Africa 2011

6:30am came awfully early but it became a routine thing for us as we were up every morning by that time. We walked still half-asleep up to the cookhouse for breakfast at 7. Beatrice, Jean, and the other women prepared a wonderful breakfast for us, like they did every day of the week. We quickly learned that instant coffee was fabulous to have for our early mornings. Now that we were more awake and energized, it was time to begin the build.

We walked about 10 minutes to the worksite in a neighboring village. Along the walk children would run to the edge of their yards and scream “mzungu” (white person in Bemba), some even came to hold our hands as we walked. We arrived on the site to find that the head constructors had already built the foundation. Our first task was to move piles of cement bricks in the form of an assembly line. The woman of the house even helped us move the piles and she made it look easy. These bricks were quite heavy but she did not seem to be phased by it at all. Before we could begin laying the bricks, we had to mix the mortar. To do this we had to mix cement with water and dirt. A few of us went a few houses up to the well with buckets to collect water. After nearly filling two buckets, the women laughed and told us to fill them to the brim. Clearly these women are strong and have great work ethics. Mixing the cement was even more difficult than moving the bricks. Everything was finally ready and Voster gave us a demonstration of how to lay the bricks and smooth the mortar. We began laying the bricks and adding to the foundation to make this into a home for the family.

The foundation of the house built by the carpenters. Photo credit to our professor Tom Arcaro. 

It was a difficult morning in the hot sun but we learned a lot about how to build a house. Watching the workers was fascinating because they had phenomenal work ethics in addition to being friendly and creative. After several hours it was finally lunchtime and everyone enjoyed our down time. The workers made it look easy while we all felt spent at lunch. The women at the cookhouse made a delicious potato stew with pasta and collard greens.

Before we headed back to the worksite for the afternoon we had the opportunity to interact with children. Our next-door neighbor had a little boy who wore a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt every day. He was very young and did not really speak English so we never learned his actual name.  We always referred to him as Thomas the Tank Engine because of his shirt. He was adorable and always seemed content with a bright smile on his face. “Thomas” was among handfuls of kids who were so cute and always appeared to be happy. Now it was time to go back to the worksite for a challenging afternoon in the hot sun. 

“Thomas the Tank Engine”

That evening we had to test our creativity so that we could shower with our solar showers. Anna and Lizzie went to work attempting to hang the 5 gallon bag and provide some privacy. They managed to hang it from behind our outhouse and hang extra chitenges using close pins for some coverage. It was an impressive contraption that was very effective for showering for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, the rest of us were interacting with the people of the community. I was asked on a date by our next door neighbor Sidney. This experience reminded me of the marriage proposal I had received in the market a few days earlier. They really didn’t seem to hold much back! The evening wore on with beautiful sunset. We managed to get clean and enjoy a nice dinner before bed. We’d repeat it all over again the next day. 

Our chitenge shower. Photo credit to Lizzie Capel. 

The next morning we awoke fully rested and more adjusted to Zambian time. At 8:30 we gathered at the cookhouse for one of many meals prepared by the women. They sometimes served these dough balls (the name of which I am unsure) but nonetheless we enjoyed them very much. In addition to one of those, I had some orange mango juice and half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After our lovely meal, we walked to a Catholic mass to experience a church service in another culture. Along our walk we were approached my many people who simply wanted to shake our hands (this happened almost everywhere that we went) and the handshakes continued at church when we arrived. Though the service was primarily in Bemba, their native dialect, the priest welcomed us into their community and even invited Rachel (one of our members) to speak briefly. Additionally, he tried to explain some of what was going on in English. Despite not being fluent in Bemba, the service was actually quite similar to an American Catholic mass and we were able to follow along quite well.

The choir took up the first few pews on the left hand side facing the altar. It was fascinating to see the first two rows of women, some with babies on their back, and even a few who had to nurse mid song. And in the next two rows were the men singing just as loudly. There was no organ but instead string instruments. The people playing these instruments sat in the very first pew of the choir. The entire experience was incredibly unique and interesting to see the similarities and differences. It was certainly a full house but not surprising, as religion is very important to them.

