Fresh Starts

Since I've been back, I think I've seen more rain than sun. It’s finally the heart of the rainy season, with storms lasting throughout the day now. When it really comes down hard you have to watch for the huge puddles that form on the roads and hope that your wipers can keep up with the deluge. On the plus side, everything is green, fresh, and alive, and it helps keep the dust and temperature at more reasonable levels. Also, sopping wet fields allow for painless (though muddy) dives during frisbee games.

Things are fresh and new at work as well. During the holiday break, KF decided to form some new school partnerships. Our newest partner, Pestalozzi, is a school that’s expanding on the southern edge of town. Its profile is different than our past partners as it recruits students mainly from rural areas. We moved half our students there beginning this term while the other half are at Chalo Trust School, a partner of ours for many years. Limiting our students to two schools, and the fact that our new office is at Pestalozzi, means it should be easier to see the students. However, both schools have jam-packed schedules this term and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to keep the tutoring program alive and effective.

Since returning from the states, the gap year program has been making progress on all fronts. The majority of the graduates have finalized plans for their community service projects and about half are already underway. We had our first meeting between our students planning to apply to American universities and the education advisor from the US Embassy who’s going to help us do so. We’re also pursuing volunteer positions for some students at impressive organisations like Restless Development and CIDRZ. There’s a long way to go but it’s good to see things moving forward.

Outside of work, I’m working some fresh traditions into my weeks. One has been poetry readings put on by the university students. They are always impressive and entertaining; maybe someday I’ll find the guts to read one of my own. I’ve also started going to the Hash run. It’s a “fun run” that was started by British expats in Malaysia in the ‘30s and has spread to over a hundred countries since then. It’s a chance for expats to meet each other as you run courses set in the forests around Lusaka. It’s yet another fun way to stay active here, something I love about this city. I brought my mandolin back with me; it's really nice to have music back in my life. There's a lot of people with instruments here so hopefully we can start playing together soon. I also plan to start language lessons this weekend, we'll be learning Nyanja. It's something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I look forward to finally getting started. Of course, old traditions are still going strong. We kept Tuesday dinners alive with a taco night last week that featured homemade guacamole and margaritas (both delicious).

(Guacamole preparations)

This week was the busiest since my return. On Tuesday we welcomed two visitors to Lusaka: Frank, on the board of Princeton in Africa, and Oliver, the President and founder of Kucetekela Foundation. It was good they were here at the same time but it meant a whirlwind of activities. The highlight was sitting down to a Zambian lunch with both of them, our recent graduates and one of our mentors. It must be pretty incredible for Oliver to observe how much these students, the first KF class, have changed over the past 5 years. Frank left for Livingstone early this morning on his way to visit Erin. While his visit was brief, I feel like I gained a great deal from his advice and encouragement.

(Oliver, Mrs. Kashoki and Mwila with the recent graduates)

There are many reasons I’m happy to be back. Something that’s really made my week though was a very generous friend. As I’m sure I’ve expressed to you at one point or another, the car I drive here can be, at times, somewhat unreliable. Luckily, Cecile, sympathetic to my case, is allowing me to use her Rav4 while she’s out of town for a couple weeks. It’s zippy, good on gas and best of all, doesn’t trail a cloud of black smoke behind it. I can’t thank her enough for making my life so much easier for a while. Hopefully a long term solution will be organised soon.

(The KF staff)