Zambia World Wide

Not all outdoor events were a success, however. I remember my parents one year taking the four of us sisters to "the firework display" at, I think, my father's work. None of us girls had any idea what a "firework display" was, and possibly we were expecting something along a similar vein to "Carols by Candlelight". The car was parked, we took our place in the crowds on the field and waited with great expectations until it was completely dark - which happened quite early and quickly so close to the equator. Then suddenly, the first rocket shot up into the sky and exploded noisily. I had never been so terrified! I can remember that fear even now, although I now love firework displays. I think all four of us screamed in terror. For me, the fear was not so much of the loud bangs as of where all those things being sent up into the sky were going to land. They were exploding directly above our heads, so in my estimation what was left of them was likely to land precisely on our heads, and we would be knocked out at best, set on fire at worst. I couldn't understand why my father would have brought us to such a dangerous place! I joined my three sisters in screamed demands to be taken immediately back to the car. I remember my father being angry and embarrassed - well, I suppose if we were surrounded by his work colleagues, many of them of lower ranks than himself, it must have been humiliating to be seen with a cache of wailing little girls who refused to be quietened or consoled and would not shut up until their parents dutifully returned them to the car and home.

There were various outings that were made as treats. I remember one place called "The Rodwin", where there was a playpark with tyre swings. These tyre swings were mounted on a maypole-type affair, and if one was pushed round, the other three also went round - a bit like a playground version of chair-o-planes, I suppose. We adored this, and have cine film of the four of us enjoying it. However, I do remember one time an older child walked too close to it, and one of our swings hit this child on the nose. As with my toe at the swimming pool, there was once again lots of blood, and I was always nervous of those swings after that. I didn't want to be involved in hurting anybody.

There was a lake at The Rodwin with paddle boats on it, and one day my parents were persuaded to let me and Joy, the sister closest to me in age and size, go out alone in one of them. My memory is that it was a huge lake, but I suspect in reality it must have been fairly small, or I doubt we would have been allowed out unaccompanied. I would have nagged and whined and insisted, of course - from a very early age I was obstinate and determined, never one to take no for an answer. Well, we got to the middle of this lake, and then the paddle that Joy was turning got stuck. Did it really get stuck, or did Joy just get tired? I have no idea. However, my solution to this problem was simply to paddle at double the speed myself with my own handle. Of course, this quite simply had the effect of making the boat spin around and around. This was quite scary for two little girls in the middle of a huge lake, and the faster we spun, the more frantically I paddled, trying to get back to the shore, and the more upset and frightened poor Joy became, and the more we were shouted at from the lakeside! The water churned up and splashed us, the boat continued to spin, and I continued to paddle futilely in the absence of any better ideas! I couldn't hear what was being shouted from the shore, but it sounded increasingly cross, and that just added to the overall sense of panic. In the end, I believe one of my parents came out in another boat with the attendant, and they towed us back to dry land. I had a sense of having done something naughty, but had no idea what my sin had been. I was just glad we hadn't sunk and drowned, because in spite of all those afternoons at the swimming baths, I'm pretty sure neither of us had mastered swimming!