It’s Christmas Eve, not yet 0900h and the temperature is 84C. The ducks are defrosting on the verandah. Ruairidh and Gregor have gone into Livingstone to collect animal feed for the farm and the cream that we’d ordered. Earlier in the week. They spent yesterday slaughtering a pig and smoking a ham for tomorrow.. Here it is, Christmas from scratch!
Earlier the ladies from the Sewing Support Group arrived with Dorothy and raked and cleared our yard of weeds. At this time of year it is difficult to keep on top of this. This was their thank you and their present to us. Ida, Catriona and Florence are now busy rolling out dough and baking traditional Danish cookies, while Mubita is happily watching and accompanying an old schmaltzy Muppet Christmas video.
We will gather as a family at around 4 in the afternoon, read Luke’s account of the Nativity, sing some carols. We remember friends and family in different parts of the world, those in trouble or suffering or those no longer with us. This is especially poignant because Mwale, Mubita’s half-sister, has been missing from her home for over a week now.
We will then sit down to prawn cocktail, (the ingredients were bought in Lusaka 800km away earlier in the month when we picked up Catriona and Gregor) roast duck, red cabbage, sugared potatoes followed by ris a l’amande.
For our friends and colleagues here in Zambia the main celebration takes place tomorrow. Most Zambian children will receive new clothes tomorrow. This is the new outfit, or Sunday-best for the coming year. These will be worn to the Christmas Service that begins at 0830h. Later in the day the family will eat fried chicken and boiled rice with a cabbage, onion and tomato relish. Drinks would be non-alcoholic maize beer (maheu), Mazoe (Orange Squash) or a Coke or Fanta. For pudding there may be a cake or some buns.
All this description of food underscores once again how privileged we are and should remind us that God gave us the resources of the earth to meet human needs, including food and as a gift from God it is intended for sharing. It has been given to the whole human race. But Proverbs 13:23 observes that people go hungry not because of a shortage of food but from a shortage of justice. This is what lies behind the reference to this in the Magnificat - God filling the hungry at the dawn of the Messiah’s birth. If this is seen just as a future hope, then it is not a true vision. It is meant to challenge us here and now into practical action, working for justice and the elimination of hunger – marks of genuine love and faith. Here in Mwandi, 40% of households are women-headed and over one third of our children are chronically under-nourished.
As David Blanchflower prays:
Holy Child of Bethlehem,
In you the eternal was pleased to dwell
Help us, we pray, to see the divine image
In people everywhere.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Advent
With the start of Advent we begin to celebrate the coming of Jesus and his birth at Bethlehem. It is a time of hope.
This has been made especially real for Ida and me as we have experienced over the past year God’s faithfulness to us and our reliance on him. No matter what the prevailing circumstances have been and the restlessness caused by the delays we have felt while waiting for him to answer, we have learned time and time again that, in fullness, he will keep his word.
The Incarnation reminds us that God keeps his word and it is a glorious fulfillment of his promises. As a visiting friend said while waiting for the last container containing much needed medical supplies and artificial limbs to arrive, in every respect God is faithful and he’s never late. We have received two containers this year one from CART in Huddersfield and one from North Carolina. We want to thank you all for your hard work, contributions and effort with the containers. The contents will continue to bless many people now and in the near future. For example in the CART container we received made-up relief boxes containing lots of useful household articles. These we have given to flood victims and those who have suffered houses fire and lost their belongings.
Ida chaired the Mwandi Committee for World AIDS Day and is trying to encourage more community participation and make it a less hospital-driven event. The milk formula programme still continues with 40 babies at present. A Grandmother regularly comes for formula for the triplets who were born in October.
At school it is exam time so I’m trying to keep up with the marking of the Grade 8 Maths and Science papers. The pupils are tired and looking forward to their Christmas Holidays. As regards the construction work of the classroom block, after I pay the contractor for the ringbeam there will be no funds left for the roof, plastering, glazing, wiring and painting. So work will come to a standstill now until we get further clarification from Synod and the Ministry.
We as a family appreciate the furniture that was sent for us. It has made our sitting room much more comfortable and homely. We actually sit there now, before that it was just a room we used to see people in. Mubita's room too is looking wonderful. Mubita loves his bunk-bed, we have a trunk for his toys to be stored in and the chest of drawers for his clothes. It is good too that we now have enough bedding now to change the linen and not have to do the washing, drying and ironing all in one day.
We are feeling at home, even although the house is small and we will only be in it temporarily. Nick is beginning work again on our new house. We are looking forward to having Gregor and Catriona to our home and celebrating a Danish family Christmas Eve with them and Fiona and Ruairidh. Something we have not been able to do for many years.
We close by wishing you all a very happy Christmas with all good wishes for the New Year.
Keith, Ida, Gregor, Catriona & Mubita
This has been made especially real for Ida and me as we have experienced over the past year God’s faithfulness to us and our reliance on him. No matter what the prevailing circumstances have been and the restlessness caused by the delays we have felt while waiting for him to answer, we have learned time and time again that, in fullness, he will keep his word.
The Incarnation reminds us that God keeps his word and it is a glorious fulfillment of his promises. As a visiting friend said while waiting for the last container containing much needed medical supplies and artificial limbs to arrive, in every respect God is faithful and he’s never late. We have received two containers this year one from CART in Huddersfield and one from North Carolina. We want to thank you all for your hard work, contributions and effort with the containers. The contents will continue to bless many people now and in the near future. For example in the CART container we received made-up relief boxes containing lots of useful household articles. These we have given to flood victims and those who have suffered houses fire and lost their belongings.
Ida chaired the Mwandi Committee for World AIDS Day and is trying to encourage more community participation and make it a less hospital-driven event. The milk formula programme still continues with 40 babies at present. A Grandmother regularly comes for formula for the triplets who were born in October.
At school it is exam time so I’m trying to keep up with the marking of the Grade 8 Maths and Science papers. The pupils are tired and looking forward to their Christmas Holidays. As regards the construction work of the classroom block, after I pay the contractor for the ringbeam there will be no funds left for the roof, plastering, glazing, wiring and painting. So work will come to a standstill now until we get further clarification from Synod and the Ministry.
We as a family appreciate the furniture that was sent for us. It has made our sitting room much more comfortable and homely. We actually sit there now, before that it was just a room we used to see people in. Mubita's room too is looking wonderful. Mubita loves his bunk-bed, we have a trunk for his toys to be stored in and the chest of drawers for his clothes. It is good too that we now have enough bedding now to change the linen and not have to do the washing, drying and ironing all in one day.
We are feeling at home, even although the house is small and we will only be in it temporarily. Nick is beginning work again on our new house. We are looking forward to having Gregor and Catriona to our home and celebrating a Danish family Christmas Eve with them and Fiona and Ruairidh. Something we have not been able to do for many years.
We close by wishing you all a very happy Christmas with all good wishes for the New Year.
Keith, Ida, Gregor, Catriona & Mubita
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Follow-up stories
As follow-ups to past postings on this blog...
Transparency International’s 2009 report says Zambia’s ranking has improved on the Corruption Perception Index. Zambia scored 3 above Argentina, Egypt and Indonesia and jumped from 11th to 17th place. (The higher the number the worse in terms of perceived corruption.) New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore, top the list as the least corrupt countries while Zambia is on a par with Bosnia and Jamaica. The nations at the bottom of the league include Haiti, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Lusaka Magistrates' Court recently freed The Post’s news editor, Chansa Kabelwa whom you may remember was charged with circulating obscene photographs of a woman in labour during the health workers’ strike earlier this year. These, it was alleged, would be liable to corrupt public morals. Ms Kabwelwa did not publish the photos but sent them to the Vice-President, Minister of Health, some women's organisations and a Church leader, hoping to move the Government to end the strike. The Court found no case to answer. This verdict is an important one as far as freedom of expression is concerned in this country. However, the Editor of the Post, Mr Fred Mmembe is still facing contempt of court charges for an article commenting on the case that he allowed to be published during the trial.
Meanwhile at the Mission we have had another eye team in doing cataract surgery earlier in the month. They come from Hickory, North Carolina every second year. With the Hickory Team for a second visit, were also a couple who supply amputees and other people with mobility difficulties with artificial limbs. Others were able to beef up the maintenance team and the hospital computers were overhauled by an IT expert. All good and useful work.
After much prayer and with perfect timing, a container with amongst other things parts for the prostheses, medical equipment, school supplies arrived while the team was there. The Hickory Church were major donors and had helped box and pack many of the items, so it was good that they were able to personally distribute donated materials to the designated recipients.
The Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) programme through AIDS Relief is entering another phase with teams going round communities from door-to-door and offering this service to the entire family. More about this later.
At the school, the classroom block is progressing and has now reached ring-beam level. The steel and concrete will be poured next week after I purchase the shuttering in Livingstone tomorrow. All the window and door frames are being made locally this time, this is a good development as with the first block there was no-one making these frames and they had to be purchased and transported from Livingstone. Please continue to pray that we receive permission from the provincial education authorities to open our Grade 10 in 2010.
Transparency International’s 2009 report says Zambia’s ranking has improved on the Corruption Perception Index. Zambia scored 3 above Argentina, Egypt and Indonesia and jumped from 11th to 17th place. (The higher the number the worse in terms of perceived corruption.) New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore, top the list as the least corrupt countries while Zambia is on a par with Bosnia and Jamaica. The nations at the bottom of the league include Haiti, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Lusaka Magistrates' Court recently freed The Post’s news editor, Chansa Kabelwa whom you may remember was charged with circulating obscene photographs of a woman in labour during the health workers’ strike earlier this year. These, it was alleged, would be liable to corrupt public morals. Ms Kabwelwa did not publish the photos but sent them to the Vice-President, Minister of Health, some women's organisations and a Church leader, hoping to move the Government to end the strike. The Court found no case to answer. This verdict is an important one as far as freedom of expression is concerned in this country. However, the Editor of the Post, Mr Fred Mmembe is still facing contempt of court charges for an article commenting on the case that he allowed to be published during the trial.
