Month: February 2009

2009-02-12~2009-02-18
This week I have been working mu ndi dimba (in the garden) and doing some other things including submitting, for the umpteenth time, a version of my internet proposal. This time it went to the Chadiza Business Association and this is probably my most promising avenue through which I have gone yet, probably because they reinitiated the contact where as all the previous organizations have not followed through. There is a meeting scheduled for next Tuesday. Yesterday, (Tuesday the 17th) I got another bed. The one I had my mattress on before was actually someone’s grandmothers and I’m sure she was glad to get it back. I had paid the wood for a local carpenter to make one back last November, however apparently the person he in turn paid for lumber to, never gave him any. That is why my bed is a double bed for a single mattress because I guess he had made a double bed earlier. Anyway, now my house is a little more crowded. I need to get varnish in Chipata to make sure it doesn’t get eaten by termites. Incidentally, I am going to Chipata tomorrow (Thursday) and will stay there until next Monday, getting some things and meeting with some of the incoming LIFE/RED PSTV’s who are going on first site visit. It’s kind of surprising (and at the same time not at all surprising) that I will have been in Zambia for a year.

2009-02-07~2009-02-11
The past couple of days I have been working in my garden and creating a “fuel efficient” oven which is going to take forever for the clay to dry in this wet weather. The latest turn on the internet-in-Chadiza saga is that I have been approved by the Chadiza business association about getting internet. I made a bit of modification to an earlier proposal I had written for schools and am just looking for a printer to print it out and give to the chair of the organization.

2009-02-04
Wednesday I began making a “fuel efficient” oven (hopefully uses a small amount of fuel but still burns… the small amount is likely to be achieved but the “still burns” part maybe not), however I ran out of clay so I will finish it this weekend. At ≈1630-1700 I walked to a small market across from Zingalume basic school in search of mangoes. The market is usually mostly closed but today everything was bustling. I guess it was because it was Wednesday when government employees (teachers) get paid and therefore that is when all the shops are open because everyone has money. I wonder if doing some training on fiscal frugality would be of use.

2009-02-05
Went to the BOMA in my search for an alternator, preferably a K1 model that is found in things like Ford Fiestas and Escorts. There is one store in Chadiza that is where everyone brings there maize and other goods to be sent away and therefore probably has 6-7 18+/-wheelers of varying levels of assembly, however they didn’t have anything. The store owner however said that someone who has a house next to where my closest volunteers live has a bunch of car parts lying around so I will check there.

2008-02-01 – Sunday
-spent the morning packing up and then online, although the power went out so I only had two hours of battery time
-called a taxi and after having gone to the market, left for a 3 hour ride the ≈90km (50 miles) back

2008-02-02
-planted some more watermelon, plum tomatoes, and “winter” squash

2008-02-03
-went to the BOMA and charged my various devices. The smaller connection of my USB wire that I used to connect my (non-ipod) mp3 player to my laptop got crushed so that it won’t fit in the slot. Fortunately the wire that for the new phone that I got is the same size.