Zanzibar to Zambia! Jambo to Kamwamba! Swahili to Tonga!

The holiday is over and it was lovely! Zanzibarians are very friendly, and, since tourism is their number one source of revenue, we were treated very well. The Truscotts who live near here also returned from Zanzibar recently. They said that while they were in Zanzibar a local man was beaten to death by other Zanzibarians over stealing a mazungu’s (white person-Swahili) purse. 'Don’t mess with the guests,' is the message to the locals—they are our business.

Friday, December 21 -We stayed at the Mennonite Guest House in Lusaka. We had a Canadian time as some others from Winnipeg area were there and Lois (wife of Siggy) are is from Victoria. We had a good visit over breakfast. Siggy and Lois run the guest house and are in charge of the Mennonite Mission Work in Zambia. They’ve been in Zambia five years; they will return to Canada in June 2008.

Saturday, December 22, 0700 -kids have arrived and we are heading out to our maize field for a weeding party (as I call it). I am expecting the maize to be at least knee high, and am sadly disappointed at the short little stalks! But, there are plenty of weeds! So with about sixteen of our sponsored students we hoe and weed until about noon. Those Zambian kids can really work. Planting and looking after the maize fields is hard work and must be done with extreme regularity and expertise. Otherwise, people go hungry! Everything is done by hand—the planting, the fertilizing and the hoeing. Our field is a bit too big—the size of three official soccer fields, or 2.25 hectares!! What were we thinking?! If the crop is successful we should be able to feed plenty! I brought along water, buns (no butter, no filling—plain buns!) and mango from the yard for treat time!

Sunday, December 23 -We attend Farmer Church at Sam and Fiona’s farm. Sam and Fiona are ex-Zimbabwean tobacco farmers and probably have the largest tobacco farm in the area. Many makuwas join together in Sam and Fiona’s living room to sing praises and listen to Shawn (youth minister from Mazabuka Boarding school) speak. Everyone stayed for tea and following that we had a braii (barbeque). When folks in this area have a barbeque they do NOT have hot dogs and chips. They have roast beef, boerwurst sausage, marinated chicken, along with a variety of salads and breads. It was all so yummy! Fiona makes the best fruit cake I’ve ever tasted! We met many folks and now when we see them in Kalomo or Choma we will be able to greet and chat! A good group of Christians meet weekly at this home. Kind of reminds me of church in Crofton!

Monday, December 24 -Time to prepare for Christmas as tomorrow we are having a number of Zambians in for lunch!

Tuesday, December 25 -Merry Christmas. We take the cinnamon buns I made yesterday out to Simakakata, the blind community. As we drive in to the compound, we see Mr. Shebby, the leader, standing and clapping his hands. Our young friends, Timmy and Oscar help us to sing “we wish you a merry Christmas” (we taught them the song while driving this morning!). Each of the families gets a new blanket (from my shopping trip on Dec 24)! So much fun!

Christmas Dinner -two small turkeys, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, squash casserole, green beans, cabbage salad, buns, then shortbread cookies and date squares. Richard spent a whack of time nicely decorating all sorts of little parcels for each of our Zambian guests and we had so much fun watching them open their gifts. Oscar and Timmy have NEVER done anything like this, and I don’t think Mashell and family had either. In the end, Oscar gave a thank-you speech, because no get together in Zambia is complete without one! After everyone had gone home – Timmy, Oscar and Richard and I watched Finding Nemo, a movie I like because they always find him!!

Wednesday -Another weeding day!!

Thursday -Meeting day about hiring teachers and choosing new sponsored kids! What a task—so many applicants and fewer sponsors than kids!

Friday, December 28 -Katungu day. We are supposed to pick up Kelvin (HIV patient who had a stroke a year ago) and take him to Martin Hospice in Choma for a time of rehab. After three hours, our friend, Lemmy, arrives at Katungu from the village, Kalowa, without Kelvin! We cannot drive into Kalowa this time of year because of the rains—even with a 4-wheel drive it is impassable. Lemmy says the family is quite nervous about Kelvin going into such a centre, even though Kelvin was going to have family with him 24/7. I think in the end they thought Kelvin would likely go there to die—isn’t that what normally happens in hospitals?! So, for now we will let the issue rest; even though I’ve been working on this issue for about a month and had a bed saved for him for Friday, December 28! Such is life—in Zambia.

Saturday, December 29 -In the morning we went out to Seven Fountains Farm (SFF) for an interesting visit with Rod and Sue and a family from Macha Mission. The wife is a doctor doing Malaria research at Macha Hospital and the husband, Gert, is a project manager for a zillion development projects. They are doing extremely progressive work in the area of community development and folks from all over are flocking to Macha. Even Robert Schuller of the Crystal Palace church was there recently. Gert is thinking that SFF should have an air strip, so we will put that one before the board. In the afternoon Richard, Kadonsi and I interview five prospective teachers. These are newly graduated teachers from the sponsorship program. A few of them will be needed at Katungu and Mutala. After all of that, I make pizza and Richard and I watch a taped movie.

