I had a fantastic four day weekend over the 4th. Here in Zambia the 5th and 6th were Hero's Day and Unity Day. I spent quality time relaxing with friends whom I haven't seen in months. I also took my first hot shower since late April! At my house I just take bucket baths, so it was a treat.

We also met some Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served here in Zambia more than six years ago and were back on a road trip. Pretty cool!

Today has been a pretty typical day for me: I woke up at 5:45 to temperatures in the low 50s, ate two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and had two cups of fake instant coffee, dressed and was at school by 7:15. After our twice a week teacher's meeting and school-wide assembly I observed the infamous Mr. Simuntala (infamous, that is, if you read my Facebook status updates). He began the class with the greeting that is done in all Zambian schools: "Good morning class, how are you?" To which the pupils responded dryly and mechanically "We are fine thank you and how are you?" ...shoot me, haha.

Mr. Simuntala spent the next 35 minutes of the 40 minute Civics period writing notes on the board without once giving directions to the 30 or so 9th graders. Then he dedicated the last 5 minutes to reinforcing what he had "taught" in that lesson. And a couple students arrived late who subsequently received a pinch on the cheek mr hand from ours truly, Mr. S.

After class I told Mr Simuntala that the lesson was very teacher centered, to which he more or less responded that if he were to get creative then it could take him two weeks to complete of lesson. What a horrible excuse.

His typical excuse for abusing pupils as punishment for being late is that it's Zambian tradition and a hard habit to break. He knows it's against the law and I sincerely hope he gets arrested so as to be an example for other teachers of what not to do.

But as I tell everyone, the schools in my zone seem to have it together a bit more than others. Some of my PCV friends work with teachers who spread HIV to students...hmm, I wonder how? And with teachers who cipher money into their own pockets from school fees paid by impoverished children.

Switching topics now, this morning I'm supposed to be meeting with the housing committee who organized the building of my inganda (house, in Bemba). But it's been a struggle and I think I know partly why, in addition to the fact that this is corn harvesting season: we are in the land of the Lala people. In Bemba ukulala means to sleep, so I live, quite literally, in Lala-land. I wonder if that expression (Lala-land) came from the area in which I live?!

Anyway, I hope to meet with the housing committee so that they *might* put the finishing touches on my house...maybe within the next year!?

This weekend I'm also paying some villagers to put up a fence around my house to keep away the chickens and goats so I can safely grow a garden in the coming months.

Backing up two weeks from today, I attended an Appropriate Technologies workshop facilitated by an instructor from MIT. It was fantastic! I brought three people from my village with me to Serenje. We learned about fuel efficient stoves and braziers; a solar food dryer; making charcoal from corn cobs; making chlorine from salt and water; a washing machine powered by a bicycle; a solar water heater; two different irrigation systems so villagers can grow during the dry reason; a bicycle powered peanut butter maker, cell phone charger and corn sheller (which separates dry kernels from the cob); and, among other technologies, a device that shells peanuts! How cool!?

Well I have to go wait for the housing committee to show, and then work with Mr. Simuntala on making some lesson plans for English that are learner-centered.

Shalenipo mukwai!

The subject of this blog post is a conclusion by my PCV neighbors Anna and Mallory, and it might just be true after all.

I'll have you know that I came to Zambia as a nonbeefitarian (I only didn't eat red meat). But after first site visit in Eastern Province--after I killed my first chicken--I decided to become a full vegetarian. My reasons were threefold.

First, vegetarian PCVs have fewer digestive problems and are less likely "join the club" (shart: poop your pants on accident when you fart). This is a great explanation to give Zambians (save for the bit about sharting) who prepare meat only on special occasions for specials guests.

Secondly, an often true generalization is that Zambians treat animals like dust of the earth--like crap, to say the least. Ghandi's sutra hasn't taken root here yet: a measure of a society is how well it treats animals. This all being said, I can't even imagine eating one of my host family's gazillion goats or chickens knowing how poorly they are treated and left to scavenge like beasts for food--not to mention because of, ironically, my own distaste for my family's animals existence. You would think my resistance to there presence would make me want to eat them, but it doesn't.

Thirdly, vegetarian meals are healthier (when you eat the right combinations of vegetables and starches) and easier for your body to digest. This is seperate from my first reason for not eating meat because that one is more related to food preparation, storage, and the fact that unrefrigerated meat is sometimes eaten days after already being cooked once.

So why is it that chickens might not be animals (ignoring the fact that they couldn't possibly otherwise be alien, and, that even humans are animals considering that the theory of evolution is unequivocally as true as the theory of gravity)? It's complacted. Chicken's aren't animals for several reasons.

My favorite is that they often are deformed here: some hens have feathers that make them look akin to Elvis Presely, and some roosters have no feathers on their red, leathery necks. Sexy, let me tell you!

Another reason chickens aren't animals is because they--and goats alike--enter my hut looking for food and water and poop on my floor or they'll poop right outside my door so I'll step on it and bring it inside! Punks. Today while Mallory and I were making breakfast I did just that and gave up trying to clean it off my rough concrete floors so I just used some toxic sun tanning oil the PC have me to burn the poo and sanitize my floors!

Yet another reason they aren't animals is because they are socially challenged when around one another. One minute they might be peacefully scavenging for ants and termites, then the next minute one is viciously chasing the others either because one has gotten too close to where the other has been eating (inches matter!), or, as is more often the case, for absolutely no reason at all.

Then of course there's the reason that the roosters are male chauvenists that more or less should not be considered as the ones who mate with the hens but, rather, who RAPE the hens! Chicken sex is a viciously vehement and also capricious act. Ugh, I get chills just thinking about it!

Also, they are cannibalistic: they eat my leftover egg yolks. I mean I've heard of humans eating placenta post birth, but potentially fertile eggs? Come on!

Lastly, when they are suspicious they crazily look intimidated and goofy, simultaneously. I like the babies a lot, though, and my desire to harass, chase, hold, and pet borders fiesty. Hens hate me for this and would attack me if I wasn't cunning, haha. This is when their suspicion is most noticeable.

For these reasons and more my neighbors (and I, a little) think chickens aren't animals.

...but I hope you know me better than this. All of these reasons are exactly what make chickens animals! And even though they aren't my favorite animals (oh how I miss my 14 year old pomeranian, Wishbone), I will still consciously treat them respectfully as an example to Zambians. Now if only I could talk to them and encourage them to evolve just a little bit more. The chickens, not Zambians that is:-P

To be continued: alien chicken invasion!

Well, you're all in for a life changing experience; you will almost certainly experience vicissitudes in your emotions, spirituality, relationships, and perceptions of your own professional capacity. That said, I warmly welcome you to Zambia!

If you're at all like me, you've probably already joined the PC Zambia Facebook group and the discussion board for your intake. You're also obviously keeping up with blogs on www.peacecorpsjournals.com.

Take the recommended packing list in the Welcome Book as a guide and not the gospel. In my earlier blogs from February and before I included a list of items I brought to Zambia (also called Zam, or Zed. Zed being the British pronunciation of Z), and why I bought them.

I'm happy to report that all volunteers purchase, with their own money, cell phones from either Zain or MTN. If you buy an internet ready phone you can also easily keep in touch with friends and family online, and for really cheap (about $0.25 per mb or less, which on your phone takes a long time to use)!

Bring your laptop! You can leave it at the Provincial house or secretly keep it in your hut. The PC Provincial houses are getting wireless high speed satellite internet accessible by the volunteers! A friend leaving this week for Zambia is bringing me mine.

Get friends now to agree to be your pen pal. A letter from home is a great break from the stresses of training and any loneliness you might have after placement. Large care packages are even better! USPS ships flat rate boxes to Zambia so check their website.

New health and fisheries volunteers arrive in July and new education and agriculture volunteers arrive in February. With the exception of the high expectations of the education program, there is a lot of flexibility in your daily schedule after training.

That being the case, your success and satisfaction are highly correlated with, among other things, the effort you put in to your work. A PCV friend in the LIFE program finds him/herself at another volunteer's site half of the week because of difficulties s/he faces at site working with the community. A healthy dose of initiative could make this PCV's service more productive and enjoyable. Have you actually read the Welcome Book cover to cover?

Be sure to tell your family not to expect to hear from you for three days after leaving the States.

Another helpful tip worth sharing is that books can be shipped to you in Zambia for $3.97 when you buy them from www.betterworldbooks.com. A book I bought took seven weeks to arrive.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, buy, read and bring Ekhart Tolle's "A New Earth!"

I likely won't meet most of you except for those who will be placed in Central Province....the BEST province, haha. But we welcome you to Zed! Take care and happy packing!

It has been an eventful three weeks since I last updated my blog.

Time is just FLYING by here. I'm already well into my fifth week at

site, and, I've been in Zambia for three months and a week! I can't

believe it. I left my place this morning at 7:30 and zoomed to Serenje

so I could update my blog and go shopping. I'm also here on business:

I'm meeting with an official from the clinic here to talk about the

logistics of setting up a VCT (Volunteer Counseling and Testing)

clinic where can people come to get a free rapid HIV test. I hope to

have this clinic at my community's annual agricultural fair that is in

mid June because the event apparently draws a large crowd. I hope you

will send your prayers and positive thoughts my way for a successful

HIV/AIDS workshop and subsequent VCT clinic; the more people we can

"sensitize" in the area, the more empowered my community will be to

stop HIV dead in its tracks—it is, after all, a preventable disease. There is still a lot of work to be done regarding stigma and

HIV/AIDS. Here in southern Africa, and Zambia in particular, people

are not infrequently disowned by friends and family when they come out

that they are HIV+. In addition, spousal abuse is chronic upon

discovering that one or both spouses are positive, and of course the

abuse is purely directed towards women. Another sad statistic that is

true all over the world but particularly in developing countries is

that women who are abused are less likely to get tested despite the

fact that abusive spouses are likelier to be promiscuous and thus have

HIV. According to the WHO (World Health Organisation),"some 20 percent of African women who tested positive for HIV

experienced some sort of negative outcome if their husbands or

boyfriends found out. Some women were blamed for bringing the

infection into the relationship; others were beaten or thrown out of

their houses. Some 40 percent were afraid to tell their partners at

all." (Epstein's The Invisible Cure, p. 267).On a more positive note, if you can convince couples to get tested at

the same time, statistics show that spousal abuse can be nipped in the

bud (although surely not entirely) through professional counseling

provided on-site upon finding that the couple is HIV+. Moving right along, down my long list of things to write about, I am

settling in nicely to village life. It was rough at first, as I

started to miss home just a bit and really wonder if I should be here

at all and not, instead, be pursuing a graduate degree. But I've

decided I'm here for the long haul! As the school term started here

(albeit it a week and a half late), and as I started to sort through

the mire of paperwork and other PC-related things to think about, I

began to set goals and get back into my usual groove of positive

thinking and being productive—of working towards making a difference.

