Well as most of you know, my time in Zambia has drawn to a close and I have now returned to the United States. It has been a crazy last few months in the Peace Corps, but I will try to sum it up the best I can.
After Kevin moved to live with me in my village in March we had a great last few months working on projects together and wrapping up my work. We met with all of the groups that I had collaborated with in order to talk about their action plans and long term visions for how they will continue their work without me. I am so proud of all of the different groups that I worked with: the youth peer health educators, the HIV/AIDS support group, the malaria control groups, the girls empowerment club, the neighborhood health committees, the community volunteers, safe water groups, and more. They accomplished great things and as much as I might have helped them along the way, they truly taught me a lot. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't mention that it was never, ever easy. And I am quite confident that my community counterparts and friends would agree with me. All of the work that we accomplished was slow, tedious, and often frustrating. There were unpredictable obstacles, minimal resources, and often an overwhelming lack of morale.
But because of the obstacles that we faced, we had to learn how to be creative, to adjust, and to push for the things that were important to us. I, in particular, had to learn how to let go of my western notions that change happens quickly and that with a few to-do lists and delegated tasks group work was easy. In Zambia I had to learn how to be more flexible, to recognize that we might have to start over, reschedule, or cancel (again and again). But as I have returned to the land of to-do lists and electronic calendars I am incredibly grateful for the work experience and ethic that Zambia instilled in me in this way. I feel confident that I can work in a resource poor setting and get creative when challenges are thrown at me. And I can give a great pep talk to boot; half my time there I felt like my primary job was to be a public health cheerleader, encouraging the team to keep their spirits high and please please please show up for the next meeting. No pompoms necessary.
Leaving Mwasemphangwe was emotional and at the same time exciting. It was exciting in that during all of my wrap up meetings and going away parties people really made me feel as though what I had done mattered. They told me that it mattered that I wanted to come and live with them in the first place, it mattered that I had become their friend and their neighbor, and it mattered that I had tried to partner with them on improving their community's health. They recounted changes that had occurred in their lives as a result of my 2 years of work and it made me feel inspired for my future public health career. But the goodbye was also extremely emotional and upsetting. I said goodbye to friends that it will be impossible to keep in touch with. I said goodbye to friends who were sick with terminal illnesses and to children who will grow up and move away. I said goodbye to the first house I ever lived in by myself. I said goodbye to a village that made me more self aware and simultaneously more self confident than I ever imagined possible. I said goodbye to a unique, non-replicable experience that changed my life.
The village held a great farewell party my last night where we killed a goat, a pig, and my remaining chickens. We took pictures, made speeches, and reminisced about when I showed up two years earlier, naive and "less red" people said as they looked at my too many times sun burned skin. My best friend in the village asked what I would miss the most and the question has been repeated to me numerous times since I returned to the U.S. I will miss the freedom of each day to accomplish, explore, adventure, or relax at will. I will miss the sweet- strong scents of earth, animals, and human activity. I will miss the noises of bird calls, animals, children, singing, and drumming as I fall asleep at night. I will miss eating nsima and the sense of belonging that accompanies communal meals, everyone washing one another's hands before and after the meal and scooping nsima and relish from the same pots. I will miss feeling physically exhausted by household chores (believe it or not) because it feels good for hard work to be rewarded by the fruits of your labor: food, water, and other necessities. I will even miss the loneliness and the self-awareness that I gained from having so much time to myself. Most of all I will miss my Zambian friends, Chewa Tribe culture, and the people in general with their inclinations towards laughter and generosity.
As most of you know, Kevin and I will be moving to Seattle where we will both be starting school at the University of Washington. He will be starting medical school and I will be starting a global epidemiology master of public health program. We are excited to be close to family and friends again and feel ready to re-enter academia (though ask us in 3 years and see what we say then). We feel lucky to have had such a warm welcome home from so many family members and friends.
Zambia will always be important to me. I know that it has moved me, changed me, kicked my butt, nursed me back, and rewarded me for my efforts time and time again. During the first year of my service my counterpart and I held trainings for all of the community's ten Neighborhood Health Committees. During the trainings, I took a quote from Margaret Mead and translated it into Nyanja for everyone to understand: Never doubt the ability for a group of committed citizens to change the world. In fact it is the only thing that ever has. A year and a half later I was at the clinic saying goodbye to community volunteers and a man caught my attention and said to me, "Madam.... I am still trying my upmost to change the world."
And with that he reminded me of why I first decided to come to Zambia, not to cavalierly "change the world" but to inspire and motivate others to take ownership over their community's health and work together to improve their lives. In the process I learned an incredible amount about myself, found my husband, made amazing friends, and established what my future career patch in public health and community service might look like.
I said farewell to Zambia for now but Zambia has indelibly imprinted itself within me. And everything I do from here on out, changing the world and letting the world change me, will be in some way because of Zambia.
This is the end of the Arianna In Zambia blog. Thank you for reading over the past 2 years and encouraging me throughout this adventure. Please stay in touch. A whole new kind of adventure is now beginning.
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