Sol Town

Solwezi is one of those places that unlike our village, we got to know little by little as we traveled 4-10 hours (depending on transport) from our village to get there once a month.  It houses the provincial Peace Corps office, so was a welcome source of hot showers (when the power worked), internet (when the router worked), and a "real" grocery store (when it wasn't stocked out).

You have to look very carefully to find the only "welcome to Solwezi" sign around.  My friend Julie caught this in a good day as usually it's obstructed by women's underwear or other clothing for sale in the street.

Wikipedia claims that Solwezi has 65,000 inhabitants, but my guess is twice that if you include the Zambian, Congolese and other squatters who stick around hoping to get a job at one of the mines but aren't actually employed or living in any type of formal housing.  Because of two very well established copper and uranium mines in the area (Kansanshi and Lumwana) and the initial exploration and development of several more, Solwezi has been claimed to be the fastest-growing city in Africa . . . but not in a good way.  Unfortunately this uncontained growth has not been followed by any sort of urban planning or conservation efforts, so what you get is a sprawled-out conglomeration of urban slums with a few pockets of enormous wealth sprinkled in the outskirts.  A very interesting (but not usually pleasant) mix!

The town of Solwezi sprawled out along the horizon from a bluff that was once covered in trees.

Villagers cut/burn trees at a rapid pace to fuel the city's food and fuel needs.  It's typical to see bicycles stacked with 4-5 huge bags of hardwood charcoal coming down from the hills.  A majority of the population is not connected to the power grid, which experiences blackouts almost daily anyway, so they cook using charcoal.

A typical "neighborhood" with mud brick houses with corrugated roofs and trash littering the dusty road.

Even though Solwezi is urban, much of the population still utilizes the rivers and streams for bathing and washing.

There are only about 3 paved roads in the entire city.  Most are rivited with mosquito-breeding potholes in the rainy season and lines of dust in the dry season.

Gina meets up with a village counterpart who moved to Solwezi with her husband and daughters to seek a better life through employment at the mines.

Note trash pile to the right as there are no municipal waste collection services.  Most locals can't afford for a private waste collection service, so the trash either sits or gets burned.

Running water is hard to come by in these urban slums, so people either use the river or buy it by the bucketful at a kiosk like this one.  Problem is, it's not always open.

The backyard of the Peace Corps provincial office is a little oasis in the midst of it all.  Inside the walled yard is green grass, a small garden, and a backup water tower (left).  The grill in front is a fuel-efficient charcoal/wood burning stove that volunteers use to cook their meals during frequent blackouts.

Solwezi has a few extremely nice hotels to cater to the international mining personnel who come primarily from South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe.  Apparently there is also a country club complete with zebras running around the golf course, but we never had the privilege of seeing because we're not exclusive members!

So, there are just a few redeeming qualities so one doesn't go crazy in Solwezi, but can't say I'm gonna miss it!