My first days....

This morning I met the two Norwegian girls who are staying in the house for a month. It was nice to speak some Swedish after a few weeks. Today I should have my first day at the office, and should meet all the people that I am going to work with. Andy and I took the bus from outside our house. When I say we took the bus, I do not refer to a bus that we might know from the places we grew up in. The busses here are minibuses, mostly produces by Toyota. When I asked Andy why so many people drive Toyota in this country he said that they are the cheapest since they come second hand from Japan.

When we got into the bus, there is place for 6-7 people. But the average number of people in such a bus is 9-10. The driver is the one who decides where to go, when to go and how many people he wants to have in the bus. Since each of the passengers pays 3000 Kwacha (1$) for the trip, he is happy to take as many as possible with him. Then there is a co-worker who sits at the closest seat to the door at an opened window. He yells at the people walking on the street, informing them about where the bus is heading to and how many seats are available. Whenever there is somebody who signals that he wants to get on the bus as well, the driver stops. There are only a few fixed stations, otherwise you have to tell the driver when to get off, give him the money and make 5 people in front of you stand up so you can squeeze out.  Since we are in the middle of the rainy season, the many sidetracks and little streets are flooded or marked by gigantic wholes. It became a bumpy ride and a real adventure trip I will have to get used to.

When we got to the office, I realized that we are in the heart of the communities outside of Lusaka. Andy told me that it is a huge advantage since we can reach people and especially kids more easily. When I entered the office, I finally got to meet Mwape, who was my contact person in Sweden from the first day on, and a lot of the stuff members. One of them, Martha, is from Norway and has been here for already 6 months. After 5 minutes I already forgot most of the names, since they are as difficult to pronounce as “Johannes” is for them. I will get a Zambian nickname very soon, I heard. After checking my mails, and posting my first reports on my blog, I had an introductory meeting with Mwape. I got information regarding safety and health, the work of the organization, and life in Zambia in general. Some interesting points included that whenever I invite somebody to do something, he expects me to pay for him as well. It was a good chat since I realized that they have a lot of experience working with the “muzungu”, the white men. We came to the conclusion that I would work 3 days at the organization and the site, and 2 days I would have for doing schoolwork and studying. Thus, I got together with Chenge and Levy who are in charge for 4 sites in the district closest to the organization and they introduced me to the projects and activities they were doing so far. I am looking forward to get introduces to the sites on Monday.

During my stay at the office we had some incredible rainfall and a few times I thought that we were going to swim home. One can barely imagine how much water is coming down on these already muddy streets. The rain also impacts the work at the sites, since the fields are under water, and children stay at home instead. This will be one part of my work, to establish alternative ways to get access to the kids and spread the message out of the organization during the rainy season.  I am also looking forward to take pictures, write reports and evaluate working days so that one could improve on certain things.

The atmosphere in the organization is really relaxed. Mwape and everybody I talked to is laughing a lot, chatting, and whenever I ask them about how it is like to work at this organization, they refer to it as their “family”, since they are all close to each other and shared so much together. Like many NGOs, a big issue is the funding and the lack of resources. But that does not discourage the organization to engage in many amazing activities, events and cooperation with other organizations. I could tell from the first day, that they put their hearts in the work that they do.
At home I started to make some pasta, which was way too salty in the end but I had to eat something anyway. I also figured that there are apparently 13481 ways of cooking pasta, since I was told that I am doing it all wrong. It was a long day, and I am looking forward to get my luggage soon so I can start living an ordinary life here in the community outside of Lusaka. After a chat with my family back home on the phone, I slowly got to feel the fatigue that this weather and the many new encounters cause. The weekend ahead of me, I will have to time to read through some articles regarding sport and development, finish my book, watch a movie, sit in the sun, and get some rest and take some pictures.