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This blog will be an account my life working in a Refugee camp in Northern Zambia called Mwange. For the next year, I will be working for Right to Play, a sport and development organization based out of Toronto. What follows will be a life altering experience. Stay tuned....
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
April 30th
The shitty week got a little better today as I strolled down to the falls today with some friends. It seems our Guard had a number of problems in his life that had pushed him to commit suicide. He had a pretty serious drinking problem and couldn't handle his family life. He also had some problems with one of the families in the village to whom he owed a lot of money for some damages he caused to one of the elderly women in the family.
We're all very sad and wondering what we could have done to prevent this death, but the answer is there wasn't a lot we could do. People had tried very hard in the past to help him, but nothing was working. His first wife told us that he had been telling her he was going to die very soon, but she didn't know, up until now, what he was talking about.
Seems everyone around town already knows about the death, but people do not sympathise with him for doing this. The people here are against him doing this as he left behind a good job and a large family. The saddest part is that he left behind 3 children enrolled in school, and now there will be nobody to pay their school fees.
April 29th
I write this journal tonight filled with a very heavy heart. Our guard and a very close friend and trusted Right to Play worker, Mr. Chanda Davis, committed suicide last night in his village of Chishwambwa. We received the news this morning from our other guard, Mr. Chanda Lupiya, who lives in the village next to Davis. He hung himself from a Mango tree beside his hut and was later found by his cousin. Mr. Davis leaves behind two wives and six children...
As I was in Kawambwa today for our interagency meeting with the Implementing Partners in the Kala camp, I didn't get the news till I arrived home tonight. Sophie was with the family and his body for most of the day, and went to his burial and reception. It's hard to believe we've experienced two deaths in two days. and we're having a tough time of it. As is the tradition in Zambia, the employer is expected to pay for the furnishings of an employees funeral including the coffin, cloth material to cover the coffin and food and drink for the guests. We had to tell the family that being a very small organization, we could not pay for everything.
It's a very sad day. Mr Davis was a very warm spirited man and worked very hard for us. We knew he had serious personal problems which is why everyone is thinking about what more they could have done for him.
Seems death is all around me here.
April 28th
We held a workshop for coaches in the camp today, but received shocking news upon our arrival in the camp. It seems one of the coaches who was instrumental in starting Right to Play activities in the camp for its first couple of years was tragically killed back in the Congo. The man's name was Kans and when he was in the camp, he lived to work with RTP. Both Peter and Sophie were very close to him. We heard that he died in a car accident, as the family of his wife still resides in the camp. There were a lot of tears as we stopped by his relatives house to bring them condolences and food and drink. The grieving process for these people is quite extreme: you can hear people crying from half way across the camp and this will continue for a couple of days. On the third day, they go to the cemetery and then most people will proceed to the bar and drink their sorrows away. I get the feeling that the family unit is so much more tight knit than what I am used to at home. Family members rely on each other for every aspect of their livelihoods. We heard that the brother of Kans would be asked to look after his widow (ie. Be married to her) which is a quite common practice among widows. I feel really bad for Sophie and Peter because of how sad they are. Kans was somebody with a big future in front of him and had returned to the Congo as he was accepted into university (so rare in this area of the world). It is because of Kans that the program has been so successful in Mwange and he will be missed.
April 27th
A scheduled section leader meeting in the camp was cancelled as the field officer is back in Croatia visiting his wife (wish I could take off like that). Spent the day in the market, playing pool with Peter and repairing the basketball net in front of our house.
I'm really starting to settle into life now, here in Mporokoso. I've found a solid group of friends, im eating better, exercising and I always have things to do. Still though, I need to do something about those rats in my roof.
April 26th
I'm Starting to get a little bit worried as Peter and Sophie have not yet come back from Kasama. Could mean the vehicle has broken down somewhere or they are stranded. I'm hoping for their safety.
Went to the camp by myself again today and conducted the last day of our workshop that was supposed to take place last Friday. The workshop was on Equipment Management and Group Decision Making. It's pretty easy work to give the workshops as the subject matter is usually pretty light and we don't cover a lot of material as it takes the refugees a long time to copy all the notes and we usually do some group work and games. The sessions are held at the Skills Center where refugees can attend trade schools. The rooms and a series of one class enclosures are made of mud, sticks and bricks.
Today, as I was walking down to the market, I was again confused with the UNHCR field officer as this lady started yelling in my face about their dislike of the food distribution. I couldn't do anything but shrug and continue walking.
At lunch hour, as everything shuts down between 12 and 2, we go down to the river where the water pump station is located and hang out. It's one of the few places you can get away from the stares and the kids. I really like it down there, it's like my own little retreat and I've found a place to relax and read my book as the stream flows beside me.
