My lovely name is Janee Wall and I am a student at Luke C. Moore Academy. Thinking back to a week before my arrival I had so many different ideas of how living here would be. As of day two, the beginning of things shifted off on to the right foot. The faces of the children, and the team members at Africa Directions (a non-profit community center that addresses issues through different forms of artistic expression such as drama, painting, and dancing) stunned me to a great smile. Not knowing that my stereotypes were wrong and I had to see it before making any judgments. Spending the day at Africa Directions expanded my mind on how Zambians really are. Watching the community show unity put a glow in my eyes and awareness of how people really show love to one another here in the great walls of Zambia. The dances, the clapping of the hands, the snapping of the fingers, and different voices of people singing put me in the state of mind of thinking people should be like this back home. Walking through the village noticing my surroundings the chickens in the cage, the villagers’ faces as we walked through, and seeing people react and coming to see what was going on shocked me because in the U.S. things are totally different. From overseas to our own front door I found that we Americans tend to lack communication, love, and a warm heart to keep the growth of people going. Here in Zambia is where it’s at. My experience here in Zambia is excellent.
– Janee Wall