Journeying on to the first world in the third world

My last day in Zambia ended on a rather sour note. One of our friendlier security guards was playing football with one of the other volunteers, stopped to take a break and started coughing uncontrollably. He soon started coughing big clots of blood; we tried to get an ambulance or other transportation to get him to the hospital but they came some 30 minutes after his coughing started. It was torturous watching him cough so much blood and being powerless to do much to help; he wasn’t in pain either. He’d already started losing consciousness by the time the vehicle arrived and he passed away en route to the hospital. Apparently, it was an AIDS related event – he suffered organ failure. We were so shocked by the whole episode; just 3 hours prior to that, I was joking around with him and he was in his usual jovial mood, perfectly normal. A matter of hours later, he was no more. The volunteer who was playing football with him and who was by his side right to the end, suffered the hardest. Know I’m saying the obvious but it really makes you think how fickle life is and how we should all appreciate the people we love [and hopefully who love us back] cause unfortunately death does not usually offer forewarnings – it’s just lazy like that! May his soul rest in peace

Sadly, life goes on so I was up bright and early the next morning [not that I slept very much that night in any case] for my 8-hour bus-ride to Lusaka. I did catch up on sleep and read for the rest of my time on the bus. I caught a cab to my Lusaka friend’s house (my Lusaka friend, for those that recall is the friend of Miss L’s with whom I crashed on my first night in Zambia), where I was to be crashing for the night. She cooked me a very nice meal, we watched some TV and I was asleep soon thereafter, a much better night’s rest than the previous

Keen to avoid all encumbrances on my journey to SA, I made my way to the airport well in advance of my due check-in time. I whiled away the time with some reading and people watching – I love people watching, it’s one of my favourite sports : ); there was the odd chuckle during that time. I made it to Jo’burg safe and sound, picked up my luggage and caught my connecting flight to Durban. It was pretty late and rainy when we arrived in Durban. Thankfully, there was someone there to meet me. We were soon seated in a warm, comfortable vehicle, making our way to St Lucia, my new home for the next four weeks. Our journey there was about 3 hours; it rained the whole time and was pitch black so there wasn’t much to see on the way, just lots of very tall trees. I do acknowledge that given my veritable height of 5’2.5”, my perspective of very tall may well be skewed, but would ask you to take my word: they were damn tall, those trees! Apparently the Kwazulu Natal province, which has amongst other towns, Durban and St Lucia is made up of many game reserve parks and other nature conservation initiatives. So I will be seeing a lot more tall trees in the coming weeks, if I get around

I know I’ve said a few words previously on how well developed the parts of SA I’ve seen are. Well St Lucia is no different. It’s a very quaint, beautifully scenic tourist town. Driving round the whole town takes no more than 20 – 30 minutes – it’s that small! Imagine well tarred roads arranged like a tic-tac-toe board. Each road is lined with perfectly manicured lawns and tall palm trees, where appropriate. Each street has a mixture of holiday homes, guesthouses, holiday flats for rent and such. Very few people actually live in St Lucia. The town centre is furnished with a good mix of restaurants, a shopping arcade, coffee shops, a fruit and curio market and a couple of banks. The Indian ocean is a walking distance from all this and even has an estuary into which Lake St Lucia flows to join it [“it” being the Indian ocean]. This part of the Indian ocean is rather rough with huge waves that slap the sand dunes on its banks. It’s just gorgeous. As you may have deduced, there are not many people in St Lucia, even during the peak tourist season of Dec – Mar, so the beaches are nice and clear usually. I know I will be taking some long walks along those shores in the coming days

The volunteer house is a complexly well-designed house made of stone. I still don’t know how many rooms there really are, but there are many of them. I share one with a Brit girl and it’s nice and comfortable, complete with air conditioning. Our living/dining area is large, decorated with wooden structures and African paraphernalia in a way that matches it’s stone exterior. There is a lovely stone-built kitchen as well and a small chill-out room with a pool table. There is a swimming pool and braai (SA lingo for barbecue) area and a scenic view of our street. It’s not a bad pad at all!

