Trip to Zambia

We had an awesome time in Zambia. It was so, so good to spend time with Bram & Anita. They refreshed our spirits and it gave us so much joy to have a piece of home come to us (so anyone else that wants to come visit....) Having good friends to share life's journey with is just such a wonderful gift. We also got to eat "Canadian" food for a few days. John has a new addiction to nutella, and we also enjoyed delicassies such as Cheerios, coke, chocolate chip cookies and spaghetti (notice we're eating a well balanced diet!)

We drove to Zambia with our friend Paul and his dad. Friday we took a bus to Chinhoyi and then waited by the side of the road for a couple of hours while trying to hitch a ride to Karoi. There were tonnes of people waiting with us. Everytime someone would drive by as a single driver and not pick anyone up, I thought, "how selfish!" (and yet how many millions of times did I see this back home and think it was "normal"?) We finally did get a ride and squished in the back seat of a little car with another man. The car needed a good push every once and a while, and the driver drank beer as he drove, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. We arrived in Karoi safe and sound and stayed the night at Paul's dad's place. His dad is a DC, and what a beautiful, gracious man. I was totally blessed by him. Saturday we drove to Kariba (it's got a beautiful lake) and then across the border to Chikankata (which is about 2 hours outside of Lusaka).

Our first day at Chikankata we went to church, and then got a tour of the impressive compound. There's a hospital, a high school, and a whole host of community-based projects. We met Richard and Heidie, and that was neat, as we had only ever connected via blogworld (see "blog reads" at right). Richard gave us a tour of the hospital. It was cool to see the maternity ward because our friend Denise was born there. It was sad to visit the children's ward. I cannot comprehend how babies and children can be malnourished in this world of ours. It is so completely unjust. It was also a little eerie when one mother kept asking if I would take her daughter. "She's very nice. Don't you think she's cute?"

Actually, one guy that we met at Chikankata was there for a visit from the UK. He was born at Chikankata, and then adopted by his British parents who consequently moved back to the UK, and this was his first time back. He said it was quite surreal to be there. "I just kind of wonder, 'what if?' you know? If I hadn't been adopted, I guess I would be one of these guys on the street begging for food and work, rather than one of the ones they're begging from."

Our friends are in Zambia with the ZIM team, which is a group primarily comprised of Canadians who come to Zambia or Zimbabwe every year for 3 weeks to do construction and other activities. Tonnes of local workers are also hired. On the second day we joined them in their work. Anita and I were on a demolition team. We spent the day knocking down walls and moving cement pieces. It's not every day you get to demolish a building. And it's not every day that you have dirt and dust coming out of your nose for the next 24 hours. Yum! We were working on renovations for the nurses' quarters. A bunch of kids set up camp outside of our site, and watched us as if we were a TV programme. A couple of them even made makeshift face masks to imitate us (as we were trying to limit the amount of dust intake). It was very cute! Anita got some photos, so I'll try to post some in the future.

Yesterday we took a bus back home to Harare. It was a long journey, but an interesting one. Our bus almost hit some elephants who were crossing the road, and we saw lots of monkeys and baboons. We actually walked across the border from Zambia to Zimbabwe, and that was cool. Not so cool was getting some money seized from us at the border. And then getting stopped every couple of hours so everyone could get out of the bus and have our bags searched for money. We also came home to news that there have been economic reforms, and 3 zeros have been knocked off all of the prices. So, our days as millionaires are over. Oh well... :)