Here comes the somewhat unexpected but oh-so-merrier blog entry before we make our way for Johannesburg. We had quite a lot to do lately, which is why these past few days felt shorter than they actually were.

On December 1st it was “World Aids Day”. Maybe some of you had heard about it on the radio or on television. In Zambia this day calls for a big celebration! On the evening before the first we attended a church service where we lit candles to commemorate the ones who were taken from our midst because of AIDS.

All attendants were given a candle and a bottle of water since it was still very hot in spite of the late hour. Being faithful to the principle of “African time”, the service only started 1 ½ later than scheduled but that wasn’t so bad. The church was mostly filled with women who all joined into singing an engulfing chorus. Overall it was a beautiful experience. Only the ventilators on the ceiling above us gave us some trouble as they continuously blew out our candles which we so painstakingly tried to keep alight.

(...) Editor’s note: This blog entry was translated from German into English and some parts were omitted to fit the newsletter format. To see read the original version, click here.

After very few hours of sleep we got up early the next morning to march from the Choma Museum to the municipality. Off we went, with our banner held high by a pack of drowsy youth. After a few speeches and other presentations we could finally perform the Tonga song that we had prepared for the occasion! It was such a great success that they requested us to sing it once more at an upcoming event.

On December 5th we headed once more for the Choma Museum, to repeatedly march to the municipality. This time around we were celebrating “International Volunteers Day”, which takes place once a year at an alternating location in Zambia. So we were lucky that this year the city of Choma of the Southern province was chosen to host it. Compared to guests arriving from Livingstone and Lusaka we had a rather short journey.

(...)

Nosiku came back home from Lusaka for a week. She came Friday night only to leave us one week later early Friday morning. She attended many meetings and a string of friends, which meant that she was barely to be seen around house… Despite the little time we were able to spend with one another we got along well and are happy to see each other again some not-all-too-distant-day in South Africa.

Unfortunately Belinda’s son broke his arm and was kept in hospital without being attended there. After a week without having seen a doctor he was sent to be operated in Monzeh. Until today he has neither received a cast nor an operation, so we wish him all the best!

Sadly Belinda won’t travel to Johannesburg with us because she won’t be able to leave her son by himself. So Louis and I will have to master the three-day-journey all alone. We will make a stop in Lusaka and only travel to South Africa on the next day.

At Monique’s place we will celebrate Christmas, enjoy the company of friends and other volunteers and hopefully have a good dip in the pool. After working as kitchen helpers at the Kailager youth camp close to Durban, Louis and I shall spend the only week apart during this year spent together in Africa. He will go hiking in the Drakensberg while I will most probably stay around Durban – I haven’t made up my mind yet.

In total we will be travelling for six weeks, experiencing and visiting many more places before we’ll attend our “Zwischenseminar” (mid-term-seminar for the ELM volunteers) in Pietermaritzburg. You’ll hear all about our adventures once we’re back home in Zambia in February!

As we have already mentioned, the rain season had begun at the end of November and currently we are smitten with all its might. Just like in so many nature films, African rains arrive in a flash. At first it is hot and the sun is shining in a bright blue sky. The next thing you know, heavy dark clouds appear and it is pouring buckets of rain. Sometimes the showers last only for a short moment, sometimes they continue for hours. These past few days it rained so heavily that a whole bridge was flooded and the cars couldn’t pass it any longer. The water was so powerful that it nearly tore down the road barriers. We now have a lake in front of our house and the trails leading through the dust roads turned into small streams sporting the odd frog or two.

On Saturday we initially wanted to celebrate the most important event before Christmas, the „Gender Fortnight“, a day addressing sexual discrimination. But our plans were literally washed away. It rained all night and all morning. As a result one could only move from one place to another by swimming there, so the best thing we could do was to stay at home for the whole day, which we did.

At dawn you’d hear the loud cock crow,

To cross the road, you’d have to row.

The neighbour’s dog now puppies bore,

The rain can make our throats go sore.

Our holidays shall be a blast!

In February, then, we’ll shout at last.

Sadly, I’ll now have to go,

To turn th’ Nshima on the stove.

Greetings to the Northern hemisphere! Miriam