Happy New Year

We have just been up in Lusaka for a couple of days. After bringing in the New Year at Livingstone we motored up with Catriona, Gregor and Mubita. On the first of January we also saw Ruairidh and Fiona off to Australia for Fiona’s maternity leave. The baby should arrive all being well at the end of February. Catriona had some dressage and jumping to do for her PE Course Work which she did on Saturday. We also did a bit of school shopping for them, mainly clothes and toiletries.

They left on the early Monday morning flight with a number of other ‘children’ they knew, who had been home for the Christmas holidays as well. We said goodbye with the usual tearful eyes and lump in the throat, and from the other family farewells taking place at the same time, you can see and hear it is an emotional time for all concerned. Mubita cried all the way back into town from the airport.

We had educational commitments to pay for other members of our extended Zambian family and did Aids Relief business for Ida and then visited UCZ Synod Headquarters. We have been in Zambia for 15 years so should now qualify to receive an entry permit and will no longer require a work permit. We were lodging the paperwork for that through Synod.

It is fair to say that in Zambia the concept of a civic citizenship is not allowed for in the present constitution. Citizenship is difficult to acquire and comes really only through descent. Dual citizenship is not permitted at present. The new constitution to be enacted this year partially addresses and partially modernises some of these issues. But some old-fashioned restrictions will remain - holders of dual citizenship cannot serve in the army or police for example.

The UCZ Educatiol Secretary had been in touch with the Western Province Education Authorities to try and arrange the round table talks concerning the Mwandi UCZ High School that the Ministry of Education suggested but the Province were being puzzlingly elusive. She was determined to try and nail them down. Yesterday out of the blue she heard in a phone-call from the Provincial Education Officer, that provincial opposition to the High School was being lifted and that a Grade 10 could commence this year after all.

This is wonderful news. Our thanks to you all for your prayers in this matter.