Mambongwe

Mambongwe (a 14-hour drive from Livingstone). After we parked our car, we heard the sound of another car coming our way. The car parked just a few meters away, and a Chinese man emerged from it. We said our hellos, and the conversation went something like this: “What’s a guy from China doing here in the middle of nowhere?” “What’s a guy from Europe doing here?” The Dalmatian in me wants to say I’m from Australia, but I continue to be friendly and say, “I was here last year, their situation was terrible, the children were coughing a lot, I was moved by their endless poverty… so I came back to see them. And what about you?” “I found water for them and drilled a 58 meter deep well. Today, I’m setting up a pump so that they can have drinking water in the future.” “Who is financing all this”, I ask. “My country”, he says. “And what will your country get in return?”, I continue. He doesn’t answer. “Does it have anything to do with those logs we saw as we drove up here?”, I ask, showing him the photos. “Well, yes”, he admits. I was quietly wondering why they had to be exploited by everyone… Colonialism 2.0…

Meanwhile, about 20 locals gathered, which pleased me, and then my driver quietly whispered into my ear, “Father, they came to see the water release, not you.”

Following the exchange of greetings, the locals all took a seat beneath the eaves, where village meetings are usually held. I asked if they remembered me from the previous year. “We remember you – you gave us candy!” they exclaim. (Unfortunately, our luggage, including candies, was left in the village where we were to spend the night this time.) I pretended that I hadn’t heard anything about the candies. At that moment, the Chinese man turned on the generator, and the water began to flow, catching everyone’s attention… Everything I wanted to say to them quickly faded… As a token of our budding friendship, my new Chinese friend and I exchanged gifts. He gave me a bottle of water, and I give him a protein bar…