This one, she loved Zambia

How many people do you need to fill up a minibus taxi in Zambia?
- one to get passengers on their taxi
- one to take the money
- one to give your ticket
- one to pretend to be the driver
- two to pretend to be the passengers (so you’ll think the taxi is full and leaving soon)
- one who is the actual driver

This one, she loved Zambia! Zambia to me was in many ways similar to South Africa, but in other ways so different. I find SA so diverse; it is both developed and underdeveloped. You have the rural areas we work in, but also a well developed infrastructure and cities which remind me of Western Europe. Zambia had that “Real Africa” feeling, with the roads, people, houses and everyday life.

The bus ride from Lusaka (the capital) to Livingston ( 3.largest city (Correct me on this one Solveig) and major tourist attraction) was a 7 hour long bumpy drive. I honestly thought they were doing roadwork the last 200 km or so, but this was not the case. Heavy rain during the end of the rainy season had made the road even worst than normal. I could not believe this was the main road between these two cities. But one the bright side this was the only bus I took that did not get a flat tire and left me waiting by the road for hours.

In Livingston I met up with Lind. She is also a SCORE volunteer, but works for another NGO with (former) commercial sex workers. I met some of the girls she works with and their stories really make an impact. Like the 16year old girl with the 4 year old daughter. Luckily she has a (Norwegian) sponsor who is now paying for her to finish high school and hopefully she will get good enough grads to go on studying. Of all the girls Lind works with about 2\3 are HIV positive.
10 km out of Livingston is where you find the Victoria Falls. Since the raining season just finished the falls was massive. My pictures do not make justice at all.

After some days in Livingston we went to Kalomo, which is where Vidar and Samuel are working. Well, actually they work in the “bush”; the very rural areas around Kalomo. Every week or so they drive their bikes out to these areas and sleeping in tents for a couple of days. After I night there with pap, beans, and local beer for dinner I took the bus back to Lusaka where I stayed with Gillian, a Canadian volunteer, for a night before flying back to South Africa. I wish I had time to stay longer in Zambia, but I’m glad I got to see all the other volunteers and Victoria Falls. Also, I must admit that being back in Joburg and eating lunch at Mug and Beans at a nice mall wasn’t too bad either;)

xxx