a week PEPFAR workshop in Mansa

A week workshop in Mansa for PEPFAR, HIV/AIDS training, it was the first time I have had my heart to heard it all by my own ears and spoke about it with my own mouth, took a HIV test and all....just to enourage our counterparts to follow the same....so we can both go back to our villages to convince villagers to the clinic to do the same as we did in the workshop......

To sum up what I have learned are the understanding what is HIV/AIDS, its symtem and its treatment, and it is transmitted by sex the most, blood transmittion the second......it is not spreading by air or with simple contect, unless enough quantity and quality to be transmitted to the root acceptance...HIV possitives should think and live possitively and take good diet so all could be possibly to live a full term of life.

Our jobs after this workshop, on the top of what we all do, are to combine the HIV/AIDS info sharing, encourage all people in Zambia to take HIV test, skill training on supportng the HIV possitives to care for themselves accordingly and care/escort to them as each of our responsbilities......

It is seriouse in Zambia for not all population have had a test yet, I only know, if I could be right, the age group of 15 to 49 are only 14% in the whole country.....and the effected rate in country was 14%+ as 2008's figure???.......

Their calcuture allows to have more than one wife, plus all sorts of reasons to wed a young girl around 15 to all ages and all generations...or use virgin girl to cleanse HIV or other illnesses or defilement by the father.......the spread of HIV/AIDS seemed no easy way to stop...same as early age pregnancies.........

While I was encouraging fish pond farmers at villagers meetings to send all their girls continue to go to school, pregnanted or not, I had not have HIV/AIDS in mind, now the load is even more serious than just what I knew than the young girls absent or discountinuing to go to school...

Sorry for telling you these sad, sad facts......Cheng 5/28/2011

Shio-Bai

Since I moved back to my post home in Yasakwa, Shio-Bai had issues that she would not come too close to my chair or my feet when I have time to sit down.....

She rather to rest her head on my put away shoes.....than she will give a strange "Miao" once in a while......that also happens other than when she was resting on the shoes, that when she was walking either inside or outside of the house too....then the "miao" gets louder and stranger....at the first I thought she was sick, but she ate well.......so....Shio-Bai was in heat.......

The call for a boy friend gets well known by the neighbors, but sorry I can't help......all these months here, within 5-10 kilometer, I have never seen another cat around......

After 2-3 days she quieted down a lot and was reconcilled with me, my chair and my feet again, when I have a chance to sit down....

One thing Shio-Bai held for good was that she can came in to the insaka while kids were doing the time table, somehow she did not want to stay when kids were learning to read those English baby books from Kevin and Jessie's babies.......

All kids were so proud of themself to read those books to me, when I was back. They learned from the three high school neighbor kids who held the Saturday insaka sessions for me while I was out...........Thanks to Kevin and Jessie and their lovely children. Cheng 5/21/2011

The communith school we met Misunsa villagers was built in 2010 is still not in use because they did not have teacher's house built at the same time and no toilets either.......what a total wasted of all efforts and energies.......Hope the one for Lukali village will not ended this way.......Cheng 5/21/2011

village life again.......

Villagers meeting goes on here and there.......now they are all a little distance farther from my post home now.....I have to bike on paved road for 5 to 10 KM than biked another 5 to 10 KM to the location.....it was fine to bike in the field trials for some where some spot you just had to walk instead......when there was water or too deep the hole or too deep the sand........now 10+/-KM of paved road was hot and no fun......

Baby Frankie was more and more interacting with me or I should say with all.........Mama Pamela is more at ease now.....

My cat had attitute issue at the first few days after I was back.......she chose to rest next to my not daily using shoes that I kept in plastic bags to keep dust out, instead of under my chair or next to my feet.....complaint of my long absent??? Cheng 5/20/2011

work goes none stop.........

Ba Hamangaba is running the animal workshop for my villagers for me everytime I asked for as always.......My full heartly thanks to him.

One Garden Workshop got cancelled without notice, I turned it into cooking demo.....there were only 6 villagers came and one brought cooked yam and peanut to share.....so I asked if they bake yam to eat and to sell....Answer was "No" I said "Why not? Interested to try it?" So all went to one of closer villagers' insaka, we made fire high, than the smoke was heavy, heat was too high so yam got burnt but not cooked....I remembered that once when I was little, one of our cousins from southern Taiwan to stay with us to go to school in Taipei....that he show my brother how to bake yam in our back yard.....so a little of memory with lots of creativities we made it work and in couple of hours all had baked yam to eat........ Cheng 5/20/2011

Back to my post home on May 8th

May 8th at noon, I got the "go" to move back to my post home, Zhu came to give me ride....with inherited Grayson's cut up water jag made as bicycle bag and the two backpacks I bought from the road side vendors just a day before.....all made this move easy......while loading my stuff into Zhu's car, Dr. Johnson and Mrs. were driving by and kindly enough to stop and asked if my water issue had fixed. My answer was that the well got the rope to get water but the bore hole has not fixed or will not be fixed for good........but I was in this PC House for too long now so I have to move. I will be fine, please do not worry." Mrs. Johnson was so nice to say that I was welcome just to move to their home. I thanked her and said I will take her offer when I come in for my own.

