Day 12 - Buses

 Today was quite a long day. We started the day at 4:30 by getting ready to head to Livingstone. We met outside the apartment at 5:00 to catch the 5:30 bus to Lusaka. On the bus, right after we stared off, a preacher who was traveling on the same bus got up and preached a mini sermon on the bus and rayed for safe travels. It was a little uncomfortable, but apparently it is common practice here for pastors to do this. Sometimes the pastors get on the bus for that specific purpose, and are dropped off a little ways down the road to catch another bus going back. I think I might have accepted his message a little more readily if it had been closer to 8:00!  

On the bus to Lusaka, we sat behind a guy names Beverly and a girl named Tracy. Beverly was very friendly and we talked about a number of topics. The one that sticks out most in my mind is the engagement process here. The culture here still uses dowries, where the groom "purchases" the bride from her family. I found it rather funny that in the states it is the exact opposite, in a way, with the brides family paying for the groom to take the bride (i.e. paying for the wedding). 

We got to Lusaka around 10:30 and waited at the bus stop for our bus to Livingstone. Getting off the bus in Lusaka was an experience. Before the bus had even stopped, there were taxi drivers pointing at me (the white girl by the window) trying to get my attention to use their taxi. We had to walk through the throng of taxi drivers to exit the bus and then waited near a market area for our next bus to arrive. The first bus was a typical 4 seat per row "grayhound", but the second bus somehow managed to squeeze 5 people per row into the bus. It was a tight fit, and the person on the isle (which for half of the ride was me) got a lot of butts in their face. The bus was supposed to leave at 11:30, but due to delays and traffic, we did not leave until after 12:00. 

This second bus provided in-transit entertainment and played a few episodes of  24 and an African sketch comedy show. We seemed to hit a bunch of police check points, where police monitor the vehicles for valid registration and licenses as well as some construction which slowed our progress. We finally got to the bus stop in Livingstone around 7:45 and made it to the hotel around 8:15 or so. 

The hotel is FANTASTIC! We got here after dark so I have only seen it at night but it is awesome. The amenities are wonderful and the night sky is so clear. You can even see the Milky Way! 

Tomorrow we have a rather lazy day and will be hanging out around the hotel and walking over to Victoria Falls (which is a few minutes away). 

Thanks for reading! 

Day 11 - Northrise / Cable Company

I can't believe we just completed our last day here at Northrise. This has been an incredible experience. 

The Northrise students are really what made all the difference for us. They were so kind and open about their lives here, and curious about the states as well. We have developed friendships that will hopefully last for a long time. 

Today was our final class day and we covered value stream mapping. Where you follow a product through its manufacturing process and determine what actions are necessary to enhance the product, and what areas might be possible elimination candidates. 

After lunch we left for our final plant tour to a cable manufacturing company. I think this was probably my favorite tour to-date. This was really the first time where you got to see the product in various stages, and there was a lot of visibility into the flow of the product. We got to see the copper that was purchased from the mines (we saw a copper mine last week, so it was need to see the next step), and how it was melted down and turned into wires. The initial wire is quite large, and is taken through a process to compact the copper to make it smaller. From there were followed the copper as it was stretched to various sizes going as small as .5 mm. The wires where then twisted together to form the interior wiring. The twisted wire is then coated and wrapped with a layer of steel wire for additional protection. That steel wire is then coated with the final layer of rubber for protection. This particular wire was quite heavy, so I now have a new respect for power lines/poles and the weight they are holding up. 

After this final tour we went with a few of the Northrise students to dinner. It has been great to get to know these students, and I hope that this will not be the last time we see each other! 

Tomorrow we are meeting to go to the bus station at 5:00. We will drive from Ndola (on the northern border of Zambia) to Lusaka (I think around the middle of the country, but closer to the south) where we will have an hour break or so before catching another bus from Lusaka to Livingstone (on the southern boarder of Zambia). We will be going in to Zimbabwe and Botswana on our safari, so it should be a great time! 

Thanks for reading!

Hannah 

Day 10 - Northrise/Water Treatment Plant

Today was another class day for us. 

After my 6 am "wake-up call" (aka, the sun), I laid in bed for a while before making myself get up. My group had the meeting with our project company this morning. We had scheduled our meeting for 9:00 am during our visit last week. I think I had my first real experience with the more laid back schedule here in Africa, because our meeting ended up not beginning until 10:00. It was a productive meeting and we were able to come up with a project that we should be able to complete in our remaining 10 weeks.

After the meeting, we got back to the University and were able to work together for a little while before lunch. Lunch was the typical fare of nshema, meat, veggies, and rice. I have really enjoyed nshema, but think I am hitting my limit by eating it every day. 

