Busy busy busy busy

I am now, officially, horribly behind on my blogging. Five days have passed, and I’m going to rush through them so I can put down the latest and most vivid recollections before they fade away.

Wednesday, four days ago, we went to a microfinance fair in the village of Chongwe. It was designed to be a celebration of the microfinance funded by the United Nations Development Programme, as well as a place where groups funded by the microfinance program could sell their products. We drove in serenaded by a group of women singing who continued even after we exited the van. There were at least one or two hundred people in the audience, though practically all were women. Men weren’t there perhaps because they were working or just weren’t interested in coming, since I saw plenty of men and boys on the drive in. That just highlighted how microfinance has focused a lot around women, due to their historically higher rate of fiscal responsibility, and also women’s cultural position of staying home and creating crafts that they can sell.

The microfinance fair was interesting, though they had to switch between the local language (Tonga, I believe), and English, which was difficult to understand because of the accent and because were in the back, and also because we were distracted by the mass of children who had surrounded us.

The kids, for most of us, were the highlight of the microfinance fair. Our attention drifted off as the kids giggled and we began to play with them. There ages ranged from about four to eleven, and we had fun as we took pictures of them and then showed the images to them. Grayson was behind me showing them how to do “American handshakes”, and others were throwing around a ball. We tried to pay attention to the presentation in front of us, but the kids were extremely distracting (although in a good way.) We did, however, watch as there were dances and a singing group, a short skit about how microfinance saved one woman’s daughter from prostitution, and two women who presented about their experiences. A representative from the Grameen Trust was there (one of the original microfinance groups, based in Bangladesh), and talked a bit. We were also able to browse the wares of the entrepreneurs funded by microfinance, and we bought from a few as well.

After the Chongwe Fair, we went to the Grassroots Soccer group in Lusaka. We thought it was odd that it was called soccer when it was based in South Africa, where the term is football. But we learned that it was a non-profit started by a student from Dartmouth, focused on teaching about HIV/AIDS through a curriculum of games and activities. We played a few games, many of which were surprisingly similar to Tam drama activities (CTE). They were name games, although with forty or more people, it was nearly impossible to remember everyone’s. Afterwards, we did one of their curriculum games, where we created two lines of people and passed a ball, which represented HIV, behind our backs so the other team didn’t know where it was. Each line had to guess where the ball was in the other person’s line. There were three lessons behind the game: you can’t tell outwardly who has HIV, the only way to know for sure is to go for a VCT (voluntary counseling and testing), and where you could go to get a VCT.

Afterwards, we played football (soccer) with the Zambian youth. We were split into separate teams, mixed Americans and Zambians, and played. Firstly, I rarely play football. Secondly, they were really good. Needless to say, I was destroyed and humiliated for my lack of football skills. But either way, it was exhilarating and fun to play football with Zambian youth underneath a vibrant sunset… even if I did fall multiple times and my passes were completely out of luck. We all left, excited and satisfied, although all a bit embarrassed by our lack of football ability.

Thursday, three days ago, we visited multiple non-profits and projects. The first we visited was the Malaria Foundation in Zambia, which was the umbrella organization uniting the multiple efforts against malaria in Zambia. This was the first malaria organization we’d met, and it highlighted the need for efforts to roll back malaria. They stressed the use of awareness programs and ITB, or insecticide treated bednets, as well as early recognition and treatment. Malaria is a disease caused by the parasites in the female anopheles mosquito. It is transmitted when a mosquito feeds off an infected person then feeds again off another, who will then become infected.

Next, we visited a PlayPump at a school in Lusaka. PlayPumps are being touted as a cutting-edge tool in providing clean water access to schools and communities. While it is a simple mechanical pump, it also acts as a game for children. PlayPumps are wheels like those in parks that children can spin around. PlayPumps, however, pump water into a water tower while the children are playing on it. This is a simple but effective tool that eliminates the tedious hand pump. When we went inside, we were able to see pictures of when Laura Bush visited to see the PlayPump in action. We also played with the children at the school on the PlayPump wheel, spinning around with them until everyone was dizzy. (I admit, when I spun them the Director had to mention to Jenny he didn’t want them going that fast.)

WaterAid Zambia was our next stop. Unfortunately, all the senior officials were out touring the projects with a group of people from the U.K., so our meeting was conducted by one of the project monitors still being oriented to the program. He seemed to be a little intimidated, but he immediately brightened up in answering whenever we asked a question. I feel we did gain some valuable information, like how WaterAid Zambia focused more on sanitation, since there seemed to be a lot of efforts going towards clean water access already. This involved setting up latrines in villages and promoting hygiene awareness programs.

I’ll put the rest later, so that’s what I have now.

YouthGive on a Plane

(NOTE: Internet access has been very spotty, so many of these entries are going to be backdated.)

I’m not tired yet, but I have the feeling in my gut that I will be, and frighteningly so, before this day is over. I slept through nearly the entire CA to NY flight after having stayed up last night packing. Time is so strange right now. Today is actually tomorrow, last night seems really recent… too hard to think about right now on 5 hours sleep. I’m on the plane right now, killing time.

I was reading through the packet of articles provided to us, and a few really stuck out to me. The first was a packet discussing the impacts of clean water access for the straight-forward reason that I hadn’t realized how much affect it had on developing communities (not to mention how much water developing communities consume), and how the lack of it can be crippling. For example, there is the raw fact that a child dies every 15 seconds from a water-related disease.

The other articles that caught my eye were an FAQ about microfinance, an column criticizing it, and a letter to the editor rebutting the column. Each of the three opened a microfinance a little more. The first introduced me ot the finer details of microfinance, such as that it doesn’t just refer to loans, but to insurance, saving accounts, and other financial tools. It also showed why microfinance works and why sometimes it doesn’t. The column elaborated on the second concept, pointing out that it is such a small scale and aimed only at creating one person businesses that don’t create jobs and thus produced little impact. Then I read the rebuttal, which pointed out that the system was not just designed to produce income, but to also empower the poor, especially women. I agreed with both. Microfinance has its function, but not enough attention is paid to medium-sized businesses which can create jobs.

The common denominator between these three microfinance articles was that they showed facets of microfinance not portrayed by mainstream media. Admittedly, microfinance is very hyped, though not without reason. But the problem is that its shown as a miracle tool. But microfinance, like any other tools, needs to be used with care and only where it will function properly. Idealism is a driving force, but blind idealism can get in the way more than it helps.

That’s it for now. My next entry will be from South Africa!