Women’s Christian Fellowship (WCF) Rally – Senanga

Just after dawn on 22^nd August, I set off in our car picking up the first passengers at the church. Our journey began in song and this continued to Simungoma where we collected Grace and organized the distribution locally of newly arrived mosquito-nets. Leaving Grace’s house we got stuck in the loose sand. All bundled out to push then piled back in again. We fueled up in Sesheke and then drew up at the market next to the Lipumpu Anamoyo (WCF) truck to a boisterous salutation of waves and ululation. In fact a good collective noun for Anamoyo would be an ululation!

The first leg from Sesheke to Sioma on new tar was a pleasure with Bo-Ma Naluca (our Mubita’s great aunt) excitedly pointed out en route all the notable and noteworthy features and landmarks of the Silumbu area. After the end of the tar, we stopped on the gravel near Sitoti and had a quick, shared brunch of chicken, rolls and bananas under a shady tree overlooking the river. We reached the pontoon at around midday to find the crew working on one of the outboard motors. After an hour’s wait we were across and over the plain, reaching Senanga at 1330h.

We were met by Dorothy at the High School and went to the Girls Dorms, where she pitched her tent. A meal of fish and buhobe followed, then a stick of cassava to nibble on and my luxury - a cup of coffee. My back soon told me that I was not used to sitting on a museme (reed mat) on the ground. I was advised to park the car at the Police Station, so I drove there with a Mwandi escort, as there was a strange and eerie atmosphere in the streets after the recent disturbances and detentions. We walked back and went to bed; Dorothy kindly sharing her tent with me.

We woke at 0500h showered had a coffee and tried to get the programme. After a bun and banana for breakfast, over 1000 Anamoyo gathered at the top of the hill. It was quite a scene with flashes of red, white and black from the uniforms of the congregating women. After gaining police permission we marched singing to the official opening and usual speeches.

After lunch we opened with Hymn 65, the Lozi version of: Lo! He comes with clouds descending… Rev Chikwanda spoke well on traditions and culture and how they related with Christianity. Many Christians have a foot in both camps but a Christian marriage is a real marriage of a man and women in a way that a traditional marriage can never be.  Dr Mate then spoke on cervical cancer and Deaconess Mubita on Child-Abuse and Gender-Based Violence. We finished and turned in at 2300h.

First thing next morning Dorothy went to Praise and Worship while I had my quiet time. I met up with Mrs Chipeta again, she had helped dress me at my blousing. They had recently suffered a disastrous house-fire; house insurance does not exist outside the main urban areas. She is still in shock. After a roll and coffee the morning programme began with Rev Chikwanda talking about living with the spirit of unforgiveness. By forgiving the pain goes and you grow in the Lord and become a better person. Forgive and continue to forgive. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency were next; they discussed the damage done by drug and alcohol abuse to the body and the signs and symptoms of such abuse.

Rev Sivile then talked about ‘Witnessing through Giving’, which led into a time of offering. Grace, still recovering from her stay in hospital, was transformed, becoming energized and enlivened by the food and fellowship, laughing and joking with us all. At that supper I was more of spectator, I felt I was being accepted as part of the group but still realising as an outsider I could never really be one of them. The evening was taken up with the Choir Fundraiser. Mongu and Livingstone dominated but by donating more other choirs could sing and the last one singing won. Mwandi were called and sang some old faithfuls. I just copied the actions for dancing and got a cheer at the end for my exertions. It was fun. I enjoyed a late supper of buhobe and mabisi (sour milk) Livingstone and Mongu had their time for secret friends whilst we got ready for bed. I slept well, even on the ground.

Next morning we rose at 0430h for Holy Communion in the packed hall. The Reverends were there en masse to dispense the Communion to the long lines of communicants. After Communion we rushed into town to buy bread, milk, tea leaves and sugar for breakfast. Then I caught up with Mrs Chikeba, who had been sick, and retired Deaconess Mbuywana, Rev Sitali’s mother.

Then the blousing started. We were proud because Florence who works for us had been attending classes and was to be bloused at today’s service. After this, Mrs Chipeta came back and Bo-Ma Sitali with some Mongu rice. Supper was fish, buhobe and cabbage. At 2000h we held our last devotions, the Bishop spoke about next year’s Butoya and that next year will also be a WCF National Rally. After that there was a time of prayer and healing for those who wanted or needed it. We were late to bed just after midnight.

We were woken at 0300h with everyone starting to pack. I got up at 03.45h and took a sick lady with the others and left at 0500h as the bus arrived loading started. We reached the pontoon 45 minutes later. The dawn chorus was lovely as the birds sang with the rising sun. Other early birds were vehicles with GRZ and CD plates who were on their way to check the demarcation of the Namibian border. The patient’s condition continued deteriorate with sickness, diarrhea and fever. We stopped quickly near Lusu under an old baobab tree. Because of the lady’s condition,

I put my foot down and we reached Mwandi Mission Hospital at 1230h. We were struck on our way home by the heavy police presence and the number of roadblocks. There were blocks at Katima, Sesheke and the Mulobezi turn-off. We also met more GRZ and CD cars tanking up at the garage in Sesheke for the border verification exercise.

The Readings for the blousing ceremony came from Matthew 5: and James 4:8 and they had been a constant theme for the rally, the first came from the Beatitudes: Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and: Come near to God and he will come near to you. It was a good time for both contemplation and discussing topics relevant to our daily lives. It was good too taking time and finding intimacy with God and being with him in fellowship with other sisters.

SEFULA 2013 – MCF (WP) Annual Conference

Those of us from the area going to the Men’s Christian Fellowship held this year at Sefula met in Sesheke on Thursday morning last week at the UCZ Church. We departed from there after sharing a late breakfast of Coke and Tennis biscuits at a church member’s shop beside the market, whilst the vehicles were fuelled and we waited for the bus and the Minister from Livingstone. Sefula is about 300km away and our convoy of 3 cars rolled onto the M10 just after 11am. The first car contained the 3 Reverends from Livingstone, Mwandi and Sesheke. We were 6 MCF from Mwandi consistory, 2 from Lipumpu and 7 from Sesheke divided into 2 people carriers.

Participants at the MCF Conference



The first hold-up was at the police road-block at Katima Mulilo where we were directed to park inside the fence at the police post as our vehicles were suspected of being pirate taxis. However, our trip had been cleared as an official Church event by the Traffic Police in Sesheke, so after a phone call and explanation we were brusquely released.

The road from Sesheke to Sioma is now completely tarred. We took a break at Silumbu under a muhuluhulu tree (strychnos coculoides) while friends and relatives living nearby were greeted and visited. Shortly after this our Ministers’ car suffered the first puncture of the day which was quickly fixed at the side of the road. At Sioma we tried to see if the new pontoon at Muziba was working. However, it transpired that one of its engines was broken and a duff replacement had been sent from Lusaka, so the pontoon was still tied up to the bank just gathering dust. It would have saved us so much time crossing here, had the pontoon been working, as there is a good new tarred road on the East bank all the way to Senanga!

 

At Sioma the tar runs out but there is a good graded gravel road now all the way through Nangweshi and Sitoti to Kalongola. The sharp ‘chuckies’ embedded in the gravel road play havoc with ordinary tyres, so after a few hundred metres on the gravel we turned right and took the old sandy low-road that runs parallel to the Zambezi  through Nangweshi and Kaanja coming out at Sitoti to cross the Matabele Plain. This was a very pleasant route through small rural settlements and riverine trees. From there it is an easy drive to the Kalongola pontoon.

