Links
Archives
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....
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Sept. 24 - Oct. 20
Sept 24th
We’re getting ready for our trip to Lusaka next week. Looks like it’s going to be an insanely busy time in the capital. I hope to be able to spend some time with the RTP team there. I’ve become quite close to one of the girls named Doreen from Germany. They’re having a really tough time adjusting to their new team member that just came a month ago. It seems none of them are getting along. They’ve been put intot a tough situation where the two of them have been working together for the past 7 months and then have to change everything when a new person comes in. I hope they can work it out.
A couple funny stories have happened in the past couple days. At lunch yesterday, Sophie had the unfortunate circumstance of finding worms in her beans… The thing was that it wasn’t until she was almost finished eating that she found them. Getting “worms” in your stomach is a quite common thing here – she’s hoping she doesn’t get anything… These new cats have also become a huge nuisance. We’ve let them inside the house now, to see if we can train them, but it’s not going to be easy. They are pertrified of human contact and only come out of hiding when there’s food. We came back very late last night and as Sophie crawled into bed, she let out a scream!! Seems that when we were out, one of the cats “shat” in Sophie’s bed and she didn’t notice it until she was under the covers. Making it even worse was the fact that she had just washed her sheets… We gotta get rid of those cats…
Sept 25th
A relaxing Sunday today. I sat around for the morning practicing guitar, baking , watching movies and writing letters. I have a lot of letters to finish before we go to Lusaka including my grandma, mom and dad, sisters, Claire and Colleen.
I’m starting to think about what will lie ahead after I am finished this placement. So far, no decisions have been made. The first thing I’d like to do is get back to Calgary to visit with Sasha and Flynn, then I’d love to go to the coast to see Paige and friends, from there it would be over to Winnipeg to see the parents new job, house and my grandma and relatives. Though, something keeps tugging at the back of my mind to stay over there and get some more experience while I still can. I’d love to do another placement somewhere in Africa and mayber get another 6 months work experience in the field before going back to school in September. I was thinking about trying to do a masters in Public Administration or possible NGO administration, maybe even law if I can get my undergrad marks a little higher.
I would also really like to visit Europe on my way home. Possibly visiting friends in France, Switzerland, Denmark and Italy. I’ve promised my friend Claire a visit to Geneva on my way home. Just hope everything works out.
Sept 26th
Riding to the camp today I’ve realized how truly lucky I am to be here; to be working with people from who I am learning so much and to who, I am hopefully giving back to. The people we are working with in the camp have thanked us on many occasions for giving to them a sense of identity within the camp of working with children and being able to teach others. Today, I sat down with one of the coaches, a man named Justin who has been with RTP since the beginning. He was explaining to me all the things he has learned from RTP, most of all giving him the courage to speak out and teach people in respectful way that others will listen. For my part, the biggest thing I have learned from the people here is how to be caring; how to communicate with people in a respectful way and honour commitments. Responsibility has always been something I’ve lacked in life. Gaining respect through interacting with people. It’s not that one has to be smart, or innovative or driven or tactful, it’s more important to be honest, dedicated, respectful and trusted; to care for others in a way that people will know that you realize aspects their life that make the biggest difference: family, friends, survival and respect.
Sept 27th
Life can be cruel. I was able to sit down today with one refugee lady in the camp, a very close friend of Sophie, who began telling me about her life. A single mother who lost not only her mother and father in the war, but also her husband. She traveled alone to the camp all the way from the DRC, as she couldn’t feel safe anymore in her home. It’s amazing to see how she is now. She is a young lady (maybe 28 years) who has become an important part of this camp. Not only is she a very active coach, she also is an employee at the community services where she carries out home visits to look up on sick people. Also, whenever there is an event in the camp, she is there to lend a hand in cooking, cleaning and serving. She also instructs dancing at the camp, to which Sophie attends the lessons whenever she can (it’s Congolese Rhumba dancing). It’s uplifting to see a person who can overcome such huge obstacles to live a normal, happy life.
