Bri's Work in Zambia & The New Adventures of Jazzy

Hello everyone,

Right now I'm back in the USA in my home state of Maine. I've been here since February 1st thanks to friends and family who generously gave to my “get home” fund. It has been so nice to visit; I was missing home very much! For the past 24 hours or so we've been in the middle of a snow storm. I'm missing that warm African sunshine :) As nice as it has been visiting, I'm looking forward to getting back to Zambia and continuing with my service. When I left, the Neighborhood Health Committee (NHC), was preparing to conduct a village inspection of all catchment areas in Chibobo. The purpose of this is to identify the living conditions and individual needs of villagers. The inspection form asks questions such as the number and condition of mosquito nets, the number of family members including the number of children under 5 yrs of age, and the overall health of the family. This information will be very helpful in trying to obtain more nets and other resources. Also, the community is starting a garden at Chibobo Health Post. Before leaving, I gave the clinic officer seeds to get them started. We plan to use the produce as income for the NHC and to conduct cooking demonstrations during under5 clinics. I think this will be a good exercise to teach members of the village about eating a balanced diet. We can also talk about business skills including making a profit from your work.

When I get back to the village I would also like to start working with the Basic School. I have been asked to run the schools Anti AIDS club. I'm hoping to start this with the 7-9^th graders.

In addition, I would like to start working with the various woman groups and girls on empowerment and gender equality. The goal is to talk about peer pressure, self esteem, planning for the future, and to answer any questions they might have for me. While I'm back in America I've been trying to research the cost to have t-shirts made as prizes for attending. My counterpart and I would like them to say “Girl Power” in both English and Bemba=(amaka abanakashi).

Finally, I hope to start brainstorming for skit ideas. People are very interested in giving important information on HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning, child and maternal health, etc. through drama. Infact, just before I left, members of the drama club performed during a meeting. They even had someone playing the part to ME, the volunteer. It was very funny and I think they would enjoy doing more of them for the community.

Below are a few pictures of my time in Zambia. Enjoy :)!!

Camp Glow in November