We returned to the village for lunch, again prepared by the women. This time it was quite simple; chicken and rice. That afternoon was another cultural experience as we visited one of the local markets. We all split up to do our own shopping once we arrived and I went off with Tom to gather information for the hammer mill. After a bit of searching, we found the hammer mill that Tom had visited 2 years prior. The workers operating the machine were very friendly and tried to explain how it worked despite the language barrier. They did give us a demonstration and Tom asked to take some pictures.  There was a small problem when one of the bosses came out and was very defensive about us taking pictures. He was unsure of why we wanted them and the purpose of them. Perhaps it was a miscommunication or difficulty understanding his request but before we made the situation worse we left. We strolled through the village just noticing the different goods for sale as well as some of their prices. We walked through the produce section and found a citrus that we had never seen before. It was called “tugonlu” and tasted similarly to a lime but more sour and a much different texture. The woman was very friendly and sold us some to share with the rest of our group. We also purchased collard greens and ground peanuts to munch on as we continued to see the rest of the market. We walked into the indoor part of the market and quickly exited when we realized it was the fish market.

The afternoon wore on and we met the rest of the crew at the bar down the street for some Fantas before heading back to the village. For dinner, the women served us baked beans, pasta, collard greens, scrambled eggs, and shima. We ate all together on the floor in the cookhouse and then called it a night. 

Two days until the build begins! Today we had a really full day to get situated and get a better feel for the community that we would call home for the next 7 days. We had an early start, waking up at 7:45am so that we could get to Ndola to take care of some errands and then have the afternoon to familiarize ourselves with the people in Kawama. At 8:30 we were eating breakfast at a bakery in Ndola. We then ventured down to the grocery store to buy groceries for the week so that the women of Kawama could cook meals for us. To speed up the process, we split into pairs and threes to gather everything that we would need for the next week. Watching them ring up our purchase was amusing because the amount was so large. Not too terribly surprising as we needed enough food to feed 11 people for a week. Our total came to $2,160,700 Kwacha, which is equivalent to $459.72 USD.  I rode back to Kawama in a cab with the groceries and our professor Tom while the rest came back on the busses. During the ride Tom shared stories about their last visit to Kawama and about a Hammer mill project he hopes to complete someday (more about this project to follow in a later post).

Tom and I beat the rest of the group back so after unloading the groceries into the cookhouse, we went for a stroll through the village. He found the house that they built 2 years ago. It was extraordinary to see Tom’s reaction because two years ago it was nothing and now it was a house that was home to a family. This powerful moment was a preview of the experience we were soon to have. The others returned and we had the afternoon to do whatever we wanted.

This is the back of the house that Tom and Steve built with the first group of Elon students that went 2 years ago. The owner on the right is admiring their work while children of the village pose to be included in the shot. 

In our first full day in Kawama, I learned so much more than I could have ever imagined. We were able to truly experience their way of life, which at times was challenging. I had to overcome my fears of the outhouse because for the next week it would serve as our bathroom. This was easily the most difficult task to conquer but we all found our ways. It was times like these when we adopted the phrase “TIA (this is Africa).”

Above is a shot of the outhouse from the outside. We nicknamed it the HMP (which stood for something relating to its awful stench. Below is a picture of the inside of it. As you can see from the picture, all it was was a hole in the ground.  

That night we cooked dinner for the women who would cook the rest of our meals for us. Before we began cooking, we go to interact with the children. They idolized us more than anyone, which helped us to develop relationships with many of them. I brought my soccer ball to leave as a donation for the end of the trip but that afternoon I got to play with some of the kids. One of the boys and I had a juggle competition which was so incredible. I saw the ball that they had been playing with. They had beaten it into the ground so I was glad that I was able to leave them with a new ball. They sang us traditional songs from their culture including their national anthem so we shared ours with them. We also played other childhood games like Duck, Duck Goose.

