Mechanic Graham

Here in Zambia you often have to turn your hand to things that back home would be easy to deal with once you had scanned the yellow pages and got the right company out to fix the problem. Since being here Graham has done more work on cars than in the last 20 years and this last weekend turned his hand to mending the washing machine! When it was spinning the noise was terrible and it was obvious that something was stuck under the drum. This meant dismantling the whole machine to disassemble the drum and the offending piece of wire was right at the back of the drum. By this time it was practically dark so he left it in pieces ready to put it together in the morning but it rained. This wouldn't normally be a problem but our laundry room has three walls and a bar gate and so the rain comes in so then everything had to be dried with the help of our one little heater and a fan. So does it work now?
Well first time around he forgot to attach the drum rubber to the front panel so it leaked! Fixed that and also a small leak discovered in the front glass, so for now we are back to normal!

Church building projects

It seems to us that wherever you live, if you attend a church long enough, there will be a building project! That has certainly been our experience so far and our church here in Lusaka, International Baptist Church (it is actually very Zambian!) announced that it is hoping to move forward with their building plans very soon. It is a very different project to the ones we are used to. Our church here has a reasonable sized building but there is no electricity whatsover and this is one of the things that they want to change. There is a Sunday School room where the children meet but this has no windows and no proper door ad as with all the rooms except the main one, no finish of any kind on the rough concrete floor. The roofs are corrugated metal so it is very loud when it rains! And as for air conditioning during the hot season - well we can just dream....! There are classes for the adults and children before the main service and some of these take place outside as there is just a couple of extra rooms in addition to the the sanctuary. It is however a place we have come to treasure and look forward to coming to every week. The church is so friendly and our pastor has an amazing heart for his congregation - he is also the bursar for a theological seminary so he is a busy man. Every week we come to worship, hear God's word and see friends - no electricity perhaps but it is a wealthy place indeed.

Living Waters School

This week I visited Living Waters School in Mtendere with Megan, our community schools worker for Action Zambia. It is run by the church and the children there are generally getting a good education. The school year here in Zambia runs from January to December with three months in school and then one month off. So school for most kids, unless they are sitting exams, finishes for Christmas at the end of November. The photo shows them all lining up before classes start. Children in so many ways are the same wherever you go. They are joking, shoving each other, waving shyly at me and Megan and quickly paying attention if the teacher spots them trying to goof off! On this particular occasion we were there as school starts and the sight outside the gates was a sad one. On either side of the 'road' leading to the school/church there are a number of bars and despite limited opening hours they are pretty much open all the time. Some of the men outside them were obviously somewhat the worse for wear even though it was 8.15 in the morning! I had to be careful to take photos surreptitiously! Beer here is sold in cartons, just like milk cartons back home. The road is muddy as rainy season has started and it was strewn with discarded cartons. Probably not the sort of environment you would like your kid's school to be in but we are thankful that the teachers at this school are committed to God, and to the children, so despite the surroundings, the kids here are getting a great opportunity.

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.