Work has already begun in earnest. Most of our work is done in a nearby village called Kuhla. It’s quite the contrast to St Lucia: untarred roads, a mixture of mud huts and brick houses, all haphazardly scattered across its uneven landscape. There are hardly any trees lining its streets, rather a mix of street vendors and tall grass and of course no street lights! Without the providence of the moon, it’s cast into pitch black dark at night. It’s just what you’d expect a third world setting to look like…and just round the way, is our beautiful St Lucia – amazing. I will be sure to relay my observations of how this dynamic affects life on either side of the divide. I am working with a lot of babies on this project, which I’m totally loving, they are just too adorable and I’m in love with a couple of them already!

The weather hasn’t been great thus far so hopefully that improves and I get to do some outdoor activities too!

Another Farewell

After nearly a month of hard work, fun and basking in Zambian hospitality, I find another farewell upon me. I will miss many things in Zambia; my time here has been very memorable. I often get asked what I will miss the most when I’m leaving a place and since it’s something I don’t habitually give a lot of thought to, I usually fumble. I’ve only recently begun to get into the habit of reflecting on my experiences and deciding on the best answer to this question. For Zambia, it will be working with my students. They are great and have enriched my experience here in ways that words cannot express. As a tribute to them, I wanted to say a few words about each of them. I know I will come back to this post many months [or years] from now to remind myself of what beautiful people they are. Hopefully you can also share my appreciation of them

My memory is very much photographic so the order of the kids below is per the seating arrangement in class; here goes:

Memory: the youngest in the class and also one of the smartest. Math is her weakness though a lot of it has to do with a lack of confidence. Her strength is in English. She has a beautiful smile that she generously greets everyone with and a shy laugh

Abel: gorgeously dimpled smile. He often wears a serious expression like he’s deep in thought; I often wonder what he thinks about. Very keen student, most likely to raise his hand and take a shot at answering a question even if he doesn’t have the right answer and it makes him look stupid – I admire that. Evidently, he is very humble

Dunken: yes, I got the spelling right. He is the class clown. Just the sight of him cracks me up sometimes – tall and lanky; goofy smile and always saying something funny [often silly] or taking shots at someone. His playfulness is his folly; I think he is a smart person, just too unserious to spend time learning anything. His ability to make people laugh and touch them will take him places. Beneath all the tomfoolery lies a thoughtful, caring person

Natasha: pretty face and smile. She always has something funky going on with her hair. She is quite shy and unsure of herself but also studious and very good at English. She is one of the quieter ones hence our interaction has been limited

Namuchana: incredibly shy and hardworking. She struggles with English, which I think makes understanding me sometimes quite the challenge. She did get better in my time here as I tried to take the time to explain myself when I noted this. I found that as with a few others, her limited confidence made her reticent to attempt speaking this foreign tongue. She is emotional and very sweet; she cried on my last day

Victor: one of the best students in the class. He is very quiet, which can make him unnoticeable. He usually watches me intently with his intelligent eyes, a bit daunting

Pamela: also quite bright. Good at reading and speaking English. Very good at Math, when she can figure out her multiplication tables, that is. She has a mature and confident demeanor, like she always knows exactly what she is doing

Memory: sweet, dimpled smile. She likes singing and dancing and is very good at it actually. Not bad academically either, though she does not take her mistakes too well. She will try something over and over again till she gets it right – commendable! I like her outgoing nature. One afternoon, I had them all talk about their hobbies – just to take a turn away from our usual routine of figures of speech, multiplication tables and such. She was the first to ask what my hobbies were, after they were done…it soon turned into a singing and dancing session. Fun!

Ruth: cheerful disposition and quite unserious. One gets the sense that she views school as something of a burden. Not surprising then that she is often absent. She enjoys dancing and is good at it

Brian: very proud/confident – it’s even evident in his gait and posture. He is smart and likes to think that he always has the right answers but of course, doesn’t. It’s quite amusing sometimes, watching his facial expression when he’s told his answer isn’t quite right – it reads: “are you sure? Cause I’m pretty sure I’m right”. His confidence might be able to get him out of many a tricky situation

Maxwell: don’t see much of him - get the sense that school is not really a priority. When he’s there, he’s playful and easily distracted. It was impossible to track his progress or give him any sort of individual help consequently – a bit of a shame. He’s very good at art though, as evidenced by the funky drawings sprawled over his notebooks