Sept 28th
Down at the market today, I ran into the Mporokoso’s crazy lady. About 3 weeks ago, after begging for money at each time seeing me, I finally gave her some a 500 kwacha bill. At first I didn’t know what the hell she was saying. It sounded as if she was crying to me to save her life or something like that, it wasn’t until someone explained to me that she only wanted a bit of money. One day, as the market was at it’s fullest, she again started begging for money, actually yelling. It seemed the whole market turned around to witness the scene, so, after asking her to keep it down, I gave her the money. It seemed some huge weight was lifted of her head – im not sure what it was, but ever since that time, the woman has never bothered me, only nodding her head slightly whenever I go by…
Sept 29th
Our monthly meeting with HODI (NGO responsible for community services and education in the camp). It went ok, although the Project Manager was mysteriously absent, so we held the meeting with the Education Supervisor and the newly appointed HIV/Aids program coordinator. The Aids lady is so fresh to the experience that she really didn’t have a clue what was going on. Every suggestion that we made she just nodded her head and agreed with us. The other lady, the education supervisor, named Chiluba, is a good friend of Sophie’s and is a very smart lady. She’s a Zambian who speaks fluent French and English and has graduated from the University of Zambia. During this meeting, she didn’t really say much, except to ask us when it would be finished… It remains a struggle to work with HODI.
Sept 30th
Today was the September interagency meeting. It was great to see Kevin, who works for RTP in the Kala refugee camp again. He came with his new work partner Kim, who hails from Toronto and has been in the country about 2 months now. He caught me up on all the hockey news, including all the trades and the Flames being rated number one in the league by Sports Illustrated!!!
We talked shop for awhile and it was decided that we would like to organize an intercamp refugee Olympics, where a group of student athletes from each of our camps would come and participate in games in the others camp. We set a date for beginning December and have already began planning. I thought it would be a great idea as not only would it serve as a great time for the kids but some of them would also have the chance to meet friends and family that they wouldn’t have seen in years. It’s going to be a lot of work but when we see the look on some of the kids faces after arriving in the other camp, it will all be worth it…
Oct. 1st
Off to Lusaka today. Ill report when our trip is finished…
Oct. 2nd to15th
What a whirlwind trip it was. Two of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had in my life and I’m completely tired out. The first job was to have the vehicle repaired. This, of course, was a more difficult procedure then first planned. We also prepared Physical Education Manuals to be handed out to teachers as well as an Anti-Aids manual that we will give to the club.
I also wanted to look at job opportunities while I was there for February, but I couldn’t find much.
Also while we were there, our driver got in an accident when he ran into another vehicle, when the police showed up he tried to argue his way out of a ticket and was thrown in jail. We had to go there later on in the day to pay the ticket and get the vehicle out of impound. When you get a ticket here they make you pay it on the spot and if you can’t then they will impound your vehicle until they do. Most of the cops will also try to get something on the side and will there for tell you the ticket is worth a lot more than it actually is. IN this case, the officer said the ticket was 500,000 kw, when it was only actually 300,000 kw. It wasn’t until we asked for an official receipt that he resisicended the quote.
The trips there and back were surprisingly smooth. Only one break down!!!
Oct. 16th
Mporokoso… This place is really starting to feel like home. Can’t believe I’ve already been here almost 8 months (although time hasn’t passed too quickly)… As I walk down to the market for the hundredth time, everything is familiar. The kids yelling “HOW ARE YOU?” at me; the rusted out time roofing, the knee deep potholes, huge poplar trees, the heat, the run down guest house on the corner of market, the shopkeepers with their hellos, big smiles and hand shakes. I can sit on my front porch and name just about every neighbor within sight. Mr Muma lives to the left of us and works as an mechanic, he is always working on vehicles with family members standing around watching; down the street to the left and right is my friend Billy and my other friend Barry. Kitty corner to us is Mr Phiri, the Health supervisor at Red Cross, here since 1999, leaving his wife and kids to attend private school in Kasama… Ill miss the place…
Oct 17th
Learned today that UNHCR is going to start repatriation for the refugees back to Congo next year. This is huge news. It means that the UN has determined that the situation is stable enough for people to start returning home. They will begin the exercise of making sure people have homes to go back to, that there will be sufficient food, water and education back home and that they will be transported back to the regional capital of Lubumbashi. They are scheduled to start in the summer of next year with 5000 refugees, then more will follow. Most people here say that they will not go back until elections are held and there will be schools for their children to go back to. IN my opinion it may be a little premature for repatriation to start, being that there is still fighting in the northwestern Kivu region and based on the bureaucratic system that is in place and a lack of government in rural areas,
Oct 18th
In the camp today for some meetings. It seems the intramural league that we’ve worked so hard in setting up is going as planned. All the players and coaches are really excited to compete in the matches. The only problem I have with it is that it seems to be way to competitive. The losing team always looks really depressed and the winning team will mock the losing team. I feel bad for the lsing players and coaches. The other day, I saw something quite disheartening. In the aftermath of a basketball victory by Mwange D school (the court is usually surrounded by 100’s of hyper kids) one of the children started thowing sand in other players eyes. There was about 3 kids of the ground screaming in pain. All of the sudden one of the coaches came by and started knocking kids in the back of the head for throwing the sand. Corporal punishment is quite common here and children are quite often punished through violence. I felt like we were partly responsible for the violence on this day as it was a result of the excitement caused by the match.