 

The name Libala la Matebele (The Plain of the Matabele) commemorates a victory over the Matabele who were ambushed here sometime in the 1840s. A group of Matabele under Nxaba, known in Lozi as Ngabe or Sikwanda, crossed the Zambezi near Senanga looking for the Makololo army under Sibitwane who were pursuing Mulambwa’s sons Imbua and Litia to Nyengo. The Matabele were betrayed by their local guides and fell into a trap. Nxabe hid for a time afterwards in the Kalamba Forest then surrendered. It was considered sacrilege if royal blood were spilled so he was drowned by his captors.   

 

At Kalongola, we were second in a queue of 6 vehicles and to carry all 6 it was necessary to double park on the pontoon. This meant our left front wheel was off the edge usual metal decking on the lower part where passengers normally stand. It had to bump up to get off at the other side of the river. This was enough to puncture our tyre. We managed to push the vehicle up the sandy bank to the top where the wheel was changed.  Restored by fried fish, groundnuts and boiled cassava, the party headed across the plain to Senanga. This is only a distance of 15km but takes over an hour because of the atrocious state of the road.

 

Because of broken and washed away culverts there are three major deviations where you leave the raised embankment and do a loop through sand on the plain. There are several areas where the dry sand is so liquid that without a 4x4 you get stuck and have to push. Here we had a stone jammed inside our wheel hub close to the break calipers. This meant another session with the jack and wheel spanners to remove it.

 

It was dark when we all reached Senanga market for further refreshments. We purred along the still good road towards Mongu for another hour or so, passing through Itufa Muoyo, Namushakende, the Nalikwanda turn-off and finally reaching Sefula safely, where we were issued with our mattresses and were given supper –buhobe and roasted beef.

 

The three day Conference on the first day dealt with three topics, the Prosperity Gospel which actually is no Gospel for it lacks God. Next came the Poverty Mentality and Debt lecture. It was suggested that an opportunity for change is available here as some of this can be self-inflicted and self-fulfilling from unwise lifestyle choices. The last theme of the day was seeking the Church transformed through prudent stewardship. This was a call to look after and use wisely all that God provides for us.

 

On Saturday we started with Man in God’s Picture of Creation, followed by your Gift was meant to produce service. Our gifts are meant for the glory of God and to serve others in love, using our whole heart and soul. The last lecture was on Giving. Giving is a command, a form of worship and an appreciation of God’s love for us. At a meeting in the evening we agreed to give the money we had collected to refurbish the girl’s ablution blocks at the dormitories. This is where we had been sleeping and we could see they were in need of repair. We also took time out to visit Rev Lubasi’s grave and held a short time of remembrance and thanksgiving. Three ZAF jets flew overhead as we were doing this.

 

At the service the next day the Western Presbytery Bishop Rev Sipalo dedicated 12 new members including the 3 Ministers (Revs. Manyando, Sivile and Manda). After a quick lunch we left Sefula at 2pm. A short break ensued in Senanga until we had the new tire put on at Senanga.  All was quiet following the recent arrests and detention of 45 people from Mongu, Senanga and Kalabo the previous day, in connection with allegations concerning the propagation of secession.

 

To avoid the broken culverts this time we took the road behind the prison through the compound and across the plain to join the road to the pontoon closer to the river. The return journey was fairly uneventful, barring a further puncture at Lusu. We got in to Sesheke just after 8pm and reached home to Mwandi at around 2230h.

All Under One Roof

The 11th August was Men’s Christian Fellowship (MCF) Sunday and Mwandi Consistory like Ancient Gaul was divided into 3 geographical areas. We were assigned the Northern part comprising in ascending order from the tar road the congregations of Sankalonga, Kamusa, Adonsi and Magumwi which is 85km from Mwandi. The service would be held at 10am at Adonsi Church.

Adonsi Church

We set off at around 7am in long shadows and the rising sun, with Mr Libonda from Sooka, the Consistory Chief Steward, who was preaching, and our boot packed with 12 cartons of men, women and children’s clothing from the CART container. These would be distributed to the congregations after the service. We headed downstream parallel to the river but through the bush to Sikuzu to pick up Mr Mutakela, the MCF Convenor who was leading worship and Mr Chikeba, the MCF Consistory Choirmaster.

 

Inside Adonsi Church

We travelled along the still densely afforested loose sand track to the dip tank and along the potholed tar road to the Namango turn-off where we were once again on sand. We cut across the khaki carbonated plain, dry, sooty and dusty towards Kamusa- through mopani, palm and Ngongo trees, past termite mounds and dried up water pans. Most surface water has entirely evaporated, though some villages continue with a valiant effort to grow tomatoes and kale, irrigated by hand with buckets of water drawn from shallow wells.

 

We passed herds of meandering fallow and dapple-coated long horn cows with their still suckling calves. The lack of pasture is now a problem and the cattle are beginning to appear on the island at Mwandi as the river has fallen they can now swim the river and reach the still green grass on these small flood plains. Our path was also crossed by a number of families of bounding squirrels. The best sight was when we inadvertently flushed out a quartet of flapping and disapproving ground hornbills.

 

An hour after the turn off jolting along the dry puddle-pock marked sand track and straining through small dunes of drifting sand we arrived at Kamusa to a warm welcome and a breakfast of samp and pounded groundnuts. Samp is a local porridge made from broken and chipped maize seeds. The four congregations began to gather and the service started at 10am. The sermon was a call to prudent stewardship. After the close of the service we were able to distribute 3 cartons of men, women and children’s clothes to each congregation and four communion platters.

We then looked at the site for the new Church that Dornoch will help to roof. It was agreed that 60 sheets would be supplied with nails ridging and rafters. After a lunch of buhobe, kale and catfish washed down with fresh milk, we set off for Adonsi and Magumwi. It was quite a squash until we deposited members at the school. We carried on to Magumwi where we met the Congregational Board and eldership. Again we agreed to help with the roofing. The congregation numbers over 300 and they have made 5000 clay bricks. It is exciting as this will be the first rural church to be built of  bricks.

 

 

Current Magumwi Church
 

 

We set off from Magumwi at 4pm and were home just as the sun was setting with a gift of a sack of maize and a bucket of groundnuts to share out.

DISHONEST POVERTY

 

There was a report in yesterday’s paper of three deaths in Western Province by people drinking methylated spirit as if it were alcohol. This unfortunate trend follows the banning of packaging and selling of sachets of cheap spirits known as tujilijili. Following these and other deaths there is an increasing demand for a curb on sales from unlicensed stalls (Tuntembas) or stores. Despite strong pronouncements from local Churches and authorities on temperance and public drunkenness, Mwandi is plagued by the arrival daily of two opaque beer tankers, bowser-sized, from Livingstone peddling their wares which are sold on in unlicensed informal yard bars; an income generating scheme for many single mothers. Two recent stabbings locally were drink-related.

 

Despite steady growth from macro policies, a stable inflation rate, increasing direct investment still half the Zambian population lives in extreme poverty and cannot meet basic needs. Inequality and injustice are obvious with the growing gap between rich and poor. Too many girls still don’t finish school, one shocking statistic is that 30% of 14-19 year old girls have been impregnated and have at least one child. Most rural youths remain jobless and spend their time loafing around. Even if in school Zambian youth also continues to suffer from poor quality education, a recent UN figures suggests that only 10% who enter Grade 1 emerge at Grade 12 - a 90% attrition rate.

 

A UCZ minister from the North has squarely laid the blame at the door of the selfish and greedy elite in leadership in government and the administration, who are entrusted to manage public affairs for the common good but instead show their indifference to the plight of the majority of our population, living in abject poverty.

Zambia is endowed with abundant wealth and natural resources yet many people are still living in perpetual and abject squalor below the poverty datum line. This can only be addressed when the national cake is shared more selflessly by those at the top.

