Chimfunshi 2011

Zambian Futbol

Tue, 5 Jul 2011 13:35:34 -0400

Today was our last full day here at Chimfunshi. I don’t know exactly how to describe my feelings at the moment. I am especially looking forward to dancing with my sister on her wedding day, which is happening unbelievably in three days. While there are many things I am missing from the states, I cannot imagine leaving what has become home over the last few weeks. When getting ready for Africa I was mainly concerned with finishing my immunizations, and preparing myself for encountering snakes and spiders the size of my hand. I had no idea how close I would become with my fellow American students and the Zambians we have met along away. From the children on the wrecked ferry to the keepers who we’ve often shared lunch with, I cannot think of one unpleasant encounter. I’m going to miss early dawn patrols, reflections at the campfire, and especially late night stargazing at the Dambo. While I am upset that the real world is looming over my shoulders, happiness is the only emotion that accurately describes my experiences here in Africa.
I cannot think of better way of ending my journey in Africa than with a game of soccer. Two jam packed busses arrived here in Chimfunshi earlier today, and the buzz around camp was definitely felt. The Chimfunshi Chimps were facing a team representing Shoprite, the grocery store an hour away in Chingola. Luckily, or surprisingly, I was asked to play alongside the keepers and workers of Chimfunshi. I had no idea what to expect when summoned, but I soon figured out the gravity when the Dambo soccer pitch became packed with the traveling fans from Chingola and the all of the locals. The field was nothing like the fields I've played on in the states. Rocks littered the surface and the goals desperately lacked nets. The Shoprite team was without a doubt more game ready than the Chimps—some even had cleats and shin guards. My New Balance runners, and lack of shinguards had to suffice. I was one of the lucky ones on the team who actually had shoes. I was told I was playing defense, which definitely isn’t my strongest position, but I managed to put in a decent fight and was even told I played “kosa” by Albert afterwards, which translates to strong. Rough is an understatement when I try to describe the play. It was brutal play, and while some fouls were called, it was not the safe game which I have been accustomed to in the States. I’ve been playing soccer since I can remember, but no game will have been as much fun and memorable as the one I played in Africa. The sideline erupting and charging the field after a near miss was something that I will never forget.
The soccer game is a parallel to the experience I’ve had in Zambia. I’ve been welcomed with open arms from the moment I stepped off the plane. Those arms welcomed me to join the Chimfunshi team on the pitch, and I am incredibly fortunate to have been given the honor to play alongside the most genuine people I have ever met. Even though the match ended in a loss for the home team we all left with smiles on our faces. What I love so much about soccer is the fact that differences, whether it be cultural or skin color, are erased as soon as the first whistle is blown. The soccer being played back in the states is the same half way across the world. My eyes have been opened to a completely different world since coming to Zambia, and I can say with positivity that I was a different and more open person from the one I was beforehand. I leave Africa knowing that I have established friendships with people who I never imagined I would, and it is only fitting that I got to end my trip in Africa with a beautiful game that manages to unify people from very different walks of life.
Peace,
Will Flagg

Forget the Fireworks, Bring on the Food!

Mon, 4 Jul 2011 20:20:11 -0400

Happy 4th of July! As much fun as we as a group had in Zambia, the rest of the country was celebrating a different holiday, Unity Day (basically a Memorial Day-type thing). But our 4th of July did not involve fireworks or s’mores, but another great day at Chimfunshi.

We began the day at 7am after a long night of shawna shawna with the local school groups who came and stayed with us the night before. While the kids finished their breakfasts, we organized our huge collection of alpha-beads, glow-in-the-dark beads and miles of yarn and string. We sat in our respective groups under the Boma (side comment: my groups motto was “We Shawna for Nature” which I think was the most creative) and had the kids make all different kinds of bracelets and necklaces and beaded accessories. Then after 2 hours of craft time, a bunch of our group and all of the kids loaded up and headed out to the Farm and the Orphanage for more chimp interaction.

I, however, chose to stay behind at camp and started on an American classic, cinnamon rolls! I had had my parents e-mail me my grandma’s recipe and I was determined to make it work. It all started out well until one of the first ingredients: instant potatoes. We had a wide variety of instant potatoes and I have planned to use the buttery homestyle ones in the mix in order to add a little butter flavor. However, as Kat and I began to knead the dough around, we discovered that we had in fact added the Four Cheese potatoes to the mix. Little cheese chunks started appearing as we added water to the dough...oops?
But we pushed forward and let the dough set up. And then we attempted to roll in our in order to add the sugar and cinnamon and butter prior to rolling them into rolls. However, as it was one of the last days at camp, we were low on flour and did not have enough to effectively roll everything out. Jenny and John added the cinnamon sugar to the large dough pan that we had just made and we decided to make a dessert pizza instead (I mean, it had cheese in it right?) We threw it in the oven and then drenched it in icing and called it dessert. Amazingly it worked.
And all I heard was good things about it, so I guess everyone liked it!

