Since returning home from Zambia, it's a challenge to keep Serenje "alive" and part of my world back here in Bracknell. In many ways our worlds are so different and yet in many ways they are the same. The space between us is so huge, and yet at the same time we are so near each other.The reality is that if I was sitting on a plane at Heathrow right now, I could be in Zambia, and even in rural Serenje before nightfall today.
There's a saying that, after a trip to Africa you are "ruined for the ordinary" and that's not necessarily a negative thing, but I know that it is something that carries a responsibility. It has to make a difference!
Having been to Zambia, seeing what we saw and knowing what we know. Realising and remembering that that "parallel life" is going on at the same time, alongside my life back here. All those things influence the many small daily decisions I make about how I spend my time, resources, money and love.
So I'm promising to "leak" Serenje wherever I go. I'm also using my photos as a visual reminder. Another deliberate action is to use some Zambian artefacts here in Bracknell. So my "wrapper"(the length of cotton fabric that we tied around our waist and that covered our skirts - essential for modesty and for protection from dusty surfaces!) has been used this weekend as a picnic rug and as a tablecloth! The visual impact of using that patterened fabric jolts me - it reminds me of the people in Serenje - it's a deliberate collision of our two worlds.