Thanks for the Package

Mwapona buti! (Long time no see; how are you doing?)

Mumuvwulo (?) - Today we received a wonderful package in the mail–delivered straight to our house even! Email has been takwe (nothing) for three to four weeks now; we can’t even connect! But mail delivery service is just as good as at home! The package was posted November 26 and today is December 8! I am enjoying a few moments of quiet, so I’m trying to catch up on communication! I think the email strategy until we leave in three weeks time will be to download emails to my flash drive at the internet café in Kalomo, come home, load responses to the flash drive, return to the internet café and send the responses. We’ll give it a try!

Twalumba maninge, twalumba maninge! (thank you very much) for the money collected for seed and fertilizer. It is mostly delivered! We love you and are so appreciative of what you’ve done for your Simakakata brothers and sisters. You are wonderful! Thanks Tamara and Matthew for organizing and for everyone else for making soup, attending and for sharing so generously with these ones here! Indeed people here are grateful–and we are blessed to be your hands in the delivery!

Giving Thanks at Simakakata

Just this morning two of our sponsored students walked from Katungu (about twenty kilometres) to ask for mealy meal as there is takwe to lya (eat) at the village—and I mean takwe! People scavenge the bush to find delele (wild okra) and other greens. There are some wild fruits that are now growing because mvula (rains) have arrived, but besides that there is takwe. Boarding schools closed just over a week ago so this the students’ first week back at their villages. I supplied the boys with enough mealy meal (taken from our harvest last April) for their family for one week.

Two students I enrolled into the ZMF-C program last year are Innocent and Douglas Fungwe. They are cousins which could mean almost anything in terms of relationship! Douglas is number one in his class of over fifty and Innocent is number eight in his class. We are proud of them! Both of them are single orphans, having lost one parent. Recently, I saw Innocent as a groomsman at a mucado (wedding feast) at Siabalumbi. I asked him, “How did you get in this wedding? Do you know the bride or groom?”

His reply was, “No madam, they picked me because I’m clever!” That was too funny for me (he is fairly clever), but he’s also very cute and a very good zyana (dancer)!

It was during this wedding that Richard danced or rather performed! Innocent had called the mudaala (old man–a respectful expression to a friend) and me to come and perform a dance with him. Fortunately, I’d been called temporarily away so only Richard was able to perform!! Richard wasn’t impressed, and I didn’t believe that Richard had actually got up there in front of the crowd, but our friend Wilson Siazilo said, “I have evidence on my camera, Sue, that he actually danced!” Too funny—my timing was impeccable!

Mushale kabotu (Remain where you are in good health!)