The Puppies Return!

Yes the puppies have returned! Well not all eight of them but the first two that left us have now been back for a couple of weeks. Their new owners had a trip back to the States for a month and asked us if we could look after them. We weren't sure if it would work out. We had the feeling that dogs don't welcome their offspring back in quite the same way as us humans do! But after some initial growling and sniffing things have been going well. Chisomo, the mum, made it very clear who is the boss - she is! Coco wasn't quite sure about sharing cuddle time with these new arrivals (for a huge dog he is the biggest softie!) but they are all getting along very well now and it is fun to have them all here, especially as Coco likes to play a lot so he has playmates for a while. The two pups left our place as Cutie Pie and Fluffy but thankfully were re-named as Buster and Brown. Much more appropriate for two puppies that are going to be as big as their dad ie probably at least 80lbs once they are a year old! So here are some photos so you can see h0w much they have changed from two little mainly black fluff balls at six weeks old to the handsome four and a half month olds that they are now (Buster is the paler one).

Election Fever

It has been virtually impossible to miss the huge change on the American political landscape as the intense debate and media coverage culminated in victory for Democrat Barack Obama this week.
Zambia has also just emerged from election fever. President Levy Mwanawasa died on August 19th and elections to replace him took place one week ago on October 30th. The electioneering was just as intense. A huge difference to what we are used to was the element of tribalism, particularly in the rural areas where many will vote according to the direction that their tribal Chief gives. There were four contenders but the main two were Rupiah Banda who had been acting President since Mwanawasa's death and Michael Sata. The former represents MMD - Movement for Multiparty Democracy - the party that has been in power since 1991, standing for economic continuity and stability for foreign investors. However, the charges of corruption during Banda's time as vice-president and as he campaigned have been widespread. His closest opponent, Sata, stood for the poor and is hugely popular among the underprivileged population here in Lusaka. He is often accused of being hot-headed and speaking before thinking. So election day came and it was very quiet. The day was declared a public holiday to give everyone the chance to vote and the quietness continued throughout the weekend. Rumours abounded as to possible danger, especially if Sata lost - that machetes were impossible to buy as they had all been purchased and that the army was going to be out on the streets. In the end peace generally ruled other than a few isolated incidents. Sata had the lead until Saturday night when Banda took it and never looked back. The claims of corruption continue and Banda was certainly inaugurated with great speed, just two hours after the final total was announced. As always in politics it is impossible to know the true story but Banda will be president now until 2011 and then who knows what will happen then. If you want to keep up with Zambian politics, check out www.Lusakatimes.com - a great window into what is going on here.

As for elections, I'll let Rachel have the last word. After dinner tonight she looked over her dad's shoulder as he read the BBC and said 'Oh, is Obama in the lead' - so there was one person who didn't know the result.....

Satanism in schools?

We recently heard a shocking story that highlights how prevelant superstition, witchcraft and animisim are here in Zambia, even in a city like Lusaka. Friends of ours have four children, are strong Christians - the father is a pastor and is well-travelled, they are well educated and committed to strong Biblical teaching and building up the church. Just over a week ago they were asked to come to their youngest son's school, he is 13 years old. They expected it to be about his performance in a particular subject and were surprised when so many staff were there ready for this meeting. It turned out that their son had shared his lunchtime drink with a friend and that this boy had gone home and allegedly suffered terrible dreams which in turn his parents ascribed to the 'fact' that he had been cursed. The curse was believed to have been cast by our friends' son and because it was so strong the conclusion was that the father (ie our pastor friend) was involved too. The worst is yet to come. This innocent 13 year old boy was pressurised into signing a confession by the teachers that he was practicing satanism and had cursed his classmate. Unbelievably, this is not a private school but a government run secondary/high school in one of the nicest parts of Lusaka.

This has obviously been a very testing time for our friends and they are, not surprisingly, moving their son to a different, non-government school. It also demonstrates how in Zambia, as a 'christian country' such evil practices and beliefs lie just under the surface in all walks of life.