It’s been a wonderful week in Zambia. We are blessed by being able to serve in unique ways!

Happy New Year to All!

Our Christmas in Zambia

[Editor's note: What a lot of memories and a torrent of emotions are aroused by these accounts! Truly, Christmas in Zambia involves activity from the mind-numbing to the mind-boggling, and emotions from the heart-aching to the heart-breaking. WEU]

From Richard:
Merry Christmas to all of you.

It is another cloudy day in Zambia; it is raining off and on. We have not had much sunshine lately; things are very wet.

This morning we received emails from family and friends—thank you! It is good to hear what everyone is doing; we wish you the very best for today. We miss being with you, but we have some activities planned for the day. Right now we are having cinnamon buns for breakfast; Timmy has joined us. It is his first time to have chocolates and cinnamon buns for breakfast, and it is his first time to hear about Santa coming down the chimney to deliver gifts to the children's stockings. He is laughing and saying that he will have to tell his friends about Santa. Firecrackers seem to be a part of the Christmas tradition here. Last night and this morning the kids are outside blasting them off and laughing together. Before long, we will head to Simakakata, the blind community, to wish them a Merry Christmas. Sue has made cinnamon buns for them and we have purchased a blanket for each family.

Later today, Mashell and his family, Kadonsi and his family, and Oscar will join us and Timmy for Christmas dinner. We have small gifts for each of them, many of which we found in stuff that is leftover from the last container.

December 24 was an interesting day. I planned to visit the construction sites to catch up on what is happening at each one. I also wanted to connect with a few suppliers and builders to find out why things are not moving forward as they should. I was supposed to pick up Paul Kawtishi, one of the bricklayers from Katungu, at 8:00 in Kalomo, and since it was Christmas Eve, I promised not to occupy his whole day. I should have left earlier; before I got away, people started showing up at the door. They were mostly sponsored students and those seeking sponsorship, along with builders from Siabalumbi seeking money for Christmas. I finally just had to leave—I found Paul waiting in Kalomo.

We headed to Katungu to see what was happening (or not) with the construction of the teachers' duplex and the school. Paul had not been able to work for three or four days because the bricks were finished and the community was trying to figure out what to do next. When we arrived, no work was going on. There were no bricks for the school and the other builder had no water with which to make plaster to work on the interior walls of the duplex. As it turned out, the community had located some bricks but were wrestling with how to transport them, and here I was with the flatbed truck. I didn't have the time, but I told them that I would help them with one load, and so off we headed into the bush and stopped at a family's home. The bricks were still standing in the form of an old house, so we proceeded to knock the walls down, knock off the clay mortar, and load the bricks. It rained lightly during the process, but after some time we had a nice load of about 1,150 bricks. However, we only gone about three hundred meters, retracing the path that we had come on, when we reached a grassy area. Even though there was no water sitting on the surface, the soil was too wet and with the weight of the bricks, and the truck began to sink and ground to a stop. We got out and unloaded the bricks. The longer we were there, the more the truck sank. There was no way that the group of eight men and women could push the truck out so it was time to dig. Eventually we had to jack the truck up and place bricks, logs, and planks under the tires. Jacking was interesting because rather than lifting the truck, the hydraulic jack would push the brick under the jack into the wet soil. We had to push two or three bricks down before the jack would begin to lift the truck. Eventually, with much effort the group managed to push the truck out and I headed home. They will need to use ox carts to haul the bricks. That was about all I accomplished yesterday. I guess that I lied to Paul about not occupying his whole day. At least I have something to "write home about".

Have a Merry Christmas!

From Sue:
Hello all! Thanks for writing us e-mails and for the Christmas greetings. It is very difficult to be away from our loved ones and the traditions that we have made over the years. I was thinking about our family night-before-Christmas get together when we prepare all sorts of great appetizers and sing and play guitar and laugh together. As I type, I have a lump in my throat and some wet eyes!

I started preparing for Christmas yesterday! You can hardly tell it's Christmas here—there is no snow!! The village people are too poor to put up any decorations or buy any gifts for one another. The ones on the mission have it a little better and they buy sodas, make a nice meal, and have fake Christmas trees—I'm not sure what they do about gifts. The other day Brivery (one of my favorite boys) came by. He is a double orphan who lives with his twenty-three year old brother. They barely survive! Brivery much prefers living in the crowded and not so nice Kalomo High School boarding facility. Brivery washed the truck so I paid him big bucks and made him grilled cheese sandwiches and put together a Christmas package using old container items—a homemade cloth bag with some notebooks, pens, a sharpener and a few other things. He was so pleased and I just wanted to cry. A seventeen year old and this will be the only presents he gets. I also sent some food so that he and his family can have some kapenta, oil, salt... I will look forward to seeing Brivery in a week or so when he returns for school.

