A traveling man. You’d think this much traveling is a dream job for my kind. Well, in some ways it is, but I’ve realized something: humans are not meant to do this. Due to housing challenges, constant travel and my own frugality, I have not had my own room to sleep in since May. Alas, my new house! Located in “the Beverly hills” of Lusaka. Living with previous flat mate irish Adam and Zambian friend Angelo. Do I deserve this?
• A pool (needs to be painted and filled with water)
• A sauna (hasn’t worked for years I am told, but still, a sauna exists)
• A huge wall around my house, and the other 2 houses on this propriety (feels a bit exclusive which I do not like, but safe)
• Big backyard (hammocks and bbq soon to come)
• A Zambian family which stays in the “servants” quarters. Lungu washed my car and his daughter did my laundry. A true expat you could say, ugh.
• A lush mango tree (mango season in 2 months)
• Spacious rooms (as we have no furniture yet)

Yet I have had no time to enjoy it as my other home is the road and my jeep, which enjoys breaking down. The past 3 weeks I managed 3 community site visits with 4 volunteers, a HIV/AIDS workshop deep in the Kalomo bush and a sport specific workshop for 30 community school teachers in the city of Kitwe. Also I will add rafting trip on class 5 rapids on the Zambezi River. C’mon, it isn’t all work here of course.



Score volunteer Teddy gets some ideas from the participants. Which sexual acts can or cannot HIV be transmitted?


AIDS: American Ideas Discouraging Sex

A year ago I was in Namibia taking a level 1 training course on Kicking AIDS Out (see Namibia in Oct 06 on blog….whoa..has it been a year?). Since that time I have been thrown around, taking on many different positions within SCORE, but hadn’t had time to facilitate the workshop itself.

I now have two volunteers placed within a partner organization called Response Network in Kalomo, southern province. Unlike other SCORE volunteers which live and work in the same community, these lucky two, Vidar from Norway and Samuel from Namibia, live in the small town of Kalomo, but focus their work deep in the rural bush land. (previously visited see blog Man with 24 wives)

Bush means 1-2 hours drive on non-roads into Tonga village land (the main tribe of southern province) Dirt bike paths, goat paths, no electricity outside a good day way, no reception, peaceful. SCORE has been working within some of these remote rural communities for more than a year, and has trained many youth as strong facilitators, and they were now ready for a Kicking AIDS Out peer leader workshop – www.kickingaidsout.net . General HIV/AIDS education with skills on how to facilitate hiv/aids sessions during sport lessons, tournaments, trainings or even in school with students. I facilitated the 3 days workshop with help from 3 of my volunteers, including Teddy, a SCORE volunteer who was originally from Kalomo – who acted as our much needed translator. (I know some general phrases and greetings in 3 zambian languages including Tongan, but really it is nothing much)



The Tongan village set up

Thoughts of Bushland, and Workshop:

• I camped on a mans farmland, or hut land, or very small village, I am not sure how to describe it. He had 3 wives and 13 children, one of the wives participated in the workshop.
• I ate guinea fowl for the first time, strange looking bird with a blue rock thing sticking out of its forehead
• Goat is cheap here. A full goat to buy is equivalent to what I pay for the two foot long subs in Lusaka.
• The translation of an answer I received concerning the subject of women wearing short dresses: “when a farmer shows off his cabbage, he is looking to sell it! “
• At the end of the workshop, a man stood up to say basically “great, I’m going to use condoms now…where do I get them? Where do I get tested?” The unfortunate bit of this was that we had just done an HIV/AIDS education workshop for a very remote community, where to get condoms or to get tested, one would have to walk a full day or bike 4 hours to pick them up from the town clinic.
• “do you taste a sweet with the wrapper on?”- quote, a tongan man, relating to the use of condoms



Teddy demonstrates how to protect yourself from diseases that are found on broom sticks…just kidding.



Score volunteer Vidar warms up by the fire where we camped for the workshop, although hot during the days, Kalomo is one of the coldest places in Zambia due to its altitude



The gang, of newly trained HIV/AIDS kicking aids out peer leaders. Yellow shirts score volunteers Teddy and Vidar.



The rapids of the mighty zambezi - to the right Zambia, to the left Zimbabwe. Beautiful land.

Class 5

Rafting, who ever came up with this? Put a handful of humans on a piece of rubber that sometimes floats on a river was created to drown people. But of course, it was time to go rafting in Livingstone on the Zambezi River, apparently at the best time, huge rapids, but slow current, at times with no rapids, we could jump out of the boat, just float slowly down the canyon through and enjoy the scenery (scenery includes crocodiles)



That leg is my leg. Falling off a class 5 rapid, kinda fun.

This is why I’m hot.

I missed thanksgiving, almost completely where I even forgot that it had occurred. But I won’t be missing Halloween this year, as a party is already in the works. As for life, it is hot. It is now the “Hot dry” season, where it hasn’t rained for 5 months, and the stinging sun heats the day to 38-40 degrees +. Missing the cold, windy Canadian autumn, even the frigid wet Sunday morning wake ups with nothing to do but listen to the rain