http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Ed-Martin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Ed Martin en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:21:08 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:21:08 +0000 I suppose itrsquos time I introduce my home and host family. Chibote is a periurban village about 11 km outside of Kitwe Zambiarsquos second biggest city and the location of ZATACrsquos regional office. I met my host family the Kalombwanas through my work in the community with ZATAC. They have been incredibly welcoming to this nave muzungu from Canada. The size of the Kalombwana fam http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Kitwe/blog-145069.html Do you remember that time when I mentioned that I lived in a city called Kitwe and worked for an organization called ZATAC Yeah so thatrsquos not so accurate any more. Itrsquos a fairly long and boring story but basically the situation was that the EWBZATAC partnership on this project was such that EWB i.e. me wasnrsquot in a position to be able to add much value to the project. Firs http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-145089.html Today March 1st is EWB Day. EWB chapter members all across Canada will be pulling off fantastic feats of outreach to promote this year's EWB Day theme Be Change. Please go to playyourpart.ca to show your support and learn more about it.In commemoration of EWB Day here is a short story about beer and integration in Zambia. Chibuku Shake Shake The One that Gives You Respect. That's the taglin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-134038.html All it took was three months in Africa to transform me into an outlaw.It all started during my first week in Zambia. I had made getting my Work Permit which allows me to stay and work in Zambia for up to two years my number one priority. EWB volunteers have a long history of pain and suffering at the hands of Zambiarsquos Immigration Office. I was determined to get this out of the way right at http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-104331.html With many field visits and days in the office under my belt it was time to crank it up a notch and spend some quality time in a village. Village stays are a valuable way to build trust with farmers gain insight to the challenges faced by the farmers collect valuable information for the evaluation of the project to date and have a great cultural experience. I am after all working in rural dev http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Kitwe/blog-92949.html Working with Engineers Without Borders one might expect me to be designing solar ovens or installing wells or developing new technology for Zambiarsquos development. But thatrsquos not how we roll.We focus on building the capacity of local organizations. This essentially means that we help organizations who are already on the ground do their jobs better. In my case EWB has partnered with the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Kitwe/blog-88092.html ldquoMuzungurdquoI hear this shouted wherever I go. Muzungu is a term that Zambians use for white people. It is not insulting or racist. In fact it is usually said with a smile sometimes followed by laughter. ldquoZidanerdquoThis is something else that gets yelled at me while walking the streets. Apparently Zambians think that I bear a strong resemblance to Zinedine Zidane a French fo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Kitwe/blog-80076.html