Family ties

This past Saturday, I arranged to meet the family of my Zambian-born friend Bibiana in their village near Choma. It was quite a special experience.

To get there, I took the bus to a town (or rather, a small agglomeration of buildings along the highway) called Muzoka, where Bibiana's brother John met me with a great big smile. From the smile, I could instantly tell that he was Bibiana's brother! From there we travelled in his friend's car along a small dirt track to the village, which was about 8 kilometres away.

Upon exiting the car, I was greeted with a high-pitched “yodelling” and big hugs from the women, as well as hearty handshakes from the men. From the elder brother Paul down to the littlest granddaughter (or great granddaughter?) Esther, I guessed that there might be 40 people there. Some of the kids were quite shy and even fearful near me; it was explained that many of them had never seen a muzungu this close up!

I was shown around the farm, where the family is in the process of planning a small-scale pig farming operation to generate some additional income. City slicker that I am, I had to ask a lot of questions about pigs, goats, chickens and the functions of certain structures on the farm.

Trying my hand at milling maize.

We had a lovely lunch of village chicken (tastier than standard broiler chickens), rice and a cool drink called chibuantu. The drink is made with coarsely ground maize, a certain type of pulverized tree root and water. The taste is somewhat tart and the bits of maize in the bottom reminded me of bubble tea. I was also offered the chicken gizzard, which is an honour typically reserved for the head of the household. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I managed just fine.

Welcome to the family!

John and his elder brother Paul.

At the conclusion of the visit, I presented the elder ladies with new chitenges, which were a big hit. Back at the highway, John and I had to flag down a bus; to my surprise, we got the first one to stop. I bid John farewell and thanked him for his family's wonderful welcome. 

Madge, Miriam and Margaret modeling their new chitenges.