The Key

(I rewrote this post better explaining what happened and the significance of it all)

I lost the key to our house.

It's been a challenging week. I shared in an earlier post that we are renovating a house in an effort to relocate our family by the end of the month. This is a good move for us. Our rent is cut in half, the house is two-thirds the size, and it is located in Kensheni, a community of Ndola bustling with life and activity. But it has turned into one of the most difficult "adventures" ever.

You see, simple tasks become monumental whenever a new project is undertaken. We are reminded over and over of how much we still don’t understand about living and working in Zambia.

Before this latest project, the routines of daily life had finally become, well, routine. We actually had begun to think our season of culture shock had come to an end.

Not any more. Again, nothing is familiar. Any time we try something new, especially a project as challenging as repairing a house we are smacked in the face by the hard hand of reality.

I carefully slipped the one and only key to our house inside my purse along with wads of cash needed for the day’s errands. When you consider that a can of paint costs 125,000 Kwacha, you can then imagine how many bills are required to renovate a house. At the end of a long exhausting day, the key was nowhere to be found.

The kids and I hunted through everything. I called our taxi driver to see if it might be in his car. It was gone.

I couldn’t believe it. Neither could my husband.

We circled the house trying to find a way in praying the entire time. Metal bars cover each window. Both back doors are solid hardwood. The glass front door is covered with metal bars like the windows. It seems they thought of everything to keep a would-be thief from getting inside the house.

About the time desperation took over, Caylie pops up with “It sure would be good to have Houdini here right now.”

Then Carlin came up with an idea so crazy, it worked. Finally we were inside the house without breaking windows or doors.

This was a huge ordeal. You can’t just call a locksmith. While many local people are skilled at breaking locks, they are not the ones you invite into your home, if you know what I mean. Cutting through the metal bars then breaking a window to get inside would require astronomical expenses to repair. We went to the Lord in prayer as a family praising Him for creating the universe with all its stars, galaxies, planets. We acknowledged that our Creator is much bigger than a tiny chunk of metal. Then we asked Him to uncover the key and take us to it.

Naturally it didn’t happen in our timing. But what God taught us through it all is that His solutions to our problems are endless. The only one we could see was finding the key. Instead, we got into the house without the key AND found the key as well! He was glorified through it all. Praise GOD from whom all blessings flow!

Thank you Lord Jesus.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

***Internet Alert***

Hi there! Shortly after publishing the “Let Me Get to Know You” post, we began experiencing even more internet problems than usual. It may come on for a few seconds but then always disconnects. This has been going on for several days.

I downloaded some messages through Microsoft Entourage for MAC (an excellent program I recently discovered sitting on my computer). I have several messages sitting in my “out” folder just waiting for reconnection.

Once again I stress that if you write to me I WILL ANSWER. If you haven’t received my email, I either can’t send it or didn’t get yours to start with. Yes, this is frustrating for us both.

The weird thing is that I can still “chat” through Skype. We can’t use the phone part of Skype but the chat works perfectly. I’m not sure how this works since our internet is down.

So, I am typing this in Word with the hopes that our connection is restored at least long enough to post it to my blog. If you are reading this, then my efforts were successful.

I have tons to share with you all regarding our moving updates. We hope to have the house ready by the 30th. We are taking next week off from school so that we can move and settle into our new house. Your prayers during this process are greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone for sticking with me through all of these communication glitches.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

We Are Moving Part 2

Renovating a house to make it livable is a headache no matter where you live. But accomplishing such a feat in a culture where a “good job” is so radically different than what that term means to us makes the process all the more challenging and frustrating.

Hiring painters is a new concept to us since I have always done the painting myself. We chose to have the interior painted to accomplish two things--get the job done fast without interrupting our other work and to provide jobs.

So Jason bought what he thought was off-white, oil base paint (turned out to be an ugly shade of yellow) and thinner as requested by the painters. Oil base is the only thing available here other than ceiling paint, which is like watered down chalk. He turned it over to the painters then went outside to troubleshoot the plumbing problems (another topic for another post).

