Lighting candles for HIV and AIDS

So we travelled onto Mazabuka - the highlight of the trip! First we had to spend a good few hours waiting at Lusaka’s inter city bus station after the bus company had sold our tickets; though we did arrive a bit late. A white family of four perched on a bench drew a few interested glances but little more attention. In Mazabuka it was a case of meet the family of friends that I have been very fortunate to get to know here which meant plenty of entertaining over meals, braiis, beer and wine, and few frustrating games of darts (getting a double to win can prove difficult). We wandered around the town, showing off the highlights of Mazabuka which did not take too long, greeting many friendly people long the way who often were particularly interested and confused about how similar my brother and I looked like. The market at Nakambala proved fascinating from sampling exotic fruits to buying chitenge fabric for back home. Stella, much more than just our cleaner now, was a wonderful guide for them.

I had deliberately chosen to be in Maz this weekend as it meant the family could visit an open day at Barbara’s School for the Blind http://www.malaikha.com which will soon be up and running with its first children. Then on the same day it was one of the commemoration events for HIV and AIDS – the International Candle Light Memorial. The event was bigger and better than last year with around 300 people attending so the family got to experience what commemoration events in Zambia are like including the signing, drama, speeches and the lighting of the candles. They were placed on the ‘high table’ and introduced as guests of honour from the UK.