November 12, 2007
After many tearful goodbyes to all the missionaries, tutors, workers, & Zambian friends we had made, we left around 9:30 am, on our big yellow school bus headed for Livingston. There we caught a 2:15 flight for Johannesburg. It took about an hour & a half for the flight. During this flight we were fed a delicious hot meal & drink. It’s just unbelievable that we take a 1.5 hr. flight here & get a full meal & we flew all the way from Dallas to Honolulu (9 hours) & were only served 2 drinks!! The American airline companies could learn a little about hospitality from the airlines in Europe & Africa! We had an 8 hour layover in Johannesburg which was a long wait for our 12:40 A.M. flight. It was a 4 hour flight in which we tried to sleep – but needless to say it was a very short flight. We arrived at 5:30 on Tues. morning & were met by Monte, Joel, David Underwood from Harding, & Steve Smith,a Tulsa businessman with 1 of the 2 buses that were to take us on our way. After 3 more hours of waiting, finally the second bus showed up & we were able to leave. After all THIS IS AFRICA!
We drove about 7 hours to get to Arusha. On the way we had to cross the border between Kenya & Tanzania which took almost 2 hours to get through. We had sent a travel agent ahead of us with all our passports to help clear the way, but obviously, it did little good. We got about 20 minutes outside of Arusha & our bus ran out of gas!! They had left them idling the whole time we were waiting at the border & had miscalculated how much luggage we were carrying. While we were stopped by the side of the road, we were immediately surrounded by a pack of Maasai children & adults. They were shaking hands, talking, & of course, asking for money & gifts. The Maasai are interesting people that tend to be tall & thin & many of them still wear the traditional dress which include skirts & shawls (shuckas) which are plaid fabric in blues, reds, & greens. They tend to wear a lot of beaded jewelry & are usually herdsmen, so they carry a staff with them everywhere.
The other bus went on ahead to a gas station (about 5 miles) & got jerry cans of fuel for us. Once on the road, it was just about 20 minutes to the Impala Hotel where we spent the night. That night, we dined on a choice of fish, chicken, or steak with rice, fries, carrots, & tomato/cucumber salad. Yum!
We got up early the next morning for 8:00 leaving to head toward the Ngorogoro Crater. We were to be picked up that morning to travel in 5 vans. It took about 30 minutes to finally get all of our luggage in as we had more than they usually have to deal with.
We drove on some pretty bumpy roads to make it there by 1:00 pm at the Crater Lodge where we stayed for the night. We ate a quick lunch & headed out in our vans to go down into the crater. It was a wild ride down there as the roads are just awful! Once there, we saw several kinds of gazelle, a few elephants, a couple of lion (from way off), & a bunch of hippo. We were really disappointed as there just didn’t seem to be very many animals around. I don’t know where they all were, but not where we were driving.
We headed back up to the lodge around 5:30, but our van began overheating & we had to stop & add water to the radiator. It overheated the whole way back & we had to stop 2 more times – Once was in a narrow crook of road with trees all around that looked like a perfect place for lion or leopards to hang out. We had a great story we were going to tell about how brave we were in the face of the lions surrounding our disabled vehicle. Ok – we were embellishing slightly.
That night, we had a 7:30 dinner followed by a traditional dancing program, which was not nearly as good as we had experienced in Zambia, so we just went to bed! All that bumping along on bad roads makes you quite tired!!
The next morning, we ate breakfast & took a group picture on the veranda of the hotel with the crater in the background. Once again, we were ready to leave, but waiting on the drivers to get luggage loaded & get the vans prepared to go. Ours had been switched out in the night for another, so hopefully, the overheating will not be an issue. We headed out of the crater & into the Serengeti. It is extremely dry here & the roads are very dusty, so it makes it difficult to see a lot right along the road & we are constantly opening & closing the windows to balance between getting air & keeping the dust out!
We arrived at the gate of the Serengeti & took a bathroom break. As we were entering the park, there was some disagreement with the agents there if we had paid enough entrance fees. Monte had told them we had 2 children with us & the children are only $10 entrance while the adult fee is $50. The sign read “ Above 16 - $50, Between 5 – 16 $10”. Shelby was 16, but they wanted to charge her as an adult. After much arguing it out, they pulled out a pamphlet which stated “16 & above $50” so, once again, they won & got the extra money. They have certainly learned how to capitalize on their tourism. $50 is more than most people here would earn in a month.
We arrived at the Serengeti Lodge at 1:00 pm for a delicious buffet lunch before resting for a couple of hours & then doing an afternoon game drive. Thankfully, there are a lot more animals here than the crater & we were able to see many cape buffalo, gazelle, elephants, lions, hippos, monkeys, a leopard, zebra, tobi, hartebeest, water buck, reebok, impala & dik-dik. At one spot, we found 3 female lions lying by the side of the road & were able to get our vehicle about 10 feet from them. They looked rather bored with us, but we were glad they were willing to stick around.
We found a small leopard sitting in a tree & watched it for a while. It was getting toward dusk & we commented how we would love to see a kill. Just moments after that, we saw a large male baboon running toward the tree & the leopard got up ready to run down the tree. Just as we thought the leopard would pounce on it, the leopard took off running with the baboon chasing it!!!! It wasn’t running all that fast, as the baboon couldn’t really run that fast, but I guess the baboon was running it out of the area to protect the rest of his family. We tried to chase the leopard, but were unable to get out car turned around fast enough & lost track of it.
We also got in on the tail of seeing 4 elephants chasing off a lion. We had seen her sitting in the field & the elephants walking toward her & wondered what would become of those poor elephants when all of a sudden, the elephants started running toward her & trumpeting. The lioness took off! I’m sure the fact that there were a lot of elephants helped them out.
We saw a gorgeous sunset as we were returning to the lodge & enjoyed a great buffet dinner. Tomorrow it’s off for Mwanza.
We had to get an early start this morning as we had to be out of the Serengeti by 11 am or they would charge us for another day. Our drivers were flying on this gravel road & we fly right by a huge giraffe standing right next to the road. Most of the students didn’t even see it. On the way out, one of the drivers spotted a lion & lioness off in the distance sitting next to one another. We watched for a while & just as we were getting ready to leave, they decided to start mating. That was certainly a National Geographic moment.
