Article published in Roskilde Avis June 8th 2009

Africa changed our lives

Malou Christensen and Catrine Gangergaard went directly from graduating their high school, Roskilde Gymnasium in Denmark, to Zambia in Africa, where they are now living and teaching.

Text og photo: Lena Vind-Andersen, Information Officer, MS-Zambia

29. June 2009

50 children between three to six years old are sitting close together in the small straw thatched hut made of crude mud bricks. They are eagerly awaiting what the two funny white girls are going to come up with next. The two young women are Malou Christensen and Catrine Gangergaard; they graduated last year from the Danish high school, Roskilde Gymnasium, but in stead of continuing their education in Denmark, they decided to go to Zambia with MS. The two 20-year-olds have gradually gotten used to being the only white people in the area, because they are living very far away from all the usual tourist hang outs.

”It´s a B”, a chorus of children shout eagerly, while others put up their hands to answer Malou's question. But when she asks which words begin with a B, the children are not quite as forthcoming with the answers, even when Malou helpfully points to a picture of a book. Malou explains that it might be because the children are not that used to seeing books, just like they aren't really used to seeing white people, so everything is good entertainment for them. Malou Christensen and Catrine Gangergaard are teaching the children English and Mathematics and play games with them.

Maize porridge and cockroaches
The young women are living with their host family, the Mayabas, who number two parents and six children. With them, they have eaten maize porridge (nshima) every single day and gotten used to the presence of cockroaches and other creatures. The day before, Catrine noticed a rat crossing from the bedroom to the kitchen, but as long as it's not snakes, they are quite happy with that.

And even though the standard of living is lower than their Danish one, and Catrine rather misses a washing machine, that hasn't been the hardest part to get used to. The hardest part has been getting used to the religious beliefs.

"The thing with religion has been somewhat overwhelming and probably the hardest part to get used to,” Catrine says. ”They seem to find the answers to everything in the bible, and if you mention Darwin's evolutionary theory or the ”big bang” theory for the creation of the universe, people turn somersaults to refute it”, Malou explains and adds that their Zambian mother is of the opinion that children are taught something completely wrong in school, when they are told than mankind evolved from the apes.

But the two young women have also met people who are open to new ideas. And even though their host family is very religious, it might still be with them that at least some of the girl's ideas have had the most impact.

”The boys in the family have actually changed their behaviour a bit; for instance they've occasionally done the washing or cooked and very proudly shown us the result of their efforts afterwards,” Catrine smiles.

Getting a kick out of it
The two young women agree wholeheartedly that living and working in Africa has been a fantastic experience for them. An experience which has put a whole new perspective on both Danish and African living conditions.

”In some ways, they are much further ahead than I expected them to be, for instance we've had unlimited access to clean water and electricity and even TV with our host family, and most people have mobile phones,” Malou says.

They both like the fact that Zambians are very open-minded towards new people: “They will talk to each other and anybody else, even if they don't know each other beforehand. And even though they might not own very much in material terms, Zambians are quite happy to share whatever they've got. That's completely different than in Denmark, where we hardly ever notice the people we pass on the streets”, Catrine comments.

The two women will return to Denmark in late June.