 

Last Saturday morning we were on our way to the opening of the new Maternity wing at Masese Clinic. This has been built by Irish donors through the Arthur Cox Foundation. At the Mulobezi junction a briefcase commodity dealer company had set up a fenced compound and was offering spot cash to local farmers for their maize - cynically enticing those in need with a price, less than the floor price, before the Food Reserve Agency opens for business. The difficulty is that although farmers get the floor price for their maize from FRA they often have to wait some considerable time before they receive payment, so many are tempted to take the lower price.

 

We do most of our purchasing in Livingstone and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection notes that the 15 basic food items for a family of 5 in Livingstone in June has risen to K940.54 and to K2 684.01 if essential non-food items are included. Livingstone is the third most expensive town after Lusaka (K3 684.46) and Solwezi- a still rather inaccessible mining boom-town, (K3 013.65).
Divide by 5, 6 or 8 to get the approximate rates in US$, Euros or GBP respectively.

 

The Council of Churches in Zambia, the Zambian Episcopal Conference (RC) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia all agreed at a recent meeting that mining investors have not really helped the country’s poor communities but in fact have made things worse by the way they conduct their business. Mining is a social justice issue because the associated environmental pollution, which impacts negatively on agriculture, rivers and air and the consequences of this contamination was borne disproportionately by the poor.

 

Statistics suggest 42% or 5.4m of the Zambian population lives in abject poverty this rises to 84% in Western Province. Moderate poverty accounts for another 2.4m people or 18% of the population. Despite valiant attempts at diversification in agriculture, tourism and other services, mining still remains the mainstay of the Zambian economy.  80% of export value comes from minerals and of that 90% is copper. That is 5.1% of GDP and 64% of the balance of trade.

 

But mining still makes a comparatively small contribution, especially since privatization, to the Zambian tax authorities. The multi-national conglomerates that make up most of the mining companies are well-resourced and have cutting-edge technology available to them. They are powerful and have been able to lobby and use influential individuals in both the political and civil spheres to work for their mutual benefit and for that of their shareholders. This has all happened at the expense the poor, illiterate and vulnerable.

 

Christ teaches us to remove the rock of offence and take away the stumbling block. The Church has its own interest too in the elimination of poverty. Poverty is not the ally but the enemy of the Gospel. The Gospel will not flourish amongst the submerged. The poor still have the Gospel preached but poverty and hunger can bar the way to the entrance of the Word.  Scripture reminds us that expectancy of the poor for better times and things will not always be doomed to disappointment. Psalm 9:18: For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.  

Progress and Development

Last weekend  was the Heroes and Unity long weekend, our major winter public holiday. We have just said farewell to another American Surgery Team who have spent the last week doing operations. The solar lights have been installed at Sikuzu School and the staff latrines there are complete, however, still minus their doors.


Our bank in its wisdom, decided that in their catch-all measures to prevent money-laundering and in the interests of customer service improvement, we now needed an ATM card to make withdrawals from the account we have had with them since 2004. It has taken over two weeks to get the card and has taken another three days of phone calls to get it activated. Actually by issuing everyone with ATM cards, I suspect all they will be doing is shifting the problem. So that now instead of patiently queuing behind 20 people inside the bank to reach the two overworked tellers, you will queue outside the bank behind a similar number of fatalistic customers trying to reach the single over-worked ATM machine!

For the first time in 20 years we now have drinking water in our house from a tap. Before this at Mwandi, we had taken river water and boiled it, then we had let the water cool and poured it into a metal water filter with ceramic elements that claimed to remove algae, rust, sediment and other suspended solids to say nothing of e-coli, shigella, giardia, salmonella and guinea worm! A Livingstone water pump and solar power business had an offer on a water purification system whose spare parts were low cost and easily available. The river water goes through spun fibre to remove solid particles, then carbon grains followed by a carbon block to remove organic material and odour, it then passes through ultraviolet light to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. It can produce 15 000 litres before needing to change the filters and yields 4 litres a minute.

At the beginning of the week ZESCO (Electricity Company) arrived and installed our domestic pre-pay meter. They gave us 50 units free as a starter till we could get to Livingstone and have the swipe card activated, so that we can pay for our electricity in advance. So, on Wednesday, from the bank, I next visited ZESCO, they said they would work on activating the account and return in the afternoon. This I did and after a short wait was able to put money into our account. You receive a till receipt with a number you punch into your meter which charges it with the number of units you have paid for. Interestingly, in all these developments - the solar panel, inverter, water filter and electric meter; the parts were Chinese-made. At least, our Shanghai Electric Company meters are being assembled in Zambia.

Finding decent jobs the world over is a major problem with so-called flexible forms of work with atypical or non-standard employment becoming more and more usual. These jobs are often part-time or are short fixed-term contracts with an on-call / zero-hours component. Those working in the Third Sector and Healthcare are only too well aware of this, with the health and safety dangers, the uncertainty, stress and risk of poverty that these jobs bring. With this type of employment it will not be difficult to fall into the trap of undeclared work.

Just as there is nothing illegal with tax avoidance, so there is nothing illegal in offering these forms of employment, but morally and ethically from a Christian point of view one has to ask is it right that ordinary people have no effective right to life in this world unless they can sell their skills and labour at the lowest price possible to a company whose only interest in them is to make the greatest profit possible out of them?

As Christians we see our efforts producing something that would otherwise not exist and we cooperate to support all human life: and in doing so, tackle dangers and difficulties and add to overall human happiness. In shops, mines, factories, schools, hospitals and offices people are organized to make the world a better place to live in, working with others on this world, God’s creation. Another value Christians discern is that working with others increases solidarity since what you are doing is done primarily for the good of others. We see society as a system of services in which we all take part. Work also brings dignity and allows people to put love in their lives. Our love and all it grows into in the new creation, we take with us into eternity, so fellow human beings are not just another commodity or natural resource to be exploited by a rapacious few. To deny someone decent working conditions is to offend against their humanity and against the image of God in them.

The arrogant, powerful and oppressive rich who make the law, then set themselves above it and use it deliberately to harm the poor will be held accountable one day. They actually condemn and murder innocent people who are not opposing them. The book of James says that they’ll need buckets for their tears when the crash comes, when the riches they relied on evaporate, the corrupt money, designer clothes and greedy luxuries. The excessive profits they made should have been used to pay fair wages to employees. All they will have to show for all their looting is a fatter corpse than normal.

GREGOR & SARAH’S WEDDING

We have been out of circulation recently.

Last Wednesday, we set out as the vanguard of the Waddell Clan’s outing to North Wales and Chester, for Gregor and Sarah’s wedding.

We took over 2 holiday houses near Wrexham for a week. Ruairidh and Lucy had arrived on the Tuesday from Zambia, and caught up with Gregor overnight in Chester before moving to be with us. Fiona had already flown home to Australia. Their second baby is due on 19 September.

Keith, Ida and Mubita left Edinburgh and went through to Catriona’s and Kirsten’s to pick up some of their katundu. They would be travelling down the next day with Stuart and baby Iona and what with prams and other infant impedimenta, their boot would be packed tight.

We continued comfortably down the M6, then M52, and finally to the North Wales Expressway to Rossett. We took a short break at a service station outside Lancaster, where Keith was bombed by a gob of guano from a low flying bird of the air. This we took as a good augury for the forthcoming nuptials!

We met up with Sarah, Gregor, Ruairidh and Lucy, and had a convivial family supper at a local inn that evening.

On Thursday, we got ready for the Glasgow contingent who arrived in the afternoon. Another expedition that afternoon was taking Lucy and Mubita shopping for shoes without the benefit of reins, or the pushchair, which was still to arrive from Dubai. Ida suffered a similar misfortune with her luggage both on the way to Washington and on the way back. So it is not just on the Jo’burg – Livingstone run these things happen.

On Friday, Gregor had the day off, so he came to join us for his last day and night of bachelorhood. It was good spending time in the Church, Northgate in Chester, seeing the creative and artistic way Sarah and Gregor had decorated the sanctuary. We helped to decorate and prepare the hall for the reception. That evening we organized a braai for both families.

