May 2010, Out and About in Zambia

I spent the week of my birthday visiting B in Luapula at her village outside of Mansa. I felt like stretching my legs a little bit and getting a change of scenery. Having another volunteer cook for me on my birthday wasn't so bad either. It turned out that I share a birthday with one of her nieghbors so we made two gorgeous cakes and enjoyed ourselves immensely. B lives on the grounds of her local clinic and shares the area with employees and their families rather than the family compound style of residence that I have in Mkushi. As a result, the local children frequently stop by to see what we're getting up to and found great entertainment in watching us do the same menial chores and activities of village life that they see every day.

I also had the opportunity to visit Kundalila falls in nearby Serenje on my way back to Mkushi. About sixty kilometers up the great north road from Serenje boma there sits a dusted sign, obscured by the rust of a dozen rainy seasons, that marks the turn for a national heritage site somewhere south of the tarmac. Following the indicated road brings one to a quite unremarkable camp ground that fails to belie the nearby view, one of the most spectacular that I've seen in Zambia. Behind a stand of trees and rocks as convenient as christmas wrapping paper lies the edge of the plateau upon which most of Zambia sits. One looks over the beginning of the Luangwa river valley that separates Central and Eastern Provinces with a few hundred kilometers of wild game reserve. The falls were a short hike down into a gorge south of the campsite and were no less beautiful that the preceding view of the valley. We swam all day and spent the night at the humble camp site above.

Back in Changilo, the more experienced farmers assisted me with the staking of several new ponds in the North-Eastern part of our village and at the local school. Community involvment has been the keystone of activity since my move into Changilo and continues to be the engine that keeps me going. Knowing that the work Peace Corps volunteers are doing will continue far beyond the tour of duty provides an inherent satisfaction that makes the best out of even the most difficult of days. Of course, the beautiful commute to work doesn't hurt either.