We arrived in Mwanza around 5:00 that evening & were assigned missionary families to stay with. There are 5 families here, but 1 of them was on furlough, so our family& 3 students stayed in their house while they were gone. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of ground nut stew. It is rice & you pile as many things as you want on top of it including chicken, beef, ground nuts (peanuts), banana, pineapple, raisins, tomatoes, cocoanut. It doesn’t sound all that appealing with all those piled together, but was really quite tasty. The pineapple here is wonderful!!
The next morning started out early with the groups meeting together & then re-arranging to go to various places. One large group went to visit the local hospital while the rest of us went to a meeting with some village church leaders. We were there for Monte to explain why Zambia was chosen over this place for the location of the HIZ program & for them to make their plea for these students to come back here some day to be missionaries. It was quite interesting to see the interactions of the people. At the end of the meeting, they fed us huge plates of rice with small bowls of goat & chicken meat. Here, the rice is sticky & you eat entirely with your right hand. No utensils. You take a large clump of rice & mash it in your hand until it sticks together. Then you can just eat it or dip it in the broth of the meat first. It is quite tasty! They eat a tremendous amount of rice here, but don’t seem to eat a lot of fruits or vegetables. It is easy to see why they have a lot of health problems in this part of the world with such limited diets.
After the meeting, Monte, Vann, Janice, & Calvin (one of the missionaries) took off for Geita which is a town about 2 hours drive away to look over that area as a possibility for new missions as there is a group wanting Downtown church to sponsor them to go there. Another group of students went on an overnight trip to a village, & the rest of us headed back to Mwanza. That night we had a pasta dinner with all kinds of wonderful pastas & salads. These missionary wives sure know how to cook & are treating us so well.
We enjoyed a short devotional before heading home to bed. Since Vann was gone from our house, we had a girls night & watched the movie “The Wedding Date” .
The next morning, Sunday, we went out in 2 groups to different churches. One small group went to a new plant with just a few members & the other group (including me) went to a place where 9 local churches were meeting together as they do once a month. Eric Guil was taking us in 2 vans & his Land Cruiser. We drove for an hour & a half before turning off the main, paved road. We thought we were surely almost there, but then ended up driving almost 2 hours on a pothole ridden road which eventually turned into a cowpath. Along the way, we had picked up one of the preachers & his family & it’s a good thing as we would never have made it to the place without them there to guide us. I don’t know how those vans managed to make it through the gullies, ditches, & along the cowpath. The church we were going to was even beyond the cowpath & we had to walk the last 200 yards or so. We didn’t arrive there until noon & they had already been going for a while. We spent 3 1/2 hours total there – most of it listening to choirs from each of the churches & then doing the contribution & communion service. The contribution was given with taped music playing on their keyboard (which was powered with a car battery) & each church came forward when they were called. Each member danced his way to the front & gave their contribution – many of them needing to make change first. That took about an hour itself. Then the church choirs sang while each church was called to come forward & take communion. There were only about 12 little cups, so they rinsed each one in water before refilling it for the next person. Thankfully, we were the first to do communion!! After the service, we were once again fed huge platters of rice with chicken pieces & given sweet lemon tea to drink. It was really good! Just as we were preparing to leave, the skies opened up & absolutely poured on us! So – of course, we were wet for the entire trip home. We were supposed to be back home around 6:00 for dinner, but since we started back around 4:00, there was no way – but we absolutely flew on those awful roads & made it back in about 2.75 hours. Not too bad, but I could hardly move the next day from all the bumping around. I sure will be happy to get back on smooth roads at home!
That evening, we ended with a devotional & singing. As we were loading up the car to leave the Miller’s house, it started sprinkling again & by the time we pulled up to our gate, it was pouring once again. The power was out, so we found our flashlight with a tiny bit of power left in it & located a box of candles. Within minutes of Shelby getting all the candles lit, the power came back on! Of course! We were happy, though, as we were needing light to work on re-packing for an early 7:30 am. departure the next morning.
7:00 a.m. on Monday, our driver is at the gate honking the horn to be let in. Of course, none of us are ready, but Vann is dressed, so he goes to unlock the gate. Our driver was anxious to get on the road as they were dropping us off at the border & then driving back to Arusha & he wanted to get there as early as possible.
Our driver says we are supposed to be packed & at the meeting place by 7:30, so we must hurry. We cram down breakfast & run out to the van to load up & are at the meeting spot by 7:20, but of course, no one else is. It is 8:30 before everyone else is there & we are able to leave. Thus is the joy of traveling in large groups!!
Our crossing at the Tanzania/Kenya border is uneventful & much quicker than it was going the other direction at a different crossing. We even have time to run into town to buy a quick take out lunch. We find chipates (like a fried tortilla) & Samosas which are a fried meat pie. Greasy, but yummy!
We arrived at the Siriat Bible School in Sotik around 5:30 & were settled in to the dorms there. There is one large room for girls with about 20 bunk beds & a large room for men just the same. Vann & I were invited to stay with David & Eunice in their home. David is the director of the school & has a western style house. Their 7 year old son showed us to our room, which had a chicken occupying it at the time. He had to chase it out & clean up the mess which he promptly did!! We shared a 3/4 size bed (slightly smaller than a double) with a foam mattress. We slept pretty well considering, but awoke to a rooster outside our window around 4:00 a.m. & found we were each in a giant hole where the mattresses had settled. Hopefully, it will recover again before the next night.
