April 30th, 2006

 

I biked to my hut from Serenje, the peace corps Province house.  It took 41/2 hours to go 60KM.  I couldn't find the short cut and  got lost a few times.  I carried 70 pounds of supplies on my bike.  I was feeling a little sorry for myself.  I went to visit my friend that works at the blind encampment.  He is a teacher with crippled legs, but manages to farm about 2 acres.  He told me that he had to walk to Serenje to see the dentist to get a tooth pulled and then walk back.  I stopped feeling sorry for myself about the bike ride.

 

I got my roof rethatched.  15 guys came over fast, fast, fast!  I continue to work the ground in my back yard to plant a garden with onion, tomatoes, cabbage and watermelon and a few trees, one banana. We will see.

Great news is that a construction crew from Serenje came and put in a water pump. It is 200 meters away.

 

Happy birthday to Carter!!!!  He is now 5 years old.  There is a jack russel in the province house. He is only 8 pounds.  Carter could take him!  Happy Birthday to Will!  There is a great road from Livingston through Zambia and Tanzania. It would be a great road for a motorcyle ride!

 

Thank you for writing. I enjoy the letters from family, friends and swimmers!  The closest internet is 81/2 hours away.

 

Something which is funny for both sides, Zambian's and myself is my age. Ah, you are so young they say when I am compared to all the people I am working with.  Also that I am not married. That is amusing also. But what are you going to do. I continue to go to church. My BeMayo and brother in law are both in the choir. I can't quite understand everything they are saying, but there is a lot of singing. Religion is very important to them.

 

I miss playing games. Anything!  The last game was during training when we played frisbee.  I have been running and running. I don't know how to train for a marathon, so I just keep running.

 

Food continues to be a big focus.  Crazy chickens and a big rooster running through my yard. Goats, who knew they fart so much!!!!!!!!  I met a farmer who practices irrigation. I am going to help him out.  His wife is going to start to sell meat pies and other things. I just need to pre order. Currently the only thing I can buy in the village market are buns.  I continue to bake a lot of bread and am putting in anything I can think of.  Oatmeal, vanilla, ground nuts and such.

 

Well, just for you guys to know. Meetings usually start late here or not at all. People do not wear watches. Their number one priority is food. They are usually in the field or at a funeral.  We are working with them on food production. They never have a surplus.  The teachers in the villages are volunteers. They are supposed to receive donations, but that rarely happens.

 

3 things I am missing alot. Carter, "Lost" and a pool. What can you do. I have lot's of time to read. I am keeping a list of my books I have read. 30+ so far.  My hair is growing so fast and is looking kind of wild. There isn't really any place to get it cut.......

 

Well, this is Dan's Mom entering into his blog for him.  I hope you enjoy reading these entries. We are working on some dates to visit him in 2007. Steph, his sister is hoping for next Christmas break and Will is thinking the fall. B.J. and I are planning on April/May 2007.  We miss him. We would love for him to come home for a visit, but he really would like us to come to him due to his limited time off.

 

So if anyone has tips on running (marathon), baking bread, gardening or any books in general, I know he would appreciate them. His birthday is August 5th, so birthday cards would be great!

 

Chris "momma" Buckland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Dan's parents (B.J. and Chris).  On May 16th we received an 8 page letter from Dan.  His home is quite remote, so he started to journal write his letter.  We have also been lucky enough to talk to him every 5-6 weeks.  We plan on talking to him the weekend of the 4th of July. 

 

Here are some exerpts from his letter:

 

