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Published: February 9th 2014
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At the border BAM! Zambia is on and poppin! Efficient and correct, not overly nice...we were all done in half an hour.
Money collected, passports stamped...Next!
This is definitely another country. Auto parts shops, bicycles for sale....they want to keep moving forward And are hustling for it. Driving deep into the countryside: high school boys and girls make their way home from school, crisp white shirts, pleated skirts, ties flying in the wind.
Packs of little children run long distances barefoot to and from school ...they race against all odds to make it...
This is the bright side... Many of these are the children with sponsors....
Zambia has the worlds 3rd highest death rate with life expectancy of only 38 years.
86% of Zambians live below the accepted poverty line of $1 per day
Only 57% of Zambian children attend school.
There are an estimated 1.2 million orphans in Zambia
These are the facts but not what I feel...I love this place!
The beautiful lodge where we camp on Croc river in South Luangwa, along with the other lodges in the area do their part to support the community. Children are
Working women
Women work tirelessly sponsored, woman's handicraft sold, game wardens and anti poaching programs funded. Sculptures made by the children of wire confiscated from poachers are sold, 100% of the proceeds going towards the child's education, all hands on deck, but still just a drop in the bucket of what's needed and they deserve so much more.
While the others go on a game drive I relax at the un fenced lodge, facing me is the wide shallow Croc river where hippos bubble and splash, at lease 3 different types of monkeys cavort about camp stealing anything that's not nailed down. So far no elephants in camp. So much natural beauty, so much need yet the warmest of smiles, the gentlest of voices....
I struggle to make sense of the imbalances of life, what determines your station, geographic location, financial position, good or mis fortune? Surely one individual is not more deserving than another...
Long conversations with the grounds keepers, lodge workers, game wardens gives me some insight into their characters but no more clarity....these people have heart. I welcome the chance to speak quietly with them while the others are out on a game drive.
I am reminded of
an old Reggae song:
Everybody wants the same things don't they, they want shelter from the storm....everybody wants the same thing don't they...they want to keep their children warm.
Maybe not verbatim but you get my drift.
Zambia is a land locked country about 2 and a half times the size of Nebraska, originally part of Rhodesia. We drive miles and miles along fairly decent roads through village after village of lean industrious people. Here as in so much of East Africa I am stunned by the number of children not in school and the overwhelming numbers of babies. Every woman of childbearing age has a baby slung on her back, firewood, bucket of water or produce on her head and ax or hoe in her hands. Too much!
Yet each village is neat, the packed earth of every compound freshly swept, the surrounding fields green and well tended, the huts in good repair. These people are tireless workers...from early dawn till after dark and above all the appear happy!
At one point on a country road Henry our driver stops for no apparent reason. Round the bend in the road comes a group of
Children get football
Henry through interpreter explains the ball is group property about 12 or 15 primary school children on their way home, shabby, barefoot but happily kicking a homemade soccer ball. We give them one of out gift soccer balls from the truck.... The shy warm smiles of joy, as they run and wave, kicking their new ball between them.
Watching them I am certain of one of the great secrets to a happy life: Be satisfied, not always needing and wanting more. To hell with angst, smile and give thanks for what you do have.
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Zambian Lady
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Happy Zambians
As a Zambian, I agree that Zambia has a lot of problems. However, a shortage of poor but happy people is not one of them. I used to work with some Europeans in Zambia years ago and they were always amazed that we, the locals, were always happy whether we had money or not. I did not understand this because to us being happy had nothing to do with money. Our basis for happiness was: 1) Are we and our loved ones healthy? 2) Do we have enough food for today? 3) Are we safe? 4) Do we still believe that God cares for us? If the answer to these questions was yes, then life was good. I love and miss Zambia.