Yesterday Timmy (another favorite) was a huge help in preparing for our Christmas dinner. He and Mashel peeled potatoes; Phillen (another student) cut up cabbage and onions for me and ironed clothes. Things take SO much longer because often the water is not turned on or the power is out! Winnie (our househelper and good friend) has been in Livingstone on three different occasions over the past two months trying to support her brother emotionally as he is charged with murder. He has a business in Livingstone and a large family (mostly dependents), but they keep him in prison and no one ever brings any evidence to the court! It is so crazy because this trial had already wrapped up earlier and he was back to work, but someone has brought it back up! S, no Winnie, which means I have less time to work on the sponsored student issues, and the HIV stuff and... But, some of the students that live near by and need to do volunteer work are ever so pleasant about just being here and helping!! I wash the clothes in Ruhtt's Hoover—it's not much faster than doing it by hand, but it helps me save a bit of physical energy! I feel like a pioneer woman—at least when the power is off!

Last night two of our students called to wish the madam (one calls me mom) a Merry Christmas. The one fellow (Penzya) is blind! I was rolling cinnamon buns when he called so Richard spoke to him. That's not what he wanted. I was actually a bit scared to talk to him because he always has a very difficult request for me, e.g. "Madam, I'm going to Lusaka on Monday for eye surgery; I'll be at your house in the morning." Yikes! I tell him, slow down—you can't just show up here and get money from me!

Kabulo (other guy who called) is a college student who just graduated, . He is one of twenty children born into a polygamist family. Due to poverty this boy would never have had secondary school or college education, but ZMF-C sponsored him. Kabulo is a national volleyball champion and we created a profile for him that we are sending around to various colleges so he can carry on further on with his education. So, he texted me the sweetest message—thanking me and wishing me a Merry Christmas!

So, whereas a twenty-two pound turkey might suffice for the family back in Regina, I cooked two turkeys yesterday (for today, in case the power goes off). I don't think they added up to fifteen pounds altogether! Also I cooked butternut sqash pie (same recipe as sweet potato pie), mashed potatoes, chinese cabbage salad, green beans. I baked whipped shortbread, matrimonial cake (dates from Zanzibar), and Sue Calder gave us some chocolate cookies. Timmy has been a big help in preparing the veggies (from our garden) so I treated him to chips, coke and a movie last night while I finished up the cinnamon buns. He watched the Nativity movie, and thought he was treated quite royally!

Anyway, we must go and get Oscar and head out to Simakakata with our buns and blankets. They are my most favorite people; we shall gift them and sing a few songs, take some photos and come home to set the table.

Richard has had a LOT of fun wrapping all sorts of container items for each guest today—that will be so fun to watch them. He also found some dominoes, so we'll play some games as well.

Love to all of you and we pray for each of our loved ones that God has so graciously given to be part of our lives!
Love you,
Sue

The Coming Week in... Africa

A lot of time this week was spent communicating with accountants so that ZMF-C can begin an audit/accountancy reporting process. Also, the 2008 sponsored student applicants have left piles of forms with me, so, I've been sorting and trying to figure out who to consult with, so the best applicants can be chosen. Unfortunately, there are not enough spaces for all the applicants, so some will have to discontinue school until somehow they can raise the money. There is no such thing as student loans, and rarely can the student or the parents afford high school or college education.

Have a great week—tomorrow we will worship with the Seven Fountains Farm church. Monday is a trip to Livingstone to deliver account information to the accountants. Wednesday we head to Lusaka and Thursday to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Zanzibar. After one week, we will return to the 30C temperatures and power outages and I'll try to do some Christmas baking! I forgot my lefse recipe at home!

Jelina

I finally met Jelina, one of new sponsored HIV patients. She lives at Siabalumbi! So, while we are on our way to Siabalumbi from Katungu, I call one of the Siabalumbi teachers on the cell phone to please call Jelina so we can visit when we arrive. After we arrive and check out the school and unload some supplies, she arrives—this cell phone stuff is pretty good! She's walked a fair distance, but she made it before we had to leave. Her health has improved; she's just started ARV's recently. Her husband left her and re-married when he found out she was HIV positive—same story as for so many. Jelina has the children, and she has a plan to raise goats for income now that she's healthy! She is grateful for her sponsor, Ellis Krogsgaard of Regina. Thank you!