We spent the day, once again, driving over hill & dale to a village church. This one was about a 2 hour drive – mostly on dirt roads which means lots of potholes. We enjoyed a visit with members from 5 different churches who had gathered to meet & greet us. They were a very welcoming group & we enjoyed the visit despite using a translator to speak. Each person there stood up & introduced themselves & greeted us with kind words or a scripture & a song. Then we did the same – singing 2 songs for them. After the service, we were fed a wonderful meal of rice, beef stew, & potatoes with chai to drink. Chai is a very sweet tea with milk added. It is the typical drink of Kenya. On the way home, we stopped at a church which also doubles as a school & many of the local children followed us into the building. I would guess that most of them had never seen a white person as they seemed afraid to touch us. They would just stare & smile, & laugh! While we were stopped at the school, we realized one of the van’s tires was going flat (it’s no wonder on these roads!) so they changed it out while we were there. Then on the way back, their bumper started to fall off. These vans sure take a beating with us!! The whole way home we waved to everyone along the road & Steve Smith ( a Tulsa Christian businessman who is with us) yelled Chomge (hello) to everyone he saw. I’m sure they think these white people are lunatics – friendly, but lunatics nonetheless!!!
Thurs. Nov. 22
Today we’re heading to the Mari-An Primary School to see their facilities. This school was named for Monte Cox’s younger sister as she had corresponded through World Bible School with one of the men who later became a board member of this school. Monte lived close to this area, so knows many of the people in this area & all of those associated with this school. We arrived around 3:00 p..m. to a line of children standing at the gate & singing “We are so happy you are here” to us. Many of the older children (just completed 8th grade) have already left as they had testing this week & are now awaiting their results to see if they will be eligible to go on to high school. Only about 50% of them will be eligible to go on & of those only about 50% will be able to afford it. Primary school is free in Kenya, but high school must be paid for.
We were shown to our rooms for the night. The facilities here are very rustic – no electricity, outdoor toilets, no running water. The facilities that the kids stay in are 2 bunkhouses with bunk beds (many barely standing). You can tell that the children here have very little with them as the houses are very bare. People send their children here to board starting in 1st grade. These kids are remarkably independent & self sufficient.
Since we had air mattresses with us,. Vann & I were placed in an empty office are a with absolutely nothing in it other than a little bat hanging from the rafters. The guys all slept in tents that had been left there previously & the girls slept in a small house & another empty room in their sleeping bags. We had become accustomed to Zambia’s 100 degree weather, but it is much cooler here – probably 80’s during the day & down into the 50’s or so at night. With no heat in our room & only a sleeping bag, I FROZE the first night. Thankfully, it was warmer the last 2 nights & I slept in my sweats & jacket & socks!! We spent the day hiking around the area which is beautiful & visiting with the people here at the school. They are working on putting floors into 4 new school rooms that they have constructed, so we spent a good deal of time busting rocks, moving rocks, & hauling dirt. It was a lot of hard work, but by the time we left, they were much further along & will hopefully be able to use them when school starts again in January.
This school is commendable as it is run with little support from the U.S. & yet have great hopes & plans. At the present, they are hauling water up on donkeys from a spring & using a generator for power at night only. They are working on getting water pumped to them & power lines run as soon as they can raise the money. They have also purchased another lot & are hoping to start a secondary school sometime soon.
On Saturday, we went for a hike up to a forest that has monkeys in it. We walked up & down hills, through the forest brush for 4 hours & only saw a few monkeys & they were way up in the tops of the trees. It was good exercise & a beautiful day, so I guess it was worth it.
On Sunday, November 25, 2007, we had a brief worship period with the folks from around the school before saying our goodbyes AGAIN & heading off for Nairobi. I am actually typing this now as we are on a terrible bumpy road, so I’m sure I have many typos! I’m trying to get it ready to publish tomorrow when we will hopefully have internet access in Nairobi! The road is absolutely horrendous for a major road, but we’re all so excited to be heading in the homeward direction, that we’ll put up with whatever we have to. It has been an adventurous 3 months, but that’s a long time to be away from home. We are supposed to have all day Monday to shop & go to an internet café before heading to the airport around 8. Our flight leaves around 11 p.m. & we will fly to Amsterdam & then on Detroit & then Little Rock. We are scheduled to arrive around 4 p.m. in Little Rock on Tues.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Baobab tree
Shelby has had an opportunity to use some of her skills this semester! She is enrolled in Art this semester but it’s difficult to do a lot of art when you’re doing an overseas program. So – when the opportunity became available, she jumped on it. The Oldenburgs found out that she enjoyed art & gave her a project to do. They had a large area next to their fireplace where the wall was damaged & paint was peeling. They commissioned her to paint a giant Baobab tree silhouette for them there. So – she did!! It looked really good when she finished. The Baobab tree is sometimes called the Devil's tree here because it looks like the roots are what is sticking up out of the ground. It only leafs out one time a year & that doesn't last for long.
You can see her finished product above!
Goodbye Zambia
Well, we are finally here! Our last morning at Namwianga before heading off to another adventure in Tanzania & Kenya.
Yesterday, we heard that the body of the baby that had died had arrived back here from the hospital & they were going to have the funeral immediately. Most of our group elected to go as it was supposed to be about a 45 minute drive. It ended up being about 2.5 hours Each Way & the funeral was about an hour. They were glad to get to go as most of them had known her & it was good for them to experience grieving in this culture. Most of them came back with sun-burns, though, since they were riding in the back of a truck.
When you try to estimate how far something is around here, it’s really hard to tell as no-one really knows distances & they don’t often drive, so they can’t even tell you how long it takes to get there. The term “nearly there” can refer to just around the corner or still another hours drive!
Yesterday afternoon was spent saying goodbye to all the friends we have made here. We had many of the area children hanging around to see what goodies we would be handing out that we didn’t have room to pack. The missionaries are also getting lots of goodies as we just obviously brought way more than we will be taking back.
This morning (Monday) will be spent packing the big yellow school bus for our ride back to the Livingston airport for our 2 pm flight. More tears to come, I’m sure. While I am certainly excited to head back home, there is a little bit of me that is still sad – especially knowing we will probably never see many of these people again – especially the babies that we’ve become so attached to!! I think most of us are ready just to be boarding the plane for home, but we’ve still got 2 weeks of traveling before we can do that. We’re looking forward to seeing the Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, & Ngaruroro Crater, but unsure about the rest of the trip. We’ll just have to see!
