El Salvador

As I sit hear watching a special on shamefully addictive reality TV shows, it seems paradoxical to reflect on my amazing adventure exploring the simplicities of human nature and development in Central America. But I will do my best to focus on the minimalism of the under-developed world. There are three common themes that are reappearing on each of my bridge trips: 1) Really Good People, 2) with great risks come great rewards, and 3) no matter where you come from, human nature longs for the same things.

The Duke EWB team that I got to work with was amazing. They were incredibly intelligent- with ingenious ideas of ways to make these bridges better. They were always positive- not a single person complained about a lack of running water or bucket showers. And I think my favorite part of working with this group was the passion and excitement about building, engineering, traveling, school, careers. I don't feel that far from college, but this group was a great reminder of the zest that college gives you. It is that "you can change the world" feeling that you get after a graduation speech all the time!

Working with the Duke team also made for a different experience within the communities. There was no secret that we were a group of Gringos here working on a project. There were plenty of people in the communities who caught wind of this and offerred great opportunities like basketball games against the mayor's team, typical dinner feasts, and touristy trips to waterfalls. Good people offering great experiences. However, it also made for an interesting dynamic at the bridge sites. The interaction with the community members took a lot more initiative. Despite these challenges, we met some incredible people making a lot out of a little and leaving big footprints in their communities.

And to top off the good people theme, there were several other people along the way who all had their own inspirational story. Netta, the program director in El Salvador, has dedicated her life to building these bridges and these relationships and has incredible tact and a convincing smile to do just that. In addition to Netta, there were countless people I crossed paths with, each with their own story of an NGO they are workings with or a reason they were chasing waves in El Salvador. These life stories were not only interesting, but also forced some self reflection on the status of my own routine lifestyle in America.

Secondly, I am learning that the more uncomfortable, more exhausted, and dirtier I get, the more I am going to take away. This trip involved a lot of hard work. This was to be expected as each of the previous bridges also involved a lot of sweating, but this time, there was no one there telling me to stop carrying buckets because I am a girl. However, this increased work load has led me to a new found appreciation for daily maual labor and an appreciation for the quote "you get out of it what you put into it." Each bridge that I have put my deet, sweat, and jeans into holds a place in my heart proportional to the pounds of material that I lugged up and down the hills. The cables count for a good chunk of those pounds.

As with the other bridges in Central America, the people are unbelievably strong- both morally and physically. If you were only taking their appearance, you would think that they would not survive one day of shoveling concrete or carrying wood. But then factor in the lifetime of manual labor and field work, and they still exceed expectations. Two concrete blocks would be enough to put me on my face, and these 80 year old men that are half my height and weight have three blocks on their shoulder without as much as a wince.

Lastly, this trip has taught me that people everywhere have the same basic life needs- and roofs overhead and food in your stomach are very much relative. It seems that everyone, no matter where you are, is in search of a life purpose, people to love, and a legacy to leave. Each person has a story to tell of what they do to make money and survive/ to serve their family/ to serve their community. It doesn't matter if they are 6 years old in El Salvador or 60 years old and dying of AIDS in Zambia. Conversations with people in rural communities show that opportunities are hard to come by, but the look in their eye when discussing their roles in their community is incredible. Some people are AIDS educators, some people are farmers, some are mothers, and some people are political leaders. One of my favorite examples of the consistencies in human nature everywhere was when the mason, after working hard all day on a bridge, turns into a father figure when he sees his daughter's picture and smiles and tells her she is beautiful. The working together, the mutual respect, and the lasting relationships really make the people just as important as the bridges that will last lifetimes.