That is, after all, why I am here. I desire to make a difference. Thus, as the title of my blog suggests, a positive Peace Corps

experience is all about a can-do perspective. Without that, you will

likely just scrape by and not be happy. I don't know about you, but I

can't be depressed for two years in the African bush where only a

select number of people speak any English and my Bemba, frankly,

sucks. It helped me to better see my niche here when I witnessed a

teacher aggressively pinch the cheeks of three students who arrived

late for an eighth grade English class (which started 25 minutes late

on account of the teacher himself—hypocritical if you ask me). I told

him something that Zambians rarely, if ever, hear from one another:

What you did made me feel sad inside. Zambians don't talk about their

feelings much. Last week was a pretty good week, and the icing on the cake was when

the DEBS (District Board Education Secretary, equivalent to a

Superintendent of schools I suppose) visited our zone and gave an hour

long speech to the forty or so teachers from nine schools who decided

to join. In her lecture she condemned corporal punishment and

emphasized that a ban on physical abuse has been codified, and, there

can been no canes on the school property. Furthermore, she told us

that the Ministry of Education has decided that at all grade levels

pupils should be in class for a total of five hours per day, which is

an increase from Zambia's average of 3.5 hours of class per day—I

applauded her on that one! At school, when we teachers meet as an aggregate group—which never

includes all the teachers because they will come if they feel like

it—we consistently hear that punctuality is important and that

starting and ending classes on time is a must. But I have not observed

one class that has started or ended on time. And, I have come across

countless classrooms that have no teacher at all; on several occasions

I jumped in and gave impromptu lessons to sixth, eighth, and ninth

graders who had no teacher that day. Yet the Peace Corps specifically

does not want me substitute teaching because it is not sustainable. So

this experience, the ones above, and others I haven't mentioned, have

all made me excited for the change I can potentially affect. The

teachers at the zonal-center school I'm working at this term have been

quite receptive to my coming and several teachers are eager to learn

from me. I will be having a lecture for the teachers which will be in

mid June. I will talk about what is (and what is not) learner

centeredness in the classroom, and, similar lectures will follow every

other week. I'm excited! Yesterday school was closed to observe Africa Freedom Day. I spent it

by doing laundry, tutoring some students, and talking politics.

Laundry is self-explanatory, but I tutored six 9th grade girls who

needed help in English and math. I helped them to understand nouns,

adjectives, and verbs and their functions within a sentence. Also, in

math we covered the differences between right, acute, obtuse, reflex,

and straight angles. Afterwards, I talked with them about how they

should wait until they graduate from 12th grade before they get

married; marriage and pregnancy (and a lack of money to continue

education after 7th grade when the government no longer pays for

schooling) likely account for 90 percent of the reasons why girls drop

out before graduating from grade school. So my telling these girls

that they can make it and don't need to get married until after

graduation is an important part of my role beyond that of co-teacher

while I'm here. I also asked the students what Africa Freedom Day means to them. They

were mute: they are never asked to think critically like this in the

classroom—ever. I told them that to me it means that they have

liberty, freedom. That is, that their government is no longer

controlled by Britain—that they have the freedom to govern themselves.

And I told them they have the freedom to live a lifestyle of their

choosing—that they are not slaves. Although, I did not tell them that

I believe poverty is a form of slavery and thus they are not truly

free (not to mention the Zambian government arrests people who speak

strongly out against the "ruling" President, Mr. Banda). I was feeling a bit passionate yesterday about my frustration that

two gay men in Malawi were recently sentenced to 14 years in prison

for having had a public engagement ceremony last year, so I—most

certainly levelheadedly—asked nine Zambians their opinion on the

matter. After all, Zambian law also calls for up to 14 years in prison

for people convicted of homosexuality. One of the people I asked is a

teacher with whom I'll be coteaching 9th grade English—he also teaches

Civics. You might be surprised, or maybe you're not, that everyone I

spoke with thought the sentence was unfair. When I asked one student

about how many years the couple should spend in prison, he said two

but not 14. I then proceeded to tell him, and everyone else I talked

to, that five US States and Wa. DC permit gay marriage and that 11

other States permit domestic partnerships. Not one person responded

with judgment, although most were silent on this fact so maybe they

were withholding their disgust. I even got the teacher I mentioned

above to agree to teach the pupils how to write an essay in English

class, so that when he is instructing on Human Rights in Civics class

in July we can have the pupils write an opinion essay on whether they

think the 14 year sentence is fair and why!!!! On average I have been observing three to four teachers per day in

the classroom, but I'm ready to start coteaching now I think. I'm in

the process this week of making coteaching contracts between the

teachers with whom I'll be teaching, and me. A couple highlights from

the contract are that we will do everything we can to start and stop

class on time; we want pupils to have a quality education which means

not turning pupils in to low-level knowledge reproducers but, rather,

critical thinkers who question authority; we choose to see pupils as

our partners, not as subordinates to boss around; and, we will never

give busy work but we will give relevant homework as frequently as

possible. I have to confess, I have been visiting at least one volunteer every

weekend for the past four weeks. And this weekend and the next weekend

I have trips lined up as well. I call this a confession because, while

I'm not necessarily doing anything wrong (I'm not leaving my district,

which is a no-no), I am not spending full weekends at my site. It's

been nice to compare stories and have some good-eats, though! This

coming weekend we're visiting a place where I'll be able to pull

out—as the title of my blog suggests—my short shorts and swim in a

REAL pool! Exposing your "gateway" (i.e., your thighs) is particularly

taboo here, but at this place it's supposedly legit. Next week we have

what are called Provincials, which occur twice a year. It's when

everyone in the province gathers for a general meeting. During this

meeting I'm excited because we'll be getting our Visa cards from

Barclays (I'm broke as a joke right now). Although we are still in the

process of moving our PC provincial house to another, much larger

place down the road, so the more than twenty volunteers will have to

rough it a bit, I think. But I'm even more excited for what we're

doing once Provincials are over: we're headed back to Kundalila Falls

for two nights. I forget if I mentioned this place in my last blog,

but it. is. amazing! I have pics on my Facebook Zambia album. I have some interesting stories to report from neighboring PCVs.

First, on his second day at site, a teacher at one of the schools my

PCV neighbor works at was beaten to death for sleeping with another

man's wife. On day one for this same PCV friend, he got to see a

nearly dead man who had been beaten severely for trying to sleep with

his daughter for the second or third time. Yikes! At the school of

another neighboring PCV, she was about to terminate her service after

having a horrible series of events. You must first know that she is

skilled in very progressive methods of teaching and, as you can

imagine, is unequivocally morally opposed to corporal punishment. Yet

she witnessed incident after incident of corporal punishment, among

other frustrations common here. She finally put her foot down and said

no more; she held a workshop on alternatives to corporal punishment

and why it is so bad. Good for her! For cinco de mayo and Mother's

Day, some volunteers and I got together to celebrate "Cinco de Bamayo"

(bamayo meaning mother in Bemba language). We had a nice feast! This summer (for you, but winter for me) I hope to campaign for

people from home to send reading materials to me so I can distribute

them to the nine schools in my zone. We badly need British English

dictionaries (like Oxford), and, pupils do not have access to a

library—let alone textbooks. So please go through your bookshelves at

home, or consider buying some materials for this amazing cause:

literacy. Education and literacy are the key to development—the key to

lifting the bonds of poverty for rural Zambians. For anyone who wants

to send books that you already have, my address is below. For those

who have not yet purchased books but would like to help me, consider

purchasing dictionaries, children's books and middle school novels

from http://www.betterworldbooks.com. When you order from Better World

Books you can ship books directly to me (the address is below) for

only $3.97! That's right, they ship worldwide for only $3.97 (or if

you order from their public marketplace it's $7.97)!! Not to mention

Better World Books is an amazing non-profit organization that supports

literacy in developing countries. One last thing before I head out for my meeting with the gentleman at

the clinic who is going to help me set up the HIV testing center in my

community next month, I'm gunna repeat it again (and again until you

follow through, haha): I really would love to be receiving letters

from you. Yes YOU! It's nice to get a letter from America. So far I've

only gotten four letters/cards, and two were from my parents. Pick up

the pace people! ;-)

Oh, wait, this really is the last thing: we will soon have access to

high speed satellite internet so I might be able to Skype with you,

not to mention more easily upload pics and videos—all for FREE! Right

now I pay to use the internet. Yay for progress, however slow!

Tukamonana ("we will meet again" in Bemba),

MarcusMarcus Kendrick/PCV

P.O. Box 850010

Serenje, Central

Zambia

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long since I have updated my blog! I am at the Peace Corps house in Serenje at the moment, using the computer here. This is the second time I've biked the 20 kilometers from my site to Serenje boma. It is quite invigorating, as I have to go up and down three large hills each way! The ride takes about 40-45 minutes one-way, and not only is it a good work out, it's a great way to get to see the—more or less—unadulterated Zambian countryside that is Central Province.

Let me take you back two weeks to April 23rd. That Friday was our big day as Peace Corps Trainees: we gathered at the US Ambassador's home (although at this time we do not have an ambassador, we do have a Charge' d'Affaires) along with members of the US embassy in Zambia, the Zambian government, Peace Corps officials and trainers, as well as other guests. The occasion was our swearing in as official volunteers. I think many of us were more excited about the fact that they served us REAL coffee than the fact that we were to become PCVs (and no longer PCTs). Pretty funny, but it was a great day—although jam packed with things to do.

After we swore in we were given our 4 million Zambian Kwacha (US $850) and went shopping at Manda Hill, one of the malls in Lusaka. Let me just say that three days later I had spent all of that and temporarily traded some of the USD I brought for Kwacha until we get paid next. It sounds like it would be a lot, but 1 million of it was a loan to be paid back in two years (an estimated minimum bank account balance the Peace Corps lends us that we in Central Province do not need—so I spent it, naturally!). And, of the 1,400,000 Kwacha meant specifically to go towards settling in and furniture, 700,000 of it had to go to buying a bed. I don't know what idiot thought it would be enough, but they should be fired or given a flippin' clue! haha

The night of swear-in we went out on the town, and bright and early on the 24th we all went our separate ways to spend a couple nights (or for some as many as 6 nights) at our respective Peace Corps provincial houses. Serenje is the only boma with a PC provincial house that does not have a major store to shop at, so we had to scour the market for the items we need, like storage bins to keep ants out of our food and buckets to wash our clothes and dishes and to use for taking bucket baths.

Before we reached Serenje I decided to buy at one of the larger stores found in Zambia a gel fueled stove. One week into my service, and I am sad that I decided to do so. Rather, I should have gone with a paraffin (kerosene) stove. I have already gone through one container of fuel, and the stove was much more than for what I believe you can purchase a paraffin stove. One thing of fuel costs US $4, and the stove was US $23. On my budget, that's a lot! So when we get paid again in early June I'm going to look into either going with the paraffin stove or just going the environmentally unfriendly route and getting a brazier to cook using charcoal.

I really hope it becomes easier to follow a conservative budget as the months go by, because I don't want to dip too deeply into my own pockets for when I travel. I still really want to visit Zanzibar in Tanzania, Lake Malawi, the sand dunes of Namibia, and maybe even Cape Town, South Africa. But even if I do have to use my credit card, I think these trips will be worth it; this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to explore Africa, both during and after my PC service!

Bringing us back to the here and now, I am excited to report that the walls of my hut have were given a layer of concrete, which is awesome and the community did a pretty good job. However, the concrete floor—poured about two months ago—is STILL wet and so termites and ants are capable of digging up through it! GRRR. To make matters worse, I don't have any furniture—nor much funds to get furniture — so my things are always on the floor and being ravaged by ants and termites. The other day, I was surprised to find a small toad in my garbage bag inside my house! Too funny.

