Blogs
Colby Emma
Hoolie’s puppies have been growing up fast! They will be five weeks old tomorrow and are already going off to their new homes. Buster was adopted on Saturday and one more puppy will be going today. The temporary names I gave them when they were born have stuck for the most part.The smallest puppy, who I was calling Little Bit, was renamed Tinkerbell by the youngest Lund girl.Now we call her Tinker or Tinks. Emma is the biggest, with Buster not far behind. The two black puppies are still significantly smaller but growing well. They are also getting more brown in their coats as they grow.
Tinkerbell
The puppies have been spending more and more time outside and sometimes even accompany us on our evening walks. They like to wrestle with each other and pounce on anything that catches their eye – a stick, a leaf, or even a certain blade of grass. The Lund kids have been having a lot of fun watching them grow and playing with them. I think they will be sad to see them go, but will not miss mopping up the puppy puddles in the house. We have been starting to house train them, but with four it is hard to keep an eye on each one all the time.
Buster and Emma wrestling
Colby at two weeks
Me and Colby
The Play 4 All cake Jenny made
This past Saturday I attended the opening of a community project that my friend Jenny has been helping to organize. Play 4 All will be providing structured play three mornings a week for children who are unable to attend school. In the community where the project is located it is estimated that there are about 5,000 school aged children who are unable to attend school, mostly due to lack of monetary resources (the cost of sending one child to school here is about the equivalent of $100 US). The children are left to their own devices and often put in charge of caring for their younger siblings. Even early elementary age children can be seen with a toddler in their care. With the help of about a dozen local volunteers, Play 4 All hopes to provide fun, socialization, and learning to the children of this community.
Ready to play!
The event on Saturday began with games for the children. Within half an hour of us arriving to set up, about fifty children had gathered near the small two room building that has been built for Play 4 All. With the help of the volunteers Jenny and I led games of Duck, Duck, Goose (adapted to Bird, Bird, Dog in the local language of Bemba as Ichoni, Ichoni, Imbwa), Simon Says, and many more. After the games we all gathered together for the program. To start things off the volunteers danced in and sang to celebrate the opening of Play 4 All. Then there was a prayer, several speeches by different members of the community, drumming and dancing, and even a few skits. By the time everything was in full swing there were several hundred people gathered, mostly children. The festivities closed with a prayer and food. The special guests (representatives from local churches and organizations) were served soft drinks, cake, and cookies. I made sugar and oatmeal raisin cookies for the occasion. The children received bread rolls and a local drink called munkoyo.
Jenny leading Simon Says
Playing with the kids
Gathering for the program in front of the Play 4 All building
The volunteers dancing
Jenny and Ernest speaking
More dancing and drumming
Many children
Leaving the community with the Lunds we had an improptu parade
You see these trucks on the highway here escorting vehicles that are of abnormal size or load. Recently I have been feeling like one of these trucks should be driving ahead of me wherever I go. For the last couple weeks I have been feeling on edge and easily irritated. This is unusual for me and has lead to a downward spiral of getting irritated, then feeling frustrated, more irritation about being frustrated, and so on. The littlest things have been getting under my skin. Over the Christmas holiday I was able to live in my own world, doing what I wanted to do and mostly spending time with international friends or by myself. The compound was also very quite and all the schools were on break. Now that I am back at work and the students are back I am having to deal more directly with the Zambian culture again. One of the things I find challenging is the level of noise. Life here can be very loud. Music is loud and ever present, people speak loudly, even the birds seem loud. For a good introvert who appreciates her quiet time at work and home this has been one of my major sources of irritation. I know that this is partly my own quirkiness and partly culture shock, but I am praying that this phase passes quickly. This is part of the experience of being here for the year and learning how to live and work in a new context. I am learning to appreciate the noise as a sign of life and keeping my iPod close at hand when I need noise of my own choosing.
The actual "abnormal" truck
We are now well into rainy season here in Zambia and new life is bursting out of the earth! The vibrant green of grass and tree is dotted by the colorful flowers of Zambia. There are so many varieties of flowers here, my favorites are the roses which seem to be everywhere. Instead of trying to describe their beauty, I took some photos to share with you. Enjoy!
Muyunda
We started back at work this week, but one of the TEEZ staff is not here. Muyunda has been a dedicated worker with TEEZ for 10 years, but his time here has come to an end. Muyunda’s job title was “General Worker” and was quite a suitable designation. Muyunda helped with whatever needed to be done around the office – maintainance, organizing course materials, running errands. He is very trustworthy and a hard worker and he will definitely be missed here. We had a farewell lunch last Thursday and the tone was very bittersweet. It was obvious that Muyunda is loved by his colleagues, family, and friends who are all sad to see him go but proud of him at the same time.
Farewell Lunch
Muyunda is leaving TEEZ in order to pursue priesthood in the Anglican church. He has already moved to Malawi to attend theological college for the next three years. As much as we will miss him here at TEEZ, I am sure his family will miss him even more. His wife and three young daughters will remain here in Zambia while he is away studying in Malawi. Please pray for Muyunda and his family as they enter into this time of study and separation. Also, please pray that more men and women like Muyunda will be raised up to lead the church in Zambia.
The Director speaking about Muyunda (seated in the center)