Rosta: quite bright and a bit of a diva. She doesn’t like to be wrong, makes a conscious effort to avoid it and hates being laughed at (the kids often laugh at each other over silly things; it’s not mean-spirited, just the sort of thing one does at that age – not to be taken seriously). Hence, you won’t catch her saying something stupid on a regular basis. She rocks a funky perm very well! :P

Nicholas: quiet and partially deaf (I found out about a week into my time at the school) – think the latter results in the former. I tried my best to account for this when speaking – he sat at in the front row, which helped. He’s very good at Math, especially mental arithmetic. He’s also shy, which I find endearing

Carol: masculine features – she loves football! Very good at English – spoken, read and written. I made them write essays about what they want to be when they grow up – punishment for a misdemeanor of sorts. She produced a very well written piece; I was impressed! She is conscientious and diligent. She has a lovely smile and quiet disposition. Don’t be fooled though, she CAN shake her tail feather!

Richard: very playful (I know it’s a common trait in boys that age but he kind of takes it to another level). He consequently suffers academically but with stern guidance, picks up things here and there. He usually wears a cheeky grin and avoids eye contact

Treavour: also reasonably playful and unserious. He waffles his way through tasks, even when given some attention. He was one of my challenges, figuring how to break through all that, I mean. Can’t say I was successful but I did try. He has a cheerful disposition, to his credit

Andrew: very good at Math maybe cause his brain appears to be methodical and logical. Doesn’t say much but has a cheeky smile. If he’s bored, he’ll be caught doodling or doing some kind of art. I recently found out that he’s Brian’s cousin

Josphat (Joe): the alpha male of the class, I daresay. He’s good-looking, trendy and smart and though aware of it, not at all conceited or arrogant. He speaks very good English and is ambitious. Takes school very seriously and actually gets annoyed when his friends fool around in the lessons. He also has a brilliant smile and is a good dancer – I concluded after seeing his moonwalk

Mistry: slightly shy though another funky hair queen. She takes herself quite seriously so humour is often lost to her. She loves school and is usually enthusiastic about it. She also likes to cook, apparently

Veronica: great voice (in singing terms I mean). She’s strong-willed and no-nonsense in her ways. I do admire her boldness; it’s a rare trait, especially at that age. Quite good academically

Mushiba: one of the more silent ones but don’t be fooled by that. She is very good at her schoolwork and I think the silence is a reflection of shyness rather than not having anything sensible or interesting to say

Hopeday: in Dunken’s absence, he is the class clown. He’s also my self-appointed teaching assistant; if I need to sort out class control, he’s usually on the case before I can even think it! We all had a Hopeday in our classrooms growing up; he’s what some would consider “the class snitch”. I find his antics highly amusing; he always puts a smile on my face. He’s also very eager to learn new things and would, like Abel, be more willing to take chances in the learning process

Brona: always silent with an air of melancholy. One might be tempted to think that she wears a scowl very well, but I came to the conclusion that she is somewhat withdrawn and may not have much reason to smile. It doesn’t help that her classmates sometimes pick on her cause I guess they don’t understand why she is a little bit “weird”. My heart goes out to her and I made the effort to include her in everything. Academically, she is not very strong…think there is a language barrier issue as well; her English is not very good and I think she just blanks out a lot of what goes on in the class as a result. Mr. L and I talked about it once and the way he gets around it is to speak in Chitonga and Nyanja (the local languages in Livingstone). I obviously could not replicate that, but I did try to get around the problem best I could. I found her intense and rather austere facial expressions a little disturbing

Chanda: cheerful and playful. Pretty good academically though he struggles with Math. He has this way of staring into space for ages…I wonder what he thinks about!

