Over and Out

     "How do you get HIV?" An important question when you live in a country with one of the highest HIV rates in the world. It's one of the basic questions I ask when teaching about HIV/AIDS. This particular time I was teaching a one day Girls Workshop at my farthest school, Nyansowe. We covered the basics: how you can get HIV, what HIV does to your immune system complete with a lions and elephants game demonstrating how HIV makes your immune system weaker and then the lions can get the baby elephant), and ended with some common myths and misconceptions about HIV. At the end we opened for questions. I thought I had heard most the misconceptions. Here are a couple examples: you can get HIV by sleeping in the same bed, sharing a toothbrush, holding hangs, kissing, etc... But one of the young girls raised her hand and asked "Is it true you can get HIV from eating fritters?". I have learned not to be shocked by the things I experience in this country but this question still dug through that layer. I looked around the classroom and realized so many of them were waiting for the verdict - fritters safe or infected with HIV. Someone previously had passed through their village and passed along the wrong information telling them fritters could have HIV if the person making them had HIV. But dang. I find it hard to understand having such a lack to information that you cannot even figure out how to keep yourself from deadly diseases like HIV or malaria. At times I have "what the heck am I doing here" moments. Now when I get to that point it's often the fritter question girl that I think about.
         "Could you ever live here?" Put yourself standing in the main room in my hut surrounded by children from the Mine International School. Children from all over the world - Australia, New Zealand, England, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. One of the teachers had just asked this question to the kids standing in my hut. I got one very enthusiastic yes, one yes maybe and the rest no's, especially when they realized I had no lights meaning no electricity and therefore no television. But really can't blame them not sure what my response would have been at their age back in my under 10 years. My adventurous side probably would have jumped at the opportunity but do think at that age I was still quite rooted at home. The International School children were  visiting my hut on the way to Nyansowe, the school I mentioned in my first story up there). In a previous blog post I talked about the reading program that I do out at that school in conjunction with the Mine Women's Charity Tedekala (spelling). So last Tuesday the International School kids and their teachers ran the show.
        They read a story out of one of those giant books we used to have in elementary school during story time that are blown up it must be 5 to 10 times their regular size. The book was perfect "We Are All Alike, We Are All Different". I already mentioned the nationalities of the children from the International School but during class they introduced themselves and where they were from. Then the book reading began read by one of the mine teachers and then translated into Kaonde for the village kids. We were teaching grade 3 and grade 4s this morning. General book summary we are all people and similar in many ways but we all have different backgrounds, interests, and lifestyles. Then the International children taught them Chinese ropes, Hokey Dokey (apparently not Hokey Pokey in New Zealand), and some games with tennis balls. It brought cultural exchange to a new level from my previous pen-paling experiences. It also brought me to the realization that Zambia has to a large degree become my 'norm'. I'm used the the quiet classroom where children listen when you tell them 'voices out', used to children sitting and listening and copying from the board, and used to them never asking questions even when you really try to pry them out of them. The affluent International kids were full of questions, way more energy, shorter attention spans, and understood my English. Culture shock t-minus 9 months here I come!
        I wrote up this blog post in my hut and now typing it up a couple days later. I PICK UP MY PARENTS TONIGHT!!!!!!!!! I've had a countdown going since well way too long ago. That's right my chalkboard countdown is now down to 0 DAYS!!! for the parents. 8 days for Heather, Laura, and Matthew, and 14 for Kilimanjaro!!!! Oh and 2 days and I turn quarter of a century!! Getting old. Well it's an exciting month!!! On that note. Over and Out.