Weekend in Kalomo

On Friday evening, much to our surprise, we were taken out to a local outdoor bar with the head and two other teachers. The music was African and there were open fires; it was so nice! Very laid back and lots of football talk! I'd asked a child in my class, whose father is a footballer to sign a football as a gift for the head. I was thrilled to find out that his favorite team was Chelsea, the team that this player used to play for before moving to join AC Milan. Dora and I know very little about football but this didn't seem to halt the conversation nor deter the questions about different players and who our favorites were! Fortunately we only stayed for one drink!

On Saturday morning we went for a tour of the farm. The school was funded by one farm, and donated land to build on by another adjacent farm, as their workers had nowhere to send their children for education. The brother of one of the farmers worked at my school in Milan, hence the link. I was expecting a cattle farm, possibly coffee....it was tobacco! I know so little about tobacco so it was very interesting learning about the leaves of the plant, how they are grown, harvested, dried and then rated into their quality standards ready for going to auction.

Tobacco Plants

Afterwards we went to Choma, the nearest large city. We went to the museum which was in parts rather interesting! Learning about how Zambia became a one party state for a while to try keep the peace was good. What seems so lovely about Zambia is that in some ways so little is known about it in regards to World News as it is so peaceful. The most famous countries in Africa are sadly the ones with the most conflict and tragic histories.

We had felt very protected from poverty and not really in Zambia. Everything was so easy and organized and apart from the rather loud wake up call and lack of wifi, it didn't really feel like we were in Africa. This all changed when we went to the local markets. They were huge. It was midday at this point and so hot. Walking around very busy streets, with lots of stares and people trying to talk to us was hard work. Again, they were so similar to Kenya's and did bring some nostalgia! It is incredible how you can buy literally everything there. Food, toiletries, clothes, furniture, electricals...

How you charge your mobile when you don't have electricity at home!

The chicken was live!

After napping on the way home (sun exhaustion and a huge lunch!) Dora and I went for a little walk around the school and the paths around it. It is so nicely landscaped and there is lots of space. The architecture is strangely similar to my old school in Kenya, despite the massive budget differences! Some of the children walk the 3km from the main road to school, others 10km. The path is dusty and uneven but surrounded by gorgeous countryside.

We came back to lots of giggly children. Quite a few of the staff live on campus and so there were lots of children about despite it being the weekend which was really nice. On Friday we played with them a bit with a tyre but they were so shy and kept laughing or running away! By Saturday they had started to warm to us and a couple of the older children invited us to join them sitting in the shade reading books to the younger ones. It was so sweet. The children listened so well and were all so happy together and well behaved. They really are delightful.

On Sunday morning we went to church. Of course, African timing meant a nine o'clock start was more like half past...and a supposed hour and an half service went on an extra hour. It was still a lot shorter than we were expecting, and thankfully they translated from Tongan to English for us, though our singing was hilarious! The pronunciation was very different to English. We soon worked out that C was a J! And the tunes...all over the place, with some words repeated just for fun! The church met in one of the classrooms and so was a combination of teachers and their children from campus. On the whole the children sat excellently, though there was little bit of coming and going. Families didn't seem to arrive together which we thought a bit strange.

After eating with some of the teachers we went to visit a local orphanage. We met with Wilson, who is the ex head of the school. He is a lovely man, I felt instantly at ease with him. He now runs a local boarding house. Some of the children at the orphanage now go to our school and there was a section for TB and HIV positive children too. Some of the babies must have been only weeks old and were unbelievably cute. It was a happy place, there were lots of big, airy communal areas and a lovely outdoor play space. The staff were so kind and so grateful for the gifts of clothes and small toys that my class had kindly donated.

Wilson and Nancy viewing the ISM greetings video on my iPad

One of the gorgeous, special children at the orphanage.

We had a great drive around the local farms and roads and then stopped at a small leisure space for a soda. The Kalomo river ran through it and it was lovely to sit and rest together, though Dora and I added some adventure by getting locked in the toilets! It took a lot of people to get us out haha

Dora and I with the head teacher, Edgar

Love the sky