On the Saturday, the maids of honour withdrew to Chester to visit the hairdressers and to dress, while the groomsmen and lady arrived at our house to get ready. Ruairidh was best man and Kathy and Anthony, both from Auchencruive student days, were together with Sarah’s sister’s husband, Paul, and the others. It was a kilted affair, reflecting the groom’s Scottish extraction. Other than a thunderstorm over lunchtime and the non-arrival of the groom’s family taxi, the wedding was a relaxed and laid-back event. The Church was full of family, friends and their children, including the confetti elves; Mubita, Leo, Nancy and Lucy.

The service was made especially personal and memorable through the warm message delivered by Brian, the vows led by Dave, the readings by Sally and Keith, and the prayer offered by Laurence and Bethan. This was followed by canapés and champagne while the photos were underway. The Bride and Groom then arrived at the reception for the vegetarian buffet. An English Country Dance Band provided the music for the ceilidh, held in the Church building, after the meal. The cake was cut and served during the interval. The last dance took place, the bride and groom left and those remaining returned the seating in the sanctuary to order for the Sunday Service.

We had a good family time on Sunday, with various comings and goings. After breakfast, Stuart, Kirsten, Iona and Catriona all left for Glasgow. We had Mum and Dad around for lunch, and Gregor and Sarah for supper. The newly-weds left on honeymoon on Monday. We drove Ruairidh and Lucy to Manchester airport on Tuesday evening. They are now safely back in Australia. We arrived back in Edinburgh, a week after leaving.

On Friday we had an interesting lunchtime spot at St John’s Episcopal Church, as part of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace. As part of the World Church in Action, we were invited to take part in a conversation about our work in health and education at Mwandi, sharing about our faith and how this was connected to social justice, development and peace. The Convener of the World Mission Africa & Caribbean Committee, Rev Dr Russell Barr, chaired the discussion. We appreciated seeing some friendly faces from World Mission as well.

On Sunday we were invited back to Callendar Kirk. We took part in the service and had the opportunity to let the congregation see how important teamwork was in our work, and the commitment it required to work together with others at Mwandi, in the Church, the hospital, schools and wider community. We were able to show a PowerPoint simultaneously, to reinforce this. It was good to meet up with old friends there afterwards, and enjoy some special fellowship over lunch.

The cost of a free education

While most of us in the more developed world take universal, free and compulsory primary and secondary education for granted, this is far from being the case in Zambia. This week we heard that the Government has plans to abolish all fees in schools but is hindered by the amount of public money needed to purchase maize through the Food Reserve Agency. After this is achieved, it intends to concentrate spending on education and health to improve peoples’ lives. This will not be possible either, unless, as Kenneth Kaunda pointed out recently, the mining companies raise output and pay their due taxes without equivocation or attempts at avoidance or evasion. Doing this would be a good use of their investment to help grow the economy so that ordinary citizens and their families benefit.

The Government and previous ones were committed to providing free education from Grade 1 to Grade 12, as part of the 2015 Millennium Goals. Goal Number 2 is the provision of universal primary education. To this end the Government has announced the phasing out of the Basic (G1-9) & High School (G10-12) and a return to Primary (G1-7) and Secondary Schools (G8-12). We are still unsure of the timescale for this. Cynics say this makes Goal 2 much easier to achieve. The Government is concerned that learning achievement in the present system is low.

Our High School at Mwandi has been allocated 2 Grade 10 classes this year. Nationwide, 124 333 out of 276 840 pupils will be given Grade 10 places. This is almost 45%. 68 000 boys and 56 000 girls! Not yet gender parity there! 145 000 passed in 6 or more subjects. This is 52%, up from 49% last year. There were 30 000 no shows and 20 000 failed in all subjects.

Related to all this the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection has recently published a paper ‘How free is free education?’ www.jctr.org.zm

We have little Ellie staying with us during term time this year. We have known Ellie since she was born. She was born with a club foot and had to have her right knee amputated then. She goes regularly to the Italian Orthopedic Hospital in Lusaka to have her prosthesis adjusted. She started Primary 1 in January this year. Her family lives and farms between Mabumbu and Sankalonga but Ellie cannot walk the 10km to school, hence her boarding with us during term-time, so we do have some insight into the costs incurred by Zambian families with school children.

In 2002 user-fees were abolished in Primary Schools, this was a welcomed reversal of IMF/World Bank ‘cost-sharing’ conditions in the Structural Adjustment Plan which had to be accepted to gain debt relief. These fees actually did very little to improve or expand education in Zambia. Then the Mwanawasa Government promised free education to Grade 12 and that no child should be prevented from receiving education because of fees.

The paper makes a distinction between direct and indirect costs. Education will never be entirely free and indirect costs can restrict the availability of education to poorer children as much as direct costs. There are still direct fees charged at Primary School through the PTA Levy and also Project Fees can be levied. These can range from K10 000-K30 000 per year. The indirect costs are school uniforms, shoes, textbooks, stationery supplies, transportation, ‘tuition fees’ and food for breaks and lunch. This can easily come to over K400 000 for one child.

Between 2000 and 2004 primary school attendance rose from 71-85%. This still leaves at least 15% or 300 000 children aged 7-13 not attending school who should be there. It is suggested that it is a lack of money that keeps these children away. Also it is girls who suffer most in these circumstances. Bursaries need to be more accessible and available to help the more vulnerable to attend school. In the 21st Century we need to ask ourselves is it right that a child is sent home because they have no uniform or shoes or are unable to pay the fees? Is Zambia really that poor? If we are serious about this then there needs to be higher grants going to schools that serve poorer areas for recurrent costs and rehabilitation. Our Basic School received a meagre K3m last year for 1500 pupils

In many places public education is close to collapse with over-enrolment, straitened resources, decaying infrastructure and a demoralized work-force. The 1:70 teacher to pupil ratio has remained unchanged for 10 years. The shortage of textbooks is chronic. 1 book to 4 pupils is an exceptional ratio and in many subject the teacher has the sole textbook for that class in that subject. State school teachers earn from K1m per month ($200) to around K2.5m ($500) for a Headteacher. In Grades 8 & 9, not being “Primary”, pupils are often charged around K300 000. The cost at Mwandi is K90 000.

High Schools like Sesheke will cost K1.2m per year. Our High School charges K750 000.

Vulnerable families and the schools in Mwandi have benefited greatly from the Mwandi UCZ OVC Programme that sponsors around 500 pupils at the Basic School and 90 out of 220 at the High School. The programme feeds 200 pupils daily. There is another program that helps with direct costs for children from poorer families within and outwith Mwandi with an emphasis on educational assistance for the girl child. It has put 24 pupils through Sesheke High School between 2007-11 and has helped 9 pupils in Grades 10 & 11 at Mwandi High School and others Basic Schools. We are indebted to many individuals and congregations who through their generosity make it possible to educate needy children by helping to meeting the direct and indirect costs which their families otherwise would struggle to afford.

There is an old truism, if you think education is expensive try ignorance and that there are some people who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing. Without good affordable and widely available education there will be no development, no drop in HIV/AIDS rates, no flourishing local commerce and industry, no drop in the unemployment rate and Zambia will risk becoming a stagnating and underdeveloped economic back-water.

We hope the political will is there to address this.

Matters of Life and Death

Banji ni lumbu, kuilu ni ku mundi  (This world is a cattle camp, the homestead is in heaven.)

This old Lozi proverb emphasises the transience of life and demonstrates that is a universal theme. The ephemeral nature of human life on Earth with our short entry into and exit from this world is a matter all cultures seem to try to come to terms with.