Meanwhile at the Mission we have had another eye team in doing cataract surgery earlier in the month. They come from Hickory, North Carolina every second year. With the Hickory Team for a second visit, were also a couple who supply amputees and other people with mobility difficulties with artificial limbs. Others were able to beef up the maintenance team and the hospital computers were overhauled by an IT expert. All good and useful work.
After much prayer and with perfect timing, a container with amongst other things parts for the prostheses, medical equipment, school supplies arrived while the team was there. The Hickory Church were major donors and had helped box and pack many of the items, so it was good that they were able to personally distribute donated materials to the designated recipients.
The Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) programme through AIDS Relief is entering another phase with teams going round communities from door-to-door and offering this service to the entire family. More about this later.
At the school, the classroom block is progressing and has now reached ring-beam level. The steel and concrete will be poured next week after I purchase the shuttering in Livingstone tomorrow. All the window and door frames are being made locally this time, this is a good development as with the first block there was no-one making these frames and they had to be purchased and transported from Livingstone. Please continue to pray that we receive permission from the provincial education authorities to open our Grade 10 in 2010.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Prayer requests
The Government has started restructuring at District and Hospital level now and we are affected too. The authorities have sent a Hospital Administrator to take over that position here (the post that Ida is currently 'acting' in). As a result, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and CHAZ in which Hospital Administrators are Church-appointed positions, is being revisited. So please keep us in your prayers. We keep in touch with Synod and the Church of Scotland regularly to update them on our situation.
Prayer:
- We give thanks for the successful Church Retreat and the blessing it was for many people.
- We give thanks for the provision of three new doctors for the Hospital and the 15 new nurses and Clinical Officers promised to help increase staffing levels here.
- We pray for wisdom for ourselves and all the parties involved in the Health Restructuring, that righteousness and justice may prevail.
Prayer:
- We give thanks for the successful Church Retreat and the blessing it was for many people.
- We give thanks for the provision of three new doctors for the Hospital and the 15 new nurses and Clinical Officers promised to help increase staffing levels here.
- We pray for wisdom for ourselves and all the parties involved in the Health Restructuring, that righteousness and justice may prevail.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
A family and church update
We’ve learned that we will be grandparents in the new year! Ruairidh and Fiona are expecting their first child at the end of February or beginning of March. We are delighted. That is another milestone in life. We are fortunate to have them so close at hand.
Church highlights here have been the opening of Sooka Church (left), built in six weeks by the active congregation there. They are grateful for the help received from Houston Church with the roofing. This follows the reroofing of Sikuzu by IPC Birmingham earlier in the year and the agreement by Cambusbarron to help to do the same at Simungoma this coming quarter.
A very successful retreat in the middle of September was held in the bush at Kasaya. We are also planning a Church Mission School which will start next year in June. This will involve young people of both sexes from rural congregations in the Mwandi Consistory who will camp at the Mission Church for three months and participate in a number of activities. There will be some theology and reflection to deepen their faith, there will also be skills taught such as book-keeping, report and letter writing, chairing and running meetings, all useful skills for those in leadership positions in congregations. Practical building, agricultural and rural development skills will also be covered with work at the farm, school, hospital, old folks home and in the local Church.
The wall and concreting in of the well at Mwananono B is complete. The chains and padlocks for the grill gate have been purchased and handed over. So it is now finished. At the High School the second slab for the 1x3 Classroom block which is being funded by CEVAA, the French Church Mission Council, is laid and bricks are being formed now for the superstructure. At the Church of Scotland Mission House the earth has been packed into the foundations and the slab is now being laid.
We had a wonderful 9 days in Milwaukee in the U.S. when we visited at the end of September. We went to the Wisconsin Aids Resource Centre where we saw the holistic care offered to those in the States living with HIV and Aids. We then visited St Joseph’s hospital, a world famous centre for neonatal care We talked and shared experiences with staff and students there.
Church highlights here have been the opening of Sooka Church (left), built in six weeks by the active congregation there. They are grateful for the help received from Houston Church with the roofing. This follows the reroofing of Sikuzu by IPC Birmingham earlier in the year and the agreement by Cambusbarron to help to do the same at Simungoma this coming quarter.A very successful retreat in the middle of September was held in the bush at Kasaya. We are also planning a Church Mission School which will start next year in June. This will involve young people of both sexes from rural congregations in the Mwandi Consistory who will camp at the Mission Church for three months and participate in a number of activities. There will be some theology and reflection to deepen their faith, there will also be skills taught such as book-keeping, report and letter writing, chairing and running meetings, all useful skills for those in leadership positions in congregations. Practical building, agricultural and rural development skills will also be covered with work at the farm, school, hospital, old folks home and in the local Church.
The wall and concreting in of the well at Mwananono B is complete. The chains and padlocks for the grill gate have been purchased and handed over. So it is now finished. At the High School the second slab for the 1x3 Classroom block which is being funded by CEVAA, the French Church Mission Council, is laid and bricks are being formed now for the superstructure. At the Church of Scotland Mission House the earth has been packed into the foundations and the slab is now being laid.
We had a wonderful 9 days in Milwaukee in the U.S. when we visited at the end of September. We went to the Wisconsin Aids Resource Centre where we saw the holistic care offered to those in the States living with HIV and Aids. We then visited St Joseph’s hospital, a world famous centre for neonatal care We talked and shared experiences with staff and students there.
Friday, 18 September 2009
Press leaks
From Ida and Keith 3 September 2009:
Two stories hitting the headlines here.
During the recent health-workers strike, a photograph was taken of a woman given birth, unattended, in the grounds of the University Teaching Hospital. It was sent to ‘The Post’ newspaper where Ms Chansa Kabwela, the news-editor, though it too graphic to publish but decided to send it to various government officials, women’s organizations and the Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka to let them see some of the effects that the industrial action was having on the general public and hopefully prompt the Government to take action to take resolve it.
The picture roused the fury of the Government and Ms Kabwela was charged with ‘circulating obscene materials’. This case is now sub judice but to compound matters ‘The Post’ recently published an article calling the prosecution and harassment of Ms Kabwela, a ‘comedy of errors’. This resulted in the entire editorial staff being summonsed to appear before the court yesterday and a warrant being issued for the arrest of the Editor-in-Chief, Mr Fred M’membe, who is at present on study leave!
While President Banda was giving a press conference in the garden at State House recently a monkey up a tree had the temerity to urinate on him. Executive justice and retribution have been swift, it is reported earlier in the week that 61 monkeys have been captured ‘humanely’ in the grounds of State House and dispatched to the Zoological Gardens at Munda Wanga in Chilanga..
Meanwhile, we finally received the Adoption Order and new Birth Certificate for Mubita from the Registrar-General. We have an interview now with the American Embassy in Lusaka on 9 September, applying for a Visa so he can come with us to Milwaukee at the end of the month for the Mission Week we have been invited to attend.
This week Ida has gone to Mongu via the backroad for a week’s course of Quality Assurance. It is apparently quite challenging for them, but not as great as the mosquitoes at the guest-house where she and Sister Neemo, the administrator from Sichili, are staying.
I am at home. This is the last week before school starts. We’ve just had the car worked on in Lusaka but the bolts holding the diff shaft fell out and the shaft hit the gear box casing, thankfully not too much damage. The nuts were probably not tightened properly with a spanner at the Nissan workshop. Of course the replacement bolts were not available in Livingstone but we managed to get them in Namibia yesterday and they have been fixed and tightened under supervision. I have written expressing our concern to Nissan and await their response.
Work is progressing well with the slab for the classroomblock. It has been backfilled, rolled and the concrete is now being mixed. This is hard physical work. There is no electricity or running water. The water is rolled in drums for almost a kilometre from the river to the building-site. The cement and stones are hand- mixed by shovel to make the concrete.
At the School Board Meeting I was asked to continue to spearhead the development of the High School and to start to formulate with others necessary policies, timetables, curriculum and syllabus. I have started drafting and collating the various papers we will need. Our objective is to open the Mwandi UCZ High School in January 2010.
Two stories hitting the headlines here.
During the recent health-workers strike, a photograph was taken of a woman given birth, unattended, in the grounds of the University Teaching Hospital. It was sent to ‘The Post’ newspaper where Ms Chansa Kabwela, the news-editor, though it too graphic to publish but decided to send it to various government officials, women’s organizations and the Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka to let them see some of the effects that the industrial action was having on the general public and hopefully prompt the Government to take action to take resolve it.
The picture roused the fury of the Government and Ms Kabwela was charged with ‘circulating obscene materials’. This case is now sub judice but to compound matters ‘The Post’ recently published an article calling the prosecution and harassment of Ms Kabwela, a ‘comedy of errors’. This resulted in the entire editorial staff being summonsed to appear before the court yesterday and a warrant being issued for the arrest of the Editor-in-Chief, Mr Fred M’membe, who is at present on study leave!
While President Banda was giving a press conference in the garden at State House recently a monkey up a tree had the temerity to urinate on him. Executive justice and retribution have been swift, it is reported earlier in the week that 61 monkeys have been captured ‘humanely’ in the grounds of State House and dispatched to the Zoological Gardens at Munda Wanga in Chilanga..
Meanwhile, we finally received the Adoption Order and new Birth Certificate for Mubita from the Registrar-General. We have an interview now with the American Embassy in Lusaka on 9 September, applying for a Visa so he can come with us to Milwaukee at the end of the month for the Mission Week we have been invited to attend.
This week Ida has gone to Mongu via the backroad for a week’s course of Quality Assurance. It is apparently quite challenging for them, but not as great as the mosquitoes at the guest-house where she and Sister Neemo, the administrator from Sichili, are staying.
I am at home. This is the last week before school starts. We’ve just had the car worked on in Lusaka but the bolts holding the diff shaft fell out and the shaft hit the gear box casing, thankfully not too much damage. The nuts were probably not tightened properly with a spanner at the Nissan workshop. Of course the replacement bolts were not available in Livingstone but we managed to get them in Namibia yesterday and they have been fixed and tightened under supervision. I have written expressing our concern to Nissan and await their response.
