So far Zambia has been an amazing experience that I hope to be able to remember, so I can pass the memories to my children and grand children and great grand children. But since that won’t be happening anytime soon, I am happy to be able to share this beautiful experience with my readers. Going to Zambia wasn’t much of a big leap out of my comfort zone, considering I enjoy traveling. However, what made it so different for me was that I was traveling with a group of teenagers and a couple of adults who were not my family. I was unsure of what to expect and a bit nervous that our different personalities might clash. Luckily things are going much better than I expected.
My most recent and probably happiest moments took place at Greenpop. Greenpop is an organization that promotes the preservation of everything green. While at Greenpop I was able to make many new friends from South Africa and other parts of the world as well. We did many fun activities, such as going out to the field to farm with local farmers, and teaching eco-education at one of the local schools. My favorite activity was farming, as we got to interact with many of the farmers’ wives. One of the wives even had the same name as me but spelled it differently. Above all I even saw a snake. We were playing around the straw grass with one of the wives and when I picked up a pile there was a black and brown striped snake underneath. One of the farmer’s wives started screaming but because of the language barrier I couldn’t understand whether she was yelling at me or warning about something till she started screaming and pointing vigorously to the ground. Although I learned the proper way of farming that day I also learned how to say snake in Tonga, which is the language most Zambians in Livingstone speak.
Zambia has been a fun experience and I believe as a group we have grown much more than just individuals who cope and live with each other. I believe through our disagreements and agreements and laughs and tears we have now grown as a family #Zamfam.
Mariam A., Wheaton High School