A cattle camp is a group of temporary wooden and grass shelters built on seasonal pastures. The herdsmen live there while they are looking after the cattle. The closest Scottish rural equivalent from yesteryear would be the ‘bothy’. At the moment there are many of these camps at the riverside around Mwandi as the cattle graze on the islands and floodplains. With the onset of the rains these ‘bothies’ will shortly be abandoned and the herds and herdmen will return to the village or homestead -the permanent settlement. It is this transhumance that is being compared to dying person leaving this world for an eternity in heaven.

On Wednesday evening we received news that Rev Manyando’s father had passed away in Mongu. Rev Manyando is one of our Livingstone Ministers. His father, Mr Green Sitali Manyando, was a former teacher, a former Council Chairman for the District and Village Headman. He was 80 years of age and had been ill for the last 8 months.  So on Thursday lunch-time we set off for the Manyando homestead in rural Bulozi, at Litoya, about half-way between Mongu and Senanga. Rev Manda, Getrude Kambole, the Consistory Secretary, Ida, Keith and Mubita  were the Mwandi Representatives. We picked up Rev and Mrs Nyambe in Sesheke and drove up the back road, reaching the pontoon in good time and then visiting the manse in Senanga. We finally arrived at Litoya at around 2200h.

We were welcomed into a dim and crowded lapa. (courtyard surrounded by reeds). As is the Zambian custom, a substantial marquee, made from a large tarpaulin, had been erected in the yard, and in front of it, the usual three-logged campfire was burning. The sofas and armchairs and any other extra seats from the home or borrowed from neighbours were placed outside for the use of visitors, mourners and those coming to pay condolences.

The lapa, at this time, is traditionally split into male and female areas. The men generally sit on the seats under the tent and the ladies in chitenges, legs straight and out-stretched on reed floor-mats. On arrival at the mourning-house (Zambian-English: the dead person’s home) you are expected to shake hands with all present, then enter the main house where the widow and her entourage of female relatives and neighbours are again sitting on mats. There you shake hands and express your sorrow and this is the time for tears. If the bereaved are Christian, you may be asked to offer a prayer of consolation here. You then return outside and sit with the other visitors who have also come to express solidarity with the family in their time of grief. You may now chat and discuss lighter matters with the people around you.

We were offered some of those ubiquitous white plastic garden chairs in front of the main house and a wooden coffee table was placed in our midst. A daughter of the house brought water, soap and a towel to wash our hands before eating. Then we were offered chunks of stewed beef and liver cooked in gravy and buhobe ( thick mealie-meal porridge). Eaten with your fingers, this was most welcome after our day’s journey. Cool drinking water is always served after eating. It is a breach of etiquette to drink with your meal as Europeans would tend to do.   

It was exceptionally atmospheric after eating to sit and look up at a clear night sky with its tiny electric blue spangles of glittering stars in their constellations, smell the whiffs of woodsmoke and listen to singing of hymns and choruses accompanied too by the rhythmic cadences of the drumming of youngsters from the Church choir.

Most people wrapped themselves in blankets or chitenges and settled down to sleep after midnight, others kept watch and dozed on and off throughout the night. The night-time temperature at this time of year does not fall below the mid-20s Centigrade. We three were very kindly given the privacy of an igloo-tent pitched in the lapa; inside too was the luxury of a mattress. Our middle-aged bones are no longer as good as they once were for sleeping directly on the ground! Incidentally we used our bath-towels as bedding and were perfectly comfortable.

By 0530h next morning most people were up and about. And the choir had started to sing again. Hot water was being prepared and lugged to the ablutions for visitors to wash themselves. Again kind neighbours put their toilets and bathrooms at the disposal of visitors at the mourning-house. We bathed en famille at the neighbour’s bathing area, a  reed-screened rectangle with a plank to keep your feet off the sand and an old maize sack served as the bathmat. Buckets of hot and cold water, an empty basin and jug were  available to make a simple shower.

After washing and dressing, a breakfast of bread, marge and cocoa was served in the main house. In the corner stood a magnificent polished wood coffin with two pictures of Mr Manyando, one as a young man and the other just before he died. After breakfast we were presented with a printed burial programme, as other members of the family and dignitories kept arriving. There were representatives from the Government including the Lady Mayor of Mongu and the Barotse Royal Establishment. During this time the choir and the congregation gathered in the lapa and sang hymns and choruses.

The main Church Service started at 0930h after the arrival of the Presbytery Bishop, Rev Sipalo from Mongu. The Funeral Service followed the Lozi Liturgy with Hymns, Scripture Readings, a short Sermon, Prayers and a Blessing. I was asked to read Job 1:17-22 and Philippians 4:12-13 in Silozi. This is what brought me to ruminate about the transient nature of life and think about the Lozi perspective on this.

At the end of the service is the body-viewing. This is when all present take leave and say farewell to the deceased. It is the Lozi custom that one should be self-controlled in the Church during the funeral service with no noisy outbursts of emotion but it is permitted to grieve freely at the body-viewing. If you cannot contain yourself in Church, you go outside till you have composed yourself then return. Once everyone had filed passed the body the coffin was closed and the bearers carried it to the burial site. Normally this would be the local cemetery.

However, as the founder of the village Mr Manyando was buried next to the special tree in the middle of his village. The Headman’s house is usually about a dozen paces to the east of that tree. This tree symbolizes the existence of that particular village and its people. The area “under the tree” as it is called, serves as a meeting place to resolve disputes. Traditionally too the tree serves as the village shrine and the founder is buried in an unmarked grave at its foot. The dead body next to the living tree is a symbol of the continuing interaction between life and death and the area where the living commune with ancestral spirits when necessary. The village headman is the go-between. It was interesting to witness, to our eyes, this example of animism and syncretism.

Talking about graves I recently learned a new idiom. When Mr Kapui from Kandiana died a few months ago, I asked Julius if he could arrange for some young men ‘kuyepa libita’ literally ‘to dig the grave’. Now to the Lozi ear that sounds incredibly direct, harsh and callous, they use the euphemism ‘kulukisa ndu ya mutu’ literally ‘to prepare the person’s house’.

The congregation gathered round the grave and again the choir sang. The coffin was lowered into the grave and some sticks as tradition dictates were thrown in as well. Mourners may also come at this stage with a handful of earth and throw it in the grave.

If you are unable to go to the grave a young man will circulate with a shovelful of earth that you may touch instead. The young males of the family continue to shovel in the earth, often spelling each other and taking turns on the shovels, until there is a rather untidy heap on top. However, the four corners of the grave are marked with sticks.

The female relatives then come out and ‘pat the grave’. They use their hands to make a truncated rectangular pyramid. When that is done people present at the graveside; family, colleagues and visiting dignitories are called out in order of precedence to place flowers on the grave. These are provided by the family. You take the flower, go to the grave, kneel, stick in the flower and then say a prayer of thanksgiving. There appears little concern here regarding “Prayers for the Dead” that seemed to exercise many of the reformed persuasion in the past!

Then came the eulogies. There were speeches from the Local Authority and the Barotse Royal Establishment then a male family member gave a short biographical life-history of Mr Manyando and thanked all who attended for their care and support. The Minister closed the proceedings with The Grace and Benediction. Visitors then proceeded back to the home to say farewell to the family and set off on their way home.

Visiting a Lozi cemetery comes as a bit of a shock to Europeans who are used to carefully manicured and tended graves with lawns, flowers, shrubs and individual stone gravestones. These you will find in the urban areas of Zambia but not in the rural areas. Mwandi is a typical rural example. Wild, natural and unkempt rural cemeteries tend to be found to the west of the village roughly a mile away from the village centre. Traditionally the bush starts here and the graveyard is found right on the border between the village and the bush and so those who die are buried near to their living relatives. That is why so many bodies are brought home to Mwandi at great expense from all over Zambia to be buried here.