Yesterday, we heard that the body of the baby that had died had arrived back here from the hospital & they were going to have the funeral immediately. Most of our group elected to go as it was supposed to be about a 45 minute drive. It ended up being about 2.5 hours Each Way & the funeral was about an hour. They were glad to get to go as most of them had known her & it was good for them to experience grieving in this culture. Most of them came back with sun-burns, though, since they were riding in the back of a truck.
When you try to estimate how far something is around here, it’s really hard to tell as no-one really knows distances & they don’t often drive, so they can’t even tell you how long it takes to get there. The term “nearly there” can refer to just around the corner or still another hours drive!
Yesterday afternoon was spent saying goodbye to all the friends we have made here. We had many of the area children hanging around to see what goodies we would be handing out that we didn’t have room to pack. The missionaries are also getting lots of goodies as we just obviously brought way more than we will be taking back.
This morning (Monday) will be spent packing the big yellow school bus for our ride back to the Livingston airport for our 2 pm flight. More tears to come, I’m sure. While I am certainly excited to head back home, there is a little bit of me that is still sad – especially knowing we will probably never see many of these people again – especially the babies that we’ve become so attached to!! I think most of us are ready just to be boarding the plane for home, but we’ve still got 2 weeks of traveling before we can do that. We’re looking forward to seeing the Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, & Ngaruroro Crater, but unsure about the rest of the trip. We’ll just have to see!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
FLYING TERMITES - OH NO!
This week has been a winding up week as we will be leaving on Monday for our 2 week travel before coming home.
On Tues, we had a wonderful big rain - & it cooled things down so much!
On Wed., we were invited to the Oldenburg’s house for dinner. As we were walking to their house, we started to see huge flying termites coming out of holes in the ground in mass swarms. By the time we reached their house, they were starting to swarm at all the windows & around all the lights. These are known to come out shortly after the first really big rain. They will swarm around the lights, lose their wings, & die shortly after. The Africans like to collect the bugs, fry them, & eat them salted – like popcorn. I didn’t choose to try them, but several of our students did & reported “They were OK.”
We had our last Thurs. night devo with the local missionaries on Thurs. It was a very emotional time as we are realizing we are heading out of here soon. I think the Harding group has been a big boost for them & they will really miss us when we’re gone. They have worked so hard to make this a great stay for us & have been such a blessing to us. They have driven us everywhere (since Harding has no vehicle here YET), arranged for everything to be ready for us, & just served us in general.
On Friday, Janice & I & a couple of students started baking cakes, making Jello, & preparing for our big dinner on Sat. This was the last day of finals & a small group of students decided to make the trip to Livingston to go Bungee Jumping as their final Hurrah. That night, they had a tea for their Tonga tutors – mentors from the George Benson College. They enjoyed hot tea & cookies & then had singing & dancing with lots of enthusiasm. They are really going to miss those friendships. Most of the girls’ tutors had suits made for them as going away presents. They have some great looking outfits to wear for their chapel presentations.
Saturday – today – was the big luncheon to thank the workers who have helped us & the missionaries who have also served us. We served a huge pot of stew made from Sable & Eland meat, rice, salad, bread, cakes, & jello. Everyone ate way TOO MUCH but it sure was good. We presented small gifts to the Zambian lecturers & all of our workers.
We had some sad news this afternoon as we found out that one of the babies that had been at the Haven had died. They had 3 babies that had been sick & they took them to Matcha which is the best hospital around here – around a 3 hour drive on awful roads. They had not been able to figure out what was wrong with her, but she would not eat & had diarrhea all the time. We were hoping to be away from here without having any babies die – it is just a very sad reality of this place.
We’re starting to get things packed up around here. It’s hard to get all of the things you need for 3 months into 1 suitcase & just as hard to get part of those things + all the souvenirs you buy into the same suitcase to return. In addition, we’re packing up trunks of Harding’s things – books, paper, batteries, games, etc. & inventorying all that to store away for the next group that comes. Hopefully, they won’t need to bring nearly as many things with them next year.
On Tues, we had a wonderful big rain - & it cooled things down so much!
On Wed., we were invited to the Oldenburg’s house for dinner. As we were walking to their house, we started to see huge flying termites coming out of holes in the ground in mass swarms. By the time we reached their house, they were starting to swarm at all the windows & around all the lights. These are known to come out shortly after the first really big rain. They will swarm around the lights, lose their wings, & die shortly after. The Africans like to collect the bugs, fry them, & eat them salted – like popcorn. I didn’t choose to try them, but several of our students did & reported “They were OK.”
We had our last Thurs. night devo with the local missionaries on Thurs. It was a very emotional time as we are realizing we are heading out of here soon. I think the Harding group has been a big boost for them & they will really miss us when we’re gone. They have worked so hard to make this a great stay for us & have been such a blessing to us. They have driven us everywhere (since Harding has no vehicle here YET), arranged for everything to be ready for us, & just served us in general.
On Friday, Janice & I & a couple of students started baking cakes, making Jello, & preparing for our big dinner on Sat. This was the last day of finals & a small group of students decided to make the trip to Livingston to go Bungee Jumping as their final Hurrah. That night, they had a tea for their Tonga tutors – mentors from the George Benson College. They enjoyed hot tea & cookies & then had singing & dancing with lots of enthusiasm. They are really going to miss those friendships. Most of the girls’ tutors had suits made for them as going away presents. They have some great looking outfits to wear for their chapel presentations.
Saturday – today – was the big luncheon to thank the workers who have helped us & the missionaries who have also served us. We served a huge pot of stew made from Sable & Eland meat, rice, salad, bread, cakes, & jello. Everyone ate way TOO MUCH but it sure was good. We presented small gifts to the Zambian lecturers & all of our workers.
We had some sad news this afternoon as we found out that one of the babies that had been at the Haven had died. They had 3 babies that had been sick & they took them to Matcha which is the best hospital around here – around a 3 hour drive on awful roads. They had not been able to figure out what was wrong with her, but she would not eat & had diarrhea all the time. We were hoping to be away from here without having any babies die – it is just a very sad reality of this place.