Zhu and I got to my post home when the car pull into driveway, my cat and village kids run as fast as they could.....what a wonderful warm welcome home it could be........Zhu was so amaging that a cat can actually run for me......Cheng 5/20/2011

a school for Lukali village

5/6 I was so disapp0ointed that no one from village of Lukali came as agreed on 10 am to see the officers at district office of Dept of Education.......I waited in Mrs. Mulwenda's office for half an hour that she had to come back from the provincial DOE office to meet with me and my villagers.....turned out that I have to come home with no results.....but at the door way I saw the villagers had just came in and took them all to return to Mrs. Mulwenda's office.

She is a nice person and repeatedly to assure me that she understood the villagers to travel to town was not an easy task and went on to assist villagers on the preparation of have a school built for them - that villagers have to burnt enough bracks, collect sand for cement that come from government, collect stones for foundation for the school house and house for one teacher...the government will supply the door and window frames and tin roof, of course with one teacher and the school supplies....all promised to have all done in two months so I pressed down to the next meet at the district office on Wednesday, July 6th.

If all worked out they should have this school by after next school break in September. Hope all will go well and this will end 20 years no schools in Lukali once and for all. Wish me luck.

I will continue to work with fish farmers to enable more protient for everyone........ Cheng 5/8/2011

Chanda village

5/5 Chanda village is another one that had rescheduled from April and their villagers did come to my committee meeting on 5/3 and promised to have people prepared to have fish pond staking today but we found only one villager on the trial on our way in.....grasped him and happened that he wanted a fish pond so me and my counter part of the day just worked with him on only one pond.....

When it was done and came back to his house his wife had lunch waiting for us....how wonderful - it was nshima with stir fried rape and another dish of ogra.....with steamed yam after too....I am thankful to have my tommy full on the way backing back in the mid afternoon.....I am lucked out this week....Plus while we were eating yam, the wife was working on a sawing machine.....I asked where and how she learned the answer was that she had a 3 weeks training and got this machine from the local Catholic Church......Women group in Tutu wanted to learn sawing and knitting too, I should contact Fr. Clement in Samfya as soon as I can......at least I can let Tutu people know that Chanda villager can show them a littl on sawing......but the two villages are 40KM apart.....how this could go.....will see......

Shio-Bai's Mom gave birth to three kittens and the Mom was not too much wanting to stay with the kittens......little ones all have large head and the body like a large rat.....all have their own funny faces.......Cheng 5/8/2011

5/3 One village - Tutu, been rescheduled this meeting from April, I was not much counting on the readiness of their commitment to work on fish ponds with me but turned out to be so great that all was looking toward animal and garden workshops to prepare fish food for fish ponds to come true.....

There were two villgers prepared lunches for me and my counter part - this was not happening too often andthis was the first time got two treats in a same day, thanks.....before meeting started I saw this chicken with a bad hair day......that was how I felt at the beginning odf the day but all turned out great......hope that chicken too.....

On my way back to PC home, there was one house 6, 7 house away, they were cutting a fallen tree into lumber.....one inside the hole and one at the top of log.....we need a mill or two here for sure......no manufacturers in Luapula, not much in whole Zambia, at all.....Cheng 5/8/2011

Amreican celebration

4/30 Walked around Monsa one afternoon, first time to pay attention to this Catholic Church that was buit on 1900 the oldest building in town, just read about it from one of tourist books.

Perry came back from Namibia vacation with news of been accepted by two universities, one in Baijien and one in London and will be leaving us in August....

5/1 news - Bin Laden's death....we have had an American celebration in PC House and we had Zhu, the budegt manager to come enjoy this American feast - Taxen BBQ, devil eggs, baked green beans, mashed potato, salad, cakes and pies.......Zhu's term is up in June so be leaving us in late May too. Cheng 5/8/2011

The Owens

The Beautiful and wonderful baby Frankie with proud Daddy and overly labored Mommy.....will have more pix when have time to resize them.......Cheng 5/4/2011