A Lozi village is a shelter for both the living and the dead and animistic belief says they should be able to communicate with each other. The graves are a clear demarcation of where the village begins and where it ends. To some extent you could say the living are placed between the dead at the shrine and the dead at the cemetery.  The fact that you have the dead so close to the living perhaps makes death something less to be feared by the living and more recognizably a process on the journey to heaven as the Lozi have traditionally seen life as a metaphorical journey to a heavenly paradise called Litooma .

TEEZ

Last week we had a visit from a team from TEEZ (Theological Education by Extention in Zambia) who ran a three-day Tutor Course for 18 Church members from Mwandi Consistory, at the Church. This had been arranged by our Minister, Rev Wezi Manda.

TEEZ  is an ecumenical project which came into existence in 1979 based at the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation Campus. Its main function is to equip Church members in socially relevant and biblically–based coursework to better serve the Church. “To prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service….” Ephesians 4:12

Participating Churches are: African Methodist Episcopal Church, Anglican Church, Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Community of Christ, Lutheran Evangelical Church, Reformed Church in Zambia, UCZ, Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and United Methodist CChurch

Since it started, over 12 000 people have successfully completed courses and over 5000 tutors have been trained. The TEEZ courses are taught in a group by local tutors and this involves individual home-study, weekly group learning discussions and practical work.

The courses are available to anyone who needs them and subsidized so that they can be afforded by most people. Prisoners and rural women are provided with free courses as well.

TEEZ offers Basic Certificates in Church Ministry in the areas of Preaching, Counselling, Teaching, Worship and Leading Church Meetings in six different languages. For those with a stronger background in Bible and with Basic Certificates Advanced Certificates in Church Ministry are offered. Each course has 24 weekly lessons and covers the areas of the Gospels & Acts, Old Testament, the Epistles of Paul, Biblical Doctrine, Psalms and Bible Study and Church Administration.

A good time of learning and fellowship was enjoyed by those taking part in this useful and challenging course. It was well organised by capable and committed staff who willingly bring these courses to the rural areas as well. TEEZ is a Zambian organization belonging to Zambian Churches and is doing a commendable job. It is worthy of material and prayer support in order to help it carry out and expand its ministry.

The three members of staff, Rev Kangwa Mabuluki, Rev Banda and Rev Rebecca Jones who came are testimony again to how interconnected the Christian family is. The Director of TEEZ is Rev Kangwa Mabuluki. His son, Kapamba, was a student of ours and a classmate of our children at Chengelo. He is also a friend of Rev Alex Slorach, another family friend and former Zambian Missionary. Rev Rebecca Jones is from PC(USA) and is on a year’s secondment with TEEZ. There is a Mwandi posting on her blog at http://www.mapc.com/outreach/blogs/a-year-in-zambia/

The Mwandi tutor group (photo by Rebecca Jones)

Blousing

On the 25 August we set off to the Annual Women’s Christian Fellowship Western Presbytery Conference. It was held this year at Sefula Mission using the dormitory, dining and conference facilities provided by the UCZ Secondary School there. As well us Keith Ida and Mubita, we travelled with Dorothy Kataknekwa, Mwandi Consistory Choir Director and two other choir members from Mabumbu Congregation, Prisca Sinamu and Georgina Mutuluti.

 

We picked them up at the Celtel Tower on the outskirts of Mwandi and headed for Sesheke for fuel and to drop off some milk formula for little Liseli at the Social Welfare Department. On leaving we learned by text that the Reverend Mandi and wife had just been blessed with the gift of a little daughter, Taonga (Thanks)

 

We made good progress along the M10, the Livingstone-Mongu Road, also called the Nakatindi Road. The tar runs out at Katima Mulilo, but the Chinese who are rehabilitating the road have built a well-graded temporary road all the way to Sioma; it is harder going through Nangweshi and across the Matabele Plain to Kalongola using the untouched old road. Saying that we reached the pontoon ferry 2 hours earlier than our previous trip to Presbytery in November.

The recently acquired Church of Scotland vehicle has made travelling such distances on such surfaces much easier too. The pontoon costs K56 000 (GBP7) for the one-way crossing of the Zambezi. The causeway to Senanga on the other side is still in need of some repair. An hour later we reached Sefula, the whole journey of 375km taking just under 7 hours.

 

There we greeted old friends and we registered, then left to find accommodation in Mongu, as we were tasked with bringing ice and daily provisions. A bus had been hired by Sesheke congregation and around a dozen Mwandi Consistory members had travelled on it. Livingstone had used an overlander truck, they passed us having lunch en route.

Friday and Saturday dealt with Topics based on the theme of Seeking a Transformed Church. The speakers were Ministers from within the Presbytery.

It was moving and humbling to be welcomed ‘home’ by the Provincial Secretary and District Commissioner as descendants of William Waddell who was the artisan Missionary who accompanied Coillard.

 

Since it was a woman’s conference Keith met up with Rev Mubita, the former Moderator of the Church of Barotseland before it joined the UCZ. The book ‘The Spread of the Gospel in Barotseland” by the former Paris Mission Missionaries which is a chronological history from 1885-1965 has been warmly welcomed as a valuable contribution to sources for early Church History in present-day Zambia. The Western Presbytery Bishop has tasked a Committee with doing a similar job from the genesis of the UCZ till the present day.   

 

 

The next day 15km a drive was taken down the K1.3Trillion Mongu to Kalabo Road, still under repair, to the former Royal Capital at Lealui, once a thriving and busy settlement but looking rather drab and run-down. The Royal Palace is now little used, the King (Litunga) lives most of the time at Limulunga. This was a flying visit to Lwatile, a small island in the wet season, where the Paris Missionaries built a Church a clinic and school to serve this area. William Waddell built the church here, though now it is decaying and crumbling but the roof timbers are still in good condition.

 

On Sunday morning a huge congregation gathered outside the Dining Hall under the shade of a grove of stately trees for the ‘Blousing Service’. The Women’s Christian Fellowship are a uniformed group of women who play an important role in the life of the Church, helping to foster unity and oneness. They encourage and help those in difficulties as well as witnessing. They are also an important wing in the social and welfare work of the Church.

 

 

After receiving the invitation to join at last year’s Presbytery Meeting, Ida has undergone training and was bloused with 110 other women from all over Bulozi (Western Province).  She was helped into the blouse by the Rev Akafekwa’s wife and Mrs Mubita tied her headsquare The Bishop Louis Mubita Sipalo gave the charge and welcomed the new members. The benediction was given the Former Moderator the Rev Mubita.

 

After a photo session and farewells we set off for home, meeting 3 cavalcades of campaigning politicians between Senanga and the ferry.

Summer update & prayer requests

We had a special celebration on Trinity Sunday, the induction of Deaconess Given Nanyangwe at Mwandi. It was a joyful time with the presence of the Western Presbytery Bishop, Secretary and Ministers from neighbouring Consistories of Livingstone and Sesheke and their wives.

There were three combined choirs from Mwandi and the outlying congregations who provided a wonderful musical accompaniment to the proceedings. After the service and charge by the Bishop, Deaconess Nanyangwe was presented with gifts from various bodies in the consistory to welcome her, these included an electric stove, a mattress, cooking pots, mealiemeal, chickens (live) and blankets. Deaconess Nanyangwe served at Senanga prior to coming to Mwandi. Deaconesses in the United Church of Zambia often take on the role as Social Workers. A celebration lunch of fried fish, chicken, stewed beef, cabbage buhobe and rice was then served to over 100 invited guests.

This year’s Mission Centre Programme continues at Sooka Church. This is the church that was roofed by Houston and Killellan. Fourteen young people are living there by faith for four months of hard work and study, a balanced combination of the practical and theoretical. It is a call to service, equipping them for incarnational work that is a reflection of the work of God in Christ in the Church and in the world. They are called to be expressions of his transforming love and to be his Body, a Church in Mission, through engagement and involvement in their local communities.

