Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

On our way out to the camp today our truck broke down, which left us stranded between Mporokoso and Mwange. As we waited for Peter to attempt repairs, people walked by with the strangest looks on their faces, wondering what a couple white people were doing sitting, reading beside the truck. Fortunately, Peter was able to fix the truck (seems a bearing had slipped from the drive axle), but unfortunately we had to abandon going to the camp, leaving the workshop participants stranded. Luckily we were able to send a message to them through the UN, so they didn't wait for us long. Peter and Sophie decided to leave that day to Kasama for repairs to the vehicle. I decided to stay and hold down the fort, but sent a list of supplies with them to be bought in Kasama. They set off a little worried as the road is really terrible, but promised they'd be back on Monday. I spent the rest of the day reading and writing. While the evening was spent visiting and learning guitar with Ante, then off to a bar called Mumembe Bar, where a group organized a Rhumba dance night. Wow, was I in for a shock. The bar is like nothing I've seen, just a couple of chairs, a bar table with a woman behind it and a couple tables. The night turned into a big fight by the end of it, with a police man getting hit and a bunch of people getting thrown in jail. One of the Refugee officers (who goes by the name of Fashion - on that same note, everyone has a traditional name and a Christian name here. Some of the Chrisitan names are really bizarre like "Talktime", "Gift" and "Shopright" (the name of the local supermarket???)

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 2:24 PM