Flowers and honey


10 Apr 2011 | Chongwe Community , (-15.3292, 28.6726)

Wow, it is already the 9th week and we only have two more to go until we are on our own in the .  This week was a one and flew by with us learning how to process honey (Yum!) and dig a proper garden, which made us all sore afterwards.
Using my new favorite macro lens, I captured this small beetle on the petal of a flower.

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Visiting our new home


03 Apr 2011 | Magalela Village, Zambia (-17.3014, 26.0948)

Part of our training is to prepare us for village but with this and all the previous travel we have done, living this far ‘off the grid’ really was a new experience for us.  Do not get me wrong, spending the 8th week of training in our village was an amazing encounter and we cannot wait until we come to live here permanently.
This is Banene, our counterpart’s 90-year old mother.

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A week of relaxing


27 Mar 2011 | Chalimbana, Chongwe, (-15.3825, 28.6973)

We were fortunate this week in that we found one of the few working pools in Zambia (as some of you may know, Africa is notorious for empty pools) and actually had two days to enjoy swimming it.  Overall, the seventh week of training was a relaxing one and it only helps the days tick by ever more quickly.
Rasa is getting measured for a new dress that she will wear to the swearing-in ceremony.

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Our site assignment and BBQ


20 Mar 2011 | Chalimbana, Chongwe, (-15.3825, 28.6973)

The sixth week of training was a big one for us; we found out our site assignments and had a BBQ party to celebrate our half-way point.  We have also started to explore the local and discovered a great little retreat called Aaron’s Den, which we all enjoyed a bit too much that last Sunday.
All of the ladies are out for a stroll about town and checking us out while we plant trees yet again.  (I think I have mastered the art of digging holes and plopping saplings in them.)

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A week of education


13 Mar 2011 | Chalimbana, Chongwe, Zambia (-15.3825, 28.6973)

Our fifth week of training was devoted to learning how to live in the and about the options available to us for educating basic school in the environment.  One thing became obviously clear, most of our day will be devoted to just sustaining our lives; preparing the fire, cooking, doing dishes, fetching , and laundry (oh, and we will have to do some development work in there as well).

For those who are interested here is a great article on our LIFE program and swearing-in we just completed.

This is a water pump.  Great idea in theory but what happens when you are alone, have no kids to spin the merry-go-round and someone has to hold your jerrycan up to the water?

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