Blog Post #4 - CP

This is a picture of me helping Mr. Wam, my host dad, feed the chickens in his chicken farm in his compound right next his home in Lilayi. As I mentioned in my previous blogpost, his chicken farm contained the largest concentration of poultry I have ever seen in my life before. The chicken farm is Mr. Wam’s side business, which he maintains himself in addition to the different companies that he runs. If you asked Mr. Wam, he would gladly tell you about how he grows the chickens by himself, his set up equipped with heat lamps as well as several feeders of different sizes for when the chickens grow too big. This farm is perhaps a physical manifestation of Mr.
Wam’s dedication and work ethic. He wakes up every day at around 4-5am to go check as well as fill up the feeders for the day. Then, everyday after work and before dinner, he goes in and check on them for about 1-2 hours. Finally, before bed he checks on them one last time before calling it a day. I was always impressed by just how dedicated he was to what was only his side business and how hard working he was. If you could not find him in the house, he was invariably in the chicken farm.

This picture will always remind me of the relationship I was able to build as I got to know Mr. Wam and Zambia better. I believe this picture also shows just how unique and unexpected the global service learning program can be. I never imagined I would be helping feed over 1000 chicks every night when I applied to the program but as I did it provided me with an opportunity to build relationships and learn about the culture.