a shopping extravaganza

After breakfast, BWeave and Dr. Tullos shuttled us into Kalomo for a shopping extravaganza.  Most of us were all on the prowl for chitangees and chocolate while Ben and Tessa searched for soccer cleats.  Ben was able to bargain his soccer cleats down from 200K to 65K (roughly $13).  We finally found some masculine chitangees at one of the “tents” Dr. Tullos brought us to.  When I say “tent”, I mean thousands of sticks put together to form hundreds of tents, with trash on top for shade.  The markets are what I like to call, the real Africa.  Namwianga is not luxury to most Americans but if you asked the average Zambian, I believe they would say that we are living quite nice over here. 

It’s always an interesting experience when we, makuwa, go to the market.  Makuwa is what many Zambians call “white person”.  As soon as the first “tent” spots a makuwa, they pass it on.  Before you even step foot into the market, everyone already knows you are there.  As you can imagine, the prices suddenly go up but some of us were able to bargain.

Last weekend when we went to Choma, I witnessed one of the saddest things I believe I have ever seen. Outside of the grocery store, Spar, there were probably at least 10 different children (one looked about four years old) digging through trashcans.  Their clothes were torn and all but one were not wearing shoes.  As soon as they saw Lauren and I walk out of the grocery store, they started pointing to their mouth for food.  Lauren had bought two bags of chips and when she put her hand inside the grocery bag, two of the young boys ran over and began to beg.  Without hesitation, Lauren handed them the bags.  The boys began to fight over them so Lauren gestured to them that they had to share.  I will never forget those smiles. Of course, I have heard about the poverty in a third-world country but nothing can prepare you for the markets.  Someone in our group described the markets as a “war zone.”  If you think the poverty in America is even some-what relatable to the poverty in Africa, you are seriously mistaken. 

On a happier note, we have seen a substantial amount of progress with the little ones we are working with at The Haven!  Many have began to crawl, turn over, walk, and talk.  Jonathan, the toddler who has cognitive impairments and is possibly on the spectrum, pointed to his nose on command last week.  That day was my favorite day since we have been here, I was so proud of him.  Leo is crawling, Victoria is sitting up on her own, Mary smiled, Maureen said “auntie”, Nathan is socializing… it has been a great week! 

Lastly, we miss all of you girls so much!  I hope your summers have been great so far and maybe even a little bit relaxing.  Good luck with offsite and I can’t wait to hear about ALL of them!  See y’all in a month.

<3, liz