Tour Around Lusaka

I got up earlier than expected, again maybe due to the time difference. The breakfast was good, milo, cocoa drink, coffee are available which were all nestlè products, moreover, bacon, eggs, pork and beans, sausage were also served! Good enough to eat more to keep up for what I missed during lunch and dinner. I was happy for the availability of such foods, which means I wouldn’t starve! However, this has become our breakfast everyday.

The day was scheduled for city tour, we visited some of the major or rather I would say significant areas in Zambia’s history. The bus took us to the most congested part of Lusaka City called Mutendere Compound, then passed through Zambia National Broadcasting Company. Another stop was the Burial site for the 3rd Republican President who died in August of this year. The burial ground was being developed into a place similar to that of Mahatma Gandhi’s burial ground in New Delhi as well as Bagabandhu in Bangladesh. Then to Chilenje House which played a significant role in the history of democracy in Zambia, a small house where Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda lived. According to the tour guide, it was in Chilenje House 394 where meetings were held during the struggle for independence which Zambia achieved in 1964 with Dr. Kaunda serving as the first President of the Republic of Zambia. The next destination was Kabwata Cultural Village which housed indigenous crafts like wood carvings, batik and tie dye, stone crafts and other bead crafts. Houses were also made of indigenous materials the way houses were built before. The residents of the village are artists in various fields. The village was government initiated with the primary purpose of preserving some aspects of Zambian culture. According to the village leader, 10% of the sales are placed in a common fund which is maintained to sustain and subsidize development in the village. I was surprised by the high awareness of the people in protecting the environment. It was explained by the leader that wood are gathered in a sustainable manner and permission is secured from the tribal leader of the place where woods are gathered. What impressed me was the rare kind of wood, called ebony and jacaranda, too bad; I didn’t know its scientific name! So I couldn’t say if they are available in the Philippines. The finish product looked fantastic apart from the light weight of the wood. The next stop was a very impressive building which housed Zambia National Museum. The museum contained memorabilias of Zambian history and culture including those being used for witchcraft! The next stop was Manda Hill that was also surprising in Zambia, it is a shopping complex that included a big grocery shop called Shoprite, local and international fastfood chain. What made it memorable for me?! I was able to eat chicken biryani, my favorite dish in Bangladesh. Due to limited time, we were not able to move around the place but I am assured that I would find things I thought not available in Zambia.

The morale? It’s difficult to judge a place and its people when you have not been there and you have not interacted with them. Zambia may be in the process of developing its country but its richness in culture and history cannot just be substituted with any fast-growing development. In fact, it has huge potential for development in many aspects.