Before I get to the fun Friday activities let me tell you what happened on Thursday. I was at Shop-Rite to buy our groceries for dinner- I had backed out of my parking space and was about to exit the parking lot when a lady driving a van backed out of her space right into me. I was laying on the horn but she was not listening- obviously!! The damages are to the left front quarter panel, no damage to my tire or wheel. My driver's door just makes a squeaky noise when I open it. Erik has taken the car to the shop today to be repaired, the lady had no insurance but has agreed to pay for it- I'll let you know how that turns out:)
We had the Cooks over Thursday night for dinner and swimming. Niki, Coby, Kelsey and Hannah Rodgers came over. Ricky and Austin, Niki's husband and oldest son, were in Jo'burg for the weekend. As the kids were swimming, we kept seeing this little head pop up over the concrete wall from our neighbor's house. We asked him to come over and meet the kids. His name is Jonathon, he is 13 years old, and he belongs to the maid, Jane, at the house next door. We asked him to come back and swim today. His English is not too strong we will have to work on communicating.
Friday afternoon at 14 hours, Chelsea played in her first basketball game for her school, ISL. They were playing the dreaded American International School. The league is U-15- that means 6, 7, 8, 9th graders were playing. She started the game and looked scared to death. The stands were packed with students from both schools, she looked at Erik and I and mouthed, "I'm scared". She was defending a girl about 5 feet 6 inches tall. I told her, don't worry about how tall they are- they all have to bring the ball down to dribble in front of them, steal the ball then. Well, she never really felt comfortable on the defensive end but when she got the ball she did a great job dribbling down the court, going for shots, passing, etc. She scored 4 out of the teams 10 points. There were 4 girls her age on the team and the coach played 2 of them at a time so she got to be on the court for quite a bit of time. The final score was 35-10- She was the leading scorer on her team with 2 baskets!!
We attended the "Town meeting" last night at the Marine House in Lusaka. There were about 150 Americans. They were all here for various reasons. We hung out with the friends we already have here and met some new ones.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Bradley's First Field Trip
Monday was Bradley's first field trip and we went to Cheshire Homes. This is a local rehabilitation clinic for children. The children stay at the clinic during the week and return to their parents on the weekends. The home is run by Catholic nuns and also 4 teachers and 2 physical therapists are on staff. There are several Cheshire Homes all over the world and it is funded by an organization out of the UK. It is very clean and very well run. We saw about 20 children. The majority of children were born with some bone abnormalities that had been operated on and they are completing treatment at the home. One boy was autistic and kept reaching out to touch the children- he was 9 years old but the size of a 5 year old boy. One boy was in a wheelchair with no legs at all. There were 2 classes from our school both Year 5, about 47 kids.
They sang a song for the childen and the children from Cheshire sang a song back- It was sweet to see their smiling faces. They liked having visitors!!
They sang a song for the childen and the children from Cheshire sang a song back- It was sweet to see their smiling faces. They liked having visitors!!
I was waiting around the school Monday until it was time for the field trip hoping to catch a glimpse of Chelsea at snack time and enjoying a Coke Light from The Tuck Shop(school snack bar). The Headmaster approached to ask how I was doing, how the school year was going, who I was looking for- basically, what was I doing??- I told him that I was going on the Year 5 field trip. He said, "You have way too much time on your hands". Obviously things are different here than in the States. I was the one and only parent on that field trip.
Okay...I have a funny story that may be just for mommies...I'm going to use hypotheticals...
One day Mr. Derrik went to work. He was sitting in his office when his administrative assistant, Forgetful, came in and asked if the company would be giving her Mother's Day off. Well, as Mr. Derrik thought about this and the holidays that were already offered, he advised that Mother's Day was celebrated on Sundays therefore not a work day after all. Forgetful then taught Mr. Derrik that women have Mother's Day once a month and it is usually the 2nd day of a cycle.
Mr. Derrik went home and discussed with his wife who advised she would gladly go to the Chemist(pharmacy) and send in medicine to help Forgetful with Mother's Day pains as to not interfere with work. Please keep in mind that Mr. Derrik's company already offers 20 vacation days to all employees per Zambian law:) Happy Mother's Day!!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sermon Sunday...
The Bowmans, missionaries from First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, were in town this week. www.BowmansinZambia.blogspot.com. Bob knew of the Bowman family through his church family so we decided to meet. They live 12 hours north of Lusaka and come in once in awhile to do some shopping or gather other provisions. They have been here for 7 years- they moved here when their son, Caleb, was 18 months old. Caleb now has 2 sisters and one brother all born in South Africa. They are in the middle of their second term. What a great example of obedience to God's calling!
