through the eyes of the gods

"We carry within us the wonders we seek without us: There is all Africa and her prodigies in us" -Sir Thomas Browne, O Altitudo!

Today I purchased the book, Through the Eyes of the Gods.  Not a day goes by without a small thought for, or more commonly, a deep longing for Africa.  I am particularly excited for this book because it shows the Africa I grew to love in 2008 during my time in Zambia. "It is Africa the mother, the healer, the compassionate, the kind, the hospitable, the patient.  Africa the generous, the spiritual, the proud, the untamed, the noble, the wild, and the immensely beautiful. It is not the Africa that always needs to take, but the Africa that has a lot to give, that still has the wisdom the rest of the planet needs" (excerpt from the introduction).

I dedicate this post to the many friends I made in Africa and for those friends here who share a similar sentiment.  While the book is a collection of ariel photographs of breathtaking landscapes and urban places of Africa, it is the opening text that has moved me most.  So with no intention of plagiarizing I feel I can only share word for word a little more of the introduction that brings me back to my year in Zambia.

"So much of Africa is still unvisited, pristine and all of it is grand and close to the creation. On takeoff the landscape opens up with grand vistas: hills and trees and savannas and fields and herds.  Below, rare people dressed in bright cloth, a giraffe looking up from a thorn shrub, an elephant drinking at a riverbank. From the perspective of the sky, even the urban villages, mostly theatres of squalor and poverty, take on a picturesque, busy beauty.  Whatever is seen from above, however tragic or sordid or undistinguished, is distilled to another quality almost with the transparency of air and is lifted high...There is something so unique in the inherent beauty of Africa, and so fragile. Something ancient and grand in the open spaces and limitless horizons that unfold untarnished by the human presence...I believe that the great scales are revolving, and that soon now it is going to be Africa's turn. It is the rest of the world that at last needs her wisdom, needs to understand and look upon the continent that encompasses all continents - Africa the beautiful. Africa the Mother." -Kuki Gallmann, Ol Ari Nyiro, Kenya

Musamaria Wabwingo Orphanage

It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

The following are facts about Zambia provided by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Total Zambian Population (2006): ~12,000,000
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (2006): US$630
Total Population under age 5 (2006): ~2,012,000
Number of new births annually (2006): ~470,000
Life expectancy at birth (2006): 41 Years
Annual number of deaths under the age of 5 (2006): ~86,000
Pediatric HIV, estimated number of children (2005): 130,000
Orphaned Children (age 0-17), orphaned by AIDS (2005): ~710,000
Orphaned Children (age 0-17), orphaned due to all causes (2005): ~1,200,000
Percentage of children (age 5-14) involved in labor (1999-2006): 12%
Percentage of children (age 5-14) who are married (1987-2006): 42%

What is the worth of a single human life? What if we’re talking about a child? A child without parents? A single child among millions in Africa? A child with HIV? A child with a disability? When a baby is born from where I’m from he/she immediately has a purpose. You might make a comment like, “She’s chatty like her mom” or “He’s gonna be the next pro golfer” or “It’s so great for so and so to have a little sister” or “We’ve already started a college fund for him.” At birth (and often before), each child in the Western World, of all shades and shapes, has been blessed with an intended life. Even if that child is born into a not-so-ideal situation you can assume that some person or social welfare system is rooting for that single child’s prosperity. Zambia has lots of children. I’ve attached a figure of the age distribution in Zambia. A lot of these children are without parents. Furthermore, many of these children are in single-parent households or in households with unemployed parents. A more alarming fact is that child abuse, physical and sexual, is common and sometimes expected. A study done by UNICEF (2001) explained that 72% of female children in Zambia experience a form of sexual abuse. 28% of Zambian male children were reported exposure to sexual abuse. Child abuse is a heart-breaking reality that I find is rarely talked about in this “conservative” country. It’s also not an uncommon story to hear of a ten year old child having to head a household.

With 1.2 million orphaned children, Zambia has yet another challenge it must face to pull itself out of the cycle of poverty. It’s all too common to be watching TV, reading the paper, or hear someone’s personal story regarding orphaned children in Africa. The problem feels so extensive and complicated, with no foreseeable future, that some times I feel uncomfortably helpless. I recently visited the Musamaria Wabwingo Orphanage. Lusaka alone has over 3 major orphanages (that I know of) and a handful of smaller homegrown ones. Musamaria Wabwingo was launched in November 2006 and has taken in 405 orphans and vulnerable children between the ages 3-16 to date. The orphanage provides provisions, counseling, spiritual and psychological support, and an element of education. It is fully funded through private donations without any help from the Zambian government.

