Zambian Independence Day

Yesterday, October 24, was the 43^rd anniversary of Zambian independence.  It is a national holiday.  The students at the Okada school had been planning for the celebration for several weeks.  It was held under the trees near the Great North Road.  Since the area around the school does not have many trees, this was an excellent place.  The ceremonies and program lasted from about 9am until 2pm with a half hour break for lunch.

The program began with the singing of the National Anthem.  Introductions were made of all the visitors and people from different places.  Included in the day's activities were dances, mime to music, poetry recitation, drinking competition (2 students would each have a coke filled bottle of lemonade to drink down), and modeling.  Golden, one of the boys, must have just opened his swallowing passages and he just poured it down.  I couldn't believe how fast he did it.

 They were able to use a CD player and speakers.  There were several dances where the audience was invited to come and dance.  When the children were dancing, people from the audience (parents and members of the community) would come and put money in their pockets.  Much of the dancing was traditional.

It was a nice event for the community to attend and be part of.  Made me feel a part of the community too.  

 

 

5 boys and 13 children on the way

Another beautiful day in Zambia!!  Although this is the hot month, it isn't unbearable.  Lovely cool fresh mornings before the heat of the day.

Much has happened since I last wrote.  I was unable to get to the internet for over a week since my back was very bad.  But here I am.

Over the last 2 weeks our 5 little boys have arrived.  On their first Sunday with us they were all dressed up for church, big smiles on their faces.  It was something to behold.  Whenever they see me, they come up and shake my hand with the little knee bend which is used around here to show respect. 

Kamau and Miriam with the social workers have identified 13 more children in need of a home.  Kamau hopes to identify 7 more before the heavy rains when it will be impossible to travel to the remote villages where some of the children live. 

Within the next 2 weeks, we are planning to finish the 2 cottages already built.  We are praying for the next housemother.  So we may have 25 children by the end of November.

The sites have been marked and the foundations are being dug for 4 more cottages.  We plan to mark the sites for an additional 4 so that we can have 8 cottages with foundations dug and footers poured before the heavy rains.  Once the rains begin we can't do that part of the construction.  Work has also begun on a Director/Visitor house where we will live.

Crops are being planted and irrigated.  Fields are being prepared for the rains.  The welders are working on security bars, awnings for protection from the rain, and metal beds for the cottages.  The market is doing well, and we have begun taking the truck up the road two times a week to sell produce to the small marketers who sell along the road.  Usually they have to take a bus to get the produce they want to sell. 

This is a busy, happy place.  And we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of more wonderful children.

 

 

 

 

Two Little Girls

I promised an update on Sharon and Charity.  These 2 little girls – one 8 and one 12, but both small – sisters who are orphans – came to stay with us last Monday.  Christine, our househelper and their cousin/mother now, had to go 5 hours away to the copper belt. 

These two girls had a good time with us.  I taught them to play UNO.  Don't think they had ever played a game before.   We went to a swimming pool and they had fun splashing and playing in the water.  They had to use their clothes since we didn't have any swimming gear.   They enjoyed our evening activity of watching a movie on a laptop. 

Sharon often did dishes and cleaned the kitchen without being asked.  Charity would sweep.  Sena was afraid that they were tormenting the puppy and kitty we have, but the animals survived.

And the walls around Charity came down some.  She would sit in my lap to watch a movie, and I would hug her and love her. 

One of the cutest things was when I would see Charity take Sena's favorite stuffed animal – Mousie – and using a blanket, tie Mousie onto her back like mother's do with babies around here, wrapping them in their shetengas. 

The girls left on Saturday afternoon, but are still neighbors.  Now I hope to help Christine enroll them in the school.

It's a Small World

Yesterday at the braii/potluck we met a young woman who has been working in Africa for 7 years.  She is from New Zealand.  I had a nice conversation with her and discovered that her aunt and uncle (He is now dead) were missionaries in Nicaragua.  She said that her aunt now lives in Managua, the capitol.  I told her that David, who is with us for 3 months, also lives in Managua as a missionary with poor farmers up in the mountains.  She said her aunt went to the international church there and might know David.

