Muzungu!

LSZ ‘09 students on the last day

It is hard to believe that just 18 days ago, 15 students and 9 teachers from the DC area were heading off to Zambia together for the first time with some having never even been on a plane before. Not too many of us can say our first time on a plane was a flight to Africa!

We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog. Its main purpose was to give voice to the many different experiences and perceptions that both teachers and students alike were having during our trip. Some expressed the feeling that being in Africa was like “coming home”… as if it was a place they knew well or were supposed to be. Others were struck by the warmth and friendliness of the people and how happy so many seemed, despite having so little.

LSZ ‘09 teachers on the last day

On our last day in Lusaka, the group shared some of our more meaningful and memorable moments. Although this was not something I shared with the group, our daily reflections played a role in what struck me most. Although the process of journaling and reflecting at the end of each day was not always met with the utmost enthusiasm, our reflections unfailingly transformed into very thoughtful and meaningful conversations. The onset of hunger pangs with dinner time approaching was not enough to keep the conversations from lasting an hour to an hour and a half with everyone feeling comfortable enough to share their insights from the day and even gently debate something that had already been said. You could see various people scribbling in their journals as others spoke because something was said that they had not thought of or noticed in the same way. For me, the beauty and power of the group was that each person was able to experience things for the first time not just through his or her own eyes but through the eyes and ears of 23 others.

There are so many things to be shared that a daily blog cannot even begin to capture it. Some of the things that stick out in my mind from both my own experiences and our reflections are as follows:

• The ease with which teenagers, no matter where they are from, can form quick bonds and friendships. I do believe that age played a part in how quickly our 15 students bonded with 15 David Kaunda students, allowing a 2 hour dinner and movie event to lead to never-ending hugs and tearful good-byes. Although I can no longer count myself as a member of this generation, I have already been “friended” by a D.K. student on Facebook… you have to love the internet and its power to instantly connect people halfway around the world.


Walking with Chikumbuso students

• Feeling like the outsider and, yet, not feeling uncomfortable. I always enjoyed walking through the dirt roads in the N’gombe compound as we were greeted with finger points and a rising chorus of “Muzungu!” from the small children that came running to line the roadside, smiling ear to ear and waving, as if “spotting” the foreigner was a rare and treasured find. Although, traditionally reserved for white people, we laughed when we realized that everyone in our group received the finger point and “muzungu” call, clearly a term used for a foreigner of any skin color.


Dance lessons

• The ability of human interaction and play to cross any language or cultural barrier. I loved watching the LearnServe students run around the Malambu School with a balloon in hand, closely followed by a growing pack of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders, laughing and shrieking and in hot pursuit of that balloon held just out of reach. The LearnServe students were inevitably caught and the entire group would collapse into a pile of giggling children with the LearnServe student buried somewhere at the bottom and often laughing the hardest.


Soccer balls at Chikumbuso

• This was highlighted as well at Chikumbuso as the children, wearing the same tattered clothes day after day and running around barefoot on a dirt field filled with rocks and garbage, never once complained as we all ran around in our Asics or Nike running shoes. These kids were as happy to play soccer with a ball made of plastic and twine as they were to play with the fancy soccer balls we brought with us, as long as we were playing with them.


Presenting gifts at Malambo School
on the last day

• The heartbreaking exercise of distributing clothes to the double-orphaned children at the Malambu School. Realizing that the clothes we had considered not worthy of keeping were viewed as prized possessions by these children helped create some perspective that would be hard to experience any other way. By no means was there any pushing or grabbing… these children stood in line, hungrily eyeing the clothes but never once taking something that someone else had picked out and being completely honest as to how many items they had taken. Children who were not double orphaned were outside at the windows, clambering to peek inside to see what the lucky ones had gotten. The rest of the clothes we brought were left to the school to decide who needed them the most.
• Realizing how well these children will remember you. Having been on this trip last year, I was astounded by how many of these children remembered my name after having spent only 3 days with me almost 12 months ago. Some would come forward with something they had been given a year ago to remind you that they remembered exactly who you were.


Rachel milks a cow

• The ability to have so little and yet be so generous. We all made home visits in the rural area of Monze where we each of us had the opportunity to spend time with a family in their hut, learn how to make the traditional meal of n’shima and have a chance to ask questions about life in Zambia and on the farm. Any hesitation to do this was quickly washed away by the irreplaceable experience of comparing and contrasting our many cultural differences and traditions while eating a delicious meal. These families, who have so little, welcomed us into their homes with open arms… a highlight of the trip for many.

Gaby enjoys n’shima at dinner

The people of Zambia taught us that we have much to learn about hospitality and human interaction, about appreciating what we have, about having perspective with regard to what is truly important in life, and about how far a smile can go.

During our reflections, we unanimously agreed that we would walk away from our experience with much more than we were giving, regardless of how many clothes or donations we brought. We also understood how important it will be to continue the work we started by building awareness of the issues facing the people of Zambia, issues that face many countries in Africa such as HIV/AIDS and clean water. Hopefully, the action plans we created at the end of the trip will help us start to meet the needs of people who, although halfway around the globe, are no less deserving of the many things we have, especially life’s basic necessities, and with which we have been blessed here in America.

Gaby, a teacher at Sidwell Friends School