When he returned, there was paint everywhere. The rooms were in worse shape than before because paint was all over the floors, tile, and cabinets. They had thinned it with equal parts of paint thinner making it run like water. Naturally he asked what in the world they were doing. Their response? “Oh, this is the first coat. It requires at least three.” We decided to let them continue (don’t question our sanity, we lost that years ago) and hoped for the best.

After the second application, it was apparent that this was NOT going to work. Jason sent the painters home until he returned from a conference three days later.

Sometimes cultural differences cannot be overcome by letting nature take its course. Obviously, the painters ruined the paint with thinner. Paint is terribly expensive here and we have an entire house to cover, not just a room or two.

I took some much needed time to reflect and pray over these circumstances. How do we minister the love of Jesus and fire someone at the same time, through an interpreter no less? I prayed that God would help us see these men through His eyes and with His love, not through our human limitations.

Monday morning, Jason met with the painters, took them through the rooms they painted and gently explained that we come from two very different cultures with very different expectations. What is considered a “good job” to them and to us is too far apart for us to work together. He paid them for the two days they worked, added an extra day and sent them on their way.

He has been painting the house ever since.

I always thought missions was about learning, growing, teaching through activities such as Bible study, feeding and clothing the poor, and providing an education to those who would otherwise have none. But it is more than these things. You can’t really “know” people until you live their culture.

Learning to live and function in a world so vastly different than our own has kindled many discussions and ushered in more understanding than would otherwise be possible. It has also revealed our weaknesses, which is even harder to deal with than the circumstances that expose them.

While all of this is going on, the daily routine with school continues uninterrupted. All of the kids are growing by leaps and bounds through their studies. I cannot tell you what joy this brings to my heart. Jane and Prudence wrote their first creative writing pieces in English this week.

Jane’s brought tears to my eyes. She wrote about school and her dreams to become a doctor. You may remember, Augustine found her crying hysterically on the side of the road as he rode into the compound where she lived. She had recently learned that her mother could no longer send her to school due to finances but even worse, because she would not need a better education to fulfill her destiny in the compounds.

Jane dared to dream and can now can express her vision in English. She has only been here two months.

Prudence described how to prepare nshima. There is tons to share with you all about school but I will save it for another post. This one must come to an end.

May God shower you with grace and wisdom.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Please help me to know YOU!

Hello everyone,

I would love to email each one of you personally from time to time but I do not have your addresses. Now, I'm not talking about spamming anyone or fund-raising or anything like that. I would just like to know you better. Since I do all of the "chatting" on this blog, I miss two-way dialogue.

Please send me an email introducing yourself at beckiesibley@yahoo.com. I am genuinely interested in you and your life since many of you devote time daily to see what my family and I are up to here in Zambia.

I look forward to hearing from you SOON.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Our Latest Learning System

A few days ago, one of my children asked me how long I had been teaching. Her question took me by surprise as I had never really thought about it. Since I am always on the look out for more effective teaching ideas, I guess I continually think of myself as a new homeschooler. So, I was rather surprised to realize that I am finishing my sixth year! WOW!

Right now I have nine students at nine different levels in several different subjects. Five are working on different lessons of the same math book. All nine use the same computer. A few weeks ago I came to the sad realization that I had lost touch where each one was at in each discipline. Something had to change.

I worked until wee hours in the mornings over two weeks to develop a better system for keeping track of each child's progress in each subject on each day. I "think" I have come up with a fool proof system. Guess what? It's working and they like it! Imagine that.

Am I a good teacher? No, but I have excellent tools and the kids are all improving. My goal for each of my children and the Matambo's is that they learn how to learn. I want them to recognize the value of taking ownership of their education. Since moving to Zambia, they seem to have caught that vision. They find great satisfaction in asking open-ended questions and in developing new skills for discovering the answers. Ohhhh how this brings joy to my heart.

In the next few days, I will share updates to our housing saga. Oh boy, where do I even start? Until next time. . .

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

We are MOVING!

