Mwandi is a small town on the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

in the district of the same nameMposhi, K. Zambia: Administrative Division (Provinces and Districts) - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Citypopulation.de (2017). at https://www.citypopulation.de/php/zambia-admin.php of the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. The town is 120 km west of Livingstone, on the M10 Road to

Sesheke Sesheke is a border town in the Western Province, Zambia, Western Province of Zambia, in a Sesheke District, district of the same name. It lies on the northern bank of the Zambezi River which forms the border with Namibia, Namibia's Caprivi Stri ...

.MWANDI UCZ MISSION Area Info. Mwandi-mission.awardspace.com at The village is part of the region known as

Barotseland Barotseland (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mubuso Bulozi'') is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of north-western province, southern province, and parts of Lusaka Province, Lusaka, Central Province, Zambia, Central, ...

. The town is the seat of a

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of the same name.

Etymology

Mwandi means "plenty of fish" in the

Silozi language Lozi, also known as Silozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in Namibia. The lan ...

.Mwandi, Zambia - CMMB. CMMB (2017). at

Religion

The

United Church of Zambia The United Church in Zambia is the largest Protestant church in Zambia with coverage of all the ten provinces of the country The church formed on 16 January 1965, this is a result of the union of Church of Central Africa, Rhodesia (a mission of the ...

maintains a large mission at Mwandi. In addition, local traditional tribal beliefs continue to be practised.

Facilities

The hospital is the Mwandi Mission Hospital, which is listed as a Level 1 Hospital by the Zambian Ministry of Health.Ministry of Health (Zambia). 2012 List of Health Facilities in Zambia. (Ministry of Health of Zambia, 2013). The hospital is one of the village's largest employers. The village is close to the Shackleton Tiger Fishing Lodge, a popular tourist destination for fishing for

tigerfish Tigerfish can refer to fish from various families, and derives from official and colloquial associations of these with the tiger (''Panthera tigris''). However, the primary species designated by the name "tigerfish" are African and belong to the ...

named after

Robert Millner Shackleton Robert Millner Shackleton FRS (30 December 1909 – 3 May 2001) was a British field geologist who developed an interest in the geology of East Africa. He initiated structural studies across orogenic belts in Tanzania-Zambia-Malawi (in the la ...

Population

Approximately 8,000 people live in the village proper.Kamba, L. Mwandi Community : Mwandi Christian Hospital. Mwandimission.org (2017). at They are semi-nomadic cattle herders and fishermen. Infrastructure is poor, and electricity and clean water are not readily available, though recent development efforts have begun to change that. Most people live on less than $1.00 per day. The people are largely of the Lozi ethnicity, though there are also some people here of European descent. The area around the village includes anywhere from 25,000 to 33,000Magri, A. Mwandi village, the location of Home for AIDS Orphans. Homes4aidsorphans.com (2016). at people.

Culture

The village is a centre of traditional

Barotse The Lozi people, also known as Balozi, are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group native to Southern Africa. They have significant populations in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Lozi language, Silozi, is used as the formal language in educ ...

culture, housing the Kuta council, which adjudicates disputes and legislates on issues related to the tribal people of Sesheke District.

Health

Mwandi, like all of Sesheke District, is in an area with a very high (>300/1000) incidence of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. As road infrastructure has improved,

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

has also spread to the village. The village is the site of a large health centre (the Mwandi Mission Hospital) which serves both its people, and the surrounding area. Average life expectancy as estimated by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

is 59 years.

Notable individuals from Mwandi

* Chief Inyambo Yeta IV of the Barotse Royal Establishment * Dan Van Zyl, co-director of the Home for AIDS Orphans, a registered

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

which provides a variety of services in MwandiMagri, A. About Home for AIDS Orphans. Homes4aidsorphans.com (2016). at

References

{{reflist Populated places in Western Province, Zambia Zambezi River