Other food we've found in Zambia - most we've tried, but not the fish.

• Chips – these are homemade fries – think thick “steak fries”, best eaten with a fork. Mmm • Bream – fish served whole, including eyeballs and scary looking teeth. Popular dish here. We passed. • Kapenta – if you are brave, try these as well. These are tiny dried fish – sometimes kept in oil, but usually just dry. They are eaten whole and served with nshima, of course. • “Salad” seems to usually be some sort of cabbage salad, similar to coleslaw, but without the vinegar. • Mango – when in season, 'til... more

The food staple in Zambia is nshima - they have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is the consistency of very firm “Cream of Wheat” and is made from corn (maize). It's white and does not taste heavily of corn (not like corn meal mush or hush puppies would in the states). It is eaten with the hands – you break off a piece, roll it into a ball and use it as a scoop to get the other food being served with it – sauce, veggies, meat – all is eaten with nshima. They call the extra things “relishes” and often include things like okra or pumpkin leaves cooked with onions, tomatoes and some spices.

One of the great things to buy here are the wooden nshima spoons. Those... more

Some Americans are concerned because things are, well, just so DIFFERENT in Africa. It's hard to get their questions answered, it's hard to actually set and keep an appointment, cell phone calls are abrupt. They wonder if people are just rude, or what the problem is.

It's different because it IS different! "Talk time" on the cell phone is expensive - hanging up before saying goodbye will end up saving you money in the long run. Sometimes there is nothing new for them to say to you.

Sometimes they'll contact you if they need to and sometimes... more

Zambia is a landlocked country in south-central Africa. Its terrain consists of a high plateau with hills and mountains, small trees, grassy plains, and marshland. The climate is tropical, with some areas experiencing a six-month rainy season. It is bordered by Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred... more

Today, it’s day five of Kwanzaa, or Nia (nee-YAH): to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Think what it is you were put here for? (For surely you were not made for naught.) How shall you make your mark? What is it that you'll strive for, that will help, not only you, but your family, and above all the community? If you are celebrating Kwanzaa with your family, or simply talking about some of the principles, you might want to ask your children... more

Today is Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah)- cooperative economics: to build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Ujamaa was the concept that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania just after it gained independence from Britain in 1964. In 1967, President Nyerere published his development blueprint titled the Arusha Declaration, in which Nyerere pointed out the need for an African model of development and which formed the basis of African socialism. Ujamaa comes... more

Welcome to the third day of Kwanzaa, or Ujima (oo-GEE-mah). Ujima is collective work and responsibility: to build and maintain the community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

I saw this principle in action in Rwanda this past June. Once every 4 weeks, the entire nation takes a Saturday to do community good. This could be cleaning the sidewalks, picking up trash, fixing a communal building, painting or something that benefits the entire community. We asked what happened if a family only wanted... more

Welcome to the second day of Kwanzaa, Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) or self-determination: to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

If you are still wanting to make a kinara, the Family Fun website has a pattern you can use. Or, the "Family Education" website has a more involved version.

Family Fun also has a VERY cute Kwanzaa ... more

Today marks the first day of Kwanzaa, a holiday designed to honor African-American heritage.

In 1966 Ron Karenga, now Dr. Maulana Karenga, created Kwanzaa while in California, as the leader of the black nationalist United Slaves Organization (also known as the "US Organization"). Dr. Karenga searched for ways to bring African-Americans together as a community. Karenga combined aspects of several different harvest celebrations, such as those of the Ashanti and those of the Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa. The name Kwanzaa derives... more

Is Christmas in the US too commericialized? One writer in Africa thinks so. I stumbled across an article published in the “Financial Gazette” out of Zimbabwe that claims that “the Christmas story has become the largest marketing gimmick.” It is titled “The Marketing of Christmas!” and can be found here.

At one point in the article, author Ken Mufuka writes:

Some of my researchers came up with the idea that the US is one vast market, waiting for clever merchants to exploit. . . Now add the idea that parents must show their love for their children by buying them toys, you have added the toy manufacturers... more