Advice

To the next participants in this program, get into it! As you will see soon enough, Zambia is a captivating place; the whole county is filled to the brim with life, enthusiasm and hospitality. Don’t let yourself take for granted or become accustomed to the remarkable fact that you are in such a place. The perspective I have now, looking from America back across the Atlantic towards Africa, makes me all the more confident in telling you just how stark this contrast can be. Being in Zambia is not like the travel some of you may have done to say, Europe, or other more developed countries. It really is a different world over there, and this creates an immense opportunity for you.

On a different note, don’t underestimate the potential of this type of experience to spark personal growth. Beyond the obvious ways in which this program will help you grow and develop as a student, something about immersing yourself in a place like Zambia really opens up the opportunity to grow as a person too.  As for a place to start with this, my best advice would be to be as reflective as possible. That could mean a lot of different things for different people, but whether it is journaling, talking it over with someone, or just taking some time to think, make an effort to stop, look back, evaluate, and learn from your experiences. You’ll be surprised at some of the realizations you make, and how these realizations can manifest themselves in your life.

There is nothing like seeing a different way of living to be able to look critically at your own way of living. I have been out of Africa for just a day now, but already I can see the truth in that statement. So soak it all in, because the experience of being in Zambia for the summer really doesn’t end when you fly home. If you put a little effort in, this really can be life changing.

Final Reflection and Advice

Being back in the United States after such a long time is a surreal experience. In a certain way, I am completely accustomed to the comforts of home, but in another I am experiencing reverse culture shock. Some things are obvious, as in going and taking a hot shower or being able to drive, but others are more subtle changes, for better or for worse. I do not look at my phone as much as I did before I left, I appreciate the food in my fridge more, and the luxury of being able to drink tap water. I would say that all of these changes are positive, and lends credibility to the idea that this experience has given me perspective on my life and the opportunities I've had.

Another thing that this trip has taught me is the relative nature of happiness. Visiting Botswana after Zambia, we passed through villages of the native Khoisan people near the Okavango Delta. The Khoisan people have lived virtually unchanged lives for thousands of years, lives that closely mirror those of the people in rural Zambia. Prior to coming to Africa, I had read a New York Times article about the Khoisan. The article talked about how, in many ways, their culture and society could be considered the most advanced in the world, as they had developed a way of life where they would only need to spend an average of 14 hours a week working to secure their food supply, allowing them to spend the rest of their free time eating, socializing, or creating art or tools. Compared to other societies, this one has remained unchanged for thousands of years, through dramatic changes in climate and power in Africa. Looking at this way of life side by side with our lives, or even that of some of the civilizations throughout history such as Rome that are considered the most successful, it makes one question how to define a "successful society." Americans work 40 hours or more a week, and although they might have a TV and a car, who is to say that they are more happy than the Khoisan? The Romans conquered the world that was known to them, but their empire rose and fell and the Khoisan remained the same. All of this lends perspective to how we define ourselves and what our purpose is, and I feel that much of this can be applied to Zambia. As everyone who has done the program comes to know, Zambians do not have that much of a sense of urgency and deadlines. They are easygoing, laid back, friendly and positive people, and the contrast between this way of living and Cornell could not be more stark. This has taught me to be able to step back, take a deep breath, and reevaluate my priorities, and what I consider important in my live.

In terms of advice, there are some particular logistical things that I would recommend, but the main thing is this: You will get out of this program what you put into it. Do not expect for opportunities, cultural or in terms of your research, to fall into your lap. You have to be proactive, send emails, strike up conversations with people on the minibus or taxi, ask your coworkers and your host family about themselves and their lives, in order to have a full and enriching experience. You will find undoubtedly that Zambians are an extraverted and welcoming people, something that is truly singular and special.

Other pieces of advice would be bring a lot of books (preferably kindle for packing purposes). Especially books specific to the region and its history. I read "When the Crocodile Eats the Sun" about Zimbabwe, and "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela. Reading about a place while you are in it gives you a greater perspective on it.

Finally, I recommend making use of your time in Africa. I thoroughly planned a trip to do when the program ended and it could not have paid off more. I don't know if I will ever get the opportunity to go to the region again, and am grateful that I had the time and opportunity to make the most of my time in the continent.

