Kawama!

Where to begin...so much has happened this past month that I cant even begin to explain it all. Last sunday all of us trainees went out for second site visit. We visited a current volunteer for 5 days and than visited our own sites for 3 days. There are twelve of us new Health or RAP volunteers in Northwestern. We all loaded into 2 land cruisers with our luggage and bikes on top of the cruisers and headed out for the twelve hour car ride to Solwezi (Ended up getting a flat tire on the way so took us much longer.) My language group consisting of me, nick and joe, visited Bob and Marie, a married couple volunteering in Mufumbwe. Our Tech Trainer (Jocelyn) and our Language teacher (Ba Golden)also came along with us to give us extra training. Our days were packed with language classes and tech work. Got to stake a pond while 30 Zambians watched and laughed at us, and partook in some African singing and dancing. On Saturday we were dropped off at our own new homes for a couple days to get aquainted with our new home. Soon after arriving my counterpart took me around the village introducing me to people. On Sunday I went to all the churches to introduce myself in the local language and on Sunday I visited the proposed fish pond sites and had my first meeting with all the farmers!
I love my new site. I am living in Kawama village, it is 6km off the main road and 20km from town (Mufumbwe). The village only consists of 6 churches and a school. My house is very close to my counterpart, but still far enough away that I have my own space. I live in a 2 room mud hut with a thatched roof. A water source is very close to me and I have phone service at my site! The family that lives right next to me is a mid-thirty year old couple with eight children (and one on the way), 4 teenage girls and 4 little boys. The teenage girls always giggle at my lack of knowing the language and the little boys just stare at me with couriosity. There is one main road around the village that does a huge loop around the village with a big stream that runs through it. Beautiful gardens surround the river. There is a Peace Corps KiKaonde language traineer that currently lives in my village, although he told me that he might be transferring villages. Hopefully he doesn't end up leaving though because i can already tell he would be a big help. He was already able to translate my meeting for me and is willing to help me with my KiKaonde.

Sorry I wasn't able to update more. I love and miss you all! I go back to Chongwe tomorrow for two more weeks of training. Swear in on the 24th then I'm back to my new home in Kawama. I have a new address so send mail that way!!

Kim Tomczak, PCV
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 110264
Solwezi
Zambia
Africa