Okay, I want to introduce you all to my boys, however, I feel like I need to explain a few things that are very foreign to Americans, but necessary to understand the way of life in Zambia...

Compounds: these are the villages/slums the people live in. They are (by our standards) DIRTY! There is no organized garbage collection (I know, I work for a garbage company, so I was in complete shock of what I saw, I even tried to explain to them what we do with our trash and they could NOT understand). So imagine walking out of your front door, dropping your trash and burning it, OR taking your trash to a trailer parked on the main road, dumping the trash in on top of already burning trash.  Folks, it stinks, it produces the raunchiest smell and smoke. The upside, they do not produce a ton of trash, because they literally seem to use everything for something!

Zambian homes... let's be very clear, when I say home, I want you to think a concrete block structure with one entry/exit, no windows, and about the size of your walk in closet... OH and lets also get these facts straight... electricity, there is none (no fridge, no TV, no microwave, NO lights)/ running water, nope, none of that either/ did I hear you say toilet, don't be silly, not in these homes. For the most part, they do not have doors, there is a sheet hanging over the opening. NOW... just because they are poor and live in extreme poverty, please do not misunderstand, poor does not equate to unkept, nor does it negate pride, or the desire to be clean and well kept! With a small space, you must keep it organized, and maintain an efficient use of space, and from what i saw, they did. The nice homes are two rooms, a bedroom for the parents/care takers to sleep and the main room which transforms from the living room, to the kitchen, to the dining room, to children's bedroom (reminder, this space is the size of a walk in closet).
So maybe you are wondering where some of the luxuries that we know so well are found for these people,  here is a quick rundown:
electricity: it's just not an option, there isn't even wiring in the homes for this, no switch to flip, I have no idea how they see inside!!
running water: there is a community faucet, I never actually saw anyone using it, I know hot is not an option.
toilets: ummm... bathroom talk, it has a whole new level of discomfort for me!  If you are lucky, you have a fancy toilet (when I say fancy, you think, hole in the ground with a tire on top so you don't fall in) if you are another kind of lucky, you use the outhouse (for a fee...), and if you are common (I am assuming this to be true, no one would really say a definitive yes, but I am pretty sure I stepped in it) you go where you are when you need to. -side note- men reading this, the "go where you are when you need to" approach, I realize you think "whats wrong with that" well, HELLO... lots wrong with that, this is not to be considered lucky, and you should refrain from using this as your method of relieving yourself... that is just my little "public service announcement" for the day-

Chores: let's do another when I say, you think... when I say yard, you think dirt ground. Their yard (for lack of better word in my limited vocabulary) is a dirt yard, they sweep the loose dirt from their yard. Women share the same wash bowls, I am assuming you have come to the realization that there are no washer/dryers, so the women line up in the street and wash their clothes then hang them to dry. A lot of women were sorting charcoal that they take to the market to sell.

Food: Sheema, it is like grits (but no cheese, butter or salt) and they eat it with their hands, by scooping it up and rolling it. They seem to love it, and there are a few varieties of sauce you can put on it. I tried it, taste like bland grits, they need cheese! Chicken is pretty common, none of my boys mentioned that they ate chicken, but I did see a lot of them for sale in the market, feet and all and feet alone! Bread, they eat a lot of bread, white bread, with no preservatives so it molds quickly! Dried anchovies, I have no idea, but they sold them at market and we gave a couple bags to our sponsor kids in the "food drop"


Toys: The only thing I saw kids playing with was a ball, not like any ball you or your children play with, like the kind that you take a plastic grocery sac, fill it with dead leaves or trash, pack it tight and continue to wrap plastic bags around it so that it won't bust... it lends itself to hours of football and hacky sac fun!

Witch Craft: This one is going to make you vomit! Witch craft is real in Zambia! Good Christian, God believing folks believe in witch doctors and their healing/harm.  Parents take sick children to witch doctors to cure what pains them. Let me say,  I think they are crazy, but it is so ingrained in their culture that they all just go with it. If I can stomach my way through a "witch" blog post it will happen another day. Here I will give you the highlights of what I learned. Witches roam the compounds at night, with no doors to the homes and the children sleeping on the floor it is common for them to go into a house and try to cast spells, and hurt the kids. These poor little souls literally have no protection from these crazy people invading their space and trying to insert evil into their bodies! They have insane ideas on how to treat illness and any other thing the parents don't like about their child. I don't understand it, I don't want to understand it, but I sure as (you know what) want to make sure my boys (and any other child for that matter) never has to worry about it. I had a dream a witch doctor was trying to get me and I was almost scared to death!

Clinics: They have them, in fact, we drove by a beautiful white, newly constructed clinic. Too bad they only had one nurse, a doctor that was on lunch and possibly not coming back until the next day. No supplies or capability to help the sick and wounded...just a bunch of suffering people waiting to be seen, hopefully before their illness takes their life.

Markets: I love to shop! It is literally one of my favorite things to do. I thought I could shop for just about anything... NOT in Zambia, the market was the most disgusting thing ever! I literally stepped in chicken guts, watched the lady pick the dead chicken up off the dirt, boil it, pick it's feathers off, then blanch it in cold water. I think I threw up a little in my mouth, it was gross, not clean or sanitary, nor did it give me a feeling that the chicken would be healthy to eat IF you wanted to! The produce is beautiful (see tomatoes below), they sell lots of beans, and second hand clothes.

I think there are enough details here to get you through my introductions... 6 beautiful boys coming your way soon!