College Reunion

We were delighted to have three alumni of Oklahoma Christian College/University at our Thanksgiving meal. David graduated from OCC in 1975. Brittany (center) graduated in December of 2007 from OCU and is now a Peace Corps volunteer working in a village not far from us. Meagan Hawley, our co-worker here at Namwianga, is a graduate from the class of 2003. So what are the chances of three alumni of a small college in Oklahoma having Thanksgiving dinner together in the African bush?

Thanksgiving 2008

Our Thanksgiving table was surrounded by a wonderful mix of people. Six Peace Corps volunteers from all over the United States joined us, plus Canadian and American missionaries and a Zambian co-worker. After last year's Christmas turkey adventure, we settled for mesquite marinaded grilled chicken. We managed to have lots of Thanksgiving traditional side dishes, including cranberry sauce, green bean casserole (with homemade onion rings!), fruit salad, and lots of pies.

The electric company cooperated and we even had power all day--a rare blessing that we greatly appreciate. Thursday evening David pulled out the multimedia projector and screen and we watched a movie on DVD.

As always, we love visits from the Peace Corps Volunteers. The stories of their adventures living in the bush leave us laughing and full of admiration for the work they do. And I could not ask for a more appreciative group to cook for!

Update - November 23

Another busy week has flown by! We enjoyed a visit from Dr. Dick Bedell, a representative of Project CURE, who was here for several days evaluating the clinic's needs. He managed to time his visit just right to be here for invasion of the flying termites, so I'm sure he had stories to tell when he returned home.

The rains have made the days here nearly perfect. The mornings are cool and the daytimes just right. It's a welcome relief from the heat of October.

Almost overnight the dry, brown bush has transformed into lush, verdant green. We have beautiful day lilies blooming in our back yard and several other kinds of flowers blooming in the front.

The rains bring cooler temperatures, but they also bring out the bugs. Besides the flying ants, we're battling huge crickets, beetles, spiders, and centipedes. And of course the mosquitoes are always an issue. Yesterday the drain outside the kitchen overflowed--it was completely clogged with wings and bodies of the dead flying termites.

Classes are over for the term, and now we are giving final exams. Our veranda is a favorite study spot, and we have anywhere from one to ten students buried in books there any time of the day.

Sunday we are off to Livingstone to take Louisa and the Oldenburgs to the airport. Louisa is flying home for the holidays, and the Oldenburgs are headed to Johannesburg for Don's PET scan and checkup. We're praying for a good report on Don.

On Tuesday we'll welcome five Peace Corps volunteers who will be here for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Jason Update

Sunday we took Jason and Kathi with us on an outreach to Tara. Tara is where Bernard now lives with his father and stepmother, so we were hoping to see Bernard and let him have some time with his buddies from the Haven. We did get to see Bernard's father, but Bernard was spending the weekend in Choma with his aunt.

We still had a great time with Jason and Kathi. These two love to talk, and they chattered non-stop--in Tonga of course. I managed to communicate with them because they understand English even if they don't choose to speak it.

Termites, Anyone?

Tonight was the invasion of the flying termites! We had our first big rain last night, so we were expecting the hordes of winged critters, and they came just as we expected. The brown swarms are drawn to the light, so our electrified verandas were full of them. There were so many that we could hear a buzz from the beating of their wings!

The Zambians love to eat these "nswa", so we soon had guys outside the house gathering up buckets and tubs of the delicacies to cook tomorrow. They fry the bodies--which resemble brown jelly beans--in a skillet. The insects make their own oil, or so I've heard. These students promised to bring me some tomorrow. Yum! Yum!

Mavis

We had another graduation on Friday. The George Benson Christian College students who finished in December of 2007 had to wait until 2008 to find out whether or not they had passed all their coursework. It was a pleasure to see so many of them back on campus after almost a year away. Shown here is Mavis, a young woman who is on my most-admired list. Mavis lost her mother in 2005 during her first year of college. Then the next year her father became ill. When Mavis was ready to do her student teaching last year, she found that her father had lost the family's house because he could not work and had no income. Mavis's four younger brothers had been sent to live with friends and relatives, and Mavis had no house to go home to. A friend of Mavis's mother invited Mavis to live with her in return for helping with child care, and Mavis did that in order to complete her student teaching.

Mavis finished her courses successfully and left GBCC last December. She accepted a teaching position in Lusaka and found a place to live for herself and her two youngest brothers, both of whom have health problems. She got them started in school again and got them the medical treatment they need. Sadly, her father died earlier this year, and two brothers are still separated from the family.

Mavis proudly told me all of this when she came last week for graduation, adding that as soon as she can afford larger living quarters, she will bring the other two brothers to live with her and get them back in school. What an amazing 22-year old woman!

