5. Trip to Kamatipa

Monday we left for the "boon-docks." We drove several hours away from Ndola through a city called Chingola and on to a dirt road into the "bush" - as our Kiwi friends call it. Here, the people build their houses out of mud bricks that they make and dry in the sun. The roofs are thatch, woven from the reeds that are prevalent in this country. It is mostly flat and dry here, except for these huge ant hills that are the size of a house.

Rebekah, a Zambian woman who works with GLO, took us out there to meet her dear friends, Jeremiah & Faidess and James & Sarah. The two Zambian couples care for 22 vulnerable children. Faidess raised 10 kids of her own and now has one son and two orphans living at home. Funds from this project go to school fees and supplies for the children. These 22 were the most vulnerable ones (ages 8 to 18) found by the leaders in this village. Many of their parents have died from HIV-AIDS.

Jeremiah has gone to the gardening training at Maplehurst Farm and was happy to show us the large garden they have created. The area there is kind of swampy, so there are little pockets of water surrounding the garden. They have two watering cans which they dip into the puddles and pour on the plants. It takes hours to water all of it. They will use the produce for feeding themselves, the orphans, and for income generation. The funds will benefit the orphan program. They have also purchased land across the creek to begin more growing for the orphans. The children are working in the gardens, too, to create ownership, work ethic, and a skill for their future.

It was an interesting stay in the village. There were several huts made from home-made mud bricks and then "plastered" with this shiny mud that comes from the creek bed. It kind of looked like the texture of an adobe home. The houses had one small window and one short door. I kept banging my head on the door frame!

We played with neighborhood children until dark. In this culture, the adults mostly ignore the children, so they are excited to have interaction. I had fun teaching them songs like "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" and watching them laugh.

After dark we sat around a small fire with a pot of nshima on it. Faiduss stirred and stirred with a wooden spoon to cook it to just the right texture. The stirring looked easy (like stirring gravy) until she asked me to stir. I could barely move the spoon! It felt like stirring a tub of plaster mud. She grabbed the top end of the spoon to help me "whisk" around the cornmeal and helped me get the rhythm. When she let go I was able to make a few stirs, but I wore out after just a few! It is amazing to see the labor which goes into everything in the village. She also cooked cabbage, chicken, and tomato-onion soup to go with the nshima. This is a very typical Zambian meal. I probably had it 5 times while in Zambia.

It was pitch black outside and you could see the milky way and zillions of stars. We ate under a flashlight lamp inside the house and had tea afterward. I was to sleep on the floor where we ate, so I had to wait until everyone left to set up my bedding. Finally they left and my new friend, Rebekah, lit a little candle and helped me moved out some chairs. We set up our sleeping bags with some blankets under them and a mosquito net over them. She then said she was going out for a few minutes to let me finish settling in. So I changed clothes and crawled into my sleeping bag about 11 pm. Minutes later, Rebekah, Jeremiah, and Faiduss walk in and sit on the remaining chairs and begin having a conversation in their own language. I laid there feeling awkward, thinking, "Was I not supposed to go to bed yet? Should I get up and join them outside the mosquito netting? Do they expect me to go to sleep while they talk 3 feet from me?" It was strange for me. Finally, I decided to pretend like I was sleeping until they were gone. An hour later, they left, and Rebekah crawled under the mosquito net with me and went to sleep.

I woke up every 30 minutes or so to turn over because of the hard ground. At 3:30am, the roosters outside our door started cockle-doodle-dooing. I wanted to say "shut up, it is not even close to sunrise yet!" but I just put in my ear plugs and went back to sleep. Then I had to go to the bathroom because of the tea I was served before bed. So I grabbed my kleenex, put on my headlamp flashlight, and made the trek across the property to the outhouse that had no door. I felt like I was going to the bathroom under a spotlight, since the light on my head was the only light for miles, but I didn't want to miss the hole in the ground! My biggest fear was running across a cobra or something, because one was just seen a few days before. Thank God I didn't see anything. I made it back into my sleeping bag and later woke up, moaning, in a bad dream that my body was hurting all over. When I woke up, I WAS hurting all over from the hard ground. I'm such a city girl! It was light outside, and every person in the village was up, so I got out of bed.

They made us some yummy fritters (African donuts) and tea, and off we went to the city again. We visited two more partners on the 5-hour drive back to Maplehurst Farms. One was Elizabeth who lives in a neighborhood in Chingola and is "grandma" to 30 or so neighborhood kids by letting them hang out at her house, learn about God, and get help with school. She also meets their guardians and makes sure the kids are staying in school and out of trouble.

The second stop was to visit a sharp young guy named David, who teaches at GLO. He is passionate about Youth. He would like HOPE to help fund a small park with little cabanas on the property for youth to hang out and receive tutoring, and also to plant a garden for training and income generation for the ministry. He is the son of poor Angolan refugees and was funded by HOPE to go through leader training years ago. During some schooling, he met his wife in the UK and has come back to Zambia to help give Youth a chance, as he knows he was given.

Being back at the Farm was like heaven! It's actually pretty rustic there, but it's all relative! We ate Western food with the New Zealand couple living there, Aaron & Suzy. Their little blonde girl made me miss mine, but I was able to Skype from their house and talk to all 3 in my family! I went back to my room, showered, and re-packed all my stuff and went to bed. Off to the Lusaka airport the next morning to fly to Kenya...