How’s Africa? Shopping at an Open Air Market

Shopping in Africa is nothing like shopping in the US. It was one of the most frightening things about coming here. Where do people shop? What do they buy? Are the grocery stores anything like the ones in America?

With six kids, we look for ways to get food as inexpensively as possible. When we first got here, I shopped in the Central Market – an aptly named open air market right in the middle of town. However, quantity was hard to come by at a good price. James learned about Western Market, inaptly named as it is actually east of town. The prices were better, but it was more than 10km away so the added distance soon outweighed the savings of shopping there.

Then James discovered the market out at the refugee camp. We started buying from a beautiful woman named Angelique. 

We bought our veggies from her for years. Then she moved to Mozambique and her brother took over the shop. After that we struggled with supply issues. Sometimes he would have things, sometimes he didn’t. He didn’t seem as keen on running the business as she had.

We needed another source of veggies and decided to try something closer to home.

Not long before we left on our first furlough, Carla Bassett introduced me to the Wednesday market, not far from our house. I went once. It was loud, crowded, and overwhelming. I had no idea even where to begin shopping there.

About that time, another missionary couple moved here. The Campbells were planning to go to Rwanda but spent a year in Uganda to adapt to living in Africa before moving to a place where they’d be basically on their own. We became good friends.

We needed veggies. I knew about the Wednesday market but didn’t want to attempt it on my own. Christine Campbell was game to try it with me.

We launched into the unknown… and I fell in love with the Wednesday market.

I’ve been shopping there ever since. 

I even got pretty good at clothing shopping there. I’ve found the cutest clothes for Brennah, jeans and workout clothes for the boys, coats — yes, winter coats — for all the kids (and they were only $1 each!), baby clothes for women at the refugee camp, shoes for all the kids, plastic goods, I could go on and on. 

Shopping there is an experience in and of itself. Most of the vendors are limited in their knowledge of English so it’s great language practice. I make the most embarrassing mistakes there. People laugh at me. I laugh at me. I’m usually the only white person there. But people have gotten to know me. If I look lost, they help me. A few times I’ve had people lead me around to help me find something I was looking for. 

Brennah asked me the other day, “Mom, why do they call the Wednesday market the Wednesday market?”

“Because they only have it on Wednesday,” I answered.

“OH!” she exclaimed. “That’s why you can’t go on Thursday if you need to!”

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. If you miss the Wednesday market, you get to wait a week to go again. We don’t miss many Wednesdays at the market around here. 😉