Amy Bowman said, " My mom works nursery at First Baptist with one of your friends in Jax- Van something"- I said "That must be Teri Van Duyn." What a small world!!
The Bowmans attend Woodlands Baptist Church when they are in town so we decided to join them there. It was such a blessing. It was funny when they asked visitors to stand and there were only 2 white groups of people, both from Jacksonville, Florida.
The preacher was a visiting preacher but delivered a great message- He was a little loud- I thought he must be watching all those preachers on TV because the Zambians normally speak very softly- it is hard to hear them sometimes.
Anyway, today's lesson was from Romans 12:1. I learned that the other chapters leading up to this were all about the Gospel described by Paul to the Romans. Once Paul finished telling them that we are all sinners, we all need a Savior, the only one who can save us is Jesus, he came, he died, he rose again- Paul goes on to tell the Romans that we must offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. We must wake up daily and seek God's wisdom on what He wants us to do for Him today. Once we accept Christ, we die to ourselves and live for Him. He created us, we are His hands, feet, mouth, here on Earth. The preacher went back to the Old Testament and explained the procedure for forgiveness of sins in Leviticus was once a year, the Levite priest would go into the Holy of Holies and ask forgiveness for all- this would only be temporary and would repeat every year. The priest would also take an animal to sacrifice, the animal depended on the sin- read Leviticus for details. All animals must be pure, unblemished- but again, that was only temporary. The New Covenant came as Jesus, the perfect lamb, died on the cross for all of our sins, once and for all, never to be repeated. We now have that relationship to go directly to God to ask for forgiveness and Know that we are forgiven.
I love this...Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac- and submissively did as God asked- God did not want Abraham to suffer the loss of his one and only son as God would have to suffer in the future. God loves us so much!! Do we forget to praise him sometimes just for that fact alone??
I do!!
Amy Bowman said, " My mom works nursery at First Baptist with one of your friends in Jax- Van something"- I said "That must be Teri Van Duyn." What a small world!!
The Bowmans attend Woodlands Baptist Church when they are in town so we decided to join them there. It was such a blessing. It was funny when they asked visitors to stand and there were only 2 white groups of people, both from Jacksonville, Florida.
The preacher was a visiting preacher but delivered a great message- He was a little loud- I thought he must be watching all those preachers on TV because the Zambians normally speak very softly- it is hard to hear them sometimes.
Anyway, today's lesson was from Romans 12:1. I learned that the other chapters leading up to this were all about the Gospel described by Paul to the Romans. Once Paul finished telling them that we are all sinners, we all need a Savior, the only one who can save us is Jesus, he came, he died, he rose again- Paul goes on to tell the Romans that we must offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. We must wake up daily and seek God's wisdom on what He wants us to do for Him today. Once we accept Christ, we die to ourselves and live for Him. He created us, we are His hands, feet, mouth, here on Earth. The preacher went back to the Old Testament and explained the procedure for forgiveness of sins in Leviticus was once a year, the Levite priest would go into the Holy of Holies and ask forgiveness for all- this would only be temporary and would repeat every year. The priest would also take an animal to sacrifice, the animal depended on the sin- read Leviticus for details. All animals must be pure, unblemished- but again, that was only temporary. The New Covenant came as Jesus, the perfect lamb, died on the cross for all of our sins, once and for all, never to be repeated. We now have that relationship to go directly to God to ask for forgiveness and Know that we are forgiven.
I love this...Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac- and submissively did as God asked- God did not want Abraham to suffer the loss of his one and only son as God would have to suffer in the future. God loves us so much!! Do we forget to praise him sometimes just for that fact alone??
I do!!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Munda Wanga
Today we ventured out of town a bit to a zoo called Munda Wanga. We arrived around 13 hours and walked around the botanical gardens then headed off to the zoo for the animal feeding. Now...there was nothing fancy about this zoo. It was a dirt path, the animals were all fenced in with chain-link fences, no places for drinks, no jaguar exhibit but let me tell you...it was cool!!
Our first exhibit was the antelope, crown-headed crane, peacock, wart-hogs, bush hogs, camels from Libya, zebras then came the lions. Well, PETA would have sued the zoo over what we saw next. They had strategically placed goat heads recently severed from their bodies in various places then they opened the lions gate. We saw 1 male and 5 females run over the hill to have their afternoon snack. The lions were sooo beautiful but I must admit standing there next to the fence as you heard the lion biting down on their snack, yuck!! I plugged my ears and had to look away. I did learn that if I am in the bush and come across a lion, (Lord, please don't let that happen) I need to stare right at the lion and stand very still. If he moves, I move- They attack from behind. So good to know!!