I headed to Musamaria Wabwingo early on a Monday monrning. I went with three Swedish students here: Frida, Katarina, and David. We stopped by the store and bought huge bags of rice, cookies, a soccer ball and pump, and other toys on our way there. We visited a classroom of children between the ages of 3-7 (estimated). The room was made with concrete blocks with a small hole by the ceiling for ventilation, and without electricity. The children were singing songs, participating in call-and-response, and dancing when we arrived. Song and dance have strong roots in African cultures and it was neat to see it so integrated in the learning process. We sat and watched for the first hour and then got to teach the kids some of the songs we sang as children. The Swedes sang some songs about a frog without ears and a tail and then another one about a rabbit. It was in Swedish and funny to see grown adults jumping around. I taught the kids a song I learned at Girl Scout camp when I was younger called, “Down by the banks” and Old McDonald. The last song we all taught the kiddies was to “Shake your funky [insert animal and sound here]. Next was recess. We played some games and sang more songs. It didn’t take long for the children to warm up to us. For the rest of the morning you could guarantee a child holding on to each of your hands, one in your lap, and one checking out your hair. They were amazed that our hair was soft, long, and not black. Lunch came quickly. That day the children were supposed to have rice and sausage but on this particular day there was no meat available so the children ate only rice with salt. We passed out one cookie (that we brought with us) to each child. It is very likely that lunch is the only substantial food these children have each day. Again, heartbreaking. The afternoon ended with some of the older orphans visiting. They played a drum on an empty trashcan and danced. I left that day, surprisingly, more happy than sad. The children were all friendly, smiling, and lively. Another thing, they love getting their picture taken! It’s hard for me to look at my pictures from that day and read the statistics that I mentioned earlier. I can’t imagine these children experiencing violence, sexual abuse, neglect, and short lives due to HIV. But it is a reality. A reality that is scarring not only Zambia, but Africa and the world over.

See pictures from the day by clicking here.

Caption 1: The only time I saw the kids sit still. Their bellies must have been hungry! Caption 2: The age distribution in Zambia. A population pyramid for the US looks much different. Caption 3: Me and the kids after recess, all smiles.

Some Vic for your Falls

"No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." -Explorer David Livingstone on first seeing Victoria Falls.

If there is one thing about Zambia that people everywhere are familiar with, it’s Victoria Falls. Located on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, it’s known by many as one of the most beautiful natural settings in the world. Water flows from the Zambezi River and plummets 360ft; it’s width, one mile. Historically, David Livingstone is the first recorded and well known European explorer to see the falls in 1855, he named it, in all its glory, after the Queen Victoria of England. Locals who had been living around the falls for centuries called the Falls in their own tongue, “the smoke that thunders”, or “mosi-oa-tunya”. With Cecil Rhodes’s Cape Town to Cairo railroad expansion, many tourist were able to visit Vic Falls in the early 1900s. Today, the two national parks on the Zambia side, Victoria Falls National Park (which, obviously, hosts the Falls) and Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park (which boasts an amazing diversity of African plant and animal life) are relatively small but are visited by a million people annually.

Peter and I spent four days in the town of Livingstone, where Vic Falls can be visited on the Zambia side. We set out on a charter bus for the 8-hour drive to the Southern Province. To sum it up: the trip included 9 hours of heat with windows that didn’t open, seats that had metal sticking out of them, a mile long traffic jam in the middle of nowhere that we were able to walk around outside and check out the scene, and an hour of driving on pot holes that made it seem like we were riding in a Hot Wheels Bus over bubble wrap. We stayed at the Maramba River Lodge in a cozy “luxury” tent. Our Lodge was located on a tributary to the Zambezi, the Maramba River. In the mornings hippos waded in the water, and in the afternoons we were visited by baboons, and in the evenings, sly crocodiles. There are certainly fancy hotels that charge over $700/night but our cute little river lodge was exactly how we thought we should be experiencing Vic Falls. You can see my pictures from the trip by clicking here.

