Another great day and no one can believe that tomorrow is our last day at the school. The highlight of the day for most was the five kwacha challenge, where we had to buy the most interesting product on the local high street which would then be judged. The winners were Mr Sherrington-Scales’ group: they used the kitchen in the lodge to cook their vegetables and fish, which they successfully haggled for on the high street. Each group got highly involved in the challenge and bought a variety of objects, ranging from skin lightening-cream to onions to a SIM card. We were able to experience and engage with another aspect of Zambian daily life and culture.
All the groups also went to different houses to do the daily chores that the children at Kawama School usually do. Each group was interested to see how all the houses were well-kept, tidy and a source of great pride for the individual families. TVs, speakers, glass tables and fridges were seen in most of these houses. This is because the houses visited were selected to show the relative wealth within Kawama, meaning that they were not representative of the whole community. The chores involved sweeping, polishing, waxing, levelling the ground outside, collecting water, washing clothes and plates, and even gutting fish. We certainly drew a crowd when boys were carrying out traditionally female roles, such as sweeping, and we caused lots of amusement when we revealed that we had never scaled a fish, nor did we even dare to gut it. Today really enabled us to further our understanding and appreciation of what it means to live in Kawama.
Alex Parson and Joe Howell
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