Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Zambia

I am sitting in an internet cafe in Ndola, Zambia. If you look at a map of Africa, there's a little piece of the Democratic Republic of Congo that hangs down and bottlenecks Zambia. Ndola is just to the left of that.

In my money belt, I have nine 50 kwacha bills and some identification, little else. For the few of you who aren't up to speed on African exchange rates, they have a combined worth of about ten cents.

Zambia is not like Tanzania. Actually, I guess it mostly is like Tanzania, only everything has taken one single step towards the United States, or at least towards South Africa. Here, people seem to wear nicer clothes, and live in bigger houses. More of them drive cars and the roads get a little bit more upkeep. You can go around the corner and pick up a bucket of chicken from Hungry Lion. Every city has a Shoprite, an African supermarket chain. In Tanzania, I know of two cities with Shoprites. And there are lots and lots of foreigners, too.

The other day, we were driving the Great North Road down from Tanzania, and we passed a few clusters of date palms. They say you can trace the line all the way to the Indian Ocean. It's the path the slave traders took, and they tossed their date palm seeds out as they ate along the way. Many of them took root and grew tall, and now we can see right where they go. The palms we saw grew amid huge farms with long lines of sprinklers where they grow tomatoes and cabbage and soybeans. It's agribusiness. Things in Zambia have changed.

Also, as most of you know, it's Duwali time. It's the Indian new year. And there was a fireworks show. We went to the local sports club, where the rich and the expats hang out, to watch. There was a huge crowd there, made of Indians and Chinese and Europeans and South Africans and wealthy Zambians. I thought it might have been the most diverse crowd I've ever been a part of. Each of us paid 30,000 Kwacha to be there ($8 USD). As it turned out, it was a great fireworks display, just like anything you might see in the States on July 4.

The next day, we went on to Mufulira, which is a little further north along the border with the DRC. The town is pretty big, and it survives entirely due to the mine. This is the Copperbelt of Zambia, they say, and for the last several decades, the town has thrived. But lately, production has dropped and the mine might close in the next couple years, leaving 14,000 people jobless. We drove around, and saw where the Rugby club was, and the Cricket Club, and the Swimming Pool, and the Football Club, too. All of them are closed or rarely used, testaments to a Western presence that once was. There's a golf club where the fairways are nice and green in the rainy season, but no one goes there any more except to eat in the restaurant or go to the bar. The foreign investers are mostly gone. Already the city looks dead and the Meiers, missionaries I've known from back home for a long time and with whom we're staying, joke that there's nothing to do in Moof. And they still have the mine. The Meiers don't know what will happen to the town, and their church, and their ministry here, when the mines close. The city will die.

In Tanzania, everyone farms. Even in the big towns, many people have a plot of land somewhere that they farm corn or something with. People there live a little more poorly, but they can eat. Here in Zambia, nobody farms. There are big farms, and people in villages still make their living off the land, but in cities like Mufulira people will have their way of life abruptly reinvented when the mines close.

Tomorrow, we begin the two day trip back to Mumba. Then, I have another two day trip across the country back to Dar, where I'll fly away next week. I'll be home, and it will be good to be home.

One Love

5 comments:

Dan said...

Jim, two things:

1) How is the agritourism business there? Do they have any Beat Bed & Breakfasts?

2) Did you see Michael Scott at Diwali thinking it was Halloween?

I have enjoyed very much getting a taste of what you have experienced over the last few months. I can't wait to hear about it. See you soon buddy.

Anonymous said...

Jim, I'm praying for safe travel for the trip home. Can't wait to see you in about a week! Love you, brother!

Anonymous said...

PS you look like alexander supertramp in the kili photo.

Anonymous said...

oh i can't wait to see you Mr. Gamble and hear about your journeys. You have been missed and we look forward to seeing you.

Stephanie said...

Jim-

When you come home (in less than a week!)we can enjoy some Cocoa Wheats and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Miss you, wish it was November 5th.

-Stephanie