Gonzaga-in-Zambezi

Frozen in indecision, I stood facing a wall of color and pattern. I’d walked to the market to buy a new chitenge (the traditional dress for the women here), and could not settle my mind on selecting just one to wear during my days here in Zambezi. Individually, the designs of fabric were not appealing to me. I realized that I like them folded on top of each other in a heaping mound of color and pattern and beautifully draped on the women selling cabbage, tomatoes, and chickens. I appreciated the clashing of patterns, the combination and complement of color. Alone, the chitenge is a piece of fabric but collectively they are the colors of Africa.

While here, I have learned that Zambia is a collection of colors, tastes, sights, and smells. Of laughter, crying, rooster, dog bark, church choirs, flowering trees, and sparkling river, sweet sweat, burning bush, red dirt, and white sand. Here one man’s trash is another’s treasure. Nothing is wasted. There is no way to see Zambia without smelling it at the same time. I find beauty and meaning here by appreciating the individual parts in order to better understand the whole picture. As students here in Zambezi we have the opportunity to become pieces of this country.

I feel furthest away from everything I have ever known here, while all the same feeling deep roots to the people, the landscape, the smell, and the colors. The closest comparison I can make to Zambia is to the ocean. Vast, unknown, terrifying, strange, but memorizing, alluring, comforting, familiar, but unpredictable. Living here is like sitting by a campfire. I can’t stop staring, knowing I should draw my eyes away from certain scenes but hoping that if I look long enough I might find meaning to the hardship and the suffering, or to understand the paradox between poverty and happiness. I just want to tell the people that I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you have to do this work. I’m sorry that your world and your life is so hot and dark and unremembered. I’m sorry for intruding… But this place breaks your heart in all the right ways.

Natalie Gibbons, Class of 2011

After 34 hours of traveling the Gonzaga students and faculty have safely arrived in Zambezi, Zambia.  They left Seattle on Tuesday evening, flew to London, powered through a seven hour layover, hopped on a ten hour flight to Lusaka (the capital of Zambia) and ended their journey with a three hour flight on a Flying Missions bush plane into Zambezi.

The Gonzaga team was greeted at the Zambezi landing strip by students of Chilena Basic School who celebrated their arrival with singing, traditional dancing, and drumming.  For the past six years, this school has been an important partner – it has hosted Gonzaga student teachers with our literacy project and is the location of a new library that Zambia Gold Honey is assisting this community to build.  We are so appreciative of this relationship and the children were excited to welcome new Gonzaga friends to their community.

Students are settling into their new rooms and getting acquainted with Zambezi.  A formal orientation and introduction to each project will begin tomorrow, so there is not much time to recover from jet lag.  We will post a few first impressions of the Zambezi community tomorrow, hopefully…. the Zambezi community is experiencing a lack of electrical power now and we hope it will be back soon.

If you follow the Gonzaga-in-Zambezi Blog, you will likely hear about our Zambia Gold Honey project.  This rich organic honey from the Zambezi District is exported by our students to assist our partners in finding a sustainable market for their honey.  It is now on sale at GreenCupboards, a company started by Gonzaga alums.  A pretty sweet partnership, if you ask us.  Check out their blog below where you can find out more information about purchasing this honey, or go to www.zambiagold.org

http://www.greencupboards.com/blog/2012/05/01/zambia-gold-honey-for-change/

Please join our journey as we seek to practice the principle of accompaniment and develop real relationship through our leadership development projects in Zambezi, Zambia.

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