We’re starting to get things packed up around here. It’s hard to get all of the things you need for 3 months into 1 suitcase & just as hard to get part of those things + all the souvenirs you buy into the same suitcase to return. In addition, we’re packing up trunks of Harding’s things – books, paper, batteries, games, etc. & inventorying all that to store away for the next group that comes. Hopefully, they won’t need to bring nearly as many things with them next year.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Winding Down!
This has been another busy week as we are all trying to get the things done this week that we put off until the end. On Friday afternoon, we finally took a short trip out to Klaus Mueller’s development farm called Twin Fountains. Klaus is a German man who runs this large farm & he uses it to teach people how to farm better in this culture. He has up to 40 students at a time who come here for a 2 year stint to learn agricultural concepts. While they are here, they are given a plot of land to farm & Twin Fountains markets their goods for them. If they put into practice what they learn, they will be able to use it to pay for their schooling, housing, & may still be able to take money home at the end. One of his more successful students is going to be leaving with approx $500 which is a huge amount of money for a Zambian farmer!
We took our lovely yellow school bus straight from Klaus’ farm out to Jordan’s rock which is a large outcropping of rock at Namwianga where missionaries have been having picnics under the stars for the last 70 years! Roy & Kathy Merritt arranged for our group to have a cookout there. Their Zambian workers made us grilled chicken & steaks, potato salad, pea salad, baked beans, rolls, jello, & cake. We enjoyed the meal along with a bon-fire & singing under the stars. The Zambians love to sing & most are very good at it! It was a very enjoyable evening.
Saturday was a free day with most of us going into town. We did some last minute shopping & I dropped some fabric off at a tailor who is going to make me an African suit (skirt & top). All total with the fabric, it will cost me less than $20 for a custom-made outfit! I am looking forward to seeing it!
Sunday, several of us went into Kalomo to the High School church there. The boarding students that attend Kalomo high school cannot leave the campus, so they have formed a church there which is run entirely by the High School students. One problem with going with a group of white people, is that wherever we go to church, we are always asked to preach, teach class, do communion – whatever. Unfortunately, this meant we didn’t really get to see how the high schoolers did things, but it was obvious that they were well prepared & organized & enthusiastic!! We had Bible study for about an hour, then worship for about an hour, & then just as we thought things were winding up,. They wanted all the visitors to introduce themselves & say where they were from. To our surprise, we were not the only visitors! There were another 10 or 12 students there from Namwianga High School. The person in charge announced that the church’s choir would sing 2 songs, then the Namwianga singing group would sing 5 songs, & our group would sing 2 songs. Each of the Zambian groups sing a song as they are walking up to the front & as they are sitting down in their seats & these songs are not included in their allotment of sings, therefore, we heard a total of 13 songs - & many of the Zambian songs go on forever!!!
Those students all sat there & with an enthusiastic Amen at the end of every song! I can’t imagine our high school students ever taking on such a project much less being excited about sitting on a hard bench for over 3 hours at a time in 90 degree heat with no fans & listening to group after group after group singing to them!! It was inspirational to say the least!
We hurried home from worship to start lunch only to find that the power had been out for about an hour. We had planned on having spaghetti & had it all prepared except for frying the meat & cooking the spaghetti…. So we commenced to making a fire & just as it was getting going well, --- you guessed it – the electricity came back on. That’s the way it is here!! We all enjoyed our Spaghetti dinner with a big salad – something we don’t get a lot of here. That evening as we were preparing dinner, the power went out again. We had just finished frying tortillas for chips & were warming tortilla soup. We waiting a while to see if the power was coming back on – so when it didn’t we made a fire to finish cooking our soup over. We had a lovely dinner by candlelight that night. Shelby had brought one of the Haven babies home with her this day. Carole has come home with us a few times & is finally adjusting to having people love on her. Shelby is really going to have a hard time leaving her as it just breaks your heart to know that even though she will be clean & fed, that is about the extent of the attention she will receive. She is one of the more introverted kids & not one most people would drawn to, so it’s been really a good thing for Shelby to take her in.
We went to bed that night with no power which means no fan!! It was a really hot, still night & the mosquitoes were swarming like crazy. We had to put our mosquito nets down which makes it all the hotter, but we just couldn’t stand to be covered up as it was so hot & the mosquitoes were too bad not to be. It took forever to fall asleep, but About 3 am., everyone awoke to a huge thunderboom – it appeared to have struck somewhere close. The next morning, revealed that a tree about 100 feet away had been hit.
All this week, we’ve been having a lot more clouds & overcast skies which is nice as it keeps it cooler but also means the rains are coming closer. This is good news for the people here as they wait until a good rain before planting their fields. Unfortunately, this also means the power will be going out a lot more!!
Monday was a class day with students working on finishing projects & books that they have put off until the last. We’re trying to make sure that the girls are pretty much caught up in their studies also as we will probably have limited internet access after this week.
Tuesday, the rains came & in a big way!!! It had been cloudy all morning & as we were eating our lunch on the veranda, the rains started. The house we were in has a tin roof, so by the end of the meal, no one could hear anything but the rain!! Several students got out & played in the rain! It’s amazing how exciting rain can be, but when it’s so dry – & you haven’t really seen it in over 2 months, it’s big news!! It rained off & on all day, which also means the power was off & on all day too. It was amazing how cool it got – probably down into the low 60’s!!! It felt GREAT! I know we’re going to freeze when we get home, but with temps in the 90’s all the time, a little break was great! Don’t worry – I know it won’t last long!
We took our lovely yellow school bus straight from Klaus’ farm out to Jordan’s rock which is a large outcropping of rock at Namwianga where missionaries have been having picnics under the stars for the last 70 years! Roy & Kathy Merritt arranged for our group to have a cookout there. Their Zambian workers made us grilled chicken & steaks, potato salad, pea salad, baked beans, rolls, jello, & cake. We enjoyed the meal along with a bon-fire & singing under the stars. The Zambians love to sing & most are very good at it! It was a very enjoyable evening.
Saturday was a free day with most of us going into town. We did some last minute shopping & I dropped some fabric off at a tailor who is going to make me an African suit (skirt & top). All total with the fabric, it will cost me less than $20 for a custom-made outfit! I am looking forward to seeing it!