I spent a long time talking to one of the coaches named Justin who is also a volunteer at the Red Cross Tracing Office. He spoke about his mother and father being killed in the DRC war and how he fled his village, leaving his brothers and sisters behind. I really got a sense of the desparation of some of the people here. The situation has to be so bad that you leave behind all that you have ever known for the safety of your wife and kids.
April 25th
What a great day! Woke up ridiculously early (well, the rooster wakes me up anyway.) to catch a ride with the Red Cross out to the camp. I spent a couple hours walking around and meeting some of the coaches in the camp.
It was such a different experience as most of the time I am driving around in our vehicle with no real chance to interact with people. Today, as I walked around, people came up to me to say hi, kids followed me around the whole time and I really got a sense of the make up of the camp. I had one of the basketball coaches direct me around as I didn't really know where anything was. I managed to make it to 3 of the schools, including the secondary school where they are in the middle of state Congolese exams.
Though they are living in Zambia, the students follow the Congolese education, and now is exam time. A lot of the students are crunching.
I then proceeded down to the carpenter's house, who has a tiny little shop in the back of his yard. I ordered some new volleyball posts and a backboard. The carpenter is really good and has this business thanks to "Income Generating Activities", taken care of by one of the NGO's, who will provide individuals with money if they have good business ideas. The carpenter is certainly getting a lot of business from Right to Play!
In the afternoon, I was invited to the opening of a secondary school in a nearby village. UNHCR built the school in the Zambian village of Kalabwe as a way of thanking the Zambian people for hosting the refugees. There were quite a few VIP's at the ceremony, including the district commissioner for the Northern Province, an MP and the Chief of the Mporokoso district who came dressed in his traditional robes. Everyone busted out into laughter when the Chief made his speech as he started making ridiculous demands to the UNHCR for letting them build the school on what he called "Land allocated by God for the Chief!!". He went so far to ask them to give him a car!! Traditional Chiefs in Zambia have no real power though are highly respected among the people. This chief was quite the imposing figure: about 6'8", 300 pounds, with a big shiny hat and long flowing, red robes.
I couldn't help but cringe as people started to try to get close to the proceedings of the ceremony and guards started swatting the people with long sticks and kicking them back! Seemed normal to everybody else though.
April 24th
A boring Sunday, with not much to do. Plans to go out to the falls again fell through and I spent most of the day writing our monthly report and preparing the budget. Also spent some time baking and hanging out with a woman from the Red Cross who came over to borrow some books. I am a little nervous as tomorrow will be my first day in the camp by myself.
April 23rd
I had a great day today!! Spent the whole day preparing a meal for some friends to be held at my place. Down the street is the Catholic School for the blind where we buy our chickens, then to the market for tomatoes, onions, and potatoes. The real problem came when we started looking for beer. First, we had to find a crate full of empty bottles, so that we wouldn't be charged the deposit, then we had to find a guy to carry the bottles for us, as we had to haul them back and forth from the market, then we had to go to like six different bars to find enough beer. It's not like home where you can just go to the Cold Beer and Wine store = = this really was a trial for just a couple beers.
I ended up having 5 people over. My good buddies Tony and Barry, Barry's girlfriend named Mwela and his cousin named Nicolas. All these people are from Lusaka and are just up here for some months, visiting family. I ended up cooking a sort of Canadian Chicken Stir fry, which everyone really liked. Everyone puts so much salt on their food, as this is one of the only spices you can find, I didn't enjoy the chicken very much (as the guard bar-b-q'd the chicken, they added tons of salt).
April 22nd
On our way out to the camp today our truck broke down, which left us stranded between Mporokoso and Mwange. As we waited for Peter to attempt repairs, people walked by with the strangest looks on their faces, wondering what a couple white people were doing sitting, reading beside the truck. Fortunately, Peter was able to fix the truck (seems a bearing had slipped from the drive axle), but unfortunately we had to abandon going to the camp, leaving the workshop participants stranded. Luckily we were able to send a message to them through the UN, so they didn't wait for us long. Peter and Sophie decided to leave that day to Kasama for repairs to the vehicle. I decided to stay and hold down the fort, but sent a list of supplies with them to be bought in Kasama. They set off a little worried as the road is really terrible, but promised they'd be back on Monday. I spent the rest of the day reading and writing. While the evening was spent visiting and learning guitar with Ante, then off to a bar called Mumembe Bar, where a group organized a Rhumba dance night. Wow, was I in for a shock. The bar is like nothing I've seen, just a couple of chairs, a bar table with a woman behind it and a couple tables. The night turned into a big fight by the end of it, with a police man getting hit and a bunch of people getting thrown in jail. One of the Refugee officers (who goes by the name of Fashion - on that same note, everyone has a traditional name and a Christian name here. Some of the Chrisitan names are really bizarre like "Talktime", "Gift" and "Shopright" (the name of the local supermarket???)
