Our last sampling in Luapula

We made our way out towards Samfya early yesterday morning for our last day of sampling in Luapula. Besides doing snail searches, collecting water samples, and such data we also visited with a butcher in the area to do some research about cattle diseases that are spread via snails (sort of like bilharzia but it effects the cow's liver). The butcher let us look through his records and was very helpful, we found out that in the Samfya area there is usally only 1-2 cows butchered every month (and there are at least 163,609 people in the district). Not very much meat eating going on here (unless it is fish, there is plenty of fish).

Other items of note:
1) I found a frog in my shoe again, I have gotten relaxed about checking my shoes so I was in for a BIG surprsie once again! Those little creatures...
2) There was a large bush fire in the Mansa area when we drove back in the evening. You could see the glow of the flames from our home. I am not sure of the damage, the people around didn't seem too concerned and there is no fire department. There has been a lot of burning this year, apparently because people use fire to hunt for rats out in the fields for food. They burn the area to see where the rats run to hide. Apparently people did not grow enough food so they are burning earlier this year.

Sampling at the Dambos

John looking for snails
Winfred and Ruth the sampling assistants

I wanted to add a few pictures of our most recent sampling tour of the dambo (wetland) areas between Mansa and Samfya. Tomorrow we will be out in the field again sampling the swimming area of school children in the Samfya area. It is our final sampling here in Luapula.

More Farm Show Pictures

Mary and Ruth displaying the baked goods from cassava and sweet potatoes.

Ruth sitting on a donkey at the farm show. I was a bit nervous about this, but the owner, George wanted me to sit on it!

Luapula Provincial Farm Show

One of the provincial displays, showing the various food products grown in the region.

Cultural dancers and drumming for entertainment at the Farm Show.

Mary, Ruth and Patricia baking goods from sweet potatoes and cassava.

John and I worked this past weekend at the Farm Show. The theme this year is "Challenges of Change". ZARI had its own booth highlighting some of the research that we are doing. We exhibited improved cassava and sweet potato varieties, maize fertilizer trials, and the weed experiments that I did. We also had examples of baked goods that you can make from cassava and sweet potatoes. All Wednesday and Thursday I was learning and helping to make the baked goods. We even had some taste samples which were a big hit, especially with the children. We sold the rest of the goods towards the end of the show. We also had some Lukupa beans from PLARD available for taste testing, but no bowls or spoon or anything to serve them with. Thus chaos ensued as John dished out the beans into hundreds of egar children's hands. I think they thought they were 'American beans', needless to say there was much confusion.

The show had exhibits from different governmental departments and from all the provincial offices in Luapula. There was also entertainment of cultural dances and drumming. We were able to buy some pinapples and eggplant at the show, from the World Vision booth. These crops are hard to come by here in Mansa, but we enjoy them very much. We hope to attend the national agricultural show in early August down in Lusaka.

This week we have been sampling once again. We only have one more sampling day left; I find that hard to believe. We also have been eating lots of rape and carrots, because that is what is growing in our garden. We have been sharing with our neighbors too, because there is so much!

We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Making a Spectacle

Sampling for snails and educating children. They were VERY interested in what we were doing.

John sampling for snails in a small pond at our last sight, where there is a home made distillery nearby.

John and I are usually making a spectacle of ourselves, not intentionally but... it just seems to happen.

On Sunday we went to a Catholic mass at a local village center (church). Before the service began we were talking with a few people and were introduced to the church secretary. One man came forward with his young son to greet us. John bent down to greet the small child too... but the poor kid was scared! He we was crying and screaming (John is pretty good a frigthening small children). The service was in Bemba so we didn't really know what was going on. There was lots of dancing and drumming and singing! The service was very lively! Towards the end they invited John and I up to the front to greet us and everyone came forward to shake our hands. They were very welcoming and we thanked them for having us there.

In the evening we went for a walk and visited some of our neighbors. This is one of my favorite things to do and John is really good about asking questions and getting people to laugh! We tried to understand their system of naming (I am still not sure how it really works) and we were curious as to why few Zambian men have facial hair, even when they live way out in the bush. We didn't get a real answer for that but they thought it was really funny that we were curious about that!

