A Look at Village Life... part 1

There is so much to say after spending two weeks in the village, and yet so much of it would seem frivolous or dramatized. So rather than try to summarize or explain or anything of the sort, I’m going to just go straight from the heart, including excerpts from journal entries written during our time in Lubofu. As it was holiday time there – just before the harvest started – there was a lot of time to sit and think and write. Some of it is silly, and some a little more serious. I’ll give you a little glimpse of our thoughts…

April 26
… We pee into a hole in the ground. Granted, I’ve gotten used to this at Lusa and elsewhere, but I just went into the little house that surrounds said hole, and the flies were crazy. We’re talking you start to go, and all the flies fly out and up. Yeah. Awesome. Think horror movie – I thought they might eat me. I may cut back on my water intake, or start going to the bathroom in the bushes…

April 27
Mrs. Yanjisha asked me what I am writing, and we tried to explain about journaling and how our culture is a written culture whereas theirs’ is oral. She has asked me about recipes for this and that, and I don’t have a clue without being able to look them up! They seem to remember so much more and memorize songs and verses more easily. I think what really continues to amaze me is how innovative people – especially kids – are here. They were filling a battery with acid and one of the kids made a funnel from a leaf. They are constantly creating toys and tools from scraps of this and that and things from nature. It is also amazing how young the children are when they start working and helping at home. The kids are fetching water and cleaning and cooking and farming and caring for (and killing) animals. They sleep in a small house separate from the adults and never eat with the adults.

Typically in the village the kids live in a small house by the grandparents’ house once they are 7 or 8 years old; the Yanjishas have 5-9 kids living “with” them at any given time – all grandkids, and kids of their nephews and nieces. The kids have an incredible respect for elders and seem so easily satisfied and entertained.

It’s very different from the kids – and especially teens – in town. Those teens in town have been exposed to western thought and dress and rebellion has really taken its hold. That and they’re not busy working in the fields. We worry about seeing this culture disappear as Zambia becomes more developed. A mine is being built nearby here. It will change everything. The road won’t be safe to walk down freely as it is now, and it will be so much louder and easier. It might bring jobs, but is it a good thing? Are we destroying a lifestyle of peace and contentment by bringing more, bigger, “better?”

The Yanjisha’s farm is amazing. The work ethic and love of God is incredible. Yes, we (westerners) needed to bring the gospel, but it seems we’ve brought so much rubbish along with it. How much is helpful? How much is needed? At what point are we polluting (or crippling from giving handouts) a beautiful, peaceful, happy culture? Perhaps we should have Zambians come to the US to teach people like us how to work hard, love life and want less. If only…