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Until recent debt alleviation, Zambia has been one of the HIPCs (Highly Indebted Poor Countries) of the African continent, and the Western Province remains the poorest of Zambia’s nine Provinces. Lukulu is a small remote mission centre to the north of the Province which is characterised by extreme poverty. The people in Lukulu Distict predominantly live in mud and grass huts within rural village structures. Motorised transport has been limited to Government and Mission vehicles until very recently when the main dirt road has been improved a little and now one or two business men have their own vehicles. Local people move on foot, or minimally by oxcart or bicycle. There are no tarred roads, only sandy tracks through bush apart from one main arterial dirt road which disintegrates badly during the wet season. The nearest small town and tarred surface is 200 kms away Households have little to clean water, but carry it long distances from local streams, except for a limited number of hand pumps. Only two small high schools, and about ninety very basic primary schools serve the entire District population of 87,000 people. Likewise one small hospital assisted by nine rural health centres serve the medical needs of the entire District. There are no significant NGOs working in the District and Social services are too limited to be effective in the situation. It is largely a non-cash economy of subsistence agriculture with bartering of local agricultural, fishing or forestry produce for acquisition of basic necessities. The vast majority of people do not have any means of earning a living apart from subsistence farming. Jobs are limited to teachers and nurses, and a few other small government departments. Nurses and Teachers earn in the region of US $ 300 – 400 per month. A few people have initiated small, informal shops and businesses to cater for local basic needs. The town of Lukulu has grown up around the Catholic Mission, and the Loreto Sisters live within the Mission Compound, on the banks of the River Zambezi
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Village Life |
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Zambezi River |
Wild Life |