My advice

Future Participant,
 Today I’m sitting in America in a room with a big diagonal skylight that gives me a great view of the sky and trees nearby. The sky is grey, and in some unexpected way, this is a profound reminder that I’m in a different place now, a different world. Here, clouds mean rain, and if you don’t put on a jacket when you look up and see they grey, you’ll regret it. But in Zambia, winters have plenty of clouds but no rain, like when you upset a baby and it grimaces and stares and you cringe, bracing for the tears but they never come. And in the same way you let out a sigh of relief when the baby keeps quiet, you’ll probably find yourself sighing every afternoon in Zambia; no rain, no life shattering failures, no reason to call it quits.
 If nothing else, Zambia taught me to relax – to understand that things might not go as planned, and to know that when they don’t, I’ll be fine. It taught me to see clouds and not freak out about rain. When you get there, when you’re in the heat of your research, you’ll have interviews when you fish for answers and don’t get them, moments when you work hard for something and it doesn’t happen, moments when you think you look like a fool. But if you let the mellow Zambian lifestyle help you keep it all in perspective, you’ll be glad you did.
 That’s not the only advice I have, though. The more time you spend anywhere, the longer your list of shoulda-coulda-woulda’s becomes. So, I’ve decided to write some of mine here, in case you actually read this in search of some practical suggestions.
 1)  Download A LOT of music. Sure, you’ll sometimes have the wifi to save some playlists in country, but this wifi can less reliable than you might expect, and when you’re on an eight-hour bus ride to the middle of nowhere, you’ll want to hear anything but the same twenty songs you’d been playing all trip.
2)  Bring iodine tablets. Buying water is a real pain, and without iodine there will certainly be afternoons where you want to just lay in bed and binge-watch Game of Thrones but you’re parched and you need to walk to the store for some Aquasavana instead. If you live at Abundant Life, you’ll be almost next door to a good grocery store where you can buy water, but trust me, you’ll have a couple days where you’re so lazy you’ll be glad you can just drink purified sink water.
3)  Plan your post-program excursion early. If you want to stay in Africa for a bit before you head home after the trip, figure it out and do your research early. There is a lot to do in Southern Africa, but the quicker you decide what you’d want to do, the more freedom you’ll have. Also, if you’re feeling adventurous, I ardently recommend hitting some national parks in Botswana. Some of the folks on my trip and I went on a 10-day self-drive safari in Botswana and it was easily one of the coolest experiences of my life to date.
4)  Live and die by google drive. My research partner and I made one big google drive folder with little folders full of articles to cite, interview transcripts, contact lists, and section outlines. We also did all of our writing and editing for our paper in google docs and made our final presentation on google slides. When everything is in one place, your work feels a bit less overwhelming.

Hope this helped!

Paul

Final Reflection & Advice

First off, congratulations on becoming a participant of this program! I hope you’re excited to go to Zambia.

This summer went by much quicker than I would’ve imagined. I’ve never traveled outside the country before and this was my 2^nd time on a plane so to say I was nervous was an understatement. On the day we were leaving, our flight got cancelled because a part of the plane needed to be repaired so South African Airlines placed us all in hotels for the night. What a great way to start the program. It was nice though because we all bonded by playing multiple games of mafia. The day after we arrived, our homestays came to pick us up and I was nervous to meet mine because she was the new addition this year. Being in a homestay definitely put me at ease during the first couple of weeks because I was in an environment I didn’t know and I was far away from my family. My host mom really became my second mom and my homestay family made those four weeks amazing. 

Things started to become a routine very quickly. I woke up, had eggs for breakfast, hopped on the minibus to SAIPAR, went to the SANI Foundation (my placement), hopped on the minibus back to SAIPAR and went to my homestay. Tuesdays and Thursdays were the hospital days and it was nice talking to the medical students about their experiences since their schooling system is different from ours in the US. This routine was something that I liked since everyday life at Cornell is the opposite.

In terms of your research, you might not have a clear topic to focus on for the first two or three weeks, or your topic might change, but don’t worry if you don’t have a solid research question at the beginning. Marja, at SAIPAR, was great at pointing us in the right direction so take advantage and ask for help. Communication is key; if there’s an issue you need to deal with, telling Tatyana, Marja or your research contact will make all the difference.

During the last four weeks, try to do things together as a group because it’s a nice break away from the research. We had group dinners for most of the week and it was nice having all of us eat together. For our last week, we closed off with having a prom (you guys don’t have to do this but you should 😊 ).

Did I become a changed person after the program was over? Not quite. Every situation I dealt with was new to me so I had to push myself but I feel like for the most part I’m the same person. I’m an open minded person but some situations tested me a bit. For instance, some stakeholders said things that rubbed me the wrong way but I tried understanding things from their perspective. Even going on the peace corps trip was a bit rough because I don’t do camping and I thought it wasn’t gonna be fun for me but those four days went pretty well.

Last few tips: get ready for the minibus rides (prepared to be squished), the bargaining for taxi rides, bargaining for the minibus prices, bargaining for souvenirs (yeah lots of bargaining) and definitely try the fritters! If you can, I would suggest staying a few days after the program is over. Whether you decide to go back to Livingstone (which is what some of us, including me, did) or go to another country, enjoy the few extra days after finishing the program.

Wishing you the best,

Linda ♥