Miller

Miller is another outstanding NCSS graduate. Three years ago Miller received his acceptance letter for sponsorship and RAN the 10 miles or so from his village to my house to thank me. He is a multi-talented young man who was the head boy (top leadership role) for the school this year in addition to leading one of the choirs AND making excellent grades.

Prize

This is Prize, one of the students who graduated from high school on Saturday. He is an orphan and had no family to attend the ceremony, so he asked me to be his "mum" for the day. I was honored to do so, especially when Prize was announced as the recipient of the Bible award for outstanding spiritual leadership.

I was glad that I could be there for Prize on his special day, but I grieve for the mother who didn't live to share this with him.

Graduation Day

Although there are still several weeks left in this school term, the graduation ceremony for Namwianga Christian Secondary School was held on Saturday. Shown above are the 23 sponsored students in this year's class. I feel especially close to this group because they were the first high school group selected for sponsorship after I became sponsorship coordinator. I remember poring over their applications and praying about the decisions of the selection committee, and I remember meeting each one of them at the beginning of grade 10 in 2006. They have been a delightful and talented group, and I hate to see them leave.

Goodbye

Tuesday morning we said goodbye to the HIZ group. Shown in the top picture are Janice Bingham and Donna and Shawn Daggett. Shawn teaches missions at Harding and was the fearless and capable leader this term. His wife Donna was a tremendous help to all of the activities and was especially appreciated for her skills as a cook. She made many wonderful meals on Chef Leonard's days off. Janice Bingham spent ten years working as a nurse in a hospital in Tanzania and has a true heart for training those who are interested in medical missions.

The lower photo shows the HIZ students gathered with some of their Zambian friends for a final photo before taking off. There were many tearful goodbyes as the yellow bus drove away for Livingstone. The HIZzers are now spending a couple of weeks visiting mission points in Uganda and Rwanda before returning to the United States on November 21.

The campus is quiet and empty without them. They left with an Africa-shaped hole in their hearts, and we have a HIZ shaped hole in ours.

HIZ Update - November 2

The Harding students are winding up their stay at Namwianga and will leave early on Tuesday morning. On Saturday the HIZ group hosted a lunch for all the workers and those of us who have helped them during their stay. Last night there was a farewell party for the Heavenly Echoes choir which included six of the HIZ students. Today Shawn Daggett took 10 of the students on an outreach with a group from Namwianga Christian Basic School.

In the midst of saying goodbyes and packing to leave, the students are also studying for finals and finishing research papers and projects.

We have grown to love them dearly and can already tell that we will have an empty place in our hearts when they leave.

New Zambian President Sworn In

Rupiah Banda ended up with 40% of the vote to Michael Sata's 38%. Banda was sworn in as president Sunday afternoon. Sata insists that the vote was rigged and his Patriotic Front party is demanding a recount. There has been some rioting in Lusaka neighborhoods where Sata was popular. Our area of the country was not in support of Sata, so we don't expect any trouble. Click on the title to get the full story.

Zambia Elections Information

The election results are still too close to call. Michael Sata has a slight lead so far, but Rupiah Banda's campaign manager is predicting a win by 62,000 votes. You can click on the title to visit an unofficial web site that is tracking the vote counts as they come in. The candidates and party affiliations are:
PF (Patriotic Front) - Michael Sata
MMD (Movement for Multiparty Democracy) - Rupiah Banda (currently the acting president)
UPND - (United Party for National Development) - H. Hachilema

IT'S HOT

In Zambia October is called the Suicide Month because of the intense heat. How hot is it? It’s so hot I had to get out the thesaurus just to describe it. It’s not just hot-- it’s searing, scorching, broiling, blistering, roasting, and baking!

Air conditioning is a distant memory from another lifetime in a galaxy far, far away.

Classrooms are stifling and oppressive, stuffed with wall-to-wall bodies folded into chair desks. It’s an endurance test to make it through an hour-long session.

So the other day I offered my students the option of meeting for class on the open verandah at our house, and they jumped at the opportunity. The occasional breezes brought some welcome relief.

Election Fever

Election Fever rages in Zambia. There is talk of little else. Posters plaster billboards and outside walls. I haven’t seen campaign T-shirts, but there are colorful chitenges (2-meter lengths of cloth worn as skirts) printed with the smiling images of presidential candidates.

On Thursday Zambians will choose the successor to President Levy Mwanawasa who died in August. The acting president Rupia Banda is faced off against Hakainde Hichilema and Michael Sata.

Banda served as vice president under Mwanawasa and is a member of the party currently in control of Parliament. His campaign stresses stability and unity. Hachilema, or “HH” as he is called, is from the Southern Province where we live. He is independently wealthy and promises to encourage economic growth. Michael Sata came in second to Mwanawasa in the 2006 election. He rails against foreign influence in Zambia, especially the Chinese. During the 2006 campaign he voiced his admiration for Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

Sata made a campaign appearance in Kalomo on Sunday, arriving in a black helicopter. Hachilema gathered a Kalomo crowd on Tuesday, including many of our students who cut classes to hear him speak. A couple of the HIZ students managed make it to the event as well.

