Happy Birthday M'dala
It's Jabbes' birthday today. A friend of his took some photographs in Zambia to help us visualize what we'll be encountering when we go to do the film. This is the village very near to where Jabbes' Mum lives. In the film, BAD T!MING, Jabbes is hoping to show the contrast between "city life" and "village life" in contemporary Zambia. I've seen numerous photos of Lusaka and it resembles some areas of contemporary Phoenix. When I look at this photo (taken in the last month), it feels to me like I've stepped by in time at least a century or so. I wonder how it wil actually be when we get there.
We're a little more than two weeks away from our departure. There are so many unknowns in this experience. Sometimes, I think I'm out of my mind to have even taken it on. When I look at this village, I think about how difficult like can be for the average Zambian. The average annual income is $350 per year. The infant mortality rate is 87/1000 (as a point of comparison, the U.S. is 8/1000). The average Zambian woman has six children.
I read all these statistics and listen to Jabbes and try to anticipate how the students and I will experience Zambia. A friend of mine traveled to Africa when she was in her early twenties. She said that there were times, after she returned, that she'd pull her car over to the side of the road to cry. She said it was overwhelming to go and even more overwhelming to return. Most of the crew is about that same age. I find myself wondering how the experience will affect them. And me.