This afternoon we drove out to one of the water treatment plants. This drive took us through a neighborhood, though I do not know if that would be the appropriate term, maybe community is better.  Where we got to see real poverty, though it was not as bad as a village, so I am told. There were tiny homes built of what seemed to be cinderblocks and clay. Many of them did not have doors, but a few had a cloth draped in the door way. These houses could not have been much bigger than my living room at home and according to one of the students, would house up to 10 people.  I got a short video of the drive, so I will try to post it on here some time. There were what seemed like hundreds of these tiny homes together in this neighborhood. May with patched roofs, or plastic for a roof. Also during this trip, my definition of a dirt road has been entirely redefined.  It is a rather odd sensation to be in a bus while it is driving at a 60 degree angle off the side of the road. 

The water treatment facility was an interesting experience. It was neat to see the process and hear how they clean up the water from their river before distributing it to the community. The treatment facility felt as though it was out in the middle of nowhere, with bush all around. A fire had been started in the bush, and it seemed to be pretty close to the plant. You could hear the fire crackling. It was rather nerve wracking, but apparently fires like that one are not a problem here. Typically they are set on purpose and controlled, but even if they are not intentional, they do not turn into wildfires like we experience in the states. 

Our instructors, and now the two guys, are staying in the apartment at Northrise (the guys moved over there on Saturday). The apartment has been great because it gives us a place to relax and spend time together. It has other benefits like a kitchen and a washer/dryer. We have had a Chinese stir fry, the other girl on the trip, and my roommate, An, is Chinese, and boy was that an awesome meal! We also made Frito Pies (a large group stayed at the apt a few weeks ago and left huge cans of chili and cheese so we wanted to help get rid of some of that food) it actually turned out to be a pretty good Frito Pie. 

Tomorrow is our last class day. It is rather bitter sweet feeling. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Ndola. 

Until tomorrow!

Hannah

Day 9 - Ndola/Rest!!!

Today was lazy for us. Which is good because I did not realize how tired I was!

We went to Ndola Baptist Church again this morning. It was a good service, and I enjoyed worshiping with the church family here. 

After church we went to the mall  and grabbed some lunch. We went to a place called Mint, and it was fantastic! We were all really tired today and I ended up napping from 2:30 or so to 5:30. 

Tomorrow my group meets with our project company, Fatmols. 

Until tomorrow!

Hannah

Day 8 - Northrise/Ndola

Man. It was another awesome day. 

We had class this morning and continued discussing logic structures, in particular negative branch trees. We also had a few minutes to discuss our projects with our groups in preparation for our meetings next week. 

Dr. Gray gave us the afternoon off, so 2 of the Northrise students, Gift and Brian, showed us around Ndola. They took us to 2 slave trees, where the slave drivers would allow the slaves to sit and rest. That was an extremely difficult experience. I have always been proud to be an american, but today was the first time I was rather ashamed of my nationality. The students who were with us had intentionally taken us to the trees and wanted to get pictures with us there. I think the pictures were a good reminder that though we have cause pain, there is healing and forgiveness. We were able to put our arms around each other  and smile while standing in front of a reminder of our painful past.  The two trees are named Mupapa and Chichele, the students told us that they are the equivalent of our Statue of Liberty. 

After the trees, we ended up going to the memorial for Dag Hammarskjold (pronounced here - Hammer-shot). Dag Hammerskjold was a UN Sargent-General who worked hard to bring peace to Zambias neighbor, the Congo (for more info try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dag_Hammarskjöld) . He was flying into to Zambia for a meeting to discuss a cease-fire when his plane crashed. The reason behind the crash seems to be a bit of a mystery. According to the proprietor of the memorial, the official statement says that a bullet hole the plane received while taking of over the Congo caused the crash, while local villagers recall seeing additional aircrafts in the air and jeeps coming to the crash site and removing an extra body from the rubble (supposedly that of a mercenary who was stowed on the plan to sabotage it). It was a very peaceful and beautiful place in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. 

After the memorial we stopped by some local vendors selling crafts on the side of the road. I picked up a few things to take back home and the students helped me haggle with the sellers. I have had some moral discussions with myself (and others) on this trip about haggling.  The exchange rate of the US Dollar to the Zambian Kwacha is 1 to 5 (roughly). So even when they are asking for 100 Kwacha, it is still only $20 dollars. I do not mind paying a bit of a premium because of my skin color, but a the same time, I do not want to get ripped off. It was pointed out to me by one of our professors that these sellers will not make a deal that does not benefit them. After I accepted that fact, I felt a bit better about haggling for a better price. 

