Landing in Macha for the very first time is like being plunged into an ice bucket. It's so shocking that your brain can't tell what's happened. In most situations, this doesn't bode well for any trip... In Macha however the shock's soon over as soon as you are welcomed into the community by new friends.
My last full day was spent, as ever, with the team in the dimmed lights of the IT room. When I'd arrived 10 days before I had to pinch myself every time I opened the door to leave - it didn't seem real being transported into the searing heat and red soil. Now it seemed strange thinking of London, the unfriendly people, the congestion charge and my house.
I left early as I had been invited by Fred Mweetwa from Macha Works and a local resident to learn more about real Zambia. We were going into the countryside to see some traditional villages. In the back of a beaten up Toyota Hilux we headed out of Macha on dirt roads. The villages consist of huts, scattered in the bush and usually house extended families. We met one farmer with 20 children from two wives - they live next to each other although in different huts.
According to wikipedia, poverty is defined as "the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine the quality of life". What the people of Zambia lack in terms of electricity supply, running water and money they make up for in so many other ways. Community, relationships, family, their land, country and culture. Here it doesn't matter if you don't have money as you're rich in other ways. More importantly, this is one of the few places left in the world that you don't need money to survive. They live off the land and eat mangos, lemons and avocados fresh from the trees. Not a bad life if you ask me.
However, they are getting left behind and the onset of electricity and communication networks is certainly helping. Seeing the effect the internet connection has had on this community has changed the way I look at the world. They may be remote and live in 'poverty' but they're now connected and I get the feeling that they love it!
Dinner with the van Stams and an electrical storm finished the day off nicely. Back to wooden house, amazingly, the electricity was still on. The only problem was the lack of voltage - it took ten minutes for a light to switch on. With such vigorous weather, we were destined for an interesting day sorting the internet on Friday...
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