Nshima and The Final Countdown!!
Posted
by
Kelly
on 12 Oct 2009
It is getting hotter and hotter here in Livingstone and bottles of frozen water have to be taken to school every day in an attempt to keep ourselves cool and the first thing we do when returning from teaching is jump in the pool. We did have a couple of thunder storms, which brought the first rains I have seen in over 5 months! That little rain has brought many of the plants into bloom, with the flamboyant tree blossoming into brilliant red and even the dry brown bush land has begun to sprout green plants all over.
Last week on Monday it was World Teachers day and the schools were closed with all teachers taking place in a march within town. There were lots of speeches and awards, with the prizes appearing to be mattresses! Strange but true!
Working with the schools and the pupils is as rewarding as ever and many old favourite books are being using along with new ones. “Stickman” has become an instant hit, with the obligatory making of stickmen afterwards. Paddington Bear has also made his first appearance in Zambia! Finding Peru on the atlas and explaining marmalade are two resulting factors! Working with Atlases has become very popular and it’s very interesting to find out what the children know about the rest of the world. They are mostly surprised to discover that we don’t have bush in England or any kind of wild animals like elephants, lions, crocodiles or zebras! When asked by one group of children what the most exciting animal is in the UK, I struggled! Cows, pigs and sheep just don't sound that amazing!!
Another thing that all children find hard to believe is that we don’t eat ‘nshima’ in Europe. Nshima is the staple diet here and is eaten by most families twice a day. It is made from sweet corn flour which is then blended with water and heated to make a very thick mixture, which is, to me, like a cross between mashed potato and rice. Alone it is quite tasteless but it’s the relishes served with it that make the meal. Sweet potato leaves, pumpkin leaves or spinach are favourites. Last week I thought it was time the group tried the nshima they were always hearing about, so we went to a local Zambian restaurant, not one geared to tourists, and all had nshima, with either chicken, beef or bream. Eating with your hands is the custom here and some managed the whole meal so but others cheated and reverted to forks but everyone enjoyed the Zambian culinary experience!
We are now about to enter the final week of school visits, which is going to be very sad, the children and teachers already know it’s nearing the end and without exception they ask us to stay. Many of the pupils say it is the highlight of their week, which is always nice to hear and I’m sure when the project resumes next year it will be greeted with even more enthusiasm. Last week we visited the local pediatric ward to see if the project could be extended there for next year and unfortunately the majority are too young and too sick to benefit from our program but it was interested to get a tour of the hospital and the ward, which was only opened earlier this year and therefore surprisingly modern but the equipment is still lacking, with the intensive care rooms being empty except for beds. We were made very welcome and I have promised the sisters a box a books for the ward before we leave.
Free time activities this week have been plentiful, with most of the group taking a cycle tour of Livingstone with our very own cowboy cliff, the owner of Friday’s preschool. The tour takes you around parts of town where other tourists just don’t go and is a real eye-opener in terms of real Zambian life. We also went on a sunset boat ride on the Zambezi and spotted giraffes, hippos and a whole herd of elephants which had been bathing in mud to keep themselves cool, clever things!! Maybe we should try that before going to school each day! Then on the way back we saw a huge bull elephant standing alone on the beach at the edge of the water and he gave us a spectacular show of giving himself a sand shower, a very memorable sight.
For the past two weeks we have had a visitor on board the bus, in the form of its founder, Tom Maschler. Tom has been joining us at school each morning to get a real picture of how the project is running on the ground and now he has returned home with a clear vision of how the Bookbus is benefitting the children of Livingstone, Zambia.