Another update from the D-Lab Zambia team, a week after the last piece of news from them. This time student Ying Lucy Fan (Chemical Engineering, Class of 2012) reports from Lusaka about what the team is up to:
Muli Bwanji! (How are you?) Greetings from Lusaka again! The team is in good health and good spirits. We are currently in town for the Peace Corps Demonstration, where we will be assisting with the sharing of appropriate technologies (like corn shellers and chlorinators) and a creative capacity workshop. Prior to this, we had been spending time getting to know the community within the Linda Compound, and working on our projects. We will be returning to Linda Monday, and continuing on to Umoyo on Wednesday.
Everyone has been extremely nice and have been patiently teaching us Nyanja. We have been enjoying Zambian delicacies, like vinkuela (caterpillars) and kapenta (small dried fish). We have enjoyed the beautiful Zambian landscape from the top of Mount Makulu and have discovered that Zambians love to pose for snaps (photos!)
We have been making great strides on our projects. Just this morning, Shen and I ran a small business workshop for the community. The foundry is coming along well. Anna and her helpers were able to successfully melt aluminium and sand cast a large serving spoon! The radio project, led by Jack, is making great strides toward a project proposal, and we have even recorded some practice programs. The interlocking stabilized soil block (ISSB) sample structure is coming along, and will soon be ready to be photographed for the brochure and other marketing materials. And Sam and other youth have come up with a design for a Moringa grinder, which is currently being constructed.