Ezra's African Adventures: Kaunga

Tuesday, 12/11/12:

Today Djondoh took us about 45 minutes away to the village of Kaunga, which had 60 or so families. He'd warned us that the villagers were 7th Day Adventists, so things might be different from Chembe, but the only differences I noticed were unrelated to religion For a start, Kaungans really loved to sing! In Chembe there had been a few songs, but here it seemed like each silence was taken as a song request. It got to the point where Djondoh had to interrupt the songs in order to finish before it got too late. To introduce Mom and Dad, he found the oldest married couple in the room. After a brief sermon on being responsible about marriage (apparently a lot of young people get divorced here) he asked the couple what their secret was. "Obedience," said the woman, "I listen to what he has to say." Her husband's answer was a bit different: "I ignore the irritating things she does. If she annoys me, I just leave the room."

We enlisted the local Community Organizer and Steven, a boy my age, to help us distribute photos, and got to work. It took about as long as Chembe, despite having more families to deal with. People wanted different types of pictures, but we managed to take them in a timely manner. Standing or sitting, in front of trees or a bike or car, in the bush or on the road or train tracks, the families all got what they wanted in the end. After wrapping up the printing, we hung around for a while more while Djondoh preached to the crowd. He wanted to take advantage of having them all gathered there, and touched on family, marriage, deforestation and alcoholism. He even inspired them to begin planning construction of a health clinic.

While he talked, Tim and I went outside to hang out with Steven and his friend Wisdom. They were curious about the US, and taught us some Bemba (which I promptly forgot). Eventually it started to drizzle, so we went back inside as more singing began.

It came time to go, so we each stood up one at a time to thank the villagers. I was first, and stood in the front while everyone sang happy birthday. Since I'm 18 today, one of the older men came forward to bless my ascent into manhood. With Djondoh translating, he said a few words: "May God bless you. May He bless your travels. Remember this day, because not many young Americans are blessed in Bemba under a thatched roof in Zambia." I managed to add to the applause by remembering how to say "thank you" in Bemba (natotela).