3 Cups of Nshima

I had another incredibly moving day yesterday. I went to visit a brand new school being built for orphans in one of the compounds about 30 min walk from downtown Monze. It will be called Kalundu School for Orphans and Vulnerable Children of Monze (OVC). I had a meeting with the Coordinator and Founder of the school, Jubilee and the Executive Director Richard. They showed Eric and me around the very small abandoned building that they are using as a makeshift school currently and showed us the compound of where these orphans live mostly with distant relatives. They never once asked for any money, but it was overwhelming to see how the 400+ kids live (in grass huts and practically no furniture) and what limited funds the village has to build even a toilet for the kids. I felt a strong desire to help them with some of the finances to build the school and help with getting donations of school supplies. They practically kissed my feet and cried. I told them to put together a list of all the expenses and get the document to me. Jubilee called me within 2 hours and brought the detailed document to me. It was very thorough and it turns out it only costs about $9,500 to build the whole school and sustain it for a year! The ironic thing is I am reading the "3 cups of Tea" right now and it is about this man who built 53 schools in Pakistan and it is unbelievable what the similarities are from that book to here. Hence the name of this post. Nshima is an absolute staple food here and it is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have realized if you don't serve nshima with a meal that you have cooked for our guests here than they will not feel satisfied at all and need to go home and make their own. Nshima is the ultimate food of Monze and is eaten with their hands. They roll it up like play dough first and then dip it in the sauce and greens. I tried to think of a type of universal food that we have in America that would come close to that and I can't think of one. We have way too many options to be tied to one type of food.

Many people have asked me if they could donate some supplies or money towards the people of Monze or the BSI program. So, I am going to put out a polite request for any donation that you would like to give towards the school. I have put together the excel sheet to show how much each item costs and you can either donate towards a child or children (it is about $20 per child to give them school for a year) or you can donate towards any item on the excel sheet. It is amazing what a small amount of money can do in the villages. Therefore, any donation will go a long way.

The best way to donate money is to wire the money through Western Union online. It is very simple. You will look up Zambia on the international WU site and then fill out all the necessary info. You would address the money to me and there is a security question which is "What is Carol's favorite baseball team" and of course you will answer "Boston Red Sox". Thank you in advance for your help to this very worthy cause.

As some side points to my life here in Monze. It has been raining like crazy here! When it rains here it is like a monsoon! The scary thing is Eric and I almost got struck by lightening! I am not kidding! We were walking home from the field when the sky just opened up and the lightening was so loud that it was piercing. Then one strike came so close to us that we literally fell to the ground from it. It was incredibly scary!!! I have never been that close to lightening before.

Some fun facts of Zambia is that many men walk around holding hands, but it not that they are gay it is their way of showing their affection for their friendship. Ironically, you will never see a man and a woman walking together holding hands. All their affection is done in the privacy of their own home.

I am feeling a bit sad today because Eric had to leave this morning because he got a job offer to be a college professor in Orlando and he has to start this coming Monday. All the BSI volunteers were so sad today saying goodbye that I thought they were going to cry. I was so bummed as well. It is like my new best friend left me and I am not sure when or if I will see him again. We had a big going away party for him last night. His friends Crispin and Perry bought a TON of food to grille and bought some delicious wine from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia which is 3+ hours away. We all danced to some good ol' American hip hop music until 2am. The people here are like my extended family.

In summary for this post, this trip is far more than what I could have expected. I knew that it would be life changing, but I didn't understand quite how it would. I am not going to take anything for granted anymore. We are SOOO incredibly lucky to live where we live and have pretty much every necessity possible. Try to be thankful for all the things you do have and not focus on what you don't have...I know it is easier said than done.