Our last task of the day was to cook dinner. This was a true test for us because of their lack of supplies and no electricity, two ingredients that we are used to having when we cook at home. It amazed me how crafty and creative the people in Kawama were. No stove, no problem. They took an old hubcap from the wheel of a car and filled it with charcoal. Light a match to this and within a few minutes you have a hot “stove” to cook over.

Anna tending to the pot the night that we cooked for the people. Anna did a lot of the cooking and did a very good job! As you can see on the left side of the photo the pot is resting on the hubcap filled with burning charcoal. 

It did take a bit of time to get everything together because they did not have all the resources we have at home but we were able to manage just fine and the dinner turned out pretty well. We had chicken and curry vegetable stew with rice. This experience really enabled us to think outside the box, something that they do regularly.  

After our 5 hour bus ride from Lusaka and through Ndola, we had finally arrived in our Habitat Village; the village of Kawama. Our bus driver led us down a dirt road that was very bumpy and caused our bus to wobble significantly. The scenery was beginning to feel a lot more like Africa and a lot less like the developed city of Lusaka.

The road that we drove in on as well as walked everyday going to and from the worksite. This is also where the kids would congregate to play games and wait for us to enter/exit our house. 

People of all ages began noticing us through the windows. Screaming “mzungu” (white person in Bemba) and cheering, more and more people came to see what all the excitement was. Children began running after our vehicle, while some even jumped onto our mini trailer, which was carrying our luggage. The bus rolled to a stop in the heart of the village outside of the two houses that we would be living in for the next week.

A view of one of our houses from the outside. 

As we got off the bus, we were immediately swarmed by children wanting to touch our skin and ask us our name. I felt like a celebrity surrounded by paparazzi. These children were fascinated by all of our features, right down to our fingernails. Multiple girls held out each of my fingers individually to examine them. Another feature that they loved to touch and play with was hair. For the most part we had longer hair and having different color hair was intriguing to them.

We met handfuls of children and some of the adults before actually entering our house. With no electricity and the sun setting rapidly, we had to get our tents set up. The house was small with 4 rooms. As we got the tents up, we found some baby mice, a frog, and a small lizard. Not conditions we were used to back home but certainly a learning experience. We were fortunate enough to have tents and mats with us. After everything was situated we went into Ndola for dinner since we did not have any groceries to cook with. We drove back along the dirt road in a torrential downpour to a restaurant called Michelangelo’s. This was a bit of a surprise as we were expecting to have no rain. Voster informed us that it was the first rain they had had in at least a month, and not so surprisingly because they were entering their dry season.  Michelangelo’s had everything from Italian dishes to Asian ones.  Aaron, our bus driver, drove us back to the village after dinner. We were still a bit tired from another day of travel and trying to adjust to Zambian time so we went to bed. The lack of light made it easy to go to sleep. This community was a very much a dawn to dusk community since they have no electricity. The days ahead of us had plenty of challenges to overcome. 

After 18 hours on a plane and over 24 hours of traveling in general, there were still more adventures to be had. We awoke to a bright and sunny morning in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We took our last “real” showers that morning because we were in for some surprises upon our arrival in the village of Kawama. Our hotel served us breakfast along with orange juice and coffee. We then departed to go into the city to exchange our American dollars for Zambian Kwacha and to make our first purchases using the Kwacha. Along the way we saw a white guy walking down the street. Some members of our group recognized him as Dan, a student from Elon. We pulled over and sure enough it was him. He had been in Zambia since December working on a documentary.  It was so cool to have come that far to find someone from Elon so unexpectedly. Soon thereafter, we continued on our way to the mall to take care of some errands before heading to Ndola.

