Our days here have been busy but also rewarding and exciting.  In
addition, the students are doing a superb job of extending themselves
wherever we go.  We could not be prouder of them all!
       Mornings here typically start with a bowl of cereal eaten outside on
the verandah, listening to the sounds of Africa –the unmistakable call
of the Cape turtledove, the twitterings of various other species, the
mooing of nearby cows, and the occasional calls of local children
setting off for school.  For the earliest risers there is the wonder
of watching the sun come up over the nearest hill, slowly topping
those quintessentially African umbrella-topped trees.  Dawn here at
Pioneer Camp is nothing short of magical.
       Our first week, as you no doubt are aware, was spent at Birdland
School, where the Head treated us to several traditional meals of
nshima with sides (relishes) of chicken, tilapia, visash (pumpkin
leaves cooked with a peanut sauce), and much, much more.  Students
gamely tried it all and, in most cases, loved it.  Again, it has been
an example of the very adventurous spirit of this group.
       Interacting with the Birdland pupils is always one of the highlights
for the group.  On the first day they helped the seventh graders get
started writing short stories.  Their help was invaluable since the
children are accustomed to learning by rote and found it hard to
invent plot and characters.  However, they were very excited to each
receive a notebook of their own in which to record stories.  In the
process of working with the children, many bonds were forged.  For
example, a little boy named Blessings fell in love with Josie and Izzy
and wrote them a special letter telling them more about himself and
declaring that they were his BFF’s (best friends forever).  Jack also
received several similar letters, and no doubt others in our group
have received some I am unaware of.  This past week whenever I have
gone down to the Birdland campus alone, children come up to me, asking
“Where is Jack?  Where is Carly?  When are Reed and Gigi coming back?”
 You get the picture: the youngsters adore each and every SAAS
student!
       We had an amazing experience visiting the families of four recent
graduates of Birdland.  These were children that the Middle School
Zambia Club specifically supported this year by paying tuition for
them to continue their education.  All of them lived in the poorest of
poor compounds.  In each case the families had only dirt floors in
their huts/homes.  Particularly moving was the grandmother who was
single-handedly raising five children.  She earns a few kwacha by
crushing rocks, a brutally hard form of work.  A painful injury to her
leg, which was still very swollen after some weeks, has kept her from
working.  She feeds the children by gleaning from others’ garden
plots.  Our contribution was to pay for the cement for all four
families to put down a decent floor on which to sleep.  Perhaps the
most sobering aspect of it all was to see the excruciating poverty of
these homes and then to meet the children in the context of school,
where they looked just like any other student dressed neatly in a
uniform.  It made us wonder just how many of the children we see every
day go home to such difficult circumstances.
       Although I have not been personally involved in the technology
training at Munali this week, it appears to be going well.   Both Gabe
and Mercy have commented on how effectively the SAAS students work
with peers who have had very little exposure with computers.  They are
kind and infinitely patient.  Just yesterday they had a chance to
teach some computer skills to the Special Needs students at Munali,
which can be even more challenging since they must communicate in sign
language.  Yesterday outside the computer lab I watched Sam, Reed,
Alice, Grace, and Emma either individually or collectively carrying on
conversations with students in sign.  Sam even managed to sign the
national anthem!  Our group comments repeatedly on how sweet these
particular Munali students are and they have requested as much time as
possible to continue engaging with them.
       Visiting St. Clare’s Church last Sunday was another highlight.  Leora
particularly vocal loved the nuns’ singing.  As it turned out, our
long-time friend there, Sister Lilato, had composed one of the
beautiful liturgical pieces herself.  After the service, we were
welcomed as a group and then individually greeted by every single
member of the congregation!  Sister Lilato visited with us afterwards,
and Gabe and I managed to meet again with her yesterday evening.  She
is one of the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet, and so
intriguing with her perfect English.  Yesterday I asked her about that
and learned that she had gone to school with mostly white children
since her parents were well educated and her father had been involved
(presumably with whites) in collecting data on the impact of tse-tse
flies on local cattle.  When I asked if it was difficult being in a
white school, she winked and said, “No, but then I worked hard and did
very well!”  She has a wide range of interests and is very active in
the local community, occasionally even taking on various
bureaucracies; for example, she seems to have extracted a promise from
some official to actually pave the deeply rutted road that is
thoroughfare near the church!
       On Saturday we head out on safari, for which we are incredibly
excited!  We all send love and greetings to friends and family and of
course look forward to sharing more once we return from safari.
Sonja

I’m Back!

