Life is full of beauty.

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”


Ashley Smith

It’s off to Livingstone! Godwin had been kind enough to offer to try and find me a ride to Livingstone, if I was able to pay for the gas. With having had the extra bags shipped up to Kalomo, I thought it might be the better idea, rather than trying to move around 4 bags, especially when I wasn’t 100% sure where I’d be getting off, or how close it would be to Backpackers; good thing! Chrispine was able to drive me, so we asked Godwin if it would be alright for Helen to come with us, as I do love her. The go ahead was given and we made arrangements to travel together.

Chrispine is a hoot. He had to call me a couple of times to make the arrangements and I had to tell him that in Canada (and most places in the world, for that matter) it is polite to end a conversation with ‘Goodbye’. You don’t just hang up! We would be talking and then the phone would die, or so I thought. Had my air time run out, had his, had he had an accident, what! It was actually comical the way a conversation would just suddenly end, and I would be left hanging. Different cultures, different ways of doing things, and I do love these little quirky things, they’re what seems to stay in my memory the longest.Before we headed out that Sunday morning, we had to run by Chrispine’s house (this is a different Chrispine, by the way, then the Chrispine at Munkolo hospital), where I had the chance to meet his lovely wife and 3 children. His home is located in a ‘compound’ located a short distance from the WV office. He proudly informed me that he has built this house by himself and is continuing to add to it. His daughters are bright young ladies, doing well in school and he told me the oldest is particularly smart and he believes that one day she will be running her own business. His youngest is his son, a much adored child.

We then went to pick up Helen, where she lives with her brother (a teacher at the high school which is located just off the main road) and his family, in housing supplied for the staff. I don’t want to make disparaging comments about the accommodations, but how people live in these small cramped little places, without going crazy is something I’ve yet to figure. I had the chance to have a cuddle with her little niece before we hit the road.

Then we are off to Livingstone for the next stage of my adventure. Before Chrispine and Helen dropped me off, I took them for lunch; where Helen told me she was thinking abut leaving Kalomo and moving to be with her new husband. She wasn’t being able to spend as much time with him as she was hoping (he lives up near the Malawi border) and was finding it difficult. I learned that she has now left and moved north. Such a shame for them to lose such a wonderful and caring facilitator at the office, I’m sure she is missed tremendously. We had such a nice lunch, sitting and chatting about everything – politics, religion, families, you name it. In this day and age of political correctness, I am always a little insecure, when talking to people of other cultures, worrying I may say something wrong or inappropriate. That was what was so nice about lunch; there were no feelings of trepidation, just 3 friends talking. They had a good laugh when I told them that back home, we always say if you want to keep friends - never talk about religion or politics, but we did, and we’re still friends (at least I hope). We discussed how they felt about China’s part in the growth of Zambia, their new President, work issues in Canada, just all sorts of things.

We arrived at Backpackers and both Helen and Chrispine were saying “Oh, Mama, I don’t think we should leave you here. Are you sure you will be ok?” It seems they were not very impressed with the facilities or the welcome I was receiving; they wanted me to come back to Kalomo and truth be told, over the next 2 weeks, I was sorely tempted a few times!