The exchange rate while we were there was roughly 4,700 Kwacha to $1 USD. To make life easier when trying to figure out the cost of an item in US dollars, we just divided everything by 5,000. I exchanged $60 USD for $240,000 Kwacha. The money exchange bureau was located in a fancy mall; let’s just say it felt more urban and developed like America than being in a developing country. Our professors (Steve and Tom nicknamed T-Bone and Steve-O) instructed us to make a small purchase at the Shop Rite to practice making exchanges but also to have a snack for our 5 hours bus ride to Kawama (outside of Ndola in the northern province). After that the girls went to PEP which we all said reminded us of Old Navy, although it smelled more like a Foot Locker. There we purchased our chitenges, which we were to wear in Kawama because that was expected of the women and part of their culture.

After completing our errands we set off for Kawama. It was a 2-lane highway the whole way, with towns every so often. During the ride we observed the scenery and such. I noticed people walking along the side of this major road as though it was no big deal. There were even schoolchildren at various points walking to and from school. We stopped a few hours in to use the bathroom in a relatively small town. As we walked down the street people stared at us and some even came to shake our hands or ask us who we were. After the brief stop we were back on our way and a few hours later our lives would be changed forever….

We began at RDU at 8:30am and our journey would not be complete for roughly 36 hours. Next stop was Washington DC’s Dulles Airport for a 5 hour layover. We touched down in DC around lunchtime and had the afternoon to do whatever we so desired. Before we knew it, we were on our South African Airways (SAA) flight to Africa! We left US soil that evening and were on the plane over night headed for Dakar, Senegal. Alas, we were finally in Africa stopping for a brief refuel. The flight was manageable but not ideal, as sleeping in economy class seats are not the most comfortable. We survived and were able to move throughout the plane during the layover. During the flight I had a lovely conversation with a Canadian woman sitting next to me. She was traveling with her a husband and a small group for a private tour around South Africa. This mingling experience reminded me a little bit of my dad who loves to chat with people. Before we knew it, we were in the air again for 8 hours with Johannesburg as the next destination. Trying to imagine a flight longer than a flight from NY to LA was hard to fathom by this point. We passed the time every which way though and survived. Sleep, sporcle, movies, music, airplane food; you name it we had it and the time eventually passed. We arrived in Joburg and of course I had no idea what time it was there or at home for that matter. We had been on a plane for at least 18 hours, so of course the last thing we wanted to do was board yet another plane. After navigating our way through the Joburg airport (it seemed more like a mall), getting our passports stamped, and taking our Malaria pills, we were on a shuttle over to the tarmac to board the flight. The last thing I wanted to see was another plane but this flight was a breeze relative to the last couple. Two hours later we were in Lusaka, Zambia waiting in line for 30 minutes to get through customs. Fortunately we were all welcome to enter the country! We gathered all our bags (which we had parted ways with at RDU) and met Voster, our Habitat for Humanity host. He and our bus driver took us to our hotel and we all passed out immediately (finally in a real bed!).  Luckily it was nighttime there so it was easy to fall asleep. 

After being home in New Jersey for 3 days, I had once again returned to North Carolina, my home away from home. This blog entry was written prior to being reunited with our group from Elon but I knew the travel portion of the trip was going to be an experience. My day began with a 2-hour car ride to Philly, $50 fee to make an earlier plane because of weather, 1-hour relatively bumpy flight because of clouds lining the east coast, and I had finally arrived at my hotel…priceless! With no car and very little within walking distance, my dinner consisted of a smushed Nutri Grain bar, a Nature Valley Granola bar, and a Twix peanut butter bar; so healthy. There was no reason to complain about this because I survived just fine and what I was getting myself into was more to be concerned about. With a nice big bed, warm shower, and flat screen TV, there was not much more I could have needed for a night alone in a RDU airport hotel. My night was not over yet though as I had another surprise. I opened my suitcase to find that my Purell had exploded and my snacks for Africa were smushed. The Purell was not all that terrible to clean up and my mom said, “Who cares, at least your clothes will be bacteria free.” And the other great thing, the snacks still tasted the same. Lesson learned, no need to sweat the small things in life.  A relatively uneventful first day; the real fun begins tomorrow when we board a plane for 18 hours. 

We leave the United States tomorrow for a 17 day trip to Zambia and Botswana. Check back in mid June to view pictures and posts about my adventures in Africa!