Oct 19th
Taking my regular stroll over to a bakers house who sells me buns today, I again passed by the catholic church where there is always beautiful Zambian music coming from. I decided to take a peak inside the door to listen and stood at the back of the church for a good hour. I was enchanted by the sounds. It seems impossible that so many woman can all have such glorious voices and though I didn’t understand a word of the music, it sounded great all the same. When I finally arrived at the bakers house, I greeted his kids as usual and went through the usual formalities – asking how his day is going, then telling him how many buns I want, to which he always replies “Only 2 buns”, to which I reply “Yes only 2, but ill come for more tomorrow”, he wishes me a pleasant evening, I do the same and I walk back home. The buns are ready at 4 pm everyday, and the fresher you can get them the better. He always picks out the best buns for me. Haha…
Oct 20th
The handover of the project to the community is almost complete. We now have refugees facilitating every workshop and meeting with us only being present for support. So why is it we are still so busy? Today I was swamped with work and when I finally got home it was straight to bed. It seems hard to believe that I can’t sleep in here at all!! I’m up at 6 am every morning, when usually at home I can sleep all day. I think it must be the heat. Already by that time in the day it can be 30 degrees and ill never get used to that. I wonder if ill ever have the ability to sleep in again?
We’re getting ready for our trip to Lusaka next week. Looks like it’s going to be an insanely busy time in the capital. I hope to be able to spend some time with the RTP team there. I’ve become quite close to one of the girls named Doreen from Germany. They’re having a really tough time adjusting to their new team member that just came a month ago. It seems none of them are getting along. They’ve been put intot a tough situation where the two of them have been working together for the past 7 months and then have to change everything when a new person comes in. I hope they can work it out.
A couple funny stories have happened in the past couple days. At lunch yesterday, Sophie had the unfortunate circumstance of finding worms in her beans… The thing was that it wasn’t until she was almost finished eating that she found them. Getting “worms” in your stomach is a quite common thing here – she’s hoping she doesn’t get anything… These new cats have also become a huge nuisance. We’ve let them inside the house now, to see if we can train them, but it’s not going to be easy. They are pertrified of human contact and only come out of hiding when there’s food. We came back very late last night and as Sophie crawled into bed, she let out a scream!! Seems that when we were out, one of the cats “shat” in Sophie’s bed and she didn’t notice it until she was under the covers. Making it even worse was the fact that she had just washed her sheets… We gotta get rid of those cats…
Sept 25th
A relaxing Sunday today. I sat around for the morning practicing guitar, baking , watching movies and writing letters. I have a lot of letters to finish before we go to Lusaka including my grandma, mom and dad, sisters, Claire and Colleen.
I’m starting to think about what will lie ahead after I am finished this placement. So far, no decisions have been made. The first thing I’d like to do is get back to Calgary to visit with Sasha and Flynn, then I’d love to go to the coast to see Paige and friends, from there it would be over to Winnipeg to see the parents new job, house and my grandma and relatives. Though, something keeps tugging at the back of my mind to stay over there and get some more experience while I still can. I’d love to do another placement somewhere in Africa and mayber get another 6 months work experience in the field before going back to school in September. I was thinking about trying to do a masters in Public Administration or possible NGO administration, maybe even law if I can get my undergrad marks a little higher.
