Blogs from Lusaka, Zambia, Africa - page 6

One of the advantages of doing very little background research before arriving in a place is that everything is new and exciting. In the course of my first 72 hours here I have, therefore, learned and experienced a great many things about Zambia that I would never have expected. One of the greatest surprises I’ve encountered is the population’s general fluency with English. Literally everyone (at least in Lusaka) that I have interacted with down to the bathroom guard at the shopping plaza speaks perfect English. This is, it turns out, because English is the only official national language (which I will admit I did not know) and the language of instruction in all public schools. Of course this is a remnant of the British era, but also a fairly practical choice. There are 72 other ... read more

Welcome to Zambia! I arrived to Lusaka, Zambia safe and sound, two days ago. The flights went surprisingly well, and I took the opportunity yesterday to catch up on some sleep and settle in to the guest house (Gossner Mission Guest House). The guest house is a lovely little place, with a friendly German couple running it. All of their profits go toward running two schools for disadvantaged children nearby, which is obviously great to hear. The only issue I have faced so far is getting around (to the shops etc), so I have had to make friends with a cab driver very quickly! The country has a pretty safe feel to it at the moment. I started work at UNHCR today, which is Monday 7 June 2010. This morning I have commenced my induction, and ... read more

You might think it a little odd to write a blog entry just about a train journey, but I'm going to give it a shot. I've actually been looking forward to this for some time due to a love of train rides inspired by long trips to see family in Scotland as a child, plenty of travel in China, and reading too much Paul Theroux. Trains were supposedly the great emblem of colonial rule and the means for bringing the three C's to Africa: commerce, Christianity and civilisation. In reality they were a tool of exploitation and a look at a map shows train lines penetrating the skin of Africa and, like deformed mosquito proboscises, driving straight for the continent's resources, sucking it dry. Nowadays, like so many colonial leftovers they have been lamentably allowed to ... read more

Closing in on the end of my second week in Lusaka. And I am not ready to leave yet. I have now finally started to volunteer for EduSport and at this point, I really need to thank the people here for making great efforts to make me feel welcome and as part of the "EduSport family". They have been great in including me in everything and taking care of me. To briefly explain what EduSport is all about; the foundation is built on the motto "Education through Sport" and was started and is run by Zambians. That is what makes EduSport different from other aid organizations found around here; its primary projects rely purely on local workforce. Of course they gladly accept help from foreigners (such as myself), but then it is in a way that ... read more

18/9 - 21/9 So going back a step to our train booking in Zanzibar. We had no idea how difficult it would be to organize transport from Dar es Salaam. There’s only one official train representative on the island and he said the train was booked up (or at least the Zanzibar allocation was). When we went to Africa House for a drink, we saw that there was a travel agent that worked for them and when we asked at reception, they called him and he whizzed on over in his car for some after hours business. At first he tried to organize some flights for us but they ended up costing about $350 each (which he said was a great price). Then he rang his “contact’ in Dar who was able to secure us some ... read more