We returned home where "the boys" were once again barbequing. The neighbor kids came over again to play- the girls picked lemons from our lemon tree and made lemonade- the lemons were not quite ripe. The boys helped Bradley work on a Science experience- a water timer!!
Our first exhibit was the antelope, crown-headed crane, peacock, wart-hogs, bush hogs, camels from Libya, zebras then came the lions. Well, PETA would have sued the zoo over what we saw next. They had strategically placed goat heads recently severed from their bodies in various places then they opened the lions gate. We saw 1 male and 5 females run over the hill to have their afternoon snack. The lions were sooo beautiful but I must admit standing there next to the fence as you heard the lion biting down on their snack, yuck!! I plugged my ears and had to look away. I did learn that if I am in the bush and come across a lion, (Lord, please don't let that happen) I need to stare right at the lion and stand very still. If he moves, I move- They attack from behind. So good to know!!
We returned home where "the boys" were once again barbequing. The neighbor kids came over again to play- the girls picked lemons from our lemon tree and made lemonade- the lemons were not quite ripe. The boys helped Bradley work on a Science experience- a water timer!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
USAID
United States Agency for International Development- the group Erik and I met with this morning. After doing my research on the kids in government schools needing to buy uniforms, having 80 kids per class per session, I decided to see what USAID was doing for the education system here in Zambia.
I was very enlightened- the gentleman we met, Rick, was head of Education at USAID. He advised that 70% of the children in Lusaka go to private schools or government schools. The government schools are "free" but you must be able to pay for a uniform and some other fees- which we were already told. He said the reason they implemented this was there were too many children in school. The first day of school they would have 100 children- they only have 80 desks so they decided to initiate a "charge" to cut down on the numbers. The children who do not make it into these schools go to "community schools"- that would be the other 30% of children in Lusaka- all this information is based on Kindergarten through Year 9.
The community schools are in the compounds and they are run by people in the community. If they are lucky they will have a retired school teacher- who is happy because she is able to teach the children without all the bureaucracy. The teachers do not come with a resume- if you can read or write, you can transfer your skills to these children.
One of the NGO- non-government organisations- they spell with "s" not "z"- has started a Radio program where they give the community schools a radio and will assist the teacher by conducting a class over the radio. That allows for some autonomy in the community schools. Due to brown-outs and other outside influences- that doesn't always work so they started handing out IPods with the lessons on them. Then they are able to rewind and go over material at their own pace.
I am going to meet with the Radio Program initiator, Richard, next week so I can check out some community schools. I thought that maybe I could come along side a teacher and help her. They seem to have simple needs that they don't know how to address. Repairing desks, getting materials, they can even sign up for lunch programs. I was told that sometimes they just don't know how to go about making the appropriate connections to get these needs met.
I'm trying so hard to be diligent in my research as well as my prayer life. There are sooooo many needs here- I want to go only where God sends me. I will be useless to all, including my family, if I go anywhere without HIM!!
I was very enlightened- the gentleman we met, Rick, was head of Education at USAID. He advised that 70% of the children in Lusaka go to private schools or government schools. The government schools are "free" but you must be able to pay for a uniform and some other fees- which we were already told. He said the reason they implemented this was there were too many children in school. The first day of school they would have 100 children- they only have 80 desks so they decided to initiate a "charge" to cut down on the numbers. The children who do not make it into these schools go to "community schools"- that would be the other 30% of children in Lusaka- all this information is based on Kindergarten through Year 9.
The community schools are in the compounds and they are run by people in the community. If they are lucky they will have a retired school teacher- who is happy because she is able to teach the children without all the bureaucracy. The teachers do not come with a resume- if you can read or write, you can transfer your skills to these children.
One of the NGO- non-government organisations- they spell with "s" not "z"- has started a Radio program where they give the community schools a radio and will assist the teacher by conducting a class over the radio. That allows for some autonomy in the community schools. Due to brown-outs and other outside influences- that doesn't always work so they started handing out IPods with the lessons on them. Then they are able to rewind and go over material at their own pace.
