It’s All Relative

Zanzibar is a very beautiful island off the coast of Tanzania. Lots of expats and missionaries who I've met in Zambia recommended going there, so it was the location my sisters and I chose for our summer holiday destination.

My sister very generously contributed to my share of the accommodation as an early birthday present for me. It meant there was no need for camping; in fact we stayed in a rather luxurious place (my sister Rach is a bit fussy, or has ‘high standards’ as she puts it!). ‘Next Paradise Boutique Resort ’, where we stayed, is very aptly named. There are only 20 rooms in a large, beautiful space. We spent 12 peaceful, fun and relaxing days there. I would thoroughly recommend it!

Most of our time was spent at the beach, swimming in the pool, reading in the sun, snorkelling or playing Bananagrams (a game a bit like Scrabble). We had a guided tour around Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar, where we learned more about the history of the slave trade and bartered in some of the local markets. We also walked around the local area and learned some Swahili from the waiters and resident Masaai warriors (the security guards at our resort).

We Cross sisters love travelling and holidaying in new places. In the last few years we have enjoyed visiting St Lucia, Sri Lanka and Cuba together. Organising this year was slightly different with me living in Zambia on a tight budget, but we decided to book something so that I would get to see Rach and Rhi during my year away. Since Rhi is due to move to the States in the next few months, I don't know when I will next see her. So it was great fun for the three of us to be reunited again.

In some ways for me it felt different travelling to this luxurious destination. Rather than working hard and saving up all year in the UK, I've been surrounded by poverty in Zambia. I interact with people struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. I could ask myself how I can justify spending the money (either mine or my sister’s!) to go on such a nice holiday when I know people who don’t always have enough to eat. It can be hard to know how to hold these things in tension.

One of the things that helps me is realising that everything is relative. Some people who live in Kaniki have a family, a job, food, friends, a church community and a happy life. I'm not sure that they need all the 'luxuries' we are used to at home, such as Wi-Fi and dishwashers! At the other end of the scale, there are some people who live in huge mansions and only holiday on private islands. And in the same way, I don't need those luxuries in order to enjoy my life. These things are all relative depending on the situation you’re in.

I guess we can get used to a certain standard of living (like grubby kitchens with endless piles of washing up in student digs!) but it doesn't mean it is necessarily what everyone else wants or needs. Not everyone I know at home would relish the thought of living here among the dirt and insects, enduring constant power cuts (more on this topic in another blog post…). But I think that’s ok; we’re all different. 

This doesn't provide an adequate answer for how to fully live with the tension between poverty and wealth. But I'm learning that there are many complex issues involved in changing communities. One person denying themselves treats or luxuries does not necessarily go very far in solving anything, although on the other hand, it is good to be generous. I am reminded of the serenity prayer: ‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference’.

Funnily enough, there is also a type of materialism that exists in Africa. I’ve noticed some people who have TV sets in their houses even though they don’t have a job, just because they want to be seen to have a television. Someone I was talking to here recently didn’t understand why I would prefer to walk somewhere instead of drive, because travelling by car is seen as superior to walking! Although we’re all different, there also seem to also be some commonalties, even across cultures.

A Trip into Town

Where I live in Kaniki is approximately 15km from the city of Ndola, and most of the journey to get there takes you straight along a really long road called Mufilira Road. Although there are a few vegetable stalls nearby and our local farm sells a small selection of foods, most of our shopping has to be done in Ndola. This means a trip into ‘town’ at least once a week, as well as other trips there for church, restaurants, sports etc. As this has become a regular part of my routine, I thought I’d give you a flavour of what Zambia’s third largest city is like.

If you've read my previous blog posts, you may have noticed that the roads here are bumpy and full of potholes! Some areas are particularly bad and the potholes also gets worse after rain. On our journey to town there are two roadblocks where the police stop people to check insurance or the condition of their vehicle and so on. However, you will not find any police there if it's raining!

A roadblock along Mufilira Road

Ndola itself has a population of over 450,000 and is reasonably built up. The main road in the city is called President's Avenue. There are lots of local shops, selling everything from food, clothes and chemists to hardware, car parts and wigs. There are also two big shopping centres which are more similar to the shops we would visit at home. They are called Kafubu Mall or Jackaranda Mall and are where we go if we want to feel at home.

Ndola city centre

There is quite a variety of places to eat out within Ndola, some of which you would recognise. These include Nandos, Subway and Hungry Lion, which is pretty similar to KFC. One of my favourite places is a restaurant called Bojangles which only opened at the beginning of the year. In fact, most of the development within Ndola has happened in the last five years.

A recent visit to Bojangles

Another favourite place in town is Gigibonita ice cream parlour. This is run by an Italian charity called 'Rainbow' who support orphans. One of the girls in my class is sponsored by them and had a heart condition, so the charity paid for her to travel to Italy for surgery when she was younger. As many of you know, I am very happy to eat ice cream, and even more so if it supports a good cause! There's lots of choice...