Day 1:
Our first whole day was spent at the Victoria Falls National Park, we could hear the crash of the water way before we even entered the park and we could see the spray of mist in the sky while driving in. Somehow, without knowing, we just walked into the park and missed admissions. Sweet! At least we saved money on something because the rest of the trip was a whole lot more expensive. We walked along the Zambezi River edge right up to the top of the Falls. I’m sure Peter and I have never been more in awe of something. We then followed the trails over to a side where we could see the face off the water falling. I started to get finicky about a little bit of mist getting me wet, but within the span of three seconds, I had gotten doused with a huge wave of water bouncing back onto a bridge Peter and I were crossing. It was cold, but felt good in the hot African sun. Peter and I ran around the trails and climbed rocks like little kids for hours. We kept getting splashed with water and were soaked to the bone. Afterward I walked to a stand that was selling African curios and bought a chitenge, a wrap of fabric that traditional African women often wear. We walked over to the Zambezi Sun, one of the luxury hotels, had a late lunch and basked in the delight of our day. That night we floated on a sunset cruise on the African Queen.

Day 2:
We woke up early, had some pancakes, and were picked up by our tour guide for our morning canoing on the Zambezi! We floated and steered down the Zambezi all morning. We saw more hippos, and little islands, and plenty of crocs. I think we found a new hobby! In the afternoon we were picked up for a tour of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Right off the bat we saw a group of giraffe grazing. Giraffe are my favorite because they are so awkwardly beautiful with their long necks and buckling knees. Our tour guide was great, stopping to tell how villagers use particular plants and what the natural cycles of life are like for the animals. We saw plenty more animals that you can see if you look at the pictures I linked earlier. We were off to bed in our cute little tent early that night, preparing for another early morning.

Day 3:
We signed up for a half-day with a company called Abseil this day. Abseil is a company that provides activities for the most adventuresome at heart. We repelled down a long gorge wall that wasn’t all that scary. Next, we did a gorge zip line, still, nothing compared to what we did next. Lastly, we each had two runs at the gorge swing. This was 160 ft of free falling (which really means 160 ft of feeling like you’re plummeting to your death) following by a swinging back and forth in a huge gorge. I screamed like someone was chasing me through a dark alley (see video below) and Peter screamed like he was saying, “no, no, no”. At the time, I thought I had lost my mind to do something so scary and now that I look back on it I just laugh at how scared I was. We spent the second half of the day at Vic Falls, saying goodbye to it's splendor.

Day 4:
We left in the morning for the same bus ride back home. The bus was much more pleasant second time around and we were entertained with TV’s showing Nigerian movies and home-made Zambian music videos.

It’s difficult for me to put into words what an amazing place Victoria Falls is and the experiences we had in those few days. However, I am positive that the trip grounded and refreshed my interests in Africa. Southern Africa is rich with National Parks and amazing wildlife and I look forward to seeing more.

Captions: Picture 1: Peter and I posing with Victoria Falls behind us, then next pic we took we were soaked. Picture 2: The view of the sunset from an evening cruise we went on. Picture 3: Peter and I taking a break from rowing on our Zambezi River Canoing trip. Picture 4: Yay, giraffe!

African Freedom Day

Today, May 25, was African Freedom Day. It is also known as African Liberation Day. In April 1958, the first “Conference of Independent African States” was held in Accra, Ghana. Various political leaders got together for the first pan-African Conference ever held in Africa to form the Organisation of African Unity. African Freedom Day was created as one of the ways these leaders saw to unify those countries that had found independence, and those who were soon to follow suit. As it did in the 1960’s, “freedom” in Africa affects people of many shades and shapes. For example, in Zambia, Muslims and Hindus account for 24-49% of the total population. From top to bottom, Africa displays arguably the most culturally diverse population in the world.

Today, Peter and I hung out at the Kafue River Cliffs with a group of Hindi Indian friends that I’ve become pretty good friends with. We were picked up early and drove south for about an hour. The landscape was obviously beautiful and I relish in the days I can spend outside the urban life in Lusaka. The area we set up our braai at was cozy and private, but still full of different kinds of people who call themselves Zambian. To our left, was a group of black Zambians, to our right a group of Islamic Zambians, and the plot even further to the right was a group of British Zambians. A perfect illustration of “freedom” in a country that knew apartheid only 44 years ago.

