So. . .what does a smelly shower, backed up sewage, and more bugs pouring out of the facet than water, all have in common? Trust me, you don't want to know. This has probably been the most challenging day since we arrived in Zambia, for Jason and me anyway. For the kids it's one exciting adventure after another.
The good news is that my most wonderful and talented husband actually fixed the sewer. Wait a minute, I shouldn't use the term "fixed" because that is almost impossible to do here. He bought us more time until the next sewage crisis erupts. But right now, that's good enough for me.
Why the bugs, hundreds of them, started flowing through the shower head and facets when we turned them on, I have not a clue.
We lost power tonight during MMT so we cut it a bit short but it was an awesome class for our children. We are at the point in the curriculum where an overview of the Old Testament was the topic. The kids' eyes really lit up when Jason was covering other points in history that happened at the same time different parts of the Bible were written. History is their favorite subject so it really struck a cord with them.
It's going on 2 am here so I will close for now. You are all so near and dear to our hearts. Thank you for your love, concern, and mostly for your prayers. We appreciate you!
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Rumor has it. . .
that our electricity service is scheduled for a two-day outage beginning tomorrow which means no internet, running water, (unless you count the rain running off of the roof during a downpour) and of course no refrigeration. This time, we are prepared!
Jason filled 2 liter milk jugs as well as fabric softener and bleach bottles with water and set them inside our very small chest freezer this morning. Once the power goes out, we will immediately transfer the milk to the freezer where it will stay frosty until electricity service is restored. Hey, kind of like camping!
I spent the last few hours answering emails, typing lessons, and printing all of the classwork for the next two days. Tuesday night we will enjoy MTI class with the Matambos by candlelight just like we did last Thursday when the power was out AGAIN. Bridget and Augustine take utility outages in stride. They enjoy MTI so much that a little problem like no lights to see and take notes by is no more than a minor nuisance.
I look forward to getting my camera out tomorrow. Our kids have busied themselves after school by making dolls and houses using material and cardboard scraps. Their creativity never ceases to amaze me. They have created whole families. I'll quit describing their masterpieces here and let you wait for the pictures later in the week.
We have another new student joining us tomorrow morning. This one is Bridget's younger sister. Her education was interrupted when her mother became ill and was hospitalized. Since then she has remained home to care for her mother and do household chores. She desperately wants to learn. Another one of Bridget's siblings is moving back from Lusaka to attend to their mother's needs freeing Prudence to come to school here. According to Augustine and Bridget, Prudence is very excited about learning here with us.
Well, it is now wee hours on Monday morning so I need to close and get some sleep. I will post again later in the week when our power is restored and I have some fun images to share. Until then. . .
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
Jason filled 2 liter milk jugs as well as fabric softener and bleach bottles with water and set them inside our very small chest freezer this morning. Once the power goes out, we will immediately transfer the milk to the freezer where it will stay frosty until electricity service is restored. Hey, kind of like camping!
I spent the last few hours answering emails, typing lessons, and printing all of the classwork for the next two days. Tuesday night we will enjoy MTI class with the Matambos by candlelight just like we did last Thursday when the power was out AGAIN. Bridget and Augustine take utility outages in stride. They enjoy MTI so much that a little problem like no lights to see and take notes by is no more than a minor nuisance.
I look forward to getting my camera out tomorrow. Our kids have busied themselves after school by making dolls and houses using material and cardboard scraps. Their creativity never ceases to amaze me. They have created whole families. I'll quit describing their masterpieces here and let you wait for the pictures later in the week.
We have another new student joining us tomorrow morning. This one is Bridget's younger sister. Her education was interrupted when her mother became ill and was hospitalized. Since then she has remained home to care for her mother and do household chores. She desperately wants to learn. Another one of Bridget's siblings is moving back from Lusaka to attend to their mother's needs freeing Prudence to come to school here. According to Augustine and Bridget, Prudence is very excited about learning here with us.
Well, it is now wee hours on Monday morning so I need to close and get some sleep. I will post again later in the week when our power is restored and I have some fun images to share. Until then. . .
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
Saturday, January 26, 2008
THE RAINY SEASON
I have always feared the rain. Crazy but true. From my earliest memories, gray clouds and rainy days have made me sad and like most people, I don't like to be sad. I find that I am more tired, less productive, devoid of creativity when clear blue skies give way to cloud blankets and drizzle.
When we moved from the soaked Willamette Valley to the high desert of Central Oregon, almost every morning greeted us with bright blue skies. Our first year as Redmond residents, we received a whopping three inches of precipitation. Jason and I promised each other that we would never take the beauty and near perfect-weather of our new home town for granted.
In researching Zambia, the annual rainy season lasting from October through March or April had me more than a little concerned. Now for those of you unaffected by seasonal changes, this may be nearly impossible to understand. For the rest of us, you know what I'm talking about.
Imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered that I thoroughly enjoy the rains of Zambia! For one thing, it rarely drizzles. Spectacular thunder and lightning displays usher in most of our downpours. The tin roof capping our home amplifies every drop to the point of drowning out conversations. Seriously! All of us race to the windows, partly to close them keeping the water outside where it belongs, but also to watch the systems cycle through.
At first I thought it was the newness of living in an unfamiliar culture; but soon recognized that it's a culmination of things. The anticipation around town leading up to the rainy season is almost electrifying. People busy themselves by purchasing treated seeds, forming new hoes and shovels out of whatever scrap metal they can find, and talking about when the first rains will fall.
In Zambia, rain means life. Without a healthy dose of it, crops fail, people and animals starve. Heavy downpours clear the air of smoke and ash created by burning garbage while washing the same off trees and bushes revealing the most luscious green shades I think I've ever seen.
The photograph at the top of this post is right up there with my all-time favorites and one that is most certain to refresh fond memories when our season in Zambia is through. It was captured from our front porch area (also known as veranda here). When we think of Africa, we often think of suffering, diseases, and death. But there is also a natural beauty here that is indescribable.
I pray this finds you all enjoying your Saturday. We celebrated a day with electricity, running water, internet. . .you know. . .all of the luxuries. Thank you once again for your encouraging emails and phone call attempts. We are unable to use Skype phone until our internet service provider repairs a problem at their base station. Strangely though, I can receive your voice mails on my computer and I must say, we all enjoy listening to your messages.
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
Monday, January 21, 2008
IT'S A SAD DAY FOR THE MATAMBOS
We knew something was wrong by the way Augustine climbed the stairs. He began by saying that Bridget was too upset to come over with him. What could be wrong? It seemed to take forever to finally discover the reason for their gloom. Naomi decided to go back to the compound to live with her family. Back to a life of hard labor, leaky roofs, little food, and lousy education. For Augustine and Bridget, this was an enormous disappointment.
They love Naomi very much. I was homeschooling her along with my children to get her caught up academically to age level. At fifteen, she barely reads, has little to no comprehension of what she does read, and her math skills are that of an American first grader. Caylie out performs both Farai and Naomi in math and reading. Augustine and Bridget had talked with Naomi's mother about her education and the opportunity available for her to work with our children. At the time, her mother was happy for her daughter.
But a new life means new changes. There is no supervision for kids in the compounds. Although their days involve back-breaking work, they are free to roam and socialize while completing their chores which often leads to life-changing consequences. There are no security walls or watch dogs like we have here. Many children who call the compounds home, wander with others until late at night or early hours of the following morning. Family rules are non-existent.
Any American teenager would find it difficult to make such a drastic transition; but Naomi's decision was rather unexpected because of the harsh conditions she returned to.
I was somewhat surprised that her mother even considered allowing her to live in another family to begin with simply because a fifteen-year old girl adds much needed assistance to a widowed mother of ten. Please do not misunderstand me; I am NOT doubting her mother's love. I do not pretend to relate to a mother so impoverished that feeding and educating her children requires one or more of them be placed in other families. I live a very privileged life and I know it.
I can enjoy homeschooling and watching my children discover the world around them because I am not completely consumed with tasks required to keep them fed, dry, and educated. I hope to never become so narrow minded that I would pass judgment on another mother who does not share the same luxuries.
Adoption is a brand new concept to most African nations and Zambia is no exception. Adoptive parents around the globe have many resources available to help them prepare and understand what their new family member(s) experience as they are moved from one life to another even if that is still in the same country. I devoured books and experiences from parents who had been there done that.
Bridget and Augustine had no such books or training and are therefore taking Naomi's move personally. They are heartbroken over it. They had brought her in as their own daughter. Instead of doing hours of chores, they placed her in our homeschool so that she would have a better education and all of the opportunities that come along with it.
We have seen many families who inherited children from dying or poorer than poor relatives. Most are treated as unpaid servants in their new homes. This wasn't the case for Naomi. But she missed her family and her way of life.
Augustine compares their experience with Naomi to that of our Sierra Leonean children which is hardly fair to her or to them. He sees who Isata, Shauna, Steven, and Sia have become after YEARS of living in our home within our family structure. I tried to explain that our children, particularly Isata grieved for months after joining us but they didn't have birth families living within a forty-minute walk to run home to. Our situation is completely different.
Please join us in praying for encouragement for this family. They are Augustine, Bridget, and Farai. I know they have become dear to many of you, as you have come to know them through my writings. It brings them much comfort to know that you will all be praying for them. Me too!
