Sunday 18th May
I am back in Monze and I realise that time is running away. I was
thinking that I have 3 weeks left but realise that effectively my
last 'working' day in Monze will be Tuesday 4th June. I
need to make another visit to Mazabuka – probably on the Wednesday
and the Thursday will be a day to say goodbye! Hence not much more
than two weeks to cover what is still outstanding.
The project in Chisamba was established to support the local
community, so I was keen to have a meeting with as many community
leaders as possible to see whether we could provide more to support
them with their work. A meeting was arranged for Wednesday to listen
to the leaders and collect their ideas and observations. I
subsequently met with the vocational centres committte to review the
suggestions put forward and agree a response. I am hopeful that this
will result in a wider base for managing the project and I hope that
the community will feel more that they are co-owners of the Centre.
I was quite comfortable at my new home, though the kettle had a mind
of it's own – in the end I still managed to get a sufficient
caffeine input. Each evening except for Friday I walked to the guest
house for my supper.
It was good to witness the mounting of the first five bee-hives at
Kaliyangile – hopefully they soon will be populated. I also saw
that the tree I planted last year is growing well.
The railway is a very significant item this year. The Guest House and
Kaliyangile are on different sides of the railway and here in Monze I
am on the far side of the railway from town. So every day I cross the
railway – often walking on or alongside the lines. One evening the
passenger train arrived while I was about to cross – I crossed
anyway, since when 100 metres away the train takes 2 -3 minutes to
cover the distance! In fact the train stopped at Chisamba – I
haven't seen a station! I thought that all the people were from a
funeral which had just taken place, but more people from the town
arrived as the train approached. I was a bit concerned with so many
people alongside the line (there is a single line with shunting areas
for trains to pass!) as it didn't hoot the horn. Of course many
around the train had food to sell to the passengers. I was told there
were 3 passenger trains that passed along this line each week. On the
other hand there were several goods trains passing each day – these
are very long – probably at least 200 - 300 metres long.
The moon was also of great significance while in Chisamba. It was
almost full when I arrived and took over from the greater light of
the day to allow me to see clearly on my evening trips to the guest
house. However each day it rose a little later, until on the Friday
it was still asleep at 20 hrs.
On Friday Persis invited me for a meal which her friend had prepared
for us – kapenta and rape with nshima (or I should say nshima with
kapenta and rape – since nshima is always the most important
ingredient.).They were watching some Mexican soaps!
I left Chisamba yesterday (Saturday) at about 13 hrs. It looked like
I would wait for a while for the taxi to set off - Persis's mother
was also on her way to the 'turn-off'. However, Moses saw friends
heading in the right direction and asked if they would take us –
which they did.
There is rarely a delay at the crossroads since all the buses are
heading for Lusaka and pleased to pick up passengers.
Over the past few days I have met a couple of guys with big
ambitions. The first joined me on the bus from Lusaka to Chisamba. He
is apparently going to be President of Zambia in 2020 and has many
talents from God, which make him good at everything he tries. The
other has given me some information about an invention he is working
on which will utilise magnetic fields to fly huge planes around the
world. It struck me that many of us want to make make a major impact
on the world – for instance I certainly wish I could help stop
humanity from the disaster looming as a result of climate change.
Most of us however have a more humble view of our capabilities and
the chances of achieving these changes than to two men I met.
It was after 20 hrs when I reached Monze last night. As usual
travelling in Zambia is interesting for me. No other 'white'
passengers joined me at any part of my journey – in fact I am
finding it hard to remember ever seeing other unrelated 'white'
passengers sharing my trips on local buses. Both local buses
yesterday carried live chickens as well as human passengers. It is
normal here to buy your chicken dinner live!!
When I reached my destination I was locked out! I had left my key
with the owner and couldn't contact her on the way back. However the
night watchman soon retrieved my key and I settled back in my
mansion!
Today I went for prayers with St. Veronicas. I had no idea were they
were meeting and got lost again! I found the one house I know –
that of Mrs. Moonga and was escorted by one of her children and a
friend, who put up with the comments from people along the way.
I was pleased that I made the effort because I received such a warm
welcome from the lady who was hosting the small Christian community
meeting. She said she had been very ill – spending a lot of time in
hospital and only after two years they diagnosed a form of TB. People
expected her to die but she is now reasonably active again. It will
have been several years see she last saw me – she said she thought
she was dreaming when I arrived and was delighted that I had come to
say prayers at her house. It was a joy for me to meet her again.
Raymond arrived this evening in time to share my supper of eggs,
green beans and garlic chips.
Chris
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