We spent the whole day grilling, playing cricket and cards, walking along the shoreline, and taking lots of pictures. I’ve posted the pictures I took on Facebook and if you click here you can see them too. It was good spirits all around, and yet another African experience to put in my pocket. This “dark continent” has so many problems that seem to have no foreseeable solutions in sight. The Xenophobic riots that are currently creating problems in South Africa make it feel like perhaps even the most developed parts of Africa haven’t come that far since the first pan-African conference. But, in the end of the day, there are many small examples of “freedoms” that have been achieved, and I felt them at today’s braai. We can only hope that the next 44 years brings a clearer meaning to Africa Freedom Day.

Caption 1: This is the view of the Kafue River from where we were having our braai. Caption 2: This picture is of Peter and Annand Patel. We were playing a card game called, Cricket.

I have a visitor!

The last couple of weeks have been great. My boyfriend, Peter, arrived safe in Lusaka last Thursday and we’ve been enjoying each other’s company in the context of African life. I had a moment of shock seeing Peter turn the corner at the airport and wrap his arms around me. I barely was able to sleep the night before and was at the airport promptly at 630AM, waiting for Peter’s plane. When I finally got the embrace that I’d been waiting for since the day I left Nebraska, I thought my heart had stopped and I was floating over the scene. I guess you call these moments “out of body experiences.” It was like I didn’t recognize him. Up until now, I’ve made this place my home and there is not one part of my day that is familiar or similar to my life back in Nebraska. It just didn’t make sense in my dazed state to have a big part of my “familiar” life brought to me here in Lusaka. I am happy to say that it didn’t take long for Peter and I to get over the initial shock of being back together. We’ve spent this past week taking in the crowded streets of aimlessly wandering Africans, cooking meals that we would have never had in Nebraska, and simply “chilling out” to warm sunshine and cool breezes that dominate the everyday. One of the best parts of having Peter here is that we are both seeing a new side of each other. When we see a 14-year old girl carrying a baby on her back, we have a discussion. When we talk to a local about American politics, we are both seeing a new perspective our countries impact on the world. When we find trends in Zambian speech, media, clothing, education, travel, etc. We understand the importance of tolerance and one of my favorite topics, “co-existing”. I know that all of these things I am, and will continue, to experience on my own. However, having Peter here and experiencing these things along side him is beneficial for our personal growth AND further developing our relationship. The world gets smaller by the day. Looking at the front page of the of any news source will prove this. We always like to point out, “how many young couples our age get to experience this together? We are so lucky!”

Caption 1: Peter and I spent part of an afternoon watching Polo. We loved the sound of the horses galloping.

Rotary District 9210

I spent the majority of this past week at a Rotary District Conference. (Sorry, I wrote this a while back and never posted it. The Conference was May 7-10.) After days on end of talks about Annual Reports, State of the District, Future Visions, and Current Projects, I feel I have a much better understanding of not only Rotary and my host district here in Zambia, but also who and what is involved in a successful Foundation. Foundations, in general, are institutions with an endowment, funded by private and public donations, and usually invested in such a way to provide long term funding to that specific institution’s wants and needs. The biggest, and arguably, most recognizable Foundation, by means of assets and total giving, is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation is why I was personally was able to live this current year in Zambia. My scholarship, the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, is funded partly from my host district in Nebraska, and partly from Rotary Foundation funds. The official objective of the scholarship is to recognize young adults as already displaying Rotary’s banner anthem, Service Above Self, and to promote world peace and international understanding by sending these young “ambassadors “ abroad to represent their home countries and further Rotary’s goals. In my opinion, the scholarship is generally successful with meeting these sorts of abstract goals, but furthermore it’s really about exposing young people to the diversity of the world’s cultures while they’re still malleable enough to see the benefits of using personal success as community investment

On a more personal note, I generally find conferences of all kinds full of people who maybe talk a little longer than they should, and meetings that probably could have been run more efficiently. However, conferences bring people together from various walks of life to find common ground regarding particular goals. I met Rotarians from Zimbabwe who kindly invited me to visit their homes and reassured me that I’d be safe with them. I met Rotary high school exchange scholars, one particularly, who has basically been living in the Bush and developing such a worldly view at such a young age. I networked, I ate, I listened, I learned, I Rotary Conferenced.