I would also really like to visit Europe on my way home. Possibly visiting friends in France, Switzerland, Denmark and Italy. I’ve promised my friend Claire a visit to Geneva on my way home. Just hope everything works out.
Sept 26th
Riding to the camp today I’ve realized how truly lucky I am to be here; to be working with people from who I am learning so much and to who, I am hopefully giving back to. The people we are working with in the camp have thanked us on many occasions for giving to them a sense of identity within the camp of working with children and being able to teach others. Today, I sat down with one of the coaches, a man named Justin who has been with RTP since the beginning. He was explaining to me all the things he has learned from RTP, most of all giving him the courage to speak out and teach people in respectful way that others will listen. For my part, the biggest thing I have learned from the people here is how to be caring; how to communicate with people in a respectful way and honour commitments. Responsibility has always been something I’ve lacked in life. Gaining respect through interacting with people. It’s not that one has to be smart, or innovative or driven or tactful, it’s more important to be honest, dedicated, respectful and trusted; to care for others in a way that people will know that you realize aspects their life that make the biggest difference: family, friends, survival and respect.
Sept 27th
Life can be cruel. I was able to sit down today with one refugee lady in the camp, a very close friend of Sophie, who began telling me about her life. A single mother who lost not only her mother and father in the war, but also her husband. She traveled alone to the camp all the way from the DRC, as she couldn’t feel safe anymore in her home. It’s amazing to see how she is now. She is a young lady (maybe 28 years) who has become an important part of this camp. Not only is she a very active coach, she also is an employee at the community services where she carries out home visits to look up on sick people. Also, whenever there is an event in the camp, she is there to lend a hand in cooking, cleaning and serving. She also instructs dancing at the camp, to which Sophie attends the lessons whenever she can (it’s Congolese Rhumba dancing). It’s uplifting to see a person who can overcome such huge obstacles to live a normal, happy life.
Sept 28th
Down at the market today, I ran into the Mporokoso’s crazy lady. About 3 weeks ago, after begging for money at each time seeing me, I finally gave her some a 500 kwacha bill. At first I didn’t know what the hell she was saying. It sounded as if she was crying to me to save her life or something like that, it wasn’t until someone explained to me that she only wanted a bit of money. One day, as the market was at it’s fullest, she again started begging for money, actually yelling. It seemed the whole market turned around to witness the scene, so, after asking her to keep it down, I gave her the money. It seemed some huge weight was lifted of her head – im not sure what it was, but ever since that time, the woman has never bothered me, only nodding her head slightly whenever I go by…
Sept 29th
Our monthly meeting with HODI (NGO responsible for community services and education in the camp). It went ok, although the Project Manager was mysteriously absent, so we held the meeting with the Education Supervisor and the newly appointed HIV/Aids program coordinator. The Aids lady is so fresh to the experience that she really didn’t have a clue what was going on. Every suggestion that we made she just nodded her head and agreed with us. The other lady, the education supervisor, named Chiluba, is a good friend of Sophie’s and is a very smart lady. She’s a Zambian who speaks fluent French and English and has graduated from the University of Zambia. During this meeting, she didn’t really say much, except to ask us when it would be finished… It remains a struggle to work with HODI.
Sept 30th
Today was the September interagency meeting. It was great to see Kevin, who works for RTP in the Kala refugee camp again. He came with his new work partner Kim, who hails from Toronto and has been in the country about 2 months now. He caught me up on all the hockey news, including all the trades and the Flames being rated number one in the league by Sports Illustrated!!!
We talked shop for awhile and it was decided that we would like to organize an intercamp refugee Olympics, where a group of student athletes from each of our camps would come and participate in games in the others camp. We set a date for beginning December and have already began planning. I thought it would be a great idea as not only would it serve as a great time for the kids but some of them would also have the chance to meet friends and family that they wouldn’t have seen in years. It’s going to be a lot of work but when we see the look on some of the kids faces after arriving in the other camp, it will all be worth it…
Oct. 1st
Off to Lusaka today. Ill report when our trip is finished…
Oct. 2nd to15th
What a whirlwind trip it was. Two of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had in my life and I’m completely tired out. The first job was to have the vehicle repaired. This, of course, was a more difficult procedure then first planned. We also prepared Physical Education Manuals to be handed out to teachers as well as an Anti-Aids manual that we will give to the club.
