New Home

 

Finally we have arrived. With a two-week delay we have now arrived here in Mpika. You may be wondering why we are constantly changing places. Here you got a short overview.

At the very beginning we spent 2 weeks in Ndola because most of our team is based there and also the ZBA headquarters of our partner church.

Then we went to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia for a 10 weeks language course.

After this we came back to Ndola for another 4 weeks to organize different things and to prepare for our time in Mpika.

 

Now we are in Mpika, for 5 days already. We also will not stay here for good, but at least for half a year. The reason we are here is basically to get to know the culture better and learn/ practice Bemba.

 We live among locals in a settlement in the city. There are a lot of people, especially children, living around us. For the kids we are the biggest attraction right now. 40% of Zambians are under 15 years old, so you can imagine, there are children everywhere.

 Mulenga is our neighbor and at the same time landlord, friend, language helper and church member here in the local community. We stay on his plot in a little house. He and his family are very nice and gave us a warm welcome. They help us managing our new life here.

 So far, it feels very good being here, even though life in the compound (that’s what the poorer neighborhoods are called) also has its challenges. For example you are hardly ever alone, there are always children around our house, trying to get a look into the white man’s house. It is also quite loud around our house until late into the night.

 We think we can get used to many things … No running water in the house, no washing machine, no closet, power cuts, no real supermarket, dirt roads everywhere etc. ? All in all we LOVE having our own little home again, after 16 months of only having one room.

 

Have a look at the pictures and you will get a much better idea how it is like here.