It seems that blog writing has taken a backseat for most in our busy schedule but seeing that I had some downtime I decided I would write the blog for the second day in a row.

Today we woke up and had our earliest pickup time of the entire trip (7:30). It almost felt like a normal school morning but luckily we had a bit more fun in store. For the second day in a row we visited Munali Secondary School to do more computer training with the Munali monitors.  Because of the amount of students at the school it splits its schedule into morning and afternoon classes. The more advanced students go to classes in the morning and the less advanced students go to classes in the afternoon. Because the monitors are evenly dispersed between all levels we held our first session from 9-11 and our second from 1-3 in order to accommodate for all monitors.

For the first hour of the training we work on teaching the students touch typing. Many do not have the daily access to computers like we do so they are not often able to practice their typing skills. We started this part of the training with a short presentation by Mercy and then taught them about the home row keys and some of the other easy letters such as h and e. Some of the exercises we did included blind folding the students and then reading the exercises to them in order to make sure they were not cheating and looking down at the keys as they were typing.

For the second hour of the training we listened to another presentation by Mercy about internet safety practices.  (In short, there is no such thing as a free Ipad on the internet.)  Second we started the training that we will be doing with them for Microsoft excel programs. This included measuring everyone’s height and wingspans and starting to enter the information into a data sheet. We did the same thing in both of the Munali monitors trainings.

The final training that we did today was with the special needs school at Munali. We spent about an hour and a half at their computer lab doing more touch typing training and then we started teaching them about the parts of a letter and how to format one correctly. Mercy, Gigi, and Grace led the charge being some of our more advanced sign language “speakers.”

Another highlight of today was the visits we made to the campuses “tuck” shops. Tuck shops are basically snack shops that are available to the students throughout the day. They are basically the SAAS equivalent to the Chatterbox but in my opinion the snacks are much better. Some of our favorites were the popcorn (Emma and Jack), the meat pies (Gigi), and the fried pastry dough (Jack, Carly, Mercy, and many others). We were graciously introduced to these by one of our friends Joshua (a monitor from Munali last year).

Reed has recovered from her illness but is continuing to watch her wheat intake in order to keep her immune system healthy.

Right now most of us are huddled around the T.V. watching SPAIN hopefully BEAT Portugal. We’ll keep you updated with more blog posts and we leave for safari in (3) days!!!!!

Shout out to Yaniv Shier! It’s me Jack from your Spanish Class!

Over and Out!

~Jack a.k.a. Rabbid Cat

Tuesday, June 26th

Dear Families,

To tell the truth we are all exhausted. The week has been incredibly busy already and there has been hardly any down time to rest.  Reed has been feeling a bit under the weather (but Andrea don’t worry she is doing fine and her condition is improving). Jack hurt his back scissor slide tackling Sam and is enduring some well deserved back pain. Unfortunately we are all going to have to wait to the safari  (4 days) for some time of relaxation.

Now we’ll talk about the exciting news.  Today we waited an hour for our bus because of a communication between bus drivers. Then we went to Munali High School and started our laptop training sessions. We did a couple of ice-breakers with the student monitors (similar to student facilitators at SAAS) and then we shared power points that we had worked on together as a group.  Carly and Reed did a Native Animals PowerPoint, Sam, Gigi, and Josie talked about the Olympics, and Emma and Izzy shared information about the extracurricular activities found at SAAS. The power points by the monitors at Munali consisted of information about Zambian customs, tourism, and the recent championship at the African Cup of Nations. Finally Mercy taught the students about the correct ways to “baby a laptop.” All in all it was a decent day and we are looking forward to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow morning…NOT!

Shout out to the Godes, Barwicks, and Charlotte Leblond.

Love,

A very tired and grumpy Jack and an extremely attractive Carly

Well hello there again!

It’s been a while! Unfortunately, Jack and Sam were too wrapped up in their soccer game to blog so here we are filling you in on the past 2 days.

