Week 5 – Culture

Having been in Zambia for over 5 weeks, I thought I was coping extremely well with many of the cultural differences. However, after my experiences over the last seven of days, this statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Having reflected on the week’s events I feel that it is important that “we ... acknowledge differences; we ... greet differences, until difference makes no difference anymore”, as in a new culture we will be continually experiencing differences which should be embraced (Allen, ND).

The week began with what we thought would be a simple trip to the local immigration office to extend our visas, this was not the case! On arrival we were informed that we had been given the wrong visa and this resulted in a number of heated discussions and integrating questions from the Officers. As we began to feel overwhelmed by the whole situation, we phoned Patrick for help and he arrived within minutes. After what felt like a lifetime of waiting the in dark offices with groups of people who had illegally crossed the border, feeling that we ourselves had committed a crime. Patrick and the Directors of David Livingstone College kindly fixed the problem and we are now proud owners of a Zambian Study Permit.

On Wednesday, Jenna and I donned our ‘sporting attire’ to take part in the school sports day. After an hour of waiting, three teachers gathered over one thousand pupils to walk for fifteen minutes to the ‘sports grounds’. The walk itself was a culture shock, the children freely ran along main roads, over train tracks and down questionable short cuts.  It was clear that there was no concern for safety and there was no trace of a risk assessment. However, the biggest shock of the day was still to come. On arrival we discovered that the event was taking place within the local prison compound! Prisoners were mingling freely with the children and it was perfectly acceptable for children to enter the prison to get water. I was astonished by how completely normal this all seemed to be! I find this highly difficult to comprehend, mainly because I keep trying to imagine this situation happening in Northern Ireland!

The children getting ready to race amoung the prisoners!

The Elections were due to take place in Livingstone on Thursday, however after a number of riots, protests and a member of a political party being violently murdered the elections were proposed.  During a trip to town, we found ourselves locked inside the Post Office as the police had released tear gas to disperse a mass of protesters. Many of the tourists around us broke into a panic, but being Belfast girls it felt like a home away from home.

A convoy of cars supporting their Political Party

'Sweets' from the village.

The house our friend, Leonard, was born in.

The weekend came, bringing with it our first experiences of the ‘real Africa’! On Saturday we found ourselves being driven to Mukuni Village by our new local friends to be given a private tour, visiting their homes and meeting their families. The surroundings and the simple way of life could not be further away from our lives here in Livingstone, never mind in Northern Ireland. The difference in cultures is truly incredible and thoroughly humbling to witness first hand. 

Meeting a few of the village locals.

The primary school in the village, set up by The Butterfly

Men of the village making crafts to sell at the market.

To round off our week of culture, we experienced our first Zambian meal, cooked by locals. As the food was served, we washed our hands over a basin and began eating nshima, beef and beans with our hands. Surprisingly I took to this like ‘a duck to water’ as for me “food is our common ground, a universal experience” (Beard, 1960 cited in Clack et al, 2004, p. 2).

Our first African meal.

During a visit to a local hotel, close to a National Park, I had the amazing opportunity to witness a herd of Elephants stampede through the car park, across the road and into the bush. This was an incredible experience! Ask any of the girls I am here with, my family and friends, and they will tell you how excited I have been to see one elephant, never mind an entire herd!

References

A. Allen (ND) Cross Cultural and Diversity Quotes, available at http://www.culturecoach.biz/Quotes/diversityquotes.html (accessed on 03/03/13).

G. Clack, K.R. Davis and F. B. Ward (2004) Americans at the Table – Reflections on Food and Culture, U.S Society and Values, 9 (1).