Hope

So I wanted to write this post with urgency as I'm fearing I'll forget and this passion I feel will fade away with the hum drum of everyday life. But this is something I want to hold on to, something I want to get under my skin and into my forever thinking.
Recently here at Amano we were informed that one of the laundry ladies houses had seen the effects of a fire which swept through the whole house leaving her with nothing. Now, many times we are asked for money by the workers and sometimes it's easy to question the authenticity of their requests.
But last night, I felt slapped in the face with the truth of what many people in this country live like. 3 of my friends working in the dorm decided to go and see for themselves what this lady was going through, to spend time praying with her and to show their love and care. Unfortunately we were unable to go. But last night they shared with me the sheer desperation of her situation. Her mud-brick house has been left with no roof, half burnt doors, no food, no beds except a meagre mattress. We wept together as they talked about the distance she has to travel to work here everyday...we thought she was exaggerating when she spoke of the 2 hours she travels each morning...but it is now clear it is no exaggeration!
Melanie had taken a few pictures of the house, not for crude observation but as a means to bring light to this ladies situation. I don't feel it is right to post them on to this blog. But I wanted to write, to relay my thoughts, to share my concern...this morning I wake from a late evening of prayer and questions... so many questions....What can we do? How much do we give? How, in this messed up world can we actually make a change? Is their hope for those who are hopeless? What do we 'want' and what do we 'need'? Are most of our perceived 'needs' actually 'wants?' What did Jesus mean when he called us to give 'everything' we have to the poor?  
To be honest, I'm sure these will be questions we grapple with, not just for today but for days to come. But somehow I feel more sure than ever that I want these questions to follow me, to prompt me, to catapult me out of my comfort zone. I want her face ingrained on my heart, I want love and compassion ingrained on my heart.
This morning as Jon and I talked more with heavy hearts over breakfast, we were reminded of a quote which was written up in the girls dorm last month.

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” John Wesley. 

And I think this is the crux of it. Wherever we find ourselves, whether it's Africa or England.... there is always need and there will always be need; whether it's for food, for love, for a listening ear, for a smile, for a friend.... 

Muzungu, Muzungu!

A few pics from the last week.

This is Hilda's (Hilda is my bemba teacher and Zambian Mum!) grandson; baby Harold, he has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever laid eyes on! Each week he gets accustomed with our shoes, this week it was my flip flops!

As I write, we can hear the faint sound of the huge bull dozer the school is borrowing to level out some space for a new rugby pitch. It's been amazing to watch the progress that's being made let alone the HUGE granite rocks they are finding under the surface.

Jon and I spent some time watching the work yesterday evening as the sun went down, just chatting together. Watching the bull dozer made us think about how often things in life seem like slow progress; little by little, bit by bit but when you stand back and look at all that has happened you can see that God has and is doing great things through the seemingly 'slow progress'.

Yesterday we had a fantastic time shopping in Kitwe! Words can never really explain the sights, the hectic busyness of market madness, the sounds of chasing stubborn street sellers shouting 'Muzungu, Muzungu!'(white person, white person!), the hustle and bustle of overwhelmingly overcrowded roads , the smell of dried fish mixed with sewage mixed with the hint of overpowering outdated aftershave wafting far too close as strange men try to get close to stare at funny looking muzungu ladies wondering lost through the maze of stalls. Stalls piled high with tatty trainers, mountains of retro remnants and fake football shirts!

 Beate and I had lots of fun trying out our bemba and buying over-priced clothes!

As I tried to subtly pull out my camera to snap a few shots of moments I wanted to capture, lots of stall sellers wanted to be made 'famous'!! The picture taking didn't last long as I was aware of the unnecessary fuss it was causing!

Monday is a public holiday here in Zambia so Jon and I are currently enjoying a peaceful long weekend!!

Chingola to Chengelo.........

We had a wonderful half term nearly 2 weeks ago now! We rested, caught up with friends and work. It ended with a fun trip to Chengelo school in Mkushi to watch the secondary boys compete in some friendly matches of rugby. Seeing the sunrise and sunset in one day was spectacular as we travelled the long road there and back; travelling a total of 9 hours!

But it was certainly worth the journey to see the boys give their best and compete in some extremely tense matches. Jon has been helping coach the boys at rugby here and there and was thrilled to see them play! I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought and will definately make an embarrassing Mum one day as I jumped up and down shouting like crazy! 