On Saturday the 23^rd, we went to the Munali High School eager to see the kids and take a field trip. To our surprise, the kids were all dressed up (one of our friends, Lolanji, was wearing 8 inch heels. OY!)  when we were told that this would be a very casual outing. After chatting for a bit, we boarded 2 Munali school buses and managed to fit 40 people in each bus along with cases of soda, drums, and a sound system. People were smushed 6 to a row when there technically were supposed to be 4… Although we all had our moments of claustrophobia, it was an efficient way to get close with people (in more than one way).

On our way to the game park, we were able to see a different part of Lusaka. We passed the industrial district and saw families (including toddlers) crushing and selling rocks on the side of the road for construction purposes. Although we were all aware of the severe poverty, it was eye opening to experience it in person.

Finally, after 2 long hours (we got lost and had to take a detour), we reached our destination. At the gate, the guards boarded the bus and took a head count. Although many saw this a normal, Sam believed it was a way to later check if anyone had been eaten by lions while visiting the park.

While waiting for lunch to arrive, most of us went on a ride around the park and saw zebras, buffalo, weird birds (Grace thought they were African chickens), kudu, antelope, impala, and wild tires. There were mixed feelings about the park. Our deaf friend, Limbikani, was terrified that he would get eaten alive by the lions while others, including Enock, wanted the lions to poke their heads the bus and say hello!

Lunch was still not there so we decided to start the program. Sam and Carly (yes, the 2 most talented vocalists in the group) were randomly chosen to sing for everyone. Their choice song? Call Me Maybe. Tendai, the coordinator of the outing, sang Killing Me Softly while Gabe and Tommy sang backup harmonies. We were also excited to watch the performances which were also narrated in sign for the deaf. We watched plays, poetry, dances with traditional (but revealing) clothing, and songs and plays from the deaf. By the end of the performances, we had all been pulled up to participate in the dances and embarrassed ourselves with our white moves. I guess we’ve got some learning to do! Afterwards, people stripped into their bathing suits and jumped in the pool.

Lunch finally arrived at 3 pm and the portions were as large as our heads. There was pork, chicken, coleslaw, pasta, soda, fruit, two different types of rice and potato salad. Despite the large portions, we all managed to finish every last crumb on our plates.

After a long day of activities, the ride back was surprisingly peaceful and pleasant. We arrived back at Munali, said our goodbyes, and headed back home as the sun started to set.

NEXT DAY (aka today, Sunday the 24th):

Today was a mellow day. We had a late start and got dressed in our Sunday best. We walked to Saint Clare’s and attended a once-in-a-life-time church service. It was full of traditional songs with drumming, dancing, and harmonic parts. Saint Clare’s had beautiful brick walls and large windows allowing the light to shine in. We listened to the priest give a sermon in Nyanga.  Afterwards, we gathered in the courtyard outside the church and mingled with church goers and one of the Sisters. Some of the kids from church walked back to Pioneer Camp with us as we made our way to lunch.

After a quick bite to eat, we loaded the bus and drove down to the Arcades; an open air craft’s market with several rows of shops and stalls. We shopped for an hour, bargaining with the local merchants, succeeding some of the time. Our favorite item was the 100% M’zungu t-shirt. The largest purchase of the day came from Sonja, who bought a 40 pound wooden elephant after much bargaining. While the hecklers were not as intense as some in other countries, our bargaining skills were put to the test and we had to be aware of scams.

Just before our dinner of burgers and sweet potato fries, the power went out and we were forced to eat in candlelight (very romantic I know). Our group discussion was held in utter darkness, an interesting way to reflect on the day’s events. But alas, power came on a mere 40 minutes before the kickoff of the England-Italy game, so Sam, Reed, and Josie did the dishes in record time (22 minutes to be exact) and rushed over to the bar where we are now enjoying this thrilling match. Allez England!

Tiza Onana,

Grace, Leora, and Sam

P.S. Happy Birthday Carol Spare! Sam loves you!

