7.4.2011
Happy Fourth of July!! We woke up a little early today even though it’s both a US and Zambian holiday and all of the schools are closed. Vasco, the caretaker at Fountain of Hope, invited us to go on a “community walk” with him since there is so much downtime on holidays. We needed to meet him at the orphanage by 10 a.m.
Background on Vasco…he came to be a caretaker at Fountain because he used to live on the streets, came to Fountain, cleaned up his life and completed school. He decided to stay on as caretaker because he wanted to give back to the place that gave him a future. His story is amazing to hear…he’s told us about a time he stabbed someone in the back (literally) and now they’re confined to a wheelchair. He and few other boys who used to live on the street with him have actually murdered someone. You have no idea how strange it is to hear someone who is now educated and responsible confess things like that. He told us about how he doesn’t even know his own birthday, so the government essentially assigned him a fake one so he could have complete records. He talks a lot about the challenges he’s faced as the caretaker and how he is still in the process of accepting the horrible things he’s done in his past. He stresses how important it is to constantly look forward and focus on the bright future, and not the dark past. He’s a good person to have on board at Fountain because he understands the kids coming there from the streets in ways that other people, even Zambians, never could.
Anyway, he invited us to go on this community walk with him and the three of us (Sarah, Ivy, and I) were looking forward to it all weekend. The walk was through the Misisi Compound, a really poor area nearby Fountain. Lots of the boys and girls who come to school at the orphanage are from Misisi. It’s not 100% guaranteed that your camera will make it out of there unharmed, so we didn’t bring ours. We’ll try to borrow some of Ivy’s photos but to be honest, photographs don’t capture life there as well as the stories do. It’s hard to even know where to begin in describing it.
In many ways, this slum was as typically “African” as it could get. When you hear statistics about the millions of people in the world living on less than $1 per day, these are the families that help to make up that enormous number. Each home in the compound costs about 40 or 50,000 Kwacha per month to rent. That’s only $10. Each family lives on about 5,000 Kwacha per day, or slightly more than a dollar. When families can reach up to 13 or 14 people that can mean less than 10 cents per person, per day.
There is garbage everywhere you look. Not just scattered on the ground, but literally mounds and mounds of garbage. There are entire hills of trash that children (tiny children…some only toddlers) climb all over in search of food. The people often burn garbage to make fires, so the thick black smoke of burning plastic fills the air and mixes in with the dust that is constantly blowing through the alleyways.
For every adult you see, there are probably 7 or 8 kids. Tiny little kids running around everywhere, some half dressed, some completely naked, some pulling their pants down in the middle of the dust road to go to the bathroom. You can see dried mucus all over some of their faces from runny noses that they couldn’t really do anything about. Especially during winter when it’s so cold at night, lots of the children have constant respiratory infections.
Alongside the paths, there are stands with chopped up meat, chickens in cages, and pigs’ heads, all swarming with flies and baking under the hot sun. There’s also fish drying out or sitting in pots of boiling oil, also covered with little flies. No one wears shoes.
At night, the area is very dangerous. Theft isn’t a big problem, because they’re really isn’t anything to steal. But there are gangs in the area, and people are killed as commonly as every night. The violence is out of control. Vasco told us that each gang has a traditional initiation ceremony and many members are marked unique tattoos or brand marks.
Speaking of burns, it is common in low-income countries to see lots and lots of burn victims. When women and children are constantly cooking over open fires, it’s easy for clothing or hair to ignite. A noticeable percentage of people have burn scars on their arms, necks, or faces. One man approached us with his face so badly scarred by a burn, his features were distorted and he’d lost pigment in his skin.
Everywhere, women and children are carrying enormous buckets of water on their heads. There are a few different locations where water can be collected. Some spots are not as bad as others (there might actually be a piping system or faucet), but in general there is no running water. Most of the water is collected from wells. They are not protected by 3 or 4 foot high stone walls. Any animal or child could fall into them if they weren’t paying attention. They are full of garbage. I wouldn’t drink that water if you paid me $1000, but the people living there have no choice. There is a small lake along one side of the compound, where most of the women do their washing and the children bathe. It’s also full of garbage and the water is really murky. We did pass an elevated water tank that was donated by USAID, but it’s broken and no one was ever taught how to maintain it. Now, it’s useless for the people.
What’s terrifying is that these conditions are considered “good” compared to the summertime. Because this is the dry season, malaria is controlled and water-borne diseases are common but not rampant. During the rainy season, the entire area is constantly flooded with a foot or more of water. The people use the mounds of garbage as stepping-stones to walk around without getting stuck in the muddy water. All of the homes, dirt alleyways, everything is flooded. That means that garbage and human waste are constantly mixed in with their drinking water. Cholera spreads through the area like wildfire and parasites like schistosomiasis breed in the standing water. And of course, mosquito-borne diseases like malaria thrive in such humid and hot places.
It is amazing to witness the strength and endurance of the people. They are living in the poorest of the poor areas…no electricity, no running water. They live in sight of the few skyscrapers in the city and the electrical lines actually run over their compound, yet they are not bitter. The women still have the heart to greet us and welcome us warmly to Zambia. The children are always smiling and laughing. We can’t get anywhere with a huge chorus of “Muzungu! Muzungu! Moali Buanji!” (White person, white person, how are you!). They follow us down the streets laughing and cheering and shaking our hands. The images of little babies crawling out of their houses onto the dust and rocks just to see us will be cemented in my mind for a long time. The same is true for the mental pictures of children playing with toy cars made out of empty bottles and kites built from sticks and plastic bags. The woman smile and wave as they wash all of the brightly colored traditional clothing and the men jump up from their chairs made from old tires under the shade of a building to say, “Buanji, sister, buanji” (how are you, sister, how are you). There is so much strength and character in a community of people who can live in unthinkable conditions and still be positive.
Overall, the experience was eye opening. To be in such close confines with families who live every day in a world we cannot even fathom teaches you to appreciate the endurance and vitality of humankind. It also reminds you that poverty to that degree is inexcusable, yet it’s absolutely paralyzing to witness it all. I know that some of my most “go get ‘em” friends would be at a loss as to how to act in such extreme conditions. But little changes and steps do make an immeasurable difference.
Vasco took us to a little house in the middle of the compound where a man has a full recording studio set up. He has many clients who use the equipment to record awesome songs. We listened to one that one of our friends from Fountain, Kenny, recorded in honor of Obama’s election. It was really cool to see the product of so much creativity—we’re definitely going back with a blank c.d. to burn some of the songs! We also passed by a nightclub in the compound. It’s almost entirely outdoors and the dj told us it gets really crowded at night. It was actually a really cool set up. Sarah and I were delighted to see that the stage was elevated (Our classmates will agree…Duke students love elevated surfaces).
After the walk, we returned to the Fountain of Hope compound. Sarah caught a bus over to Munali to coach her basketball team, the Spartans. Ivy and I are back at the house, now. Once we’ve posted our most recent set of blogs, we’re going to sit down and work on a leadership/organization workshop. Tonight, Sarah and I are making cheeseburgers with corn on the cobb, watermelon, and brownies to celebrate you know what! Happy 4th of July!
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