THIS IS IT for Sam's Zambia Experience!

You were the motivation for me to keep publishing posts! THANK YOU very much for visiting my blog! Although I highly doubt that you had nearly as much fun reading it, as I had writing it, I do hope that you enjoyed the posts. Since April, this site received thousands of hits from 61countries.

I hope that through this medium I was able to shed some light on what life in an African country is like, even though this blog may resemble using a match to light a palace. I hope that I shared enough information to reduce common prejudices about places, people and life in an African country, and I hope that I was able to expand your horizons. I hope that you are now more aware and care (more) about life in places that are not “just around the corner”. Finally, I hope that I was able to build up enough interest and/or courage that you may even consider a trip to Zambia, or any other country that seems “so far away and so different”. This trip to Zambia, was certainly an experience of a lifetime, and I'll keep the memories forever.

For those of you who would like to travel, but are not in a position to do that, I hope that at some point in the near future you will be able to travel, and I hope that in the meantime you were able share my experience of life in Zambia.

In closing, I would like to thank my lovely wife Azadeh. Not only has she been volunteered to become an editor, a model and a photographer, but this whole "blog thing" was initially HER idea; and come to think of it, the whole “doing service abroad thing" was also initially HER idea. In other words, without her, I wouldn’t have made it to Africa, and you wouldn’t have been able to read this sentence. THANK YOU AZADEH!

The Birth of an Organization

It’s Official! Azadeh’s inspiration to start her own non-profit organization has turned into reality.

Based on our research (in addition to just seeing the obvious) we felt that there is a significant, unfulfilled need for educational assistance in Zambia. Education Relief Network’s mission is to promote sustainable socio-economic development by facilitating universal access to quality education.

In the immediate future, the objective is to raise funds and sponsor students’ school related fees such as: tuition, uniform (and shoes), and exam fees. If you are interested in contributing, or learning more, please email us at: ERNZambia@gmail.com.

Below is a brief description of the situation of schools in Zambia and our idea on how to improve this situation:

Government (public) schools in Zambia do not have the capacity to educate all of the children in the country. There are enormous areas of the nation (and even large areas of the capital city - Lusaka) which have no government schools. However, even the population that lives in the vicinity of government schools, is often unable to send its’ children to those schools, because of tuition and uniform fees. The fees are in the range of about $25-$100 per semester and the great majority of the people cannot afford to pay that.

As a result, people living in poverty have teamed up and created what they call “community schools”. Most of these “community schools” are in very bad shape (overcrowded and inadequate infrastructure – see pictures). Moreover, even these schools are inaccessible to the most vulnerable children because these kids cannot afford the $5-$20 annual tuition fees that the schools charge.

Observing this situation led us to the idea of establishing an organization that would provide assistance to the most disadvantaged schools and students. We’d like to help build/improve “community schools” and assist students with their fees. In particular, our current focus is students in grade 8 and above, given the following situation: Usually, “community schools” go up to grade 7. Thereafter, students have to switch to (expensive) government schools or QUIT. The fact that students completed seven grades shows dedication and the understanding of how important education is. Further, the switch from community to government schools is truly difficult for most families.

Given that we lived in Zambia, we are planning on "starting" with Zambia, but we are certainly looking forward to becoming involved in other countries/regions in the future.

If you have followed this blog, you may have seen these pictures before. For those of you who have not been following, here are a few examples of “community schools” and the condition they're in:

Double orphans

Students welcoming Azadeh & Co - I wonder how they all fit into the building

A community "school"

This community school is in "pretty good" shape - note: no "real" windows and no electricity

It's All a Dream!

It’s officially been one week now since Azadeh and I left Zambia! I am sad to report that, at this point, it all seems like a dream – (almost) everything has turned from everyday reality into memories – Significant exceptions are the many friendships we have formed and the lessons we learned.

I am back to the “real world” with full force. Although, I am currently in Hungary, visiting my dad, family and friends, I am spending the bulk of my time researching career opportunities. It’s getting too close to “game time” (our return to the US) and I want to hit the ground running. At this point, I am glad to have gotten away from life in the slow lane. I feel like I have just left a busy street with lots of pot holes, lights and heavy traffic, and entered a race track, where it’s just me, my car and no speed limits. I wonder how long this feeling will last - Sooner or later, I’ll likely run out of gas.

