Well hello again! Time continues to whizz by and another 3 weeks have gone since I last wrote. I’ve been super busy and loads has happened so I’ll attempt to sum it up here without writing pages and pages! Knowing me though, that might be a struggle.
Since I last wrote I’ve been to Lusaka for a long weekend, had a week at home planning the conference and then we had the conference last week. I’ll start with Lusaka as that was the first thing that happened...
John, Jude and the boys were heading down to visit a friend of theirs for a long weekend so I decided to hitch a lift. Lusaka is the capital city and I’ve not had chance to spend any time there until this weekend. As it happens some friends from England are currently working in Lusaka, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit Mia and Sian as well as spend some time in Lusaka.
So we packed up the car and set off...but, nothing here is ever without an adventure and, true to form, there was an adventure on route! The car had overheated previously but had seemed to be running ok for weeks, until we were half way to Lusaka in the midday heat and slowed down at a level crossing when the temperature gauge shot up. From that point on, we drove for 50 minutes to an hour before having to sit for an hour or so and wait for the engine to cool and refill the water. This was until the last part of the journey when we had to stop after 20 minutes and sit in the dark at the side of the road, thankfully by a petrol station so we could get lots of water to put in the radiator! We arrived in Lusaka about 5 hours later than planned and I didn’t make it to Mia and Sian’s until the next day. When I did eventually make it, I ended up getting a lift in Jon’s friend’s very nice subaru impreza! Jon’s friend is a rally driver and his car is fitted with all sorts of gadgets and goes very fast (that’s the technical way of describing it!) It was all I could do not to laugh when he accelerated and the car zoomed off leaving me stuck to the back of the seat!
I had a lovely weekend with Mia and Sian. They are doing lots of creative work with street children (http://www.myspace.com/creativekidsinternational) in the capital and are working alongside a theatre company. Barefeet Theatre (http://www.barefeettheatre.org) were working at a family day at Munda Wanga, a huge park just outside the city, and Mia and Sian were complimenting the street theatre with face painting! So, turns out a day of face painting for Love Burnage stood me in good stead and before I knew it I was surrounded by loads of little kids all wanting their face painted! Brilliant!!
The rest of the weekend was lovely and relaxing. We took it easy, had lots of good food and even went to the final night of Zambian Fashion Week, which involved some amazing outfits on the catwalk made with some great african fabrics. It was also the first time I got to use Zambian public transport as we use the car up here. The bus system is crazy but lots of fun. People talk to each other in buses here and it makes for an interesting trip. I bumped my head getting off one bus and a random guy stopped his conversation to rub my head better...bless him! We also got a taxi of death home one night, which had to be bump started after we had stopped for petrol and then the passenger door just feel open when we went round a corner - thankfully we were all in the back seat and made it home safely.
I ended up staying an extra day in Lusaka as the car wasn’t quite mended and then ended up getting a bus back up to Chingola anyway as the car still wasn’t mended. Lusaka bus station is quite a place. Before I got out the taxi I’d already had to shout at some guys not to carry my bags for me as I wasn’t going to pay them, then watched two guys have a fight (literally punching each other) over who’s coach company I was going to travel with (neither of theirs having seen the way they do business!) and ended up having to stand still and not move as some guy had decided he was going to show me where the coach company a friend had recommended to me set off from - again expecting me to pay him. Eventually he gave up and I wandered off to find the coach and was safely on route by 6.15am. I’m pleased to report that the rest of the day was fairly uneventful and I made it home safe and sound!
The next week was a little hectic to say the least. Jon and Jude were stuck in Lusaka waiting for the car to get fixed so Ruth, Andy and I were holding the fort up here. We were busy buying the fertiliser and cabbage seed for the five pastors, which you would think wouldn’t be too difficult, but turns out there’s a shortage of fertiliser at the moment as the main producer in Zambia shut down and it all has to be imported. After trekking round many shops we found one that was expecting a delivery later that day and managed to return the next morning and get all we needed...although it’s hard to negotiate the price when the guy knows you can’t get hold of the fertiliser anywhere else!
That day was also the presidential election day following the death of the president a month ago. People are very vociferous about politics here...it wasn’t unusual to hear a very loud political debate on a bus, or see a procession of cars plastered in political posters all beeping their horns with people hanging out of the windows shouting!