Two weekends ago the Anamoyo met at Sikuzu for a weekend of prayer and fellowship. Ida and the Deaconess and other ladies from congregations through out the Consistory walked there. Keith was drafted in to transport all the supplies and baggage that was needed there and back. It was a memorable occasion holding devotions in the dark round the campfire and sleeping in the church. There was nowhere to hang a mosquito-net so it was a new experience learning to sleep under a blanket with it covering your head. This is what is done in many rural households where there are no mosquito nets. Fortunately at this time of year, the cold season, the mosquitoes are fewer than at other times.

Gregor has just got engaged to Sarah, a lovely Welsh girl he first met at Mwandi where she was a volunteer. Mwandi is gaining a growing reputation as a place where matches are made. To our knowledge there are at least five couples who have married after meeting each other at Mwandi during our time here.

Finally, following the death of the Second President of the Republic of Zambia Frederick Chiluba on Saturday 18 June there are seven days of national mourning. The former President was a strong Pentecostal Christian and came from a background in the Trade Union Movement. He stood against President Kenneth Kaunda in 1991 in the first multi-party election held as the period of the one party African Socialist State, called Humanism in Zambia, was coming to a close. Under his presidency, freedom of expression was guaranteed for the first time, and more controversially the structural adjustment plan to liberalise the economy was implemented and Zambia was declared a Christian nation. On leaving office he was troubled for a long time by allegations of corruption.

We leave you with a number of prayer points:

- We give thanks for Deaconess Given Nayangwe and pray that she and her dependants will settle down and she will be blessed in her role as deaconess ministering to those in need.

- We give thanks for the young people at the Mission Centre at Sooka and ask God’s blessing on them and on Pastor Percy Muleba as he runs the programme.

- We give thanks for provision of funds to build the Community School at Sikuzu and ask God to bless its construction and keep the workers and members of the community working there safe from any injury. We pray that the Lord will continue to meet the other needs to complete the project.

- We pray for continued peace in Zambia as we head towards the election campaign

Mwandi on Facebook!

Did you know .... Mwandi Mission has its own Facebook Group - Friends of the Mwandi UCZ Mission

A Fairly Civil Disorder

I was in Livingstone again yesterday visiting the bank. I was paying the next instalment on the new High School furniture and in the interests of economy I went in by bus.

I was surprised to see on alighting from the bus, police in riot gear squatting on the backs of pick-ups and patrolling up and down the main streets. Had the turmoil in the Middle East now reached Zambia, I wondered?………. Not quite.

At 0930h there was still a tense atmosphere in town, and the noisy altercation was being observed from a distance by engrossed spectators, offering commentary on the proceedings despite the occasional whiff of teargas wafting through the air; a vain attempt by the police to disperse bus conductors, drivers and taxi operators who had blocked town centre roads in protest against a rumoured rise, in various fees and fines by the police and Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA).

As I passed the Post Office the Police were somewhat prematurely and optimistically starting to remove stones and other street debris that had been used by the protesters to block the roads in the town centre. The Livingstone Police, unlike their Mongu colleagues, thankfully only fired tear gas at the mini bus and taxi drivers. This resulted in retaliation by the protesters with rocks being thrown and rolled to block the road, and a tirade of insults and catcalls launched at the Police, prompting bystanders to scatter and take temporary shelter in less exposed areas. Things were now getting serious; even business at the Zimbabwe Market in the town centre came to a standstill.

Meanwhile officials at the RTSA office denied knowledge of any hikes in fees, saying the agency was still charging ‘old prices’. The police then asked the drivers who had gathered along the main street, Mosi-Oa-Tunya Road, to disperse and go back to work as this was an illegal assembly but that the Government would address their concerns.

It was a blessing that that common sense prevailed in the end and no-one to my knowledge was beaten by truncheons nor was any police officer hit by stones. Irene and Dorothy both have relatives who are women police officers in Livingstone.

A by-stander informed me, as we crossed the road together, on the way back from the Finance Bank, that the main gripe was the cost of renewing PSV licence, the fees were to be increased to K1 million (GBP140 or US$220) from the previous charge of about K200,000 (US$45 GBP30). There were also loud complaints from two taxi drivers behind us that the Livingstone Police allegedly pursue and fine motorists unnecessarily to help supplement their low pay. No other city in Zambia it is said is subjected to the same number of ephemeral roadblocks mounted by the Livingstone Police within the city limits.

Taxi drivers the world over are an opinionated and independent-minded group of people. Zambians are no different. Most drivers that we have met are decent and honest family men, very willing to help and trying very hard to scrape a living in order to feed, clothe, house and educate their family. The drivers are not usually the owners of their vehicle and competition for trade is stiff, so life is not easy. They are also expected to raise a minimum amount each day for the owner. The proposed rises were unreasonable and would have been almost impossible to meet. Some street wit suggested because it is election year and because of all the trouble caused, it looked like RTSA (a Government Agency) was ‘decampaigning’ the MMD, the ruling party!

As regards Livingstone City Council charges, apparently taxi drivers were paying K2,000 (45c or 30p) per day while mini-bus drivers were still paying K5,000 per day with large long distance coaches paying K80,000 per trip. These charges have not increased for some time.

It all seemingly ended later in the morning with the Southern Province Permanent Secretary Gladys Kristafor asking the Ministry of Home Affairs to direct the police and RTSA to revert to old fees charged to motorists.

Business was back to normal as we left Livingstone on 1430h bus to Mwandi.

*Decampaigning – a Zambian English neologism meaning to campaign against political opponents.

Awaiting

Greetings from a dry dusty and roasting Mwandi as we await the rains at the end of the month, we hope. Duncan and Ina, our daughter Kirsten’s in-laws have been collecting pre-school equipment being disposed of in Edinburgh and taking it through to Kildrum to be stored until a container is organized. Our thanks go to Kildrum for putting their dunnie at our disposal. We are so pleased to have been given those wonderful toys and look forward to their being used here.

We are well but kept busy with duties at the school and hospital. The latest good news is that US$40 000 has been pledged by a US Foundation to build a classroom block at Sikuzu. This will save children a 10 mile round trip to school.

We are about to leave on Saturday for Mongu to the Western Presbytery Meeting where the new Bishop will be elected. Before the Covenanter in you chokes on your coffee, a Bishop here is in effect more of a Moderator than the priestly prelate of Presbyterian prejudice! The United Church of Zambia is actually an amazing and working mixture of Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, some Baptists and French Protestants; so there are several forms of baptism, child and adult believer, sprinkling and immersion depending on your 'tradition' and three forms of communion: the Scottish- passed around, the Methodist- on your knees at the front or the French - a series of horse-shoes around the Communion Table. Services too can be very liturgical, others are more like ours from the Common Order. Some services are more traditional and rather staid while others are quite charismatic. It is wonderful how all these manage to be accepted and welcomed by all. There is a lesson here for the Scottish Church(es).

The new Minister for Mwandi will also be elected there. Presbytery is followed by a 4- day Church Camp Retreat on an island in the Zambezi. So we have packed our camping equipment with our tents and sleeping-bags.

We will be using the inaptly named M10. Some of you, Scots of a certain age, will remember in 1970s and 80s, the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road being referred to as the ‘goat-track’; well the M10 takes that place here in Western Province. Mongu is only 400km away but the tar runs out at Sesheke and it is sand dust and dirt to the pontoon ferry at Sitoti. After crossing the Zambezi, a dreadful drive ensues across the floodplain to Senanga., another pitted and pot-holed causeway with washed out culverts. At Senanga we enjoy tar again for the last hour to Mongu. There are only tarred roads in Western Province. We’ll leave at 0700h and get to Mongu at around 1600h

Unfinished building work

Finally, Nick has asked us if we would make urgent enquiries to try and find an individual or a small team of builders who could come now or in the near future to work on the roof of the Church of Scotland house. He is desperately needing assistance to get the roof put on before the advent of the rains and before he goes on leave at the end of November.

