After Meheba, I traveled back through Lusaka and then to Kala again. In Kala I was fortunate enough to attend the Cross-Border meeting between UNHCR Zambia, UNHCR DR Congo and representatives from both countries’ governments. This meeting put in place the program for repatriating many of the refugees from Kala and Mwange during 2008. I really enjoyed seeing how all the big decisions are made and meeting the UN officials and the government representatives. It was also great to have Kjerstin at the meeting and to hear how excited UNHCR is about the accomplishments that FORGE has had in all the Camps.
After the Cross-Border meeting, I had one week in Mwange to finish everything up before heading to Tanzania for vacation and then going straight to Meheba. In Mwange, I got settled into our new house with the help of Lyndsey (the Peace Corps volunteer, who is now just about a 5 minute walk away!) and the members of Kalabwe village who are all incredibly kind and generous. The house is looking great with its thatched roof, mud brick walls, running stream in the front yard, and the outdoor shower and toilet. I wish I would be spending more time there, but I’m excited that we have a new bigger place! I will post pictures of the house soon.
It was sad to say goodbye to Mwange for so long and unfortunately it was a pretty rough week dealing with different problems with the projects. I had to almost fire an employee for not repaying money on time, which was definitely the hardest thing I have had to do as a Project Manager so far. Additionally, I had a couple of other problems to take care of because of power struggles between employees in another project. But, it was good to make sure people were taking responsibility for their actions and to have everything taken care of before I left. After that week, I was really excited to be lucky enough to go on vacation in Tanzania!
xoxo
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