Viktoria Falls

Although I am not here as a tourist, part of my experience is getting to know the beauty of this country. So we did a few weeks ago! Me, Nina, Tom and Flo went to the Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. This was a spectacular sight beyond description, seeing these masses of waters falling for over 100m! They are supposed to be the biggest waterfalls in the world, at least if you go by the masses of water falling at one time. The name mosi-o-tunyia was given to the falls by the local people long before David Livingstone discovered them. Mosi-o-tunyia means "water that thunders" ....and it really does thunder!
This weekend we will hit the road again, this time going t northern Lusaka and explore some more of the wild Africa. I will keep you updated...

Road side business

This is one of the many roadside stores that you will find everywhere. You can buy anything there, from mobile phone credit, over food to cleaning material. Of course, this one is a rather small one with limited stock....

What’s the limit?

18????? 20???? 21?????

My proposal is 23!!!

No, I am not talking about the hours of sleep a person can get at one time, but about the number of people that can fit into a mini bus.

When first travelling with “my” team to an away game, we were 18 and I thought that’s about as much as the car, a Toyota HIACE, can take. I was sitting in the front seat and when turning around, all I could see was a huge bundle of heads, hands, bodies and baggage, not being able to distinguish what belongs to whom.

I was proved wrong the other day when travelling on a regular minibus to the city center! This time I was sitting in the very back of the car (the same model), comfortably sharing the row with two other persons. As we approached the city center, more and more people were getting on, bringing with them children on their arms, live chicken and other stuff. When my count got to 21, I was sure there wouldn’t even be enough space to fit another chicken, but nevertheless the driver stopped again and the guy responsible of fitting as many passengers as possible and collecting the money told us to make some room for the two ladies wanting to get in. The complaints of the passengers already inside didn’t help, the guy ordered and pushed and ordered and pushed and….incredibly, they DID fit in!!!!

So, my suggestion of the limit of how many people can fit into a mini bus (Toyota HIACE, the most common model in Africa) is 23! If any of you has a bigger number, please let me know!

My work place

Finally managed to upload a picture...it took ages! So......this is the ground where the kids play football and hence where I will be working for the next few months. In Europe, nobody would even dare to plant potatoes on this ground, but here it is just a common football pitch. Broken glass, big rocks and even bigger holes can not take away the fun these kids have when playing ball....

Garbage's Paradise

If you are into garbage, Lusaka's compounds are the place to visit. Sometimes, you can hardly see the soil beneath because of the garbage laying around. People throw anything anywhere....
Why, I was asking myself, after seeing all these "keep Zambia clean-a clean nation is a healthy nation" campaigns on TV. I asked one of the guys I am working with why the trash containers provided are not being used....the answer was more than simple: you have to pay to get rid of your garbage properly. Would you pay 50 cent for a 50L bag of garbage if you had to survive of less than a dollar a day? ....I wound't.
So it is not (just) people's indifference to the environment that is making some parts of Lusaka look like a dump site, but mainly the nonexistence of a fair and just garbage disposal system.
On the other hand, people here don't know about the global consequences of pollution....they have other problems.
So I will have to get used to this sight. Maybe I can be a good example for the kids I am coaching, just by not throwing my trash on the ground but taking it home or use one of the few free public trash bins.....

finally here...

I finally made it safe and healthy to Lusaka. Was picked up at the airport by Tom and Nina and escorted to my host familt which is very nice and biiiig. about 10-12 paople live in the small house and share the 3 rooms. I decided to share my bed with ione of mz host brothers since I felt bad seeing someone sleeping on the kitchen floor because of me.
Everything is soooo different here compared to Europe...I"m still trying to get used to the african way of life and get settled in. The NGO I will be working with (Breakthrough Sports Academy) seems to be running-but of course the "african way", not the european. I'm still not sure what will be my tasks but there are plenty of things I can do. Next week I will probably start coaching one of the many footbal teams.....scary, since it's been ages that I've coached a team. The pitch they play on is consists more of rocks than grass and has holes big enough to swallow the ball. I will have to get used to that as well....
The only thing that bothers me a little is that it gets dark around 6 pm, and after that we are not supposed to go out by ourselfs any more since it's not safe. so the evenings can get looooong, and the soap operas on TV are not really able to change that :-)
But at least I get plenty of sleep going to bed at around 10pm every night.
Tomorrow Tom, Nina, Flo and me will go for a weekend trip to the Viktoria Falls, the biggest waterfalls in the world. I will let you know how it went...
That's all for now, hope everzone is doing good and I"d love to hear from you!
take care, Hanno