Work is progressing well with the slab for the classroomblock. It has been backfilled, rolled and the concrete is now being mixed. This is hard physical work. There is no electricity or running water. The water is rolled in drums for almost a kilometre from the river to the building-site. The cement and stones are hand- mixed by shovel to make the concrete.
At the School Board Meeting I was asked to continue to spearhead the development of the High School and to start to formulate with others necessary policies, timetables, curriculum and syllabus. I have started drafting and collating the various papers we will need. Our objective is to open the Mwandi UCZ High School in January 2010.
Monday, 24 August 2009
Down to the Water
The Zambezi plays an important role in the lives of all the people in the Mwandi area. The river is called ‘Lyambai’ which alludes to its unpredictable and stormy nature. During the floodtime it is a constant source of danger but it is also addressed affectionately as Yunene – the big one! This is because of the abundance it yields to farmers and fishermen. The cold season is coming to an end now and the day and night time temperatures rise as the level of the Zambezi falls.Each year after harvest, many families who live inland, after having gathered in their maize and having stored it safely in the stick-woven bins on stilts and covering it by a thatch roof to keep out the rats, pack up their belongings and move down to the riverside. The elderly folks rather than face the journey and roughing it in a fishing camp often prefer to stay behind to watch over the other deserted properties.
All the belongings necessary for the 5-6 months away from home are packed into a two-wheeled scotch-cart that is drawn by oxen. The children generally do the packing. Cast-iron cauldrons, blankets, clothes, fishing nets for the men, conical basket traps for the women, paddles, even some caged hens. A variety of tools, axes, hoes, mortar and pestles, sacks of maize, pumpkins, the ubiquitous supermarket plastic bags filled with groundnuts and some 20l plastic containers for making sour milk and fetching water. Sleeping mats are left at home as new ones will be made from the reeds at the riverside.
The extended family now gathers in a circle in the yard to bid each other farewell. “Come back with the rains so we can prepare our fields,” Granny will remind them. “Go well,” is the blessing the parents and grandchildren receive. “Stay well,” is the reciprocated wish from the children and grandchildren for the grandparents. We’ll see each other- is said by all in a final farewell.
The womenfolk and younger children climb into the cart and sit at the front padded by the maize and the bundles of clothes. The father shoulders his axe and tugs the inside ox by the halter to set the cart in motion. The boys pick up their sticks which they will use to drive the cattle and they whistle and shout to push the herd forward. They travel ahead of the cart. Lurcher-like dogs assist the boys, nipping at stragglers’ heels and running up and down, barking self-importantly. It is a day’s journey to the riverbank, a journey choked by the dust stamped up by the cattle, jolted about in the unsprung bone-shaking cart and plagued by swarms of thirsty flies.
The last three kilometre stretch southward to the river is done at a trot. People and animals get excited as they near the river which will be their home and will supply most of their needs for the next half of the year. The cows smell the water and rush expectantly to slake their thirst.
The Zambezi spreads out before them. In front is a channel with a slowly flowing stream, like water in a lake. Across the water lie the grassy island pastures they know so well, fringed by the reeds they will use to weave sleeping mats and to build the fishing camp huts that will become their home. The moored dug-out canoe is unchained, bailed out and filled with belongings. They paddle over to the island pasture. Once the family and their possessions are safely landed on the other side, the cattle - directed from the canoe by the men and boys - are swum across. Fish - the bream, the catfish, the squeakers, the tigerfish and fry - are all available here. All good and necessary things and dynamic forces originate from the North according to the Lozi. The southward flow of the river; the South, the riverbank is the terminus where the journey ends.
Friday, 14 August 2009
Blessed are you among women
We have recently had another annual visit from pre-Med Students attending Davidson College, North Carolina. About 10 young people arrive for a three week stay with their tutor. While they are with us they keep a journal and reflect on a particular aspect of the hospital and its work with the Community which is of interest to them and later write it up as a paper. Once it is corrected and printed the hospital receives a copy.
However, it is not all academic work for them; they also generally turn their hand to something more practical and creative in an artistic sense. Some good artwork has been done over the years and they have decorated various wards and walls in the Hospital and Out-Patients with murals.
This year we have been building a new Maternity Ward, to help meet the Government Development Goal of having more babies delivered in hospital especially where there is substantial risk to either mother or child. Money from the Beit Trust was received for this and the building is now nearing completion. In the Coptic and Ethiopean Christian traditions, Mary is honoured as the black Madonna, applying an image from the Song of Solomon (1:5) “I’m black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem…..” So it was suggested that a Black Madonna and child be painted in the ward of the new Maternity Unit.
We are painfully aware that it is only really fairly recently that those of us from the Reformed tradition began to appreciate Mary for her faithfulness, her purity, as the Mother of God and for her suffering as the Mater Dolorosa. However, the key ideas, we think, that are contained in the undisputedly stylised painted image of mother and child is that God’s Spirit blesses women of faith and God’s Spirit is active in the creation of new life.
Mary has been portrayed on our wall as an icon but for our women and mothers here she is much more. They share much of Mary’s identity as an impoverished peasant woman, living in a patriarchical and tribal society, a typical wife and mother of the time in an often drought- stricken, and politically and economically unjust society. We all tend to have a partially true image of Mary being quiet, humble and self-denying but from her appearances elsewhere in Scripture, Mary also emerges as a strong woman of ability and wisdom. Through her God brought down the proud and lifted up the lowly.
Woman are often seen here in Zambia as silent servants but their ministries reach out and touch many. As daughters, mothers and grandmothers they will agree with Mary that: "Surely from now all generations will call me blessed.” Luke (1:48)
However, it is not all academic work for them; they also generally turn their hand to something more practical and creative in an artistic sense. Some good artwork has been done over the years and they have decorated various wards and walls in the Hospital and Out-Patients with murals.
This year we have been building a new Maternity Ward, to help meet the Government Development Goal of having more babies delivered in hospital especially where there is substantial risk to either mother or child. Money from the Beit Trust was received for this and the building is now nearing completion. In the Coptic and Ethiopean Christian traditions, Mary is honoured as the black Madonna, applying an image from the Song of Solomon (1:5) “I’m black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem…..” So it was suggested that a Black Madonna and child be painted in the ward of the new Maternity Unit.
We are painfully aware that it is only really fairly recently that those of us from the Reformed tradition began to appreciate Mary for her faithfulness, her purity, as the Mother of God and for her suffering as the Mater Dolorosa. However, the key ideas, we think, that are contained in the undisputedly stylised painted image of mother and child is that God’s Spirit blesses women of faith and God’s Spirit is active in the creation of new life.
Mary has been portrayed on our wall as an icon but for our women and mothers here she is much more. They share much of Mary’s identity as an impoverished peasant woman, living in a patriarchical and tribal society, a typical wife and mother of the time in an often drought- stricken, and politically and economically unjust society. We all tend to have a partially true image of Mary being quiet, humble and self-denying but from her appearances elsewhere in Scripture, Mary also emerges as a strong woman of ability and wisdom. Through her God brought down the proud and lifted up the lowly.
Woman are often seen here in Zambia as silent servants but their ministries reach out and touch many. As daughters, mothers and grandmothers they will agree with Mary that: "Surely from now all generations will call me blessed.” Luke (1:48)
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
What's in a name?
Lozi personal names are interesting and you can also see similarities and parallels with Gaelic and English nomenclature in Scotland. Most names in use come from SiLuyana the name given to the dialects that were originally spoken along the Zambezi and fairly widely in Western Province. It is generally agreed the people now called Lozi are of Congolese origin and established a Kingdom in this area in 17th Century. They were then called the Aluyana.
The name Lozi was acquired in 19th Century when in 1840 the Makololo an offshoot of the Southern Sotho under their leader Sebitwane overran the Luyana Kingdom after fleeing from Chaka the Zulu King during the Mfecane. The Makalolo ruled till 1864 when they in turn were overthrown by an Aluyana uprising. The Makololo men were wiped out but their women and children became part of the Luyana people. This made Sikololo, the language become the linga franca in Western Province. Sikololo then became Silozi which is a hybrid language, about 75% of the vocabulary Sotho in origin and 25% is Luyana
Names of Sotho origin are small in number but are widely used. They tend to have been inspired by the Bible. Below are some of the more commonly used:
Lifela - Vanity; Likezo -Deeds; Liseli -Light; Masiliso -Consolation; Musa -Mercy; Muhau -Grace; Pumulo -Rest; Sepo -Hope; Sepiso -Promise; Tabo -Joy; and, Tabuho -Thanksgiving. They can be used by either sex.
The Senior Chief here at Mwandi is called Inyambo Yeta. These names are pure Siluyana and not Sisotho. Inyambo means a helper and Yeta is one who makes a vow.
Both Luyana and Sotho names are part of the cultural heritage of the Lozi people of which they are proud and use both feely.
The name Lozi was acquired in 19th Century when in 1840 the Makololo an offshoot of the Southern Sotho under their leader Sebitwane overran the Luyana Kingdom after fleeing from Chaka the Zulu King during the Mfecane. The Makalolo ruled till 1864 when they in turn were overthrown by an Aluyana uprising. The Makololo men were wiped out but their women and children became part of the Luyana people. This made Sikololo, the language become the linga franca in Western Province. Sikololo then became Silozi which is a hybrid language, about 75% of the vocabulary Sotho in origin and 25% is Luyana
Names of Sotho origin are small in number but are widely used. They tend to have been inspired by the Bible. Below are some of the more commonly used:
Lifela - Vanity; Likezo -Deeds; Liseli -Light; Masiliso -Consolation; Musa -Mercy; Muhau -Grace; Pumulo -Rest; Sepo -Hope; Sepiso -Promise; Tabo -Joy; and, Tabuho -Thanksgiving. They can be used by either sex.
The Senior Chief here at Mwandi is called Inyambo Yeta. These names are pure Siluyana and not Sisotho. Inyambo means a helper and Yeta is one who makes a vow.