Don’t get me wrong. Although, I am happy to be “back”, I MISS ZAMBIA -- a LOT!! There are several things I miss, such as:

• First and foremost, I miss the people(!!!) In particular, I miss:

The little, barefooted kids in the compounds smiling and full of excitement yelling: “Wazungu! Wazungu!” as soon as they discovered us. Once all of the kids within a fifty yard radius gathered around, each one of them asked “How are you?” “How are you?” “How are you?” “How are you?” “How are you?” “How are you?” over and over and over again…. Laughing with full enjoyment every time we responded! I certainly miss those kids!!!!

The newspaper sellers who greeted us every morning on the way to work with big smiles on their faces.

The street vendors who tried to sell anything from fruits and vegetables to games to clothes to household items to puppies (yes you can buy puppies while waiting for the light to turn green).

The “market vendors” who came up with all sorts of reasons why I should buy something that I don’t need or want.

The maids – in particular Idah who helped us for the bulk of the time we were there. We’re particularly happy about having hired her, because we feel that we supported a good cause (her education) and we feel that we were able to mentor her at least at some minimal level.

The PCI Staff – These are the people we spent most of our time with. Without them, we would just have been another “Tourist Muzungu” couple.

Friends who not only were part of our social life, but who also helped us a LOT!! (from teaching us how things work in Zambia, to checking out cars for us, to letting us borrow things,…)

The Garden Girls & (especially) The Bauleni Boys who are an amazing group of youth

The Baha’i Community which is just exceptional!

• Further, I miss being in a situation where I feel I can help people – of course, there is always a way to serve humanity and to help people, but it’s not as “easy” here as it is there, because the “level” and the “visibility” of needs are very different.
• I miss “our” house – It was a small, one-bedroom place on our landlord’s property, but I simply LOVED it! – even with temporary (but frequent) interruptions of power and water and all! (A better working shower, and a bathroom sink that my hands actually fit in would have perfected the place… but then again, nothing is perfect, right?!)
• I miss Nature – although I am arguably in the middle of “nature” as I’m writing this (I don’t think you can name a fruit or vegetable that my dad has not planted on his land), but it’s certainly not the same – there are no lions or leopards here that you can take pictures of – there are no elephants that you can ride on – there are no crocs that you can kiss – there are no snakes that you can hold – there are no monkeys that block the roads – there are no Victoria falls to admire – there are no Cheetahs to nibble on you or scratch you….
• I miss the “positiveness” – Zambians in general are very positive people, especially those living in poverty. It seems that the less they have, the happier they are. The people living in compounds always managed to put a smile on their face when we saw them. People (for the most part) seemed to be thankful for the little they had. Unfortunately, the ones that “had more” were not “as positive” as pride started to play a part, and people appeared to want to “one up” another. I can’t imagine how I am going to feel about this once I get back to the US, in particular Orange County.
• I miss the chaos – Not only do I have to “re-adjust” to driving on the RIGHT side of the road, but I also have to “re-adjust” to actually following traffic rules. It’s amazing how people here actually STOP when the light turns red. I think in Zambia they need to go one step above red – maybe purple?! Another unforgettable experience I’ll miss, that in a way also shows Zambia’s peacefulness, is that an entire group of us was able to fly from Lusaka to Mfuwe and back and stay at a lodge without being asked for any kind identification whatsoever – further, some of us caused the metal detector to go off (at both airports), and no one cared. When was the last time that happened to you?!?!

LESSONS LEARNED in Zambia

There are LOTS of lessons I learned and EXPERIENCED in Zambia. A few examples are:

Patience – Everything was sooooo SLOW and sooooo LATE. In the beginning, I couldn’t help but explode due to frustration, but gradually, I became immune and developed a lot of patience, particularly for things that weren’t under my control.

Be Thankful and stay Positive – Life is NOT a competition!!! That does not mean that one should not pursue one’s dreams or try to improve oneself – it simply means that jealousy and pride are not healthy!

Things aren’t always as they appear – One of our friends sponsored a kid’s school tuition – just to find out later that the kid dropped out of school. Needless to say, our friend became very disappointed and considered quitting sponsorships! However, upon questioning the boy about the reasons, it turned out that it wasn’t the kid’s choice to drop out – The mother decided that it was more important to use the “tuition assistance” to provide food for the family. Although our friend thinks that this was the “wrong” decision, he can’t help but accept it, learn from it, and more importantly appreciate the truthfulness of the boy and his mom. When he sponsors kids now, he pays the school directly, in an effort to prevent these kinds of issues.

Communication – There are plenty of examples that truly show the importance of this. One simple one is related to the example above. If that same mother would have communicated the family’s situation to our friend – whether directly or through her son – there would have been plenty of ways to solve the issue of insufficient income without causing the son to fall back an entire year.

