Monday 26th May
Today it is a holiday, as it is in the UK. We are celebrating African
Freedom Day, which I assume is marking the freedom from colonial
rule. Unfortunately there is still a huge legacy from those times and
much of the continent, although free from direct rule, is still
largely working under the rules set down by the powerful nations and
businesses. For example the games that are played to avoid paying
taxes result in people suffering and dying throughout Africa.
On Saturday my main task was to make enough samosas for St.
Veronica's Small Chrisian Community who were due on Sunday. There was
a lack of power from morning till about 18.30. Losing public
utililities (and some private ones!) is a fact of life in Zambia.
This year I suspect that as often as not either electricity, water or
mobile phone access has been unavailable – sometimes more than one
simultaneously - but you learn to work around the issues.
Mains water can be difficult at the end of the dry season and here at
Corner House there seems to be a problem with the supply from the
borehole – though what exactly the fault is I have yet to figure
out. If you think a problem might arise you keep some supplies –
drinking water and if necessary bowls, pans and even baths filled for
washing etc. My problems currently seem to be minor and I am sure I
will get supplies if I run out for any length of time – so a few
bottles of water for drinking and a pan and jug for washing mean I
can cope quite well.
Electricity is often off all day on Sunday for 'maintenance'. I
therefore planned to cook at least the majority of samosas on
Saturday when, as mentioned above, power was absent until 18.30 –
in practice I just postponed the cooking phase to the evening and
early Sunday morning.
Many people here have phones that accept two SIM cards so they are
not dependant on a single network. I have a SIM card in my USB modem
I can use as well as using Skype to make phone calls.
So all in all you learn to work around ther cuts and life continues –
albeit by candlelight!
Mrs. Chiiya called around to show me how far she has progressed with
her school of nursing. Hands Around the World were initially involved
when she started a school for disadvantaged children, but, after she
found that funding it became a problem, she moved her attention to
nursing. Out of 160 students she provides places for about 14
disadvantaged young people – some were students at the original
school. She is currently trying to complete an accommodation block
for the students, but finding th money is a challenge.
Sometime during Saturday night a couple of frames – one with a
swing attached – arrived on the lawn! I didn't think they would be
an asset when my group gathered for prayers so I hoped I would be
able to move them.
I met Best at church and he was willing to come back with me to make
the final preparations for my guests. He drove me back and joined me
for a hot drink and sandwiches before we moved the frames and put out
what chairs I had.
The owner of the house offered me some extra chairs when I mentioned
the gathering and Eunice said she would bring them around. (I had
unfortunately told her that I needed them for 14 hrs!)
At 14.30 neither the chairs nor the community members had arrived!
However Eunice arrived soon after and I helped her carry about 25
plastic chairs from the 'events' location opposite. By 14.50 I had
two members of the community present and wondered whether I had
overdone the preparations However,eventually about 20 more guests
arrived and we had our meeting. This year Monze Diocese has decided
to set aside some christian community meetings to reflect on family
life and what we learn from scriptures and church teaching about the
subject. I am impressed by the activity of the church here in Zambia
– in many respects it puts us to shame back in the UK.
After prayers we had some fruit juice and samosas. Everything was
quickly devoured and I realised that I only just provided sufficient
– I think there were at least 50 samosas made!
In the evening I met up with some of the priests and we hit the pool
table. I didn't expect the luck of last time and I was right. The
champion of the night was Fr. Clement who beat all opponents. It was
close to 1 am when I was dropped back at my house after a very
pleasant evening.
I had hoped to visit The Holy Family which is an organisation which
works with people (particularly children) with disabilities to help
them lead a mre active life. They provide aids and other support.
However, the meeting wasn't arranged. I hope that I will still get a
chance to see the how it has developed since I last visited , many
years back before I leave this year.
This afternoon I went to Pemba to visit Jenniphe. She arranged to
meet me just outside the town and I was lucky to get the opportunity
to be dropped where she was. At the beginning of the year when I was
speaking to Jennipher from the UK, almost as an aside, she mentioned
that a Non Government Organisation (NGO ) would provide for her
support group a borehole and hand pump at a fraction of the true
cost. I was interested but found it a little hard to believe – but
she assured me that it was true. I told her that if in fact it was
the case, I would find the funds for her to have it installed. For me
the idea of being able to provide a clean reliable supply of water
for a community was something very significant and worth the
investment. Subsequently when asked, Jennipoher told me it had been
installed and was being used, but she never seemed as enthusiastic as
I expected. She said that she decided it shouldn't be placed on her
land, but at another site which would be better for the group as a
whole.
