And I've arrived in Lusaka!

After a 24 hour journey from San Francisco to London and then again from London to Lusaka, I am finally at the FORGE house in downtown Lusaka. We will be staying here for two days before departing to the Meheba refugee settlement to train. The house has a beautiful garden and is equipped with a sizeable kitchen, a common area, two bedrooms, and yes, running water and electricity.

The two project managers, the camp operations coordinator, Kjerstin, and myself are staying in one room while the 8 refugees from Sudan, Congo, and Angola who are being sponsored to study at a local university by FEF (FORGE Education Fund) are staying in the other room. Aside from being a bit jet-lagged, the first day went very well.

We spent the earlier part of the day running errands such as grocery shopping, obtaining working permits, and purchasing Zambian cell phones for communication between camps and to the management in the US. That evening, we all had dinner together, which consisted of vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes, nshima (starchy substance made purely from corn meal), and a fish stew.

Afterwards, we chatted in the common room on things such as the US presidential campaign, which the refugees were very interested in. They knew about every one of the candidates, including background and positions on various social/economic issues. After that, we had a trivia quiz on African politics and history. It was a fun Saturday evening!

The person on the far left of the photo is Paul Ohisa, whose story is featured on FORGE's website. Kjerstin is in the bottom left corner and Bekiwe, one of our project managers from Sacramento, is in the center.

The night was filled with rain and amazing thunderstorms. The weather has been rainy, but heavy rains usually only last about 20 minutes. All and all, Zambia is absolutely beautiful! Here is my first glimpse of the country from the airplane window:

Today, we are spending the day settling, relaxing, and preparing to travel to the Meheba refugee settlement. I am about to shoot a video with Kjerstin regarding information on FORGE for a grant that she is applying for. We are hoping for a break in the rain so that we can shoot it with the gorgeous Zambian scenery in the background!

I am very excited to have the chance to show everyone back in the US and around the world how FORGE is providing opportunities for such an amazing group of people! For now, it's time to get organized...