April 26th

Ellen and I began our day by carrying her 3 water buckets to the bore hole to pump water. We made it about three feet from her hut when we were surrounded by children asking to carry our water buckets. “Bon Rachel! Bon Ellen! Kutapala meema!” The short journey, about the length of a football field, took about 15 minutes; stopping every few feet to greet and shake hands with everyone you see as is the custom, man, women, child, and baby.  Ellen had taught me the night before how to greet in Kaonde (Byepi muani); however she did not inform me that mani means relish. I am sure that you can tell where this story is going. I greeted the first group of women by saying “good morning relish.” They all thought it was hilarious! We finally made it to the bore hole in a cloud of children with my new boyfriend, Jeravy, perched on my hip and my spare hand clasped tightly by his sister.  “Watch me pump, watch me pump” the children cried in Kaonde (Ellen translated for me); each child as excited as the next to show me how well they pump water and anxious to see me try.

Later in the day with very little provocation 8 children helped Ellen and I knock down an old abandoned hut to gather bricks for our new bathing shelter. The current one is 6 months old and made out of grass; it is more of a peep show than anything else. The process of gathering bricks was not at fun as I had originally anticipated. The bricks are made out of mud and clay which are perfect homes for spiders and ants and termites, oh my. Lucy, a girl around 11 or 12, spend 3 hours meticulously breaking braking bricks loose with a large branch and placing the 10 pound blocks on the other children’s heads to carry to Ellen’s hut. Despite being covered from head to toe in dust the children were still laughing and smiling and joking. They completed all this work for two pieces of bubblegum! 

April 25th

Today I fell more in love with this village. Today I got to meet the children of Nyansonson! They are kind, curious, funny, energetic, and ridiculously abscessed with my long hair. Every other conversation that Ellen translated for me was about my “kwaleepa” (long) hair. I spent the morning dancing, laughing, singing, and carrying little children around.  Their wide eyes and shining faces are captivating; so much so I barely notice their runny noses, torn, dirty and thread bare clothes, or their bare feet. The joy that is visible through their entire being about a single piece of bubblegum is humbling and humiliating. When was the last time an American child was truly happy when given a single piece of bubble gum; it is embarrassing to think how much emphasis our society puts on expensive toys and games. We are made to believe that these things are essential to the happiness of our children; this is so clearly not the case.

It is amazing to think of the things in my own life that I used to think were essentials I have barely even missed. If you know me then you will know that there are not many material things that I view as extremely important since I did live out of my car for an entire summer. Today I washed my clothes outside in a bucket, I took a shower outside from a bag of water warmed by the sun, I walked down the road to pump water, I cooked dinner over homemade charcoal, I ate nshema with my fingers, and I read my book via candle light. I also charged my computer using solar power, which I do understand is a mild contradiction when discussing nonessentials, however my point being that I did not need electricity. It is empowering to know that I can survive without running water or electricity and all the accommodations that come with water and power.  And for you cynics out there I do realize that it has only been one night/day in the village, but I could not be happier! Looking forward to building a bathing shelter tomorrow!!

April 24th

After five days of I have finally made it to Nyansonso, Zambia. I arrived at Logan airport Friday evening five hours before my departure time, allowing myself plenty of time to contemplate all of the things that I forgot to bring; including but not limited to my toothbrush and my head lamp. Seeing as how I am going to be living in a village with no electricity for the next three months I thought this was rather ingenious of me. It also became evident as time went on the I also forgot the charger to my computer, I am off to a great start! My first flight to Frankfurt, Germany is uneventful. I made friends with a little boy who only spoke French; needless to say we did not talk much on the seven hour flight. I spent my 12 hour layover in Germany curled up on an airport bench reading and sleeping and wishing I could understand German so that I could ease drop on the very dramatic sounding 3 hour argument between a couple several rows in front of me. Exploring the city unfortunately was an option due to several riots in the area. The second flight was to Ethiopia. I got served fish at three in the morning and Baileys at four.  At five-thirty on Sunday morning I finally made it to Africa! My third and final flight was scheduled to depart at 0930, my first problem was that I could not find the plane (not the gate I mean the actual plane). When I do actually find what I am 85% sure in the right plane I am told that my seat (13d) does not exist because Ethiopian planes do not have a row 13. Fortunately I find a seat, land in Zambia, and make it through immigration and customs! Ellen and I spend the evening in the Backpackers in Lusaka eating Impala, drinking Mosi, and fending off the many Zambian men that want to marry a “mazungo” (white people).  The next morning is when the real adventure begins!

Ellen so kindly wakes me up at 530am (1130pm in the USA) to begin what will turn out to be a 12 hour journey to Solwezi ( a village 200km south of her village).  We travelled in 8 different vehicles, given two beers, received a free lunch and soda and received 10 different Zambian phone numbers. It was amazing!!

The next day we completed our journey by climbing onto an open bed truck with 25 other Zambian women, children and men and perched on top of a large pile of dried fish. We arrived in Ellen’s at four hours later reeking of salted fish under a sky blanketed with trillions of stars.  I snuggled in under Ellen’s mosquito net listening to the crickets chirping, the gentle hum of the Zambian language, and the scurrying of rats across Ellen’s floor. I am pretty sure that I am in love with this country and its people already!

Good night Moon!

Last Day in the US

I leave Africa tomorrow! Yikes! I fly out of Logan airport at 10pm and I will not arrive in Zambia until 230pm on Sunday! Unfortunately I am spending more time on the ground with layovers than actually in the air; ten hours in Germany and three in Ethiopia. Packing crunch time has begun and per usual Bendroth style I have barely begun. Also since I am a Bendroth chances are I will forget to pack something wicked important like underwear or shoes (thank you papa for those genes). So without further delay and procrastination ... Let the packing begin! 

I will do my best over the next two and a half months to keep my blog updated so that you know that I am alive and well.