Rants and Rambles

So I’ve been in Lusaka for two and a half weeks now and it’s been interesting. I’m a little confused, frustrated, have come to be a little cynical, have reinforced how ignorant I am and discovered the musical talents of Uncle Ja and MC Wabwino.

For as long as I’ve been in Lusaka, every time I’ve been to the Lusaka City market I’ve never actually received a lot of attention really, which is something I came expecting to tell you the truth. After all I’m Indian and we’re everywhere really (its all part of our master plan to take over the world). On occasion I would hear people yell out ‘Muzungu’ (white person) or have a bunch of people trying to sell me stuff but that was only because I was with Kate and/or Holly. But I decided to venture to the market on my own for the first time last week. To say the least it was different. I went expecting not to get any attention but I was definitely wrong. I definitely got attention. There were a few people yelling ‘Indian’ and a lot of people trying to sell me something. In my vain attempts to break down the stereotype of a rude, pompous Indo-Zambian I felt the need to say, ‘Muli bwanji’ to anyone that called out to me. Lesson learnt? Don’t make eye contact, not everyone who asks you how you are doing genuinely wants to know how you’re doing, and annoyingly persistent boys and street vendors are cross cultural. There were also a few odd people in the market like the guy who tried to trip me but then there are a lot of odd people in Toronto too. However, the women were sweet and easy to talk to. They were surprised when I would greet them in Nyanja and would proceed to converse with me in Nyanja without realizing that my Nyanja went as far as hello, thank you and where is the toilet. Overall it was a good experience but left me a little confused as to how people really perceive Indo Zambians, me and/or if they even perceive me as an Indo Zambian to begin with.

Last Thursday we went to a village called Lukanga that was particularly vulnerable and seem to be having a lot of problems. They live near a swamp which not only makes the soil really rich but also allows for other forms of profession like fishing. It was really interesting to see the dynamics. The main profession and I realized the only form of livelihood for the people of that village is fishing. There is a problem of malaria in the area and that’s because the mosquito nets provided by the nearest hospital which is 12 kms away are being used as fishing nets. Because the mosquito nets are cheaper which they can get from the nearest clinic and the holes are smaller which allows them to catch small fish called kapenta more easily. But because of this increase in kapenta fishing there has been a drastic decline in the amt of fish in the swamp and the people are suffering.

There is no school but a church is being used to school about 260 children from grade 1-4 by the only 2 teachers in the community. The irony of the situation is that there are over 5-6 churches in a village that doesn’t even have well built homes to house the people themselves. I've come to be very cynical of the role churches play in Africa in alleviating poverty and am starting to question their true intentions. I was always a strong believer in the role the church played in helping improve people’s lives and the genuineness of the reasons behind it. I mean why else would Christians want to help others apart from the fact that they truly understand what it means to love your neighbour as thyself. Boy was I naive. We have become the Pharisees of this century. Hypocrites are we to be so quick to want to spread the ‘faith’ without stopping to realize that faith without works is dead. Zambia is a country that is 90% Christian yet has 16% of its population suffering from AIDS as the churches discourage the use of condoms while pastors divorcing for the second or third time are publicly announced in the newspaper and priests running in politics try to get the support of the people by using Gods name. Yet we turn a blind eye by keeping ourselves busy building the 100^th church. Christ would be ashamed of us. But it isn’t as bad as I might have made it sound. I’ve also been impressed by the faith people have though. I truly believe if you don’t have a hope in something there isn’t much worth living for. And these people with the little they might have or not have they are happy and have faith that things will be better and that is something we can all learn from. We get stressed and overloaded and truly make ourselves believe at times that we wont make it through the day yet there are some villagers who have such faith and belief. Hats off to them I say.

The returning LTOVs stayed at the palace this weekend. The wealth of knowledge and experience they have is amazing and how that has shaped their opinions and the way they think is admirable and desirable. To be critical enough to be grounded in reality yet passionate enough to sacrifice and love and continue doing what they do. And when you see that in a person, for a moment you get a glimpse of how great they truly can be and how much of a difference they truly can make in this world. And even though they don’t see all that potential in themselves, you do and you know that’s what you want for yourself. I think that’s why organizations like EWB have had as much of an impact as they have. It isn’t because people are inspired by how much EWB has accomplished but on occasion you see what it can accomplish and you’re inspired. I know I was - that night as they discussed history, politics, development, their past, their future, and their work so far as development workers and their commitment to development whatever road of life they might take. But with that came painful awareness – of how little I do know about so much. And how much I need to know before I can go trying to save the world. I realize that passion will definitely help you have impact but it’s the knowledge and experience that helps you make right choices in order to have that positive impact.

For the past few days Kate and myself have been trying to get out of Lusaka and to get our temporary permit but everything seems to be working against us. The world including the Zambian Immigration Office seems to be conspiring against us. I’ve always considered myself a relatively patient and flexible person who is able to go with the flow, and up until today I thought I was doing quite well really. But sometime during the time I was standing in that Immigration line which took 2 hrs I think something snapped inside me. We stood in that line for 2 hrs only to have the man tell us that the certified cheques, that took us over a week to get, was addressed to the wrong person *snap*. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I refrained. Instead smiled, said dzikomo to the finance guy and walked away as I planned his assassination in my head.

So here I sit writing to you without permit in hand, and no idea when I’ll actually get to Chiwombo where I was supposed to have been a week ago, listening to Uncle Ja whose songs ring in my head all day long which might have something to do with the fact that his songs can be heard being blared from every second car or road side shop.

".................baby osabisa kapena kuliwina wamene wapeza, its better ukabe................."