POST 16: Returning to Work and Returning Home

I've really enjoyed getting back into my work in Mwange. I've been
running around trying to get everything in order and handling all the
problems, large and small, that came up while I was gone. Thus, my
week has been full of problem solving and meetings. The problem
solving is fun because it constantly forces me to think outside the
box and to be resourceful. Keeping busy really helps keep my focus
off the transition back to such a rural living situation. But, it's
actually been nice to get back to the nshima, the bike rides, the cold
showers, big bugs, hot sun. I only have a limited amount of time
here, so I might as well enjoy it!

One of my favorite things this week was making dinner in the village
next to ours with a Peace Corps volunteer named Lyndsay. She's from
Oklahoma and makes amazing lentil and rice patties and cabbage-eee
(that's way Zambians say cabbage). It's great to have someone so
close to share stories with about life in Zambia and about home.

Also, for the first time since I've been here convoys of refugees have
been leaving for Congo. I know many of the refugees are really
excited to finally be returning home. Their convoys, scheduled for
August, did not leave on time due to uprisings in Moba, where most of
the Congolese refugees in Mwange are from. Because of the uprising,
UNHCR fled from Moba in August. In order for the refugees to start
repatriating again, we had to wait for a security clearance first from
the DRC government and then a more time-consuming security inspection
from UNHCR. It's sad to see friends go, but also so exciting to know
they are returning home after so many years, for some it has been
almost a decade.

xoxo