That night, as we waited for the dessert pizza to cook, we started on the hamburger meat for cheeseburgers! John made the burgers while Kat and Jenny worked on beans and mashed potatoes! Dinner that night was, to the say the least, AMAZING. We even splurged on cheese for the burgers! It was a great way to celebrate the 4th!

-Josh

Chingola and Muchinshi

Sun, 3 Jul 2011 17:05:17 -0400

On Friday I went into town to go shopping with Tom before being dropped off at Muchinchi with my group to spend the night. Before we could go into town we had to wait for Innocent to pick us up because we needed to buy insurance for the Chimfunshi car. Tom, Kayla, Nikki, Josh, and I waited at a school on the way to Chingola and watched Zambian and American music videos. When Innocent arrived we piled into his truck that was already overloaded and made the short drive into town. While Tom and Innocent went to buy insurance the rest of the students and I went to find an ATM machine that would accept Master Card, because no other machines and so far on the trip. The line for the ATM was huge, and it took us over an hour to be able to use the machine, we even got cut while waiting in line and somehow didn’t even notice. The amazing thing was that none of us cared. We just stood there and waited with everyone else, talked about random things, and before we knew it we were at the front of the line. It didn’t seem like it had taken an hour but we were there for quite some time. Looking back on that experience in particular makes me really miss the life style of Africa and I really hope I will be able to bring of it home with me and apply it my lifestyle in America. I just know that if I were still in the States if I saw a line that long I would have been really annoyed and gone to find some other ATM. If I had to wait in that line I would have been really annoyed and constantly checking my watch seeing how long it took growing more impatient by the minute. But here it was not a big deal at all and I hope similar things at home won’t be a big deal either. Later in the day we went to Shop Rite and bought gifts for people at home and food for ourselves at those back at camp. We had a bit of an adventure trying to find eggs because Shop Rite was out. we drove to two other stores, that looked more like back alley warehouses looking for some. It was a very interesting experience and I won’t ever forget it.
Around five in the evening we arrived at the Munchinchi Women’s Center. We met up with Rebecca and Kristen who had been dropped off earlier that morning. It was getting late and we needed to start cooking dinner soon. First we went to go get water. From what the other groups had told me I expected the well to be further away but it was actually much closer that I thought. I was amazed at the design of the well and it was really interesting to see the women able to pour the water so much more efficiently that any of us could. We had a few big cans that we filled and then put in a wheel barrow and then Nikki and I carried the two small cans on our heads. It was really fun to try carrying the water on our heads like the women do, but it was so hard. I had to balance it with both my hands and my arms soon became tired.
Dinner that night took a very long time to make but it was so worth it. We had sweet potato fries, cabbage patties, which I need to learn how to make so I can have them at home, nshima with cabbage and rape, and beans. The food was amazing and I was so full after eating. While we were cooking the food some of the kids came and attacked me. They had just recently watched a Jackie Chan movie and were very excited to be able to use their karate moves on me. it was a little unfair of a fight, there was four of them and only one of me, although they were small their kicks and punches hurt quite a bit.
After dinner we danced in what Kayla and I called the everything room because we did everything there. We watched dance competitions and Zambian music videos and took turns trying to copy their moves. I am a horrible dancer so this was a little embarrassing but still a lot of fun. Around ten o’clock we headed off to bed. After a short reflection time Kayla, Nikki, and I stayed up talking about our trip and our time in Africa for hours.
The next morning we woke up early and met the women to make breakfast. We decided that it would be fun to make pancakes, and since I had a few apples with me we had apple pancakes. They took a while to make since we could only make one at a time but it was a great opportunity to take pictures and get to know the women a little more. When we had finished eating we walked to the clinic and looked around at all the rooms. It was really interesting to see the difference between an American hospital and a Zambian hospital. There was no doctor, only nurses, so the twelve thousand people that rely on that clinic would have to travel all the way to Chingola to see an actual doctor.
Once we had finished at the clinic we headed to the market to buy food for lunch. We had sweet potatoes with peanuts, and Chinese cabbage with peanuts as well. Preparing this food also took about two hours just like our dinner the night before. While we waited for the food to cook some of the women and Kayla and I played a game very similar to jacks. There was a circle drawn on the floor and you placed small stones in the circle. Then you threw one stone in the air and had to slide some stones out of the circle before you had to catch the falling stone. Memory was the one who taught it to us and she made it look so easy but it was impossibly hard. I was terrible at the game but it was still a lot of fun to learn how to play. We also played a few card games that the women enjoy. A few minutes before we were going to eat Dr. Bodamer came to bring us back to camp but we really wanted to eat our last meal with the women. So we loaded the car and then all of us ate lunch together. Just like the night before the food was amazing. It was sad to leave the women’s center. Although we didn’t even spend a full twenty four hours there it felt like home. It was such a great experience to be able to go and stay there. The women were so nice and welcoming and seeing what they do every day and how they live their lives really makes me appreciate all of the simple things I enjoy at home.

