Dávid from Zambia – VII. Blog Post

Mango is out, and now it's a crowd of kids! High five to you!

I'm back again with another blog post from Zambia, specifically from the Kawama community in Ndola. After resting on Friday and Saturday to recover from last week's efforts, our Sunday morning was spent sightseeing, followed by an afternoon of grilling (some good chicken, too), and thankfully, the weather was perfect. During our city exploration, we took tons of photos capturing the local life, nature, food, and even a few animals we cautiously approached and managed to snap—I'll be posting these photos in the coming days.

After the weekend, Monday kicked off with what we actually came here for: practical fieldwork. I'm not a lazy person, and if you've been following these short summary posts from the beginning, you know I used to bike quite a lot a few months ago... so I do have some stamina.

BUT PLEASE! Compared to the locals, I feel like a dry stick in the Danube that has been rotting for months... All week long, we walked from community to community, trying to form new "Youth Clubs" and encouraging local teens and young mothers to join. The goal of the project is to teach those who join the club and help them move towards a more self-sustainable and effective way of life.

The movement was really great, and we all enjoyed it a lot, but walking 10-15 km every day... let's just say we didn't need to beg for sleep at night. Muscle soreness, sunburns, and other little nuisances were just the bonus. Honestly though, we can't complain, because we were more than compensated by the truly warm-hearted welcome from the community. I've never seen so many pure-hearted people in one place in my life.

Imagine walking down a street, where you don't know anyone, and everyone greets you, waves at you, or says hello. Kids run up to you, grab your hand to walk with you, jump on you, and follow you everywhere. It's such an amazing feeling to be surrounded by so many selfless and loving people. I'm not a dance expert, but I got so caught up in the fantastic mood that we were moving to some African hip-hop like Rostás Szabika at the Kis Grófó wedding.

So, the crowd of kids definitely filled our hearts, and it made us even more aware of the fact that we are in the right place, surrounded by the right people. It's OUR duty to pass on usable knowledge to these people so that they can live better lives, and in the future, others can share in the experiences and Zambian culture we've been a part of this week.

~ February Hightlights