So, it has been a long week. We had a final exam in language "Bemba" and technical.  I passed and was officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteer (earlier phase Peace Corps trainee).  The ceremony was 21/2 hours late as we were waiting for the Ambassador of Zambia! My host family gave me a graduation gift. It was an ax with a short handle, the length of my forarm and a deceptively heavy head.  After the graduation ceremony the graduates went to Kundalia Falls. It is north of Serenje about 100 km.  See pictures in the slide show.  On Monday we then processed immigration documents and bank accounts etc.  In Serenje there is a small restaurant that is owned by an old guy, Steve, who was in PC zambia for 5 years. It is a nice place to eat.  On Tuesday and Wednesday I organized things at my permanent home, work materials, chalk board calendar etc.  I forgot to buy chlorine and any food with protein.  Just a little bit of peanut butter for the rest of the month.  I will be eating with my "family" 2-3 x a week.  I just give the bameyo food enough for the family and she cooks it up for us.  I also helped set rat traps with the kids in the fields, helped get firewood and also brought Kasava to the river to soak.  My family is good. My Dad is one of the chiefs in the Muchinda zone.  There are 14 chiefs.  I have a meeting with all of them next Tuesday.  I have now learned how to make tortillas.  They taste somewhat like Indian bread.  The province house has a huge library and I took a ton of books to read.  They also had a Harry Potter book on CD, so I am listening to that.

 

I am trying to bake again.  I have never used yeast. Let's see how it goes.  I had my first meeting. I am not sure how it went using a translator, different culture etc.  I will wait to see if they invite me back.  I have many holes in my fence in the backyard, so lot's of baby goats about 1 month old are running around (not cute). I am repairing my fence and building a cooking shelter.  I have been setting up community meetings.  I'll be going to an encampment for blind people this week.  There is also an orphanage that I want to try and visit with a teacher that is working at the main school near me. I was invited to church. There is a lot of singing.  The minister greets everyone at the end of the service. They invited me to speak.  I do not know if that is OK with the Peace Corps. I need to find out.  Oh boy, the yeast really worked. The bread is big and good.  I have added some cinammon and sugar on top. It is good.

 

Well today was supposed to be a somewhat relaxing day....well not so much.  At around 3:30am I heard what I thought was dirt dropping down on my plastic above my bed. I layed there listening.  All of a sudden I got bit by  an ant.  I turned on my light and red fire ants were storming my house.  I took my clothes and food into my porch.  I took a lap around my house and no joke thousands of ants were streaming into my house.  Next thing I knew they came into the porch so I moved all my stuff into the front and I sat and watched as they went through my house.  It is actually kind of a good thing. They eat all the mice and insects in your house.

As I was waiting for the ants to leave, I went and got drinking water.  I have 3 2liters jugs to fill. I have to go 2 kilometers to get water.  When I came back I went to chop down bamboo to repair my fence. I went with some local villagers.  We walked through grass twice as tall as me.  We chopped the bamboo into 14-18 feet long pieces and bundle them and carry them back to the village.  I get back and the ants are gone, but it is raining.  I move my stuff again and stand there and look at the grass to rethatch my roof as the rain comes in.  It is only 12 noon.

 

I am visiting schools. My sense of direction is not the best, so sometimes that slows me down.  I found a little store that sells baked goods.  They have a little monkey that I played with called Sanji.  I have been running and went on a 2 hour run.  There is a marathon scheduled in August that I might try.  I continue to bake and experiment with cooking....oatmeal in the bread, flour in the dry soup mix, I love kool aid.  I received a bush mail from my supervisor who is picking me up for more immigration forms.  A woman from Serenje came to one of my school sites to talk to the women about healthy eating, so I listened. It is good to be involved in the community.  The meeting was OK I think oatmeal, honey, groundnuts, peanut butter, butter....it is all going in the bread.  That should keep me on my feet.

 

I am in town to get my work permits stamped. 

 

We talked to Dan!  He was at the provinical house for meetings, training and friends.  He is reading alot. He loves the library there.  He sounded a little tired. (dan is never tired).  He has lost 20 plus pounds and thought his stomach wasn't right.

 

Email from Dan!  He talked to the Peace Corps medical corps and they transferred him to Lusaka, the capitol. He turns out he had an intestinal parasite from the water.  He is feeling much better. He rested a few days and then back to his hut and his home village.  He had a chance to see Mission Impossible 3 and the DaVinci Code.  Of course the English major had his critics review of each! It is too bad that he got that sick to be transferred, but it was nice that he could rest up and recharge a little. 

 

We will update this blog again around the 4th of July.  Please keep writing!  Thanks for all of your support. I understand that the kids from MMW are mailing Dan some letters. He misses you and the swim team kids.  Have a good summer!