LIVE YOUR LIFE – After my experience of living in Zambia, I can’t help but notice how “attached” most people are to their paychecks and to their lifestyles. In the US, for example, it is common to work (at LEAST 40 hours) per week. Further, it is not uncommon to see that people even work on their days off. On average, employees get two weeks vacation, maybe three, if they are lucky. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that lifestyle. However, it is important to note that this is a CHOICE or simply an OPTION for most people, and I don’t think that most people see it as such. “Alternative options” may mean less income, which may mean “fewer” material goods or less certainty or “alternative options” may mean taking on a higher level of risk with a potential of making more money. The important lesson here, and likely the most important one I learned through my experience in Zambia is this: It is imperative to consciously make decisions about one’s lifestyle! What is HAPPINESS worth to you?

Good Bye Zambia!

It’s been over two weeks since I published a post, mainly due to “technical difficulties” at work. Since our return from South Africa, PCI has experienced significant Internet connection issues. When we were lucky, Internet worked once a day for about 10 minutes... In addition, for the last 5 days or so, the phones were dead. The entire organization had to rely on one phone line and no internet connection. Can you imagine running a business under these circumstances?

The main subject of this post, however, is not related to “technical” difficulties. I’d like to describe our last day in Lusaka. We were hoping to be able to relax, reflect and say our good-byes in peace. That was certainly not the case.

Early in the morning we “moved” for the fourth time in less than 8 months. At around 9:30 (please don’t tell our boss J ) we finally arrived at the office, and received the “big news” of the day; A friend of ours tried, but was unable to do us a favor, and we had to figure out how to go about it. Guardian Insurance Brokers, who provided excellent service us, issued us a refund for the unused portion of our policy. Supposedly, this is unheard of in Zambia. Within our network, not a single person has ever heard about an Insurance company giving cash refunds. The fact that they issued a refund is only the tip of the level of service they provided. Here are further details:

As we didn’t have a bank account in Zambia, we would have had trouble cashing a check, so they agreed to write a check in a friend’s name. Unfortunately, that friend was unable to cash the check due to bank issues, so we decided to take the check back to the insurance company, explain the situation, and see if they can do anything. Astonishingly, they agreed to cash the check for us, and asked us to come back in the afternoon. When we arrived in the afternoon to pick up the cash, the owner of the brokerage invited us to his office for a little chat. We learned that he is a very active member of the Lion’s club, and we talked about a few of their projects. Once (too much) time passed Mr. Chiti, personally, called the accountant who had gone to the bank to cash the check, to see where she is, and it turned out that she forgot to take the check with her. Upon hearing that, and knowing our situation (of leaving the country the day after), the Chief Executive took out his wallet, and paid us cash directly. We were very pleasantly surprised. Although I have been quite happy with our Insurance companies in the US, I haven’t heard a story quite like this one. As a thank you, I have provided their contact information on the sidebar of this blog. If you are or will be in Zambia, and need insurance, call Mr. Chiti!!

On the way to the insurance company, we had another EXPERIENCE!!! We were pulled over - for what, I’m not sure. I think for having a clean car J. It’s interesting how it works here. Traffic police generally do not drive cars, so they physically jump in front of the vehicle (while it is driving at full speed until the driver reacts – In other words, the officers risk their lives).We were driving behind a car, following it safely, and going exactly as fast as it did. The car in front did not get pulled over, but we did… hmmm … wonder why J So the officer comes up to the car and says something to the effect of “Nice Car!” As soon as he said that, I regretted asking the PCI gardener to clean it that morning (to help him raise some money on the side). Anyway, the officer further asked for my driver’s license and asked what I do in Zambia. I told the officer that it was not my car (not a lie as I had sold it J). Then I gave him the story of how we are volunteers for one NGO and started another NGO. Unfortunately, he still figured we have money (maybe I should have taken off my rings J). He said: “That’s 275 (thousand kwacha)”. No reason was given for why we were pulled over or why we had to pay this amount. I took out my wallet, and confidently showed him that I had less than 5 thousand Kwacha and I told him that I am leaving the country the following day. Given that I was not speeding, and did not do anything else wrong (other than driving a clean car), I had a feeling that he just wanted some lunch money. Sure enough, he went back to discuss this further with a colleague of his, came back and sent me off…. I got lucky! From what I hear, some of our friends that were pulled over for similar “offenses” (driving a clean car) had to pay on average 50 pin (50,000 Kwacha).

WHAT A DAY!

Given that I am now in Hungary, and have a SOLID internet connection (after 7 months I feel like I am in internet heaven), I plan on writing a couple more blogs related to Zambia, and then figure out whether or not to continue this blog.

Country running out of fuel!