Yesterday there were reports of riots in Livingstone over suspected ballot rigging. Late yesterday we received a warning from the American Embassy, advising Americans to stay clear of all campaign gatherings, polling places, and election events for the next few days.

Zambians have no option except to vote in their home districts, so students who live far away are excused from classes the rest of this week so that they have time to travel home for voting. Election Day on Thursday is a school holiday everywhere in Zambia.

We mailed in our absentee ballots for the US elections. Now we watch and wait and pray for elections on two continents.

David found a thought-provoking article by John Piper that provides a faith perspective on the election process. You might want to take a look at it.

HIZ Photo

Here's a shot of our wonderful Harding In Zambia group.

It's been great to have them back on campus this week. We missed them during their travels.

Yesterday was Independence Day as Zambia celebrated the end of British colonial rule in 1964. There were no classes, so students took advantage of local gatherings in Kalomo and at Namwianga Basic School. There were some sports match-ups here on campus as well.

Peace in the Chicken Pen

No more guineas have yet been fried, roasted, or stewed. In a last-ditch effort to thwart the bullies, we stretched chicken wire over the top half of the pen where the rooster and hens make their home. Now the guineas are isolated on their own side of the pen and can no longer fly over and harass the chickens.

A few hours after this new development I realized how quiet the back yard was. No squawking hens running to hide in the corners. No guineas honking in mocking glee. I decided to check things out and found the guineas running frantically back and forth on their side of the wire trying to get to the chickens. The hens, however, were peacefully enjoying their new freedom and completely ignoring the guineas. In a few minutes one of the guineas flew up and landed on the chicken wire over the hens. He walked around a bit, but when he found no way to get in, he flew back to join his guinea friends.

Peace reigns in the pen. The hens are laying, and all's right with the chicken world. I love a happy ending.

HIZ Update - October 21

The Harding students returned from their week-long trip on Saturday night. They reported having a wonderful time seeing northern Zambia but were glad to get back to Namwianga.

On Sunday three of the girls went along with the Heavenly Echoes choir on an outreach. Shawn Daggett and Daniel and Jonathan joined David for an outreach to Kasukwe. This is a new congregation that was planted in April/May by George Benson Christian College students who were doing their student teaching practice at the Kasukwe school. It was a long day for this outreach group-- they left at 7:00 a.m. and didn't get back until 5:30 in the afternoon. Their lunch menu was not your usual Sunday fare: samp (like hominy) in sour milk, mpongo (goat) and nshima.

On Sunday afternoon several of the HIZ students went to the Haven and brought back babies to spend the afternoon. There was plenty of love and attention lavished on those lucky little ones.

It seems impossible that there are only two more weeks left for this Harding group. They have been such a blessing to everyone here at Namwianga, and we will miss them.

Trouble in the Chicken Pen

Long-time readers may remember that back in March we had seven baby guineas (shown in the top photo) who were being raised by one of our red hens. We left for the States at the end of March and returned five months later to find that the guineas were all grown up (lower photo). I think these birds are strangely beautiful with their tiny necks and turquoise heads in contrast to their large and dotted bodies. They are also a good security force; they make a horrible racket when anyone new comes around.

The guineas and chickens had apparently co-existed quite well during our absence. But guineas will be guineas, and as ours grew into adulthood, the troubles began. Guineas can accurately be described as hyperactive (their nickname here is Turbo Chicks), and their frenetic darting around the pen is unsettling to the more staid hens. Worse yet, the guineas have become obnoxious bullies. They chase the chickens and peck at them mercilessly. The guineas bloodied one of the young roosters so badly that I gave the little guy away to one of the workers to save the rooster's life (at least until he went in the cooking pot). Several times a day I hear the hens squawking in terror as one of the guineas goes on a rampage. A guinea will choose one of the hens to pick on and chase her until she runs to a corner and hides her head. It's painful to watch!

We tried separating the guineas from the chickens with a wire fence. The guineas fly up and over the fence right back in. We tried reducing the number of guineas and butchered three of them last week, leaving just four of them in the chicken pen. The abuse continues.

Unique beauty is not enough of a reason for these bullies to be kept around to harass my hens! I think our guineas are headed for the dinner table.

More Scenes from Sunday's Outreach

Messiah and Orleen taught the children's classes. These wonderful young women love to teach and described their experience on Sunday morning as "exciting!"


We drove the six miles to the farm. When we arrived, we found that the choir of eighth and ninth graders from Namwianga Basic School had walked the entire distance so that they could present a beautiful program in song after the morning service. They're shown here as they started their walk toward home under the canopy of the gorgeous jacaranda trees that line the drive at Seven Fountains Farm.