Saturday is for Shopping and Soccer

Our first Saturday, May 25th, started off with some shopping at the market! For as long as this group has been talking about this trip, we all knew that we were going to be buying a few chitenges (pronounced "shitangy") because they are so common and so versatile here. They can be worn as skirts, cut to make different bags or clothing items, used as a blanket to lay on the dusty ground, cut for drapes, or even wrapped around a baby to tie them to a momma's back.

The market in Kalomo was only about 20 minutes away from the campus. We piled into the bus and enjoyed the scenery as we passed people riding bikes, selling things on the side of the road, and walking miles to their destination. Everyone is so friendly here. When we pass by, they ALWAYS flash huge smiles and wave to us strangers.

When we arrived in Kalomo, we stopped at the ATM to withdraw some kwacha before shopping. The exchange rate here is about 10 kwacha for each U.S. dollar.

The market was not like I was expecting. I guess I was expecting it to be more touristy than it actually is. Small tents of tarp lined the dusty dirt roads with trash scattered all around. I asked one passerby where we could find the chitenges and he happily pointed us in a direction. We decided to wait for the rest of the group before continuing on our way. Mr. Chance led us to what seemed like a dead-end road, but we turned the corner and crossed a little ditch of trash to find rows and rows of tents.

Photo credit: Rachel Cannon

We passed tents selling vegetables, socks, toys, and some with a small selection of chigenges. After turning a few corners, we came upon one tent with walls full of bright colored patterns and customers in a long line ready to make a purchase - it was the rest of our group. We all piled in and bought multiple chitenges each. The other tents tried to get our business, but the selection at this tent was too good to pass up.

After we finished shopping at the market, we piled back in the bus and headed to Mrs. Moono's house. She use to live really close to where we are staying so Mr. Chance knows her from years passed. We brought her our chitenges and she wrote down our requests for quilts, clothing, and other customized items from the patterns we picked.

After our lunch back at the mission, we were invited to a 10th birthday party next door! We followed the music to the veranda (porch) where about 15 kids were dancing their hearts out to the upbeat music playing on the stereo. A few of us joined in for a few minutes before being asked to sit along the wall for a performance. Three of the kids had their own dance to show and danced in unison with quick and repetitive movements. The boy, who couldn't have been more than 10 himself, danced with a knife in hand. Not a butter knife, but one that would do some serious damage if you got to close. As much as it scared us to see him spinning around and moving his arms back and forth next to the two other girls, the adults at the party laughed and clapped and didn't see any need for concern. The knife was then used to cut the cake after singing the traditional "happy birthday" song we all know. The birthday girl fed the first bite to her little sister and then the little sister fed the next bite to the birthday girl. I don't know how much of this is tradition or just what happened this day, but it was neat to see.

The last event of the day was a soccer game (football) at the nearby field.There is some grass to play on, but much of the field is rough sand. Our group paraded in and sat on the ground along the sidelines. A dog ran on the field like a member of the team, causing no disruption to the play. I didn't see a score board, but I know our team in green (the teenage boys going to school here), scored at least twice. I'm pretty sure we were in the lead when we had to leave for dinner.

Chess game on the sidelines.

The whole day was very relaxing and so fun. I feel like we are doing so much every day, but it never feels rushed here. We just finished our first week of therapy at The Haven - it has been tiring and amazing (more on that later). To celebrate, we will be spending this Saturday with some more shopping at a market and soccer!