Wrap-up of Week One

Highlights from June 22^nd, 2012:

• Making Alphabet books with Kindergarten class
• Leora getting locked in the bathroom
• Eating caterpillars
• Playing with kids at recess
• Meeting Alex, Aaron, Joyce, and Gift
• Jumping in the pool
• Tea time

June 22, 2012

            The day started off in the usual way. We woke up and went to the Birdland school around 8:30 this morning. Jack and Gigi planned an activity for us to do with the Kindergarteners at Birdland, which involved making alphabet books. We began by greeting Olive Mumba, and then Alice, Grace, Carly, Sam, Reed, and Emma worked with the Birdland seventh graders on continuing their short story projects in writing groups. Unfortunately, many of the kids were absent because they were at the school field training for sports. They taught the seventh graders how to write stories based on prompts, and then how to critique the stories written by their friends. Generally, they were very successful and the students worked well. Meanwhile, the rest of us were working on preparing construction paper and tape for the alphabet books. Once all the preparation was complete, we began to work in the kindergarten classrooms. We split ourselves into two groups and began to work in two different classrooms. We asked the kids to pick a letter of the alphabet from the pile of construction paper letters which we had previously compiled, and then we asked them to draw pictures of words which began with the letter that they had picked. At first, we had some struggles. Some of the kids were shy at first, or they were not able to recognize some of the words. As they got more comfortable with us, and as we received help from the teachers, we were able to complete the project successfully.

When we finished the project, we had our “tea time” break. The cooks at Birdland school provided us with tea, traditional Zambian cookies, and corn porridge, which were all delicious. However, during our snacking, a catastrophe occurred. Our dear friend Leora went to the bathroom in the Birdland kitchen and she got trapped inside the stall! Using her wit and agility, she climbed to the top of the toilet, opened the window, and cried to the cooks (luckily stationed right outside) for their help. Using their strength, the cooks freed her from the stall and she was able to rejoin the group just in time for recess.

It is safe to say that everyone had so far some of the most fun on this trip today at recess. After we had our tea break we went out on to the playground just as the kindergarten through third graders came outside for lunch. They came running out of their classrooms and greeted us with hugs and high fives and we proceeded to play with them for at least an hour. Izzy and Reed played with the kindergarteners on the slide and the merry-go-round. Gigi, Josie, Leora, Sam, and Grace played games with the older kids such as tag, hide and go seek, red light/green light, Simon says, duck duck goose, and then some of their fun singing/dancing circle games. Since it was a half day, the students got out of school at 12:30, so we eventually had to end our play and say goodbye. We were sad to leave them because we are not going to see them for two more weeks! Watching the kids get picked up by their siblings and parents at the end of the day was a great experience. As Gabe said, “It’s like watching the cars come to pick kids up from the Temple, except better!” We all cannot believe how sweet, adorable, and happy these kids are, and we know already that leaving them to go home is going to be so hard!

While most of us were on the playground with the little kids, Grace, Alice, and Emma were talking to Aaron and Alex, who were two of the students that we funded to go on to grade 8. They really enjoyed talking to the boys and said that it was nice to just sit and have real conversations with them and felt that they got to know them better than if they had just asked conventional questions.

After playing with the kids we were hungry so we went back into Olive’s office to eat our sandwiches. However, in the middle of our eating, Olive mentioned that in her culture when one takes out food and begins eating it is custom to share with those around you. Jack and Leora immediately offered their food to her, and she accepted some dried fruit. Olive told us not to feel bad about it, but we appreciate learning something new and will make sure to act differently next time. After we stuffed ourselves with sandwiches, Olive told us that the cooks had actually prepared a lunch for us, which was waiting in the kitchen. Of course, we were grateful for this offering, but we were already so full that we were unable to eat as much of the food as we had eaten in the past. Today’s Zambian meal consisted of Kudu meat, pork, rice, vegetables, and of course…Nshima! A true African meal could not be complete without something even more exotic. Today, we all tried fried caterpillars. The overall consensus was that the caterpillars were salty and the taste resembled that of tortilla chips. The meal was delicious as usual, and we certainly tried new things. We also established a new motto, a twist on the original teenage slanf term “YOLO,” which means, “You Only Live Once,” and usually justifies taking risks and having new experiences. Tommy suggested that we change this motto to “YOGZO,” meaning “You Only Go to Zambia Once.” We plan to use this motto throughout the duration of the trip, especially when tasting foods like friend rats and caterpillars! But we do hope that we will be in Zambia more than once, as we have already become very attached to the people and to the culture here.

We ended the day with a beautiful walk down Palabana Road and then Jack, Sam, Carly, Josie, and Reed (pulled in by Jack with her clothes on) jumped into the pool and we practiced the Zambian National Anthem (which we will perform for Munali tomorrow). As we write this most of us are at the bar watching the Germany/Greece Euro Cup game.