Soggy Zambia

We prayed for rain last week after the sponsored students had planted next year's maize crop. And God has answered this week with much rain! Richard drove by the field today and it's growing! Cynthia (one of our sponsored students) and I weeded our smaller maize patch today and some of it is already past my knees. (and so are the weeds!!)

It's interesting how the whole landscape has changed—both flora and fauna! (How do you like that vocabulary!!) The frogs have multiplied by the zillions and Winnie showed me a tortoise in the garden this morning—they like wet places! The grasses, bushes and trees are growing so fast! Some roads are even more difficult to drive because of the trees that hang over onto the road. Everywhere we go there is new growth and so much green! I regularly think of home—so much white—I think I like the green!

The downside is that the power goes off regularly! Over the past week it was off half the time! So, we cook outside, don't do laundry, take cold baths, conserve water—because it was also shut down, and get a wee bit concerned about the meat and other things going bad in the freezer. Telephone and e-mail were also down because we couldn't charge up batteries! But we survived! Many here live without power and running water every day of their lives. And they don't use e-mail—but many have cell phones!

Construction of additional classroom blocks at Katungu and Siabalumbi is still happening, but at a slower pace, due to rain. Siabalumbi has caught up and even passed Katungu in its stage of construction, but the quality is much better at Katungu. Siabalumbi could have used a better general contractor; he's not much into detail!

More Days in Zambia

It is Sunday evening, and another hot and full day has been completed. Today the sun shone brightly and it must have reached 30 degrees once again. We did not receive any rain, but we could see some dark clouds gathering in the horizon before dark. It is time for more rain, so that the temperatures will drop a few degrees. The people here are saying that the rains so far have been quite local. They are looking for more general and far-reaching rains; so are we.

Yesterday was a planting day. We took the sponsored kids that leave near Namwianga out to the farm to plant maize. It was a fairly easy job because the tractor did most of the work. The field was ploughed and the rows were drawn out. All we had to do was to drop the seeds into the rows. Then they tied a large tree branch behind the tractor and dragged it all over the field to cover the seeds. I am not sure about this method of covering the seeds. I think that maybe the seeds got scattered around. We will see when the plants begin to sprout. If I had to do it again, I would just have the kids use a hoe to cover the seeds. The hard work will come when it is time to fertilize and weed. The kids will love that as much as some others I know who had to weed in a garden a few years ago.

This morning we went to church at Twin Fountains. Heinz had invited me to preach, and so I am getting good use of one particular sermon. On the way to church, I told Sue that she was going to hear the sermon for the third time. She helped me out by telling me that it was fine because she knows that there is little time in the schedule to prepare for such things. Heinz then asked me to preach the same sermon at the Good Hope church so I guess Sue will get to hear it at least one more time.

After church, we had a wonderful meal and a relaxing visit on the Müller veranda. What a peaceful place! It is cool and quiet; it overlooks a beautiful green valley. The food was excellent. And, oh yes, there was the meeting with Heinz to discuss progress and the future of Good Hope School.

At 2:30, we set off for our 2:00 meeting at Katungu school. We decided that the visit and peaceful atmosphere on the Müller veranda was more important than being on time. We are becoming quite Zambian! However, poor Kadonsi, who tends to be on time, was at the school for a full hour before we arrived. We picked up Wilson, the education secretary, and took him with us. Once at Katungu, we dropped off Wilson, and then went for another twenty minute drive to fetch the head teacher. It was a difficult meeting involving personal problems of a couple of the staff. It is sure good to have Kadonsi and Wilson for such things; they both conduct themselves very professionally.

Following the meeting we delivered seed and fertilizer to two of the churches in the area. The churches have agreed to work together as a congregation to plant a field of maize, which when harvested will be used to help out the very poor in their communities.

It was just getting dark by the time we got home, and now at 8:15, I am finishing this email.

The power is off again, but Sue can cook like most Zambian ladies, outside, using the brazier, fueled by charcoal! The pot boiled over and she had to sweep the outside kitchen!!

Anyway, it was a yummy stew and you know how camping food is—always better than regular cooking!

Today was a great day, church at Twin Fountains and then a meeting out at Katungu and the sun is down now and mosquitoes are nipping at us while we e-mail outside! (It's where the internet reception is!)

Planting the Seed

Yesterday was Saturday, the day that some of our sponsored students come to do volunteer work! We packed them in the Dyna—the big lorry and went to the farm! Many hands make light work! Within a couple of hours we had about twenty-three kilograms of maize seed in the ground. Planting is easy, weeding will be hard!

In about March/April the maize will be ready and it will provide food for some of these kids families and others!


We worked and we had fun! And then we had buns, water and cake!


Before we left the field we gathered under the tree and had a prayer! We did the planting but God is the one to bring the rains—even at the right time! Let us join these kids in prayer for this field!