Author Archives: Zags in Zambezi

America: The land of the free. This is what my Zambian friend tells me anyway. As I stand in the stationary isle of a supermarket in Lusaka, I can’t help but feel uneasy when our Zambian friend, Dominic, tells us … Continue reading →

Yesterday Jessica and I were walking to the bus at the Zambia Airport in the back of everyone else. I started a new conversation, expressing to Jess that I was considering asking Elly to start the wheel of jobs in … Continue reading →

Some kind of chicken dish, a snack of apples, pears and chocolate bars, cheese pizza, and an omelet later, Gonzaga-in-Zambezi students and faculty arrived in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. On this first leg of our journey—a 14.5-hour flight—we … Continue reading →

Today, the Gonzaga-in-Zambezi 2017 team was joined by past Zambezi alumni and the Gonzaga Choir (also traveling to Zambia in May) for a “missioning” service. Through poems, prayers, reflections, and song, the theme was clear — we are sending Zags … Continue reading →

“Okay. I am going to ask you a question that I probably already know the answer to but that I need to ask because if I don’t ask, I will explode. What the hell are we doing here?” These words … Continue reading →

To be perfectly blunt, I’m not sure what I’m not afraid of. I don’t do well with big bodies of water. I don’t like bridges. I am not a fan of flying or being in small confined spaces. I have … Continue reading →

When someone passes away in Zambia, it is tradition for a group of women to gather and mourn together. This mourning is hallowed and haunting: it takes the form of loud, sharp cries sung together in one voice. I stumbled … Continue reading →

I plunged my hands into the 25-liter bucket of cold, sticky oochi mixed with honeycomb and scooped as much as I could into the filtration system (another 25-liter bucket with a corrugated base resting on top of a larger empty … Continue reading →

Walking down an unfamiliar road, two of the Katie’s and I follow anxiously behind Mrs. Phiri, our homestay mom, as she welcomes us into her family’s home. She shows us to the sitting room and invites us to take a … Continue reading →