Namwianga

We finally arrived at the Namwianga mission last night (Thursday) after leaving Harding’s campus on Sunday. It has been quite a journey and I am very relieved to finally be here in Kalomo. I was very exhausted last night and was able to fall asleep at 9 pm here, which is 2 pm in Arkansas. I feel great this morning and do not seem to be experiencing any culture shock or jet lag. I joked with several of the guys once we arrived in Zambia that I was having culture shock after an upset stomach; placing myself in a ball in the corner of the Livingstone airport. The last plane ride along with a couple of bus rides left me feeling pretty terrible towards the end of the trip. My stomach has never done well with antibiotics so I assume this is from the Doxycycline malaria medicine, since I have never had motion sickness before.

I was very surprised how westernized South Africa has become, especially Johannesburg. Of course, everything was still in English and many of the stores in the airport are stores we see in America. Zambia, on the other hand, is very very poor and this becomes apparent the moment one enters the airport in Livingstone. Although Zambia is very poor it is quite beautiful in its own way. I am very pleased with where we are staying at the mission. The Zambians made their appreciation known to us right from the beginning. The people here at the mission want to truly take care of us and for that I am grateful. I know that I, alongside a few others, would have been content with much less.

Here at the mission we are not to kill spiders or lizards, simply because they help to kill mosquitoes. And everyone knows mosquitoes cause malaria. It would not be smart to kill a spider in the presence of a Zambian since the spiders kill mosquitoes and mosquitoes kill their loved ones. When I awoke this morning several spiders found their way into my room. I admit that I stomped a couple, however, there is a spider in one of the upper corners of my room who has already built a solid web and caught several bugs. For this, I decided to keep him and name him Jesse. From this point on I will try not to harm any bugs and will allow Jesse to guard over the room. Between Jesse, the mosquito net, and my malaria medication I believe I am safe from Malaria (no guarantees). Ba Leonard is our cook and does an amazing job. Ba simply means Mr. or Ms. in Tonga. Most of the people in this southern area of Zambia speak both English and Tonga. Some know up to 5 languages or more. We will spend the next few weeks learning Tonga as well.

Pictures take a long time to upload. I may compress the images somehow and post them or send them to someone through email to post them for me.