A special note to our parents: don’t worry, One Direction is working its way into many of our conversations, one of our bffls at Birdland – Blessing – even knows What Makes You Beautiful and we got a video of us singing it with him! I bet you now know who is writing this…

All in all, it’s been an AMAZING first week here in Lusaka. It is great to have our close friends nearby, and we are becoming even closer as a group as time goes on. Zikomo for reading!!!

Lots of love,

Izzy and Josie

Of Rats and Spiders

Highlights from June 20^th 2012:

• writing creative short stories with the grade seven’s at Birdland
• Olive and her lovely staff made a traditional Zambian lunch for us featuring the much awaited N’shima (Alice was very excited).
• Reed, Gigi, and Grace killed their first large spider (Tommy killed the rest) and felt triumphant
• Emma and Grace signed with the deaf kids at Munali and when they coulden’t keep up,  resorted to written conversation
• Gigi, Jack, Reed, Leora, and Sam visited Temwani at his home. Temwani is a 7^th grader at Birdland who has been too sick to come to school (the cause of his illness has not been diagnosed yet)

June 21, 2012

After a bumpy bus ride to Birdland school we met up with Olive Mumba (head of Birdland) and she took us to the homes of four students whose education is paid for by SAAS donations. The first woman we met was the grandmother of a former Birdland student and four other kids she was raising by herself with the money she made from crushing rock. The grandmother had injured her leg which made it hard for her to work. After speaking with her we visited three other families who were very greatful for the opportunities their children had been given. Olive had organized for some of the money that SAAS had brought over to be used to replace their dirt floors with cement ones. After buying the cement with the families we took a public bus (The size of a VW van) back to Birdland; the bus was packed with 25 people! When we got back to the school most of the group read with the third and fourth graders who talked animatedly about insects while Emma, Reed, and Leora helped make lunch and hung out with the kindergarteners. At lunch almost everyone tried some rat that Gabe bought from one of the families we visited (we got pictures as proof!) After school we went to Manda Hill Shopping Center to exchange money and stock up on food. We all had a blast at the supermarket armed with Mercy’s detailed lists. We made sure to get our new favorite mango and guava jam.  We ended up with four million kwacha worth of food for the next few weeks. For dinner tonight we had tacos and discussed the two very different scenes we had taken in. We are now watching the Euro 2012 quarter finals! 

Our First Big Day in Zambia (6/19)

Muli Bwanji (Hello, how are you?) blog world!

This morning we woke up to mooing cows, crowing roosters, chirping birds, and  a barking Scrumpy!!! Toto, we’re definitely not in Seattle anymore!  After a VERY restful night, Sam and Jack were up early enough to see the sunrise (“megs jello!”-Emma*), which according to their pictures, was gorgeous. Alice, Emma, Josie, and Carly woke up and took some much needed showers in the beautiful, outdoor-ish shower room. Gabe was the dish washing ringleader as we cleaned everything up from the previous night’s feast. While the now senior girls sleep in the big cabin with Mercy and Sonja, the juniors, Gigi, Reed, and Grace spend their nights in their private chalet (“Omg! Double jello!”-Emma*). Upon arrival, the junior girls had a memorable incident: in the room there was a spider the size of a pancake! With stripes on its legs! But have no fear, Tommy, the arachnidbane came to the rescue, bearing Insecticide.  Huzzah!

At 10:00 am, the bus from Munali Boys School picked us up and took us to the Birdland School. The Birdland School was so much fun! We first met the pre-schoolers and the kindergarteners. We were all taken aback by their cuteness. And Izzy exclaimed that the kindergarteners had better handwriting than many of the people we go to school with. We then moved on and met the rest of the grades; the Birdland school holds grades pre-school up to seventh grade.

After meeting all the classes, Olive and Mercy gave us permission to split into pairs and ask to sit in each of the different classes and hang out with the kids.

Leora and I (Alice) visited the third grade class. The teacher, also named Alice, was so kind and let us freely walk around her classroom and talk to the kids. All the students were welcoming and fun. The students gave us more drawings than we could carry.

