Halfway there

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." - JRR Tolken

With the arrival, and soon departure of October, I am proud to say that I have now been a resident in my village for over a year - and in Zambia for fifteen months. Scary to think back a year ago to what was going through my mind when I first arrived in this country. How all of my curiosities, anxieties and awes have now been converted into routine. A lot has changed since my early Zam-days, and I find myself being asked to host training events and site visits for the rookies that are just starting their two year journey in Zambia. The service of a volunteer is a short lived adventure that slips away sooner then one can envision.

My fish farming work has nearly completed its seasonal cycle as harvest occur and ponds begin to dry up. I had some good outcomes, bad outcomes, and some regretful outcomes. Frustrating experiences, successful experiences and tragic ones. But through all the gain and loss and through every trial and tribulation, I've learned a fair share of lessons, and nothing teaches you more thoroughly then personal experience -God does it teach you!. Some of my best fish ponds harvested 20 plus KG's of fish while some of my worst hardly did 2. If I had another 3 years in the village I feel that my progress in aiding development could be much more substantial and felt- but I only have 1. That 1 year is my second and final chance to do all I can to help the people of my village to learn and believe in fish farming as a reliable source of income generation. 

My secondary projects have been a good compliment to my fish farming work and a good reliever when I needed a change of atmosphere. One of the better things about this job is its variety and dynamic. One day i'm a fish farmer, and the next i'm a camp counselor. I've partaken in turkey rearing, compost teaching, village technology creation, AIDS education and youth development and all have gone well aside from some trouble with raising baby turkeys, but no where will you find a claim that I ever knew anything about turkeys to begin with. It has been a frustrating endeavor solely based on trial and error, with heavy emphasis on the error.

In my last year, I plan on doing it big. I've recently applied and been approved for a government grant that provides me with funding needed to teach farmers how to produce their own fish feed. One area of improvement that I've been interested in seeing develop is fish size. Remembering back to my days at San Diego Hydroponics when one of my duties was to manage and feed Tilapia, I recall some of the impressive lengths that the fish grew to and most was credited to consistent feeding. My farmers here don't do anything of the sort. Since our training a year ago, we were told to teach our farmers to fertilize their ponds with Nitrogen, Phosphorus and potassium ( manure, dead leaves and ash) on a daily/weekly basis. This in turn creates a plankton bloom which in turn accounts for 70% of the fish's diet, and that (we were also told) should be good enough. But I wanted to account for the remaining 30% and make a bigger more sell-able fish through supplemental fish feeding that farmers could produce themselves. Bigger fish equal more food and more money - as anyone can point out. After drafting and submitting the idea, the grant was approved and low and behold, I woke up one morning with 4,000 USD in my account - Whoa. Technically the grant doesn't commence until December but lots of preparations and leg work must be done before the majority of the mass purchasing can begin responsibly. There will be many sleepless nights lulling over details and logistics until it is finally said and done, and that won't be till August.

Other then stressing out about monitoring and ensuring that all the grant funds are being put to good use, I am also looking forward to this years camp ELITE. For those of you who may have missed that BLOG. Camp ELITE is a boys camp that teaches adolescence boys valuable life skills such as leadership, cooperation, and equality. Its just like summer camp back in the states - only shorter. This year I have taken on the role as program coordinator and am in charge of the camp scheduling and organization. A big job to say the least which will also be grant funded with many government organizations involved and community partners that will participate. Last year was a great first go and this year I hope will be even better. 

Aside from work, since I've been doing all too much of that lately, I plan on doing a better job with leisure activities this year. Thus far, I have taken essentially no vacation time since I've been here. Within country I've done a fair share of travel, but to neighboring countries, I've visited zero - aside from a brief entry into Zimbabwe. The majority of Volunteers that have only recently flown into country have been to more countries then me and I'm ashamed to tell others of how little I've ventured outside of Zambia. On the 'to do' list before this time next year: Malawi, Zanzibar(Tanzania) and Namibia - Mt. Kilimanjaro would be nice also, but I'm not holding my breath. 

Only a week ago I said good bye to some really great volunteers who have just completed their 2 year service. Some were happy, others sad but they all shared one thing in common, and that was how baffled they were as to how abruptly their service came to an end. Many didn't even have a game plan for what they were going to do when they got back home. This next year, I look forward to lots of work, fun and improvements from the last, but it will also bring thoughts of what life after peace corps will entail. Its very likely that an extension job here will lure me to stay another year. Perhaps in the village, or perhaps in another position in the capital. Only time will tell which road I will choose. And then there is always that tempting opportunity to attend graduate school, especially as the US economy continues to struggle. One things for sure - Peace Corps has offered me many new opportunities. Many more then what was available to me only a year ago. 

As November approaches with the coming of my 30th birthday, so does a visit from my sister. It will be the first time I've seen her in 15 months and it will be intriguing to see how each of us has been effected by our services. She too is a Peace Corps volunteer in South America (Paraguay) and serves at a post that is much different from the rural bush of Zambia with far more amenities that I lack. I have faith that she will enjoy herself and adapt, but am eager to break her into the hard ways of Zambian life - the 'Real Peace Corps' as its been named here. She will no doubt go through many of the same surprises and shocks that I had once experienced and just acknowledging her unfamiliarity to my acceptance of everyday life will do well in helping me see how far along I've actually come in my year stint here. I look forward to her visit.

Well, right now, i'm fortunate enough to be laying in an air conditioned room in the capital preparing late at night for my mid service interview tomorrow with some of the higher ups of Peace Corps who are in charge of monitoring and evaluating our progress (my boss). Its an exciting time where we see all the other volunteers we came into country with, see how we've all changed and managed, share stories and plan for the upcoming year. I'm putting in an effort to really take in this midway mark as I've been told that from here on out, time begins to accelerate even faster. I can only hope the opposite as I dread the day when I will finally have to leave this country for good. But in the meantime - Bring on the next chapter.