Wednesday 14th
June
Ben is now on his way to Lusaka
. There was a slight
misunderstanding with the taxi driver and he started at the
destination – Tooters Roadhouse ( as our bus station in Monze is
known!) - rather than the starting point, losing valuable minutes.
Whether if the taxi had been on time a seat would have been available
on the 8.40 bus I doubt. I didn't see anyone getting off in Monze.
Monze is on the Livingstone – Lusaka route. To book a ticket on the
bus the operator needs to know there will be a seat available. Since
most buses leave Livingstone full, the only chance is if someone
disembarks at Monze. This also means you have to wait until the bus
has set off from Livingstone or at least has the full complement of
passengers before knowing the situation.
In the event, the Shalom bus was full. On Ben's trip to Livingstone
he was enticed to use an F & M bus – not one with which I was
familiar. They seem to run a semi-official service from Roadhouse –
using minibuses. (Roadhouse is usually reserved for coaches). Anyway
Ben seemed happy with their service and, having being assured that
they could cope with his luggage, he booked the 9.30 bus. As it
happened I was also impressed – particularly as the bus arrived and
departed before 9.30am, something I don't think I have experienced
before in Zambia. Ben was given a seat and safely wedged in with his
second case as he left Monze!!
THE HERON ON HIS FAVOURITE PERCH AS SEEN FROM UNDER MY VERANDA
My mind was pre-occupied over the weekend by Helen's “Race to the
Tower”. Unfortunately things didn't go well! Shortly after the
start she developed a migraine. However, Helen is not one to give up
easily, so she took a couple of tablets and continued. Unfortunately
things got worse as she became dehydrated and subsequently became
over-hydrated trying to compensate. This set of circumstances started
a reaction which messed up the bodies balance, leading to some
potentially very serious consequences. Helen eventually had to give
up, being more or less at the state of collapse. Somehow she reached
the final marshalling point 46 miles (73 Km) from the start. At this
point they recognised something was seriously wrong and called an
ambulance to take her to hospital. She stayed in Gloucester Royal
Hospital over Saturday night, was transferred to Cheltenham General
on Sunday and discharged on Monday. The doctors were amazed that she
had managed to get so far in her condition. Apparently she was
suffering from a known problem that affects elite athletes and
particularly those undertaking extreme challenges such as Helen was
attempting. It was identified during a study at the Boston Marathon a
few years back and is apparently sometimes referred to as the Boston
Marathon Syndrome!
We live in a world of competition and targets. Too often success or
failure is measured by a very limited set of criteria. However,
sometimes less can mean more. Jean Vanier tells of the time that
they opened a bottle of champagne because one of their community
manage to wee in the toilet. Something not often recognised as a
major achievement. So often we just look at raw statistics. We
compare schools or hospitals in a “league table” but we don't
know whether the students came to the school with severe
disadvantages, or the patients arrived with little chance of
survival. Our measurements are crude and can take no account of many
factors where figures cannot apply.
Last Friday we watched the children play football and netball. Yes,
the teams who scored the most goals showed some ability, but for me
the sheer exuberance of the children when goals were scored told me
much more about the value of PIZZ School! How can you measure that!!
Helen might have only – I said only!- covered 46 miles (in fact she
did a slight detour and her phone recorded 47.8 miles) out of an
intended 53 miles. However, being as ill as she was for much of the
way, I would claim that the effort required far exceeded 53 miles
under normal circumstances. Sometimes less really can be more!!
My Sunday was spent largely at church and St. Veronica's – though I
did spare a couple of hours to battle with Fr. Clement and Fr. John
on the pool table. Having made my comments about competition, I need
to confess my determination to win – appropriately therefore after
an excellent start, I was put firmly in my place by Fr. Clement!!
Ben arrived back at lunchtime yesterday. I had just made an excursion
to the market and bought a lot of chitenge material – there were a
lot of happy marketeers!!
I helped Ben with his packing. We only had half a dozen – well
maybe 10 - baskets to pack – some fairly small. I had ordered more
but it appears they have yet to be made. It would be a shame for Ben
to return with an empty case - hence the chitenges. I have a motto
when packing, learnt when I had a minibus, which was sometimes used
as a removal van. This was “yes it will”! Ben was dubous that the
Zambian baskets would fit, and if they did the English ones certainly
would not! By the time the 20 bead bags and 20 – 30 2 metre lengths
of cotton cloth were also eased into place, I was satisfied that the
case was close enough to the 23 Kg limit to be worth taking. There
was still a little room in Ben's other case for any excess!
Jennipher and Obert visited yesterday afternoon and Ben went to say a
final farewell to the Siangas and Killan. I followed a few minutes
later.
When Ben set out four weeks ago he expected to spend a significant
time installing solar lighting in the school classrooms. In the event
the equipment is still at Lusake Airport, while we try to negotiate
reasonable costs. If Ben's only reason for coming to Zambia was to
install lighting this trip would have been a disaster! However, the
real importance of such visits is for people to meet and to touch
each other's lives. Unless, when you meet another, you are changed,
that encounter was at best superficial. We never know the impact we
have on another, a smile, a cross word – each matters, and has an
effect. Ben embraced the whole experience and met many during this
short period – I am sure he will be changed, as will those he met.
With my love and prayers,
Chris
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