Exciting Zimbabwean Adventures!
Saturday 7/9 - Wednesday 7/13
The last half-week has been quite fun and eventful. I really feel like I’m
starting to get to know the individuals that make up the ZiCHIRe team!
On Saturday, we went to the ZiCHIRe soccer tournament that Walter organized in
the Dema growth point. It was lots of fun! There were several teams of community
members, two CPOL teams, and the ZiCHIRe team. There were four games total, the
last of which was the finals round in which the two best teams competed for
first place. Most without shoes, not to mention lacking any sort of formal
training, these guys were good soccer players!
Afterwards, we went into the center of the growth point for a traditional
Zimbabwean meal of sadza, greens, and beef. Sadza is made from white cornmeal
(they call it Mealy-Meal) and it is sort of a cross between rice and cream of
wheat - it’s not particularly flavourful, but all four of us really like it.
You don’t use silverware to eat sadza, but rather ball it up in your hand and
use it to scoop up the greens or meat. These items really provide the flavor
because they’re cooked over a fire with good spices.
It was really cool to hear first hand the impact that becoming a CPOL has had on
some of their lives. They were very excited to tell me that AIDS is a very
dangerous disease and it's important to educate people about it. I definately
agree with Walter -even though the results of this study are not all in yet,
it's clear from interacting with people that this project is really making a
difference.
Before we left Dema, we decided to walk around the growth point a bit. There
were several small shops - a couple of “General Dealers” where they sell
the same sorts of foods and supplies you would find in a grocery store. There
were separate shops for produce and meat. There were also “Bottle Stores”
where people go to buy coke and socialize. All of the coke comes in glass
bottles here, and they have a great recycling program for them - if you hang
around while drinking your coke and then return the bottle, you get some money
back. Not only does this promote recycling, but it also promotes business
because if you’re hanging around anyway, why not have another coke?
On Sunday, we had breakfast with John and Dick, two men who have put together a
program in a small rural area called Weya, where they promote and collect
artwork from the women and then sell it in the US to benefit these women. We are
planning to visit Weya in a couple weeks and will hopefully get to stay in some
rural homes for a couple of days.
On Tuesday, Krycia and I went with Reggie, Walter, and Gift to the Nkayi growth
point (about a four hour drive) where the nursing team is currently stationed to
do a one-year follow up with the same clients that they surveyed and tested last
year. This task is a lot more difficult than we imagined, as in these rural
areas, people don’t have formal addresses. Instead, in their initial
interviews, they just described how to get to their houses using landmarks
(generally other houses). This year, we actually had to find these houses using
those directions - what a chore! We drove around, stopped at houses that we
thought could be the ones in the directions, ask whether the people living there
knew the person we were looking for, and if they did, they would give us more
directions and we’d drive some more and then ask more people as we got closer,
until eventually we found the right house. Krycia’s group was fairly
successful at this, but mine was not at all! In about 3 hours of driving around
we only located two correct houses, and in both of them we found only a
grandmother who’s son or daughter had moved out of the growth point! While a
disappointing day for ZiCHIRe, it was quite an experience for me to get to walk
around and see the rural houses. They are very small and round, probably only
about 10 to 15 feet in diameter, with roofs made of straw (or something
similar). Each hut had a fire burning in the middle, and it was very smokey
inside. It didn’t seem to bother the people who lived there, but after only a
couple minutes inside, my eyes were burning.
After we got back, we ate dinner and then Walter took us out for some fun. The
growth point was very small with probably only about 15 stores, and it seemed
like half of them were bars. We were the only females out after dark, but there
were lots of people. Some of the men were dancing, and it was fun to watch.
I hope you all are enjoying the summer -- I am certainly enjoying the "winter"
that feels like summer!
The last half-week has been quite fun and eventful. I really feel like I’m
starting to get to know the individuals that make up the ZiCHIRe team!
On Saturday, we went to the ZiCHIRe soccer tournament that Walter organized in
the Dema growth point. It was lots of fun! There were several teams of community
members, two CPOL teams, and the ZiCHIRe team. There were four games total, the
last of which was the finals round in which the two best teams competed for
first place. Most without shoes, not to mention lacking any sort of formal
training, these guys were good soccer players!
Afterwards, we went into the center of the growth point for a traditional
Zimbabwean meal of sadza, greens, and beef. Sadza is made from white cornmeal
(they call it Mealy-Meal) and it is sort of a cross between rice and cream of
wheat - it’s not particularly flavourful, but all four of us really like it.
You don’t use silverware to eat sadza, but rather ball it up in your hand and
use it to scoop up the greens or meat. These items really provide the flavor
because they’re cooked over a fire with good spices.
It was really cool to hear first hand the impact that becoming a CPOL has had on
some of their lives. They were very excited to tell me that AIDS is a very
dangerous disease and it's important to educate people about it. I definately
agree with Walter -even though the results of this study are not all in yet,
it's clear from interacting with people that this project is really making a
difference.
Before we left Dema, we decided to walk around the growth point a bit. There
were several small shops - a couple of “General Dealers” where they sell
the same sorts of foods and supplies you would find in a grocery store. There
were separate shops for produce and meat. There were also “Bottle Stores”
where people go to buy coke and socialize. All of the coke comes in glass
bottles here, and they have a great recycling program for them - if you hang
around while drinking your coke and then return the bottle, you get some money
back. Not only does this promote recycling, but it also promotes business
because if you’re hanging around anyway, why not have another coke?
On Sunday, we had breakfast with John and Dick, two men who have put together a
program in a small rural area called Weya, where they promote and collect
artwork from the women and then sell it in the US to benefit these women. We are
planning to visit Weya in a couple weeks and will hopefully get to stay in some
rural homes for a couple of days.
On Tuesday, Krycia and I went with Reggie, Walter, and Gift to the Nkayi growth
point (about a four hour drive) where the nursing team is currently stationed to
do a one-year follow up with the same clients that they surveyed and tested last
year. This task is a lot more difficult than we imagined, as in these rural
areas, people don’t have formal addresses. Instead, in their initial
interviews, they just described how to get to their houses using landmarks
(generally other houses). This year, we actually had to find these houses using
those directions - what a chore! We drove around, stopped at houses that we
thought could be the ones in the directions, ask whether the people living there
knew the person we were looking for, and if they did, they would give us more
directions and we’d drive some more and then ask more people as we got closer,
until eventually we found the right house. Krycia’s group was fairly
successful at this, but mine was not at all! In about 3 hours of driving around
we only located two correct houses, and in both of them we found only a
grandmother who’s son or daughter had moved out of the growth point! While a
disappointing day for ZiCHIRe, it was quite an experience for me to get to walk
around and see the rural houses. They are very small and round, probably only
about 10 to 15 feet in diameter, with roofs made of straw (or something
similar). Each hut had a fire burning in the middle, and it was very smokey
inside. It didn’t seem to bother the people who lived there, but after only a
couple minutes inside, my eyes were burning.
After we got back, we ate dinner and then Walter took us out for some fun. The
growth point was very small with probably only about 15 stores, and it seemed
like half of them were bars. We were the only females out after dark, but there
were lots of people. Some of the men were dancing, and it was fun to watch.
I hope you all are enjoying the summer -- I am certainly enjoying the "winter"
that feels like summer!