Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

A very relaxing day today. Down to the market to meet up with Tony and he proceeded to take me out to the water reservoir of the town where the workers there took us out on their little row boat for a ride! We then met up with Peter for some pool, then to the post again to check for mail, this time with success. Three letters and two packages: from Mom, a friend Kate, grandma and Claire - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

The rest of the day was spent preparing to have a new insaka (an insaka is a little hut that everyone has in the yard where people will go for shade when it is too hot - most people also will cook and relax there) made in our front yard. We had a ping pong table sent up from Kasama last week, so we plan to put it under this insaka. We also went to the carpenter, or they guy we think is a carpenter, to have the stand for the table made. I had a man come over to assess the work in the afternoon, and we agreed on a price of US$ 18 for the work (labour is really cheap around here). I then enlisted a couple friends and one of our guards to come with me out to a nearby village to collect the sticks for the structure of the insaka. It was about a 20 min. drive out to Chilala, which is the same village where my friend Peacock (one of the American Peace Corps Volunteers teaching locals about fish farming) is living. While waiting for the sticks to be cut, Peacock took us out to the fish ponds that he has been working on. He has been really successful in his area as the farmers are really dedicated and they have been getting huge fish harvests since he has arrived. It was great to hear how much he has helped the villagers live better lives. He's had to sacrifice a lot to help these people as he doesn't have any electricity, water, or phone, but he seems to love the life and has a beautiful house with a gorgeous view onto a valley. I sat with him at his house and watched the sunset, before we proceeded back to Mporokoso with our sticks.

Had a great night cooking a bar b q with friends, drinking and listening to music. We even found some beef to cook up!! (rare occasion - there is only one beef butcher in town and each time you go by his place, you have to look for the cow's tail hanging outside his door, which means a cow has just been slaughtered.

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 12:01 PM