I also wanted to look at job opportunities while I was there for February, but I couldn’t find much.
Also while we were there, our driver got in an accident when he ran into another vehicle, when the police showed up he tried to argue his way out of a ticket and was thrown in jail. We had to go there later on in the day to pay the ticket and get the vehicle out of impound. When you get a ticket here they make you pay it on the spot and if you can’t then they will impound your vehicle until they do. Most of the cops will also try to get something on the side and will there for tell you the ticket is worth a lot more than it actually is. IN this case, the officer said the ticket was 500,000 kw, when it was only actually 300,000 kw. It wasn’t until we asked for an official receipt that he resisicended the quote.
The trips there and back were surprisingly smooth. Only one break down!!!
Oct. 16th
Mporokoso… This place is really starting to feel like home. Can’t believe I’ve already been here almost 8 months (although time hasn’t passed too quickly)… As I walk down to the market for the hundredth time, everything is familiar. The kids yelling “HOW ARE YOU?” at me; the rusted out time roofing, the knee deep potholes, huge poplar trees, the heat, the run down guest house on the corner of market, the shopkeepers with their hellos, big smiles and hand shakes. I can sit on my front porch and name just about every neighbor within sight. Mr Muma lives to the left of us and works as an mechanic, he is always working on vehicles with family members standing around watching; down the street to the left and right is my friend Billy and my other friend Barry. Kitty corner to us is Mr Phiri, the Health supervisor at Red Cross, here since 1999, leaving his wife and kids to attend private school in Kasama… Ill miss the place…
Oct 17th
Learned today that UNHCR is going to start repatriation for the refugees back to Congo next year. This is huge news. It means that the UN has determined that the situation is stable enough for people to start returning home. They will begin the exercise of making sure people have homes to go back to, that there will be sufficient food, water and education back home and that they will be transported back to the regional capital of Lubumbashi. They are scheduled to start in the summer of next year with 5000 refugees, then more will follow. Most people here say that they will not go back until elections are held and there will be schools for their children to go back to. IN my opinion it may be a little premature for repatriation to start, being that there is still fighting in the northwestern Kivu region and based on the bureaucratic system that is in place and a lack of government in rural areas,
Oct 18th
In the camp today for some meetings. It seems the intramural league that we’ve worked so hard in setting up is going as planned. All the players and coaches are really excited to compete in the matches. The only problem I have with it is that it seems to be way to competitive. The losing team always looks really depressed and the winning team will mock the losing team. I feel bad for the lsing players and coaches. The other day, I saw something quite disheartening. In the aftermath of a basketball victory by Mwange D school (the court is usually surrounded by 100’s of hyper kids) one of the children started thowing sand in other players eyes. There was about 3 kids of the ground screaming in pain. All of the sudden one of the coaches came by and started knocking kids in the back of the head for throwing the sand. Corporal punishment is quite common here and children are quite often punished through violence. I felt like we were partly responsible for the violence on this day as it was a result of the excitement caused by the match.
Oct 19th
Taking my regular stroll over to a bakers house who sells me buns today, I again passed by the catholic church where there is always beautiful Zambian music coming from. I decided to take a peak inside the door to listen and stood at the back of the church for a good hour. I was enchanted by the sounds. It seems impossible that so many woman can all have such glorious voices and though I didn’t understand a word of the music, it sounded great all the same. When I finally arrived at the bakers house, I greeted his kids as usual and went through the usual formalities – asking how his day is going, then telling him how many buns I want, to which he always replies “Only 2 buns”, to which I reply “Yes only 2, but ill come for more tomorrow”, he wishes me a pleasant evening, I do the same and I walk back home. The buns are ready at 4 pm everyday, and the fresher you can get them the better. He always picks out the best buns for me. Haha…
Oct 20th
The handover of the project to the community is almost complete. We now have refugees facilitating every workshop and meeting with us only being present for support. So why is it we are still so busy? Today I was swamped with work and when I finally got home it was straight to bed. It seems hard to believe that I can’t sleep in here at all!! I’m up at 6 am every morning, when usually at home I can sleep all day. I think it must be the heat. Already by that time in the day it can be 30 degrees and ill never get used to that. I wonder if ill ever have the ability to sleep in again?
