Collected Scenes

From the Zulu house at dusk.

Babygoats: Jump on the house! Jump on the house! leap! leap! leap! leap in the bucket! wait...Leap out of the the bucket! Where's mom!? Headbutt. Leap!
Junior (running in a large cirlce around the yard): Liiisssttaa Solllweeetooo Liisssttaa Sollweeetooo
Keli: Lista Solweto? That girl there? Her last name is solweto? Junior what are you saying?
Junior: Liiissssta Solllwweeeto liiiisssta solweto
Mrs. Zulu: Mista Solweto. The goat is Mista Solweto.
Keli: OOOhhhh. The mama goat is Mr. Solweto. Of course.


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Mrs. Zulu: (speaking Nyanja): Nyanja Nyanja Nyanja
Keli: No, I haven't eaten Nshima this week.
MZ: Nyanja Nyanja Nyanja
Keli: I'll come but sometimes...
MZ: Nyanja Nyanja Nyanja
K: Yes, Nshima will make me strong.
MZ: Nyanja Nyanja Nyanja
K: What are you saying? I don't understand. Junior what is she saying?
Junior: ...
MZ: Nyanja Nyanja Nyanja
K: I do eat just sometimes rice or...
MZ (speaking in English): Rice is bad. Eating Shima once olo twicey per week is not good. Is bad. you are not in America. You are in Zambia. In Zambia we eat shima.
Keli: ...

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Man on the morning bus: 'We will meet.' Not broken English. That is correct English. 'We will meet.' ...Only we will cabbage because meat is too expensive.

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Mr. Chiumia: Do you have nails?
Headteacher: I have one.
MrC: Please give me I need it to fix something. Mrs. Chiumia is coming today and instead of saying - you aren't keeping the house - you are just sitting - what what - at least...
Keli: At least now you can show her the one nail you hammered into something...she'll be pleased.

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Sometimes when I am riding my bike away from my village, I surprise a Zambian child on the road who was not expecting a white person. This Zambian child then takes off running, frantically shouting "Mizungu! Mizungu!" to alert the other children so that they might come quickly and catch a glimpse before this elusive creature flits away.

There are about four little girls who belong to one or other of the teachers that have the school grounds as their playground. They see me a lot and know me so when they spot me instead if "Mizungu!" they frantically shout "Keli! Keli! Keli!" to alert the others who were not so quick. Then in chorus or taking turns in a never ending cycle they say:
Girls: Allo
Keli: Allo
G: Allo
K:Allo
G: How are you?
K: I am fine. How are you?
G: How are you?
K: I am fine. How are you?
G: How are you?
K: I am fine.
G: How old are you?
K: I am 25.
G: ... How are you?

Ad infinitum. Always jumping jumping jumping.

These girls often give the impression that they are crazy little dolls. Because of all the second hand clothes children often wear discordant outfits, mismatched, inappropriately fancy, but tattered and dirty. Not because they are poor but because all clothes are equally good for playing in the dirt. They even have doll hair, black yarn braids that are forever in some half way stage of done or undone.

Yesterday I went to a teacher's house and found this bevy of girl dolls there. I sat down next to them and chatted while the lady I came to see was coming out. "Good morning. You are bathing? No? to play only?" One of the little dolls with big big eyes was wearing a little plaid upside down umbrella of a skirt and just a small evening jacket for a shirt, made of purple velvet and clasped with a shiny rhinestone broach. She stood close enough to touch my knees and looked as though she'd caught a unicorn. I should have taken her picture- so then I could have caught a unicorn too.

Donate to the Lwimba Library Project

My community and I are working to construct a building to be used as a resource center and library. I am writing to you today asking for your support and contributions.

Zambia is ranked 165th out of 177 countries on the human development index (http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_ZMB.html). In 2005 literacy rates were estimated at 68%. They are estimated at under 50% in our zone. Lwimba is a rural community of mainly subsistence farmers. My neighbors and I all live in mud huts with thatched roofs, cook over a fire, and bathe out of a bucket. 63% of Zambians live off less than $1USD per day (http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/global?page=cr09-za-00&post=19&cid=ZA#Poverty).

Despite my glaring differences, I've been welcomed into this community with friendship and warmth. Though living with poverty, illiteracy, disease and limited access to resources that might alleviate these burdens, I've found most Zambians generous and happy people.

The more I see of development work the more I am convinced that the most effective change comes when people are given the resources and knowledge to change their own lives and guide the direction of their own community. There are a lot of pressing needs in Zambia and many of them are tied to lack of education. It is difficult to ask someone to participate in their community's development if they cannot read, have not developed their analytical thinking skills, or exercised their creativity. I believe books can help with all of those things. It will help Betty, who is 8, learn her alphabet, Dilas learn English so she can pass her Grade 9 Exams and the women in my English/ Literacy class be able to read to their own children.

This building will be a place to store and organize a library collection, making a wide range of reading and reference materials available to the pupils, the teachers, and the community. The building will also provide a space for zonal in-service meetings, as well as other community meetings. My main Zambian colleague, Mr. Chuimia, is the Zonal In-service Coordinator for our zone and we are already working to improve literacy teaching skills. If the building is complete by Sept 2008 as we hope, we can spend the remaining 8 months of my service making sure the library system is organized and everyone has the skills to utilize this resource. There will be two volunteers in the community after I leave but for the project to be sustainable and long lived, community members should have the skills needed to manage and maintain the library.

