The Accident

During one of our visits to Solwezi we unfortunately saw a terrible accident. It was Mid May 2010 and we were on the side of the main road trying to hitch a ride back to our village. We were stationed in front of a church and the locals had just ended their service and were in front of the church greeting each other. There were many people there enjoying the wonderful afternoon. As we were watching the approaching traffic, we saw one car coming and it pulled off the road toward us and then turned toward the church into the crowd of people. Instead of stopping it accelerated right into the crowd. We saw it hit a number of people. It was an awful sight! The car rolled over and then the people pulled the driver from the car. Since I was by the roadside I flagged down a car and told him to get the police. There were so many people all around and we were not sure what they would do so Bob said we should get out of there. We got a ride back toward town and good thing because we heard that the people got out of control. They basically started a riot. The police came and shot into the air and used tear gas but the people burned the car and even started throwing rocks at random cars passing so the road was closed and we had to go back to the house for another night.

Bi-Election in Mufumbwe

We sure found out what an election can do to a village! In April 2010 there was a lot of campaigning going on because of a bi-election. The MP (member of Parliament) in our district died not too long ago so his seat was open. MMD has been the ruling party here for many years and the opposition party UPND has been campaigning hard recently. We even had a visit to our local village from the Vice President of Zambia. Often the campaigners will come thru the villages and give away things like hats, chitenges (womens wrap arounds), bikes and even money. So people are glad to receive these things but may not be loyal to the party giving them. We also had fighting in our village. Some members of the UPND party (most were from outside of our area) created a fire over our main road and then used catapults (slingshots) to shoot rocks at cars travelling over the road. They damaged a number of vehicles. So now the police come and use their weapons to fire into the air and they also used tear gas. Many of the locals were fearful so they ran into the bush (their fields) to hide. The police then went around thru the village looking for those who have been known affiliates of the opposition party and arrested them all. One of these was my neighbor. She was not involved in any fighting but was found in her house. She was taken away. Some days later there was more fighting in Mufumbwe, our Boma (27K away from our village). For safety and security reasons, Peace Corps came and picked me up to take me to our provincial house until after the madness ended. I really didn't feel threatened but things could have definitely got out of hand.

Pictures

I know a lot of you have been waiting to see some pictures. You can check out all of our photos here. http://s880.photobucket.com/home/mrsather

There will be plenty more to follow.

Off on Vacation

Bob and I are off on an African Safari to Chobe National Park tomorrow (Jan 29). We will stay there for 2 nights and three days. Keep us in your prayers as we embark on this great adventure. We will let you know how it goes!

Greetings from Zambia! We just finished training in Lusaka. We did receive some great information about how we can work in our villages. We also had a counterpart (local villager who we work with) join us for some of the training. It is a great opportunity for a local Zambian learn more about what the Peace Corps is all about. Especially that we are not in country to give away things but to educate and impart knowledge so that our projects are sustainable. Bob and I are excited because on Jan 27 we will take some vacation days and visit Livingstone which is home to Victoria Falls and also take our first Safari at Chobe National Park in Botswana. Hopefully we will see some real African Wildlife.

Since we were gone from our village for the Christmas and New Years holiday it was a bit distressing to return and have the villagers ask "give us New Years or Christmas". Meaning they want something. This time of year people lack food and money so it is tough.

Thanks to those who have sent packages. We surely appreciated your kindness. We have enjoyed the treats and I have started to share some of the books with the children. They are so happy to color or look at pictures of things they never have the opportunity to see. It is sad but even though they are supposed to learn English in school, someone in 8th grade has a hard time reading primary books. And what they do read, they don't understand the stories, they just read words.

The village is beginning to feel like home more and more. We have met many people and now many use our names which is a lot better than being called "Mazungo" which basically means person who speaks English or white person.

We will let you know how our trip goes! Don't forget to send us mail, we love letters and promise to write back