So to address the situation, I'm hoping to either put down another—smoother—layer of concrete to cover the holes the insects have made, or, I want to put a layer of floor wax/stain that will hopefully keep out my small attackers. I will say that I feel a bit less vulnerable now that we are about 2/3 of the way done with putting up plastic on the underside of my thatched grass roof which will allow termite crap and rain to just roll off to the outside. One of the reasons I'm in the boma today is to get more black plastic to put up. Another thing that has brought me much pleasure is the fact that I came from the US with the perfect size fitted sheets. OH. MY. GOSH. does it feel good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While I'm in the boma today I'm hoping to maybe purchase some latches for my widow because the only thing keeping an intruder from entering my house is a bent nail on the inside that I use to shut the window—haha! Oh, and I'm quite bummed to report that my brand new Brunton solar panel has been misplaced or stolen. I know I had it right before I moved into my new house, so I'm not sure where it was lost: immediately before or after the move. Darn it! I hope it turns up, otherwise I'll just have to keep coming to the boma to charge my batteries. And I'll also have to keep my phone off more unless I find someone in my village who can charge my phone, but I'm not sure how likely that will be considering my village has no electricity.

At my host family's compound I haven't begun teaching my brothers and sisters the ABCs and 123s but, rather, how to jump rope American-style, how to make the best fart noises (and train whistles), and how to sing "Doe, A Deer..." as well as "This Old Man." Give it time, and they'll be speaking English—I hope. Yesterday I asked them to identify certain food items in English. My older sister, Jaqueline, has a basic grasp of vocab but struggles to make sentences. The others, well let's just say they've got a ways to go. My closest Peace Corps neighbor, Ashley (a fisheries volunteer), says she refuses to use Bemba at the orphanages where she lives because the children absolutely must know English to do well in school. She's right, but I'm trying to balance learning and using Bemba to gain respect by the community and using English to encourage my bro's and sis's to get better at the language in which classes are instructed after the fifth grade.

On my second day at site I already was being invited to my first funeral, which was quite unfortunate. Not for me, but for the headman whose 17 year old son had died of problems with his pancreas. Stories like this make me so fortunate to know that the Peace Corps would actually charter a plane or helicopter to come pick me up from my village and fly me to South Africa for medical treatment. I think it is therefore true what one of my fellow volunteers recently said to me: we can never be fully sympathetic of the shoes in which Zambians walk. I guess then that empathy will have to do. I will say, though, that it feels good to not have come with funds to give my fellow community members, because it puts me at a much similar playing field as them and thus makes me more of an equal. Nonetheless, I am not living off of US $1 per day, which is the case for some 80% of Zambians, so, again, I can only empathize with them.

Despite my present lack of funds, I decided late last week that I needed a vacation to help me get centered again after an intense and not so fun Pre-Service Peace Corp Training program. So this past weekend a PCV friend and I hitched to Kanona with our bicycles and then rode the 14km to the beautiful Kundalila Falls. What an AWESOME weekend! I definitely hope to go to Kundalila monthly to rejuvenate, because that is exactly what the falls did to me. On my way to Kundalila (and actually on my way home as well), I rode the 90 or so kilometers in between two Tanzanian truck drivers who asked me if I was Japanese!! HAHA! Yes, definitely. :-P Anyway, at Kundalila we swam; meditated; saw a HUGE snake enter the stream; camped; met two students from Holland who were here teaching Zambians how to shoot movies; and had an excellent time. Kim lucked-out and had really interesting rides to and from her place both ways; the first guy was Swiss and was traveling across southern Africa in his RV, and the second couple were German and were living in the back of their Land Cruiser and also traveling across southern Africa.

Yesterday I visited my PCV neighbor, Ashley, with whom I sat in for a while on an adult literacy class that is offered at the orphanage she lives at. She's living at the orphanage, which is funded by Australians, because her mud hut was overrun with termites among other insects and flying creatures. I'm excited that her village is within my zone so I will get to visit her a lot on official business—not to mention I'm excited to work with the orphanage and see more of the adult literacy program they follow.

Ashley told me a very sad story about the family of the man who used to run the orphanage. After he died from being "sick for some time" (the euphemism often used to describe AIDS) the new director of the orphanage had to go through his emails to get a feel for the logistics of the institution. In some of the emails the new director saw information about ARVs (Anti-RetroVirals, which help those with HIV/AIDS live longer, healthier, more productive lives), and got suspicious; he had the late director's widow go get tested for HIV and she found that she was positive, and so was her three year old daughter! Apparently the family is well off in comparison to the average Zambian, yet the mother refuses to take the daughter to get higher quality care in the larger cities. This past week the girl had a really bad case of thrush, which is really unfortunate and likely indicates the girl has gone past just having HIV and now she has AIDS—but this is just speculation. On top of all of this, the mother refuses to allow her oldest 11 year old daughter to accept a scholarship she received to attend for free a good quality school a couple hours away because the mother believes they will teach her daughter Satanism, and she needs her help around the orphanage. Wait, it gets better: the mother has a daughter born out of wedlock who was "sent away" and is not allowed to associate with the children she bore while married to the man who cheated on her and contracted HIV and gave it to his wife and daughter! GRRR!!!!

I don't want you to use this story to stereotype all Zambians, but these are the realities faced her on the ground here. It's almost enough to make you want to slap someone!

Anyway, and on a more positive note, tomorrow I will be attending my very first staff meeting at my local school. After that I will be meeting with local NGOs and community groups to let them know of my coming and look for potential counterparts. Thursday I get to meet the local headman, Friday I will be signing a Peace Corps Community Agreement Form (hopefully with dozens of community members present), and the Saturday we will be meeting the local Chief's Retainer (the man who represents the community and its interests to the Chief who lives 45km away from me and whom I hope to visit in the coming weeks!).

Okay, I've been writing for about an hour and twenty minutes now so I have to get going. I can't have a successful community entry if I'm spending all my time in the boma, haha.

Just a quick reminder to my friends before I go, I would love to be your pen pal, so keep the letters coming!

Take care,Marcus

Marcus Kendrick/PCVP.O. Box 850010Serenje, CentralZambia

Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing great. If you haven’t already sent me a letter, I’d love to be your pen pal. My address, again, is:

Marcus Kendrick/PCVP.O. Box 850010Serenje, CentralZambia

Today seven friends and I are hanging out at Manda Hill, one of the two major shopping malls in Lusaka (which are right across from each other, interestingly). We took a taxi here from the hostel that we stayed at last night. We really wanted to get out of the village and have some “us time” before we swear in as official volunteers on Friday April 23rd, at which time we’ll move to our respective villages across the country and not see one another until we reunite for In-Service Training this coming August.

After our half day of language training yesterday, Saturday, we hitched to Lusaka (28 miles west of Chongwe were we live) and spent the afternoon at Arcades (the other mall). Chris and I watched “Clash of the Titans,” and the girls watched "Date Night." After our movie, Chris and I got some real food (real, real…not a greasy or salty “relish” to be eaten with nshima, haha). And what was next to do but, of course, to pick up liquor from the grocery store to enjoy at the hostel. You see, we only have access to a very limited number of beers in Chongwe: two Southern Africa lagers (not a fan…think Budweiser with a kick), and then expensive imported brews: Heineken and Amstel. I don’t allow myself to say “I miss ___” so as to not become overly nostalgic for home, but I’ll make an exception here: I miss Blue Moon!!! Before hanging out back at the hostel, we did go out to a fancy dinner last night and I got to have a Cosmo, yum.

I’m not sure if I’ve said what kind of a stipend we are receiving as volunteers, but during training we are getting 12,000 Kwacha per day. The exchange rate is 4,629 Zambian Kwacha to one US dollar, so you do the math. Okay, I’ll do it for you: about $2.60 per day. One US dollar will buy you: 37 guavas; 4.5 oranges; 0.75 Zambian lager beers; maybe two loafs of bread; almost one jar of peanut butter or jam; or one-third of a one-way trip from Chongwe to Lusaka on a crowded minibus (dang dude, put your arms down!).

For better or worse, our meals are provided to us by our homestay families, so the 12,000 Kwacha have the potential to go far if you do not spend much time at the mall in Lusaka (thank God for credit cards and mom and dad! Ps, hugs to you guys!). Zambians tend to absolutely abuse their food with vegetable oil and an insane amount of salt. I cannot wait to build support in my soon to be new community in Central Province for a life-skills community group where we can address such issues as a healthy diet and nutrition! Once I do swear in, I will get a base stipend of approximately 1.4 million Kwacha per month (which is equal to roughly US $280/month), plus vacation allowance and medical travel allowance (both of which amount to a total of an extra US $50 per month, I believe). I will also get near complete control over my diet, and I’m excited that we received a Peace Corps cookbook called “Where There Is No Takeaway” with great village recipes.

This said, I will be comparatively living the “high life.” You see, it is estimated that 80 percent of Zambians live off of US $1 per day (although the teachers I will be working with will be making a little bit more that me)! I sincerely wonder what line of work people are in who drive around in Mercedes and BMWs in Lusaka. The life of the wealthy in Lusaka is so juxtaposed to poor rural life that it makes me almost speechless in a desire for a greater degree of sustainable development to occur here, and at the same time it makes me desire to live a comfortable life somewhere in the developed world once I am done with the Peace Corps. Our perceptions of financial security, among other aspects of our existence, prior to arriving in Zambian have been flipped upside down, and, this has been a beautiful time for me, at least, to explore my fundamental values. By my visiting Lusaka this weekend it is evident I still have a ways to go before I am completely fine without at least intermittent access to the comforts that I knew once in America. I wish I were paid a bit more during training; I want so much to bring my three teenage bandume (brothers) from my homestay with me to Lusaka to watch a movie at the cinema. They have never before been to the mall. Or should I expose them to the mall at all, for fear that they may become envious of our sense of consumerism or materialism? Will it fuel the detrimental trend of draining the developed world of skilled men and women who are seeking a “better” existence in more developed nations? Is it my place to worry about such considerations, coming from a desire for sustainable development to take place here? Oh the ethics of international development!

In the first weeks of Pre Service Training we were shown a chart of the emotional highs and lows we are likely to experience as volunteers across the entire 26 months we will be in Zambia. I will say that it seems to be somewhat true: I have experienced mini roller coasters in my emotions, motivation level, and perceptions of life in Zambia. Because training has been described by some as a “shit show” where we are not focusing enough on the bigger picture of why we’re doing international development work at all—and because of a lack of organization and a sequential presentation of ideas and concepts—Pre Service Training has been almost needlessly intense for us. In addition, we aren’t learning enough specific and applicable tools to use in the Zambian classroom, and our Associate Peace Corps Director for the Rural Education Development (RED) program is less than fully supportive of us, which makes it is easy to become frustrated. Not to mention many of our language instructors flat out are not very good, and we are spending four hours of our day with them in an often irritated mood.

However…what it absolutely has to come down to is that we need to be able to take care of our freaking selves! The Peace Corps cannot be at our beck and call while we are in the field; 10 to 50 years ago Peace Corps Volunteers had no access to cell phones (or telephones at all), or email—we should be able to survive likewise! Pre Service Training has been an excellent challenge to my overall resilience as a person, and I have realized that here in Zambia I must take a more active role in defending my mental health and my sense of hope and faith. One way I have done this is by leading a session for the other volunteers on the bigger picture of the Learner Centered Model, which emphasizes how everything is interdependent in a system (in our case, the education system), and just how viewing schools as a living system gives rise to greater hope and faith that we can affect meaningful change in this bottom-up (grass roots) approach, just like ripples in a pond.

