My week continued

Internet here sucks.

I already wrote a whole bunch of stuff and then the internet crashed, so my Wednesday is going to be short and sweet haha.

Learning about Lupwa :)

We went to Lupwa, the other community centre which focuses more on long-term care and facilitating families by providing self-help groups and family circles. They try to stop the problems before they even happen, whereas Bwafwano is the immediate help. They're both SO important in the community. Goodson, the head of Lupwa, talked to us for an hour and a half and just motivated us to do good. I can see him as Zambia's next president. This guy is so wise and so passionate about what he  does. After getting an idea of what Lupwa is, we were invited to play soccer in this concrete floored, open area. No rules... it was like 30 kids on 15 of us. And a 'mama' in net. And they were all bare-foot. Sounds like an easy game right? WRONG. I've played my fair share of soccer because of my job at the community centre back home, but NEVER have i seen kids play like this before. THEY ARE AMAZING. These kids play soccer all day and all night. It’s all they know. They’re phenomenal. I had a really good time.

Thursday morning we had a workshop in the family room just talking about needs assessment and how it should be done. That afternoon we watched the Canucks vs Bruins game and we were highly disappointed. Half-way through the game (my attention span isn’t that long haha) I went to do some laundry. Let me just tell you about my experience. Mama’s house helpers, Francesca and Helen (nicest women ever) were doing the laundry outside. There are 2 bins – one with soapy water, and the other with clean water. And you pretty much soak your dirty clothes and scrub against your palm. I was failing with my socks and then Helen came to show me how to do it and after she was done, they were cleaner than before I had worn them. They’re sooooo amazing. And they don’t squat or sit or kneel. They stand, and then bend forwards with a perfectly straight back and they stay in a 45 degree position the entire time. I’ll take a pic because that probably didn’t make any sense haha.

After being disappointed from the game, we walked over to the Olympic youth development village to play some wheelchair basketball! This facility is less than a year old and it’s the only one in Zambia that provides athletes with a proper place to train. It’s better than anything Ottawa has haha. We met up with our friend Harry who is on the wheelchair basketball team and he taught us a few rules and tricks. My arms were so soar after playing with some of the guys from the team. We’ll be playing with them every Tuesday and Thursday! And the coolest part? If the government has enough funding, Harry’s team will be going to the paraolympics in London next year!!

Friday was a very relaxed day. We had a workshop on the World Bank and the IMF which was SUPER interesting. That afternoon we took the minibus to central park to go on the internet and to go to the supermarket.  I bought 2 L of juice and 2 water bottles and everyone else bought some junk food.

We got home and Isaac (Bwafwano’s head) and Goodson (Lupwa’s head) came over and we talked about potential projects. We all had dinner together.