Sewage on All Sides

Dearest friends and family,

After my last post, many of you wrote to say that you care about what is happening in our lives, even the bad. So I will now share our reality for the past five weeks.

Jason called Kafubu Water & Sewage to let them know that the sewage level was at the top of the covers and would be spilling out into our yard within an hour or two. Click here for the rest of that story. That was February 7.

We are now surrounded by sewage. Granted some sides of the house are worse than others but I will let you see for yourself. While I usually enjoy photography, for obvious reasons these images were quite depressing to capture. Remember, this is our home and neighborhood.

The picture below shows where the problem begins once it backs up at our house. Waste from several houses starts coming up right here. As you can see, it literally runs right next to the house. This is a closeup. The photo following was taken farther out.

The window is to Carlin and Steven's bedroom. Ours is to the right just beyond the edge of the image.

From here the crud flows to the left along the length of the house and around Isata, Shauna, and Sia's bedroom where it splits off and meanders toward the outside wall of the property. Since I showed that picture in my February 11 post, I won't include it here.

Several of these access points exist in our yard. Up to now, all sewage bubbled up through the spot shown above. Today, the point in the back yard started flowing. In the picture below, the window to the far left is our bedroom (this is the other side of the house from the view shown in the first picture), the next window is actually the hallway leading to the boys' room. Next is a door. Then you see a small window up by the roof, then another door. Last is the window of our living / dining rooms. Oh, and the cute young man is Steven.

What appears to be water is more sewage. If you look carefully at the base of the house underneath our bedroom window, you can see a small black dot which is actually a narrow tunnel under the house leading to the area of the first two pictures.

It's purpose is to channel rain water and in this case, more sewage under the house where it can drain to the front and eventually empty into the ditch alongside the road instead of pouring inside our house.

Once it reaches the outside wall of the property, it passes through a small hole in the wall and out into the ditch beside the street. If you look closely, you can see the hole through which the stuff flows through.

Water and chunks then fall over the side to move along down the road.

The broken pipe causing this horrible problem is on the property two places down from us. Several families live there in one-room brick dwellings next to a main house. Jason went down and captured the next image. This is behind the main house. The huge mound of dirt resulted from digging down to the broken pipe.


I cropped the above picture to show you the children, brazer and basin of dishes waiting to be washed.

Of course none of this happens silently or without completely overhauling your sense of smell. It sounds like a babbling brook, seriously it does. But the stench is horrific and it never goes away. It is there when we eat, sleep, bathe...it is ALWAYS there and to be quite honest, it is depressing.

As you can imagine, we appreciate your love and prayers even more than before. The people around us don't seem to recognize this as a CRISIS! Although we understand why, it makes us extremely frustrated and sad.

The first time Jason went down to the house, he asked someone living there if she had called Kafubu Water. She said no because she didn't want to waste her talk-time when it wouldn't matter anyway. Honestly, I can see her point. The problem didn't have to take this long to solve. Several days went by when none of the workers even bothered to show up. The days they did arrive to work, they worked a few hours only then disappeared.

No one likes what is happening but they all accept it. We have heard, "It could be worse," on more than one occassion. But it just isn't acceptable for us to live this way. It's been almost five weeks.

Again, I want to thank you for standing by us through all of this. It means so much to know we are loved.

Blessings,
Beckie

Top of the Class

I have so much to share with you; some is wonderful and encouraging, another is frustrating (yes the sewage is still flowing abundantly--it's been more than a month now), and the last is heartbreaking. This post will focus on the first.

Last June, our beloved taxi driver Jefferson began bringing his little daughter Gloria to our our home school after she finished her government sponsored classes for the day. Class sizes in Ndola are 50+ per teacher. I have worked with several students attending Zambia's public schools and all were far below grade level. Gloria came to us half way through grade 3 and still couldn't recognize the letters in her name; yet it didn't take long to realize that she is one smart little girl.

Within two months, Gloria was reading well. Of course her understanding of English skyrocketed quickly. She completes her math facts, 100 addition followed by 100 subtraction in less than seven minutes with few to no errors. These are big accomplishments for an eight-year old Zambian child.

Up until last week, the only feedback we had from Jefferson was that Gloria loved coming to our house. It was obvious that neither he nor his wife Partner realized how much her math and reading had improved...until last week.

During a trip into town, Jefferson said Gloria has excelled to the top of her class and is often called upon to read stories or solve math problems in front of her peers. He learned this from her teacher.

Above, the kids are working on their math facts. They love to race each other to be the first one done with no errors.

You can only imagine how encouraging this was for all of us. I've taught my children how to work with the younger students so we all shared in the joy.