Zambia 20/20

The two months spent in Zambia crept by some days, but in the end it went incredibly fast. It is sometimes hard to appreciate the experience enough while living it, so I want to reflect on some of my favorite parts of my trip in hindsight. As someone who is a firm believer in giving back to other people- though often I feel like I don't have much to give- this opportunity was a gift to be able to work with Bridges to Prosperity and Zoe to build something that will last a lifetime and truly change the lives of the communities. Just hearing some of the older people talk about times when they have struggled because of nature's barriers made me feel like I was the face they were associating with hope. As an engineer- it doesn't get more real than that. That was a feeling undeserved but unmatched in my lifetime so far. Living in the African culture sometimes felt similar to home and sometimes felt the world apart that it is, but it made the experience. I will never forget standing up and church and the entire congregation shaking my hand. I will never forget watching the soccer games with people in bare feet kicking a flat ball through the weeds with the same competitiveness as the World Cup. I will never forget walking to get cell phone coverage and holding my phone in the air like the good ole days. I will never forget the people who are often hungry and always poor offering me the food that they cooked for dinner. And finally, I will never forget that uneducated does not always mean unintelligent. Zambia, and specifically people like Charles Shamiyoyo and Chileshe and the Headmistress of the Kamnjoma school, will always hold a special place in my heart.

Nyanja Lessons

So, I spent 10 days in the Eastern Province at the Kamnjoma bridge site working on building the bridge towers. This was full immersion living in the bush with no running water- only a hand pump- no electricity- except for the solar panel I was given- and no cell network. It was an amazing learning experience to see how they really live. I even got to go to their church, and see the singing and dancing even though the only word I could understand was Jesus Christo (hopefully some videos to come later). They even had me go up to the front and introduce myself, and then everyone in the church came through and shook my hand with big smiles- incredible!

We made a lot of progress on the bridge, but I think the group I was working with thought that I was too strict because they had never had a female musungu come tell them what to do and make them finish the job each day. Although there was a language barrier, we had a lot of laughs while they were teaching me Nyanja and listening to me try to make the Mwauka Bwanji sound like they sound. I did learn how to say "Let's go!" to get them to keep working- Tiyen was my favorite saying, and if that didn't work I would pull out my camera to take pictures and they would all work a little harder! It was very cool to see how everyone in the community stopped by to see the progress, and most often everyone who came by pitched in and did some shoveling or carrying- even the children who unloaded the cement truck with bags that weighed more than them.

I even got to take two trips on local transport- on the console in the inside which was a priority seat because I was a Musungu working in the community but not exactly comfortable after 4 hours each way. The second trip was on this Honda with a worker at the clinic which only took an hour and half. Much more pleasant, and even felt a little like Colorado.

Despite the shocking number of people who are hungry and poor, there is an amazing peace and happiness in this place. There are people who get along and people who don't, but they always had smiles on their faces and a respectful handshake to say hello. It really put the Western lifestyle that I am used to in perspective. Kids have to make their own toys out of tree branches and old bicycle parts. Adults have to save up money for transport into the city to get spare parts. The soccer ball that I brought gave the kids from several villages hours of entertainment playing both soccer and their version of handball- crazy how a simple ball is something of value there. However, there is no complaining of the way they live. They were more interested in showing me their maiz market and teaching me their language. It was an incredible experience to be working on a project that will impact so many people for many years to come in a place where the entire community went out of their way to make me feel at home.

TIA

This is Africa... a common saying around here. These pictures speak for themselves.

Shamiyoyo

So, last week was spent in the Western Province in the Shamiyoyo village. Valentin (left in the picture) is a Civil Engineer who just graduated from university in Germany and came out here to spend a month volunteering building bridges. We had a lot of good laughs, and it was nice to have another Musungu (white person) to laugh with. For example, we had quite a time when we met the chief. They sit a certain way with their legs folded underneath them, but Valentine and I could not manage to bend our legs that way, so he fell over when sitting down, and both of us looked incredibly awkward during the meeting- to the point the chief told Mr. Shamiyoyo to tell us to sit in the chairs- something even his own guards weren't allowed to do. Another example: we met the Zambia National Guard (ZNS) who helped us transport some materials. The names of the people we met were "Boneface Shamywanga" and Colonel Chembe- pronounced Col-o-nel. Valentine and I had a hard time keeping a straight face when we were introduced. To add to our ZNS experience, we bought them 60L of diesel and watched them poor it in a green tractor. Then we saw them start a red tractor. I asked "Boneface" why they were starting the red tractor, and he responded with "the red tractor is for our harvesting, and the green tractor is meant for towing loads, but the green tractor can not start on its own, so the red tractor has to take it to start." So after watching the red tractor tow the green tractor full of fuel off into the distance disappearing for about 20 minutes, I had my doubts. But the driver and the mechanic carrying his wrenches managed to get it going and deliver the materials with push starting it down hills every time they had to unload.