Another way I’ve taken charge of my well being is by exercising. Prior to moving to Zambia I had Runner’s Knee (IT Band Syndrome) which made it unbearable to go jogging. I ran one Sunday four weeks ago and it acted up so I didn’t run again until this past Sunday. Amazingly, there was no pain! So I went jogging in the morning five times this past week in a loop in front of my homestay compound, and I feel so good everyday! I will definitely be keeping this up—and keeping up with stretching.

I also have to constantly remind myself that negativity has no place in my mind. Whether it is complaining, resentment, anxiety, anger, etc., harboring negativity here is a sure-fire way to become bitter and depressed, especially considering our remoteness from our American friends once we move to our respective sites in two weeks.

Going back to our language classes, I just have to enlighten you on my experience. My language instructor is a physicist who is fluent in Russian (and obviously English). You would think he would be able to teach us Bemba…but he’s a baaad teacher. I am constantly correcting his spelling and grammar errors in Bemba, and his organizational abilities (for being a high achieving student) are subpar. Then to top it off, the three of us in my language class know our learning styles very well (this is my fifth language, after all), yet he is unwilling or unable to cater to our needs, and he is super defensive. Grr! Anyway, what I really want you to know about him is that he is so well educated, but he—like most Zambians—believes heavily in superstitions and witchcraft. I find it almost amusing. We spent 45 minutes yesterday listening to him in class go on and on about how people have: had their heads turned around to face backwards due to voodoo; been transported hundreds and even thousands of kilometers in seconds by witchdoctors (or maybe he said witches); and, among other stories, morphed into animals (aka, animorphed…it reminds me of books I read in elementary school) and eaten people or caused them torment. And he claims that they must be true because “they were in the newspaper.”

When I asked him if I should tell my soon to be village community in Central Province that I fly around (and the typical story along these lines is that the person flying is naked) on a spoon at night, his response was don’t even joke about it! They will likely burn down your hut—maybe with you inside. Holy crap! Every time I think about this, I chuckle. First of all, what happened to fully clothed witches with hats that fly around on a broomstick? Second, do they really allow themselves to fear—or even believe at all—this stuff? I am very sensitive to how people perceive me, and not only would I certainly not say that I fly around (naked) on a spoon, but I would not confront—out of turn, anyway—this issue of witchcraft in my village, other than maybe to compare what Americans believe to what Zambians believe regarding witches. Cross cultural sharing can be oh-so colorful!

Anyway, this upcoming week is jam-packed. It is the last week of technical training, and the topic is on community integration (which will be our main goal for the next three months after swear-in). On Wednesday we have our mock final language exam (the real final is a one-on-one half hour oral exam on the Tuesday after next. Then on Thursday we have a final medical exam which will cover all of the information we’ve learned about in our medical sessions over the past several weeks. Also on Thursday are our cultural presentations: we have been asked to present to the group on different aspects of Zambian culture that are of interest to us. My presentation will be on the cultural celebrations of the Lozi people (specifically their celebration, the Kuomboka) and the Bemba people (specifically their cultural celebration, the Ukusefya pa ng’wena). I’ve done a bit of research, and I’m excited to get this intense week out of the way!

While I was in the movie yesterday I received a call from my counterpart in Central Province. He was calling to say that he has a great community entry program ready for me, and that everyone was highly anticipating my arrival in two weeks! That was so nice. Apparently they are cementing the inside walls of my hut this weekend, which will be SO nice. Not only do I not have to pay for this, but now I will not have to worry so much about termites destroying my walls! (Boy I can’t wait to move in; right now at my homestay in Chongwe, termites fall from the ceiling and frequently come up through the floor and through the walls. At least they are mostly harmless to humans).

Okay, well I have to get out of here and go check out the beautiful Africa art at the Sunday market. Take care everyone! And to friends of mine, don’t forget to write. It is SO nice to receive letters. It makes me feel not so far from home!

-Marcus :-)

I am in Lusaka today on an impromptu visit. I was hoping to practice my hitch hiking skills and come to Lusaka tomorrow, but I got a ride from a Peace Corps vehicle. I was excited to save a bunch of time on travel and upload some pics to Facebook and I even brought my camera USB connector but, of course, I forgot my stinking camera! So I thought I'd just give you a few updates.

MY HOMESTAY

I have been very blessed with a great homestay family east of Lusaka for Peace Corps Training. While my host father is from Luapula Province, he was still excited to hear that I, his sixth Peace Corps Trainee (PCT), will be stationed in Central Province less than what appears to be 20km from Serenje in Central Province, where the PC has a provincial house! I'll be talking more about my new site later. At my host family's residence, there are five detached structures where ten people live, including me. I feel very privilged because I get my own thatched roof mud hut, whereas the other nine family members share two not particularly large structures for sleeping. My host parents and four of their children (two are under two years old) are sharing the main building that is maybe 300 square feet and triples as a kitchen, the parents' bedroom, and a living room (which is only accessible from outside and adds 150 sq ft to that structure). The other three boys (one of whom is my host mother's nephew who lives with us because, so they tell me, schooling is cheaper out here...but he's not in school this trimester), live in a 200 sq ft structure. My hut is not more than 150 sq ft and probably more like 100 sq ft. All the same, I'm really enjoying my time here. I have many roommates, albeit in the form of wall spiders, thousands of termites, and a few sporadic cocroaches that come "home" whenever they feel like it (I fortunately only see them every couple days). I don't have mice or rats or ants (inside my hut at least) or snakes as roommates, thank God. I've become quite a fan of burning termites alive when they so choose to show themselves by building cool structures on my wall. The cocroaches are basically blind and thus pretty easy to kill if you use a folder to squish them. Wall spiders are much more elusive because they move SO fast. Fortunately they leave me alone and aren't poisonous. Zambia does have some wicked looking spiders, only a few of which are poisonous. Luckily I haven't seen any of the poisonous buggers.

I should clarify that I'm not complaining; some of the other 47 volunteers (yes, not 49...one made the decision to go home to America after a miserable upset stomach, and another got engaged two weeks before leaving for Zambia and quit to be with her lover) have bats and mice as roommates. Also, some of my fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee) have host families who are so worrisome of them that they don't hang out with the rest of us much nor do these PCTs drink even one beer at the bar for fear of their host moms smelling beer on their breath. Alcoholism is a problem here in Zambia, and I don't admit to drinking because I've been told that when people ask you if you drink they really mean do you get drunk, and I do not drink to get drunk.

At my host family's residence they grow corn, sweet potatoes, peanuts, a few bananas and papayas, pumpkins, a bit of sugarcane, and squash among a couple other items. I generally eat freshly grilled corn every day, which is great! Corn meal porride, called nshima (or ubwali in the language I'm learning, Bemba) is the staple food here, and Zambians find it perplexing that we Americans do not have a staple food. So I just end up telling them our staple food(s) are starch based. In addition to nshima as their staple food, Zambians are well known for their abuse of salt and vegetable oil for cooking. For those of you who know me well, you won't find it weird that I thank anyone who cooks me a meal with little to no oil or salt, and, when a meal is prepared with a lot of oil I definitely do my best to squeeze out the oil (like eggs, or soya pieces which are similar to tofu).

TECHNICAL TRAINING

I have to downgrade my technical training rating from a B+ to at least a B-. We are not maximizing the time we are together in sessions, nor are we going into enough depth on the material we do cover. I'm really working on being more respectfully vocal about my concerns and suggestions, because my job for the next two years will be centered around giving feedback and promoting behavioral change. So yesterday we had meetings with all of the important PC Zambia officials, and I expressed all of my concerns and told them exactly how I could better thrive in PST (Pre Service Training).

Specifically, we do WAY too much group work. Yesterday for example, we had a session on providing feedback to our Zambian teacher counterparts and we began the session with random pairings of us PCTs to demostrate positive, negative, and constructive feedback. But for the savvy reader, you would notice we did not first go over HOW we should be giving Zambians feedback. Does it not make sense to first present to us the material we should be getting out of the session, and THEN have us demonstrate what we've learned? I coined the term "sink or swim" as the type of instruction we PCTs are receiving: either you swim because you already have knowledge or past experience with the material, or, alternatively, you sink because you are being thrown into group work and you have now knowledge or past experience with the material we cover. So as a mostly true generalization, we are sick of group work! And yet group work is one of the very tools we as upcoming Zambian coteachers must demonstrate in the classroom to help move the Zambian classroom toward the Learner Centered Model. So it's frustrating that our trainers can't even get it right (right as in using the learner centered tools in a constructive and meaninful manner).

Another part of my frustration comes from the fact that I thrive on receiving instruction from experts, yet the supposed experts in the field of education and development generally are sitting on the sidlines of our sessions and allowing a currently serving PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) to facilitate the class! What the heck??!! I understand that the PCV has a lot of valuable information to share with us, but I would rather be instructed by a very well educated Zambian than a PCV.

Moving along--and away from venting--I get to coteach in a Zambian classroom twice this upcoming week. Three weeks ago or so I had the opportunity to coteach, and it went very well! There were three instructors in total for a fifth grade lesson on suffocation. The Zambian teacher was very accommodating and let us facilitate the lesson, and the other PCT who cotaught with me was a teacher in the States. This was good practice at the ultimate in classroom coteaching. This upcoming week I anticipate the Zambian teacher to take a greater role in the delivery of the instruction, whereas the last time I cotaught the Zambian teacher only translated into Nyanja as necessary.

SECOND SITE VISIT

I returned to Chongwe on Thursday from what will soon be my permanent home for the next two years. I will be stationed in Central Province, 20km from the boma (aka, large town) of Serenje. My supervisor is the head teacher at the zonal center school. His name is Mr. Chungu and he is very friendly and flexible, qualities I am really pleased to have in a counterpart. The zonal center school, which is about 1.5km from my home, is great! There are just over 500 pupils, and I was happy when I saw that this school had "talking walls," that is, they hung educational material on the walls instead of leaving the walls bare.

In my zone there are nine active schools, the farthest of which is 16km from my home. I am supposed to be working four days a week in the classroom for a full day. For each of the three terms of the year I am expected to work with 2-4 teachers and I can work at two schools during one term. However, I cannot work at any one school for more than two terms.

Some areas where I know the community can use my assistance is in addressing the following issues: pupil absenteeism (some pupils walk upwards of 15km to school daily, and when it rains classes are reduced to half of enrolled students); HIV/AIDS outreach and education (there is a community drama group that does performances on the topic, among others--so cool!); women empowerment; on the part of teachers, implementing more learner centered methods of instruction in the classroom; and, among other areas, health and nutrition (including basic hygene).

My brand new thatched grass roof mud brick hut is about 400sq ft with three rooms! I'm so excited, and I can't wait to upload pics!

SENDING MAIL

My mailing address is as follows:

Marcus Kendrick/PCV

P.O. Box 850010

Serenje, Central

Zambia

I would love to receive letters from you!! :-)

For those of you who would like to send me (or other PCVs) books, the best method seems to be purchasing books on http://www.betterworldbooks.com/ because they ship anywhere in the world for only $3.97!!!!! I just bought "Why Evolution Is True" and with shipping it was less than $13!!! Woo hoo!