I know a building is a big project and will take a bit of money, but I would not be asking you for contributions if I did not believe in the inherent benefits of this structure or if I felt the community was not committed to the idea. They have already burnt two kilns of bricks for the project and are prepared to mold and burn more when the rain subsides.

So what can you do to help? You can donate RIGHT NOW on the Peace Corps Website:

(Go to peacecorps.gov >Donate now >Volunteer Projects >Africa >Zambia, K. Campbell)

We would like to have the building complete by September so we are looking to start construction in June, which means there is no time to waste!

But also tell other people about this project! The more people who here about this project, the more likely it will be successful. Tell your family, friends, co workers, etc! My social network is limited, but my network's network is limitless!

For more information visit our website at lwimba.blogspot.com

So it goes

Everything in my life smells of mildew. Everything. My Grinnell sweatshirt had mold growing on it. Which I take as a personal offense (How dare you, mold...How dare you?). I have been doing a lot of washing and airing and sunnying. Which takes a lot of time. And keep pulling out other things that smell of mildew. Black leather shoes molted yellow and white. My eye glass cleaner. Things that I have already washed...BUT I suppose it is the price to pay for living in a house made of all organic materials in a very wet country and cramming all my textile goods in one wardrobe.


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I tried caterpillars. They aren’t at all bad. But are still caterpillars when fried. Crispy. But the spikes don’t go away.
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The other day I felt like an adventurer-wading through rivers with my bike and climbing up and down muddy slopes. I was like Indiana Jones, slashing through the jungle to save my love from being sacrificed to the jungle gods. Only there is no jungle really…and I was on my way to a development meeting…and I had my bike helmet on the whole time…but for excitement sake would you please imagine the involvement of a machete and snakes. While still wearing bike helmet of course.

Someone told me that the river was very safe to cross and would reach my knees. It was in fact at my thighs and not so easy to cross the current on a rocky bed with my bike on my shoulder. The second river was to my lower thighs and muddy bottomed so a bit easier.

The meeting started 2 hours late and lasted for 3 hours, during which time it rained heavily every hour, so coming back the rivers were even more swollen. I thought might be to my waist but in fact was to my chest and the thing about rivers is you don’t really know how deep they really are until you are in the middle of one. Then there is nothing to do but put your bike on your head and keep going. I did not attempt the other river but instead took a slightly different route (why aren’t people more forthcoming with these secrets!?) which accounts for the muddy slopes. Down and up two sets of steep banks of mud, which I only managed because someone else was managing my bike for me. I did not fall in the mud until I was back at the school borehole cleaning off my feet.

All in all a pretty good day. It was beautiful when I was actually riding, the toe I thought was damaged and infected healed up, and while not super easy, crossing rivers is kind of fun and exciting. Though I think I will not make a habit of it.

This is my life. My pretty new date book got wet. It still holds dates but not quite as prettily.

That night the Lwimba River flowed over the bridge. We have gotten a lot of rain. The maize is yellow from it.
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My cucumber plant decided to grow peas instead of cucumbers to my surprise. They have also died from the rain.

My gardens harvest is thus far a handful of green beans and two handfuls of okra. The pumpkins are doing quite well too. Pumpkins are perhaps my plant mate because they need so little attention from and could probably grow on the moon.
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Have I mentioned before how startling it is sometimes to live within such beauty? Not beside it or by it or near it but ride through it carry water through it and be surprised by it. The full moon actually rises from my backyard and when the moon does not come out the milkyway stretches out directly over my house. I often stand out under it and listen to the crazy man sing drunkenly from across the river. This is also my life.

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I got letters from some 5th graders – this is but a sampling of our correspondence:

Is your hut small, medium, or huge? Do you know the size of your hut?
-5th grader

Keli: My hut is a bit bigger than 10 ft by 15ft. SO assuming that 5th graders are all 5ft tall, you could fit two 5th graders laying down one direction and three 5th graders laying another. Of course 5th graders is not at all a good way to measure because they are not all 5ft tall. In short, it is big enough to suit my needs but small enough I have to keep it tidy or I trip over things.


How old is Garbanzo? What’s the bed called that he sleeps in? Does he like kids at all?
-5th grader

K: He sleeps with me, usually tucked in somewhere very close. He likes everyone except dogs because they chase him up the mango trees.


I was wondering if you would tell me about your place. I heard you have no water or no light. That made me feel sad for you. I promise if you come here and I will give you anything you want. That is including an xbox.
-5th grader


Exactly why did you move to Zambia, Africa?
-5th grader

Keli: I came to Zambia Africa because I was curious about Africans and their ways of living. Also because I don’t want them to be poor forever.


I have one hobby and that would be to build.
-5th grader

Keli: What do you like to build? Cars? Robots? Castles?


If you want to know I have four siblings and they’re all younger than, so it’s tough.
-5th grader

Keli: I have three siblings but I am the second one born so my older sister was the one who had it rough. If you want to know, eventually having four siblings will be really fun.


I will be looking forward to your answers to my questions and maybe you could ask me some questions about my life arrangements.
-5th grader

They were all really good letters.

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Thanks for all the comments posted friends. I read and appreciate them. Really.