We are starting to get settled in our to new "home" for the next few weeks. After a long and bumpy bus ride, we arrived in Mongu Friday evening. The staff at Liseli Lodge were so welcoming and kind when we arrived. On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (at 2:30 am... hello jet lag!!). At 7 am we realized that we had lost the battle of trying to get back to sleep and decided to get up and explore our surroundings.
We decided to leave our compound and go for a walk! My oh my, the people we met were so lovely and welcoming! Those we passed in the street enthusiastically said "hello!" and asked us how we were. We noticed that many individuals were clapping when they greeted us. At first, we were confused as to what it meant. When we returned we asked Jessica (our teacher) and she showed us the various clapping the Lozi men and women do as a greeting. Along the way, the children also stole our hearts. As we walked by they would yell "Makuwa" and waved enthusiastically at us (we have learned this means white person). It is new to be in a place and truly be a minority.
Bus rides to town have shown us some of the day in the life of the locals in Mongu. Throughout the streets there are many markets and families selling produce/goods. It is evident that we are in a low resource setting where the social determinants of health play a large role in peoples ability to access things we would take for granted back in Canada. For example, today during our ride we witnessed young children having to go to the bathroom on the side of the road in the ditch. They had no privacy and no toilet paper, or soap to wash their hands. It made us think about how in our nursing training we were taught that hand washing is the number one way to reduce the transmission of disease. It is unfortunate that for so many individuals here that this is simply just not an option.
We will have to cut this post short. Soon, our bus driver will be here to take us to watch the U-20 football final - Zambia is playing for the gold medal! GO ZAMBIA!
- Erin and Maggie
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| This is a view from the street outside our home. |
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