Caption 1: This is a picture of my scholarship coordinator, Harriet Simule, in her traditional clothing, and I. There was a braai (what they call BBQ's here) on one of the nights. Caption 2: This is a picture of General Moses Chipika, his wife, and I also at the braai. The General is currently training to become an Ambassador of Zambia! Caption 3: This picture is of Jolene, the high school Rotary scholar I mentioned earlier, and I at the Governor's Ball on the last night. Jolene stayed in the guest room at my house.

A lesson on Zambian Public Education

There’s lots of new happenings on my side of the pond. I have gotten through my first week of Public Health Classes and I have also moved into a new house. Lusaka is not a north/south east/west kind of city. It’s full of roundabouts, winding streets and sectioned off neighborhoods. When someone here asks you where you live, you name your neighborhood, which is usually following by a bunch of assumptions about your socioeconomic status. I now live in an area called the Woodlands. The Woodlands is full of huge houses, diplomats, doctors, and all those sorts of well to-do people. The house I live in is relatively modest compared to my neighbors’ so many people are making wrong assumptions about me. Here is a breakdown of my roommates:

Madeline is the lady of the house. She is of Dutch heritage, born in Iraq, and spent most of her adolescent years in Kenya. She works for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). She also has dreads.

Jason is Madeline’s boyfriend. He is Zambian and studies economics at Cavendish, a British University here.

Gina is an Md/PhD from Iowa who is working for Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)

In the guesthouse live two Brits that I have yet to meet because they’ve been on holiday (that means vacation here). They are:

Thomas is working on his PhD and studies the history of the mines in Zambia. His background is in geography.

Hillary volunteers with Bare Feet, an organization that works with street kids. She also has dreads

We have two dogs: Venice and Toby

A compete working staff live on the premises as well: Helen, maid; Moses, gardener and weekend gate guard; Wisdom, weeknight gate guard; and a girl who comes to clean the pool twice a week that I haven’t met.

The house is cozy and safe and it is five minute walking distance to the University Teaching Hospital where I spend most of my time.


I have a couple things I need to say about public education. I’ve been a part of the Nebraska public education system for a total of 9 years. In those nine years, I have never felt underprivileged or undereducated compared to my private school counterparts. I received a reputable bachelors degree and feel quite prepared to take on a professional career. In Zambia, however, if you are a part of the public education system here are some things you might experience: yearly strikes by either students, teachers, or administrators that postpone classes for months maybe years, not enough textbooks available for each student to have one, promised scholarships that never get dispersed, and classes that are taught by people who are more interested in self-promotion then teaching. So you think going to Research One institution makes the teachers not care about their students, try going to a University in the developing world where it’s difficult to even find teachers who will show up to class.

My MPH curriculum began on Monday and it can be summed up with that one reoccurring phrase: laid-back. I spent more time in the classroom this week waiting for lecturers to arrive than I did in actual lecture. For example, on Wednesday, nobody showed up from 9AM-230PM as it was indicated on our schedule. The most problematic part of this situation is that all of my 17 classmates have “real jobs” families and other responsibilities. There is no reason that they should be giving up their time to sit in a teacher-less class for all hours of the day when they could be doing much more productive things. After Wednesday I was thoroughly disappointed, not only because of my personal expectations, but also because I was concerned for my classmates. I’m not dependent on my education in Zambia as my only chance for structured, intellectual development, but my classmates are. Here’s a side lesson in Zambian culture: hierarchies are everywhere and are widely accepted and rarely challenged. This exists with race relations, the workplace, and certainly the classroom. As these lecturers came and went this week, the only thing I learned was my teachers believe that they are doing every Zambian a favor by staying and working here because they are overqualified and could be making much more money elsewhere. There was nothing about Zambian Public Health Policy, nothing about biostatistics, nothing about epidemiology. I was finally fed up with what was going on and went to the department heads. I expressed concern for my classmates and firmly requested a revised schedule that was true and some sort of syllabus. I even offered to write it for them and email the lecturers the night before as a reminder. On Friday morning when we arrived to class there was a new schedule and a prepared professor waiting for our curious minds. Later that day I was elected the class representative.

Caption: I made my housemates and a couple of friends a true Nebraskan meal. Twice baked potatoes, creamed corn, fish with a mayo spread, salad, spinach and artichoke dip, and cream cheese brownies. This is us out on the front patio waiting for dinner. From left to right: Hillary, Nayna, Hillary's friend, a girl that lived at this house before I did, Meera, Madeleen, Ruut (Madeleen's mum), Adelina, and Candy