A little shock and more than a few questions...

Last night Becca, Devin, and I wrote out a whole page front and back of questions for Kari, our site coordinator: Questions about our host family, eating nshima with them every day, showers (turns out we will only have bucket showers available), job placements, safety… the list when on.

Honestly, the last few days my emotions have been a roller coaster. I feel overwhelmed, scared, out of place, and on display. My skin color makes me blend in about as well as oil does in water, and I feel intrusive and like a novelty at times. I had an idea of what I was getting myself into, but holy, holy moly: I am experiencing some serious culture shock! Unlike the United States, the stark differences and injustices due to privilege are everywhere. I can’t escape it and I finally realize just how wrong it is that the United States can hide its poverty, making it possible for so many to drive passed the world’s problems and just keep on trucking.  I certainly have contributed to this system. I can drive right through segregated neighborhoods of Milwaukee to go eat my nice dinner downtown, but I’ve rarely had to stop or be in relationship with the people that live in poverty. I’ve always known that the American system that creates this segregation is wrong, but I have the white privilege to forget about it by enjoying my middle class comforts.

Zambia, too, is caught up in an economic system that America and its allies helped create. Zambia will celebrate fifty years of being an independent state this October, but the effects of colonialism and the disparity between country’s like the United States and Zambia are stark. Unemployment is fifty percent here and you can see it in the throngs of people walking everywhere on the road, so close to our quickly moving cars. (So close it makes me very, very nervous!)

I’m adjusting and I’m learning to live with the sting of my privilege every day. I’m hoping to learn what the sting will cause me to do or advocate for.