Well, I have to go. Take care. More updates to come!

Today we got the opportunity to view from afar the parliament of Zambia. It's a pretty sweet building that is built almost entirely of copper on the outside! We actually drove by quite a few historical sites today, the last of which was the National Museum of Zambia where a very well educated speaker addressed our group. Her name was Mulenga Kapwepwe and her father was at the forefront of the Zambian Revolution in the 1950s and '60s. Her father Simon later became the Vice President of Zambia. I wish she was involved in our training because she had such unique insights that we could learn from!!

I am mostly enjoying my time here in Zambia. I finished my first week of Bemba language training which consisted of four hours a day for five days a week. Other areas we are being introduced to are pedagogy and Zambian instruction in particular. If you want to know how I feel about Peace Corps Zambia performance thus far, it's a B+. They really want us to learn this info and are patient, but they don't have all their ducks in a row.

For one thing, they really could have given us ALL of the reading material to have completed before we even left the States so that we could focus what little spare time we do have in the evenings on studying our new languages. I do not have a spirit of complaining so I'm going to stop there for now, but I think it's important to highlight how I am having to really stay mentally centered in order to remain happy. And I am happy :-)

We observed another class in a government run school in Chongwe and more interactions with current Zambian teachers are coming up during training. In the next week we will begin working with local teachers to understand what is required in lesson plans here in Zambia. From our intro to building up to creating a lesson plan, forms are extremely tedious and bureaucratic. For some people, however, the tediousness of prepping for any given classroom session means a lot of thought has gone into the lesson plan (at least that is what is hoped for by administrators). We'll find out soon enough how things work in practice. In my last blog I think I mentioned the large disconnect between Ministry of Education rhetoric and what is actually practiced.

Reading through the MOE's (Ministry of Education) syllabi and other documents on what instruction should look like in Zambia, you might desire for your own children to be put into a Zambian school. In reality however, the institution of education--as with ANY institution anywhere in the world, including the U.S. government--is slow to make changes. But I do think it is noble that the MOE has high aspirations because it would be really bad if their goals reflected the current state of affairs.

In "tech" class for the Rural Education Development program (the Peace Corps program I'm in) we're also discussing different teaching methodologies such as the archaic teacher-centered methods, as well as learner centered methods--which are the methods the government is trying to implement. I think most of us Peace Corps Volunteers are going to do a great job to help empower the communities we are assigned to. I personally am looking forward to building the capacity of parent teacher associations; encouraging families to take a greater stake in their children's education; empowering youth with practical life skills that will realistically better their lives in the now as well as in the future; push BOTH abstinence and safe sex (safe sex cannot be talked about in the classroom though because Zambia is a "Christian nation"--something I lament about in my mind all the time and for many reasons); and, among other things, encourage students to challenge boundaries, think outside the box, and understand the importance of environmental stewardship.

I wish I had more time to chat, but I gotsta get goin'!! Bye bye

Want to know what "the real Africa" smells like? Well I'll try to tell you, but you'll have to come visit me to truly know! It smells like charcoal roasting in a brazier for cooking. It is a wonderful smell, but it is also bittersweet considering how bad it is for the environment (see here).

We have been in Zambia since Thursday, February 18th and we went on our first "site visit" to a currently serving PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). One of my fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee) visited the site of a guy who is so opposed to using charcoal that he decided to get creative and he made a stove out of river clay and cooks in it using wood.

My First Site Visit

I visited a gal named Sarah for my first site visit. Sarah is from Michigan. Two other PCTs (Kim and Mallory) went with me to Eastern Province to spend three nights with Sarah to get our first real impression of what PC life will be like. It was an absolutely amazing experience. We stayed in a village of 600 people some 50km SW of Chipata, Zambia where there are beautiful hills sporadically dot the landscape that are generally not more than 100 meters high. It's strange, but absolutely beautiful and makes for some great hiking!

At our first site visit we visited a local school to get a feel for a government run school in a rural village, which is the same situation we will find ourselves come late April after we are sworn in as PCVs. Twenty-four of the forty-nine PCTs in my intake are with the RED program (Rural Education Development). The RED's objectives changed this year to include co-teaching in rural schools to further augment the Zambian government's mission to move toward more student-centered methods of instruction.

I have done a decent amount of research on Learner-Centered Methods of Instruction, and I have come to the conclusion (with the help of Kim, a wonderful 40-something PCT who taught in San Francisco for many years) that it is going to be a beautiful challenge to promote skills-transfer of crucial knowledge (both theory AND how to use the Learner-Centered Model in practice).

In our host PCV's village we sat in on four classes and clearly could observe the disconnect between understanding the Learner-Centered Model (LCM) in theory on the part of Zambian teachers, and their being able to implement the LCM in their actual classrooms. The school we visited is only one of several schools that Sarah works within; she has to bike several kilometers to reach her furthest school. Now to get back to what I observed, teachers were all to eager to boost their superegos by exaggerating the status of clubs, or how well they are able to connect with and motivate students. No doubt, the teachers we encountered were extremely well-intentioned and have a lot of potential, but I will have to take what my Zambia school counterparts say with a grain of salt until I can observe firsthand what the realities of each institution are.

I am on the one hand impressed with the the level of respect that pupils have here for their instructors and, on the other hand, able to see why students might be discouraged from pursuing more and more education (familial financial constraints aside). Students are required to have a high level of respect for their teacher here, and they all wear their absolute best clothes to school (they are required to wear uniforms). However, this high level of respect in reality--from my minimal observations in three classrooms--ultimately discourages students from thinking critically. This is confirmed by my observations: among other examples, teachers did not bring in current affairs to their instruction; pupils seemed almost fearful of questioning anything the teacher said (although our presence as white people probably distracted them quite a bit) and not one student raised his/her hand for clarification; and, teachers frequently said "are you with me" but then expected all the students to say "yes" and proceeded promptly with the lesson.

In brief, the LCM requires that teachers allow students to set their own personal goals and get out of any given lesson what it is the student wants to get out of it. Thus, the LCM more completely helps students make connections between different school subjects. But such learner-centered ideals must be facilitated and openly discussed in the classroom, which was not occurring. I have great hope though that I can use my skills set to strategically and sensitively impart with my Zambian counterparts (teachers) how to take the LCM out of the theory stratum and into the actual classroom! It's going to take lots of patience, networking, and even more discernment.

This is a very brief analysis, I'll trying adding to this as the weeks and months go on. There's just too much to write at this time!

Philadelphia!

We had a great time Feb 15th & 16th in Philadelphia for staging/orientation for the Peace Corps. We were able to check out quite a few cool historical sites, like the Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall, etc. We were also there for Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) and definitely took advantage of being in the city by going to the bars! I ate my first real (chicken) Philly Cheesesteak with Thomas' family which was great. His family picked a fellow PCT, Allison, and I up from the airport and drove us to our hotel. That was very gracious of them.

My New Host Family

I am staying in my very own thatched roof mud hut with a wonderful family in the Chongwe District of Lusaka. My bataata (father) is a part-time farmer and handyman, and my bamayo (mother) is a stay at home, beautiful, and charismatic mother of six. I have three brothers and three sisters, the oldest is 16 and the youngest is just an infant. We PCTs began our formal training on Thursday, which consists of four hours of language training in the morning (I am learning Bemba, but Nyanja and Kaonde are also offered to PCTs depending on what region we will be placed in), and technical training (such as instruction on the LCM). Fortunately for us, our language classes are only three to four people; I share one instructor with two other PCTs.

This morning I went to Catholic mass with my host father and the service was in English. It went from 8:00am to 10:00, but I'm not used to the deep traditions of Catholicism (not to mention the thick accent of the Father, and the improved and difficult to hear PA system) so I used that time as one of my only times to just sit and breathe. In all honesty, we have been very overstimulated. Sundays will be our only free day, with the exception of Saturday evenings. Next Saturday we have a field trip to downtown Lusaka so hopefully I'll have time to update my blog then and upload pics.

For now I have to go...my friends are dragging me out the door of the internet cafe. Ciao!