After two fantabulous weeks in South Africa, we came back to the “Real World”, with a big surprise waiting for us. We got a hint of what is going on, on the last day in Johannesburg. I got in touch with Adrian, who was supposed to pick us up from the airport, only to find out that he is unable to do that, because he cannot find fuel. When was the last time that happened to you? I was more than a little surprised, but after our arrival in Lusaka, we just took a cab home. The driver shed a little more light on the situation. We heard that the shortage started a week before our arrival.

I’m told that refineries have shut down, and fuel (the finished product) can be imported duty free (usually there is a 25% tax). However, given that Zambia is a landlocked country, and (from what I hear) most fuel will be imported from South Africa, it may take a while for enough fuel to arrive to normalize the situation.

Azadeh and I sold our CRV just before our departure to South Africa, but agreed with the buyer that we’d be able to use the car for the two weeks that we’ll be back in Zambia. Unfortunately, due to the crisis, the buyer was unable to put fuel in the car, and we received the car with almost no gas in it. We had to start strategizing on how to handle logistics.

Yesterday, we caught a ride to the Supermarket with our lunch caterers. On the way there, we saw a fuel truck at a gas station. We jumped out of the car and hurried to the BP station in Kabulonga – without a car and without a canister - I was going to figure out something… Also, sure enough, we weren’t the only people that spotted the truck, as a huge line had already formed. People started pushing around, cutting in line, and paying off security guards to get a better position. I was told that “on average” people wait two to three hours at gas stations, and sometimes still don’t get gas. I started walking around the gas station and strategizing what to do. A taxi driver was wondering what I am doing at the gas station without a car or a canister, and asked if I needed a ride somewhere. I told him that I am not there to look for a cab, and that I needed gas. He called over a friend who offered me 20 liters of petrol (the max 1 person can get these days) at a price of 200 pin (200,000 Zambian Kwacha, which with the current exchange rate is around $45), which is over 70% over the “market price” – I was “guaranteed” gas, and I would not have had to stand in line at all. I quickly calculated the premium he demanded, and I figured he deserved every bit of it. However, the question becomes whether or not I should support a black market. We did end up getting gas, but not without standing in line.

For me this gas shortage is the first experience of its kind and magnitude - An ENTIRE COUNTRY running out of fuel. The closest thing to this was Hurricane Katrina, but (with respect to fuel) that was only an issue for a couple of days (for me), not weeks! At work, there are plenty of theories how and why this happened, and plenty of politicians are being pointed at. From my point of view, this is nothing short of unbelievable. I have no idea how and why this happened, but this happened without any warning to the people, which is just mind boggling to me. Somebody had to see this coming. Some colleagues and friends expect this situation to continue for another three weeks, but I hope that won’t be the case. I am curious to see how this crisis affects the economy.

Tourist Destination Cape Town

For those of you who haven’t had the chance to visit Cape Town: It’s an amazing tourist destination! It offers something for everyone. Below are the activities that I have participated in:

Robben Island – Not very exciting, but a “historical must”. The island houses the prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in imprisonment and many other political prisoners were held there as well. One of them gave us the tour of the prison.

Cage Diving – This is very likely "the" highlight of this trip. Being inches away from great white sharks is just amazing. In one case, one of the sharks even bit the cage, and I’m very happy not to have been in the cage at that time ;) Unfortunately, I took several pictures with an under-water camera, and have not developed the film yet (when was the last time you had to develop a film???) so the pictures I am sharing are a few of the ones I took from the boat.

Table Mountain – Breathtaking views from the top of the mountain! Given that the table is “flat” on top, one can walk around and get pretty close to a 360 degree view.

Canal Walk & Tyger Valley – Both malls are serious competition for any mall in the US. I still think the Galleria in Houston is #1, but I find these malls are more “modern”.

Garden Route – Due to bad weather and plenty of construction, we spent a whole day driving. Views are nice (here and there “spectacular”), but overall, I feel it’s overrated. However, if we wouldn’t have made the trip out here, we would have missed out on the following:

Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Center – They house different types of cats, but for me the highlights were the Cheetahs. We were allowed to play with two of them… We had the option of also going on a walk with Cheetahs, but decided against it, given other priorities. Handling Cheetahs was another major highlight of this trip!

Monkeyland – Not quite up to expectations, as they didn’t have “big monkeys”, but something to do nonetheless.

Please note that these activities are just a “fraction” of what there is to do around here.