Both Luyana and Sotho names are part of the cultural heritage of the Lozi people of which they are proud and use both feely.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Mubita
We received good news last week. Ida had been in Lusaka helping Trevor Parr, the New Zealand Missionary Doctor and his wife, Helen, to jump through the various bureaucratic hoops necessary to register and to work here. But earlier in the week Ida handed the ‘Consent to Adoption Forms’ in to the Ministry of Social Welfare as part of the process for us to adopt Mubita.
It has taken since January to get this far. We had managed to get the paternal and maternal sides of Mubita’s family to complete the forms, and were greatly helped in this matter by Brian the District Social Welfare Officer. He’s the only social worker for a population of 90 000. The forms had then been signed and stamped by the Magistrate at a hearing with all concerned present at the end of June, and given to Ida to submit in Lusaka.
On Thursday morning she was given a letter by Social Welfare granting permission for the Adoption Hearing to be held at Sesheke at the Court’s convenience. Hopefully it will not be too long before we are granted a slot at Court. Once the Adoption Order is granted all that remains is a trip to Register House in Lusaka for an amended Birth Certificate, showing us as parents. We were granted the initial Committal Order for Mubita in October 2007. We had to foster him for a year before we could start adoption proceedings. So it is wonderful now that finally we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.
It has taken since January to get this far. We had managed to get the paternal and maternal sides of Mubita’s family to complete the forms, and were greatly helped in this matter by Brian the District Social Welfare Officer. He’s the only social worker for a population of 90 000. The forms had then been signed and stamped by the Magistrate at a hearing with all concerned present at the end of June, and given to Ida to submit in Lusaka.
On Thursday morning she was given a letter by Social Welfare granting permission for the Adoption Hearing to be held at Sesheke at the Court’s convenience. Hopefully it will not be too long before we are granted a slot at Court. Once the Adoption Order is granted all that remains is a trip to Register House in Lusaka for an amended Birth Certificate, showing us as parents. We were granted the initial Committal Order for Mubita in October 2007. We had to foster him for a year before we could start adoption proceedings. So it is wonderful now that finally we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Church and State
On Sunday we visited Mabumbu Church, a bush congregation about 25km from Mwandi. The Church is another traditional daub and wattle and thatched affair. We went with Dorothy, the Consistory Chair for the Woman’s Christian Fellowship. Ida was preaching, it was Mothering Sunday and she talked about Women in the Life and Teachings of Jesus (Gen 1:27 & Mark 16:9). She closed by exhorting the men to love their wives as Jesus loves the Church and to encourage and help their wives to participate fully in ministry throughout the Church. This was met by a loud and heartfelt 'AMEN!' - from the women’s side of the Church!
We were invited to lunch in the vestry afterwards. Another traditional building with sacks and buckets of maize stacked around the walls. It had been Harvest Thanksgiving last week and from the amount that has been offered it is clear that there has been a good harvest this year. The meal was village roasted chicken, kail and inshima, followed by sour-milk, the leftover inshima and sugar mixed together to make a favourite Lozi pudding. It is an acquired taste admittedly but nonetheless we enjoyed wonderful hospitality. We were sent on our way spiritually and physically fed and with the gift of a pumpkin as well.
Such generosity from some the most materially poor of this earth, but some of the richest spiritually.
As regards school the most recent pre-occupation has been the preparations for building the next 1x3 classroomblock for the High School under construction and funded by CEVAA, the French Church. Work should start on that next week, as we will sign the contract with the builder on Wednesday. Through the help of Synod we have procured the cement at factory prices and minus VAT which has helped to reduce our costs.
Last Friday there was the trip to the quarry to order the 30m3 of crushed stones for the foundations and slab. This was paid for with a brick of cash withdrawn from Livingstone the day before. There is not a stone to be found at Mwandi and nothing between Kazungula and Sesheke. The quarry is 87km away from the school and the cost of the fuel to transport the load is twice as much as the cost of the stones! On the other hand builder’s sand is much less of a problem in Mwandi!
The investigations at the Ministry of Health rumble on with more arrests and court appearances. Both the teachers and nurses nationwide have been on strike in a pay dispute. The staff at our Hospital and School continued to work. While they supported the actions of their colleagues in the urban areas because of the greater effect industrial action taken there would have, they felt striking here would only harm our people.
The Hospital itself continues to survive financially by the Grace of God. There has been no Government Grant for the Hospital since April, but by careful stewardship and eking out our meagre resources we have managed to run the hospital, feed our patients and run the ambulance up until now. In these financially straitened circumstances the Hospital is gratefully accepting payment in kind from patients: maize, beans, chickens, etc.
We were invited to lunch in the vestry afterwards. Another traditional building with sacks and buckets of maize stacked around the walls. It had been Harvest Thanksgiving last week and from the amount that has been offered it is clear that there has been a good harvest this year. The meal was village roasted chicken, kail and inshima, followed by sour-milk, the leftover inshima and sugar mixed together to make a favourite Lozi pudding. It is an acquired taste admittedly but nonetheless we enjoyed wonderful hospitality. We were sent on our way spiritually and physically fed and with the gift of a pumpkin as well.
Such generosity from some the most materially poor of this earth, but some of the richest spiritually.
As regards school the most recent pre-occupation has been the preparations for building the next 1x3 classroomblock for the High School under construction and funded by CEVAA, the French Church. Work should start on that next week, as we will sign the contract with the builder on Wednesday. Through the help of Synod we have procured the cement at factory prices and minus VAT which has helped to reduce our costs.
Last Friday there was the trip to the quarry to order the 30m3 of crushed stones for the foundations and slab. This was paid for with a brick of cash withdrawn from Livingstone the day before. There is not a stone to be found at Mwandi and nothing between Kazungula and Sesheke. The quarry is 87km away from the school and the cost of the fuel to transport the load is twice as much as the cost of the stones! On the other hand builder’s sand is much less of a problem in Mwandi!
The investigations at the Ministry of Health rumble on with more arrests and court appearances. Both the teachers and nurses nationwide have been on strike in a pay dispute. The staff at our Hospital and School continued to work. While they supported the actions of their colleagues in the urban areas because of the greater effect industrial action taken there would have, they felt striking here would only harm our people.
The Hospital itself continues to survive financially by the Grace of God. There has been no Government Grant for the Hospital since April, but by careful stewardship and eking out our meagre resources we have managed to run the hospital, feed our patients and run the ambulance up until now. In these financially straitened circumstances the Hospital is gratefully accepting payment in kind from patients: maize, beans, chickens, etc.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Theekin Nests and Snouts in Troughs
Recent headlines from both Zambia and Britain have had a depressingly similar ring to them. Politicians and other public servants allegedly stealing or misusing public funds and engaging in activities that enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens.
You’re all probably scunnered by the surfeit of reports of the jougerie-pawkery at Westminster; we are being treated to the spectacle here of operations coming to a standstill this week at Ndeke House – the Ministry of Health. Over 30 civil servants employed by the Ministry of Health have been suspended while a K27 billion scam is investigated, this is seemingly not the only one either, but could be the tip of the iceberg. Charges are expected to include obtaining money by false pretences, abuse of authority and forgery. This all really came to light and the alarm was raised when it became apparent that too many civil servants, public officers and government officials were living at levels far in excess of their earned income and many of the lodges, farms, houses, plots and businesses in the Lusaka area were owned by people working for the Government. Questions were asked how all this wealth was accumulated on modest civil service salaries.
The wonderful thing is that this investigation into matters at the Ministry of Health has apparently been given the go-ahead from the highest level. In the past the culture of plundering and looting by officials and politicians was entrenched and there was little accountability at any level of government, so asking citizens to account for their wealth is a relatively new concept here. The consequences has been to deny millions of needy Zambians access to healthcare which they desperately need but which at the best of times is limited and frankly inadequate.
How has all this affected Mwandi Mission Hospital, then, you may ask? Well, the grant from the Government has fallen from K16m (GBP 2000) in the Halcyon Days of President Mwanawasa to K4.5m (GBP500) for the past 4 months. In December we received nothing – obviously Christmas bonus time for someone somewhere but not for our patients here! We have been told to expect nothing for this month and next month.
The CHAZ (Churches’ Health Association of Zambia) Mission Workers (ancilliaries), paid but not employed by the government, went unpaid from September to February. We learned by investigation that the salary money in January was approved by the Ministry but was ‘diverted’ internally, so it never reached CHAZ – the Mission Hospital's Body. They will not be paid again until this mess is cleared up.
We could not appoint another Doctor in our establishment as the positon for Mwandi was being filled by the notorious Dr Michael Mouse. The Government had officially allocated 11 government Health Worker posts to Mwandi. We ended up with an allocation of three cleaners, two of whom drive our ambulances and the third is our cashier! The payslips for the other eight deployed elsewhere inadvertently arrived at our office.
Another contributing factor to hastening this action may be that Sweden and the Netherlands have frozen funding to the health sector until investigations are concluded. Naturally we have had the usual crocodile tears begging the two countries to reconsider their freezing of financial aid because ordinary Zambians are the ones who will suffer. But ordinary Zambians are likely to continue to do so if funding is resumed without a comprehensive audit being done to ensure those suspected of corruption are prosecuted and safeguards put in place to ensure better governance, accountability and transparency.
Our TB patients, the HIV+ mother and baby, the chronically malnourished children suffering from dysentery and malaria and the lowly paid ancillary staff who attend them, suffering here and elsewhere nationwide deserve no less.
You’re all probably scunnered by the surfeit of reports of the jougerie-pawkery at Westminster; we are being treated to the spectacle here of operations coming to a standstill this week at Ndeke House – the Ministry of Health. Over 30 civil servants employed by the Ministry of Health have been suspended while a K27 billion scam is investigated, this is seemingly not the only one either, but could be the tip of the iceberg. Charges are expected to include obtaining money by false pretences, abuse of authority and forgery. This all really came to light and the alarm was raised when it became apparent that too many civil servants, public officers and government officials were living at levels far in excess of their earned income and many of the lodges, farms, houses, plots and businesses in the Lusaka area were owned by people working for the Government. Questions were asked how all this wealth was accumulated on modest civil service salaries.
