Zambia in Pictures...Installment One

Are you ready for this? My team took so many pictures, it's taken me almost two hours to narrow them down to those you will see on this blog. I will have to post them in installments, because there are just too many. So, I'll try to post the installments in a timely manner, but at least this is a start.

To start, I feel I should introduce you to some key people:

This is my team of fellow EDGErs. Stephanie, me, Meghan, Nate, Janeen, and Sam.

A week into our trip, we were joined by another team of Navigators (not an EDGE team); Jake, Emily, Lydia, Sarah and Brittany. They are actually still in Zambia until their trip ends July 31st.
For the most part, we acted like an eleven member team...
This is Chapo, the campus director, and Sarah, the senior we lived with, and who led the Bible study of which I was a part. The first time we met Sarah, Chapo proudly declared "I'm dating her!" and then followed that with, "she would be blushing if she could." I thoroughly enjoyed them both, and it was fun to watch them interact as a couple, caring for each other's interests above their own.

There are others I'll introduce as I go along, but at least now you can identify those who are in multiple pictures.

Now, let's take a look at campus life:

This is a wide shot of the university entrance...

And, my team with the UNZA sign...

The campus is actually quite beautiful with some lakes, and I'm sure it's gorgeous after the rainy season when everything would be green...

The buildings, however, and the hostels (dorms) in particular, are a bit less than aesthetically pleasing...

This is Gershom, one of the student leaders, in his dorm room after the riots, showing where a tear gas canister came through his window...

I mentioned before there's a housing problem, so two of the girls I met with, Cynthia and Estella, live together in a converted utility closet...Yes, that is the extent to their room, and yes, two of them live there. They're just happy to have a place to live.

Now, on to our home life:

This is Jesmondine. The building houses the Navigators' national office and has three apartments, in one of which the girls lived while we were there. The guys lived a short walk away.

Much of our time at Jes was spent trying to learn how to be Zambian women. We had lessons in cooking...

...dancing......laundry...

...and even carrying a baby on our backs with a chitenge. Meghan actually got to practice with little Ruthie; the rest of us learned with pillows and a bag of onions.

And, I think that's a great picture with which to end installment one. Check back again soon for installment two!