We are sharing with you a series of travelogues written by ARI staff member Steven, who visited Africa in August.

Day 4 was another long day of travel.
Then, finally, they arrived the final destination for the day!
Guess who was waiting for them..?

Let’s get started on our trip to Africa!

【An African journey to visit ARI graduates, Day4】

Loading the bus for Lusaka

The departure time of our UBZ bus to Lusaka was 7:00 AM, and after many warnings that “this bus leaves on time!” we were sure to get there well before 7:00AM. Normal departure times for busses in Africa are…when the bus is full, which is, in fact, much more efficient from the fuel conservation point of view! It was fun to see what was being transported. Among the many suitcases were boxes of chocolates, mysterious metal cases, and one whole truck engine. Or was that a spare for the bus? Maybe not, because it was a modern vehicle, spic and span clean inside and out.

Meet Mike Chongwe, my seatmate
Kai and Geoffrey sat together, and I had the pleasure of being next to Mike Chongwe, a retired government officer. He worked for many years as a diplomat at the embassy of Zambia in Washington DC and has traveled to more than 40 countries. Five of his six children live in the US. The youngest one is here in Zambia close by! In his retirement he started two NGOs. One is to promote awareness and prevention of prostate cancer, which seems to be a serious problem in Zambia. The death rate is over 60%. He is advocating for the government to build better treatment facilities. The present facilities are horribly inadequate and anyone who really wants to have a chance of recovering needs to travel to India. “It is risky to get sick in Zambia,” were his exact words. I guess he has had some success on this count because one facility is due to be completed next year, in Kitwe, and the following year another will be built in Livingstone.
His other NGO is for vulnerable children. They sponsor 56 kids to go to school and want to get that number up to a hundred. As a future activity they are hoping to build a “transition home,” a place where children coming from abusive home environments can live while they go to school. Mike said he has seen terrible abuse and neglect due to poverty and alcoholism. The big dream is to build a school as well, and he is working with his son’s church in Atlanta to get the funds.
Since all this isn’t enough to keep him busy, he also has several farms raising village chickens, cattle, soybean s, cassava, ground nuts, sweet potatoes, peas, and of course, maize.
As you can expect I told him all about ARI and he was interested in the organic farming aspects, explaining how the additives and chemicals we eat in food these days contribute to cancer. As we were entering Lusaka, he pointed out his golf course and how it is dried up from lack of rain.
Hmmmm. That may be more than you wanted to know about a stranger on a bus, but isn’t this one of the things that travelling is about?

More random Zambia things
En route we had one longer stop where Geoffrey introduced us to a food called shawarma. It is especially designed for travel because they put all the meat, chips, pickles, and everything right inside wrap so you can eat it easily in your hands. Never mind that it drips everywhere. They provide a napkin! From later research, I learned this is a middle eastern food, introduced by Arabs in the region. Some people may not like immigrants, but we all love their food!
The highway follows a train line built in 1902. Apparently, they are still using some of the wagons that were made in 1911! The whole way the landscape was brown and arid, but with the first rain of the rainy season it will turn instantly green.
Near Lusaka we passed a 20,000- hectare sugar cane plantation. Just as in nearly every country in Africa, the Chinese are building highways everywhere. One difference in Zambia, Mike tells me, is that the government is requiring the Chinese companies to use local workers. Normally, they bring all their own engineers, equipment, AND workers!

From chaos to angels

After eight long hours we finally rolled into the madhouse that is Lusaka bus station. The minute the door opened guys started shouting “taxi” into the bus, holding out a key in their hand, as proof, I suppose that a car was in their ownership. The luggage was unloaded in a narrow area with hardly enough space for the owners to get it out, but we managed to get our bags and slip out to a spot with more oxygen. Then Geoffrey called a taxi using an app, muting all the efforts of the ultra-passionate “key guys.”
On the way out of the station our driver stopped to buy water just next to a fight taking place. Next stop, Geoffrey’s church!
The church was where Geoffrey had left his car, which we needed for the hour and a half drive to Chongwe. How sweet it was to see a group of girls in a circle practicing their singing, like a heavenly ascension from the depths of raw humanity at the bus station. Geoffrey grew up in this part of Lusaka and his daughter is staying here now, so we stopped to greet her. Her name is Judy, like her grandmother.
After a snack of barbecued goat meat, we headed to Chongwe, our final destination for the day. At last, we could meet John Nyondo (1983 ARI graduate) and Judy Nyondo Daka (2001 ARI graduate) at the Ecumenical Development Foundation (EDF). John was the first Zambian to go to ARI and Judy is his wife. Together they started the EDF to address the needs of the villagers in this area. Geoffery, their son, went to ARI last year and is continuing his parent’s work. Belvin (2016 ARI graduate) was there to welcome us, too.

The Nyondo homestead

That evening we ate village chicken with tomato sauce for dinner, expertly prepared by Judy’s granddaughter, Luyanda, or Lulu, with plenty of nshima and vegetables. Lulu, by the way, is 16 years old and in her second year of university.
There was much to talk about, but after the long trip my mind was too fuzzy. One of the most pressing topics, though, was the drought. This area was especially affected and there is hunger. The government does not provide much relief, only to mothers with babies. And they are predicting that even underground water will be depleted by September. They are praying for rain in October!
After getting the mosquito nets set up (thank you Geoffrey) we could finally put an end to this long travel day.


Written by Steven Cutting (Graduate Outreach Coordinator)
Travelling with Kai Shinoda (Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator)


Click here to read the series of articles

Vol.0 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Prologue】

Vol.1 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 1-2】 

Vol.2 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 3】

Vol.3 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 4】<== Now, you’re here

Vol.4 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 5】To Be Continued …