Tuesday 23rd July
All is well!
My camera came
back into life after I charged up some new batteries. I have Internet
access back and this morning I managed to transfer some cash to bring
my bank balance back into credit! So life is good!!
I awoke on
Sunday morning to find I had no power. I had slept in a little and it
was after 8 am so I wasn't surprised. I assumed that Zesco were doing
work and that power would be restored in the evening.
I went to mass
at Our Lady of the Wayside and met a few more friends. It was useful
to have reflected on the Gospel the previous Sunday. Since the
service is in Chitonga I don't understand any of it!! Perhaps that
isn't entirely true, because the format is the same, I am aware of
what stage the service has reached and know the standard prayers.
However, I was able to think a bit more about the story of Martha and
Mary. Mary who just sat and listened to Jesus and Martha who rushed
around doing things of less importance. We live in a world where
activity seems to be admired, however pointless and spending time
with others – particularly listening is often frowned upon as
wasted time. I have come to realise that the great gift I was given
when made redundant 17 years ago was the freedom to be available to
listen. Yet too often I fill my life with activity of less
importance.
After mass I had
a sandwich and headed for St. Veronica's section meeting. I called in
on a lady who said she would direct me to this week's location (the
meetings move between the homes of the members each week). She
invited me into her house while she got ready to come with me. I was
aware that her family had suffered a great tragedy and asked how they
were. For the next hour or so she shared the details of the horrific
events. A story of suffering, courage, forgiveness and outstanding
loyalty. I listened! I was aware that here at least I was able to
fulfil the role of Mary and I had no doubt of the presence of the
Lord. It was an enormous privilege that someone who I don't know well
was happy to share such personal and private events with me. I was
deeply moved and promised to remember the family in my prayers,
please will you also pray for her and her family.
By the time we
arrived at the meeting it was winding up. I was reprimanded for being
late, but knew that I had already spent time deep in prayer.
They were making
preparations for the feast of St Veronica on 16th August.
I told the group that I wouldn't be there. I mentioned that Veronica
was a special name for me. My mother and a cousin who recently died
were called Veronica. They were both very gentle people who would put
themselves out to help anyone and their lives were an inspiration to
me. I asked them to remember my special Veronicas on the feast day.
There will be a special mass followed by a celebration and meal for
the Small Christian Community.
I returned home
and unsurprisingly the power was still off. I used the laptop until
the battery power ran out and then read for a while. I have candles
and a torch so I could cope with the dark.
I expected that
at about 20 hrs normal service would be restored and was a little
surprised when the time passed and there was no change. I decided to
look outside, only to find that mine was the only house in darkness!
I tried lights in the corridor – they too filed to work. I decided
to head for the security guard and ask him why I had been singled out
to continue in darkness. He suggested a trip switch, but didn't seem
to know how to address the issue, so he suggested I spoke to a member
of the projects staff who was outside her house. Eventually she came
around and confirmed that they use a meter and someone must have
forgotten to top it up!! She offered her house for me to make a meal,
but I decided to chop up a few vegetables and make a coleslaw, then
follow it with a bowl of cornflakes and a couple of glasses of mango
juice!! (A well balanced meal!)
Yesterday by 9
hrs power was back on and I celebrated in the traditional way by
making a cup of tea! Still suffering from Internet failure, I went to
the cafe to check my bank account and to see if there were any
important e-mails. At 8 hrs the cafe was closed. I asked the guy in a
neighbouring shop what time they opened – he confirmed 8 hrs.
Almost next door is HHI, so I took the opportunity to call around and
ask if anyone knew anything about bee-suits! I was directed to Joseph
who expected them, though not from me! I took the opportunity to pass
the goods over to Joseph who accepted them gratefully and promised me
a trip to Gwembe where their project was based, if I could fit it in.
Makwembo
Internet Cafe now open I proceeded to sort my business and returned
for another cuppa before heading out again. Raymond was going to
collect me and take me to the PESSA project the other side of
Hichaanga Dam. I have been involved with this project for many years.
They struggle to support a few elderly and disabled people through
growing a few crops. Floods and drought destroyed most of the maize –
a little harvest of cow peas was all that came from the rainy season.
Animals have broken into the garden and helped themselves to the
impwa! One Ox died and the cart is in need of resuscitation, but the
well is in good condition and still providing water – if only for
washing clothes at the moment – so there are plenty of challenges
ahead!
Diven joined me
for banana sandwiches. I hadn't managed to get to the hospital during
working hours so I headed over and looked for familiar faces. There
have been a lot of changes – even in the past 8 months. The long
term secretary and receptionist have moved. The acting Medical
Superintendent has been replaced by another and other changes have
occurred. I headed for Teddy's office. I have known Teddy since at
least 2004 so it would be good to meet an old friend. I entered his
office to be greeted by Sichone. He used to work in the stores and in
2004 I introduced him to a new stock control system, which despite
our joint efforts was never fully implemented. As we got down to
catching up on the past year or two, I received a call from
Jennipher. She had just arrived at the hospital as a patient. Someone
had beaten her with a stick and kicked her and she needed treatment.
It is a sad fact that too many disputes here are settled with
violence. I went to the outpatients department to meet her. She was
walking but in pain. She needed a medical report to present to the
police and needed 50 Kw (£6) which seems a lot of money. She was
going to be seen by the doctor and given some medicine, so I left her
and she was going to call later for a coffee.
On my return to
the flat I decided to ring the MTN helpline once again (they don't
appear to work at weekends!) A girl checked my account and found that
I had failed to activate the data bundle and the connection was just
eating my talktime. I had little choice but to take the hit and buy
some more – this time making sure that the data bundle was
confirmed. 1 GB should keep me going for the rest of my stay.
I met Jennipher
as I headed to pick up some talktime. She decided to head straight
for Pemba. Soloman wasn't around when the incident occurred and she
was afraid he might be very angry and retaliate, so she wanted to
return quickly.
At last I was
back on the Net! I realise just how dependant on it I have become.
While in Zambia it is important to feed back as much information as
possible – not only in my blog, but in reports to the many groups
and individuals who have an interest in what I am doing. Somehow a
report written a few weeks later when I am back in the UK hasn't the
impact, more importantly it is too late to interact and respond to
the thoughts of those back home. Only a few years back this
communication would be impossible.
I was invited to
supper by Fr. Clement and it was good to chat over a meal. Fr.
Gabriel from St. Mary's parish about 12km to the west of Monze joined
us and was interested about my views of the church in the UK and how
we encouraged the youth. Unfortunately I had to say that most young
people find the church irrelevant and it isn't surprising when they
live in a world of Facebook, I-pads and smartphones and the church
sings hymns from the 18th and 19th century!
Personally I think we need to embrace the new technology and not be
afraid to use it in the services. I told them that people rarely
laugh or even smile during services, which is very different from
what I experience here in Zambia where mass is a wonderful joyous
occasion where people are undoubtedly celebrating.
After supper Fr.
Clement, Fr. Gabriel and myself headed for Mayfair where the pool table
awaited. In the event Fr. Gabriel decided to forego the game and chat
instead to another priest based at St. Kisito which is within St.
Mary's parish. There was another guy at the table and he was
persuaded as the winner of the previous game to defend his position
against Fr. Clement and having succeded against me. Again he was
successful – he then admitted he was just beginning to learn the
game! We played a decent series of games and Fr. Clement came out on
top overall. We returned a little before 23 hrs.
More news soon!
Cheers
Chris
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