We started the second half of term with some more friendly sports. A visiting school, sakeji, from the northern province came to pay us a visit. They played netball, football and basketball with our students. The games ended with teachers versus some of the older secondary students which was very funny (and very competitive!!). Jon did surprisingly well scoring a few goals, or baskets, whatever they're called!

We are both well and enjoying each moment we have here. I am currently trying to memorise psalm 23 in bemba; 'Lesa ekechema Wandi, shakaka bile nangu chimu, alantwala kumulenfwe kumenshi yabumi'. 

'Moments!'

After being catapulted from the month of May rapidly into the month of June...we now have some space to catch our breath and reflect on all that has already happened over the last half of term and prepare ourselves for the next half with a lovely little break.
Although times are busy I am constantly reminded of the importance of 'moments'... a friend of mine recently sent me a youtube link which (although a little cheesy..) is absolutely true! To capture and appreciate the little things in life because moments fly by so fast.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GhOUaszMGvQ
So some of our 'moments' since I last blogged include the school fun fair held on 'Africa Freedom Day'. A great event where staff, students and parents all get involved in organising various stalls! Jon and his tutor group organised a coke and sprite drinking competition. I think the winner of the coke competition managed something crazy like 5 seconds and the sprite through a straw was 20 seconds. Unfortunately I couldn't even manage the whole sprite!!

Another not so nice moment was finding Mr Spider in our house. I think all of the neighbours heard about it after the fuss I made. I love how in the picture our wooden giraffe seems to just be looking at it casually!

As Jon likes to say, I had a "toe-tally" bad moment when I had a run in with one of the sofas in the banana house and ended up ripping my big toe nail off!argh..... so so painful. Annoyingly it has got infected and I'm still trying to get rid of it... (the infection and the toenail!!). So that's put a stop to me running cross country with the students on a Wednesday afternoon... but it hasn't stopped Jon who has managed to take 3-4 mins off of his time now running the 3.5km in 22 mins! And it certainly hasn't stopped Mr Jarrett who managed to run it last week in his banana suit!

The weekend at the beginning of half term Jon went along to the ISAZ (International Schools Assocciation Zambia) Athletics with the students. He had quite an adventure so I hope he will be able to write before half term is over with all the details of that!
We have so far had a lovely half term of resting, seeing friends and getting ourselves prepared for the rest of the term!

The Month of May

What a month it's been! Full of up's and down's and roundabouts. I'm reminded again and again of squeezing the life out of each moment, embracing each day and more than that each person that steps into our path. And although May has been extremely busy it has been full of blessings, wonderful characters and lots of fun!

At the beginning of the month we had the school's first PTA Duathlon. The students had to form a team of 4 to run a total of 5km and cycle a total of 14km. The staff were also allowed to participate so Jon and I embraced the challenge and joined a team. Jon's team, pictured below were called 'The Great Escape'. I joined an all ladies team. Jon cycled 7km and I ran 2.5.
It was a fantastic day of community spirit as we all gathered to cheer each other on and raise some funds for the school. Apart from a few lost pupils who veered off course and a very sad Jon after our team beat his (!) hehe...It was a great event!

The Great Escape!

A lowlight of May was that we had to say goodbye to Mum, but the month she spent here was very precious and gave her a little peek into our lives in Zambia. She is already being sorely missed not only by us but also by the Grade 2&3's. It was a sad a goodbye but nice to know we will be back in England in December to see her and Dad!

Last week, we held a 'creative prayer space' with the youth group on Tuesday and Thursday evening, we also opened it up to staff members on Wednesday. We transformed the inside of the banana house with hanging material, fairy lights, candles and music so that the young people could take some time away from their revision and pressure of exams to just be still and spend time with God. We set up 9 prayer stations for the students to visit to focus on different areas of prayer including Forgiveness, Thanks and Decisions. It was encouraging that the students really enjoyed it, one even commenting "that we should do this every week", another saying that after spending time in the prayer room they "felt lighter".
Photo's coming soon.

Another surprise this month was the arrival of a container ship which had our boxes on! These are boxes which we packed almost 2 years ago before we came to Zambia. For one reason or another they were not put on the container until about 6 months ago. It was like Christmas unpacking all the goodies for the dorm and our house!!

Me unpacking the boxes!

It was great having Mum out with us as well because for her Zambian life was all new and exciting, things that we now take for granted she found fascinating and she snapped lots of pics which she was able to leave with us. I thought I would share a few with you...

unfortunately not a rare sight on the zambian roads!

Street side market

typical shops in town

Street sellers

Sunset!!