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Dear All,
It's been a while since my last newsletter, so I thought it high time I sent another update on 'Life in Zambia'.
Things move very slowly here.... in fact, an American friend of ours who has lived in Africa most of his life is fond
of saying: "Whatever time you think something is going to take, double it and then multiply it by 3". Well ...
we've found that to be about right! It's frustrating, but it certainly teaches you patience, and encourages you just to take
one day and one task at a time. It is impossible to run too far ahead of yourself here - you are very quickly pulled back
to the here and now!
On March 23rd, I traveled to the UK to spend the Easter holidays with our daughter, Amanda, who attends a boarding school
there. We stayed with my brother and his family, and it was lovely being with everyone. I then spent a further 3 weeks in
Cyprus with my parents (my brother also joined us there for the last 2 weeks of my stint), and it was so good to see them,
too.
I returned to Zambia on May 14th, and was met in Lusaka by Peter. We spent the night in Lusaka, traveling up to Ndola
the following day. When we finally reached home, I was welcomed by Gabby and Jane, who were standing out on the road awaiting
my arrival. There were hugs and cuddles all round! One of our watchmen, Francis, was also there, and I was very surprised
when he pulled me into a bear hug and said, over and over: "Welcome back, welcome back!" I was so touched.
Since my last newsletter, work has steadily progressed on our home. We have been having major problems with the plumbing,
and are having to dig up most of the pipe work on the property (15 acres!!) to identify where the leaks are. In a single
day, we lost 70,000 litres of water from our tank: it was full to the brim in the morning, and was completely empty by the
evening!!! (Thank goodness we have our own borehole and don't have to pay water rates!) However, the kitchen, bedroom and
upstairs bathroom are almost complete and, although the rest of the house will take much work and time to bring it into some
kind of 'liveable' condition, we are hoping to, at least, be able to move in within the next few weeks, and will just have
to 'rough' it. I was encouraged when I read of an old missionary and his family here who built their own little house, and
continued to work on it for 32 YEARS, gradually making it more comfortable!! Whilst I don't anticipate it taking us quite
that long, I do reckon on it being several years before we are able to sit back and say to ourselves: "We've done it!"
Jane & Gabby have settled into their new home nicely. We have bought them new beds as they had been sleeping on mattresses
on the floor, and they consider this a real luxury. There is also still much work to be done on their chalet, as well as
on Jeremy's, but we are taking it all gradually - as with everything else on the place!
Gabby has expressed a desire to learn a trade, and we have promised him that we will look at various institutions which
offer skills training courses, such as carpentry, mechanics, etc. Much will depend on the cost of these courses, of course,
but we will have to trust God to provide if it is what He wants.
Jane touched me so much a few days after my return from Europe when she handed me a letter. In it, she wrote: "It
is a year today since my mum died, but for God's great love, he has given you to me as a real mother .... I thank God for
you." Well ... I thanked God, too, that He has made it possible for me to be there for these youngsters. They have
written me many little notes over the months, and I have kept each one. They are all a reminder of why I'm here, and I treasure
them.
Victor and his family, too, have settled in well (see Newsletter 23rd February 04). Their little boy Reuben, aged 18
months, was quite poorly when he came to us. He was malnourished, underweight, listless and very unresponsive. We now buy
him the high-energy, vitamin-packed baby porridge prescribed by the doctors, and he is doing really well. He is such a beautiful
little boy, and is so full of energy now, and always ready with a smile and a wave - such a contrast to what he was when he
first arrived.
Our other resident family, Musonda and his wife, Cecelia, are expecting their second child, a brother or sister to little
Blessings. Musonda is a hard worker, and is invaluable to us as he is the one who really knows where all the pipe work is.
Blessings is an absolute sweetie and is a little ray of sunshine, bright eyed and full of smiles.
We are finding that every little bit counts in this place. The weather has turned bitterly cold at night, now, and those
things we automatically take for granted such as warm clothes, central heating or a good log fire in the grate are not easy
to come by for most of these people. As we have been clearing a lot of land on the perimeter of the property in order to
erect the security fence, we have had to chop down a lot of trees and bushes, and to lop off overhanging branches. We get
the watchman who is currently on day shift, to bundle up the branches and twigs; then, when the elderly men and women in
the area come foraging and gathering firewood, the job is made easier for them, and they are able just to carry it away.
Last week I also visited the market place where they sell good quality, second-hand clothes, and bought 3 warm, padded jackets
for my watchmen as there are always two of them on duty at night.
You will, by now, have received my letter of appeal for more support for The Child Care and Adoption Society children's
home and I am hoping that I will get a good response. I attended their board meeting last night, and it was confirmed that,
apart from one other organization which is paying the salaries for the orphanage staff, Net City/Zamaid is their only other
regular donor. I want to thank those of you who have given, and are continuing to give, to this worthwhile cause and to let
you know that you ARE making a difference to these little ones' lives. It is your money that is putting food in their stomachs
and a roof over their heads. It was suggested to me that I should apply to join the board, and I put in my application last
night, which was happily accepted. I am hoping that, now, I will be able to contribute more in terms of advice and suggestions,
and to be able to have more of a say on how things should be run.
You may be interested to know that we are featured on the website of a church in the UK, led by some very old friends
of ours. It is only a young church, but these dear people and their still small congregation are supporting us in any way
they can, including contributing towards our personal needs here. We are so very, very grateful to them all. You can see
the feature by clicking on the url below.
http://www.the-ark.net/story.asp?itemID=130&pcid=88
On a slightly more light hearted note.... The local wildlife still encroaches on us from time to time! We have encountered
several snakes over the months, not to mention the myriad species of bug life! Ants have been a huge problem, although they
are not so numerous now that the weather has turned so cold. Earlier in the year, we were amazed to find that they were starting
to build colonies in just about everything: our daughter's mobile phone and an ornamental goose, to name but a few!! They
find their way into the fridge and into cellophane-sealed packets of food, and keeping them out of the sugar bowl is a major,
ongoing exercise! In fact, it is an impossible exercise, but we have at least discovered how to get them out of the sugar
bowl, once they've got in! We tip the sugar into a saucepan or oven dish, place it in a lit oven, and wait - the ants either
crawl out of the sugar in a futile attempt to escape the heat, or they crawl to the surface and breathe their last there.
We then remove the dish from the oven, spoon out the visible ants and, hey presto.... Ant-Free Sugar!! The occasional ones
remain, and we sometimes find them floating on the top of our cups of tea, but hey ..... it's all extra protein, right?!
Well ... on that note, I think I'll close.
God bless,
Salwa
Letter 8
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