Sunday, several of us went into Kalomo to the High School church there. The boarding students that attend Kalomo high school cannot leave the campus, so they have formed a church there which is run entirely by the High School students. One problem with going with a group of white people, is that wherever we go to church, we are always asked to preach, teach class, do communion – whatever. Unfortunately, this meant we didn’t really get to see how the high schoolers did things, but it was obvious that they were well prepared & organized & enthusiastic!! We had Bible study for about an hour, then worship for about an hour, & then just as we thought things were winding up,. They wanted all the visitors to introduce themselves & say where they were from. To our surprise, we were not the only visitors! There were another 10 or 12 students there from Namwianga High School. The person in charge announced that the church’s choir would sing 2 songs, then the Namwianga singing group would sing 5 songs, & our group would sing 2 songs. Each of the Zambian groups sing a song as they are walking up to the front & as they are sitting down in their seats & these songs are not included in their allotment of sings, therefore, we heard a total of 13 songs - & many of the Zambian songs go on forever!!!
Those students all sat there & with an enthusiastic Amen at the end of every song! I can’t imagine our high school students ever taking on such a project much less being excited about sitting on a hard bench for over 3 hours at a time in 90 degree heat with no fans & listening to group after group after group singing to them!! It was inspirational to say the least!
We hurried home from worship to start lunch only to find that the power had been out for about an hour. We had planned on having spaghetti & had it all prepared except for frying the meat & cooking the spaghetti…. So we commenced to making a fire & just as it was getting going well, --- you guessed it – the electricity came back on. That’s the way it is here!! We all enjoyed our Spaghetti dinner with a big salad – something we don’t get a lot of here. That evening as we were preparing dinner, the power went out again. We had just finished frying tortillas for chips & were warming tortilla soup. We waiting a while to see if the power was coming back on – so when it didn’t we made a fire to finish cooking our soup over. We had a lovely dinner by candlelight that night. Shelby had brought one of the Haven babies home with her this day. Carole has come home with us a few times & is finally adjusting to having people love on her. Shelby is really going to have a hard time leaving her as it just breaks your heart to know that even though she will be clean & fed, that is about the extent of the attention she will receive. She is one of the more introverted kids & not one most people would drawn to, so it’s been really a good thing for Shelby to take her in.
We went to bed that night with no power which means no fan!! It was a really hot, still night & the mosquitoes were swarming like crazy. We had to put our mosquito nets down which makes it all the hotter, but we just couldn’t stand to be covered up as it was so hot & the mosquitoes were too bad not to be. It took forever to fall asleep, but About 3 am., everyone awoke to a huge thunderboom – it appeared to have struck somewhere close. The next morning, revealed that a tree about 100 feet away had been hit.
All this week, we’ve been having a lot more clouds & overcast skies which is nice as it keeps it cooler but also means the rains are coming closer. This is good news for the people here as they wait until a good rain before planting their fields. Unfortunately, this also means the power will be going out a lot more!!
Monday was a class day with students working on finishing projects & books that they have put off until the last. We’re trying to make sure that the girls are pretty much caught up in their studies also as we will probably have limited internet access after this week.
Tuesday, the rains came & in a big way!!! It had been cloudy all morning & as we were eating our lunch on the veranda, the rains started. The house we were in has a tin roof, so by the end of the meal, no one could hear anything but the rain!! Several students got out & played in the rain! It’s amazing how exciting rain can be, but when it’s so dry – & you haven’t really seen it in over 2 months, it’s big news!! It rained off & on all day, which also means the power was off & on all day too. It was amazing how cool it got – probably down into the low 60’s!!! It felt GREAT! I know we’re going to freeze when we get home, but with temps in the 90’s all the time, a little break was great! Don’t worry – I know it won’t last long!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
PARTY WEEK!
First of all, I must apologize for not getting my blogs done this week. Someone made the mistake of introducing me to a web site – totally tricky.com – that has 100 levels of riddles that you solve & move to the next level. Since I love puzzles & riddles, I have been obsessed with getting to the next level. In fact, so many of us are doing that here that very little work, homework, studying, etc is getting done!! But, alas, I am pulling myself away as I know many of you just can’t wait to hear what ELSE we’ve been up to!
Vann’s Sunday trip was a very long day – He enjoyed the music, dancing, worship, etc. but sometimes the horrendous bus rides here are enough to drive you nuts! Especially driving 3 hours each way on extremely bumpy roads to enjoy about 3 hours while there. But you do what you have to do!
It’s been a fairly busy week here. Several of us have been shopping for chitenges to have skirts or suits made from. The lady next door is a seamstress & is making outfits for several of us. I went to Choma (45 minute drive) last week & found some fabric, so I need to get it over there to her. We need outfits for our chapel presentation which will be the Friday after we get back.
Wednesday was Zambia’s independence Day!! We cancelled classes (we’ll use any excuse for that!) & attended the celebrations here. They were fairly low key – they had skits & dancing at the basic school here & played soccer games in the afternoon. Shelby even managed to get out there & play a little soccer!
On Friday, it was graduation day at the George Benson College. One of our workers was graduating, so we went to see her. The students graduating were all people who had finished their education several months ago, and had to take exams which take several months to grade & hear scores back from. It was VERY different from graduation at one of our colleges. It was supposed to start at 1:30 pm but as we were walking over, we met someone who told us that the guest of honor (the vice chancellor of the University of Zambia) was in Choma – still 45 minutes away. So – we turned around & went back later. The auditorium was decorated with colored toilet paper streamers wound across the ceiling. There were fluffy couches & chairs for the guests of honor up on the stage. The students came into the auditorium dancing down the aisles & as they came in a family member got up & danced with them to the front. There were no speakers encouraging the students to go out & change the world or anything of the sort. The speakers were the vice-chancellor, who bragged on the college, & one of the graduating students who chastised the college for not listening to the students concerns regarding extra tests required for graduation. I don’t think we’ll ever see that at Harding. Not twice, anyway!! The college choir sang 5 songs (The larger choir includes several of our students) & the vice chancellor bragged about the choir – especially pointing out the one our students were in. When diplomas are being handed out or awards given, the family members yell out & run down the aisles to give flowers, cakes, & gifts to their student. Quite a big deal, of course, as very few people in Zambia get to complete a college education!! At the end, they all dance out again!! Lots of fun!! Of course, our students are thinking Harding needs to make some adjustments to let their students dance down the aisles. It does lead to a more festive feeling!