The wonderful thing is that this investigation into matters at the Ministry of Health has apparently been given the go-ahead from the highest level. In the past the culture of plundering and looting by officials and politicians was entrenched and there was little accountability at any level of government, so asking citizens to account for their wealth is a relatively new concept here. The consequences has been to deny millions of needy Zambians access to healthcare which they desperately need but which at the best of times is limited and frankly inadequate.
How has all this affected Mwandi Mission Hospital, then, you may ask? Well, the grant from the Government has fallen from K16m (GBP 2000) in the Halcyon Days of President Mwanawasa to K4.5m (GBP500) for the past 4 months. In December we received nothing – obviously Christmas bonus time for someone somewhere but not for our patients here! We have been told to expect nothing for this month and next month.
The CHAZ (Churches’ Health Association of Zambia) Mission Workers (ancilliaries), paid but not employed by the government, went unpaid from September to February. We learned by investigation that the salary money in January was approved by the Ministry but was ‘diverted’ internally, so it never reached CHAZ – the Mission Hospital's Body. They will not be paid again until this mess is cleared up.
We could not appoint another Doctor in our establishment as the positon for Mwandi was being filled by the notorious Dr Michael Mouse. The Government had officially allocated 11 government Health Worker posts to Mwandi. We ended up with an allocation of three cleaners, two of whom drive our ambulances and the third is our cashier! The payslips for the other eight deployed elsewhere inadvertently arrived at our office.
Another contributing factor to hastening this action may be that Sweden and the Netherlands have frozen funding to the health sector until investigations are concluded. Naturally we have had the usual crocodile tears begging the two countries to reconsider their freezing of financial aid because ordinary Zambians are the ones who will suffer. But ordinary Zambians are likely to continue to do so if funding is resumed without a comprehensive audit being done to ensure those suspected of corruption are prosecuted and safeguards put in place to ensure better governance, accountability and transparency.
Our TB patients, the HIV+ mother and baby, the chronically malnourished children suffering from dysentery and malaria and the lowly paid ancillary staff who attend them, suffering here and elsewhere nationwide deserve no less.
Monday, 25 May 2009
Changes and Challenges
Since our last update we have lost Mrs Kapenda Mwangala Matamola. She died in childbirth two weeks ago from a ruptured uterus; the baby was still-born. It is at times like this when you realise how remote and isolated you actually are and how poor the medical facilities are in developing countries and how dangerous for women in these places childbirth can still be.
Kenny, her husband, is a colleague at the school; the family are devastated. She leaves three young boys and a number of related orphans they look after. She is not only a great loss to the family but she is also sorely missed at Church and in the Hospital. Mwangala was in her early thirties and an Anamoyo with a beautiful singing voice. She worked hard and quietly behind the scenes and always went the extra mile. Mwangala was assigned to the Out Patients Department as a cleaner and helped and supported her colleagues there. She also was a much-loved and respected Psycho-Social Counsellor at the AIDS RELIEF Centre.
The school term has just started again after Easter, so there is the thrice-yearly rush to try and scrape the school fees money and the other requisites together for those pupils at High School (K300 000 or about GBP40.00). So as our cold season approaches, two heart-warming stories related to this.
Last Thursday we got up and as Ida drew open the curtains, there was a hunched female figure happed up in a hood and jacket against the cold, steaming breath and raking the sand in our yard. She had already piled and cleared the fallen leaves from under the guava trees. This is the first task a dutiful Lozi daughter/wife undertakes first thing in the morning – The Cleaning of the Lapa (the yard). It was Mubuyaeta, one of my girls whom I first taught in Grade 7, now in Grade 10. All she said was - I wanted to thank you for helping me.
Later the same day, another auld acquaintance, Oliver, turned up on the doorstep with some mysterious object under his arm and wrapped up in a supermarket plastic bag. After being ushered ben, he proceeded to reveal this grotesque, half-smiling, half-yawning carved wooden crocodile and invited me to buy it. The only use for it I could conceive of, was perhaps at a Javanese shadow puppet performance of Peter Pan. So I asked Oliver what he needed the money for. To buy school shoes was the answer. Well, we have just received a container with amongst other things shoes. I told him to wait and went over and naughtily selected two pairs – a hard-wearing and sensible Doc Martin type shoe and another long pointed modern affair, they call them ‘modern’ but to my mind they are a regression to the Middle Ages in style. He looked dubiously at the Doc Martins but his eyes lit up and smiled as he coveted the other pair. Ah, we call these shoes, pointers, in Zambia…………….. were his words.
Today early in the morning I was out burning the rubbish at our pit in the garden. I was suddenly aware of two small chittering, bare-foot figures, clad only in shorts and T-shirts watching me. I greeted them. They were a Grade 5 & Grade 6 boy and both orphans. They had been raking through the coups at the Mission to see what they could find. They were now wanting permission to pick guavas and lemons, only because I was there, I assume. I confess, at their age, I used to go raiding for apples in the autumn but not for my breakfast.
The container with its store of winter clothes, shoes and blankets came to the rescue again.
Kenny, her husband, is a colleague at the school; the family are devastated. She leaves three young boys and a number of related orphans they look after. She is not only a great loss to the family but she is also sorely missed at Church and in the Hospital. Mwangala was in her early thirties and an Anamoyo with a beautiful singing voice. She worked hard and quietly behind the scenes and always went the extra mile. Mwangala was assigned to the Out Patients Department as a cleaner and helped and supported her colleagues there. She also was a much-loved and respected Psycho-Social Counsellor at the AIDS RELIEF Centre.
The school term has just started again after Easter, so there is the thrice-yearly rush to try and scrape the school fees money and the other requisites together for those pupils at High School (K300 000 or about GBP40.00). So as our cold season approaches, two heart-warming stories related to this.
Last Thursday we got up and as Ida drew open the curtains, there was a hunched female figure happed up in a hood and jacket against the cold, steaming breath and raking the sand in our yard. She had already piled and cleared the fallen leaves from under the guava trees. This is the first task a dutiful Lozi daughter/wife undertakes first thing in the morning – The Cleaning of the Lapa (the yard). It was Mubuyaeta, one of my girls whom I first taught in Grade 7, now in Grade 10. All she said was - I wanted to thank you for helping me.
Later the same day, another auld acquaintance, Oliver, turned up on the doorstep with some mysterious object under his arm and wrapped up in a supermarket plastic bag. After being ushered ben, he proceeded to reveal this grotesque, half-smiling, half-yawning carved wooden crocodile and invited me to buy it. The only use for it I could conceive of, was perhaps at a Javanese shadow puppet performance of Peter Pan. So I asked Oliver what he needed the money for. To buy school shoes was the answer. Well, we have just received a container with amongst other things shoes. I told him to wait and went over and naughtily selected two pairs – a hard-wearing and sensible Doc Martin type shoe and another long pointed modern affair, they call them ‘modern’ but to my mind they are a regression to the Middle Ages in style. He looked dubiously at the Doc Martins but his eyes lit up and smiled as he coveted the other pair. Ah, we call these shoes, pointers, in Zambia…………….. were his words.
Today early in the morning I was out burning the rubbish at our pit in the garden. I was suddenly aware of two small chittering, bare-foot figures, clad only in shorts and T-shirts watching me. I greeted them. They were a Grade 5 & Grade 6 boy and both orphans. They had been raking through the coups at the Mission to see what they could find. They were now wanting permission to pick guavas and lemons, only because I was there, I assume. I confess, at their age, I used to go raiding for apples in the autumn but not for my breakfast.
The container with its store of winter clothes, shoes and blankets came to the rescue again.
Friday, 1 May 2009
High Days and Holidays
It’s been a busy few weeks since Easter. We were delighted to have an overnight moderatorial visit. It was a pleasure to be able to show David, Maggie, Catherine and Eileen around the Mission and let them see the various ministries in action.
The local community too were delighted to have such a high-profile official visit. The local Boys and Girls Brigade Companies marched from the Orphan and Vulnerable Day Centre to the seat of the Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta where his Royal Highness and the Moderator inspected the assembled youth. This was followed by a march-past. The parade marched to the beat of the drums originally from Houston, Renfrewshire. Now, how would the Lozis take to pipes…?
Today is May Day so it is a public holiday. There is only a skeleton Hospital staff on duty but as I write a cow is being slaughtered outside the kitchen for the celebrations which will take place later this afternoon at the Hospital Chapel. There will be the official speech then the serious business of having a party will start.
Beef stew is on the menu, with bean stew for the vegetarians. This will be served with kale and since it is a festive occasion both nshima (thick maize porridge) and boiled rice will be available.No worse than serving Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes together, if you are worrying about your ‘carb’ in-take.
On Sunday, the local SDA Church has invited us to their Social Sports Day. Another happy occasion, taking us both back to childhood Sunday School trips usually to places like Millport or Largs. The school playing fields where this will take place is ankle-deep in silver sands too. There will be serious track and field events but also the fun races as well; the sack and three-legged race, tug-of-war and even an eating competition. Though another striking difference is I’ve been invited to give the opening devotion on ‘Sports and Spiritual Warfare’!
The local community too were delighted to have such a high-profile official visit. The local Boys and Girls Brigade Companies marched from the Orphan and Vulnerable Day Centre to the seat of the Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta where his Royal Highness and the Moderator inspected the assembled youth. This was followed by a march-past. The parade marched to the beat of the drums originally from Houston, Renfrewshire. Now, how would the Lozis take to pipes…?
Today is May Day so it is a public holiday. There is only a skeleton Hospital staff on duty but as I write a cow is being slaughtered outside the kitchen for the celebrations which will take place later this afternoon at the Hospital Chapel. There will be the official speech then the serious business of having a party will start.
Beef stew is on the menu, with bean stew for the vegetarians. This will be served with kale and since it is a festive occasion both nshima (thick maize porridge) and boiled rice will be available.No worse than serving Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes together, if you are worrying about your ‘carb’ in-take.