The next day was great. I had to sort out the food for the conference which involved a trip to Kitwe market, the largest market in the region we are in. It took about 15 minutes to walk across it, which was partly due to size and partly due to it being a Krypton Factor style assault course! Everywhere I went I was followed by shouts of “Hey you, Mzungu, buy this!” Mzungu’s (white people) are seen as being rich so people reckon we’re a good bet to spend money. We’re also a novelty which meant that people kept grabbing my hand and trying to talk to me. If I hadn’t been with Vincent I might still be in there now trying to escape!
It was while I was walking through the market that it dawned on me that I now no longer just enjoy being in Africa, but I actually love it! I know that sounds a little cheesy, but it’s true! I love the way everything is a little random, everyone is so friendly and each day is totally unpredictable.
Anyway, I managed to find all the food I needed and was also totally amazed by a guy who picked up the giantest bag of cabbages I’ve ever seen (about 40 cabages) and carried them to my car on his shoulders! He did look a little like he might fall over, but he did it! By the time I got home I was shattered from the effort of fighting my way around the market and haggling with people to get everything at a good price.
Oh, that was the day of comedy transport as well. Jon’s car never did get mended and he’d borrowed a truck with two seats and a double mattress in the back to make it a little more comfortable for extra passengers! In the morning I’d shared the back with a live chicken which I was a little scared of and on the way home I was squished in between cabbages, dried fish, beans and 75kg of mealie meal!
On the Sunday we packed up the cars and set off to Sekela where we were holding the conference. Sekela is a strange place, it’s a rural village but it’s right next to the main road! We set up camp next to the church (and the road....great, big loud trucks rumbling past through all the night!) under the watchful eyes of about 30 local kids, who didn’t stop watching us all week!
I think last week was the best week so far - it was amazing on so many counts. The conference itself seemed to go fairly smoothly, given that it was in the middle of nowhere and some amazing storms! We took a bit of a back seat in the leadership as the five pastors we have been working with stepped up to the mark and lead most of the sessions. This was great to see as it proves just how much they are onboard with what we are working towards and believe it’s part of God’s plan for their area. Another guy we have met came to help out and it was clear that they all hit it off and formed some strong friendship bonds in the time we were all together.
The people attending the conference all seemed to enjoy it...I say seemed as most of the conversation was in Bemba, the local dialect, so I had to read body language and pick up snippets of conversations! The week finished with the five pastors helping people put in place some plans for how to go forward from now and there are now 10 more small study groups due to begin in the near future. When I think about how many peoples lives this could now touch I find it really exciting!
The small groups will provide places for people to ask questions and gain some much needed teaching, starting with the basics of the christian faith and building on them over the next year. There are already lots of churches in the rural villages, but many are without any resources or teaching, many don’t even have pastors, many pastors don’t even have Bibles and people are held back by a lack of understanding with no way to learn more. There are of course some exceptions with some people of amazing faith who have learnt what they know of God through very real experiences and a living relationship with him and meeting these people is such a privilege!
For me the highlight of the week was spending time with the ladies in the “kitchen”! Despite the fact that their English was poor and my Bemba non-existent, we had a great time and I haven’t laughed so much in weeks. Everything I said or did seemed to amuse them, particularly the speed I walked at...way faster than the average african saunter. My skin going pink in the sun (despite factor 50) was hysterical and my attempts as speaking Bemba endless fun. My effort at cooking enshima resulted in fits of laughter as I had to give up being too weak to stir the huge pot of white, tasteless goop that is the staple food of Zambia! Best of all though was my inability to avoid the smoke from the fire and the resulting tears streaming down my face as my eyes just couldn’t cope!
Cooking involved an open fire with wood and charcoal and three big stones to support the pot. There was a bore-hole close to the church so we could easily get water - I tried carrying a bucket on my head but was nowhere near as graceful as the African ladies!
The ladies started teaching me some Bemba and ended up getting a few kids to help as their English was a little better. My Bemba is limited to kitchen phrases like “I am cooking chicken everyday” or “The smoke is going in my eyes!” but it’s better than it was. In return for their Bemba lessons I taught the kids a loads of silly tricks and games my Grandad taught me years ago. They thought it was hysterical and duly followed me round for the rest of the week. I was really touched when, as we were leaving, one of the ladies gave me a couple of rings and bracelets she was wearing as a gift and they managed to tell me in a mixture of broken English and mime that they would be sad when I was gone as they wouldn’t laugh anywhere near as much!