Yesterday we were back out in the field sampling for snails. At our first sight there were MANY children and they were VERY interested in what we were doing. They thought it was hilarious when John put on his hip-waders and were interested in his bald head and the hair on his arms. My hair was also very interesting, and everyone wanted a chance to touch it. They also wanted us to sing some songs, so we did! Sadly there were many snails at this sight (the type that can carry bilharzia) so we tried to warn the kids about swimming/playing in this water. The other two sights of the day were much calmer, but we still found quite a number of snails. Today we will be shedding them to see if any have the parasite and tomorrow we will be back out sampling.

This is shaping up to be quite a busy week!

The July Sampling Quest Begins

John and Winfred sampling snails in the Mansa river. The hip-waders are a life saver!

John leading a parade of children... or sampling for snails in the Mutiti Dambo.

Yesterday was a day full of water sampling. We started out to the field at 8:00am in the morning and visited 4 sights around Mansa. At each sight Winfred and I would take the water samples, GPS coordinates and water temperature (a cool 16-17 degrees Celsius). John would conduct the snail sampling and do the environmental assessment of the sight. It was amazing how the sights look so different from March when they were flooded with water! This time we actually found snails at all of the sights.

Lately we have had a few intersting encounters with owls. On Wednesday of this week we had a dead owl in our lab, along with broken glassware. Apparently it came in through a hole in the roof but was unable to find its way out agian. Then when we were sampling yesterday some children brought a dead owl to show us, apparently they had killed it and were playing with it. I found this to be rather sad and disturbing. Our friend/driver/coworker, Winfred, explained to me that in Zambia owls (and cats) are associated with witchcraft so if people find them they will often kill them.

We also stopped at the market on our way home to get some staples like tomatoes, oranges, peanuts and potatoes. I waited out in the truck with our sampling equipment (we didn't want it to grow legs and walk off). While waiting out in the truck I was propositioned for marriage but declined the offer and told them that I was already happily married, they insited that I needed an African husband since I was in Africa, this I also refused. The man then countered with a new tactic, asking if I had a sister, when I said that I did, they insisted that "she will marry me". I am skeptical, but at this time John returned and we made our way back home.

Hero's day, Unity day and Husband Appreciation

Women drumming for the dancers. They always drum in a trio. The woman on the far right is the mother of the two other, younger women drumming. What a great family tradition!

Ruth learning how to dance Zambian style at the party! It is tricky how they move their hips!

Some of the food prepared for the celebration... there was a whole bunch of food being made!

The women make a HUGE pot of nshima. It gets difficult to stir as it firms and cooks and they are using two big sticks to mix the corn meal, these women are very strong!

The ladies smiling and dancing. They sure are having a good time. They told me I need to teach everyone back in the United States how to do their dancing and have parties like this!


This week has been full of ups and downs (and it is only Tuesday!). For starters yesterday, the 5th, was a holiday. Hero's Day. Most people stay home for Hero's day but John and I went to work, we thought greetings such as "have a super hero's day" would be humorous. Today is also a holiday, Unity Day. People mostly stay at home for this holiday too. But we were planning on going out to the field to do some sampling. It turned out there was some confusion with the person who would be driving us and he was out at his family's farm harvesting sweet potatoes. This was big let down, since we don't have much time here and we need to make the most of our time left to get things done. These logistical hang ups are a bit annoying.

But, we put that behind us. Then with the power being all over the place (out, low voltage) and confusion with switching equipment from US to Zambian voltage the vital piece of equipment we need to do nutrient level readings will no longer turn on. It is broken, irreparable, and extremely frustrating. When things like this happen you begin to wonder what in the world you are even doing here.

While sitting outside wondering what we are going to do we heard some drumming nearby. We learned that there was a special ceremony going on a few houses down from ours. We asked if we could go see what was happening (it was a woman's social function so John was not welcomed). I found out that it was a husband appreciation party. The women prepare a lot of food, sing, drum and dance. Then they take the food to where the husband is and where he has invited guests and they eat the the meal. This is a way for a women to publicly show thanks to her husband for the work he has done and how he has provided for the family. I had a good time interacting with our neighbors and learning more about the culture. I also tasted their regional drink, which is fermented maize meal with roots found in the forest. It is cooked to make a porridge but more liquid, so you can drink it. It is drank cold and tastes smokey, sour and sweet all at the same time and the texture is a bit grainy. I must confess that I do not really enjoy it, but I tried it. As always we are learning much here and every day surprises us with its highs and lows.