http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/DavidDamberger/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from DavidDamberger en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:31:54 +0000 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:31:54 +0000 You must have changed Changed Me Really You think Just a few minutes ago I was bumping along riding in the back of what was my last trip in the back of a maize filled pickup truck going from a Zambian village into town overstuffed with people and goats one of which had a lazy eye and was nicely nuzzling into my lap and chewing on a maize sack trying to score himself an early lunch. One o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-287884.html Three days ago the President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa declared that the country is officially in the midst of a national disaster due to the severe hunger problem. Reports are stating that almost 2 million Zambians out of a total of 11.5 million are going to be short of food this year and the main culprit behind the hunger situation was drought. Being the good little global citizens that you a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-28912.html In Southern Province of Zambia the majority of the people here are of a certain tribe called the Tongans there are 72 other tribes in Zambia. Tongan is a culture that I have immersed myself in a language I have learnt to speak and a people of whom I have become so attached. Culture is a very deep concept and it would take hundreds of pages to just scratch the surface of it but Irsquove writ http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-28920.html Happy Thanksgiving EveryoneI hope that you all were able to celebrate a wonderful thanksgiving this past weekend with many loved friends and family. Now when all of you were sitting down about to stuff your faces with as much Turkey Tofurkey that would fit in your bellies you probably asked yourself ldquommm I wonder what people in Zambia do for thanksgivingrdquo Well the obvious ans http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-22943.html So I think I mentioned it in an earlier message but Irsquove had quite a few interesting roommates living with me here in Choma. The most consistent of which has been Lizzy the red nosed lizard who frequents my sink on quite a regular basis. I actually really enjoy having Lizzy around because not only is he someone to talk to on lonely nights but he also is great at catching and eating those http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-19497.html I SCORED MY FIRST GOAL PLAYING FOOTBALL IN ZAMBIA TODAYIronically enough it was the first time I decided to culturally integrate a step further by taking off my shoes and play barefoot on the jaggedy rock covered field just like all the other guys http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-19574.html Well I have finally returned back home to Choma and been here for almost a month. It feels like I sort of had to redo the process of settling back into the life here and reintegrating with the culture because the roots I grew in my first month werenrsquot strong enough to keep me grounded during my time away. However the process has been moving forward and things are starting to settle down.I a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-19374.html So the first day when I have arrived here in Zimbabwe I made a call back to Zambia to check on the status on of my work permit. The answer that was given to me was that it was almost ready and that I should check back tomorrow. So I spent the day doing a blitz tour of Harare quickly getting a small feel for Zimbabwe and then the next day with my bag packed I gave a call to Zambia. But when I http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/Harare/blog-14237.html So I'm still here in Zim drinking a hot cup of tea because the African winter is just settling in and believe it or not itrsquos cold enough that I can see my breath in the mornings. I remain in exile from under the information that my Zambian work permit should be ready tomorrow. However this is the exact same information that I was told when I was deported so I am now defining the term t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/Harare/blog-14234.html Although Irsquove refrained from mentioning anything since Irsquove arrived here over 3 months ago Irsquove been having a few problems getting the necessary fulltime work permit that allows me to legally live and volunteer here in Zambia. See in Zambia you are allowed to stay in the country as a volunteer for a total of 3 months for free. After that you either need to get a work permit o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-14233.html Romantic Zambia Becoming a woman for a dayThe purpose of this day was for me to start to get a bit of a feel for some of the typical tasks that a woman in Zambia does everyday. Just as how it takes an enormous amount of time and effort to deeply integrate fully into a culture it also will take a lot more then spending a single day doing a few tasks that women do everyday to really understand wha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-14232.html Well itrsquos been almost a month since I last wrote and since I have arrived here in this small town named Choma my home. It has been a crazy month of new experiences wonderful new friends and now highly raised expectations.Choma is a town located on the main southern Zambian highway linking the two big centers of Lusaka and Livingstone. Upon first sight the town doesnrsquot seem like mu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-14152.html Journal Entry 3 Life in Livingstone So after my two weeks of training in Mazabuka I was off to the tourist capital of Zambia Livingstone. I have been there for the past two weeks again learning about opeating a development field office after which I've come back to the capital Lusaka for a final debrief. Finally tomorrow I will be off to my home the small town where I will be living worki http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Livingstone/blog-8882.html Development Point Sleeping With the Enemy AAAHHHH CHHHUUUU I wildly awoke myself from my deep slumber with a giant sneeze. I pondered for a second on why it was so dry in the air around me. It only took a second to shake off my sleepy haze to remember that it was the 1600 25kg bags of mealie meal that I was sharing this little house with. Mealie meal is the flour like ground up maize powder u http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Livingstone/blog-8880.html So despite my attempts to try and enlighten people about the side of Africa that isnrsquot typically heard or seen there are some things here that are heard about that are pretty damn amazing.Definitely one of the most spiritually profound and energy uplifting experiences Irsquove ever had was standing directly in front of the 1700m long over100m high beautifully magnificent Victoria falls http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Livingstone/blog-8876.html Twambo Time David MuungaSteve Simon and myself spent a crazy day biking out into the bush in an attempt to get to a farmers group meeting we had organized. It had just rained two days before the first day itrsquos really rained since Irsquove been here which Irsquoll talk more about later and many of the dirt paths we were weaving through were still quite muddy. Because the rains had be http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-6369.html Some of you are more familiar with the work Irsquom going to be doing here as compared to others so I will try and catch everyone up to speed. For those of you who already know what Irsquom doing or arenrsquot that interested in my actual work you can skip to the next journal entry describing my arrival in Zambia and my impressions from my first week here. I am working as an Engineers With http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-4484.html My journey begun not in Zambia but in Canada for three intense weeks of preparation. One week in Vancouver for the Engineers Without Borders conference and two weeks in Toronto. During this time I went through a mind expanding overseas development training course. Now although I had already had taken courses in development studies in University personally studied and taught development at the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-4485.html Mwabonwa Bwenzuma lsquoGreetings Friendsrsquo in TongaIt is update time again and I must say that Irsquove really enjoyed my inaugural first Zambian weeks in Lusaka. It has offered me an initial comparative illustration between the very different lifestyles afforded by people in this humbly sprawling city. I saw and met people living what is termed here as ldquothe high liferdquo affo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-6364.html Development Point Urban MigrationA major issue in the many developing world countries is something called urban migration. This is basically when massive amounts of people living in the rural areas canrsquot find work mainly on the farms and believe that if they move to the big city they will be able to somehow find work so they can send the money they earn back home for their families. The p http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-6367.html