Nephias: doesn’t say much in my presence but quite talkative when amongst his friends. He is also quite unserious about schoolwork though I started to sense that his seeming lack of interest was due to the fact that he may not be getting much out of classes. Perhaps his small stature and the fact that he sits at the back of the class did not help in noticing him. I made an effort to include him in the lessons, seek his thoughts, etc…his attitude did change some


I poured my heart and soul into working with these kids. While I can’t say that my month with them made great changes in their lives and/or learning experience, I think they did learn a thing or two. The head teacher made the effort to thank me personally for my efforts in my time there so I may have done a few things right. I will miss them sorely and I know the feeling was reciprocated

On my last day, we had a little jamming session: drumming, music, dancing, soft drinks and some cake. Of course, they did far more singing and dancing than I did cause they are way more talented! After all the mayhem, there was fervent hugging all around and a few tears, though not from me. I saved it till I was in the privacy of my room – usually the best way for me. As the bus drove me away, with the evening sun making its descent, long faces and frantic hands waved goodbye. I really, really wish I could stay…then I remind myself that I have to pull it together and face my next challenge/adventure

Livingstone Shinanegans

As per usual, it’s now time for an update on the fun stuff. I think my time in Livingstone has been relatively tame but will leave you to judge that for yourselves

My first weekend was spent at one of the many islands on the Zambezi river, which is appropriately named Jungle Junction. The Zambezi is Zambia’s biggest river, running from the north of the country, working its way Westwards then joining the Chobe river down south [somewhere near Livingstone] at the joint border with Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. Jungle Junction is essentially a jungle island that serves as a get-away destination for tourists and locals in Livingstone. There are several huts scattered around the island, which can house up to 25 people, maybe more. Each hut has the basics – bed, mosquito net and bamboo shelves. Some didn’t have doors so naughty monkeys on the island could barge in and rummage through one’s belongings at any point. Most huts had a clear [and stunning] view of the river. I shared a hut with 2 girls, a Brit and a Cypriot. There is no electricity on the island so candles and torches helped us get around at night. The showers were communal and outdoors, pretty cool actually. Privacy was not always guaranteed; there was the risk of a Peeping Tom having a peek through the cracks of the bamboo walls…err, showers were very speedy! We made the journey out there on a Friday afternoon; the evening was spent at the candlelit bar trying on [and fooling around in] fancy hats, drinking all sorts of beverages and having some intense conversations. The jungle was alive with nature’s music that night. Surprisingly we all slept very well, in spite of the “noise” and real threat of being attacked by wild animals. We woke up to the song of birds and the bright rays of the early morning sun. After breakfast, we all got into canoes and paddled across to a smaller island nearby for a beach-like experience. These islands (in some cases, more like large sandbanks) all have beach sand, so with some beach towels, sun and a bit of imagination, it WAS like being on the beach. We spent the morning there, reading, chatting and frolicking in the river despite the risk of crocs (as in the animal, not the brand of shoes) or hippos popping out at any point. After lunch, we made our way back to Jungle Junction. Some people went off to explore the island, while some extended the lazing around. A few others ventured off on the river in canoes and did a trip round the island. Closer to dusk, a few of us went for a sunset canoe ride. The sunset wasn’t as amazing as anticipated but we did appreciate the serene atmosphere on the river. That night was our final one on the island; we decided to go wild with good music and some dancing. I believe some even opted for singing, which was very entertaining. Less apprehensive about sleeping in the jungle, we retired that night and went straight to sleep. We were quite sad to leave the next day. The island had a unique peacefulness about it that we knew we would miss in the hustle and bustle of Livingstone life

The following weekend, 15 other volunteers and I ventured out to Botswana for a couple of days. The border is located about an hour away from Livingstone; we set off on a Friday afternoon and were in Chobe, Botswana 2 hours or so later; immigration and such took up the rest of the time. The plan was to set up tents and camp for the night at a campsite and go on a game drive early the next morning. We ventured out to the township that afternoon. Chobe [and Kasani, the nearby town] seemed well developed: good roads, shopping malls, etc. We had a little wander around [strangely saw a warthog resting in the parking lot at the mall!] and went back to our campsite around early evening. The tents had been set up; it would be my first experience of sleeping in a proper outdoor tent [not the semi permanent ones i'd encountered thus far] so I was excited. Dinner was a barbecue feast around a warm fire; it was delicious! We retired early that night, as we had to be up at 5.30am the next morning for the game drive. I slept very well that night, certainly better than I expected; no mosquitoes, no attacks from stray lions or hippos! I could get used to this outdoor life! After a light breakfast, we made our way to the Chobe National Park. The game drive was cool; we saw kudus, waterbucks, (both members of the antelope family), elephants [a lot of elephants!], hippos, crocs, eagles, many strange birds, impala [lots of them] and guinea fowls! The park had the Chobe river running through it and other great scenes of nearby hills. We could also see Namibia from one section of it. We went back to camp for a proper breakfast – toast, cereal, fruit and the tastiest omelette I’ve ever had. The dude who prepared it used leftovers from the previous night and it was just one of those that had everything thrown in: potatoes, onions, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and God-knows-what-else. It was too scrumptious! We packed our stuffed bodies into the truck shortly after breakfast – the extended version and made our way home. There was a lot of sleeping on that bus!