I have wonderful news to share today. We found another house for half the cost of the one we are in! Our lease is up April 30 after which we will need to sign another six-month lease and pre-pay the entire six months. So we are grateful that another house is available now. There are so many reasons why this move is advantageous to our mission here.

The most obvious is cost. We still must pay in advance which is common practice in Zambia. HOWEVER (and this is unheard of here), the landlord allowed us to use half of it to renovate the house!!! What a humongous blessing. The house requires a ton of work but so does the one we are in. When we moved here, not only was the rent overpriced, NONE of it was applied to badly needed repairs. Everything we have done here has been over and above what we already paid.

Another benefit to this move is the house doesn’t look extravagant. The size of the one we are in now coupled with the fact that it is split-level gives the illusion of over indulgence. The “new” home is on a smaller lot and is half the size.

A big plus for me personally is that I like the area, Kensenshi. This is the same community that the guesthouse, our first Zambian "home" is in. It is within walking distance to a little market. The streets are wider and everything seems more open.

Even though the area we live in now, (Northrise) is considered a good neighborhood, I have never been comfortable here. It doesn’t have a community “feel” to it. Kensenshi, on the other hand does.

This was shot from the front of the driveway looking back at the gate. What was I thinking? Who takes a picture looking down the driveway?

This is behind the house. The windows on the left are in the living room. See next photo.


Naturally, the Matambos are coming with us. We didn’t even look at houses without them. Jason and Augustine checked out places together making sure that their accommodations would work for them much better than their current dwelling. This house has a little shed-like structure that Prudence and Jane will use for their bedroom. Although it looks really rough right now, it is a huge step forward for this dear family. We are fixing their place in addition to our own. It will be the first time Bridget and Augustine have moved into a freshly painted house.

Jane and Prudence will share this dwelling. It will be painted and a light fixture installed. The girls are thrilled to pieces. The following picture is of the inside of their little "house." Remember, these are all "before" photographs.


Nearly all homes have “servants’ quarters” on the back of the property. The condition of these places is horrible. The quarters at our new house are a bit bigger but a whole lot nicer. There is even a separate area to cook in. The bathroom has a real toilet instead of just a hole in the ground. We are so happy for Augustine and Bridget. They are so excited that you would have thought Extreme Home Makeover came to visit them.

Below are some photos of the house as it stands now. Although we won’t have enough money to do everything that needs done right away, we will be able to paint, fix faucets, plug holes (yeah, the snake thing still bugs me). The house will be clean when we move in. HOORAY!!!

The next four images are of the main bathroom. Obviously it is in desperate need of TLC. The first thing to be done is screening the drain in the shower. That opening is just asking for creepy crawlies to come visit.

Obviously, they painted over black tile. Hopefully, the tile will be replaced, SOON!

Next image shows the shower which is in the same bathroom.

Where is HGTV when you need it? Jason agrees that the drain in this shower has got to have a screen. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

And finally, this is the master bathroom. After seeing the condition of the other one, this looks terrific. It will be painted. What I like about this house is that both bathtubs are usable. No rust! The two tubs we currently have are not usable. I am really looking forward to enjoying a nice warm bath every now and then. Ahhhhhh just thinking about it is relaxing.

I can't wait to show you the "after" pictures. Although we can't do everything, or even most things that need done to this house right away, it will look drastically different when we move in. I'll share bits and pieces of the adventures (there's already been some dandies) as they happen.

Thank you all for your love, support, encouragement, and prayers. We are blessed beyond measure!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Maize Harvest (3 of 3)

This is the last step of the maize harvest. After the cobs are dried in the sun, they are placed in reinforced bags and beaten with a stick to loosen the kernels. The contents are then emptied and the remaining kernels removed by hand.

Below, Jane peels stubborn kernels from the cob.

Everyone works together to get the job done. There is lots of chatting and giggling going on throughout the process.

Caylie enjoys all of these community projects.

Below, Prudence is determined to separate more kernels than Augustine. The cobs are placed in old cement bags as they are strong enough to withstand the hitting.

I bet you are wondering what the head shot on her skirt is all about. Well, during the last election, the presidential candidate (who won by the way) gave all of the women these 2 meter pieces of material to use as their apron-like wrap. Just about every woman I know has one.