Jefferson and Partner were delighted to receive such an outstanding report. He talked to another taxi driver who then asked if his seven-year old daughter could join us. We were thrilled to accept Winnie into our little school. She was very shy at first but opens up more and more as the days progress.

The girls come to us after their school day is finished about 2:30 p.m. Since they have been in school all day, I focus on math, reading, and English. After that they play until it's time to eat. They eat dinner with us savoring each morsel.

It is a privilege to make a difference in the lives of these precious little girls. Our goal is to have them well grounded in the basics before we leave Zambia. We teach them all sorts including the importance of washing their hands and how to do so effectively.

Of course the boys believe that the true secret to success is sailing on the rope swing with style. Jason installed it up high in the largest of our six avocado trees. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.


Above Winnie works on her math facts. The goal is to finish 100 addition and 100 subtraction in less than ten minutes. Gloria's time is under seven minutes.

Of course just as important as math and reading is lots of fun. Above, Gloria introduces Winnie to the rope swing.

She is still not too sure of us. But we adore her!

Of course Gloria the pro loves to show off for her new friend and the camera.

Notice the concentration and the chicken (above).

For everyone who has met Jefferson, don't you think Gloria looks just like him? We absolutely LOVE this child (above). She is just as spunky as she looks too.

Little Winnie was not too sure about the camera until I showed her the images after each shot. She warms up to us more and more with every visit.

Above, Carlin takes a flying leap. As you can see from the image below, it's all about style.

Below Steven helps Winnie to swing as high as she is comfortable.

Of course Steven was all too willing to show off his "surfing" skills.

It gives me great pleasure to share these wonderful events with you. My next few posts won't be fun to read but will give you glimpses into the realities of living and working in Zambia.

Thank you for your love, devotion, and commitment to our family. When the challenges seem overwhelming, we always think about the love showered upon us from home. God loves and provides for us through people available to Him. Thank you for your words of encouragement and your prayers. We treasure them all.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

I'm sorry it's been so long...

Please ignore the rough-draft look of this particular post because it is indeed a rough draft. We have just been informed that we will be without internet for several hours starting any time. I am sending it through only because it's been way too long since the last one and I know many of you are waiting for an update.

First I want to thank all of my dear, precious family and friends who prayed for me and sent messages and e-cards during my recovery from my second bout of malaria. Knowing that I am loved and adored by some of the most wonderful people on the planet is tremendously encouraging. I expected a faster recovery simply because I caught it quickly this time but that's just not how it works. Still, I am back to all of my usual activities including long morning walks with all of my children which I enjoy thoroughly.

The sewage problem is ongoing; HOWEVER, the flow through our yard stopped after twelve days. As bad as it was at our house, the situation just two doors down (where the blockage is) was even worse. In fact, they had sand bags strategically placed to divert the flow from entering their house. It completely covered their driveway, flowed past their WELL, and into the ditch along the road.

The sewage flow has ceased for now. The supervisor in charge told Jason that it will be another two weeks before the problem is solved. Seriously I don't know how that can happen but who knows! I know that you read over "the supervisor in charge" part above because in the USA, solving problems, particularly those involving raw sewage flowing through residential areas, is just a phone call away. Here, it is almost impossible to even know where to start.

It's amazing how God really does use catastrophes for good when we least expect it. You may remember my telling you all about the knock at the gate shortly after we moved here that brought the shocking news that taxes had not been paid on this house in years. We, yes you read that right, WE had seven days to pay them or everything on the property would be confiscated. It seems that all bills that occur on a property stay with that property when the tenants or even owners move. So it didn't matter that we had just moved in, that our landlord had assured us all taxes, electricity, and water bills were paid, we were in serious debt to the city of Ndola simply because we moved here!

Anyway, some day I will write a book but for now I can sum it all up by saying Jason has met many people at City Hall who have helped without any bribery on our part which is nothing short of miraculous. ***We will not pay bribes no matter how bad things get because we refuse to fuel the corruption that keeps Zambia in poverty.*** So, he called the lady in the property tax department who told him how to contact the person in charge of water and sewage. Not only that, she went with Jason to the man's office. Within 48 hours, the flow through our yard stopped.

Today, Jason saw one of the people who lives on the property with the blockage. She told him that the workers said they had to get the problem fixed because someone (thank you Jason) calls and visits every day to check on their progress.

I need to close this for now because we were just informed that our internet will be interrupted for several hours and I want to be sure I get this update posted before that happens.