Well….  When she spoke with David, he was astounded to discover that her aunt is a friend of theirs.  So a woman from New Zealand meets a man from Washington State, USA in Zambia Africa and discovers that they both know the same person living in Nicaragua, Central America.  It's a small world after all!!

 

 

Watermelon, Tomatoes, and Rugby

Yesterday (Sunday) we were invited to a braii (get together – can be a barbeque or a potluck.  This was a potluck.) in Kabwe with some of the missionary community there.  After our own service with the Chisamba Community Fellowship here, we drove north about 1 hour to Kabwe.  Benedict and I had also made the trip on Thursday.

Commerce here in Zambia is very different.  From our house all the way south to Lusaka – about 75 minutes – there is no place to buy a watermelon.  But on the way to Kabwe, going north for about 2-3 miles there are probably 30+ little stands piled high very artistically with watermelons to sell.  Thousands of watermelons.  Everyone selling watermelons are in the exact same area.  

You also pass through an area call "Johns."  On either side there are many, many stalls selling produce with beautiful red tomatoes being the main item.  Again, it is so interesting that all the little stalls (a small area covered with thatch) sell exactly the same things.

Did you know that right now is the World Cup for Rugby, played every 4 years, being played in France?  And the French team upset the #1 team New Zealand on Saturday night?   We arrived at the braii/potluck to discover that most of the folks were avid rugby fans, AND at 2pm South Africa was playing Fiji in the quarter finals.   We went over to a house that had a tv and was able to project it onto the wall to make a very big picture. Many of the folks are from South Africa, and they didn't want to miss it.   So we sat around with about 20 folks watching the game. 

I had never seen rugby before.  Those of us from the US were quite amazed at how it is played.  I figured out some of the rules, but some of it seemed strange.  If you ever get a chance to watch a game for a while, you would find it very interesting.  For those who are football fans, it has some of the same rough and tumble, tackle, kicking and throwing, but without the protective gear!  And the fans (particularly the women in the room) were just like football fans in the US – cheering, hollering instructions to the players (as if they could hear), and not wanting to miss a minute of the action.

On the way home, on the very hot day, we stopped at one of the stands and got 2 watermelon (they are round, a bit bigger than a soccer ball, and have seeds).   The watermelon was very good and a nice ending of the day.

The Doors are Open, the Children are Arriving!!!

Yesterday, Thursday October 4, 2007, our first children arrived.  Three little boys are now part of our family.   Moses and Adam are brothers.  Isaac is about 6.  We were expecting Brighton but his grandmother changed her mind.  The social worker will be speaking with her to assess the situation.  And we are still figuring out about John.  Next week Miriam, and Kamau will be going with the social work deeper into the bush to identify other children who are orphans and not being properly cared for.  I'm hoping that I might be able to go with them as well.  I want to see first hand the situation in the more remote areas.  I may have to wait until they make a second visit since the presence of a musungu (white person) could change the whole situation, especially during a first visit.

The 3 little boys were very shy when they arrived.  Kimberly and Kamau had gotten them a kind of toy that they have here in Zambia.  It is made of heavy duty wire and shaped in the form of car or truck, or – in the case of what we got – a bicycle with a little person whose legs go around.  You push the vehicle with a piece of the wire which sticks up like a handle.  Actually they are very cute toys.  The boys loved them.  Kumani and Malayka (Kimberly and Kamau's children) were there to greet them.  Then a little later Sena and Sharon and Charity (the two little girls we are taking care of) were there.  So there was a nice group of children to play and be with them.

Kamau took them to get haircuts.  According to Miriam, our head housemother, this is necessary in case they have lice.  In the case of 2 of the boys they do have ringworm.  However, today they will go to Dr. Mutali – a wonderful doctor that we go to as well - who attends the church in Liteta.  He will assess their condition and give them any medicines they might need.