When all of the cobs are removed, the remaining kernels are gathered and placed in bags until the following morning when they are scattered over plastic to finish drying in the sun. At the end of the day, they are bagged again and then taken to the millers where ground into mealy meal, the flour used to make nshima.

Above, Carlin examines the webbing of the sacks. It's hard to believe they can take the abuse they do. He was trying to figure out what makes them so strong.


Jason and I are continually awestruck at the amount of work that goes into daily life of most Zambians. Clear back in November, Augustine hand tilled our huge garden area. A few days later, he and Bridget sowed the seeds. The weeding required for a garden this size is a daily job. The corn grows, matures, and dries on the stock. This process requires a full four months and many hours of manual labor.

The reason this constant work is acceptable is that it is a community affair. Everyone works, chats, and laughs together during the process. I didn't hear one complaint from anyone.

All of this work produced enough mealy meal to save the Matambos a grand total of $60. There was much celebration and thanksgiving at their house when all of the bags were weighed. Joy in simplicity. Can you imagine devoting six months and countless hours for $60? Me either!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Reactions to Weightloss

This is one of those posts that has been brewing for a long time but always gets put off until later. No more procrastination!

Losing weight initiates quite different reactions in Zambia than in the States. I have lost more than 80 pounds since moving here seven months ago. While I am enjoying greater health and more energy than I've known in years, people around me are quite concerned. You see, when someone starts thinning down in Africa, it usually means something is drastically is wrong.

Maybe it's due to disease or perhaps ill treatment or deprivation by family members. Most people don't try to drop dress sizes. The other day, Augustine said he wants 14 year-old Jane to "get big" so that everyone will know that he takes excellent care of her. Excess weight is a sign of wealth and happiness.

So imagine the reactions I get from people who haven't seen me since we first moved here. Sharon and Debbie will remember Jennifer from Mufulira. This past Saturday she approached Jason with a voice of deep concern inquiring why he and I have lost so much weight. She reminded us that while weightloss is a good thing in the USA, it isn't in Zambia.

Jason explained to her that vegetables are extremely expensive in Central Oregon which isn't the case here. We haven't tried to lose weight at all. In fact, we thoroughly enjoy Zambia's fresh vegetables and in the process have shrunk a bit in size.

Most Zambians enjoy nshima. In fact, the dish is served almost every meal. Nshima consists of corn flour and water. That's it. Fish and relish (any topping eaten with nshima) are all fried in oil, lots of it. This provides much needed calories for people who have physically demanding lives.

For example, everyone we know washes clothes, towels, sheets, everything by hand. This requires not only scrubbing every inch of fabric but also ringing it out and rinsing several times. This is hard work! And that's just the laundry. Every "chore" requires energy and usually a bit of ingenuity.

The average Zambian walks long distances every day. They buy food for meals on a daily basis and then haul it home. They walk to funerals, to church, to visit friends and relatives. They do not walk for exercise. They don't do anything for exercise. The demands of daily life squelch the need for dieting and exercise.

If life becomes a bit easier due to steady income, people will hire servants to do their laundry and other daily tasks; yet they continue eating as before. That's why gaining weight is a sign of prosperity.

Soooo. . .while all of my friends and family at home are celebrating my good health, my Zambian friends require reassurance that all is okay and that my weightloss is actually a good thing.

My close friends and family know that I have battled my weight for years. When we moved here I had more important issues to be concerned about. So for the first time, weightloss was not a high priority in my life and what happened? I shrunk without even trying. While I still have a ways to go until I reach my desired number on the scale, concerns about staying focused on diet goals and all that jazz don't even exist here. Who would have thought?

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

There's a SNAKE in our house!!!

Well, it happened. There is a snake in the house that Jason is taking care of right now. I DON'T DO SNAKES! It was a baby about 5-6" long. Do you know what that means? There are MORE! Ughhhhhh Right now, I want out of this house!

Why didn't I take pictures? Do you really have to ask?

Beckie