Appreciation Dinner

Friday night we began a series of appreciation dinners to honor the faculty and staff at Namwianga Mission. Our first group to attend included the teachers at the secondary school. We are always amazed at how quickly news travels at Namwianga. We distributed invitations on the Monday, and within hours the campus was buzzing with talk about this big event. Before long we began getting inquiries about whether or not other employees could to be invited. We explained that we would host everyone at some point, but that we could only do a group at a time because of space limitations. That seemed to please everyone.

We set up tables and chairs on our veranda and decorated with tablecloths from the US and flowers from our yard. It always takes a little “zam-genuity” to pull things off in Zambia. The tablecloths kept blowing away, so we tied them in knots underneath the tables to hold them in place. We only had two real vases, so we improvised with glass jars and tied red bandanas around the screw tops. We were pleased with the results and declared it a “Martha Stewart” moment for us.

The dinner was to begin at 6:00. At 3:00 a huge thunderstorm with torrential rains blew in. We moved all the tables back toward the wall of the house and out of the rain. When the rain let up, we had to sweep out the water that had flooded the veranda floor, mop it up as best we could, and hope for the best. A light rain continued to fall as our guests arrived with umbrellas in hand. David took our vehicle and drove around to the far corners of the mission to pick up some of the teachers. In true Zambian style it was after 7:00 before we could begin the meal.

We had debated about what to serve at a dinner like this: should we serve Zambian traditional foods or American-style dishes? The Zambians we consulted thought that our guests would appreciate and enjoy American food, so the menu was chicken and rice casserole, cooked carrots, cole slaw, rolls, and cake. Most of the guests seemed to like the food and several went back for seconds.

The rain cleared while we ate. After the dinner, David presented a message to the teachers about the importance of their work. The headmaster also spoke words of encouragement. Apparently the teachers have not had many evenings like this, and all expressed their gratitude as they headed for home.

Now that we have the decorating, menu, and program figured out, we're planning dinners for the next three Friday nights to make sure that every mission employee is included.