On Sunday, the local SDA Church has invited us to their Social Sports Day. Another happy occasion, taking us both back to childhood Sunday School trips usually to places like Millport or Largs. The school playing fields where this will take place is ankle-deep in silver sands too. There will be serious track and field events but also the fun races as well; the sack and three-legged race, tug-of-war and even an eating competition. Though another striking difference is I’ve been invited to give the opening devotion on ‘Sports and Spiritual Warfare’!
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Hosanna to Hallelujah
Blessed is the one who comes in God’s name. Psalm 118:26
We missed the Palm Sunday Service this year. We were saying farewell to a group of surgeons who had spent ten days doing general surgery at Mwandi. These operations were mainly very necessary hernias, though there were other life-saving procedures done as well. Peggy, the leader of the team, came to Mwandi as a young medical student over 10 years ago and pledged to return annually once qualified. This she has faithfully done.
Peggy’s team has been followed by Ozzie’s, who specialize in eye surgery and cataracts. This too is a wonderful blessing to the community here. There are almost 500 people now able to see who could not. It is always a very moving time when the eye-patches are removed and the patients realize they can see. It is a joyous occasion expressed by singing, dancing and ululations.
These operations put quite a strain on the staff and infrastructure of the hospital as they are over and above the usual referrals and other emergency cases. However, the American Board of Trustees make a generous contribution, assisting financially to help us to defray the cost of the extra food, cleaning materials and some of the overtime of the staff. Extra fuel is also required to screen patients, pick them up and return them home after the operation. This ministry could not be done without this support.
This work carried out by these doctors and the other hospital staff is a witness to, a reflection of and a response to the love of our servant Lord as we think today about the foot-washing and the ministry of the towel with the embracing of all in need, the sinner, the outcast and the healing beyond the physical. Tomorrow we move through the agony and passion of Good Friday and into the darkness of Holy Saturday followed by the dawning of the light of Easter and the announcement that: Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.
We wish you all a blessed Easter,
Keith, Ida, Catriona & Mubita
We missed the Palm Sunday Service this year. We were saying farewell to a group of surgeons who had spent ten days doing general surgery at Mwandi. These operations were mainly very necessary hernias, though there were other life-saving procedures done as well. Peggy, the leader of the team, came to Mwandi as a young medical student over 10 years ago and pledged to return annually once qualified. This she has faithfully done.
Peggy’s team has been followed by Ozzie’s, who specialize in eye surgery and cataracts. This too is a wonderful blessing to the community here. There are almost 500 people now able to see who could not. It is always a very moving time when the eye-patches are removed and the patients realize they can see. It is a joyous occasion expressed by singing, dancing and ululations.
These operations put quite a strain on the staff and infrastructure of the hospital as they are over and above the usual referrals and other emergency cases. However, the American Board of Trustees make a generous contribution, assisting financially to help us to defray the cost of the extra food, cleaning materials and some of the overtime of the staff. Extra fuel is also required to screen patients, pick them up and return them home after the operation. This ministry could not be done without this support.
This work carried out by these doctors and the other hospital staff is a witness to, a reflection of and a response to the love of our servant Lord as we think today about the foot-washing and the ministry of the towel with the embracing of all in need, the sinner, the outcast and the healing beyond the physical. Tomorrow we move through the agony and passion of Good Friday and into the darkness of Holy Saturday followed by the dawning of the light of Easter and the announcement that: Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.
We wish you all a blessed Easter,
Keith, Ida, Catriona & Mubita
Monday, 30 March 2009
Worst flood for decades
The Zambezi River rises in the Kalene Hills in north-west Zambia and flows north through Angola for about 280km and then re-enters Zambia, flowing south through the Barotse plain. In south west Zambia the river becomes the border between Zambia and Namibia for about 130km. Mwandi is about half way along this border.
The water level on the Zambezi continues to rise past its highest levels ever. The National Milling Shop at Mwandi looks like Noah’s Ark with a sandbag causeway to reach it. Houses in the lower lying parts of the village have been flooded.The flooding is destroying crops and blocking roads and threatening food security for the coming year. There are likely to be low food stocks with shortages of maize and mealie meal on local markets for some time.
Heavy rain has also caused smaller rivers like the Kasaya and Loantja to flood, cutting off access to settlements, destroying homes and schools and displacing people in Namibia, Zambia and Angola. With floods come also the danger of diseases like malaria and cholera. Shang'ombo, the District to the East of us is completely cut off and has been for over a week. Yesterday the Zambezi crossed the second highest level ever recorded since 1969. Heavy rains are continuing to fall upstream
Across the river in Namibia the Zambezi has risen above its highest recorded level because the rains have persisted longer than usual. It is reported we have received more than 200% of our normal rainfall in February. The floods have so far claimed 92 lives and will affect the food security of Namibian subsistence farmers too. Our part of the border between Zambia and Namibia is a colonial invention. There are Lozis on both sides of the river. During the floods, people who die across the water are usually buried in Mwandi as their cemetery is under water for three months of the year.
Finally to give you an idea of what we could expect, God forbid: in 2007 an estimated 285,000 people were affected and 29 were killed in the Zambezi River basin during the worst floods to hit the country in six years.
The water level on the Zambezi continues to rise past its highest levels ever. The National Milling Shop at Mwandi looks like Noah’s Ark with a sandbag causeway to reach it. Houses in the lower lying parts of the village have been flooded.The flooding is destroying crops and blocking roads and threatening food security for the coming year. There are likely to be low food stocks with shortages of maize and mealie meal on local markets for some time.
Heavy rain has also caused smaller rivers like the Kasaya and Loantja to flood, cutting off access to settlements, destroying homes and schools and displacing people in Namibia, Zambia and Angola. With floods come also the danger of diseases like malaria and cholera. Shang'ombo, the District to the East of us is completely cut off and has been for over a week. Yesterday the Zambezi crossed the second highest level ever recorded since 1969. Heavy rains are continuing to fall upstream
Across the river in Namibia the Zambezi has risen above its highest recorded level because the rains have persisted longer than usual. It is reported we have received more than 200% of our normal rainfall in February. The floods have so far claimed 92 lives and will affect the food security of Namibian subsistence farmers too. Our part of the border between Zambia and Namibia is a colonial invention. There are Lozis on both sides of the river. During the floods, people who die across the water are usually buried in Mwandi as their cemetery is under water for three months of the year.
Finally to give you an idea of what we could expect, God forbid: in 2007 an estimated 285,000 people were affected and 29 were killed in the Zambezi River basin during the worst floods to hit the country in six years.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Flooding and fishing
The rains have been good this year, the maize tasseled and the cobs are growing. White-thorn branches have been cut and placed round the maize fields to keep out marauding cattle and a constant battle is being waged at the moment against the monkeys who keep coming to raid the fields as well. Green cobs are being plucked and boiled or roasted and enjoyed at the moment. The ground nuts too are beginning to form in their shells and will be ready in a month or so.
In the country behind Mwandi, March is the month when the flood waters begin to spread and Magumwi and Mushakula, our two furthest outposts are cut off. Today’s rains flooded the fields and roads surrounding Situlu 25km away.This means vehicles cannot reach patients at these places. People on regular medications have been given a three month supply and pregnant mothers nearing their time are urged to come to the Mothers Shelter at the hospital at least 2 weeks before their due date. Clinics will be held at the tar road in a tent and people will travel by dug-out.
The Zambezi at Mwandi is rising and with us is now only a metre below lawn level. The fish - mainly bream, catfish and tiger - have all spawned and the fishing ban is now over. This should help the food situation. Most people in the area are subsistence farmers but those near a river turn their hand to a bit of fishing as well. Catfish are harvested a good bit inland from the river because of the flooding. So the men are now preparing their nets and fishing spears as they return in their dug-outs (mukolo sing. / makolo pl.) to the fishing.
Thanks for keeping in touch through this blog. We thank you too for the letters and the e-mails we receive that from you all. We are sorry that we are not able to answer you all individually!
In the country behind Mwandi, March is the month when the flood waters begin to spread and Magumwi and Mushakula, our two furthest outposts are cut off. Today’s rains flooded the fields and roads surrounding Situlu 25km away.This means vehicles cannot reach patients at these places. People on regular medications have been given a three month supply and pregnant mothers nearing their time are urged to come to the Mothers Shelter at the hospital at least 2 weeks before their due date. Clinics will be held at the tar road in a tent and people will travel by dug-out.
The Zambezi at Mwandi is rising and with us is now only a metre below lawn level. The fish - mainly bream, catfish and tiger - have all spawned and the fishing ban is now over. This should help the food situation. Most people in the area are subsistence farmers but those near a river turn their hand to a bit of fishing as well. Catfish are harvested a good bit inland from the river because of the flooding. So the men are now preparing their nets and fishing spears as they return in their dug-outs (mukolo sing. / makolo pl.) to the fishing.
Thanks for keeping in touch through this blog. We thank you too for the letters and the e-mails we receive that from you all. We are sorry that we are not able to answer you all individually!
Friday, 13 March 2009
Take-home pay
This is what God requires of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Below is a table that you might like to look at. It’s some recent comparative ‘Take-home pay’ from the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection. The Zambian Kwacha (K) is approx 8,000 to the GBP and K 5,500 to US Dollar.
TEACHER: Max K1,485,000
NURSE RG: Max K 2,624,000
RURAL PIECE WORKER: Max K 15,000 per day
SECURITY GUARD: Max K 750,000
SECRETARY (CIVIL SERVICE): Max K 1,480,000
AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME: K 645,326
The Centre also monitors a monthly basic needs basket for a family of six in Lusaka comprising of food items and other essential non-food items. A total of K 1,914,450 was required to meet these costs (around GBP 250).
In April the tax threshold goes up to K 700,000 (GBP100) before you pay 25% basic level tax, which is good as that will help most of our lower paid workers.