That Sunday, we decided to spend part of the day at one of the posh hotels located near the Victoria Falls. It’s one of those places you go to if you are retired and have some money to get rid of or if you are rich; US$300 a night is NOT how I roll. It had everything on the premises – real AND fake wildlife, curio shops, an ATM, swimming pool, live music, an entertainment centre…even Victoria Falls! AI has some sort of arrangement with them so we get to go and hang out there whenever we feel like it. Anyway, the pool was very nice so we got some swimming done, played Frisbee [in the pool], ordered some lunch and for a few hours, pretended we belonged in that place. We joked about it constantly. After a few hours of seeing life on the other side, we sauntered over to Vic Falls. It is the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen – how a crack in the earth’s crust can make your heart skip is just testament to what a wonderfully well-created world we live in. Vic Falls is right on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe so we saw it from the Zambian side. I would love to see it from the Zimbabwean side but there are many other things I want to see in Zimbabwe, not enough time, so I will have to book a trip out there at some stage, with one or two of my favourite people. The Falls are so deep that looking down them makes one dizzy. We ventured as close to the edge as we could, taking photos and just enjoying the scenery - a lovely way to end the weekend

The last weekend gone was a quieter one. I spent the Saturday at the museum in the Livingstone, which was very interesting. I love museums and learning about the history of countries. The artefacts displayed dated as far back as the stone ages and ran right through to independence and modern life in Zambia. Very insightful! I also got some curio shopping done [as if I haven’t done enough of that…I really need to stop buying stuff!]. The evening was relaxed – movies, dinner, some conversation. Some of the guys had gone white-water rafting on the Zambezi so we listened to the stories they had to tell; it sounded like a lot of fun. As I’d done rafting on the Nile, I’d opted out of this one

Sunday was spent lazing around for most of the day. We’d had some rain the last couple of days and that morning we had the final downpour for the weekend. It made sleeping in a very attractive prospect, one I thoroughly relished. After a late lunch, we made our way to the Zambezi Sun – the posh hotel described above. We quickly nipped to Vic Falls to catch the sunset – amazing. The water had dried up, okay not really. The water from the Zambezi is used to generate electricity in Livingstone and surrounding towns. With the dry season coming up, the water is rationed between electricity generation and running the falls. Sunday was one day that the water was scheduled to be used for electricity. There was still some water at the falls but not nearly as much as is usually there. We had drinks at the hotel to mark the end of a couple of fellow volunteers’ stay in Livingstone. We then went home for few rounds of dominoes and UNO

I’ve scouted round a few restaurants and bars as well. Limpo’s is the local pub and a few of the other volunteers hang out there often; I’ve tagged along on occasion. The restaurants around town usually cater to Western Cuisines, which is fine as I have a good deal of Nshima at the house and its nice to mix it up every now and again. I’ve also been to Rhapsody’s, a South African chain of bars; more upscale [and pretentious] and caters to tourists and expatriates in the area; they serve very good desserts though. Most of my evenings have been spent at the house hanging out with the other volunteers, which was never a waste of time and usually filled with a lot of laughter

I plan to go to Vic Falls next Saturday – I really can’t get enough of it. The plan is to venture over to Devil’s Pool, an experience, which is meant to be terrifying but after bungeeing and white-water rafting, BRING IT ON! [said tongue-in-cheek]
Can’t believe I have only one week left in Zambia [12 left in my trip; 18 weeks in the bag!]. Time is zapping by with a quickness! Next stop, St. Lucia – the African version!