I shouldn't make light of the flooding situation, but these kids are serious entrepreneurs!
Otherwise, I'm settling back into work & daily Lusaka life. Alvin has started physiotherapy so we hope the road to recovery will be smooth. Our luggage arrived yesterday- at least I'll be able to sport some new Indian attire on the weekend...since I couldn't show it off at work*grin*.
Something I haven't reflected on since I've been so caught up in the trip to India, is the political situation in Kenya. It was a year ago that I went to Nairobi & met a host lovely Kenyan people. A Somali-Kenyan had opened up & mentioned how life could be really hard for her sometimes because though she was born in Kenya, she would never be considered Kenyan. (There are thousands of Somali refugees living in Kenya). I suppose tribal tensions ran deeper than I had imagined.
A friend I made there has lost both of his parents to fire bombing youth. I'm quite shell-shocked and can't imagine how chaotic life must be. Something I find quite ironic now, is that one of the guys I met had been to Vancouver for some exhibit/artshow. He told me he was so shocked that poverty like he saw in Vancouver could exist in Canada. These are guys who grew up in the slums of Nairobi- shocked that East Hastings exsits. Now we all turn and say "typical Africa". My heart is broken for Kenya and my friends.
2 comments:
I feel compelled to comment, reading your post on poverty sitting at the intersection of Carrall and Hastings, in the heart of the downtown eastside.
Crazy but not surprising that ppl from 'developing' countries are shocked when they see what is going on in Vancouver. Not sure why people think the situation in many Afircan countries is somehow easy to solve (Aid, funding, etc), yet there is no solution in sight here in Canada with a wealth of resources. And it will only get far far worse. sigh.
ps what is the Zambian equivalent of a Trolley Pusher? lol
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