Zambian work life balance

Another month has passed in Zambia in which I conducted and prepared some workshops, attended some meetings (on various topics: creation of the Sinda district, pension fund, development of Petauke district, Red Cross,…), got deeper into the Kaizen Concept,… . People who know me well know I like variation in my job and that is what I got here so no reason to complain at all. Still loving it!!!

Moreover it was a month of various emotions.
Last time I wrote about the kid drowning. Unfortunately it was not one but two kids who drowned when doing laundry. Since I know the father of the kids I attended the traditional mourning (all family, friends and acquaintances of the family gather during day and night in the house of the closest relatives to the person who passed away to pay their respect to and to support the family) and the funeral (which started with some ceremony at the funeral house, then was followed by some church service after which everyone went to the graveyard to pay the last respects). Both were very emotional and had a big impact on me. Although people don’t understand why such things happen they find consolation in the fact that God has a reason to let this all happen. More than once I heard: It’s all in the hands of God now. Again I realized why faith is so important here in Zambia.

Another funeral I attended was of one of the Chiefs of Nyimba (a neighbour district). As council employees we went to pay our last respects to the Chief and his family. This funeral was slightly different than the ones I attended before. Everyone (and I mean really everyone) gathered at the Chief’s palace and prayed. Afterwards men went to the graveyard while women started cooking food for the people attending the funeral. And since I’m a woman I took part in the cooking: we slaughtered chickens, plucked them, cut them in pieces and finally cooked them together with nshima and vegetables. Since we were in the village it took us quite some time because everything had to be cooked on wood fire. We saw big pots of nshima being prepared (these villages woman sure have muscles!!!) and had a great time mingling with the village woman.

No worries,… last month wasn’t only sorrow and misery: Besides watching football, supporting Petauke United, hanging out with friends,… a lot of other fun things happened!

Despite the fact I had a cold I attended a function of the Genesis Women: it was a fundraising event (in favour of orphans and elderly living in a village 6 km away from town centre) where women of Petauke gathered to learn more about HIV/AIDS, STD’s and personal hygiene and of course how to please the husband. Interesting, informative and fun and it all took place in a relaxed atmosphere (playing the drums, dancing, praying, eating, drinking… ).

BUT… the absolute highlight was the visit of my mum. I took 2 weeks of from work and we had a great time together. After another useless 2 hour visit to Immigration (I had to pick up my work permit but it was no where to be found so back to the stamps in my passport) and before I went to pick mum at the airport I met with some friends in Lusaka and went to El Shaddai Academy (a pre school in one of the poorer neighbourhoods of Lusaka addressing orphans and vulnerable children), got to meet HIV/AIDS counsellors, … I’m grateful I had the chance to meet all these people and it made me, once again, realize there is still a lot of work to be done here in Zambia.

Mum and I went to Petauke together so she got a good idea of my life here in Zambia: she got to see my workplace (the Civic Centre) and to meet the people I work and hang out with. Moreover she was introduced to living without power and water.
Not only did she get to know how Zambian life is but more especially she got a feeling of how warm, welcoming and grateful Zambian people are. Mum brought some shirts, shorts and socks for Petauke United (thank you FC Erika!) which where handed over in presence of the Club Executive, the Technical Bench and the Council Chairman. People were filled with joy and were very thankful for the donation received. The next day the team was already training in their new outfits.
In Pre School we handed over the materials I bought using the grant Randstad provided me with (thank you for that!), other materials mum had brought and I had bought here in Petauke. The kids were excited seeing all the new materials and the teachers didn’t know what to say. Poems were recited to thank us and since we had so much fun we stayed all morning to play with the kids. Seeing the happiness on their faces makes a person feel warm. Another great experience!
Since Petauke is more than a township I wanted mum to see the real village life so we went to visit the village of Zuze where the headwoman and the other women of the village where most welcoming (songs being sung, drums being played, …). One of the girls is staying in the village to become a women: the inauguration takes some weeks but we were told how a girl becomes a woman here in Zambia (how she is prepared to please her husband in every part of life). We got introduced to the girl and she performed some traditional dances for us. Afterwards some other women danced: impressive and difficult for a European to copy. I tried but still need lots of practise :-).
The women told us more about how life in the village is and we got to experience it ourselves: fetching water at the borehole and taking it back to the village, entertainment at night, … Confronted with a lot of poverty and illiteracy but also with a lot of warmth and joy made this visit an experience never to forget! A big thank you goes to Mr Sakala for introducing us to Zuze village and to Bester and Lontia for being our interpreters!

After being in Petauke for 3,5 days and having eaten plenty of nshima we took off for Lusaka in order to reach Livingstone. For me time for some nice food, meeting with some other volunteers (was good to see you all!), for mum an introduction to one of the most amazing sceneries in Zambia: the Vic Falls. Totally different (less water) then when I was in Livingstone during Easter it was another good visit for me too. We enjoyed a nice walk along the falls and had a relaxing pick nick. Exploring Livingstone and having drinks and food in great company and in the most beautiful places made our trip complete.
On our way back to Lusaka we decided to do another day trip to Siavonga: a nice town next to Lake Kariba where one can relax and enjoy some tasty fish. And so we did. Stunned by the amazing lake and the impressive dam we had another nice day in good company. Life can be great 
Before mum left for Belgium we paid another visit to the El Shaddai Academy in Lusaka and provided them with all sorts of materials (puzzles, toys, sweaters, books, teaching materials, (wax)crayons, … ) so that education standards can be improved and kids will benefit from this.

Now everything is back to ‘normal’: mum is back in Belgium and I’m back in Petauke at work.
You see, I’m still having a great time and I’m sure great moments are still ahead!

Ndakondako kuno!
Barbara