Enjoy the pictures:

The former political prisoner that gave us the tour of the prison at Robben Island

Cage Diving among Great White Sharks

We were told that on average they were roughly 4 meters, which is more than double my size

A view of Table Mountain and part of the city from the way to Robben Island

Views from the top

Pointing out where I'd like to be next year - inside the stadium :)

Canal Walk food court with huge TV

Canal Walk from the outside

A fully grown Cheetah at Tenikwa

Azadeh petting a Cheetah - I'm proud of her :)

A cat nibbling on me

Monkeyland

Mom taking care of baby

King Julien

South Africa - First Impression

So we finally made it to South Africa, with our expectations through the roof. They were so high, that S.A. was bound to disappoint us, and sure enough … it did … at least initially.

Not So Good Start

Days before the trip, Interlink Airlines cancelled our flight, which caused us to have to spend a day in Jo’burg, and also caused us to spend roughly $300 more on a hotel in Cape Town for spending one night less. Note to self – Do NOT book with Interlink ever again – After this happened to us, I heard similar stories from others about their Interlink experiences in South Africa. Second note to self: Don’t trust that the Hotels.com agent knows what s/he is doing. If he (in this case it was a guy) was following proper procedures, we wouldn’t have had to pay $300 more. However, we couldn’t “prove” that the agent didn’t follow procedures (I assume I need to start recording conversations to ensure proper customer service), and hence we had the option of cancelling our booking free of charge, which would cost us significantly more on another hotel, or we could accept the offer of roughly $300 in different forms of discounts and an apology, but still pay $300 more than originally planned for staying a night less. Hotels.com – Usually, they are pretty good, if not excellent, but this time they did BAD, REALLY BAD.

Awesome Scenery & Good Food

Now, to the bright side – From what we’ve seen, Johannesburg and Cape Town are not really Africa as I would have imagined. These two cities (not sure what the rest of the country is like) are extremely developed, and seem to be a cross between Europe and the US. Cape Town, in particular, reminds me of a cross between San Diego (La Jolla in particular) and Laguna Beach. It offers absolutely breathtaking views, especially because Table Mountain is on one side, and amazing beaches on the other.

We plan on participating in several activities, and hopefully I’ll be able to write about them in my next post. So far, I can tell you that it felt good visiting good restaurants after a looong time:

Zorba’s: Nice Steak and Seafood House – After the appetizer (Great calamari - likely the best I’ve had), I enjoyed a 400g steak with potatoes and Mushroom sauce. It’s been a long time, and it was NICE.

Quay 4: Nice Fish & chips and nice location – Usually fish & chips are nothing to write home about, but in this case it is J

Next on the list is sushi – likely tomorrow night.

Lessons Of Zambia

I must say that I miss Zambia very much, and I can tell that Zambia has taught me several lessons. Here are a few of them:

Appreciation for food – I take special care not to waste food after seeing and spending time with people who are unable to eat “regularly”.

Patience – We planned on visiting Robben Island yesterday – the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for the great majority of his imprisonment – and the company cancelled the trip due to “wind”, which resulted in several hundred people forming a line to either reschedule or to get a refund. “Pre-Zambia” I would have gone through the roof – We wasted a few hours waiting for the trip, then standing in line for an hour or so to go on the trip, and finally standing in line for another hour or so to get a refund. I was quite amazed at myself of how I have become much more patient.

Appreciation for luxuries in life – Let’s face it – although I am disappointed with the “logistical parts of the trip” – flight, hotel & rental car – I am more than grateful for being able to enjoy such a vacation. Further, I actually appreciate the “little things in life” such as freeways and smooth roads for example.

I Miss Zambia!

From what we have seen so far, I must say that I find the people of Zambia MUCH more friendly, relaxed, open and hospitable. I wonder whether that has to do with the fact that South Africa is a more developed nation, or with historic events, or...

Further, we have been told that South Africa is “the” place to go shopping in Africa, and Azadeh got very excited about that. Once we arrived, we noticed that a lot of similar and sometimes even the same items (clothes, books, arts & crafts,…) are much more expensive than in Zambia. From bookstores in malls to arts and crafts markets, the difference in price is tremendous, often double or more (especially for arts and crafts, but also for books). However, the one benefit of having visited the arts and crafts market here in Cape Town is seeing the “Egg Man” in Green Market Square. He is a guy from Benin that I read about on the plane. He is one of the attractions not unlike the naked cowboy is in New York. Rather than being naked, this guy is known for his headwear – 22 pounds from what I remember.

Here are some pictures we took in the last few days:

The view from our original hotel room

Me & The Chief

Beauty in a beautiful place!!

Nice Scenery

Does this remind you of Laguna Beach?

Getting ready for 2010!!!

Mr. Egg Man in Cape Town