This is Kyle, not Bethany, 'blogging' from Zambia now. She's been in the US for over two weeks now and has been able to enjoy a road trip out east to visit friends.
I've been quite busy the past couple weeks visiting with our partnerships and getting out in the villages in both Zambia and Malawi. For the first week I was with my regional successor, Tinashe, and I introduced him to the partnerships here in Zambia- Teach to Fish in Lusaka and the Reformed Church of Zambia- and the one we have in Malawi- Nkhoma Relief and Development under the Central Church of Africa Presbytery. Tinashe has a business agriculture background and is from Zimbabwe so he felt at home in the villages when we were doing field visits with the two church programs. He was able to connect with the people on a much different level and challenge the communities in a way that I never could. In Malawi a Kenyan woman named Nancy was our facilitator for the day and it was great seeing her and Tinashe connecting and sharing different ideas. I just sat back, listened and learned a lot. Here is Tinashe interacting with those that we visited in a cotton field.
It really confirmed that this is the right time for me to leave as I was witnessing African leaders going out to empower their fellow Africans. They are much more effective than someone like me since my skin color is an instant barrier and people just see money when they see me. In many situations Africans just look to please white people and will hide things that are not going well since we are seen as 'the donor'. But to their fellow Africans, they feel much more comfortable to share things and be honest. So I've really seen the limitations in doing ministry here and recognize that its Africa's time to reach out to Africans. There are plenty of well-educated African leaders who are Christians that God has raised up and I'm thankful for this and pray that God continues to raise up and send out more laborers like Tinashe and Nancy. Upon my departure, Tinashe will be the regional representative for Partners Worldwide in Southern Africa. He is with an organization called Africa Works, which we partner with. The motto for Africa Works is "It's Our Time" since they are an African led organization reaching out to their fellow Africans.
Being in African villages so much the past couple weeks, I wanted to share a few things about my experiences in the village:
1. We always had to wait around for our morning visits. These never started on time. This would cause us to be late for the next visits and they would be waiting for us so we would have to apologize for being late. Time is much different in Africa as its not really divided into minutes and hours, but more so in terms of morning, afternoon and evening. So when a meeting starts at 9 in the morning, people would show up throughout the morning. You just learn to go with the flow after awhile and realize that they 'own' the time. We waited for about an hour for this health training to start.
2. Village life can be like a blackhole since it is hard to get out. When they receive visitors they want to welcome you, feed you, sing and dance for you and don't want you to leave. This can make for long visits and its hard to say that we have to go.
3. All African women, but especially in the villages, have no shame when it comes to breast-feeding. It seemed everywhere I looked there would be a mother nursing their baby out in the open. It just shows how much different breasts are looked at compared to our culture. It's definitely something I've had a hard time getting used to. They also traditionally don't show any part of their legs, especially above the knees; which is where we differ as well.
4. Some of these villages are way out in the middle of nowhere. It would take a long time on some rough roads to get out to these people. It just shows how difficult it can be for them to get supplies as well as to sell their produce and how expensive it can be. Driving on some of the roads really wears you out, though and also takes its toll on vehicles.
5. When I was with Tinashe, we were both 'visitors' to these villages, but it was interesting how differently they treated me since I was white. They would want me to have the best seat, speak in English to me and I was quite a spectacle for all the children to see and touch. Tinashe really got a kick out of it. Many people, especially children, want to show off their english and say 'how are you?' and I respond and ask them back, but most of the time they just run away. That's pretty common in the surrounding area around Chipata as well. Here is a picture of a village in Malawi performing for us, their guests.
6. Before and after meetings its important to shake everyone's hand. I don't know how many hands I shook, but it was a lot. This even happens at the church meetings as we line up afterwards to shake everyone's hand. Its also common during conversations for people to hold hands or shake hands multiple times. Sometimes as I say goodbye to someone we shake hands several times as we are wrapping up the conversation.
7. During our visits, we would usually eat lunch in the villages. The usual meal was nshima (the staple food made from maize-corn), some sort of green vegetable and a nice village chicken. It can be rare for families to eat chicken, but if possible, it is always served to guests. I say 'village' chicken because they are the ones that just run around free, eating whatever they can, and this makes the skin and meat pretty tough and lean. Its actually not too bad, but its a little much having it multiple days in a row.
8. Overall, the people are always so welcoming and hospitable. They are so happy to receive visitors, especially knowing that you in some way are helping their community. As we leave each community, we are usually given something as well. Throughout our visits, we received peanuts, watermelon, honey and sweet potatoes all locally grown.
So I hope this gives you a little insight into rural African life. Urban areas can be quite different with more access to things and more 'educated' people, but these areas also have their problems similar to the urban problems we have in the US. Our daily life has been in an urban setting so its been nice to experience the rural, village life as well.
I'll post about my recent trip next, which involved participating in the evaluation of the Reformed Church-Diaconia program.
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