She told me today that her reason for meeting me at the police check
point was to pass by the pump. On the way she pointed out a large
hole (well) where there was some dirty water. She told me that this
used to be a major supply of water for the people in this area. A
little further on we reached the handpump. It looks like an excellent
and well thought out installation.There is a ramp at one side to
allow wheelchairs access and it is designed with sufficient room for
a wheelchair user to get to the outlet with their containers. On one
side is a round plinth. Apparently pregnant women when lifting their
water containers use their extended stomachs to balance the load
before lifting it onto their heads. This plinth allows them to raise
the container to their heads using the plinth as the staging post
instead of their stomach. There is also a channel alowing the dirty
water to soak away avoiding contamination of the borehole.
For me to see this was a great delight. It makes it so worthwhile for
me to se that between us we can make significant changes to a few
lives. There is also a garden being developed close to the borehole.
We passed by a place where an elderly woman was staying. Jennipher
told me that she has no relatives – she had no children. She hasn't
the strength anymore to collect grass to rethatch her house and would
dearly like to have the thatch replaced with iron sheets.
Jennipher had talked about a child of one of her clients who was deaf
and dumb. We came to her house and met the girl with her parents –
I am afraid I have forgotten her name but it means gift. The girl
came to us – apparently she often runs away from people. Something
about her was particularly appealing. Her parents seemed to treat her
with a great deal of dignity and respect. They hope to obtain a place
for her at a special school near Choma – about 50 - 60 km from
Pemba. This is the same school that Bright's son Brian has been
attending.
Eventually we arrived at Jennipher's house. I didn't recognise Obadia
he has grown into a wonderfully cheerful, healthy looking lad and no
longer the baby I remember. He ran to me and laughed the whole time I
was with them. Maggie has a new companion – Jennipher. Emmanuel is
staying with Sandra just outside Livingstone while she has a short
break. Selina arrived on her bike and is quickly growing into quite a
young lady.
Soloman has created a little den where he has made a small gym –
using engine parts as weights – apparently the young lads like
working out here!
The headman who helped Jennipher with her visa by writing a
supporting letter came around and Jennipher showed him the plane
tickets.
Soloman has managed to build an extension to the house using money
gained from the solar phone charger and a little business he has done
selling goats.
The book Wayfaring refers to the Ignatian practice of reflecting on
your day and particularly noticing the life giving moments. For me to
see the hand pump and have the young children joyfully playing on my
lap made my heart leap. I really am privileged to have the
opportunity to get to know some wonderful people and have the ability
to help improve the lives of a few here in Zambia. I would urge
anyone who has the chance to take a small leap of faith and risk
getting involved – the rewards are so much greater than the costs.
This evening Obert came around with the bag tidies. His mother will
make some more if I obtain some extra material. He showed me a letter
from a local school where a child had been accepted for grade 8. She
is the child of a client from his mother'ssupport group – the
client died. They are struggling to find the fees for this term
(about £9). Of course the girl will not finish at grade 8 and the
fees will increase significantly after grade 9 – it would be easy
to cover this small cost and forget the years to come!
Obert also told me of a child of a friend of his – a 18 year old
girl who died from complications after delivery. The child needs to
be fed on dried milk for the first few months – again the costs are
difficult to meet. Obert has helped a bit himself and says when he
has his own car he will look after the child because he was a close
friend of the mother.
There is little here that is dull and grey! Everything happens as if
in full technicolour stirring the emotions one way and another. I
look with pride at Jennipher as she walks head held high among the
people who know, love and respect her around Pemba. There doesn't
seem to be a house in the area where she is not intimately involved
with the lives of the residents. She is much more deeply impacted by
the difficulties of the people around her than I am. By supporting
her I can also support those who now look to her. I hope that her
visit to the UK will enable to her to do even more when she returns
to her people here in Zambia.
With my love and prayers
Chris
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