Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

This week started with news that we’d be having a big festival the next day in the camp. Of course everything is last minute and nobody is prepared, but apparently the French ambassador is on his way and a theatre troupe from Lusaka is planning a performance. We rushed to the camp in the morning and planned the Right to Play program for the day, we plan to present a dance and song, together with a little skit that will be put on by a group of secondary school kids. We arrived to find out nobody has planned anything, not only that, but the UN has cut the budget for the day in half and nobody will get any lunch or refreshments – typical. I spent the day trying to remember people's names. All the Swahili names either start with or end with K, and they are all sounding the same. I hope to be able to figure it out some day. Also, all the names have to have a “Mama” or a “Papa” in front of them. Therefore, I only answer to Papa Drew these days!!

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 7:37 AM