The week was also full of randomness! I was in the middle of a little Bible study outside when 6 piglets wandered by. When washing in the bathroom (a straw enclosure with a big metal bowl of hot water) I constantly wondered if a chicken might stroll in. Going to the toilet was best before dark so you could at least see the spiders! Every night I wandered if my tent would stay dry as torrential rain and huge winds battered around the tent. If it hadn’t been so hot I had to sleep on top of my sleeping bag I would have thought I was in Wales. I’m pleased to report though that my tent was a superstar and stayed dry. I had possibly the freshest chicken I’ve ever eaten given that it was running around in the morning, dead and plucked by lunch time and cooked to perfection by tea time! Each morning I was woken at about 4am by everyone getting up for an early morning African style prayer meeting....very loud and very long! At first it drove me nuts, I just wanted to sleep, but by the end of the week I was quite enjoying listening to it through my tent walls. It was quite amazing hearing the sound of 40 men singing and praising God with that much gusto that early in the morning!
The storms were astounding. One night we were stood outside watching 4 or 5 storms raging in all directions. The lightening was forking right down to the horizon in all directions and the thunder was so loud. Eventually one of the storms reached us and I had to dive for cover in the tent!
So as you can probably tell, I had a great week last week. The only down side was that the last day of the conference was the last time our team would all be together with the five pastors as Jon, Jude, Ethan, Josh and Jacob were starting their journey back to Burnage the next day. Even though I wasn’t actually saying goodbye to all the pastors I was still reduced to a crying wreck as it’s been such a special time so far. We had a time of prayer together and reflected a little on what we have done so far and what there still is to do. Overall, it was a positive time of encouragement...yet I still cried big girl that I am!
Jon, Jude and the boys set off yesterday morning and since then Andy, Ruth and I have been busy moving into their flat as the lease on our one ran out today. All done now! Ruth and Andy tried to visit Kapeshi yesterday to say goodbye as they leave on Monday, but had to abort the trip as the road is already impassable following a week of storms.
So, my time here is nearly over. The thought of leaving makes me really sad, but the thought of seeing all you guys back home makes me really happy! I think that I’ll be spending two more weeks in Chingola following up the conference and meeting with the guys to look at the next steps and help visit some of the people who came to the conference and encourage them as they start small groups. This may be made slightly more complicated by the current road conditions!
I was planning on driving to the Falconer Home, it would be about a seven hour drive I think, but given the current storms and worsening road conditions I have decided it would be foolish to set off by road. I would be travelling alone and have heard that parts of the road nearing Kabompo are quite pot holed. This would be hard work in the dry season but once the pot holes are full of water it’s a whole lot harder as you have no idea quite what is under the puddles. I’ve decided it would be better to switch my plans around and try and get a flight from Lusaka to the home towards the end of the month as I will be heading down to Lusaka anyway. I have contacted a small company who run internal flights to see if they have anything going in that direction anyway (which would make it cheaper!) and if they can fit me on a plane. I am really looking forward to visiting and hope that the plans can be put in place to facilitate it!
That leaves me with about a week left, when I’m planning a little holiday time with a return to Victoria Falls to see them now there’s been some rain (they were at their emptiest when I went in September) and hopefully popping over to Botswana visit Chobe Game Reserve and see lots of animals! Then it’ll be time to head home to sunny (or cold and snowy!) Burnage!
And that just about sums up my news! Once again, I’ve waffled on for ages and ages so I hope you had a comfortable chair if you’ve made it this far! One last thing...you are probably aware that I have been raising money to fund my time out here working with Dignity. I am well on the way to meeting the costs of the trip but am still falling a little short. If you feel it is right to do so, any contributions towards the costs would be gratefully received and can be made through my just giving page (http://www.justgiving.com/jobomohoho). Many thanks!
Well, I must go, it’s getting late and Andy is waiting at home to come and pick me up from the internet place...my love to you all. I’m looking forward to catching up with you all in about a months time!!!!!!!!! jo x
(ps. I tried to add to some piccies to this entry, but the internet connection wasn't having any of it so I'm afraid you'll have to look at them on facebook!)