Shalenipo mukwai,

Marcus

A Quick Update I apologize for the formatting; I tried to make it so there was a space between paragraphs but it would not let me! Grr! There are now less than 16 days left until I leave on Monday, February 15th! Today my mom took my shopping and graciously spent a pretty penny to keep me clothed and looking sharp in Zambia! I just weighed 14 books that I plan to take with me to Zambia, and they weigh 11 pounds and take up two-thirds of one of my carry on suitcases. The dilemma is that I just ordered about 15 MORE books and will need to squeeze them in, haha! Some of the books I just ordered are over a thousand pages! Yikes. As far as packing the essentials in my checked luggage, I am running into a similar problem. I am supposed to only have two checked bags and a total of 80 pounds of checked luggage. I definitely think I can get away with 100 pounds without any extra charges, but I have a tent and a TONNNNN of other things I need to fit in two suitcases! Fortunately I'm not packing the night before I'm scheduled to leave, so I'll be able to strategically pack to maximize space. I finally got my solar battery charger last week, but I'm running into a couple compatibility problems. I have three accessories that work with the battery charger, but one of the accessories is not compatible with the other two accessories. That is, I am trying to figure out how to be able to charge my camera battery when the sun is down in Africa, but I cannot connect my inverter (i.e., the device that allows me to use devices with prongs that we can plug into the wall at home) to the power storage unit (i.e., a battery). I'm not giving up the fight, though. I'm going to try using a double male-ended USB cable to connect the inverter to the power storage unit. Other items on my to do list include: buy personal property insurance; host a going away party for friends in the University District; detail my car and prep it for storage on my grandfather's property; build a base tan so I don't fry in Africa; and, among other things, finish reading an optional book on Learner Centered Methods of Instruction, and sending my notes to other volunteers who will be leaving for Zambia the same time as me (our Facebook discussion board can be found here). How You Can Help Monetarily When I first received my invitation from the Peace Corps I was excited about reaching out into my home community and ask individuals, businesses, and organizations to consider helping fund future projects that my Zambian community and I undertake. However, as I was reading through the Peace Corps Volunteer Handbook, I misunderstood something very important; I initially thought personal projects using private funds was discouraged. Under the section “Allowances During Training and Service” it says that “Receiving money from home or using your own personal funds to supplement Peace Corps allowance is discouraged.” I took this to mean that I should not consider asking around for potential future donors. I was wrong. I read selective sections of the Handbook twice, but the third time I went through the manual I read it cover to cover. It was then I discovered a way for friends, family, business, and organizations to make contributions to projects undertaken by Peace Corps volunteers and their communities. The Peace Corps Office of Private Sector Initiatives (OPSI) links private sector funds to Peace Corps activities while respecting and protecting the integrity of the agency. And, the Peace Corps has mechanisms for volunteers and the communities they work with to access private sector funds. Specifically, the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP), which is administered by OPSI, is designed to assist volunteers in obtaining financial support for approved community-based projects. Partnership projects usually have budgets under $5,000 and range from constructing resource centers to enhancing small-business development programs. Foundations, corporations, community groups, individuals, faith-based groups, and schools may make tax-deductible contribution to the Peace Corps through OPSI directed to a specific project or a special fund. And 100 percent of donations are directed to projects! That is more efficient than even well respected organizations such as Compassion International. So if and when my Zambian community and I find that a meaningful impact could be made in the community through a project that requires funding, I will fill out an application and send it in to Zambia's Peace Corps Country Director. On this form I can list specific names of people back home who are interested in contributing, so if you are interested in contributing please contact me at this time. Otherwise, keep an eye out in the coming months on my blog for updates pertaining to any new projects in my community that are in need of funding. When the time comes, you will be able to go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors and search for my project using my last name. Sending Books I have not yet arrived in Zambia for training—and I will not know which part of the country I will be assigned to, let alone the community’s needs—but, I can tell you now that sending books will be one way that you can positively impact the community in which I will be working! I have been told, at this early date, that it is likely I will be teaching natural sciences, social studies, and mathematics to fifth through ninth grade students. Please keep this age range in mind as you select books to send. I have done some research for you regarding shipping costs and great places online to purchase books and have them directly shipped to Zambia. First, if you have books you would like to donate you can send them via the United States Postal Service (USPS). USPS provides free boxes for flat-rate international shipping. The rates and box sizes are as follows: - Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope (9.5” x 12.5”, 4lbs max): $13.45- Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Box (8.6” x 5.4” x 1.6”, 4lbs max): $13.45- Priority Mail International Medium Flat Rate Box (13.6” x 11.9” x 3.4” OR 11” x 8.5” x 5.5”, 20lbs max): $43.45- Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box (12” x 12” x 5.5”, 20lbs max): $55.95 If you prefer to use your own box, please consult here to calculate the shipping cost.Alternatively, when you purchase books online through the website Better World Books you can ship books internationally (including to Zambia) for $3.97! When you buy books through the Better World Books Marketplace (similar to Amazon Marketplace), you can ship internationally for $7.97! This is an excellent deal considering that shipping books purchased on Amazon.com will cost $6.99 per shipment plus $6.99 per item (a total of nearly $14 for shipping alone). On a related note, I will have to front the bill for the Zambian customs duties on the “perceived” value of any package I receive from the United States. I have read that boxes are taxed more heavily than padded packages. If you ship books yourself please consider slipping in a couple US dollars, hiding them on page 41 (a number I just chose at random). Equally importantly, be sure and write “Air Mail” and “Par Avion” on the package to push the package more quickly to Zambia, and, please consider writing religious references to help ward off potential thieves (writing on the package, for example, “With blessings from God” or “Brother Marcus Kendrick”). Receiving Mail During Training In Zambia, I will have a temporary mailing address during training where I can receive letters from friends and family. I would absolutely love to hear from you, so send me letters about anything and as frequently as you would like! Mail takes 3-4 weeks to arrive in Zambia so please do not send any mail to my temporary address after March 23, 2010. By mid to late April I will know the location of my assignment and at that time will be able to give you a new and permanent mailing address. My temporary address is as follows: (Brother) Marcus Kendrick/PCTPeace CorpsP.O. Box 50707Lusaka, Zambia Merci for reading my blog, and gracias for considering supporting my endeavors! Tsalani/mutsale bwino ("stay well" in Nyanja), Marcus

I came across a discussion board on the Facebook group page for Peace Corps Zambia and saw a lot of great questions and suggestions by volunteers who are also leaving for Zambia in less than four weeks. Here are some of my thoughts and insights on what to bring:

Some Insider Insights

I stumbled upon the blog of a married couple who is stationed in Zambia already, in the LIFE program. They offered to let me ask them any questions, and here’s a blog post they dedicated to answering my Q’s: Daph and Ty's blog. One conclusion is that the packing list provided on pages 81-85 of the Zambia Welcome Book is a great resource!

Solar Battery Chargers

Everyone seems to be giving advice on solar battery chargers, so I thought I’d give you the link to a NY Times article that examines three solar charger products (click here). I wanted to bring the brand new Brunton Explorer (found here), but it will not be available for sale until mid February. So I think I’m going to buy a Brunton Solaris i6, which is a step up from the Solaris tested in the above NY Times article.

Solar Chargers and Compatibility

If you follow others’ recommendations and purchase a solar battery charger, don’t forget to think about compatibility with your rechargeable items (i.e., will you have the correct connectors?), and needing to charge something after the sun goes down. Because of these concerns, I chose to purchase a power storage unit (found here), a AA/AAA battery charger (found here) and an inverter (found here). I found all of these accessories for the solar battery charger online for between $30 and $40 each.

Rechargeable Batteries

If your plan is to bring disposable AA or AAA lithium batteries (la crème de la crème of disposable batteries), and if you will have a solar battery charger, I highly recommend you reconsider. Instead you should buy nickel rechargeable batteries and the AA/AAA battery charger I listed in the above section (click here for a thorough product review). This will avoid waste, and reduce your costs in the long run.

Water Filtration and Purification

As for the convoluted issue of water filtering and purification, I have some advice. I will be bringing a portable micro filtration system (found here) that doubles as a “Camelback” water pouch when you also buy a bite valve (like this one here). However, this filtration system is obviously optional considering—from my understanding—that the Peace Corps will give you a filtration system. Either way, you will have filtered water, but not purified water.

So instead of adding nasty tasting chemicals to my water (which take up to four hours to work) in order to purify it, I bought a SteriPEN that uses light radiation to kill all bacteria and viruses within seconds, not hours (found here). The model I bought takes four rechargeable AA batteries and comes with a Nalgene bottle, so it’s extremely practical (if you go with rechargeable batteries this product recommends nickel AA batteries that are at least 2,400mAh).

Sleeping Equipment

And then there’s the issue of visiting one another and going on vacation trips together. I agree with the Zambia Welcome Book that you should bring a compact sleeping pad (like this one here), a compact/stuff sleeping bag (like this (expensive) one here), and—more optionally—a compact and lightweight backpacking tent (like this one here, this one here, or this one here). I’ll admit that I’m trying to save money so I just used Scotchguard to weatherize a small tent I already own that weighs six pounds. And you don’t really need to spend anywhere near $260 on a sleeping bag; I did, but I expect this bag to last me a lifetime (REI has a lifetime guarantee on all of its products, and I’m purchasing insurance for my belongings).

Recommend Reading List

As for mentally preparing yourself for service in Zambia, I have some book recommendations that are by no means exhaustive. I’m also waiting to hear back from Mary Lu Schweitzer (the Associate Peace Corps Director of Zambia’s RED program) regarding a recommended reading list. Until then, here’s my list in order of importance:

- Helen Epstein’s “The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS In Africa.”

- Paul Hawken’s “Blessed Unrest”

- Scott D. Taylor’s “Culture and Customs of Zambia”

- A.A. & D.L. Gordon’s “Understanding Contemporary Africa, 4th Edition”

- Martha C. Nussbaum’s “For Love of Country?”

- Francis Fukuyama’s “State-Building: Governance and World Order In the 21st Century”

- Ivan Illich’s “To Hell With Good Intentions” (a short essay critiquing paternalism “inherent” in any volunteer activity. Be wary of his cynical conclusions. Found here)

I wish I had more suggestions that specifically related to the RED program, but I don't. If Mary Lu gets back to me I'll update this blog.

Blogging

You should consider listing your blog with Peace Corps Journals (found here). Peace Corps Journals (PCJ) is the largest and most frequently updated online archive of Peace Corps Volunteers’ stories. If you don’t already have a blog, you will need to create one (using a host like http://www.blogspot.com) and then give PCJ the link to your blog. Be aware, however, that once you make a new blog post on blogspot.com, PCJ will copy your post and place it on the PCJ website. Once this occurs any editing you do on blogspot.com WILL NOT show up PCJ.

The Camera Sitch…

Someone asked about the camera situation. I have some advice in this department as well! As we have heard, we will have access to computers at the Peace Corps provincial houses. So for Christmas I got a new Cannon PowerShot and 3 SD memory cards so I can send one SD card full of pics and video home to Seattle (but not before making a backup copy onto a second SD memory card to ensure that if the first SD card is lost in the mail the pics aren't lost with it), and have a third blank SD card to use in my camera in the meantime (while I’m waiting for my family to return the second SD memory card).

With regards to charging the rechargeable lithium battery that comes with my camera, I will be using a solar battery charger combined with an inverter (which I listed in a section above). In other words, I will plug my camera battery charger into the inverter and then plug the inverter into the solar battery charger.

Footwear

I highly recommend having a pair of cross-training shoes that have Gore-Tex, which make them waterproof, and Vibram soles, to ensure long-lasting tread (like this pair with good ratings here).

As for “good quality sandals,” which the Zambia Welcome Book recommends, I went with a pair of Birkenstocks and a pair of Chacos. Tevas are also popular and durable, as are Privos—but Privos are designed only for women. In addition to countless great reviews, the reason I went with the Chacos is because the company gave me 50% off for being a Peace Corps Volunteer! If you email Chaco (using this form) they’ll give you instructions on how you can get 50% off any pair of shoes or sandals (good for one year and on up to six pairs when you order online)!

The one remaining footwear dilemma I have yet to solve is the matter of what kind of boots I should bring. The Welcome Book suggests boots, but this is extremely vague! Should I bring high-rise hiking boots, construction-style boots, or rubber Wellies? Does anyone have any insight??

Anti-malarial Medication

I went and met for an hour with a doctor who specializes in travel medicine and we determined I should take Doxycycline to prevent Malaria (it’s 95% effective). Doxycycline is also believed to prevent traveler’s diarrhea. It is a pill you take daily, as opposed to Mefloquine which is taken weekly. Mefloquine puts you at risk for nightmares, depression, anxiety, etc. so I chose Doxycycline. Doxycycline makes some people slightly more sensitive to the sun, but you’d be dumb to not wear sunscreen in the first place in Africa. Plus, I have taken Doxycycline before for about six months to treat acne—yes, it is also used to get rid of dermatitis!

Selecting a Backpack

As for backpacks, inexpensive is great but quality is more important. I bought a cheap 75 liter ATI hiking backpack on eBay for $50 and after a month of couchsurfing in Europe it now has (potentially irreparable) fraying in several places including the shoulder straps. You kind of need shoulder straps, so I recommend avoiding this situation and going with a good quality bag by a well-known company. I just bought a 40 liter Osprey Stratos day pack on sale at REI for $100. My sleeping equipment strap nicely to the outside!

That's all for now!

I received an email today from the Peace Corps with more information on the Staging Event I will be attending (the Staging Event is an orientation for new volunteers). Originally, I was told that I would be leaving for the Staging Event on Wednesday, February 17th, but I will actually be leaving on Monday, February 15th! My departure just grew nearer by two days, awesome! I am ready! Well, mentally ready--but my to-do and to-buy lists have not quite been finished. Tomorrow I will call the SATO Travel (the travel agency the Peace Corps uses) and have them book my ticket!

Also to my surprise, I have assumed since October that Staging would be in Washington, DC, but it will actually be taking place in Philadelphia, PA. Here's the updated itinerary:

Feb 15:

-Flight to PA, (time TBD)

-Official Registration, 6pm

Feb 16:

-Trip to clinic, in the AM

-Orientation, 1pm-6pm. Topics: Who we are; What's expected of you; What you expect; and, What's next.

Feb 17:

-Check out of hotel, 1:30AM!!!

