For the people in the villages the day begins early. Before the first grey streaks of dawn have lightened the eastern sky, the rowdy cocks, perched in the nearby mango trees, begin boisterously beating their wings. Their rude, strident, persistent crowing shatters the night’s stillness and rouses the slumbering village.

The first to emerge from the mud-and-grass-roofed huts are the women. They are anxious to make an early start and get to work without delay. They head to the fields and gardens in the nearby forest. They collect their hoes and perhaps a gourd of drinking water and, in groups of 2 or 4, in single file, they head off through the trees following the narrow, winding path that takes them to their work. They chat and laugh as they hurry along. They begin tilling, planting or weeding as soon as it is light. The sun usually rises at 6am and they try to get as much work done before the day gets too hot.

Many of the women will have nursing babies with them in the field. A young daughter of 9 or 10 is brought along to look after this baby at the edge of the field while the mothers are busy working in the field. At 11am, as they prepare to return home, they collect some firewood or wild mushrooms or some fruit or some cassava leaves for the evening meal. They arrive home before the searing heat of midday.

In the early morning the men let the cattle out of the kraal in order to allow them to graze. Other men take their paddle and go to a nearby lake or river where they go by canoe to check their nets and fish traps. They string the fish together on a piece of bark rope and bring them home for the evening meal, which is the first and only meal of the day. Some men are busy thatching their huts or making baskets to catch fish. Others do the various jobs that are needed to maintain the village.

The house is surrounded by a six-foot high fence and forms a courtyard. It is within the courtyard that the family lives, cooks and eats their meals. Within the courtyard or "lapa" as they call it, there are reed mats spread out on the sandy ground, preferably in the shade of a small tree. They spend most of the day out in this courtyard and retire to their thatched huts only at night to sleep.

The school children too would have to rise early. School begins at 7am. They dress in school uniform and go in groups to school. They love school, particularly the company of other young children. Like their parents, they are very sociable and love company.

At 9am the village is quite deserted. The only people you find there at that time are the grandparents and some young children. The small children would amuse themselves while the older children would sweep the courtyard or washing last nights dishes. The grandparents may be sitting under the shade of a tree, shelling ground-nuts or weaving baskets.

On returning from the fields the women had more work to be done. Some may go off to the river and wash the clothes. Other begin preparing the evening meal. The pounding of maize is a laborious and time-consuming task. They pound millet or cassava, wash and cut vegetables and with pieces of dried meat put them in a three legged pot to simmer over an open fire. The girls would go to nearby streams with pots on their heads and draw some water.

About 5:30pm the young children are bathed. At 6pm just before dark they have their evening meal. By the time the meal is over it is usually dark. They would sit around the fire talking about the day. By 8:30pm most would have drifted off to bed. And so the day begins again at sunrise

Normally the nights are quiet. However every now and then, especially on the bright moonlight nights, they would share a drum of locally brewed beer. As soon as they began drinking the drums and the strains of drumming and singing would begin to drift along the valley. Then the crowds from the nearby villages would gradually gather, drifting in to join in the drinking, dancing and generally having fun. This would continue into the night or often till the next morning. The brewing of beer might well be occasioned by some young girl coming of age, a boy coming out of circumcision camp or by a wedding. It is with these celebrations that variety and relaxation are brought into the otherwise arduous routine of village life.

Life especially for women and mothers is particularly difficult. Women generally are always cheerful, patient and accepting. They are very caring to their children. All the people of Zambia are very friendly, amiable, have a great sense of community, sociable, help and share with one another freely. Zambia is one of the few African countries that have enjoyed peace and stability since it won its independence in 1964.