Monday 20th May
Time is a strange
thing! I woke this morning at what was apparently 5.30 but it was
already light outside!! We are entering winter here and the sun rises
a little after 6 am and sets a little before 6pm. There is probably
no more than a half hour difference between sunrise in summer and
winter. Night and day arrive quickly – so unless something very
strange had happened to our planet overnight my mobile was misleading
me! I notice the position of the sun more here in Zambia – probably
because the sun rises quickly and at midday you have to stretch your
neck to see it and day and night arise and depart very quickly! With
new technology our devices can synchronise themselves to external
clocks and I think this is my problem!!
Until a few days
ago my clock was a wristwatch which used to be my father's. To set it
you wind the hands around to the correct position and the battery
does the rest. A few days ago the watch stopped and since then I have
relied on my laptop and mobile phone. I suspect both have been set to
different time zones – both wrong!
I think I now have
corrected the time zones! It is apparently 10.14 according to my
laptop and 9.18 according to my phone – which, before adjustment,
would previously have recorded 8.13!! So I think I am now sorted!!I
will wait for everything to synchronise – at least I am reasonably
confident that it is the 20th May and the year is 2019!!
It has been a
reasonably busy few days. On Friday I went to PIZZ School were I met
some of the children that are being sponsored in schools and colleges
around Monze. I was particularly keen to meet Rosario and Kayford who
are two children in grade 11 at secondary school.
PIZZ School was
established as a Basic School. This caters for children from grades 1
to 9. However to complete their secondary education the children need
to complete a further 3 years. To be eligible to progress, the
children need to pass an exam at the end of grade 9. The students at
PIZZ, despite their huge disadvantages, have been very successful in
passing this exam. After such effort, I feel that these children
deserve to continue with education, so I try to raise some funds to
secure their secondary education. Last year a school in the
Cotswolds organised a sponsored walk were a class of 8 and 9 year
olds walked 10Km and returned to a bowl of rice and beans. Their
efforts raised more than the £1,800 needed to secure the schooling
of Rosario and Kayford.
I also met three
students at nursing school, another secondary student who is able to
complete his schooling thanks to my daughters 50 mile run and a girl
desperate to return to school to finish her education.
PIZZ School looks
after orphaned and otherwise vulnerable children. When I meet the
children I hear some of their stories and start to understand what
being vulnerable means. A child whose parents both died was taken in
by an aunt who also died, she was then taken in by a friend of the
aunt and abused by the husband, was chased out of the house and is
currently being looked after by an elderly woman who struggles to
raise enough to feed herself. This is just one of so many examples of
a vulnerable child here in Monze.
At the beginning
of the year I was offered some reading books from a school in
Cheltenham. On Friday I was able to see that they had arrived safely
and were very much appreciated by the children and staff at PIZZ
School. Many books sent from the UK don't fit in with the syllabus or
the culture, however these are ideal books to encourage the children
to learn English and will be very helpful for the school. Hands
Around the World is a small charity that establishes very close links
with its overseas partners. This enables us to know what happens to
the money and goods we send. To be able to report on individual
children or donations made enables a much better connection to be
made. The reaction of the head at the school which sent the books
says it all. “Oh my word –
that has made my whole weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I
am delighted to be able to help – and I have the huge satisfaction
and privilege of meeting the children and seeing their beaming
smiles!
I visited
Jennipher on Saturday. For some reason I was a little apprehensive
about the journey. I have travelled to Pemba many times. I like to
use local transport but in general I avoid the little buses, however
when I visit Pemba there is little option. The buses are inevitably
overloaded and driven by young men with little regard to safety. It
is the most dangerous activity I take part in! However, I should be
used to it by now! As it happened my driver was relatively careful
and drove at a reasonable pace. The seat I perched upon was worse for
wear –i.e. broken! The back wasn't able to provide support and the
base fell apart if the seat was raised – it was meant to collapse
and be moved aside to let passengers in and out. The collapsing bit
it fulfilled!!
Anyway I arrived
safely in Pemba. The children have grown a lot in two years and look
healthy. Obadia is now a young man – no longer to be bounced on my
knee! I met Maria – the daughter on Selina –for the first time –
she is more than a year old now she is a chubby little girl.
Jennipher and Maggie were also about together with a few friends.
I have noticed the
children this year in Zambia. The weather here makes a huge
difference and the fact that in the poorer compounds there are no
fences around houses. The children have a huge playground were they
can join other families and invent games. They spend their time
laughing and joking and getting up to mischief. Life would be great
if they weren't hungry!
Jennipher's
“estate” is growing!! Soloman is a good builder. He makes his own
bricks and has constructed a piggery, extended the house to provide a
big lounge, built a kitchen and another small house. The sick woman
and her two children are currently staying with Jennipher. She says
she will get Soloman to build them a small house in the grounds so
that they can made their permanent home with them.
The water
authority, Swasco, has installed a meter for Jennipher's tap. This
means she can no longer afford to provide water for her neighbours as
she has in the past.
It was good to see
the family again. Selina was at school doing some activities, but
will visit Monze with Jennipher on Wednesday.
Buses were nowhere
to be seen for the return journey, but Jennipher flagged down a car
to take me back to Monze. I squeezed on the back seat with another
three passengers!
In the afternoon
as the sun is setting it is nice to sit outside under the veranda and
enjoy the peace and quiet of this place. The other day I watched a
snake eagle on top of a electricity pole the other side of the wall
of the Curia. I hoped it would fly in my direction, but was
disappointed. It flew low away for my house. I also caught a glimpse
of a black stork – another beautiful bird that frequents this area.
Church took over
much of yesterday. Before mass George persuaded me to join him in the
shelter reserved for men – although some women were also selling
Chibanto –non- alcoholic sweet beer. Fr. Clement celebrated mass.
The cook at the
church called me over and told me that they had had a robbery at the
village where she lives. The thieves stole solar panels which were
powered the pump for the water supply – so they now have no water.
Unfortunately thefts such as these are not uncommon.
After mass a nun
was selling booklets. I wanted to see if there was anything providing
a local insight. I have friends who are concerned about witchcraft
here in Zambia and I was able to pick up a couple of books giving a
Christian perspective on the issue. The standard of medical care in
Zambia is poor and so many people die of what we would regard as
completely preventable (or curable) causes. Many people still believe
that in some way they have been cursed, or bewitched, because the
cause seems so mysterious.
The power of
suggestion is very powerful. Recently in the UK there was a programme
where a doctor did an experiment where he gave people tablets
containing nothing of any medical significance. The idea was to test
the power of suggestion – the placebo effect. Even he was amazed at
the results. People in debilitating pain became almost pain free and
could move comfortably in a way they hadn't experienced for years.
About 40% gained some benefits which even lasted when they knew the
tablets had no effect in themselves.
It is not
surprising then that “witchdoctors” are able to 'demonstrate'
their healing powers. Unfortunately they also use this power to ill
effect. There are traditional healers however that have gained
knowledge of herbs and other plants which can help with all sorts of
ailments. I often wish that the traditional healers and modern medics
could work closer together to provide a better service.
There was a larger
group at St. Veronica's in the afternoon. It was decided to visit
some of those who hadn't attended recently to see if they had
problems. So after the meeting we all went around to
the house of one
of the members. In the UK I would find this quite intimidating and
intrusive, but here the culture is very different! The lady in
question was seated on the floor. She said that she had gone to a
funeral at a village in the Northern Province where it was still
raining. She contracted a severe form of malaria and was still trying
to recover.
Whoever I talk to
this year tells me that this year there will be severe hunger. What I
see in Monze is the tip of the iceberg, in the rural areas the impact
will be huge.
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment