Hello everyone!
Allow me to first explain the title of this post. I've noticed that my usual standards of punctuality and time estimation are completely irrelevant in this country - everything in Zambia is either two hours late or simply takes forever. I cannot figure out how long it takes to get anywhere, buses are never even close to on time, and the snooze button on my zambian cellphone alarm clock often only gives me 5 extra minutes of precious sleep (instead of the internationally recognized 10 minute snooze allowance). Yet, somehow, despite everything moving so slowly, it's already been over two weeks living and working in Lusaka! Now, each day seems shorter with more and more to do, and naturally less time to do it.

Working for the Zambia AIDSLaw Research & Advocacy Network (ZARAN) is very interesting as the organization handles a variety of different human rights issues, providing both legal advice as well as holding numerous advocacy and public education projects. Sevda and I both split our time working on our own research projects (still in their baby stages) and helping out with whatever we can around the office. After a week or so of getting oriented and organized (thanks to Steph for all the help getting us settled in), I've narrowed down my research to an assessment of Access to Treatment for HIV/AIDS, with a specific focus on the various alternative forms of treatment that exist in Zambia (including herbal remedies, false cure claims, and counterfeit drugs); I hope to show how these alternatives are often detrimental to the health of indivudals who, in choosing these untested drugs, often forego taking much needed, life saving antiretroviral medication. In addition to the research, we've been helping out on some of the clinic cases, dealing with issues such as false cure claims and wrongful dismissals of individuals who have HIV. It's shocking to witness the things people can get away with here, and often frustrating as we work with ZARAN to try to correct injustices, only to hit walls of inefficiency or corruption.

The lack of resources and development in Zambia is manifested at every level of its infrastructure, including (unfortunately) within many NGOs such as ZARAN. Currently, we are lacking a legal officer which has resulted in Sevda and I taking many tasks upon ourselves and essentially finding our own way through the country's stack of legislation (did you know that they still print laws in books and not just in easy-to-navigate online databases??). While this limits the legal action that ZARAN can take (for the time being), it has at least motivated Sevda and I to be active in our roles and productive in our research. We had the chance to see the inner workings of ZARAN when we attended the annual general meeting, where the overall attitude among board members and stakeholders seemed to be the need for ZARAN to tackle more issues of human rights (such as gay rights - currently outlawed in Zambia), while at the same time not overextending the NGO beyond what it is capable of given the resources and staff available, as well as the structure of Zambia itself and the overall culture here. I think that this is something Sevda and I will both need to keep in mind as well within our own roles, as we both want to make the most of our time here, while still ensuring that we deliver quality, complete, and accurate results without stretching ourselves too thin.

Outside of the legal framework, life in Zambia is crazy, interesting, slow, fun, boring, and bizarre all at once. Some random thoughts and observations: Our neighbor's smelly dog just gave birth to 9 puppies and they live in a tire under a broken down truck, awesome right? - Everywhere I go I get stared at, it's as though I have sauce on my face or something but no one is willing to tell me...that's gotta be the reason - There've been country-wide power and cellphone outtages on a few occasions - half the country is on strike, including all public hospitals and schools (and we thought we had it bad with York) - Everyone burns their garbage here because there's obviously no collection - My roommates can't cook if their lives depended on it - Everyone here eats with their hands - Corruption is everywhere, you can smell it in the air (corruption smells like burnt garbage) and see it in the eyes of important officials.

There are obstacles and challenges and what seems like an endless amount of problems,
Time is short but hopefully there will be time enough,
Jamie