One of the Zambian teachers here arranged for our group to accompany some of the George Benson College students on an overnight out-reach to a village. We made this an optional activity as it is getting closer to finals time & students are needing to work on papers, study for tests, etc. 8 of our group went with them & reported having a good time, although they got very little sleep. Apparently, the Zambians in that village stayed up a good part of the night visiting & singing, so sleep was difficult. They had a great time on the 4 1/2 hour trip back.
On Friday evening, the girls here planned a party for their Tonga tutors – which are George Benson college students. Each student here was paired with a GBC student to help them learn the Tonga language. I’m not sure how much Tonga learning is really going on, but they’ve really enjoyed spending time together. That is definitely one of the advantages of our being at Namwianga. They baked cookies & brownies all afternoon & then ate & watched “Father of the Bride” together.
On Saturday evening Shelby & Savannah both visited the Haven & brought back a toddler to spend the night. Most of the kids at the Haven have lost their mothers due to AIDS, or in childbirth, or a few of them, their parents just can’t take care of them. Some of the families will come back to get the children once they’re able to eat regular food around age 2. These kids are both extremely quiet & will hardly vocalize. This is true with most of the kids there. They just go to whoever will give them any attention. It’s really sad & I’m so tempted to come home with 2 or 3 of them!! We’re trying to at least give them some stimulation & love while we’re here. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child here, I believe it is about $50/month. I can find out more info for you!
Yesterday, Monday, we had to make a trip to Livingston to have our Visa’s renewed. It’s crazy, but they require you to show up at the immigration office every 30 days to renew your visa. Vann, Janice, Laura Oldenburg, & myself decided to make an adventure of it & we all went in to spend a few hours “away”. The immigration office was helpful & we had no problems there. We also needed to get money from the ATM’s for several people. We visited 4 ATM’s before finding one that worked & were able to get all we really needed. After that, we hit a local pharmacy to buy more meds for the clinic, did a little grocery shopping, & had lunch in a Chinese restaurant before heading home. We had to get ready for our party that night.
Most of my week has been spent preparing for our “Fall festival” party that we had last night. Even though it’s the middle of the summer here (& 90 degrees during the day) we needed to get into the “fall” spirit. We didn’t want to do anything really Halloween here as there is so much superstition & belief in witchcraft, etc, so we just focused on fun activities. We had a video scavenger hunt that was really fun, did a cake walk, carved pumpkins (small ones) & made taco soup, popcorn balls & caramel apples. I had to make the caramel from scratch with homemade Kayro syrup . It was a little grainy as the sugar here is much coarser than ours at home, but overall they turned out well. I was wishing I had written my friend, Kim, who makes wonderful gourmet caramel apples, to get her secrets. Ours just didn’t look nearly as pretty, but they tasted great. Everyone was on a definite sugar high after all that, but seemed to have a great time.
We are now looking at planning a big dinner to do before we leave as appreciation for all our workers & the missionaries that have been such a big help to us. More later as that comes together! We will probably not be doing a whole lot of other activities since our time here is winding down. Just 2 weeks from today & we’ll be leaving Namwianga. I think we’ll all have mixed feelings when it’s time to go!
Vann’s Sunday trip was a very long day – He enjoyed the music, dancing, worship, etc. but sometimes the horrendous bus rides here are enough to drive you nuts! Especially driving 3 hours each way on extremely bumpy roads to enjoy about 3 hours while there. But you do what you have to do!
It’s been a fairly busy week here. Several of us have been shopping for chitenges to have skirts or suits made from. The lady next door is a seamstress & is making outfits for several of us. I went to Choma (45 minute drive) last week & found some fabric, so I need to get it over there to her. We need outfits for our chapel presentation which will be the Friday after we get back.
Wednesday was Zambia’s independence Day!! We cancelled classes (we’ll use any excuse for that!) & attended the celebrations here. They were fairly low key – they had skits & dancing at the basic school here & played soccer games in the afternoon. Shelby even managed to get out there & play a little soccer!
On Friday, it was graduation day at the George Benson College. One of our workers was graduating, so we went to see her. The students graduating were all people who had finished their education several months ago, and had to take exams which take several months to grade & hear scores back from. It was VERY different from graduation at one of our colleges. It was supposed to start at 1:30 pm but as we were walking over, we met someone who told us that the guest of honor (the vice chancellor of the University of Zambia) was in Choma – still 45 minutes away. So – we turned around & went back later. The auditorium was decorated with colored toilet paper streamers wound across the ceiling. There were fluffy couches & chairs for the guests of honor up on the stage. The students came into the auditorium dancing down the aisles & as they came in a family member got up & danced with them to the front. There were no speakers encouraging the students to go out & change the world or anything of the sort. The speakers were the vice-chancellor, who bragged on the college, & one of the graduating students who chastised the college for not listening to the students concerns regarding extra tests required for graduation. I don’t think we’ll ever see that at Harding. Not twice, anyway!! The college choir sang 5 songs (The larger choir includes several of our students) & the vice chancellor bragged about the choir – especially pointing out the one our students were in. When diplomas are being handed out or awards given, the family members yell out & run down the aisles to give flowers, cakes, & gifts to their student. Quite a big deal, of course, as very few people in Zambia get to complete a college education!! At the end, they all dance out again!! Lots of fun!! Of course, our students are thinking Harding needs to make some adjustments to let their students dance down the aisles. It does lead to a more festive feeling!
