BLOG # 14

After the representatives left, I had one day to get everything ready to go first to a big FORGE Project Manager (PM) meeting in Meheba Refugee Settlement (in Southern Zambia) and then to America. I found that I was leaving 5 days earlier than initially planned only a day or so before we left! But after a lot of scrambling to tie up loose ends in Mwange, it all worked out.

The PM meeting in Meheba was really great. I think all of us felt much better having met each other and having all our ideas and strategies for FORGE on paper. I am excited to see how our input will help FORGE evolve over the next couple of months. And, I am excited to have more people to bounce ideas off of and learn from. After seeing Meheba, Daniel and I also realized that our living situation is much more rugged than either of the other two camps under FORGE. The other camps have treated water (one has running water!), good electricity, great cooks, and neither has a dad that plays the radio before 5am every morning But, Daniel and I are generally happy with the family and living situation. We know that we will be much tougher after a year here!

After the meeting in Meheba, I had a couple days to rest in Lusaka before I got to go home to the USA! One of the nights I was in Lusaka, Daniel and I went to an Irish bar in the nicer part of the city. We watched the world rugby finals with South Africa playing against England in a bar packed with people of a ton of different nationalities. There was a lot of yelling and jumping and drinking. Everyone definitely had a good time and most were happy when South Africa won. Soon it was time for my many long flights to San Jose, California.

Xoxo