In the streets there are always large numbers of people, at any time of the day. Most Zambians devote themselves to trade. Stalls with vegetables, fish, fruit, stone slabs, furniture and Chinese products are always surrounded by people. In the streets and especially in market places there are always many goods.
“I work in Kabwe. Here live about 250.000 people. This town ranks as the most polluted in the world”. Once remnants of lead and cadmium were extracted here. Now there is no longer mine exploitation, but air pollution is four times higher than allowed levels.
At a 5 kms’ distance from the missionary Salesian house of Kabwe, there is Makululu – the greatest shantytown of the country, with an impressively high population density and houses attached to one another.
Many adults there are HIV infected and life expectancy is very low. Children strive to survive and look for food in the streets. The elder ones look after their younger siblings, since one fourth of the children in Makululu are orphans. Needs in this quarter are enormous and among the main ones there is certainly education.
“Makululu is my mission, and I am in charge of the nursery school – recounts Sylwia Prządka, a collaborator of the Don Bosco International Volunteer Service for Development –. I speak and play with the children during my walks in the district. All the children come to the square close to the church. They greet me with a big smile. I try to stay with them. After a few hours we play in the dust, I too am dirty like the majority of the children.”