I am going to meet with the Radio Program initiator, Richard, next week so I can check out some community schools. I thought that maybe I could come along side a teacher and help her. They seem to have simple needs that they don't know how to address. Repairing desks, getting materials, they can even sign up for lunch programs. I was told that sometimes they just don't know how to go about making the appropriate connections to get these needs met.
I'm trying so hard to be diligent in my research as well as my prayer life. There are sooooo many needs here- I want to go only where God sends me. I will be useless to all, including my family, if I go anywhere without HIM!!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Tuesday Market
Oh my!! Today was the famous Tuesday Market on Burma Road- Moses calls it the Indian market- not sure why:) It costs 2,000 Kwacha to enter(75 cents) and once you enter it is a madhouse. As you pull into the driveway there are maybe 5 guys, or should I say boys, pointing at your car and running along side you. I parked my car and was immediately swarmed by 15-20 Zambian boys all saying "Madam, carry your bag, madam". I politely said, "no thank you", "no thank you", "no thank you"- probably 132 times. My friends joined me who had been before and Alix actually "hired" a boy to carry her vegetable basket around as she shopped. The market was an open pavilion...people were selling the most incredible vegetables I have ever seen- women snapping peas, shucking corn, selling okra, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini, onions, many herbs. I was overwhelmed by the selection and quantity of vegetables and by the boys that kept following me. Next week I will hire a boy right away so the others don't have to follow me around. (my friend Nubia is in the middle of all the commotion)
The boy that Alix hired "Cameron" was very helpful- he was 12 years old, his school started at 12 hours- he told Alix how to prepare the beans and vegetables when she had questions. He was a good kid! Next time, I know better.
And...today was the European Spelling Bee- Brad came in 2nd place in his class!! Good job but his European spelling days are over!
After-school Activities
Yesterday was the first "official" day of after-school activities. School is over at 13 hours(1:00pm) then the children have one hour to eat lunch, play, do whatever they please until 14 hours(2:00pm). Afternoon activities start at 14 hours until 15:30 hours. All activities are free!
Bradley is on the swim team which practices for 45 minutes then he changes clothes and goes to "touch typing". Well, I know that my son has a hard time making it from his bedroom to the bathroom so...I hung out yesterday to help him make the transition. The funny part was that the only other mother that felt the need to "assist" their children was my friend Nubia, also from the States. As the Headmaster walked by me yesterday afternoon, I just said "Yes, I'm a little controlling and need to make sure my boy doesn't get lost". He just nodded his head.
Chelsea signed up for Basketball which is played for 1 1/2 hours. Out of 20 kids there were 2 girls, her and Ishna- another girl from her class. I had a chance to meet the PE coach and Athletic director and find out about the sports teams at school. He was very nice and informative. Chelsea had fun yesterday- good practice for her to play with the boys!!
Bradley's schedule: Monday- Swimming and Typing
Tuesday- Painting and Cricket
Wednesday- Swimming for just 45 minutes
Thursday- Cookery and Chess club
Friday- Swimming for 45 minutes
Chelsea's schedule- Monday/Wednesday- Basketball
Tuesday/Thursday- Volleyball
No activities on Friday so we are home after Bradley swims:)
My friend Caroline advised us this morning that her son, Chelsea's age signed up for Ping Pong and Cake Decorating- We all had a good laugh!!
Bradley is on the swim team which practices for 45 minutes then he changes clothes and goes to "touch typing". Well, I know that my son has a hard time making it from his bedroom to the bathroom so...I hung out yesterday to help him make the transition. The funny part was that the only other mother that felt the need to "assist" their children was my friend Nubia, also from the States. As the Headmaster walked by me yesterday afternoon, I just said "Yes, I'm a little controlling and need to make sure my boy doesn't get lost". He just nodded his head.
Chelsea signed up for Basketball which is played for 1 1/2 hours. Out of 20 kids there were 2 girls, her and Ishna- another girl from her class. I had a chance to meet the PE coach and Athletic director and find out about the sports teams at school. He was very nice and informative. Chelsea had fun yesterday- good practice for her to play with the boys!!
Bradley's schedule: Monday- Swimming and Typing
Tuesday- Painting and Cricket
Wednesday- Swimming for just 45 minutes
Thursday- Cookery and Chess club
Friday- Swimming for 45 minutes
Chelsea's schedule- Monday/Wednesday- Basketball
Tuesday/Thursday- Volleyball
No activities on Friday so we are home after Bradley swims:)
My friend Caroline advised us this morning that her son, Chelsea's age signed up for Ping Pong and Cake Decorating- We all had a good laugh!!
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