-Depart on bus to JFK, 2AM

-Direct flight to Johannesburg departs, 10:30AM

Feb 18:

-Flight arrives in Johannesburg, 8:30AM local time

-Flight leaves for Lusaka, Zambia 10:30AM

-Flight arrives in Zambia, 12:30PM

Feb 19 or 20:

-Peace Corps training begins

Random Goodness...

I am making headway on my to-do and to-buy lists. This week I did some major shopping, and, to help you see the range of things on my list, here are the items I purchased:

Items purchased this week:

-Garmont cross-training shoes with Gore-Tex

-Chaco sandals. (Peace Corps volunteers get 50% off!!)

-AA/AAA battery charger that can be connected to a solar battery charger (which I have not yet purchased)

-AA and AAA rechargeable batteries

-Portable power storage (battery) so I can charge stuff when the sun is down

-Power inverter. I can plug my 110 Volt AC plug into this inverter then plug the inverter into the solar battery charger I'm going to buy (or into the portable power storage unit listed above).

-Portable shower, which will allow me to take a real shower as opposed to the sponge baths most people are accustomed to there.

-A solar-powered lantern cap for my Nalgene bottles. When your Nalgene bottle is full of water, the light hits the water and acts as a lantern.

-A very sexy sun hat that has mesh on the sides so my head can breathe.

-Refurbished portable speakers for my iPod

-Pepper spray/mace key chains

-A T-shirt and a thermal long sleeve shirt

-UV ray blocking shorts and zip-off pants.

-A new pair of eyeglasses

Between Now and Then

I'm doing my best to enjoy the final days here in Seattle. The timing could not be better, I think. I have had the past several months to work (at my leisure); get lots of reading done; hang out with friends; and to reflect. The remaining 31 days in Seattle I will spend finishing up several books (including The Great Gatsby; God: A Biography; and, among others, A Good Man Is Hard to Find); doing my taxes; quitting my jobs; buying a few more items; packing; having a couple going away parties; and saying my farewells.

I can't wait!

"I'm a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being...by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant." -Paul Newman

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" -Ernest Gaines

I find these two quotes to be supremely revealing. Additionally, I was recently introduced to James Baldwin's work (specifically his 1963 essay "The Fire Next Time") and was shocked at how many connections I could make between the struggle for equality for the GLBTQ community today, and the struggle for equality for blacks in America's very recent past. The status of the GLBTQ community in America has, similarly to that of blacks, dramatically improved over the last half century--that is undeniable, and I am eternally grateful for this. But it is also beyond question that we are still a long ways off from full equality.

Less developed countries like Zambia, then, have much, much further to venture into the future (where, as MLK jr. brilliantly affirmed, the "arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice") before even a grain of acceptance is established in the foundation of society for GLBTQ people! (Click here for a current article on severe punishment for homosexuality in Uganda). Acceptance of my homosexuality by Zambians cannot be forced, and, considering how closed-minded many Americans are, I cannot expect to change the hearts and minds of many--if any--Zambians on this issue while I am there. Indeed, Zambians are increasingly exposed to evangelical Christianity which undermines any exposure to liberal Western ideas of accepting diverse sexual identities. Not to mention, the Zambian government only provides through a seventh grade education for its youth. Thus, it will be absolutely critical that I am sensitive of how my actions are perceived by those around me. For more central to my goals as a volunteer is my drive to empower females within Zambian society to stand up for gender equality--a mission I do not want to jeopardize by my being labeled by Zambians as someone so different from them that, in effect, what comes out of my mouth is unheeded.

As a result of the level of consciousness I must have regarding how my actions are perceived, I will have to go back into "the closet" while I am in Africa. This reminds me of a bumper sticker I recently saw: "Closets are for clothes." And while that is absolutely true, accepting the responsibilities that come along with being sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer necessitates that I be willing to make certain sacrifices. And spending 14 years in prison for being convicted of homosexuality is incentive enough to be completely celibate and seemingly heterosexual--not to mention the fact that over 15 percent of Zambians have AIDS (whereas in the US, only around .6% of the population has AIDS). Thus, I will be Straight Marcus (alluding to a slight analogy that can be made between my situation and that of Brüno Gehard when he is Straight Dave).

You read correctly above, homosexual relations are felonious and punishable by up to 14 years in prison in Zambia. Click here for more info. Interestingly, I should add, I dedicated a final project for my International Human Rights course at the University of Washington to studying homosexuality in The Gambia. The subject of homosexuality in International Relations actually fascinates me and I hope that my experience in Zambia galvanizes my desire to pursue International Human Rights Law in graduate school.

In doing research for this blog, I found that right before the 2003 US Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which completely legalized homosexual relations (i.e., to do away with anti-sodomy laws), five states could send violators to prison for at least ten years! Idaho could sentence those guilty of sodomy to life in prison! Talk about draconian--and in our own backyard!

The Quagmire

As the title for this blog post suggests, being a gay volunteer in the Peace Corps is somewhat of a quagmire. The difficult and precarious situation I find myself in is caused by a dichotomy. On the one hand, I have this desire to never have to put on a facade of heterosexuality (I want to be my True Self), and, I want to be able to stand up for fairness and justice. But, on the other hand, I want to remain physically intact (alive, unscathed, and out of prison), and I do not want to jeopardize my Peace Corps mission or my personal influence in Zambia.

By sharing my reflections with you I mean in no way to seem like a victim. On the contrary, I definitely feel blessed to even have the opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps. Furthermore, I would like to believe that I have a strong sense of Self, and I do not let people or my circumstances steal my joy. I merely want to express in this blog the considerations I am making with regard to my sexuality and service as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Dillon Banerjee's book The Insider's Guide to the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go offers an enlightening response to the question "What will my Peace Corps experience be like if I'm gay?":

"Gay volunteers can generally expect to find support from Peace Corps administration and fellow Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). In many countries, organized support networks exist for gay and lesbian volunteers; in others it's less formal, but you can usually find support if you need or want it. The topic is covered in diversity sessions during training, and the environment within the Peace Corps community is often open and accepting. That isn't to say that every volunteer in the Peace Corps is open-minded about homosexuality. The volunteer community is, in some ways, a microcosm of society in the States and therefore includes its share of homophobic and intolerant people. For the most part, though, expect an understanding and judgment-free environment.

"The same cannot be said, however, for life in the village. In many parts of the developing world, homosexuality is either unrecognized (considered not to exist) or is thought of as abnormal and even insane behavior. Gay volunteers often have to gauge the social climate of their posts and decide on an individual basis whether they feel comfortable telling local friends and neighbors about themselves. Many gay volunteers feel pressure at their posts to act heterosexual in social situations, knowing that to do otherwise could have serious repercussions on their work and social lives. There are instances where volunteers meet gay members of the local community and date them, but rarely are those relationships made public. So be forewarned: as intolerant as society may sometimes seem in the States, it's even worse in most other parts of the world. There will, however, be support available to you from the Peace Corps administration, friends, and other volunteers, and it needn't prevent you from having a successful and fulfilling two years overseas.

"For perspectives and anecdotes from lesbian and gay PCVs around the world, as well as from applicants and even a former Peace Corps recruiter, check out the LGBT Peace Corps Alumni website here." (16-17)

The Paradox

I am becoming more and more disenchanted with the idea of defining my identity as this or that, anyway. Eckhart Tolle in his book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose has some profound insights:

"Words, no matter whether they are vocalized and made into sounds or remain unspoken as thoughts, can cast an almost hypnotic spell upon you. You easily lose yourself in them, become hypnotized into implicitly believing that when you have attached a word to something, you know what it is. The fact is: You don't know what it is. You have only covered up the mystery with a label. Everything, a bird, a tree, even a simple stone, and certainly a human being, is ultimately unknowable. This is because it has unfathomable depth. All we can perceive, experience, think about, is the surface layer of reality, less that the tip of an iceberg.

"Underneath the surface appearance, everything is not only connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all life out of which it came. Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to yourself. When you look at it or hold it and let it be without imposing a word or mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder, arises within you....

"If you can be absolutely comfortable with not knowing who you are, then what's left is who are you are--the Being behind the human, a field of pure potentiality rather than something that is already defined.

"Give up defining yourself--to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem." (pp 25-26, 108-9)

Using this approach, then, (and paradoxically) serving in the Peace Corps does not pose a predicament for me at all, so long as I am fine with not defining myself. Instead of saying or thinking "I am gay" and unconsciously feeling as though I must play some role in order to be my gay self, I will stop at "I am [that I am]" and not limit myself. And by not limiting myself, I refer not to potentially having a girlfriend but, rather, to the idea that identifying as a gay man creates limitations within my own mind--and, quite possibly, your mind--with respect to my effectiveness in my volunteer position. In this way (by ceasing to identify myself) I become "a field of pure potentiality rather than something that is already defined." After all, I'm not there to promote acceptance of gays but, rather, to teach teachers how to teach.

Furthermore, with respect to standing up for fairness and justice, I do not foresee myself being bound in any way from speaking out--in a culturally sensitive manner--against a particular injustice faced by a homosexual. Thus, the dichotomy I described above is partly illusory.

Conclusions

My uniqueness as an individual will most certainly become evident to the Zambians I interact with. Through my being known and understood by Zambians, I fulfill one of the three basic tenets of the Peace Corps: "Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served." After all, as Mark Twain once said, "All generalizations are false, including this one." Americans are diverse.

What conclusions can be drawn from my reflections? Most importantly, I will have to be conscious of my actions--aware of how Zambians perceive what I do and say. In America I do not approach strangers or acquaintances with a handshake and a "Hi, I'm gay," nor will I do so in Zambia. Thus, even though "I am that I am," the aforementioned quagmire will resound in my consciousness out of personal and professional necessity.

The Peace Corps is the toughest job one will ever love. Being as such, you cannot really expect the application process to be smooth sailing, can you?! The answer in my case is a definitive, most certainly not! Even those who seemingly “breeze” through the application process must endure the red tape of the Peace Corps (i.e., the immense bureaucracy that forces you to jump through hoops that most college-age people have not yet endured). The Peace Corps website says:

“On average, the application to invitation process takes from six to 12 months to complete, but can take longer in certain cases. This is due to a number of factors, including turnaround time for reference checks, medical evaluation, determining applicant suitability for assignments, the availability of assignments, and whether an applicant needs additional time to obtain experience to be a more competitive candidate. After receiving an invitation, most people depart for their country assignment within two to three months.” (http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.howvol.stepstoapply) To clarify, what makes the application process arduous (well, maybe not arduous but, rather, frustrating) is the waiting, for most applicants. And waiting in and of itself is not so grueling. In fact, it behooves you to do self reflection: if you cannot handle waiting two or more months to receive any communication from the Peace Corps, or, if it makes you anxious to think of contacting the Peace Corps to make sure things are moving along, then maybe the Peace Corps is not for you. In fact, I hope that common frustrations with the application process will be one more source of unity with other volunteers while I am in training in Lusaka; the application process for me was tiring to say the least, but it was almost as laughable as it was endless.