Last night Miriam and Rose had planned a special dinner for their first night.  They had chicken – very fresh.  It was pecking around in the morning.  Kimberly observed the demise of the chicken (by Rose) and even said she thought she could do it!  I saw the food cooking and it looked so good, chicken feet and all.

It was a very exciting day.  It makes us pray more fervently for the funds to finish the next 2 cottages so that more children can come.  Please pray with us that we can quickly finish the 2 cottages that are almost done.

Raindrops, Keep falling on my Head!

Raindrops, Keep Falling on My Head

 Yes, I meant to put a comma in there.  I think the song is written, "Raindrops keep falling on my head."   But yesterday I found myself saying to the few drops that came from the sky for about 4 minutes:  "Raindrops,   keep falling on my head!"

 Zambians are so use to having this extended dry season, not expecting the rains until November, that they really don't want the rain to come until them.  For us, we are so use to having rain almost every week.  So yesterday, as Kimberly and I were driving along, it started to sprinkle.  We got so excited and joyful.  "Raindrops,  keep falling on my head."

 We are preparing the fields for the rains.  We have 2 large fields that have never been cultivated or planted.  Before the farming students can plant the seeds, the ground has to be "ripped" to "break the pan."  We are teaching conservation farming which involves no plowing.  But for the first time, it has to be done with a ripper.

 In order to prepare for our friend to come over with his ripper, we have to be able to make sure that there are no bushes, big holes, or other things that will cause damage to the tractor as it pulls the ripper. 

 It was reluctantly agreed, by those involved with this project, that we would have to burn the grass.   It is not the first choice since all that grass that gets burned is really part of the material God provides to enrich the soil, can be used as mulch, etc.  But in this case, due to size, need for ripping, and nature of the land, it was agreed to burn.

 They decided to do one field at a time.  It was to be done in the evening since that is when the wind usually dies down.  David VanKliken, a missionary with Partners Worldwide and here for 3 months, went and informed the neighbor that we would be burning. 

 On the night of the burning, I was home making dinner.  I didn't understand why the guys were taking so long.  Well, it turned out that our "controlled" burn became an "uncontrolled" burn.  David had called Benedict and said, "Pray, pray, pray, this thing is out of control." 

 The winds changed just at the right time, and actually it ended up burning the 2 fields at the same time.  It didn't do any damage to anything important.  We are almost read to rip and soon we really will be saying, "Raindrops,   Keep falling on my head!!!"

 

 

Orphans in Our House

Today began an interesting few days.  Our househelper Christine left for the copper belt with her husband and 2 young children.  Her mother-in-law is very, very sick and they haven't seen her in 6 years.  So they are off.  At Benedict's suggestion we offered, while they are gone, to take the 2 cousins that also live with them.  They are sisters whose parents died when they were very young and whose teenage brother died a month ago.  These 2 girls have lived with Christine for several years.

Sharon is 13, but very small, probably half the size of Sena who is 14.   Charity is 9 and looks about the size of 6-7. 

I brought them over to our house and since Christine hadn't been over, due to the trip, there were dishes needing to be washed, kitchen needing to be cleaned, etc.  Sharon walked in and immediately went to the sink.  I could tell she wanted to do the dishes.  So after I made peanut butter sandwiches for them, she totally cleaned the kitchen.  I couldn't have done a better job myself.  And she always seems to have a sweet smile on her face.  

I needed to have an afternoon rest.  When I got up, she had had a bath along with her sister, and had washed some of their clothes which she had hung on the line.   She is quite something.

Her sister Charity, or Moolu in her language, doesn't speak much English and is kind of withdrawn and quiet.  You just want to take her in your arms and love her up.  But it isn't time for that yet.  She has her walls up.

Sena came home from school and Sharon was so glad to see here.  I'll keep you posted on this week.  But we are being blessed by God to have the opportunity to love these girls in our own home.