Today we were allowed to sleep in late for the first time since we arrived to Zambia. It was great to be able to rest after such an exciting and eventful week. One of our main events of the day was going to the Dutch market where we got to see, buy, and barter for different items such as scarves, bowls, animal figurines, and bags. As we had all been discussing in the bus prior to the market, many of us ended up paying too much money for many things. For many of us, including me, this was the first time we had attempted to barter on our own, and we realized that it really isn’t as easy as our parents had made it seem. I specifically bartered away a shirt for much less than it was actually worth; hopefully, however, practice makes perfect and eventually those of us who weren’t as good will become experts at this foreign skill. Some of us such as Romeo, Keion, and Anissa were already really good at bartering, so they had a much easier time.
While I was exploring the market I stopped by a stall where Gaby was talking to one of the widows from Chikumbuso. The widow was explaining that since the government has started cutting down on the use of plastic bags, the women at Chikumbuso are running out of materials for their bags. This was really interesting to me because the act of cutting down on plastic is such a positive act for the environment, but at the same time this good act is complicated by the fact that it is also killing the livelihoods of these women. After thinking over it for some time I still stand by the act of cutting off all plastic because that has a larger overall positive impact and hopefully these women and widows will find other easy and cheap materials to make their gorgeous bags out of. After wandering around the vibrant market we ate lunch there and had a wide range of options from Brazilian food, Chinese food, and Zambian food to grilled chicken. The food was spectacular, probably made even better by how hungry everyone was.
When we returned from the market we finally began the process of sorting through our many donations to bring to Daughter’s Vision, Chikumbuso, Malambu, and Africa Directions. As a result, our common room is now flooded with stacked books, clothes, various other donations, and the bags everyone brought their donations in. During these hours where there wasn’t much to do many of us took naps to help recover from sleep deprivation and the few sicknesses we have picked up along the way. It was very nice to rest and recover before we start another hectic week filled with even more amazing opportunities.
The other main event of today was the show “Clash of Beliefs.” As an avid theater fan, I was very excited to be able to see a Zambian show but I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised when the theater didn’t look overly worn down but definitely still well used. The set on stage was simple, but beautifully painted to draw the audience into the feeling of being in a rural Zambian village. The biggest surprise of the evening was all of the important people who came to see the show. In fact, there were members of parliament and important members of nationwide theater clubs seeing the show. This really highlighted the fact that we had come to an impressive theater establishment.
As we were waiting for the show to start there was a DJ sitting in the front row of the audience that was mixing different Zambian and American pop songs. The show began after two poems, one of which was mostly in Nyanja and the other was in English. The English one spoke of praise for God’s power and guidance and was called “I am still alive.” The show itself showcased brilliant acting and even though only half of the lines were in English it still held us all thoroughly captivated even if we were a little confused by the end of the show. Overall today was yet another day of new experiences and fantastic memories just like every other day we have had thus far.
Asta J., Georgetown Day School