After the market, we ended up grabbing some gelato from the local mall. After gelato we decided we should go ahead and grab some dinner, so we got some pizza from Debonairs (the students told us that this is the best pizza place in Ndola). We ordered 4 personal sized pizzas and split them between the 4 of us. The pizza here is not like in the states but it was awesome, non-the-less. We tried Tika Chicken, Sweet & Sour, Mexican, and Something Meaty.  All of them were really good! 

Once we got back to the university, we spent a few hours hanging out with our instructors. I really do not think this trip would be half the trip it has turned out to be without these 2. They are so wise and insightful. It has been an honor to spend so much time with them and learn from their experience. 

Tomorrow we are going back to Ndola Baptist Church, but I do not know what we will do the rest of the day. 

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah

Day 7 - Northrise

Wow. I cannot believe it has been a week since we arrived. This trip is one of those times where time seems to go by slowly, while simultaneously speeding by. 

Today was another class/tour day. We had further discussion about cause and effect logic structures, and then worked in our groups to come up with some the diagrams to explain a few situations. It was an interesting approach and a fun intellectual exercise, once we got the hang of it. 

This afternoon we went on a tour of an oil lubricant plant. It has been interesting to see the oil refining process all the way from the beginning (with the crude oil transportation, refining, distribution, and now other final products of the refining process). This tour was a good one where we had a good guide. The company was interesting in that the shareholders (3 large transportation companies) for the company were also the customers, so the company really had no say in production and is only able to produce what the shareholders/customers require.

Ndola is an interesting city. They do not have a consumer culture, so everything (i.e. all the shops and stores) shut down at 5. It seems like such a foreign concept to me. The city is vibrant and alive, as I can tell by the noise levels from the street outside our hotel room. 

We will have class tomorrow morning and then have the afternoon off. We will have class on Monday and Tuesday (meeting with our project companies on Monday), and then head to our safari on Wednesday morning bright and early. We will be driving down through Lusaka to Livingstone and staying at the Zambezi Sun Hotel near Victoria Falls. Our safari will be on both the river and on the land. We will head back to Ndola on Saturday and then catch our flight back to the states on Sunday. 

Even though we are only half way through the trip, I feel as though the remainder of it will fly by. 

Until tomorrow! 

Hannah

Day 6 - Northrise/Oil

Another awesome day here in Africa. 

I woke up with the sun again this morning, which is my personal preferred method of waking. 

We started today with a tour of the Oil Transportation company of Zambia. This is the only company (it is government owned) that brings crude oil into the country. The tour was awesome. They showed us where the oil trucks fill up, the pipeline that comes in from Tanzania, and they took us up to the top of a 9 million ton oil container to see a floating roof (on that moves with the oil to eliminate gases, rather than being stationary at the top of the drum).

After the tour we rushed back to Northrise to grab a 20 minute lunch before heading back to the neighboring oil refinery. The refinery and the transportation group are both government owned, and work very closely together. The transportation group brings in the oil from Tanzania which is then transferred to the refinery, once the crude oil has been processed and turned into end products by the refinery, it it purchased back by the transportation group and sold to shipping companies for distribution. 

The second tour at the refinery did not go as well as the first. Due to the nature of the refinery, they did not let us go on an up-close-and-personal tour. So, the tour consisted of a 1 1/2 hour lecture on the companies history and the refining process (both interesting, but made difficult by the time - by 3:00 everyone has hit the afternoon lag - and the room/instructor - the room was rather large and noisy, and the instructor (who was extremely knowledgeable) was not able to speak to the entire class, and I could not always understand all that he was saying). It was very hard for us to stay awake during his lecture (many of my fellow students nodded in and out, but I think I was able to stay awake). After the lecture we had a brief tour (as in we stood at a distance, and specific things were pointed out to us). 

After the tour we came back and had dinner at the apartment at the university, and then the 3 other students and I hung out for a while at the hotel. 

Though the whole day was great, I think the most interesting part was my discussion with one of the Northrise students on the way to the first tour. Outside of the transportation plant, there is a large cluster of homes that are "illegal" (I could not tell if it was a strictly illegal community, or if they were jut unwanted in the area). The people in those homes have made a living on selling gas from the plant. They get the gas by going to empty trucks waiting in line to re-fill, and seeing if there is any remaining gas in the tank. Or, if a truck that has just been filled is moving slow enough, they will run behind it and take the new gas. Apparently, there was one instance where someone tried to steal gas from a recently loaded truck, but the truck had been filled with tar. When they realized it was tar, they just walked away and did not put the plug back into the tank, so tar spilled out on the road for 20 km! 

There are a lot of things about Africa that match my assumptions about the country (dirt roads, villages, people carrying things around on their heads, etc.), but in other ways, the country (or at least Zambia) is more advanced than I expected (technology, infrastructure, etc.). 

This has been an amazing trip thus far, and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds! 

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah