A House full

This week has seen the arrival of many folks to our village. The
Hammelryck family, Paul and Ann Rachel and their 10 children arrived
on Wednesday night. It was a miracle that their house was "done."
The last 3 days we had people finishing walls, running in electricity,
putting in the bathrooms, delivering refrigerator and stove, finishing
making the beds, putting on doors, and cleaning out the place from the
construction debris. We wondered if we would make it in time. The
house was done enough for them to spend their first night there. They
brought 2 friends who helped in the travel. These women from
Annapolis Md have been a blessing and will be here until Tuesday.

On Thursday night 7 people from the Kamau's church in Delaware arrived
for 2 weeks. The Hammelryck's have been eating some of their meals
here. So with everyone present it is often 25 or so here for meals.
Thankfully, Rachel is learning how to prepare meals for lots of
people.

Visiting the sick

Last week I missed most of the week of school, and the Chimwemwe
Ladies meeting due to the flu. But I received a wonderful blessing on
Thursday and Friday. Thursday afternoon 7 of the Chimwemwe ladies
came to visit. We sat on the verandah and talked about crafts and
such. They said a prayer for me before leaving. I told them that
that was what we were to be about for one another.

Then on Friday my friend Jen, headteacher at Okada Community School,
came over with 2 other teachers. We had some juice and crackers and
after a nice visit, they too prayed for me and then left. What a
blessing to have all of these women reach out to me in this way!

Standing - a Miracle

I've written much over the last few months about Matilda. In a way
she is an unexpected gift that the Lord brought to our Village - not
planned or sought after. Yesterday I was at the school for a short
time (recovering from the flu, so have been out for a couple of days).
All of a sudden Teacher Bosman came and got me with such excitement
in her voice. She said, "Kathleen come quick, you have to see this."
I followed her and looked out at the children lined up on the verandah
for the start of the school day. There was Matilda standing on her
own in the line, not holding on to anything. She had a huge grin on
her face. What a wonderful thing!

The thing I believe she likes to do most at school is to go into the
office and walk, unaided, from one end to another. She will have a
look of concentration on her face and joy as she finishes walking the
length of the room. So wonderful things are happening and she is
definitely making progress. Thanks for your prayers!

What a Day!!!

We invited Mr. and Mrs. Mapoma to come and speak to our students and
workers today to celebrate Heroes Day and Unity Day, the holidays of
the last 2 days. They were part of the founding members of Zambia.
He is 84. So they were expected about 10 or 10:30. I got a call in
the morning reminding me that a class from a local private school was
studying children in need and were visiting orphan care facilities
around the area. They were scheduled to arrive at 10. So they
arrived at the same time as the Mapoma family. They ended up
listening to Mr. Mapoma speak. Then they sang 2 songs for everyone.
The community center was full with children, all of our visitors, and
workers.

The Mapoma family came to our house for lunch and we returned to the
Community Center for the Chimwemwe Ladies. On the way we got a call
that 2 ladies from the US were stopping by to see the Chimwemwe
Ladies. They showed up. Then as Mrs. Mapoma was speaking, 2 more
ladies showed up wanting to buy some bags. The husband of one came in
and greeted Mr. Mapoma who was listening to his wife. This man turned
out to be the District Commissioner, like a governor of a large area.
So he spoke briefly as well.

To end the day, another car pulled up with some Baptist Missionaries
who had come to look at Sena's puppies. They ended up buying the last
2 that haven't been asked for.

So it was quite a day. Mr. Mapoma is a small man with a twinklie
smile and eyes and white hair and beard. He seemed to have a
wonderful time. He has been all over the world. He has had lunch at
the White House, met Pres. Reagan, and was in Berlin when the wall
came down. He said he even walked and got a brick from the wall that
is somewhere in their home. In their home have been all the leaders
for freedom in all the surrounding countries, including Mandela and
other presidents of countries after independence. He was so pleased
and impressed with what we were doing. It was an encouragement.

Well, the day is not over, so who knows who else will show up on this
very interesting day!!!

What is Important?

The team from CO arrived last Monday. It wasn't until Friday that
their luggage arrived. It the meantime they were really quite
patient. They also realized that more important than anything they
had brought for us and the children, packed on suitcases that hadn't
arrived, was their very presence. Playing with and loving the
children and encouraging and supporting us. That was the most
important thing.

Polocross

I've learned about many different sports living here in Africa; rugby
from South Africa, Australian football, and now polocross. On Sunday
we went to Fringilla to eat lunch after church. They were having an
international polocross match between South Africa and Zambia. The
game is played on horses with sticks similar to lacrosse sticks. One
match before we started watching had a collision of 2 horses with one
of the riders (teenager) breaking both legs, or so we were told.