One of the Zambian teachers here arranged for our group to accompany some of the George Benson College students on an overnight out-reach to a village. We made this an optional activity as it is getting closer to finals time & students are needing to work on papers, study for tests, etc. 8 of our group went with them & reported having a good time, although they got very little sleep. Apparently, the Zambians in that village stayed up a good part of the night visiting & singing, so sleep was difficult. They had a great time on the 4 1/2 hour trip back.
On Friday evening, the girls here planned a party for their Tonga tutors – which are George Benson college students. Each student here was paired with a GBC student to help them learn the Tonga language. I’m not sure how much Tonga learning is really going on, but they’ve really enjoyed spending time together. That is definitely one of the advantages of our being at Namwianga. They baked cookies & brownies all afternoon & then ate & watched “Father of the Bride” together.
On Saturday evening Shelby & Savannah both visited the Haven & brought back a toddler to spend the night. Most of the kids at the Haven have lost their mothers due to AIDS, or in childbirth, or a few of them, their parents just can’t take care of them. Some of the families will come back to get the children once they’re able to eat regular food around age 2. These kids are both extremely quiet & will hardly vocalize. This is true with most of the kids there. They just go to whoever will give them any attention. It’s really sad & I’m so tempted to come home with 2 or 3 of them!! We’re trying to at least give them some stimulation & love while we’re here. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child here, I believe it is about $50/month. I can find out more info for you!
Yesterday, Monday, we had to make a trip to Livingston to have our Visa’s renewed. It’s crazy, but they require you to show up at the immigration office every 30 days to renew your visa. Vann, Janice, Laura Oldenburg, & myself decided to make an adventure of it & we all went in to spend a few hours “away”. The immigration office was helpful & we had no problems there. We also needed to get money from the ATM’s for several people. We visited 4 ATM’s before finding one that worked & were able to get all we really needed. After that, we hit a local pharmacy to buy more meds for the clinic, did a little grocery shopping, & had lunch in a Chinese restaurant before heading home. We had to get ready for our party that night.
Most of my week has been spent preparing for our “Fall festival” party that we had last night. Even though it’s the middle of the summer here (& 90 degrees during the day) we needed to get into the “fall” spirit. We didn’t want to do anything really Halloween here as there is so much superstition & belief in witchcraft, etc, so we just focused on fun activities. We had a video scavenger hunt that was really fun, did a cake walk, carved pumpkins (small ones) & made taco soup, popcorn balls & caramel apples. I had to make the caramel from scratch with homemade Kayro syrup . It was a little grainy as the sugar here is much coarser than ours at home, but overall they turned out well. I was wishing I had written my friend, Kim, who makes wonderful gourmet caramel apples, to get her secrets. Ours just didn’t look nearly as pretty, but they tasted great. Everyone was on a definite sugar high after all that, but seemed to have a great time.
We are now looking at planning a big dinner to do before we leave as appreciation for all our workers & the missionaries that have been such a big help to us. More later as that comes together! We will probably not be doing a whole lot of other activities since our time here is winding down. Just 2 weeks from today & we’ll be leaving Namwianga. I think we’ll all have mixed feelings when it’s time to go!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
DANCE FEVER!
This week has gone by fast since we were in Lusaka for Tues & Wed.
On Friday, Roy drove to Livingstone to pick up Klay Bartee & Jeff Hopper. Klay is on the board of directors for Namwianga Mission & a Harding faculty (& friend of Vann's) & Jeff is the director of Harding's International Studies Program. Both were coming to assess how the semester is going & will soon be determining the future of this program in Africa. I have no doubt they will feel things are going well & will want to continue it.
We wanted to give Jeff a little bit of Africa culture during the short time he's here (Klay comes every summer with the Zambia Medical Missions group). So - Yesterday (Saturday) we went out to Leonard, our cook's, village where his family played instruments for us. They had a banjo that they were given this summer, but the rest were homemade stringed & drum instruments. They were really quite good & Klay joined them on the harmonica. They had several children ranging from about 4 - 10 in age dancing the native dances for us. Of course, we had to join in!! If I would just do that a couple hours every day, I'd be in great shape!! Everyone had a GREAT time! Leonard is really fun & has been such a blessing to this group!
Today, Vann has gone with most of the group to a village about an hour & a half away where they were going to worship, eat lunch, & enjoy native dancing. They left at 7:45 this morning & returned at 6:15. They were exhausted. It ended up that the trip was actually 3 hours each way on a washboard, pothole ridden road so they had to just creep along the whole way.
We had already made plans to have a special dinner tonight before we knew about this big day, so I & a few students stayed to work on that. We worshipped with the George Benson group & then set to work. We're having a special Italian feast that some of the students planned for! Should be yummy! More about Vann's day & some pictures of that coming up soon.
On Friday, Roy drove to Livingstone to pick up Klay Bartee & Jeff Hopper. Klay is on the board of directors for Namwianga Mission & a Harding faculty (& friend of Vann's) & Jeff is the director of Harding's International Studies Program. Both were coming to assess how the semester is going & will soon be determining the future of this program in Africa. I have no doubt they will feel things are going well & will want to continue it.
We wanted to give Jeff a little bit of Africa culture during the short time he's here (Klay comes every summer with the Zambia Medical Missions group). So - Yesterday (Saturday) we went out to Leonard, our cook's, village where his family played instruments for us. They had a banjo that they were given this summer, but the rest were homemade stringed & drum instruments. They were really quite good & Klay joined them on the harmonica. They had several children ranging from about 4 - 10 in age dancing the native dances for us. Of course, we had to join in!! If I would just do that a couple hours every day, I'd be in great shape!! Everyone had a GREAT time! Leonard is really fun & has been such a blessing to this group!
Today, Vann has gone with most of the group to a village about an hour & a half away where they were going to worship, eat lunch, & enjoy native dancing. They left at 7:45 this morning & returned at 6:15. They were exhausted. It ended up that the trip was actually 3 hours each way on a washboard, pothole ridden road so they had to just creep along the whole way.
We had already made plans to have a special dinner tonight before we knew about this big day, so I & a few students stayed to work on that. We worshipped with the George Benson group & then set to work. We're having a special Italian feast that some of the students planned for! Should be yummy! More about Vann's day & some pictures of that coming up soon.
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