Random Bits of Life in Zambia

So there are a few things I want to share with you that stood out as odd to me. Ever see those shoe shining stations in malls, or on the streets [most of the time I see them it’s in a movie set in an American city]. I never understood it, who would bother making sure their shoes are always very shiny and polished? Well all of Zambia would. And it isn’t easy, let me tell you. The soil here is very sandy [and red] and so you basically are always walking through a thin layer of Zambian red soil-dust. But those shoes got to be shiny! So people carry around with them shoe brushes that they can stop as they are walking along and brush their shoes down. Sometimes they just use a small cloth.

Religion is huge here in Zambia. The missionaries certainly did their job! Zambian is extremely Christian, and there are is a large variety of churches here. I have found that in Zambia, you are nothing but the summation of the groups you belong to. I guess that’s really the case everywhere, but here the groups are more obvious while at home you are the summation of your interests/activities [for example: what types of music you like]. Here in Zambia you have your tribe, your church, your football [soccer] team. I can’t tell you how many taxies I have been in with a “This car is protected by the blood of Jesus” sticker on the dashboard where in Canada there would be a panel for the airbag. Somehow I don’t imagine the taxi has one and I hope the sticker is telling the truth! Up in the corner of the front window is usually a couple stickers proclaiming the drivers support for Manchester United, Liverpool, or Chelsea, etc. And you wear your groups on your sleeve, as it were, here. The churches have uniforms. Sometimes full outfits, other times just church chitenge’s [those traditional fabrics wrapped around to form a skirt. The political parties also have Chitenge’s]. Then within the one church there will be different groups that have gone through some sort of training so that they can better serve to go and visit people at their homes or hospitals. These groups have their own uniforms. I was told by some of the L’stone’ Bahais that on Sunday, people wearing different “uniforms” don’t greet each other [you have entire conversations with complete strangers here on a regular basis. It puts into sharp relief how little north Americans interact with each other].

As I mentioned in a prior post, L’stone is the tourist capital of Zambia. There are more Muzungos [ma-zoon-goos: “Englishmen” but now means “foreigner”] here than anywhere else in Zambia. You get so used to not seeing any white people that when I first got here I wanted to react like so many little Zambian children do… jump up and down, point, and yell “muzungo muzungo muzungo!”. But then I realize I’m white… and how white I am.

Another strange thing regarding religion… there are young Americans here to spread the faith. Seriously, there are Americans, who look roughly the age to be in University or backpacking around the world, who have come to an African country which is more Christian that the U.S. to try and convert people! I can’t wrap my head around that one.

EWB has volunteers all over Zambia. And there are many different languages [72 tribes in all] so we all end up learning different languages]. I am leaning Tonga, as are a 2 other Junior Fellows I believe, lots are learning Nyanja, some Lozi, some Bemba. As a result, OVs [overseas volunteers] end up adopting the tribe. Effectively making me a Tonga. Josephine [who is a long term volunteer based in Livingstone, but she is in Canada for a bit to visit family before she returns here] is Lozi. Tonga and Lozi are tribal cousins which makes it ok for us to make fun of each other [a tribal right]. So Josephine is my cousin, Katalausha [being Tonga] is my brother, and Lidia [being Nyanja] is my sister in law as she is married to a Tonga.