For me, in addition to the waiting—which I have come to terms with—it was the procedural formalities that challenged my patience and resolve. I most certainly was respectful when I found out that my application had a medical hold, but it was precisely my frustration (and my desire to keep the wheels of my future turning) that led me to challenge the Peace Corps’ decision to place a stay on my medical clearance. My subsequent, tireless efforts to have the decision reversed were met with thick red tape: the doctors and nurses at the OMS could do nothing to overturn the initial decision because no new profound evidence was introduced to them (despite my obtaining the opinions of three medical professionals--all of whom emphatically believed my medical application should not have been held up).

As a result of my close interaction with both the nurse in charge of my medical clearance as well as my placement officer, I have unique advice to share with current and potential applicants.

If you are not yet familiar with the application process and want to know more, click here. Below is a timeline that shows the progression of my application:

Late June 2008: began application while taking 15 credits of 1st Year French Late August 2008: submitted my completed application Early September 2008: had initial interview at the Peace Corps’ Seattle office behind the Westlake Center Mall. Within one week I was nominated to the Environmental Education program in sub-Saharan Africa. Late September 2008: began medical evaluation Mid October 2008: submitted medical evaluation via USPS (should have used FedEx because it took nearly two weeks for the Peace Corps to receive my documents in Washington, D.C.). Late December 2008: received a phone call and a follow-up letter communicating that my application was deferred for medical reasons and would be reviewed again in October 2009 upon my submission of follow up documents. Mid January 2009: decided that I was going to contest the decision of medical deferment to a panel of doctors and nurses at the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services (OMS). Mid March 2009: request to have deferment repealed was rejected by panel.

June 2009: graduated from the University of Washington and planned on taking the Foreign Service Officer Test as a back up to the Peace Corps

Mid August 2009: my psychiatrist was leaving her practice which caused the Peace Corps OMS to reconsider my application sooner than the previously anticipated October 2009 date. Finally, granted medical clearance within days!

Late September 2009: final phone interview with placement officer, Lateefah Burgess.

Early October 2009: Lateefah contacted me regarding the Rural Education Development program which I was subsequently invited to join.

17 February 2010: tentative leave date for pre-service orientation on the East Coast, nearly 18 months after submission of application. My Advice to Applicants 1. Use extreme discernment in the type of information you give the Peace Corps and how in-depth you are. For example, knowing that I was mentally stable and would soon be ending a regimen of psychotropic medication, I sincerely wish I had NOT informed the Peace Corps that I was taking such medication on my initial application. To receive medical clearance from the OMS you must either be fully stable on psychotropic medication when you go abroad or you must be off of such medication for at least one year and prove your mental stability!

As it was, on my medical clearance application (which arrived in the mail after I received the nomination) I indicated that I had ended the regimen of psychotropic medication. Being a bureaucratic organization, once I gave them this information they compared my situation to a diagnostic form which, per the laws governing the Peace Corps, said I was not fit for service and that my application must be deferred (regardless of what any doctor might say to the contrary).

2. Apply as early as you can manage! One full year is absolutely ideal. Want to leave in June after you graduate? Apply the June before! It makes sense to relieve some stress by planning well in advance of your desired leave date.

And as a side note, treat the interview with the recruiter as you would any other professional interview: be professional, confident, assertive, and prepared. To do this you should dress appropriately; check out a book on the Peace Corps from the library like this one--and actually read what advice it offers on the application process; prepare answers to likely questions (expect to be grilled on your reasons for wanting to join, your expectations, your hopes and fears, your strengths and weaknesses, and your preferences with regard to the Peace Corps' geographic and program areas); and, bring questions for the recruiter to answer.

3. When you are in the initial application stages, it is my personal opinion--not that of any recruiter or placement officer--that you should ask for physical letters of recommendation from your three references.

As a result of my ordeal with the OMS, I requested copies of all of the documents the Peace Corps had on me. Through scouring every page I learned that all three of my personal references had chosen to fill out the online Peace Corps recommendation form which consists more or less of "do you agree or disagree with the following statements insofar as they relate to the applicant..." and then a small box where additional comments can be made. But do you think that my references took the liberty to elaborate on my character or technical abilities? Only in certain instances. Thus, I found that the information the references provided was less than consequential with respect to giving the placement officer a better idea of who I am. So I highly recommend future applicants to secure agreements from would-be references (who, by the way should have respectable credentials) to write out physical letters of recommendation. When they agree to this, you should then emphasize that they should incorporate aspects of the Peace Corps online recommendation form into their letters.

4. Do not be afraid to check on the status of your application every several weeks, or to ask any questions you might have to your placement officer or the nurse in charge of your medical clearance. After one month of waiting for my medical application to be processed, I finally called. They said my application would not be evaluated for quite a while. Some 9 weeks later (in late December 2008), I finally got the call from the OMS: my application had been deferred.

If your medical application gets deferred to a date beyond your tentative departure date (this date is discussed during the initial nomination process), understand that in most cases your placement officer is unable to have contact with the nurse in charge of evaluating your application for medical clearance. Therefore, in January 2009 the nurse in charge of my medical application was unable to get in contact with my placement officer to inform her that my medical clearance would most likely be granted by October 2009. Thus, my placement officer was unable to change my tentative leave date from June 2009 to some future date. So I was truly in limbo from the time of my medical deferment in December 2008 up to the time my medical clearance was authorized in August 2009.

However, I will say that a friend of mine whose medical clearance was deferred for the same reason as me had a placement officer and a nurse who were able to communicate and establish a new tentative leave date for him! So there is hope that you won't have to be in limbo as long as I was.

In Conclusion

I have not begun my service in Zambia but I can tell you from the stories I have heard from returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) that any frustration in the application process is well worth the experience of a lifetime that is service as a volunteer in the Peace Corps! So do not hesitate to apply if you believe you're the right person for the job! Be persistent, yet have patience; 27 months with toughest job you'll ever love is at your fingertips!

For Subsequent Blogs

My expectations; preparations I'm making before I leave; being gay in the Peace Corps; and, how you can help financially with specific projects while I'm in Zambia.

I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Call me a procrastinator, but creating a blog before I leave for Lusaka, Zambia for Peace Corps Training has been on my to do list for several months. The holiday season is almost over, which means I will be leaving for Zambia in 49 days: on 17 February 2010! In anticipation that people from a myriad backgrounds will be reading this blog, I will keep it as organized as possible. And with that, let me begin my story with a little about me, and information on the program to which I was assigned. I will have more posts in the coming days!

About me

I recently graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle magna cum laude with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Environmental Science. I transferred to UW from a local community college where I got my AA in Business. Interestingly, I was the first to graduate from college in my extended family of some 25+ people. I have one younger brother, Miles. I am 22 years old, male, now single, and not heterosexual.

When I was 15, my friend, Jacob, moved with his family from my hometown of Monroe, WA to Honolulu, HI because his stepfather was relocated in the Coast Guard. While I was visiting them in Honolulu, Bill, Jacob's stepdad, was asking me about my future ambitions and where I saw myself going in life. After explaining to him what I remember to be my desire to see the world and affect positive change, he seemed pretty confident that I should check into the Peace Corps. What was this Peace Corps? I will now get a first hand lesson.

As I wait to be "deployed" to Zambia, I work part time as a server at two restaurants. In addition to this less than meaningful work, I volunteer with the Sierra Club once a month through their Inner City Outings program (ICO). ICO takes students from inner city schools on outings in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Earlier this month we went snowshoeing on Snoqualmie Pass, which was my first time. My other volunteer position is with Lifelong AIDS Alliance where I pass out condom kits at the three local bathhouses here in Seattle and encourage patrons to take advantage of free on-site rapid HIV testing (it now takes only 20 minutes to know your status!).

My Assignment

During my initial interview in early September 2008, I told the recruiter that I was interested in community development as well as education. However, she thought I would best be placed in an environmental education program, and so I was nominated for this program and tailored my education and volunteer experiences for this. In addition, I took two years of college French to be prepared to be sent to a French-speaking West African country. But of course, I was not assigned to an environmental education program, nor to a French-speaking country. As you will learn shortly, however, my attitude is very positive and I am very flexible--attributes that are truly essential in order to thrive in the Peace Corps.

Thirteen months later, in October 2009 I received my invitation to the Rural Education Development (RED) program in Zambia (where they speak English). Without hesitation, I thoroughly read the materials and then accepted the invitation. Here are some highlights from my invitation packet regarding Zambia and my position:

-Timeline: Orientation Dates (likely in Wash, DC): 17-18 Feb 2010;

Pre-Service Training (in Zambia): 20 Feb 2010 - 23 April 2010;

Dates of Service: 24 April 2010 - 24 April 2012.

-Most volunteers live in villages, in traditional MUD HUTS (AWESOME!!! Exactly what I wanted, seriously!) without running water or electricity.

-"The RED project involves capacity building with the zonal and district levels of the Ministry of Education and school-committee development within rural communities. At the zonal level, you will collaborate with teachers and school heads to improve the quality of teaching through teacher trainings, modeling learner-centered teaching methods, and facilitating other on-going professional development for teachers and administrators. Work in communities will focus on committee development, assisting the ongoing progress of parent committees which operate at government and community schools. These committees are necessary for villages to create and sustain their learning institutions. Volunters work with committees to ensure that volunteer teachers at community schools (often called "mentors") receive adequate support (i.e., payment in cash or in kind, such as maize or chickens) from the greater community. They also link schools to Ministry of Education staff at the district and zone levels (located at a Zonal Center School, one government school in the zone that serves as the hub of all Ministry activities in the zone).

"Work at the district level involves working with counterparts to develop monitoring and evaluation plans, effective mentor trainings, the creation of databases, and plans for sensitizing communities to the nature and uses of various educational initiatives."

-"HIV/AIDS and life skills education is a very important component of a Volunteer's work. There is need for HIV/AIDS and life skills training within rural communities as well as the Ministry of Education itself."

-"While it is not the immediate aim of the RED project, in-class teaching can be an aspect of a volunteer's work."

-"You will be expected to work closely with your Zambian supervisor and counterparts to ensure the sustainability of your work."

-"It is also important for you to be aware that your work will be frustrating from time to time. Expectations of change, progress, results, and accomplishments that apply in America cannot be applied to development work in Zambia....By maintaining realistic expectations, your work will take a healthy direction and so will your attitude."

-"Public transport can be a major hassle in Zambia, depending on where you're located. Distances are long, roads are sometimes in a shocking state of disrepair, and vehicles crowded and uncomfortable. Depending on your placement, you may have to do a lot of biking. As mentioned, you will be working with people who have access to far fewer resources than most people do in the U.S. You'll have to be flexible, creative and patient, and find new ways to do things."

Just for reference, the placement officer is the person who assigns you to a specific country and program. After the initial interview (at the very beginning of the whole process), the recruiter contacts your placement officer regarding your credentials and whether you are a good fit for a particular program. Once the whole process is at its final stages there is a final interview with your placement officer. After my interview, my placement officer contacted me within three weeks and told me she had found a program for me and told me the specifics of the program. However, she was unable to tell me to which country I would be assigned because the Peace Corps did not want me to get my information from Wikipedia, for example. Thus, I had to wait until my invitation packet arrived in the mail. So, if you're interested in what the Peace Corps does want me to know about Zambia, here is a link to the 80+ page PDF file pamphlet: The Peace Corps Welcomes You to Zambia.

My next blog(s) will cover why my application process took 14 months; my expectations; preparations I'm making before I leave; being gay in the Peace Corps; and, how you can help financially with specific projects while I'm in Zambia.