We watched most of the match for 19 year olds and under. There are 8
"checkers" or sections of the game. Every other one is girls and then
boys. The Zambian girls were better and the South African boys.
Actually it was quite exciting and quite amazing how those kids could
control their horses.

However, it is also quite dangerous. I don't know how the parents
could watch from the sidelines. In fact the game never seemed to
officially end since at almost the end the whistle blew. We looked to
the center of the field and there was a boy lying motionless on the
ground. Apparently the horse had tripped, threw the boy and then
landed on top of him. The ambulance came onto the field and he
eventually came to and was taken away. I still don't know how badly
he was hurt.

4th of July

Since there were 5 families from America here on the 4th of July, we
decided to share a celebration with everyone. Three of the youth from
CO dressed up as clowns and did a couple of tricks. Then the 2
families visiting from CO organized games for everyone: 3 legged race,
piggy back race (so Matildah could enter in), tug of war, jumping
rope, balloons made into hats and swords and other things. The
afternoon ended with watermelon for everyone. The kids were thrilled
and had such a great time. The 5 families from US had a cookout and
ate at our house before we all went to the campfire to close the day.
It was a 4th we will probably always remember.

Sunrise, Sunset

When we planned where the Guest house would be, I wasn't thinking too
much about sunsets. But as we sit on our verandah each night we can
watch beautiful African sunsets. Africa is famous for its sunsets,
and sunrises. In the morning we can sit on the verandah and watch
beautiful sunrises. The colors are brilliant and with the outlines of
the trees it looks like some kind of beautiful watercolor.

On Saturday night we had a campfire. Everyone was looking for a
flashlight (torch as they call it here) to light the way to the fire
pit. But when we got outside the moon light was so bright we didn't
even need the flashlights.

As we sat around the fire we could look up into the heavens and be
reminded of King David's words of praise extolling the moon and stars
and beauty of the heavens.

Crocodiles, snakes, and lizards

On Friday morning we had our second field trip. We went to the
Kalimba Reptile farm where we saw all kinds of snakes, a tortoise,
lizard, all sizes of crocodiles, jumped on a trampoline and played on
some playground equipment. We took 6 cars and had 27 kids and about
24 adults. It included teachers, Felix (our artist), 3 mothers, Patty
family, Kamau family, Schwartz family, and the 2 families visiting
from CO. The cars were full but we all fit in. Benedict had called
and they said we could come even though they had lots of groups coming
and it would be busy.

I figured our kids are use to gathering at 7am and heading off to
school, so why not leave early and be there when it opens, and maybe
ahead of all the other folks. So we tried to leave at 7:30, although
it was probably closer to 8. I was the first one to drive into the
parking lot. We probably had the whole place to ourselves for an hour
or so before anyone else came. As we were leaving, there were lines
of kids waiting to come in. We left in time to get home for lunch.
So it worked out very well and fit into our study of the week of
reptiles.

Another wonderful Colorado Team

On Monday we had 2 families arrive for almost 2 weeks from Loveland,
CO. Already after 2 days we are enjoying them. There are 4 adults
and 7 children and youth, the youngest is 9 and the oldest is 17. The
females are staying in our house and the males are in a newly finished
house that will eventually be used for children. They are helping at
school, playing with our children every available minute, helping with
a honey project, and building a counter in the market. They are 2
great families.

Old Teacher, New Teacher

Yesterday was the last day for Teacher Maureen Kaela. We closed the
day with a surprise going away time. The mothers and aunties came.
All the children were there, the Patty family women, the Schwartz
women. Special cake and cookies had been made, so we all got a
treat. Maureen was very tearful. It was very hard for her to leave
and she said it was the first time she had to leave people that she
loved so much and that she felt were like family. We presented her
with a gift and prayed for her.

Our new teacher is Precious Mulonga. We interviewed 7 people and she
was the one we had chosen. Kimberly knew her and was hoping that she
would be selected. She has taught and made lesson plans similar to
the way that we are set up, with areas and having learning taking
place in a variety of ways. She arrived on Sunday and has been at the
school Monday and Tuesday even though she begins to be paid as of
today.

Wind and Cold

Most people think that anywhere you go in Africa will be hot. Well we
are in the cold time of year, and I had forgotten how cold. Yesterday
it became very windy and the cold came in. This morning our outside
thermometer registered 41 degrees. Buildings, including our houses,
do not have heaters. In fact this morning I had one of our workers
get a brazier and light it with charcoal to put in our big room that
we use for the school since it was so cold in there. Yesterday and
today I've had 3 layers on. The team that arrived on Monday still do
not have their luggage so we are sharing some of our jackets with
them. Today is also very windy. It is almost noon and the
temperature is 62 plus the wind.

We are blessed to have solid walls and windows that close, blankets
for sleeping, and jackets for outside. But it is hard for the people
in the villages and so there are more runny noses and sicknesses.