with children at schools and preschools. She taught them yoga, and she was also a music teacher. She taught my mom how to play piano, who in turn taught me, using the same tricks as Aunty Vee: making me have bubbles under my fingers when I played. My mom also used to reenact how Aunty Vee used to sneeze. I've never met Aunty Vee, but her influence on my mom's life has left an impression on me as well. Her whole family loved her dearly and I'm sorry that I never got to meet her.
So I hope that this next month is full of music, children, determination and hard work!

Back to school

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:42:00 +0000

Sorry for the lapse, internet difficulties...
Starting work again after the midterm break was exhausting! The first week felt like it would never end, but now we're all back in the swing of things and the days are racing once again.
We celebrated the Birth of the Bab, the forerunner of the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Fiaith, on October 20th. The childrens classes we conduct performed two songs and told a story. Then we celebrated Zambian Independance Day on October 24th. I have discovered that Zambia and Tanzania both adopted the tune of South Africa's national anthem, so even though I don't know the words I can still hum along :)

We also had a halloween costume party for Amy's birthday... we had an undercover-Disney princess theme! We had a great time playing games. And taking funny pictures...

Also, Amy, Sophie and I will hopefully be starting a music and drama program at the Primary school. Dance workshop has been progressing really fast! We've nearly finished a step dance that they'll be performing at graduation. We've also been working on a million plans for the december break, all of which have been modified a million and one times! Right now we're probably going to Livingstone for a few days.

Other than that, things here are aaall groovy!

Midterm Break

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:07:00 +0000

Shhhhhh - it's quiet!
This past week the students have all been away for the midterm break so we've been enjoying a quiet campus and free time. We've been working to get the school ready for a teacher's conference that's happening tomorrow, but we also had plenty of time to go relax by the pool and watch movies, as you can see.

On a more sad note, Neda left to go back home so now we are down by one volunteer, leaving 5 of us to forge ahead. We had a really nice going-away dinner for her though, a braai (bbq) and a slideshow/movie of pictures and songs about her (to the tune 'Wimbawe': "To the island, the tiny island, Neda soon returns... etc... Weeeee will always keep you in our hearts)
When we dropped her at the airport, we stayed in Lusaka for 2 nights with a family we know, the Alavians. Being away from campus for a while was really great: we did some shopping, went to markets, saw the current and the new Baha'i centers in Lusaka, went to a devotional meeting at the Baha'i center and even saw a movie! It was actually the first time the 5 of us got to hang out and laugh and laugh and have fun together. It was really nice and I think we'll all remember the funny moments we had. I actually made Rae keep a note of all the funny things I said... for instance, while discussing how the travel channel always advises tourists to take the only means of transportation there is (ex: India, tourists should stick to taxis, rickshaws and trains) I said "apparently the hovercrafts aren't very good..." ok. you had to be there.

We took a very full bus back to the school on Monday - I was so squished we almost had to amputate my let... it was close.

We've been cooking for ourselves this week, which has been niee because we can eat what we feel like and not what the dining hall serves, but tricky as well because our stove only has the temperatures "on" and "off" and the oven is too small to fit a dish of longed-after brownies. Hurray for improvisation! We have also been perfecting our techniques of floating on three kick-boards at once to make up for the loss of inflatable pool toys.

When we were at the Baha'i center in Lusaka, I met a woman named Cathy who works for an aid organisation (I think USAID) and I hope to see her again and maybe visit her office and see what she does! After our trip to Children in Need, I've been really keen to learn more about aid work in Zambia!

A funny story: in one of the pictures you will see me apparently scratching a palm tree with a pool tool. Correction: I am strategically using the pool tool to retrieve papayas from a papaya tree! This is how we get our food at Banani. And we also made a mulberry crumble from mulberries that we picked ourselves from a tree outside... it's a do-it-yourself mentality.
The other pictures are Neda's party, hanging out at the Alavians, squished in the bus, retrieving papayas and floating in the pool. If they don't upload now, I'll try again tomorrow.

And great news! I finally received the packages that my family sent from home - computer accessories and clothes I'd forgotten, flaxseed oil and calcium and a few other surprises I wasn't expecting. It was like Christmas or Ayyam-i-Ha, getting to open boxes and have treats inside!
I hope everyone in Canada is enjoying the cooler weather - it's the hottest month now and only one room in the school has air-conditionning!

Dedication

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:35:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Karrie) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:05:00 +0000

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.