Jacaranda

The last few weeks have been terribly hot, but beautiful too, as some of the trees burst into flower. The colours here are fantastic and here is my favourite. This is the Jacaranda tree that sits in the middle of the car park/parking lot at the school that Philip and Rachel attend. As we walk to and from school each day the road we go along is lined with these trees that form a beautiful purple parade. Often as you look around in Lusaka there is rubbish by the side of the road, people in desperate straits and the signs of a country where over 80% of the population live below the poverty line but you look upwards and you see the beauty of the jacaranda tree.

The dangers of Bus Travel

Today there was a meeting of a number of Pastors at our house. One Pastor turned up and had lost his glasses. He was very embarrassed as it meant he could not see people well enough to recognize them. When he explained how he had lost them, it made me thankful I was not with him. The bus he caught to get to us had caught fire. With sparks and flames everywhere, people were rushing to get off. The buses are small, should only hold 14 passengers but often have over 20, the most I have counted including children was 25. Here are a few pictures I took using my Nokia N93 of the inside of a bus last week, I have reduced the resolution for the blog but I think you can get an idea of how bad it was. I was in the front with another man and the driver and was expecting it break down at any point. As it turned out we didn't get very far until the police stopped us and impounded the bus - but not for the condition it was in but for having too many passengers. We joined the line of impounded buses and thankfully we got a refund to get on another bus. We then had to walk along to the front of the line where an empty bus picked us up - all of us - so overloaded we carried on on our journey.

Pastors at Lusaka Theological College

I have been teaching on Tuesday nights at a small college in Kanyama - a township/compound in the south of Lusaka (it was the one that got badly flooded) It is called Lusaka Theological college and is set up to be a low cost college for pastors in the local area. I have just finished teaching them a 12 weeks course on Galatians and Romans and last week gave them back their assignments and their final tests. The nights usually end up, and sometimes start, with no electricity so we end up using candles. It is a bit of a dangerous drive back after dark in the compound, especially going through the city market at night. The traffic jams up as there are no police out at that time and every mini bus driver thinks only of himself. I once got stuck for nearly one hour trying to get through and felt very conspicuous as the only white. Fortunately it is still early enough so the drunks are mainly just merry! I started taking a long detour around, but that means either going over a very risky mud bridge that is only just wide enough for my four wheel drive, or going through the heart of another compound on a very narrow mud road. So, partly as a treat for them and partly for me, we held this last class in our office in town and had pizza and a fruity drink. I had sent out a text message saying we would be having pizza, so they turned up smartly dressed because they thought I sent them a message saying "I would take their picture"!!! I worked it out after a while where they got the idea of the picture, when I realized how few had seen pizza. As it happened I did bring my camera and here are some a few pictures. I started with 14 pastors at the beginning of term, but one died a few weeks into the course from a stomach ulcer. A few were traveling as it was the summer holidays so there are just eight of them here.






Here they are singing a few songs at the beginning.

















The last photos are them posing with their papers, results and a copy of Wentworth Pikes "Sharing The Bread of Life" which Doug Nichols from Action International had sent across previously.

President Mwanawasa Dies

Ever since the President suffered a stroke at the end of June and was transferred to France for treatment, there has been rumour and discussion as to the state of his health and whether he would ever be able to act as president in the future. No photos were shown of him in hospital and the government came under attack for their tepid comments on the issue. Well now that is all at an end. Today it was announced that President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia died around 10.30 am local time. Seven days of mourning start today although exactly what that means is unclear. Zambia has only had three presidents since it became an independent nation and Mwanawasa is the first to pass away. Constitutionally presidential elections have to be held within 90 days so the coming weeks will be vital ones for Zambia. A poor nation, Zambia has nonetheless been stable and peaceful and economic progress was being made. Please pray for the country's continued political and economic stability and for peaceful elections.