Mr. and Mrs. Shamiyoyo (right in the picture) and their son, Charles (middle-left) were so great! Charles showed us around the village and taught us a few words like Mwapenduku- the greeting and even showed us the foods that they eat. Charles even took us to the markets and showed us some maiz grinding. They even gave us a huge bag of peanuts and sweet potatoes to take home. I tried some raw casava root- which was very hard to eat- as you can see- because I felt like I was going to break all of my teeth, and I don't think my dad would be too impressed if I returned home toothless.

Even in the first few minutes of being on site, the need for the bridge was obvious. The community members started crossing the river in their canoe- one person at a time. And after about 15 minutes, they decided we should all go to the other side- taking about 20 minutes to drive the car and an additional 20 minutes to get all of the people across in the canoe. The bridge broke ground on construction with much enthusiasm, and they finished the first foundation walls while I was still there. Everyone worked really hard, and there were always extra people around watching or throwing in an extra hand. Even the young girls were able to carry bricks from the village to the river on their head- let me tell you- they are not light!

And a side note- I heart Toyota trucks! Zoe's trusty Tacoma took me all over the country without a hitch while she was on vacation in Italy. I was so nervous about car problems, but I should have trusted those Japanese vehicles- even on the roads filled with potholes and washboards and crazy Zambian truck drivers.

Kamnjoma

The Kamnjoma site in the Eastern Province is about 2 hours on a dirt road from the nearest town- Petauke- which is a 4 hour drive from home in Lusaka. I took an American couple who is here to volunteer for 3 weeks to show them the site and what they will be building. It was a great surprise to see the community working hard at 6pm when we pulled in- even if it took the councilman driving out there 30 minutes before us to warn them of our arrival. Some people were making bricks and some were digging holes for the foundation. The following day we started building the walls for the foundations out of stones. The masons seemed very eager and competent when I was there, but I later learned that one was partially blind and the others weren't really correcting the poor old man. However, recent updates indicate that the foundations are built (more or less straight and level) and the tiers are on their way up and the bridge is looking good. There were lots of community members looking on as the work started. Scott and Teresa were a great addition to the Zambia B2P team, and I was really excited to have Americans to speak to! They understand my humor, and they came out and drank some beer with me! We all set up camp across from the school, and the school kids built them a bathroom with some twigs and brush. My tent- well the one I am borrowing- is pretty massive- especially in the Zambian bush setting, so there were definitely some curious wanderers. We had some nice camp dinners under the starlit African skies, and we even had a movie night on my laptop. The community was absolutely wonderful. The head mistress of the school took care of us and showed us around and helped get the workers organized. This was one of the women helping me tie my chtenge- I think she is laughing because she just had to squeeze really tight to get it tied, so I told her I was going to be skipping lunch that day. The kids were so adorable, and it never gets old to greet them with a Mulibwange and get a giggle and a big smile back. Then showing them their picture on the camera always gets a good laugh out of people both young and old. This community is really welcoming and the bridge is going to be a great addition.

Camping in the Bush

So, I spent 5 days in camping in the African bush in a small village called Fipashi in the Copperbelt. It was good experience overseeing some of the construction and working with the locals. There were some challenges as most of the people had a "5th grade" or I would say more of a kindergarten level of English. But, they were very polite- always saying "Good Morning Madam." Here is a picture of our progress- you can see the mason working hard up there waiting for people to mix him some concrete. This is the rebar for the towers. This is Luka- he was a very hard worker- well I guess it is all relative.

Here is one photo of my posse. When I was in the village, I camped right near the school. So every morning when I woke up there were kids outside my tent, and everytime I was walking around, a heard formed behind me. After a few days they were all wanting their picture taken.

Without power, and the only water was a hand pump- this was a pretty primitive setting. The entertainment from the end of work to dark was soccer. The first night it was a full 11 v 11 with the entire community. The other days it was just people showing up because they learned that there was an audience- me sitting outside my tent. The younger kids played with this ball made up of wrapped plastic bags. If there was one way to communicate without speaking the same language, it is through playing soccer- a passion I share with all of the Zambians.