Chik and Ester

Since one of the reasons to visit Zambia was thefriends who are working there we returned to Chikankata for a few more days. There must be some sort of irony in the contrasts...playing Guitar Hero III (badly) on a Wii, and visiting in the local market.

It was at the market that we met Esther. She had eight children of her own, but now cares for 24 grand-children. Seven of her children had died, and she has taken on responsibility for their orphaned children. No social security benefits, no government support...just a small plot of land to grow some crops, plus her own initiative, and efforts. One of those initiatives is a little restaurant near at the market.


In Africa there are many people like Esther - many of them grandmothers, some of them barely older thatn the children they care for. While there are many organisations that are set up to help the scale of the problem outwieghs the resources available.


We salute Esther, and those who like her care for children who are not their own, and need to work out how to most effectively make a difference in the long term.

Lusaka markets

There are markets aplenty around Lusaka and we made our second attempt to find Soweto Market. Third time lucky is the saying, but we found it on our second attempt.

Located behind Lusaka market is another area, and I must confess that we did not venture too far beyond the street. Instead of the temporary - shelters of Manuale narrow alleys lined by gray concrete brick walls that hid the small shops of the occupants. It must have been the combination of city and crowds, but for once I was not keen to explore. We did venture in to buy some bananas, but didn't wander as freely as we had in other places.

Some remarkable sights were still in evidence in the roads around the market...



Most memorable: sellers of plastic bags (Steve is on the left)



Most common: se llers of second hand clothes.

Kabwata Cultural Centre

Buying and selling is one way to survive in Lusaka.

Buying and selling to tourists could be a lucrative activity when there are lots of tourists around. At Livingstone, a tourist mecca with Victoria Falls nearby, it was evident that the traders were doing it tough. Some of the accommodation places had laid off staff, and the street vendors would savage their own prices to try to make a sale. It is no different in Lusaka.



One tourist place in Lusaka is the Kabwata Cultural Centre. A visit there is at once interesting, frustrating, and worrying. Located not far from the city centre this village has been set up in a semi-traditional style, with lots of round huts and thatched rooves. There is no charge for entry, any the main purpose seems to be to sell locally made arts and crafts.

Wood carvings, batik materials, and baskets abound. Around the centre you can see men carving the sculptures or fashioning small animals out of wood. Under and around the shelters you can see the items for sale. With very basic tools they carve some amazing items. In the shelters are anything from one to five vendors (sometimes it seems like more) who want you to buy something from their stock.

Today we paid our second visit to the centre, and spent some of our money, but not enough to satisfy any of the traders. During the afternoon we spotted only one other 'mzungu' in the centre, and she was accompanied by a local guide or helper. From the time of our entry through the gate we only had to look at an item, and the bargaining started. When we entered some of the huts closest to the gate we were swamped with two, three or four people trying to get us to look at their items, and offering us prices which reduced rapidly as we looked at other items.

We bought some items for our family, but after an hour or more it was a little too much for me. Beth might have stayed for another hour if we knew that what we bought would be welcomed as gifts for family.

For people who depend on tourism the economic downturn has been tough - and it can only be hoped that the American summer holidays will bring a few more tourists with the resources to inject much needed funds into the Zambian economy.

Anyone interested in a small wooden carved elephant, rhino, giraffe, hippo or lion ?

To Market

Want to get to meet people? Then wander through the local markets.

On Saturday Beth and I went in search of the famed Soweto Market in Lusaka.

A minbus ride got us in there - and we were on our own. First to the Post Office to get some stamps...a mammoth task. Thirteen counters - but none of them wanted to sell us stamps (the queues for many of them were long - mainly processing moeny tranfers I think) and we were directed to a booth where the stmpaes were availaable and photcopies could be made. she didn't have the 1800 Kwacha stamps. Fifteen minutes later we were back there - buying 1000 Kwacha stamps. Two of them were more than enough to send the postcards, but she didn't have 1800 K stamps!!!!!!

Then it was off to find the market.


We found one - and wandered through the recently built aisles with neat stalls. Along the way I bought a hat from Gift, took photos of Gift and Nixon, chatted with Wawa (who sold DVD's), got hijacked by Frances (B35 & G14 - sells CD's), and talked with a few other sellers of electrical materials. The last guys were doing it tough, but Wawa (it means 'thank you') seems to be doing OK.
We discovered that Chachacha is a neat, well ordered market that has been built by a developer and is run by the city council. There is still work to do with the centre portion of the block which is not yet finished. The debate seems to be over more market stalls or a decorative feature. We were yet to find Soweto Market!

Moving right along we crossed Freedom Way and found another market -Manule.
There we met Oscar, and his friend Oscar, as well as Lazarus and Martin.
Martin repairs electrical and electronic equipment. He is an intelligent and articulate man who completed a certificate in electronics in 2003. Where did he get his qualifications? He completed the course via correspondence from London. It was good to share with him about life in Zambia (and Africa in general).
Manule apparently means something like 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'. Manule Market is a group of rough tin sheds, cramped into a smallish space, but offering a chance for people to have a semi-permanent place from which to trade.

We emerged from Manule, still looking for Soweto Market, but found we were alongside Lusaka City Market. This vast undercover market has a different feel to Chachacha and Manule. It has a high roof that covers the area, space for mini-buses to pick up and drop passengers, and some sit down eateries near the entrance. Inside it was a bustling array of aisles and stalls. Before entering the arena we bought some fritters (the donut mixture again) and sampled some African bologne. Josephine was a little shy, but Moses (her trading neighbour) was not.

By the time we had wandered through a couple of aisles it was time to head home - and we still haven't got to Soweto Market yet.

Before catching the minibus home we walked across the overpass, and looked down along the rail liine near Kabwata. What did we see? More stalls, this time without the formal organisation that was evident in the city, but still people trying to eke out a living by honest means in a city where work is not always easy to get. If you can't work, you trade; if you can't trade you rely on your family; if they cannot support you the opitons are limited - beg, scrounge, or steal. Somehow you have to survive.

During three conversations during the day - with Martin, Moses and the electrical sellers - it was pointed out that many in Zambia live on less than a dollar a day, and more on under two dollars a day. "Please let others know that life is hard for us" they said. Anyone who spends any time talking to people on the street here would know that for so many it is a struggle to survive. It is hardest in the cities where there is no space to plant a crop and grow some food for yourself.

For anyone who is thinking about a visit to Africa - come! If it does nothing else it will open your eyes - and at the same time will put some money into the countries that you visit.

Think you've got it tough? If you have access to a computer and can read this, you're doing pretty well, and it is time to think a little more about sharing what you've got with others.