After many years of exchanging letters, I (Emma) finally met my Birdland buddy! Sandra, my buddy, and her classmates loved getting their pictures taken and showed me all of the drawings they made. At lunch they taught us all of the games they play and songs they sing.

We also met with the seventh graders and presented them with books, created by Sonja’s eighth graders, which explained how to write short stories (Shout out to Delaney Flood. I gave your short story book to Betty and she loved it. Nice work, Pipsqueak!). The students are all very excited to start writing their own short stories. They also loved all of the stickers in the back of the books.

After our exciting day at Birdland, the bus picked us up at Munali High School. Before we got on the bus, we hung out with some of the students. Jack, Sam, Izzy, Josie, and Alice were taught some traditional Zambian dancing, which was followed by a group sing-along of Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’. The girls swooned over Jack’s Justin Bieber-esque voice as he belted some Disney classics.

We made the 3.5 mile long trek to Pioneer Camp today. Along the way we met many children that lived in the nearby villages. They were just as adorable as the kids at Birdland! Many of the children did not speak English, but this was not a setback as they were thoroughly entertained by having their pictures taken.

Once we arrived to Pioneer Camp, we hung out, talked, and repacked some donations. A spectacular dinner was made by tonight’s dinner crew, lead by the FANTASTIC chef Mercy. As Emma and I type this blog entry, our entire group is gathered at the Bar watching England and Ukraine play in the Euro Cup.

Can’t wait for tomorrow. Shout out to the Floods and Yuh Colemans! Woohoo!

Xoxo

Alice and Emma

***Key to Emma’s Vernacular***

Megs= mega

Jello= jealous

Omg= Oh my god!/Oh my goodness!

http://saaszambia2012.blogspot.de/

Dear family, friends, and loved ones,

We have arrived at Pioneer Camp after a long and tiring two days of plane rides in good health and good spirits. Four plane rides and eleven different time zones have finally brought us to Pioneer Camp in Lusaka, Zambia. We just finished an amazing home-cooked meal by Olive Mumba, and we will visit the Birdland School tomorrow. We had quite the turn out at the airport, being greeted by numerous students and principals who helped load our many suitcases, and drive us to Pioneer Camp. Everyone is doing very well, we are all HEALTHY, happy, and extremely excited to be in Zambia!!

Fun Facts:

Gigi was saved by a Zambian customs officer who found her missing down coat left on the seat of the last plane.

Sam, Carly, and Grace have been constantly trying to check the scores of the Euro 2012 soccer tournament. We even ran into a German fan who let us know that the Deustch had advanced to the quarterfinals.

Jack slapped himself in the face in order to wake himself up on the last plane flight, but had redeemed himself earlier when he remembered the exact number of gates (11) between the Chipotle and our first Ethiopian Airlines flight.

Tommy charmed half the plane by doing an impeccably accurate Jar-Jar Binx imitation while flying from Washington D.C. to Addis Ababa. The complimentary socks were used as ears.

Reed, Izzy, and Josie are continuing to express their unconditional love to One Direction. Magazines containing “over 175 hot pics” of the group were purchased during our 2 hour layover at Dulles.

Leora and Alice entertained the trans-Atlantic flight passengers with their extensive knowledge of in-flight yoga stretches.

Men Prefer Blondes was watched by our chaperone Mercy as part of the complementary in seat entertainment offered on the 13 hour D.C.-Ethiopia flight.

Emma slept. Later she bonded with Scrumpy, one of the 4 dogs that call Pioneer Camp home.

Sonja topped the scales as the carrier of our heaviest suitcase. Said Don Zwiers before we left, “it gets even heavier on the way back.”

Gabe miraculously solved our luggage problems by holding back five different nervous breakdowns.

Look for our next post tomorrow (we think Leora and Gigi have been haggling for a turn!)

-Jack and Carly

Tuesday and Wednesday we packed up 30 suitcases with 170 pairs of dress shoes, books for the Birdland school library, soccer balls, 20 laptop computers, and a ton of donated clothing.  The SAAS community has been exceedingly generous in donations this year.

We are headed to the airport today for a 10pm departure.  We will arrive in Lusaka (fingers crossed) at 2:30pm on Monday June 18th.  We are excited to reunite with our friends from Munali School, Birdland School, and Pioneer Camp.  The next time you hear from us, we'll be in Zambia!!!!