Mwapoleni Mukwai Bonse!! (Greetings Everyone)..It is about that time for my bi-annual update. Today is an especially happy day because Linsey just came in last night on her 36 hour journey from the states. It is surreal to have her here and I am thrilled for our month together. I could not stop smiling when I started the 12 hour countdown to our reunion….ok lets be serious, the count down really started when she booked her ticket :). It is nice to have some vacation time, but I am always eager to continue work. I have been in Zambia for 17 months and am still in love with this place. I recently had a short period in my service where I wasn’t as confident in my role here. I wasn’t sure I was effective, or putting my energy into the right places. I was frustrated by some road blocks, was spinning my wheels, and felt a bit lost. This just goes with the job. One day biking from Mwamba to Kasama, I stopped for a moment and realized that beauty was all around me. I have such a deep rooted love for this country and culture and still muse at the small intimate moments that I wish I could share but only I experience. A child’s chalky bare feet moving though the dirt, the poised stance of a woman with a 20 liter bucket of water on her head and baby on her back, the men who attend my meetings in suit pants and tropicals (flip-flops) and their eager eyes as we try to work through their agenda, a red flour peeking out from the brown and green African bush, the laugh of the children as we dance by my house. The list is endless. At that moment, I knew that as long as I was still finding beauty amongst my frustrations, I was ok. Every day is a gift here and I will continue to cherish my time.
I want to thank everyone who has been so incredibly supportive of the Nursery School. I am again awed by the generosity and that surrounds me. Because the rainy season is approaching, we are forced to take the money we have raised up to now to get things started. This means cutting our budget significantly, but we will make things happen and are just thankful for the 7,200 we raised. My sweet mom will still be collecting donations, of course, so if there are any still floating out there don’t hesitate. The community is still motivated and excited to start building. They have molded about 3,000 bricks and are still working hard crushing stones and gathering sand for mixing cement. After the bricks are molded, the executive committee of the school will do a 24 hour burning to strengthen them. It should be an interesting process. We have been working with a District Agriculture Officer to make sure the coop will be successful. Proper chicken rearing involves a lot more than I thought. I always just saw chickens running around a little thatched mud hut and thought “how hard could it be.” But turns out, to run a legitimate business, there are a lot of hidden components. It has been fascinating for me to be more involved in these areas and further explore farming and agriculture. It is life here in Zambia. Other than the building aspect, the children are still eager to learn and coming to school in herds. We are all so thankful for this opportunity and also to the hard working teachers, who have yet to be paid and have put their hearts and souls into the education of these kids. I will try to post more pictures in an album if time allows.
For now I will be soaking up Linsey and enjoying our precious time together. Thank you for following my journey……Shalenipo Mukwai (stay well)
Lisa
Mango Class
Milex Kids Dancing at Agriculture Show
Nursery Dancing
Teaching a Nutrition Lesson
