My home in Chipata

Posted: March 7, 2012 in Life, Travel, Volunteering

I’ll be living in the town of Chipata for the next 6 months, I like it here, it’s not big like the city of Lusaka, but it’s not very rural that there are no shops and paved roads. Chipata’s population is about 86,000, it has nice scenery, hills and trees around. The house that I will be living in is in a compound with 2 other houses (1 house is an office, the other has another VSO volunteer), the compound has a nice big wall around it and a security guard/gardener in the evening/night, so its safe. The outside of the house is very nice, it has many trees around (orange, mango (but the season is over), banana, guava, avocado, grapes, papaya and cashew nut trees), the garden has (eggplants, broccoli, strawberries, spinach and more being planted) and an outdoor wood burning pizza oven (but needs repairs)! The inside of the house is a little sketchy/dirty and its the little things that you take for granted e.g. no shower, I have to use a bucket. no mirror, I have to use my phone’s video camera to shave. Luckily we have a water tank so we have water everyday, but it takes 10-15min to heat the water (if there is electricity that day). There is no mesh on the windows and its hot, so it’s either MORE bugs, spiders, lizards, mosquitos or keep the windows closed. But its all good, I am adapting, fixing/upgrading things and getting used to things.

Here are some pics: