Work, Bread, Water and Salt: Back at Home and Work, in Zambia

Zambia will always have a special and reserved place in my heart. It’s where I made my first real home as an adult, where I met lifelong friends now doing incredible things around the world, where I worked with dozens of amazing young students, many of whom are making their own first new adult homes at the moment, and of course where I met my wonderful girlfriend. I try to remember what I knew, or what little I knew, about Zambia before I moved there, compared to all the beauty and excitement I’ve now experienced. Every time a plane lands after a very long flight, it’s still strange not to be stepping out into the heat under big blue skies at the airport in Lusaka.

In May, for the first time since I left in August 2014, I did step off a plane in Lusaka. As part of my work I’ve been conducting field visits with microfinance institutions engaged in lending to farmers. We’ve identified such institutions all over the globe, and have set out to collect information on their programs as part of our sector-building initiative. Zambia is a country heavily dependent on agricultural activities, so it’s not surprising it hosts a number of agriculturally focused financial institutions despite the particular challenges of its markets and demography. That's how my first visit back to Zambia came about through work.

Knowing I had already made the choice to work elsewhere made it even stranger being in Zambia in yet a third professional capacity. The work meetings and discussions I had were incredibly interesting, and eye opening in multiple ways. I had worked in Zambia for two years in the microfinance sector, yet I had little idea about these other financial service providers operating in rural areas. At FINCA we were very focused on improving and expanding our outreach in the populous urban areas, so I had little interaction with this other part of the sector. I was impressed with the models and strategies these providers have employed in attempts to overcome uniquely Zambian challenges, such as low population density and government involvement in staple crop markets. There also seem to be some exciting areas of opportunity where One Acre Fund may be able to advise or support the work already happening in-country.

It was a very busy week, though I was lucky that most of the visits took place in Lusaka. There are a number of good friends still residing in Lusaka, and nights and weekends gave me some opportunities to catch up with them. This included an outdoor dinner with my old friends Omar and Liz (now reaching the upper echelons of Zambia expat hierarchy), and seeing our friends Esther and Paul's baby, who was an infant when we left and is now walking and talking. I also caught up with old roommates, who have new homes, new fiancés, and new dogs (Sparta’s still around though). Of course I played as much Frisbee as possible, enjoyed all the good restaurants Lusaka has to offer, and managed to cash in a “buy 10 get 1 free” card at Blue Moon in just a week.

It was incredibly good to be back, to confirm those three years really happened, and that friends, students, places, and traditions carry on. It’s shocking how few traces of those years can be found in my current day-to-day life after moving to Kenya; going back was both cathartic and reassuring. I can only hope that another trip, whether through work or on my own, will soon take me back to that big green country full of open people and open spaces.

A few pictures from the trip, excuse the phone quality