For those of us enjoying fairly secure and affluent life-styles it is not always easy to understand the degree of poverty and deprivation endured by the overwhelming majority of the Zambian population. We are saturated by statistics and inured to the impact of once-shocking photographs portraying various aspects of the bare existence of suffering people.
Despite so-called ‘donor fatigue’ ( 2 Thess.3:13 should put an end to that anyway!) the Church needs to be concerned continually with social justice and morality, the relief of hunger, economic development and the equitable use and distribution of the resources of this earth entrusted to humankind by God. The Church here to highlight and deal with the sinfulness of the greed and self-interest of a few at the expense of the many.
Accusations of playing politics are often levelled when you speak about such things but these matters are part of Ida’s and my personal experience of living here. The arguments we hear from Europe and the US about the credit crunch, that ‘we have troubles of our own’ does not relieve us of the responsibilities to other brothers and sisters whose human rights and dignity are being denied.
So it was good to learn in the the Church of Scotland’s World Mission magazine of the response to Fairtrade Fortnight. The activities and events taking place are a beginning to rectify the situation where the unjust world trading systems still work for the benefit of the rich and powerful.
Below is a table that you might like to look at. It’s some recent comparative ‘Take-home pay’ from the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection. The Zambian Kwacha (K) is approx 8,000 to the GBP and K 5,500 to US Dollar.
TEACHER: Max K1,485,000
NURSE RG: Max K 2,624,000
RURAL PIECE WORKER: Max K 15,000 per day
SECURITY GUARD: Max K 750,000
SECRETARY (CIVIL SERVICE): Max K 1,480,000
AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME: K 645,326
The Centre also monitors a monthly basic needs basket for a family of six in Lusaka comprising of food items and other essential non-food items. A total of K 1,914,450 was required to meet these costs (around GBP 250).
In April the tax threshold goes up to K 700,000 (GBP100) before you pay 25% basic level tax, which is good as that will help most of our lower paid workers.
For those of us enjoying fairly secure and affluent life-styles it is not always easy to understand the degree of poverty and deprivation endured by the overwhelming majority of the Zambian population. We are saturated by statistics and inured to the impact of once-shocking photographs portraying various aspects of the bare existence of suffering people.
Despite so-called ‘donor fatigue’ ( 2 Thess.3:13 should put an end to that anyway!) the Church needs to be concerned continually with social justice and morality, the relief of hunger, economic development and the equitable use and distribution of the resources of this earth entrusted to humankind by God. The Church here to highlight and deal with the sinfulness of the greed and self-interest of a few at the expense of the many.
Accusations of playing politics are often levelled when you speak about such things but these matters are part of Ida’s and my personal experience of living here. The arguments we hear from Europe and the US about the credit crunch, that ‘we have troubles of our own’ does not relieve us of the responsibilities to other brothers and sisters whose human rights and dignity are being denied.
So it was good to learn in the the Church of Scotland’s World Mission magazine of the response to Fairtrade Fortnight. The activities and events taking place are a beginning to rectify the situation where the unjust world trading systems still work for the benefit of the rich and powerful.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
A Modern Tower of Babel
It has been said that the English and Americans are peoples divided by a common language. I think that can be said of any of the English-speaking peoples. Here at Mwandi there are various varieties of English in everyday use, the most common being naturally Zambian-English.
Other common dialects heard are Australian, Scots, English-English and U.S. English (Yankee & Southern).
It is not just pronunciation that presents difficulties as you would expect but vocabulary is problematic too…. In Zambian English there are many words that have come from the 7 major indigenous languages. These are common everyday words used by everyone. The most common being chitenge (a cotton wrap) and inshima (maize-meal thick porridge). Another lovely onomatopoetic word is patapatas (flip-flops). The names of trees, plants, birds and animals are another source of these. Dambo is a geographical expression. From South African English come takkies (sandshoes) and robots (traffic lights). Zambian neologisms include to foot (walk) and moveous (elusive and up to no good). And from the mines come malegeni (inner-tube rubber used to repair all manner of things) and b*ggered. The last term for many English speakers causes your jaw to drop on first hearing it, but is used by many Zambians in fairly formal contexts.
So what has brought us to musing over language this week? Well, two amusing misunderstandings really. Fiona, our Australian daughter-in-law living in Zambia, had borrowed some cake-tins to bake a cake for a farewell tea for an Australian colleague. She forgot to bring the tins over to wash them, and return them, so she asked Beauty, her PA, if she would please go to her kitchen and bring the cake-tins over to be washed. Fiona did say that Beauty had looked at her in a puzzled fashion, but said nothing and had apparently gone to do as she was asked. Fiona arrived home in the evening to find bare windows in the kitchen and sitting-room and the still unwashed cake-tins! The Australian pronunciation of cake-tins to the Zambian ear sounds like curtains! The neatly-laundered items were delivered the next day.
At sundown on Monday, Kelvin came in and asked us if we wanted him to lock up our beds. We were unsure which beds he meant, our own or the hospitals, and why did they need to be locked up? After further questions and answers that clouded the matter more, the penny finally dropped. Ah, our birds - the geese and ducks were what Kelvin meant! There is a rather large variation between the Scottish and Zambian English pronunciations of birds, but thankfully the written form of Standard English is fairly homogeneous and stable. (See below.)
GLOSSARY
Chitenge: a cotton wrap
Takkies: sandshoes (cf. Scots gutties)
Inshima: maize-meal thick porridge
To foot: to walk
Patapatas: flipflops
Moveous: elusive & up to no good (cf. Scots sleekit)
Dambo: a wet marsh area
B*ggered: in need of repair
Malegeni: inner-tube rubber used to repair all manner of things.
Robots: traffic lights
Other common dialects heard are Australian, Scots, English-English and U.S. English (Yankee & Southern).
It is not just pronunciation that presents difficulties as you would expect but vocabulary is problematic too…. In Zambian English there are many words that have come from the 7 major indigenous languages. These are common everyday words used by everyone. The most common being chitenge (a cotton wrap) and inshima (maize-meal thick porridge). Another lovely onomatopoetic word is patapatas (flip-flops). The names of trees, plants, birds and animals are another source of these. Dambo is a geographical expression. From South African English come takkies (sandshoes) and robots (traffic lights). Zambian neologisms include to foot (walk) and moveous (elusive and up to no good). And from the mines come malegeni (inner-tube rubber used to repair all manner of things) and b*ggered. The last term for many English speakers causes your jaw to drop on first hearing it, but is used by many Zambians in fairly formal contexts.
So what has brought us to musing over language this week? Well, two amusing misunderstandings really. Fiona, our Australian daughter-in-law living in Zambia, had borrowed some cake-tins to bake a cake for a farewell tea for an Australian colleague. She forgot to bring the tins over to wash them, and return them, so she asked Beauty, her PA, if she would please go to her kitchen and bring the cake-tins over to be washed. Fiona did say that Beauty had looked at her in a puzzled fashion, but said nothing and had apparently gone to do as she was asked. Fiona arrived home in the evening to find bare windows in the kitchen and sitting-room and the still unwashed cake-tins! The Australian pronunciation of cake-tins to the Zambian ear sounds like curtains! The neatly-laundered items were delivered the next day.
At sundown on Monday, Kelvin came in and asked us if we wanted him to lock up our beds. We were unsure which beds he meant, our own or the hospitals, and why did they need to be locked up? After further questions and answers that clouded the matter more, the penny finally dropped. Ah, our birds - the geese and ducks were what Kelvin meant! There is a rather large variation between the Scottish and Zambian English pronunciations of birds, but thankfully the written form of Standard English is fairly homogeneous and stable. (See below.)
GLOSSARY
Chitenge: a cotton wrap
Takkies: sandshoes (cf. Scots gutties)
Inshima: maize-meal thick porridge
To foot: to walk
Patapatas: flipflops
Moveous: elusive & up to no good (cf. Scots sleekit)
Dambo: a wet marsh area
B*ggered: in need of repair
Malegeni: inner-tube rubber used to repair all manner of things.
Robots: traffic lights
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Light their path
Yesterday at Church was another significant service with the rededication of the Anamoyo (Women’s Christian Fellowship) and the Blessing of Percy and Muyunda’s marriage. This was finally solemnised earlier in the month after protracted negotiations between Percy and Muyunda’s family. Percy is the Youth Pastor here and has been reaching out to young people in the community for the past year, though his role was only formalised in December 2008. We are delighted that he has found his wife and a helpmeet in Muyunda.Sunday dawned bright and fresh after a heavy shower on Saturday. Brothers and sisters in the Church family had baked and decorated the cake, arranged the flowers, shredded the coleslaw, cooked the chicken and beef and prepared the Simba lawn for the lunch with furniture; and the benches from the chapel and tables from the Conference Room were set under the shade of the river-bank trees. Many hands were busy arranging the bougainvillea, hibiscus, roses in a profusion of delicate shades into dainty baskets, together with scented lavender and golden rod. Our family tent was pitched and its verandah used as a shaded pavilion for His Royal Highness Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta, who graced the occasion with his presence. The Anamoyo organized a group to prepare the rice and buhobe.
The service was held outside at the Church and Percy and Muyunda walked together hand in hand to the front of the congregation where the Reverend Silishebo blessed the couple with prayer and Scripture. They both promised to be faithful, loving, comforting, protecting and honouring life-long to each other this was followed by the exchange of rings and the Aaronic Blessing. Finally the congregation had the joy of embracing and congratulating the two of them and presenting them with gifts as tokens of love and esteem.
The celebration was a delightful mix of the Zambian and Christian.The first guests together with the couple arrived soon after the service for photographs in the garden.
Lunch followed, washed down by iced water and the ubiquitous bottles of Coke, Fanta or Sprite. (The bottle tops are a handy teaching aid for demonstrating square and triangular numbers to Grade 8!) The accompanying music was from the CD produced by the Mwandi Choir.