Local School Groups

Sat, 2 Jul 2011 21:11:38 -0400

Today I woke up super early to help pick up the school children whom we invited to come stay with us at Chimfunshi. It was a long, adventurous ride in the truck, passing by the farm and going down the old Chimfunshi road. We picked up the kids from three different schools. They brought drums with them and we all sat in the back of the truck together while they played some amazing music and sang and clapped for the entire ride back to Chimfunshi. We took them straight up to the chimps and they got to see them being fed and learn different things about them. When we brought them back to camp, they enjoyed some lunch before we broke off into groups to do different activities. We had a super fun name game, the human knot, a memory game, a place for them to look at insects under a microscope and a place for them to draw a picture of their families. After all these fun activities, the kids went on a walk through the ravine and we met them in the dambo. There they got to interact with the local children and play football. Once we got back, and amazing meal was made for everyone that included nshima, rice, and chicken stew. But the festivities were not yet over. Once dinner was over, we had a huge shana shana party. They put on an amazing show, the singing and dancing were incredible. All they people from the local village came as well, and I eventually got pulled in to start dancing. It was a fabulous end to a great day. The next morning, we all made friendship bracelets in hope that we would never forget about each other. It was sad to see them leave, but it was such an amazing experience to see them have a fabulous time with us at Chimfunshi.
Love,
Lauren

A Little Taste of Zambia and a Little Taste of Home

Sat, 2 Jul 2011 10:48:38 -0400

Hello again America,

Unfortunately Connor just suffered a near fatal accident with a patio chair. To his parents: no need to worry. He did not suffer any scratches (except maybe to his dignity), although the chair did not fair so well (Note: we recently learned that another student fell through that chair earlier today, but as a college student, he thought it would be funnier if someone else experienced the same thought as him, “I need to lose weight”).

On Friday, Kayla, John, and I, along with Dr. Shea and a visiting teacher, Rebecca, were given the chance to visit the women at Muchinshi. Although we arrived a little late, we absolutely loved our two days there. We were able to cook delicious meals with them (when we were able to convince them that Americans have some cooking abilities), shana shana, go to the market, and visit the local clinic. To be honest, when we visited the clinic I learned that about 12,000 people use it even though there are only nine nurses on staff, and only two work on the weekends. For a doctor one must ride in the ambulance to Chingola, about 45 minutes away. I’ve never realized how much I’ve taken for granted in America. I have the resources to become a doctor and this experience truly made me question why I’ve decided not to take that road.

That evening we had the chance to fill buckets with water from the nearby well. I quickly learned that contrary to my previous beliefs, I do not have arms of steel. The women and children may have laughed, but I got the job done. I made my country proud. On the walk back to the women’s center we pathetically attempted to carry the buckets on our heads. All I can say is that practicing with a piece of paper was not sufficient in preparing me for carrying liters of water. Nonetheless, we did try, though we used our hands to help balance them. Yet somehow I missed the memo that the spout of the bucket should be facing your back…water continually dripped (ok, maybe poured) down my forehead and face until it looked like I suffered a major drooling spell onto the front of my shirt. Well, Zambian life lesson #78: learned.

The entire time we wore our traditional African chitenges around our waists and practiced more Bemba as well as typical games that are much harder than one would expect. As for the food, all I can say is that the three meals we ate there may have been better than the food some of the cook groups have made at camp (not that I’m thinking about any meals in particular) (and definitely not any doughy meals). The most exciting meal we had was on Saturday morning. Mom, this is for you. Since I was young my family has made pancakes from scratch (you haven’t experienced pancakes if you’ve only had Bisquick). So, Saturday morning, we decided to cook them an American breakfast as a thank you. What else could we cook besides pancakes? And yes, we used my Mom’s recipe. Even though we had no American measuring units or a griddle, we made it work. Two hours to finish all the pancakes, and the women still couldn’t get enough. Thank you, Mom. That was one of the highlights of my trip here.

After our amazing time at Muchinshi was over we made our way back to Chimfunshi for the Braai at Sheila’s. In case you missed it, she is the woman who founded Chimfunshi and created the chimpanzee preserve. The food was amazing and after dinner Sheila turned up the music. All I can say is she is a fantastic dancer (Dr. Shea – so are you).

Thank you America and we’ll see you soon,
Nikki

(I will put good thoughts out for the parents of Connor and Will – I hope that your sons will stop yelling chimp calls and re-learn the English language soon)