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
They love Naomi very much. I was homeschooling her along with my children to get her caught up academically to age level. At fifteen, she barely reads, has little to no comprehension of what she does read, and her math skills are that of an American first grader. Caylie out performs both Farai and Naomi in math and reading. Augustine and Bridget had talked with Naomi's mother about her education and the opportunity available for her to work with our children. At the time, her mother was happy for her daughter.
But a new life means new changes. There is no supervision for kids in the compounds. Although their days involve back-breaking work, they are free to roam and socialize while completing their chores which often leads to life-changing consequences. There are no security walls or watch dogs like we have here. Many children who call the compounds home, wander with others until late at night or early hours of the following morning. Family rules are non-existent.
Any American teenager would find it difficult to make such a drastic transition; but Naomi's decision was rather unexpected because of the harsh conditions she returned to.
I was somewhat surprised that her mother even considered allowing her to live in another family to begin with simply because a fifteen-year old girl adds much needed assistance to a widowed mother of ten. Please do not misunderstand me; I am NOT doubting her mother's love. I do not pretend to relate to a mother so impoverished that feeding and educating her children requires one or more of them be placed in other families. I live a very privileged life and I know it.
I can enjoy homeschooling and watching my children discover the world around them because I am not completely consumed with tasks required to keep them fed, dry, and educated. I hope to never become so narrow minded that I would pass judgment on another mother who does not share the same luxuries.
Adoption is a brand new concept to most African nations and Zambia is no exception. Adoptive parents around the globe have many resources available to help them prepare and understand what their new family member(s) experience as they are moved from one life to another even if that is still in the same country. I devoured books and experiences from parents who had been there done that.
Bridget and Augustine had no such books or training and are therefore taking Naomi's move personally. They are heartbroken over it. They had brought her in as their own daughter. Instead of doing hours of chores, they placed her in our homeschool so that she would have a better education and all of the opportunities that come along with it.
We have seen many families who inherited children from dying or poorer than poor relatives. Most are treated as unpaid servants in their new homes. This wasn't the case for Naomi. But she missed her family and her way of life.
Augustine compares their experience with Naomi to that of our Sierra Leonean children which is hardly fair to her or to them. He sees who Isata, Shauna, Steven, and Sia have become after YEARS of living in our home within our family structure. I tried to explain that our children, particularly Isata grieved for months after joining us but they didn't have birth families living within a forty-minute walk to run home to. Our situation is completely different.
Please join us in praying for encouragement for this family. They are Augustine, Bridget, and Farai. I know they have become dear to many of you, as you have come to know them through my writings. It brings them much comfort to know that you will all be praying for them. Me too!
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
Sunday, January 20, 2008
POWER OUTAGES
This is just a real quick note to let you know that within minutes after posting to yesterday's blog, we lost electricity and water. The difference this time was that the whole country of Zambia lost electricity and water. We still don't have water but the power is back and so is the internet, HOORAY!
If you send me an email that I do not respond to within a few days, please try again as chances are high I didn't receive it. I try to answer each and every email.
My cell phone barely works; I've learned not to count on it at all. Our internet is out much of the time which means our Skype calls are not working either. Our son Justin called last night but our conversation ended within a few minutes. UGHHHH!
The good news, as far as water is concerned, is that this is the rainy season. We bought a third rain barrel (approximately 75 gallons each). Jason created a contraption that automatically fills the second barrel from the overflow of the first. We have two barrels; the Matambos have one. During one of Zambia's impressive rain storms both barrels fill within thirty minutes. We are catching rain from the roof so it isn't safe to drink but we can wash clothes and flush toilets with it. After treating it with bleach, we can wash dishes as well.
Anyway, please know that your emails and prayers encourage us more than you can ever imagine. We don't take them for granted. If you do not receive a response within five to seven days, I most likely didn't get your message. Please don't give up! Just send it again.
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
If you send me an email that I do not respond to within a few days, please try again as chances are high I didn't receive it. I try to answer each and every email.
My cell phone barely works; I've learned not to count on it at all. Our internet is out much of the time which means our Skype calls are not working either. Our son Justin called last night but our conversation ended within a few minutes. UGHHHH!
The good news, as far as water is concerned, is that this is the rainy season. We bought a third rain barrel (approximately 75 gallons each). Jason created a contraption that automatically fills the second barrel from the overflow of the first. We have two barrels; the Matambos have one. During one of Zambia's impressive rain storms both barrels fill within thirty minutes. We are catching rain from the roof so it isn't safe to drink but we can wash clothes and flush toilets with it. After treating it with bleach, we can wash dishes as well.
Anyway, please know that your emails and prayers encourage us more than you can ever imagine. We don't take them for granted. If you do not receive a response within five to seven days, I most likely didn't get your message. Please don't give up! Just send it again.
Blessings and joy,
Beckie
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