I love and appreciate all of you who continue to support us through prayers, letters, messages, and even through Facebook. Your notes of encouragement are absolutely refreshing. Thank you!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Family crisis in the States, malaria, and raw sewage...what a week!

and it's only Wednesday! I debated about whether or not to write this post as I know it will not come across as upbeat or encouraging. I like sharing all the good things. They are fun to write about and ohhh so fun to experience. But life isn't all about good or fun times. It is also about pain, loss, disappointment among other not so fun experiences.

Read on for a full explanation of this photo...

Last week, we received word of a family crisis back home. There is nothing like waking up, checking my email, and receiving a message from my always level-headed son like the following: Please call, emergency! I guess the only thing worse is not having reliable phone service with which to make the call. I phoned multiple times, left messages, and received no response. Why you may ask? Because my calls were going straight to voice mail and Justin didn't get my voice mails until TWO DAYS LATER! So when calling didn't work, I came to my trusty computer and emailed, twice. Guess what? The emails didn't show up either!

Finally, our service was restored and his call came through. It was so good to hear his voice and to discover that the crisis did not involve either him or his lovely wife. Yet the news was still horrible.

Of course my adrenaline was racing, heart pounding, and I couldn't sleep. Please don't tell me, "You just need to trust God." I do trust God and believe in His sovereignty. That said, I live in a human body that reacts to terrible news and always has. It's just that now I'm a bit older, okay a lot older, and stress deals a major blow to my immune system. So what happens then?

Malaria. Yep, I started feeling sick within a couple days and by Sunday I knew malaria was attacking me once again. We keep the medication on hand at all times so I began treatment Sunday morning. Even though it was caught early, malaria is extremely painful. Kind of adds insult to injury as my mom use to say.

Now if that weren't enough, Saturday night we noticed an unusually strong odor coming from the boys' room. Jason checked the sewage system and once again, the sewage of five other houses was backed up to our system. He called immediately and was told someone would be out the next morning.

By Sunday morning, raw sewage was running through our yard just like it did last August. It is now Wednesday and the problem is no closer to being resolved. The guys come out around 10 a.m. and go home at 1 p.m. I am not remotely kidding about this.

I snapped the picture above from our front porch in the pouring down rain. What you see in that image is raw sewage in our yard. The stench is terrible. Of all the inconveniences we've experienced during the past year and a half, the sewage issues are by far the worst. So when you add family crisis and malaria to the sights, sounds, and odor of flowing raw sewage...well...this is not a good week for us.

Just so you know, I'm feeling a thousand times better than I did even yesterday so I am on the mend. Thank you to each and every one of you who prayed for me and sent sweet, encouraging messages. Truly, knowing that you are out there, that you love me and my precious family, means so much.

I also want to thank our dear friends and family who are sharing the crisis at home with us. Your love, devotion, and willingness to pray and do all that you can truly means a lot. It is said that you really know who your friends are when you face crises. I believe that to be true. And you know what? We are surrounded by the most devoted, loyal, loving family and friends in the whole wide world. Of course I didn't need a crisis to figure that out. I've always thanked God regularly for the relationships I hold so dear.

I also want you all to know that just because I get discouraged does not mean I have lost faith or hope. Not at all. Even the great people in the Bible went through tough times and found themselves struggling with discouragement. So I will close with one of my favorite scriptures:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heats and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

A "Kodak" Moment

Do you remember the old commercials where a proud mommy snaps a photograph of her child learning to walk and the announcer says something like "this is a Kodak moment"? The whole point of the commercial is to get you to buy film to capture all of those priceless milestones.

Well thankfully, I don't have to buy a boatload of film to capture special events occurring in our family life since we discovered the wonders of digital photography. And it's a good thing because this mommy enjoys many, many priceless moments each day.

The girls and the boys have an agreement. The girls are responsible for cleaning the kitchen and the boys take care of the chicken house. So imagine by sweet surprise when I saw the following:

Steven and Carlin decided to bless their sisters by doing the dishes along with their own chores. But that's not all. Look at the next picture:

Their loving big sister, Shauna, read to them the entire time. Seriously, I LOVE being a mom.

And now comes the picture below. To give a little background, the neighborhood sewage lines backed up again. Jason says, "you know you're in Zambia when you have the sewage number on speed dial." Anyway, he called again when the the workers didn't arrive and the man says, "Go get them. They do not have transport."

I just had to get this shot. Here he is explaining that we don't have transport. Ya gotta love it!

Later in the day we talked about how different our lives will be once we return home. Isata said, "Do you remember how we use to complain about emptying the dishwasher? I will NEVER complain about that again!" We all chuckled.

May God bless you all with "Kodak moments" this week!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie