Got an itch

Today we went to Nangweshi in the Shangombo province. Here we found no electricity and no running water. When we pulled into the guest house where we were staying, I have to admit it became crystal clear to me that we were staying in the least developed part of Zambia that I had yet visited.

We each had a small hut and inside the hut I found a bed, a TV (that did not work), a table and a large mosquito net (torn) partially covering my bed. Beyond that, I had several unexpected roommates as there were many creatures in the room moving about – a lizard, a few spiders, plenty of mosquitoes, a few flies and at least 2 visible cockroaches scurrying across the floor. I had not had so many simultaneous roommates since the dormitory at my prep school had a massive sleepover for all the boarding students in the TV area.

While there was still sunlight, I decided to hang my own personal mosquito net that I was traveling with (which had no holes) and to unroll my sleeping sheet (like a sleeping bag, but only a sheet). It was so warm in the sun-drenched hut that sleeping with any more than a sheet was unfathomable. In fact, I had only used my sleeping sheet once before on this trip, but it was clear by the state of the sheets that were on the bed, my own personal sleeping sheet was going to get some use here. We had planned on staying two nights here.

For dinner, we had a choice of meat, which I assumed to be beef on a bone, and nshima. I had consumed a sufficient amount of nshima already and did not feel like eating it again and so I asked – ok begged – for some rice. They delivered and I happily cracked a can of tuna and ate it with my rice. I shared a couple beers with some of my travel companions while we ate in virtual darkness.

In the middle of taking a bite of my tuna and rice, some local boys started speaking loudly – almost aggressively - to me. I asked them what they were saying. “Hey muzungu! You don’t like nshima?” I tried to explained that I had eaten nshima for 4 nights in a row and was simply tiring of it. They continued with their line of questioning, "Why does Camfed only teach girls and not boys. We want to learn, too!” I then tred to defend myself saying that I was a volunteer and was hardly the decision maker for the organization. And with these two explanations delivered quicker than a pro pitcher's fast ball, the boys smiled and each put his right hand to his respective heart (a sign of respect) and they disappeared into the darkness without another word of harassment.

It was hard to fall asleep that evening and my roommates were bounding around my room and the night just seemed to encourage them. The heat made it hard to fall into a slumber and I was dreaming of being under a fan (or a sexy African queen fanning me) while I fell into a deep sleep. I must have eventually fallen asleep because I suddenly woke up to terrible itching on the bottoms of my feet. I was too long for the bed and my feet were pressed up against the end of the mosquito net I was sleeping under. So even though there were no holes in my netting, my biting roommates found the bottoms of my feet irresistibly tempting. After all, they were pressed up against the mosquito netting just begging to be feasted upon. So my roommates ate dinner as they feasted on the bottoms of my feet. God how they itched, and any one who has ever been bitten there knows that no matter how much you itch, the itch is never satiated and you just keep going back for just one last itch. It is one of the worst types of itches I have ever had. It felt like a "7-yesr itch" of the worst kind and it was almost impossible to alleviate this "need to itch".

At Nangweshi Basic we installed more solar panels and another 8 computers. This time we installed in front of an audience of roughly 70 kids between the ages of 7 and 17. They were all whispering to each other excitedly and pointing at the computers as we worked on them. They seemed to be in awe of what they were seeing in front of their very eyes. These glowing boxes with moving graphics and colors. There was no doubt they had never seen computers before and the lot of them were anxiously awaiting the opportunity to put their own hand on these strange, futuristic machines.

The solar panels posed a problem as we had to run the panels’ cables out of a rear window and under a tree just to reach a point in the yard where the panels would be sitting in direct sunlight for the majority of the day. The cables were just long enough to reach under the tree behind the classroom, but the school had asked us to install the panels on the roof.

It took me an inordinate amount of time to explain a few things; firstly, I did not have a welder nor was I skilled in the art of welding; secondly I did not have a 20-meter ladder to reach the rooftop, thirdly, I did not have insurance covering a fall from said roof. So we did not mount the panels on the roof, but instead installed them, safely back at sea level in the backyard of the basic school.

The teachers who we trained on installing and using the computers were quick to start asking for more equipment upon our completion of the installation. They asked us if the school could get additional solar panels for improving the efficiency of re-charging the battery. They also asked for a printer and internetr access. I told them that the sponsors were the decision makers for future investment, but went on to explain that if we see the schools taking good care of the equipment and the students using them and learning from them, and there is a general perception of a successful utilization of the computers, that there would be a good chance of the sponsors agreeing to providing additional equipment.

Again there was a real buzz here when we were installing the panels and the computers. The staff and students were thrilled to get this equipment supplied to them and we were thrilled to be supplying them with the equipment. These computers clearly would allow the staff to teach about computers, the students to learn about computers, the school’s education program to improve through these computers and the community to thrive with these computers. Everyone and everything seemed to be benefiting from this installation. I have never before felt like I was making such a perceivable difference with the work that I was doing with my own hands.