Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions people have asked me over the years. If you have any new ones for me to answer, please e-mail them to me and I will add them to this page.
Q: Have you eaten any horrible food?
A: I usually eat the regular Zambian diet, which consists of Nshima (basically corn meal) and relish (veggies in a sauce). Roll the Nshima in a ball and dip it into the relish. Yum! We eat more of the leaves of the veggies than we do the actual vegetables. As far as "horrible" food, even though Clara loves making up a mess of caterpillars, I still cannot eat them. I have eaten one though, just to prove I could do it. Since that time I have eaten a few more, but I don't make it a habit. Let me show you some pictures. Yes, I actually ate the caterpillar!
A Pan full of cooked caterpillars
I actually ate this one. Now this is my definition of "Yuck!"
Q: Have you ever had Malaria?
A: Yes, I have had Malaria about ten times that I know of. Actually, Malaria is not too bad, but the medicine is horrid! The medicine makes me sicker than the actual disease. There are several kinds of Malaria, and I have had many different of the non-falciprum kind (the falciprum kind are deadly). I mainly got it my first year here because we lived where several rivers came together out in the bush. If you read my April/June 2007 Newsletters, you will read about my latest bout with the lesser type. Usually though, if a person is in before dark, they may never contract Malaria. Supposedly one out of every sixteen mosquitoes carry the disease. It is a much lesser problem in the cities than in the Bush.
Q: Do you have running water and electricity?
A: Mostly. I have a hot water heater. So that answers both questions. Lots of times the electricity goes off every few days, especially in the rainy season. We have running water, but to drink it, it has to be boiled. We take great precautions to not drink the water straight out of the tap. I will brush my teeth in it, but I won't drink it. The water used to be turned off at six p.m. every night because of the copper mine. Now, unless the electricity goes off, we have running water all the time.
Q: How do you get around?
A: Usually we walk. We walk to church. We walk to pay bills. We walk almost everywhere. If I need to go to the bank in Kitwe (large city 10 miles away), I take public transport, which consists of mini-busses (vans to us) that collect people and drop them off at certain spots. When I flew home last year from Lusaka, I took a Greyhound-type bus (see picture below) from Kitwe to Lusaka. I also have a bicycle, but Morgan usually uses it to transport tools and equipment around.
Q: What is your biggest need?
A: I do not have much furniture, but slowly that is being taken care of. I could use a really good handyman to fix things around the house that are broken. I have learned a lot, but I am not a great electrician. When the light went out in my bedroom, I had to wire a new bulb and socket. Also, when the hot water heater went out I had to hire an electrician, and they charged about triple of what it should have been.
Q: What is the quickest way to reach you?
A: Well, you can call the number on the "Contact Me" page and if it is after six here I am usually in the house. Remember, I am seven hours AHEAD of Eastern Time in the U.S. That means when it is noon in Ohio, it is seven p.m. over here. So, if you call me at six p.m. your time, it is one a.m. over here. Don't wake me up unless it is an emergency. I also check my e-mail at least once a day, and I can write you back within 24 hours.