Zambia: part 5

“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only.” – Marlow, Heart of Darkness

As I stepped onto a cornfield one day, I saw myself as the oppressor. I had no idea what to do, what fertilizing the field would require of me, but I still had the idea in my head that ultimately fertilizing the field is not my job—that I am destined for bigger and better things. But then I experienced a spiritual awakening and a moment of reconciliation.

As I walked and worked side by side with Derek, I recognized how little I was doing. Derek and the other caregivers spend hours bent over fertilizing, weeding, and harvesting. They continue in a lifestyle and structure that black Africans have been living for centuries. Perhaps oppression isn’t so direct today, the Africans are not physically enslaved to Westerners, but they are still suffering. And in Zambia, they are subject to both the West and the East. China and India seem to control the economy. China’s control of the mining industry is the current oppression the Zambians face. And I am still an oppressor.

But Derek didn’t seem to mind. He so graciously picked up my slack as we walked side by side sharing a bag of fertilizer. Row after row we walked, my legs sore from trying to keep my balance, my head covered in sweat, and my heart beating so fast. We completed each other, working as a single unit. It was the first time I felt connected to, loved by, and forgiven by a man I had just met.