Zig Zag.

this dude, is easily what stands out to me as i think back on our time in Zambia. from the random first metting as colin and raf wandered in Livingston. to watching the opening game of the world cup at his parents place in Lusaka. we did tons with this guy. and he helped out heaps. his an artist by trade. thats how he earns a living. but by day he volunteers at a primary school because, straight up, he just loves kids and is determined to spare them from the rough childhood he had. you can see it in his face, and through his actions. he is past commited to giving every child he meets, a fun and better life. his passion for art relates way to perfectly, the art program he started at the school that would otherwise not have. this is a man living out a vision.
if that werent all. zig zag supports his younger brothers and pays their school fees whenever he can. we saw that as we met his family in Lusaka.
now after all that great stuff. ill tell you the raddest part about zig zag. he's a saint ya. loved by all the kids no doubt. but he is a straight up Rasta. Dreads. Reggae. and red,yellow,green. just another neat aspect to this way interesting relationship.

so now that you know the basic's of Samuel 'zig zag' Nawa this is our story with him, and a few of the funny things that happened along the way.
like i said, we met him in livingston, by random chance, and i can even remember as we debriefed that day, colin mentioning this random guy that he met that day, a guy with a funny name, that he hoped we would see him again, and that we prayed over that relationship. no idea, it would turn into what it did, we began to see him more and more. in the town we met up. then he would come play soccer with us and the kids at the ground. we would go for ice cream, and he took us on the infamous elephant hunt. one night raf and i went to his house, and listened to his music with him, we chilled with him and his roommate prince, and he show us his sketches.
one time even, we had plans for the day, but zig zag just seeing our van hopped in and joined us for the day. we of course saw him whenwe would go to his school, and it got to a point where we didnt want to leave him as we go to lusaka. so, what do we do? he told us that one night, that his mom lives in lusaka, and since thats we were going, raf offered to buy him a bus ticket as well, and just like that, 2 more weeks with zigs. we rode with him to lusaka and split with him there. soon to see him again.he went home to a family, and we made it to our new place. like we said we soon enough met up. and we had him over for supper one night, and another night he spent the night. he came along to one of the biggest compouds in zambia with us, and with his ability to speak their languages he saved our butts.
after that day, evryone was pretty tired, but i convinced zigzag to take me to the comesa markets, the biggest in zambia. the two of us made it their, in the usual sketchy taxi fashion, and he showed me the biggest market ive ever scene. this is my favourite memory with the guy, a day i remember from a crazy lady following us shouting, and laughing histerically as we walked to the markets. just after zigzag and i talked about how much he disliked when people call him rasta, and how funny i think it is when they call me mazungo, the crazy lady kept shouting. hahahah Mazungo & Rastaman. hahahaha what a combination!? hahahaha. so more and more we did with zig zag, and the more accoustomed to his ways we became. for example: when somthings "just there" as he points in a direction. its not necessarily just there. it may be a 15 minute walk and a taxi away. also, the expression hakuna matatiazu (no worries) never held more authority.
so their was much we got to know about him, and a great day was one random day, he had us over for dinner. he made the classic that he had been mentioning all week, Sweet potatoes and peanut butter. and we helped with a stew and had an awesome time, about a dozen of us in total, all shareing stories in their nice, but small house.
our last day their we again, spent with zig zag. back to his house to watch the bafana bafana cup opener. they we hurried back to our farm, we zigzag helped us pack so that we we back to his place in time for the second of the tournament, the france v uraguay game. when it was all done, we had a chance for some photos, goodbyes, and a way unaticipated, way touching speach from him. that time was another of the greatest with him, but as we said goobye, each with some of his art work to take along, were sure to be staying in touch with that cool running rasta man. and willlsurely have us a place to stay if we ever return to zambia.

Hasante Sana.