Working my way through all the flavours...

When I first arrived in Zambia, I heard that at the beginning of the month you often can't get cash out of the ATM machines here. Apparently this is because this is the time when most people get paid their wages, so many of them take their money out and the banks run out of cash. I didn't quite believe this until I tried to get cash out, can now confirm that it’s true!

A trip into town usually takes us a whole afternoon since the journey itself is a good half an hour drive either way. We also find that regardless of what we go into town for in the first place, everything takes longer here so shopping is not as straightforward or efficient as we are used to. This is quite different from my usual two minute walk into town back in the UK, as my flat is in the city centre! However, as living in Kaniki can sometimes feel quite out of the way, it is great to still be able to ‘pop’ into town and access so many of the facilities that Ndola has to offer. 

Guest Blog - A Visit from Rhi

Rhi, my younger sister, recently came to visit me in Kaniki. I asked her to write a post about her experience...

Most people who know me would be able to tell you how much I love my job as an Occupational Therapist. I have the privilege of visiting patients in their own homes and helping them find ways of improving their independence and quality of life. So I was very excited to have the opportunity to join Ellie and Rosie on some of their regular visits to people supported by Arise during my time in Kaniki.

Twice a week, Ellie and/or Rosie drive out to the surrounding areas to visit the families who are part of the Arise project. As they only have about two hours each time and there are over 80 families in the project, they get to meet about three or four families per visit. Either Lister or Evangeline, the two Arise volunteers, joins them to help translate between English and Bemba. These visits allow the Arise team to see how the families are, find out what challenges they are currently facing and offer encouragement and support. It also means that the Arise team can ensure that the money being donated to the charity is used for the most urgent needs.

Eva, Rosie, Ellie and Lister

I found the Arise visits both encouraging and incredibly humbling. Over the past year Zambia has faced a poor rainfall, so many families have been unable to harvest enough food for the coming months. Understandably, this was often mentioned as the biggest challenge that the families face. We also met families with other needs, such as an elderly lady caring for her orphaned granddaughter who didn’t even own a pair of shoes, and an orphaned child living with her grandparents who didn’t have a coat, despite the fact that it can get very cold at night and in the mornings. Being face-to-face with such extreme need can feel uncomfortable, especially when you have four pairs of flip-flops in your suitcase and lots of coats hanging up at home, not to mention seven supermarkets within a mile of your home in England. It is difficult not to jump in straight away and buy them whatever they ask for. But this level of need is on such a large scale, and so wisdom is required when providing support. Ellie and Rosie try to find out what the most urgent needs are and ensure the families know that the Arise project is there for support during desperate times.

Visiting an Arise guardian

The most memorable family that we visited during my time in Kaniki was a lady called Charity and her three sons. Charity is malnourished and bedbound, suffering from a very severe and undiagnosed condition which results in open, weeping sores on her hands, head, face and feet. She also has Herpes which has similar effects on other areas of her body. In England, if a patient is bedbound we would be able to provide them with a pressure-relieving mattress, equipment for moving them, toileting equipment, and sometimes a profiling hospital bed. In Charity’s case, she lives in a small mud hut and sleeps on a single wooden bed with a worn blanket and a bowl underneath for toileting. Charity’s teenage sons live with her and are the only family she has nearby. In England the family would receive help from carers to meet Charity’s care needs and to help with domestic tasks. Her sons would receive support from local organisations and at school, and the family would receive the financial benefits that they would be entitled to. In reality the family relies solely on the generosity of donations from the Arise project to provide their food, and fortnightly visits from the Arise team to provide encouragement and support. Rosie and Ellie have been trying to get support from the local clinic and church, but at present Charity’s sons are expected to wash her, care for her, run the household, provide the meals and go to school. The boys are very hardworking, but aren’t able to earn the money needed to sustain the family.

Rhi showing the boys how to treat Charity's hands

It is difficult to put into words the frustration and helplessness that I as an Occupational Therapist felt visiting Charity and her boys. In England there would be so many solutions and avenues of support that I could offer to them. In Kaniki, I felt powerless. It was in feeling like this that I noticed the one thing we were able to offer them is the one thing I am not allowed to offer to patients in the UK; God. We sang and prayed with Charity and her sons, and the peace and hope that defies all unfair, desperate situations was tangible in her home. Charity was joyful, dancing in her bed, whilst singing to God. She seemed a different woman from the one we found crying out in distress when we arrived.

Seeing first-hand the amazing work that Ellie, Rosie and others are doing through the Arise project was exciting. There is so much need out there, and they are using whatever resources are at their disposal to meet it as best they can. The Arise project brings love and support to people who have nowhere else to turn, and through the Arise sponsorship programme they are giving children and young adults opportunities for education and training that would otherwise be beyond their grasp. To say that I am proud of my sister would be a massive understatement.

Ellie, Rosie and Rhi

P.S. The elderly lady got some shoes and the child got a coat! 

A new coat!