Every day, we woke up at sunrise, ate a small breakfast, and then engaged in group meetings. Sometimes, we also took the opportunity to bike to the market, which was about a 20 minute bike ride away, or to the giant ant hills (as in 15+ feet tall!) to get reception to call family and friends.
There were lots of cats and kittens around, which was nice because they ate all of the spiders and rats. However, the spiders ate the mosquitos, so it's kind of nice to have them around too. They are flat and very large (sometimes larger than your hand), but they pick a spot on the wall and do not move from it, making them harmless.
While we were there, the FORGE Women's Center was holding a graduation ceremony for the graduates of the knitting, sewing, and women's health classes. The women had also made tie-dye chitengas (cloth used for skirts and dresses), which they were very proud to show off.
This man is a typical vendor in the market located near the FORGE compound.
Bobo, who is one of the recipients of a FORGE microfinance loan, currently owns and runs a bakery in the market. Here, he is pictured with his pet monkey which was discovered eating the vendors' food and sold to him.
The monkey posed for me and allowed me to photograph him before he went back to eating Bobo's delicious bread!
A day later, we biked to a neighboring zone to visit one of FORGE's primary schools. This is a preschool made up of mostly Angolan refugees. They were singing their ABCs and learning the days of the week when we arrived.
After we left the preschool, we biked down into the neighboring Zone G, which is comprised of Rwandan refugees. Below are some photos of the children.
On our last day, Suzannah, who is also an ICM, and I recorded interviews of the 6 new librarians of the FORGE libraries. They talked about how excited they were to learn through reading the many books that FORGE has had sent over to the camp.
And finally, a Meheba sunset.... This truly is a beautiful camp!!!
While we were there, the FORGE Women's Center was holding a graduation ceremony for the graduates of the knitting, sewing, and women's health classes. The women had also made tie-dye chitengas (cloth used for skirts and dresses), which they were very proud to show off.
This man is a typical vendor in the market located near the FORGE compound.
Bobo, who is one of the recipients of a FORGE microfinance loan, currently owns and runs a bakery in the market. Here, he is pictured with his pet monkey which was discovered eating the vendors' food and sold to him.
The monkey posed for me and allowed me to photograph him before he went back to eating Bobo's delicious bread!
A day later, we biked to a neighboring zone to visit one of FORGE's primary schools. This is a preschool made up of mostly Angolan refugees. They were singing their ABCs and learning the days of the week when we arrived.
After we left the preschool, we biked down into the neighboring Zone G, which is comprised of Rwandan refugees. Below are some photos of the children.
On our last day, Suzannah, who is also an ICM, and I recorded interviews of the 6 new librarians of the FORGE libraries. They talked about how excited they were to learn through reading the many books that FORGE has had sent over to the camp.
And finally, a Meheba sunset.... This truly is a beautiful camp!!!
I am back in Lusaka to gather my things and prepare to move to the Kala refugee camp, where I will be living and working for the next several months. It is hard to summarize my journey thus far into one post, but I hope that the photos have said much more than any words ever could have!
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