Percy and Muyunda have faced a tough time physically and spiritually, but they know who is leading them. At the end of the lunch both said they felt full of energy and ready to face the task God has set before them. They know they have been strengthened from God’s boundless resources and were able to pass through the difficulties that beset them earlier and to endure them with courage. As they start married life together we pray for God’s grace to light their path as they construct a ministry together that will bless and transform their life together and the lives of others.
Monday, 16 February 2009
A Trip of Coincidences
We have been musing recently what a good collective for coincidences might be. This is a game that we as a family often used to play on long car journeys! And we've had a long trip. We returned on Saturday evening to Mwandi from a busy week of meetings and doing business in Lusaka.
On Tuesday in the city we were conscientiously working our way down the ‘To Do’ list (at our age the written list has become a necessity) and to be honest we were becoming a bit smug about the good progress we were making. We had purchased tyres for the Aids Relief vehicle and various spare parts and were dropping them off at the Beit Cure Paediatric Hospital where Harold and Susan are chaplains. Susan is the former Minister at Mwandi and Harold, a Pastor as well, is the twin brother of Heath, who runs Mwandi’s Lab. A driver would later collect the tyres and other purchases and drive them back to Mwandi in the Government vehicle.
As we were leaving with the purchases, we saw two rather forlorn figures: it was Gladys and her Mum from Mwandi. I had taught Gladys two years ago in Grade 7. Unfortunately she had been attacked by a crocodile at the river and her foot and leg had been very badly deformed from the bite. Mother and daughter had come up to Lusaka for an operation and Gladys had just been discharged. Mum was delighted to see us. She is a self-confessed country-woman who does not know Lusaka. She had been told to go with Gladys to the Italian Orthopaedic Hospital on the other side of the city for a wedge and she was told also to buy a pair of strong lacing shoes (there are no medical boots available for purchase in Zambia). She did not have money for the shoes and did not know where to start to look for them anyway. A taxi-driver had cheated her earlier with a fare. She was dispirited and at the end of her tether. Gladys was in flipflops and carrying a stick, and without the shoes any good done by the operation would be undone.
This is where it is necessary to listen to God’s small voice. It would have been very easy to say, “We’re sorry, we’re on Mission business, we’re too busy doing other important work to get involved in this.” But this was a time we both felt God had put us here to help Gladys and her Mum. ‘Efter muckle focht and ding’ we got the shoes and arrived at the Orthopaedic Hospital to be welcomed unexpectedly by other friends who just happened to be up from Mwandi. They were able to take Gladys and her Mum under their wing. Confirmation through another ‘coincidence’
Other former pupils we bumped in to on the trip: Michael, now Logistics Manager at the Nissan garage where our car is being repaired; Khetiwe, Project Manager at ZNAN, able to help LIMOVADI women with applications for grants; Phatiswayo, working at his father’s Fire Extinguisher business, able to help at the hospital; and, Kanyanta, now a graduate Doctor hoping to come to Mwandi for rural placement.
On Tuesday in the city we were conscientiously working our way down the ‘To Do’ list (at our age the written list has become a necessity) and to be honest we were becoming a bit smug about the good progress we were making. We had purchased tyres for the Aids Relief vehicle and various spare parts and were dropping them off at the Beit Cure Paediatric Hospital where Harold and Susan are chaplains. Susan is the former Minister at Mwandi and Harold, a Pastor as well, is the twin brother of Heath, who runs Mwandi’s Lab. A driver would later collect the tyres and other purchases and drive them back to Mwandi in the Government vehicle.
As we were leaving with the purchases, we saw two rather forlorn figures: it was Gladys and her Mum from Mwandi. I had taught Gladys two years ago in Grade 7. Unfortunately she had been attacked by a crocodile at the river and her foot and leg had been very badly deformed from the bite. Mother and daughter had come up to Lusaka for an operation and Gladys had just been discharged. Mum was delighted to see us. She is a self-confessed country-woman who does not know Lusaka. She had been told to go with Gladys to the Italian Orthopaedic Hospital on the other side of the city for a wedge and she was told also to buy a pair of strong lacing shoes (there are no medical boots available for purchase in Zambia). She did not have money for the shoes and did not know where to start to look for them anyway. A taxi-driver had cheated her earlier with a fare. She was dispirited and at the end of her tether. Gladys was in flipflops and carrying a stick, and without the shoes any good done by the operation would be undone.
This is where it is necessary to listen to God’s small voice. It would have been very easy to say, “We’re sorry, we’re on Mission business, we’re too busy doing other important work to get involved in this.” But this was a time we both felt God had put us here to help Gladys and her Mum. ‘Efter muckle focht and ding’ we got the shoes and arrived at the Orthopaedic Hospital to be welcomed unexpectedly by other friends who just happened to be up from Mwandi. They were able to take Gladys and her Mum under their wing. Confirmation through another ‘coincidence’
Other former pupils we bumped in to on the trip: Michael, now Logistics Manager at the Nissan garage where our car is being repaired; Khetiwe, Project Manager at ZNAN, able to help LIMOVADI women with applications for grants; Phatiswayo, working at his father’s Fire Extinguisher business, able to help at the hospital; and, Kanyanta, now a graduate Doctor hoping to come to Mwandi for rural placement.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Bring light to the people
Muiseze batu liseli
(Bring light to the people)
Kai ni kai mwa lifasi
(Throughout the world)
Muise taba za bupilo
(Bring the Gospel)
Kwa batu ba mishobo
(To all of humankind)
These words come from a powerful hymn in the Lozi hymnary, a hymn that is often sung by the Men’s Christian Fellowship when they meet. Last Sunday was such an occasion at the Mwandi Mission’s Jerusalem Church, where the Annual MCF Rededication Service took place in front of the congregation. The MCF individuals promise to set a good example of Christian love. The MCF, also called the Alume, was formed in the early 70s to encourage male communicants to share the Gospel with others, to become witnesses and to pray and encourage one another. The Jerusalem Church Choir was there in support. It was a busy time of worship with a visiting Minister, Reverend Lubasi from Livingstone preaching and celebrating Communion.
Jerusalem Church stands symbolically in the middle of the Mission between the school and hospital, showing that the Church is central to all that we do here as an institution with our various ministries – teaching, learning, nursing, healing, providing care of various sorts and spiritual formation. If we forget that or neglect that, then everything we are about loses focus and perspective. All our differences and diversity find their unity and fundamental meaning here.
So on Sunday we offered up everything we are and do to be used by God for God’s purposes in the world. Our Lord calls us to participate in the work of salvation here on earth, so we pledge ourselves and our labour to be used in his service according to his will and to bring his light, life and love into the dark places of this world.
(Bring light to the people)
Kai ni kai mwa lifasi
(Throughout the world)
Muise taba za bupilo
(Bring the Gospel)
Kwa batu ba mishobo
(To all of humankind)
These words come from a powerful hymn in the Lozi hymnary, a hymn that is often sung by the Men’s Christian Fellowship when they meet. Last Sunday was such an occasion at the Mwandi Mission’s Jerusalem Church, where the Annual MCF Rededication Service took place in front of the congregation. The MCF individuals promise to set a good example of Christian love. The MCF, also called the Alume, was formed in the early 70s to encourage male communicants to share the Gospel with others, to become witnesses and to pray and encourage one another. The Jerusalem Church Choir was there in support. It was a busy time of worship with a visiting Minister, Reverend Lubasi from Livingstone preaching and celebrating Communion.
Jerusalem Church stands symbolically in the middle of the Mission between the school and hospital, showing that the Church is central to all that we do here as an institution with our various ministries – teaching, learning, nursing, healing, providing care of various sorts and spiritual formation. If we forget that or neglect that, then everything we are about loses focus and perspective. All our differences and diversity find their unity and fundamental meaning here.
So on Sunday we offered up everything we are and do to be used by God for God’s purposes in the world. Our Lord calls us to participate in the work of salvation here on earth, so we pledge ourselves and our labour to be used in his service according to his will and to bring his light, life and love into the dark places of this world.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
A New Year in Mwandi
During our absence over Christmas in Australia, a new borehole was drilled and a hand pump mounted at Mwanangono B. This is a section of the village, a ward if you like. This was organized at long-distance by e-mail from Australia and was funded by Aiken Church, South Carolina. However, it was not sited where we expected, so there is a disgruntled Committee at Mwanangono B East but a delighted one at Mwanangono B North!
The school have asked Keith to take another Grade 8 class for Maths and Science. We are waiting patiently to hear from the Ministry of Education as to whether we can open a Grade 10 this year. The local carpenter is making stools and benches for the Science Laboratory at present.
The Milk Formula Programme continues. It is administered well on the ground by Irene and Kufakisa. There are now 60 babies being fed. We have made contact with the distributer in Lusaka in an attempt to cheapen the cost. They have agreed to supply us at import cost and even deliver the powder to us every three months if we can order enough at a time.
As Paul asks, who indeed is sufficient for these things? Looking back at our lives we can see that God doesn’t necessarily call us because we are fitted for the job. He calls us, then equips us as we obey him. Philippians 4:13 is a great comfort here in trying to deal with the natural doubts and feelings of inadequacy - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
We thank you all for your cards, letters, e-mails and best wishes over Christmas and the New Year and for your continued prayers.
With love
Keith Ida & Family
The school have asked Keith to take another Grade 8 class for Maths and Science. We are waiting patiently to hear from the Ministry of Education as to whether we can open a Grade 10 this year. The local carpenter is making stools and benches for the Science Laboratory at present.
The Milk Formula Programme continues. It is administered well on the ground by Irene and Kufakisa. There are now 60 babies being fed. We have made contact with the distributer in Lusaka in an attempt to cheapen the cost. They have agreed to supply us at import cost and even deliver the powder to us every three months if we can order enough at a time.
As Paul asks, who indeed is sufficient for these things? Looking back at our lives we can see that God doesn’t necessarily call us because we are fitted for the job. He calls us, then equips us as we obey him. Philippians 4:13 is a great comfort here in trying to deal with the natural doubts and feelings of inadequacy - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
We thank you all for your cards, letters, e-mails and best wishes over Christmas and the New Year and for your continued prayers.
With love
Keith Ida & Family
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