Zambia Part 2

Zambia Part 2

Hi Kids!

Your friend Flat Stanley here. I know that first grade is almost over for you. When I come back home to the United States, you will already be having summer vacation. Will you be traveling too?

Last time I wrote I was visiting a school in Zambia. Well, I was able to join my friend Dr. Clarke and drive around the city of Lusaka in a Land Cruiser truck! Here I am getting ready for our day trip. Caio, you asked about the cars here. In the city, the roads are paved, and all kinds of cars are used. Out in the country, the roads here are made of dirt, and when it rains the dirt turns to mud. Regular cars would get stuck, so people use jeeps, Land Cruisers, or other big trucks.

I noticed that many people do not have sinks in their homes. Some people have to walk down the road every morning to get water for bathing or drinking. There is a town well that brings the water up through a hose. Other places have a pump, where people have to push a handle up and down to get water. Here are some boys in the neighborhood doing the morning chore of filling water buckets to bring back to their home.

Wow, we are sure lucky to have water in our homes! These boys are good helpers though and I'm sure they made their parents happy helping with chores.

After our drive around the city we decided to go on safari. Do you know what a safari is? That's right, it is when you go searching for animals in the wild. Many people think of Africa when they think about safari. Did you know that you can go on a safari in your very own backyard? All you need is a hat, some sunscreen, a pencil and paper to write down what you see and maybe a pair of binoculars. You look around nature and try to find as many insects, birds or animals that you can find. It is important to be nice to the animals so that you do not disturb them.

Both Anna and Gloria Linda asked about the animals in Zambia. Here are some of the animals I saw on my Africa safari. Can you name them?

Which animal is your favorite?

Someone else asked what kind of clothes people wear. In the big city of Lusaka, where we are staying, people dress just like we do in the USA. This is called Western clothing. Look at a world map. Do you know why it might be called that?  Here are a group of boys and their teacher. Their shirts, shorts and pants look like the things we wear. Do you know what game they are going to play after their picture is made?

That's right! Soccer! It is the favorite sport of the country.

People who live out in the country often wear traditional clothes. City folks dress like this too for special holidays and festivals.

This is the one picture that we did not take ourselves. Dr. Clarke found it on the computer, so we could show you. The colors are bright, and the clothes are often homemade. The jewelry has a ot of beads and shells. Does it look a bit like the traditional clothes in another African country that I visited?.

That's all, first graders.  Have a great summer vacation and thank you for being such good readers!

Your friend,

Flat Stanley