BEFORE I ARRIVED IN ZAMBIA FOR A YEAR-LONG RESEARCH fellowship, I carried with me two images of Africa. One image that I grew up with was the Western world's portrayal of Africa as a destitute continent, and the other was of a unique and beautiful place I was learning about through my studies at university and from my communications with people who lived there.
I landed in southern Africa in January 2008 to carry out a political study, analyzing the role of religious organizations in the changing of Zambia's constitution. What I found was not only a country rich in culture and beauty, but also a spiritual atmosphere filled with lessons in expanding my understanding of Christian Science.
Zambians take pride in their peaceful disposition. As I rode around urban Zambia in unmarked taxis, the drivers were quick to recount to me, a foreigner, the country's history as the regional peacemakers—helping to broker the end of apartheid in South Africa and providing a strong voice in opposing the dictatorial reign of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
