a big ol' ramble about this place:
i'm so in love. there's something so vital and passionate about the people and the land - actually, i'm becoming more and more convinced that people take on the characteristics of the land where they live. i miss the tang and warm-heartedness of nova scotians ...
zambia is full of life and death and joy and sorrow - i guess as much as anywhere, but somehow it seems closer here. everything happens close-up.
there's such a contrast of life here - the villages, and the cities. extreme poverty, extreme wealth.
sakeji is way out in the bush, so the zambians around here are very poor. they live in mud huts and eat what they can grow for themselves. status of wealth here is a big family and a bicycle, and a wooden front door instead of a cloth.
on the other hand, the students who attend sakeji are missionaries' children or wealthy zambians. these kids are used to gameboys and nike, just like kids at home. haha, we get so used to living out here that we forget what style is ... and when the parents bring their children or come to pick them up, we suddenly realize that there are still stores and hairstylists and magazines in the world ... and it's all too obvious we've forgotten. guess we get a little isolated.
anyway, i've been to the cities, and i've spent lots of time in the villages, and i love them both. i love the crammy peopleness of cities after the wide sparseness of the bush. (think going to halifax after 9 months of nothing but greenfield.) i love the warm traditional hospitality of the adults and wild friendliness of the kids in the villages.
at sakeji, we have all the comforts of home. running water, electricity, email ...
sometimes it's weird to have so much in the face of such poverty.
i was really gutted by the poverty when i first came. i hadn't realized.
but God is so cool, and when i was bothering Him about it, He showed me something so beautiful and real. i don't think i had truly believed it before - but comfort doesn't equal joy, faith, hope, love ...
it makes life easier, but it doesn't make life better.
and i have never seen grown people play with such whole-hearted joy as i have seen the villagers play.
anyway, enough of a sermon. i'm in zambia, i love it, and i wish everyone could taste it for themselves.
