Zambia World Wide

At the bottom of Central Street is the Kafue River with a pontoon ferry and on the far side is a large Zambian village. The pontoon can carry about 20 people, one evening after work we decided to walk down by the river, seeing the pontoon we thought why not cross over the river. We had never seen a village this large, so thought we would cross the river and have a walk round the village. We were a little concerned about the way we might be greeted, but while waiting for the pontoon which was on the far side we got talking to an African who lived there. When we explained what we intended doing, he offered to show us round the village and said we would be made most welcome. On this first visit we spent about two hours looking round the village and talking to the people that lived there. Most of the houses were built with mud bricks, these were made by mixing mud and grass together into blocks and then leaving them in the sun to dry. With the making of the bricks, collecting grass for the roof and the collection of other materials needed it took some time to build a house. Around the village most families would clear a small piece of land, which they would use to plant maize, in most African countries maize is a staple food. As with most African villages this one had a beer hall (bar), the local beer is Chibuku, it looks like gruel, and I did try it once but found the smell and taste awful. As we walked round the village we couldn’t help but notice the number of people who kept touching Gary’s hair. At the time it seemed strange but we later realised that since all Africans have dark curly hair, Gary’s soft blonde hair was a bit of a novelty. In the African villages and townships there are no tar roads so they are very dusty places to live. There are tar roads in the Towns and Cities and a tar road from the Zaire Border in the north to Livingstone in the south. There are also tar roads between towns that are grouped closely together, otherwise all roads are dirt in varying states of repair.

We are now well into January and the baby is due within the next two weeks, we have discussed whether or not I should be present at the birth. Jan is keen on the idea that I should, however I am not sure. However Jan got her own way as usual and I agreed to be there for the birth. The hospital where Jan would have the baby was the mine hospital in Nkana West. Jan went into hospital in the morning on the 1^st. February and the baby was born at 21.00 in the evening. I was there for the birth and must admit it was an experience I shall never forget. The baby was a boy and weighed in at just over 8 pounds, we had already decided that if the baby was a boy his name would be Craig. Three days later Jan and Craig came home. I said earlier that it could be difficult to obtain essential commodities. About two months before Craig was born Jan saw that ZCBC had a large amount of baby milk in stock. We calculated the amount that Jan thought we would need, and then bought a large enough quantity to cover the period we expected Craig to be on baby milk. We already knew that Jan would not be able to breast feed. The next few days were quite hectic, Gary was over the moon, he had waited a long time for his little brother or sister to arrive and wasn’t about to miss out now. Craig was the centre of attention, we lived in a small community and everybody wanted to see the new baby.