A PLUG FOR MY FRIEND ANDY

This is just a little plug for my friend Andy Kochanski and his newly opened watering hole. Read more at : http://www.mkeonline.com/mkeinfo/issues/03-27-2008.asp

Or you can ask him yourself at :
Kochanski's Concertina Beer Hall
1920 S. 37th
Milwaukee, WI 53215
414-837-6552
or 414-83-POLKA

IT'S ZUCCHINI TIME!

That's right, it's zucchini time in our garden and Carla is holding our firstborn. We cooked up most of it on Easter morining, using it in breakfast burritos and later in chocolate zucchini cake. We had a house full of guests for the holiday - 5 guests total which is beyond the realistic capacity of our tiny house. We had a great time, but we'll never have that many people here again. We're finally starting to get some regular rain in Kibakwe which is great for our garden. The tomatoes are having some issues with whiteflies and I don't know if they're going to make it, but the Chinese cabbage, the lettuce, and the squashes are all doing really well. The cukes and the eggplants are looking promising and the jury's still out on the carrots and the onions. Since most Kibakweans are farmers, they're happy that we're getting rain now. The corn, peanuts, and sunflowers are all growing well.

Our once desolate and barren courtyard is now a virtual rainforest, a garden of Eden, a horn o' plenty, even. Hopefully, we'll have another couple of months of rain, though I doubt it. It seems like it comes in waves where it'll rain regularly for two or three weeks, then nothing for a month. Oh well, life in the desert.

Here is a new picture of our friend Mathayo. He was very displeased with the previous picture I had posted of him. I hope that this new picture will be to his liking. Once again, he is a very good guy and there's nothing P.O.S. about him.
Everything is going well in Kibakwe. We're waiting to hear back about some teaching grants that we submitted to HQ, and we're already starting to research some new project ideas for after the rains. All of this has kept and will keep us busy for some time. Mostly we're just trying to spend time with neighbors and friends and just enjoy being in the village. We're looking forward to completing more projects, achieving more successes, and keeping in touch with all of you - our friends and family. We love hearing from you about what's going on in your lives, how much snow you've had, how the new endeavors are working out, how your families are doing, and how things are changing while we're here. It's always a highpoint getting letters or emails or text messages from home. Keep in touch.

PICTURES AND CAPTIONS

It's been a very busy month for us. We started by making posters dealing with how you can protect yourself against malaria. In the picture, I'm standing with our head doctor just outside his office which is where the first poster went up. I know, it's a humble beginning, but we had to start somewhere. It's surprising that many people in Kibakwe believe that malaria can be caused by being out in the rain or by drinking corn juice. That's why we made sure that we put the phrase, "malaria is a disease that is spread by mosquitoes," at the top of the poster.

We put up the malaria posters in several spots around Kibakwe, including area schools, health clinics, and village offices. The picture shows one we attached to a baobab tree at the Idunda primary school.

World Women's Day was March 8, and we planned a celebration and HIV testing day for Kibakwe town. With the help of the secondary school headmaster, we were able to get student volunteers to make posters advertising the event, drummers, dancers, and singers. All of this was organized and executed within the two weeks leading up to Women's Day. It was a bit stressful, but it also energized everyone and allowed no one to lose interest and jump ship.

This group of about 30 secondary student girls got together every day after classes and practiced their drumming, dancing, and singing in an empty classroom in preparation for the performance on World Women's Day.



We put up posters advertising World Women's Day and HIV Testing Event at area schools, businesses, health clinics, and even outside of people's houses.

On the morning of March 8, we had no idea what to expect as far as a turnout. Everyone wanted a parade down the main road to generate interest. We were expecting it would be us and the head doctor and maybe some curious kids. It was a pleasant surprise when mama's groups and students with drums showed up, and even a car.



The parade went down the main road, through the center of town, and to the nearby subvillage of Idunda primary school, which was to be one of the testing sites.

The students did some drumming and dancing there while the medical personnel got situated and Carla and I were the first to be tested. Some other Peace Corps friends had joined us that morning to join in the festivities and they were really helpful in getting a lot of the little kids to be tested.



Once we got back to town, we were amazed to see that the stage was prepared for performances and the doctor had hired an MC and sound equipment. It's not too often that Kibakwe does anything like this.

The students had a great time performing and they were awesome. It seemed that everyone in town had showed up to see what was going on. We were amazed at the turnout for this event that was just an idea three weeks before. In the end, 313 people were tested, 7 were HIV positive, 5 were female, 2 were under the age of 10.

THE FOLLOWING IS A COLLECTION OF PHOTOS OF SOME OF OUR PEEPS IN THE MPWAPWA DISTRICT

THIS MAN IS BABA BANANA. HE SELLS BANANAS.

THIS IS THE GUY ACROSS FROM BABA BANANA. HE DOES NOT SELL BANANAS.

THIS MAN IS BABA MFUPI(SHORT). HE SELLS RICE AND BEANS.

THIS IS MATHAYO. HE SELLS MANY THINGS. HE IS NOT A P.O.S. PERSON.

THIS IS CARLA WITH BABA BANANA.

THIS IS ME WITH BABA BANANA.

THIS IS PIPI. SHE IS OUR CAT.

THIS IS OUR WATER. SOMETIMES IT IS CLEAN. SOMETIMES IT IS NOT.

THESE ARE BEANS. WE EAT A LOT OF BEANS.

THESE ARE OUR NEIGHBORS. THEIR NAMES ARE NICE AND COCUBANZA.

THIS IS BEN. AS YOU CAN SEE, HE NOT THE MOM.

THIS IS BEN, CARLA, AND COCU. BEN STILL NOT THE MOM.

THIS IS PIPI. SHE IS TANZANIAN.