December 27, 2009

It's warming up in Saskatchewan! Only -14C this afternoon ~ and with no wind and a clear, blue sky it felt fine outside!

Hope your day was a good one!
Sue K

Testing, testing!

December 26, 2009

It's been almost a year since I posted (or rather since Bill posted for me, thanks Bill). I'm determined to learn - so have dedicated a bit of time today to figuring this blog thing all out!

So...greetings again!

Today I'm back at work after enjoying much family time and food yesterday. Our house was full as were our tummies! Today, the kids are mostly dispersed to other sides of their families.
Tim and Krista are back out to the farm, Tori and Sharon flew to Winnipeg this am. Tiffany and Layne went down to the farm - for hockey and more food and fun! Aaron and Lorraine are staying close to home - the countdown for grandchild # 1 is on. January - the birth month is very soon!

Between the feasting times yesterday our family put together a sing song at the hospital. My patients were a great participatory audience and seemed to appreciate our short, and mostly unrehearsed visit!

February 18 we leave for 6 months in Zambia - and are looking forward to being back with our friends there!

It is -21 today - so the warmer weather will be an additional bonus!

Enjoy the season and all its fellowship,
Sue

Siabalumbi grade 7 students score very well!

A first for Siabalumbi and Katungu
grade 7 students write government exams!!

Siabalumbi teacher - Mr. Simalondo, Mr. Namuswa (headteacher)
along with grade 7 students

Every year grade 7, 9 and 12 Zambian students must write government exams. They are tough—even tougher if a student has not had a proper learning environment. With donor help ZMF-C has been able to assist with creating better learning environments. Many donors have assisted so that classrooms, teacher housing and toilets can be built. As well, donors have contributed toward community teacher “bonuses/salary”. Containers sent from Canada have been filled with desks, blackboards, paper, textbooks, shoes, and uniforms.

The 2008 Siabalumbi results are out and the scores were great! The teachers and students are thrilled. This translates to further education opportunities for students.

Thanks, for being a part of creating better learning environments for Zambian children and for being part of their future goals!

Christmas Time for the Sponsored Students

Erick, Danny, Castrol, Jean, Lovelyn – all sponsored students at Namwianga Christian Basic school received their 2009 school uniforms yesterday! And Castrol got new shoes!

The school year in Zambia runs from January to December and has 3 terms. All students that attend a government operated school must wear uniforms! Last year I bought uniforms for our sponsored students, but this year I decided to assist a couple of ladies' groups by creating some income generating activity. For me it created extra activity as I had to measure the kids, check out prices of what it would cost to just buy the uniforms and actually go find the kids as not all of them are in the same place at the same time, like at school! And as is the case of Jean’s uniform send the dress back for adjustments (which actually got done the same afternoon that Jean tried on the dress—unbelievable!)

The Siabalumbi sewing club was able to generate K90,000 for the sewing of the uniforms (there were more than are shown in the photo) and our two new Chodort graduates (HIV patients – Lucia and Alice) will also receive the same for the sewing of the Good Hope sponsored students uniforms. The sewing club income will go back into the Siabalumbi school for purchasing of notebooks, pencils…
Mrs. Simalondo – the most active member of the Siabalumbi sewing club.
Mr. Simalondo is one of the teachers at Siabalumbi school where ZMF-C has built a classroom buildings, teacher housing and toilets.

Anna Kanana

It’s almost Christmas!

Each year a certain donor always sends a gift to granny Anna Kanana. She is a muchembele (old woman) who has responsibility for many grandchildren, one of them is Susan—one of our former sponsored students. Most of her own children have died, so Anna has done what any decent granny would do, cared for them, even though she has no source of income. She regularly comes to visit me, and after tea and buns , I send her on her way with some mealie meal, kapenta or beans. She also visits the Kasiyas, our neighbours and fellow ZMF-C workers, and receives vegetables from their garden. She is always grateful and always thanks me with every Tonga word of thanks! She knows only a couple of English words, but for the most part we communicate just fine! Smiles, hugs, tea, rubbing of the tummy indicating hunger, not too hard to understand!This year I gave her the kwacha instead of purchasing groceries. She liked this idea because she said she might buy some fertilizer for her maize field as well as the groceries. So, family in Regina who donates to this woman and her family: thanks a bunch from Anna Kanana and may God continue to bless you.

James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress Twalumba maninge!

Chodort Graduation

Congratulations Alice, Lemmy and Lucia and to the Hope for Tomorrow sponsors!Front row – Nurses – Fortune and Tebia and Chodort Instructor

Back row – Sue, Lemmy, Alice, Lucia and Macklay

On December 12 – Alice, Lemmy and Lucia graduated from Chodort Trades Institute in Choma. Lemmy now is a carpenter, Alice and Lucia are tailors.

This was a proud moment for all of us! In 2006 these three HIV positive patients were barely alive, but with the help of Canadian sponsors they are alive and well and now able to fully support themselves through a trade! Thank you to the individual sponsors, but also a big thank you goes to those who have kept donating to Hope for Tomorrow even when their own patient was no longer on the program. Extra funds were needed for school and exam fees for these ones, so your help has resulted in accomplished career goals for these three people. Now, it is up to them to work hard so they can continue to help their families and others!

Deuteronomy 24: 19 – 22 When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. Keep Reading!! God expects us to do all we can to help the needy. We are not isolated from the poor, they are our neighbours!

Thanks for sharing your harvest!!

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!)