Tonight is the evening of Super Tuesday in the U.S. and the polls just closed as I sit here and write. My mind has wandered back to my trip to Africa in April of this year. Along the tourist path, I visited a small village in Zambia called the Simonga Village and while American voters are casting their ballots this day, I wonder if their ballots will have any impact on that village. Hillary Clinton was maligned for saying once that it "takes a village to raise a child" - and now when I hear that statement, I can't help but think of the Simonga village of Zambia. It will take much, much more for the children of this village to even survive.
Zambia which is part of the old Rhodesia has a population of 10.2 million people who have an average life expectancy of 37 years. Sixteen (16%) percent of their
children die before the age of five (5). Less than half have access to safe water. (43 %) 
In the Simonga village, there is no plumbing nor electricity. The huts are thatched roofs, mud walls, and dirt floors. Most of the people sleep on pallets on the dirt floors. The people burn elephant dung and peppers in a circle around the village at night to keep the elephants out.
The head lady of Simonga is "Inonge," a dark skinned woman whose face radiates wisdom and gentleness. She smiles easily and makes all decision concerning the village. Inonge had six children, all of whom have died. She is raising her grandchildren. Malaria and AIDS have decimated the population. The governments of South Africa ignored the AIDS epidemic for years, alleging that AIDS was an invention of Afrikkaners to discourage sex and a ploy by pharmaceutical companies to use Africans as guinea pigs to test its drugs. The result, according to the Dallas Morning News of 5/22/07 is that 30 million Africans have died of AIDS since 1982 leaving 12 million orphans. There are no public assistance programs to care for these homeless children. In Africa, it does take a village to raise a child. . . .
I was there before and it was the cutest little village ever.
Posted by: Alex Wohlin | September 29, 2010 at 03:34 PM
Wow. We were also able to visit Simonga Village, but I never knew half of what you wrote here. Thank you for the information.
Posted by: Trix Chua | November 14, 2010 at 11:24 AM
It was nice of you to share your experience in Simonga. I hope I could also visit that village and help them.
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