If any of you know of anyone who might be able to help, please let us know and get them to contact us as soon as possible. This really is a pressing need.

On home ground again

We are at present limping our way to Livingstone on a very worn front tyre due to continued suspension problems and after having the problem supposedly rectified in Lusaka. We are to pick up Jennie Chinembiri and George Lind (of the Church of Scotland's World Mission Council) from the airport while doing various items of business for school, manse and hospital.

The Reverend Silishebo has demitted office after 8 years at Mwandi and has been called to the Chaplaincy at the University of Zambia in Lusaka; the Reverend Derek Lubasi who is presently at Coillard Memorial in Livingstone will be inducted shortly as our new minister. There is a flurry of activity cleaning, painting and renovating the manse to welcome the new ‘family’ (Lubasi means family in Silozi.)

We have just spent the past week-end doing another flitting! We have moved into Hippo House – bit of a misnomer as far as size is concerned but we are fortunate to enjoy running water and electricity (most of the time) utilities denied to a large majority of the Zambian population.

Some progress has been made with the house that the Church of Scotland funded with a grant, and that Nick designed and is building. The wooden flooring is being laid at the moment. We hope we can move in before Christmas.

We are beginning to pick up the threads of where we left off. On the first Sunday evening we got back was a very moving service for the sending out of the 10 young people back to their congregations. They had been attending a 4 month Mission Course at the Church run by Percy, the Youth Pastor. They had slept in tents, cooked for themselves and freely contributed their talents and labour to various ministries to be found at the Mission. They had also has their faith challenged and deepened, intellectually and academically too they had a substantial amount of reading and writing to tackle, not just of a theological nature either but also other work needing life skills.

We have had a good and useful couple of days with Jennie and George who were able to get a taste of what we do at the Hospital and School as well as the wider Church work we undertake here. We saw them off on Saturday to Kitwe and Lusaka.

We are now back to ‘auld claes and porridge’. Ida is back to work at the AIDS Relief Programme, she has done the first scrubbing for a Caesar and has been returned her keys and asked to tackle the Central Stores which was neglected in her absence. She is a Also working with the Consistory, helping to establish a home-based care programme.

As for me I have been allocated Grade 8C for Maths and Science and 10A for History. I am at present drafting a proposal to submit to a Church Aid for teacher housing at the High School. We are still putting the finishing touches to the second classroom block and student latrines which were not finished despite efforts on my part to ensure that things should continue in my absence.

Another exciting development hoving into view is the possibility of a Community School at Sikuzu. Sikuzu is a rural community about 8km downstream from Mwandi. The children are prevented from attending school at Mwandi until they can walk the return journey each day. They are usually 8 or 9 years before this happens. So a Grade 1-4 School will be a great boon for them. At present there is a UCZ Pre-school run from the Church.

Getting there

On Sunday 15 Aug, Gregor, Mum and Dad accompanied us to Edinburgh Airport and bade us farewell. Our 4 months furlough has passed so quickly, yet we feel that much has been accomplished. It was a cloudless and sunny summer afternoon and it was fun sitting in the window seat on the flight to London matching the landscape below to the screen chart showing our flight path.

The onward flight to Lusaka was crowded and full with the usual universal flurry of returning families heaving and humphing, probably overweight, hand-luggage up the aisles and then carefully stowing it away in the overhead bins before everyone finally settled and relaxed.. A Carry on carry on, indeed!

We flew over a dry, red and khaki-coloured Lusaka, before landing in the early morning at the airport, Mubita was now wearing my sweater with rolled up sleeves to disguise the fact he had no trousers on. They had been removed during the night following a major spillage of apple juice!

We processed without difficulties through the Immigration and Customs formalities, luggage in tact (though now minus a pair of Mubi's shorts), and found a taxi that took us to a warm welcome back at Synod. After greeting the staff, the first thing on the 'To Do' List was to pick up our Entry Permits. After 16 years in Zambia we no longer need a Work Permit. This will save much time effort and money as these had to be renewed in Lusaka twice every five years. A visit to Immigration HQ was required, not an appealing prospect, as it is always hot, overcrowded with long queues there. However, we were fortunate as the officer dealing with our case we had got to know when he was stationed at Sesheke. He greeted us warmly with an 'Ah, my family!' So the issuing of the Entry Permits was done in under an hour.

The next problem to solve was to get our cell phones to work again. Being out of the country for 4 months meant that we needed to buy a new SIM card as our phones had been deactivated. K30 000 later to keep the same number, I was told the phone should work again after two hours. However nothing here is ever that simple and another visit to the ZAIN shop (Cell Phone Company) was required on Tuesday morning to rectify the failure of the new SIM card to operate the phone and to buy another new SIM cars for our Internet dongle. Another major inconvenience is that you lose all the numbers saved on the previous SIM card. Consumer rights and customer service are unfamiliar concepts here. You just have to learn to be grateful that ZAIN condescends to take your money!

We stay in a self-catering guest-house at the Beit CURE Hospital when we are in Lusaka so we were able to catch up with Harold and Susan Haamumba who are chaplains there. Mubita stayed with them after he was denied the visa to visit the United States. So it is like meeting up with family. Likewise we had afternoon tea with the Sitalis, other dear friends.

In the course of Tuesday afternoon we started to try and track down our 7 suitcases of unaccompanied luggage containing baby clothes, medical supplies and other donated goods that we had been given during our furlough. There was paperwork and e-mailing to be done for this. We also met Grant who was up from Mwandi to collect computer supplies that Fred Coates had sent from the States earlier on. Fred was now waiting for them at Mwandi. The day ended with shopping for supper then home to the Beit.

Wednesday morning started with a trip to the barber's for Mubita and me and the hairdresser for Ida. The car too was put into Autoworld for some much needed TLC after being parked for 4 months.Time was then devoted to visiting various retail outlets to price goods and materials for the house. The day was rounded off with a special Mwandi supper and fellowship evening graciously hosted by the Rev and Anne Sitali with the Sitali family, us and the Bangladeshi Mission Partners, Sulota from Mbereshi,and Leya Liton and Akash from Chipembi all of us first getting to know one another at Mwandi.

On Thursday the car was delivered again to Autoworld for wheel balancing and alignment and to correct the pull to the left that NISSAN is unable to fix. Both our Zambian driving licenses had expired during our furlough. Driving licenses need to be renewed here every 5 years..A medical examination and an eye-test are also required as part of the process. We had tried to have them renewed prior to our leaving but the computerisation of the process made this impossible. It was too soon! We could not drive back to Mwandi without valid licenses. So a day at the Road Traffic Department was envisaged , generally another place of officious bureaucrats ,crowds, heat and long lines. So, it was refreshing to meet Mr Mulongwe who listened sympathetically to our story, and when we explained that all the renewal paperwork was in Mwandi and ready to be processed at Livingstone on our arrival, suggested that the renewal be done in Lusaka. He was incredibly helpful in pushing this through and issuing us with temporary licenses which would last for a month, though this will mean another trip to Lusaka within the month to collect them.

We had been in touch regularly with Bridge Cargo who were clearing our suitcases and Fred Coates's computer supplies. At 1500h we were told that we could go to the Cargo Village at the Airport to collect our suitcases. Customs were releasing them early as a special delivery. The computer supplies were at the company warehouse on the Great North Road. Grant had been hoping to catch the night bus but this was increasingly a forlorn hope. We drove out to the Airport and joined the queue with the clearing agents to pay the handling fee and collect the goods. There was only one long-suffering and stoical female cashier to deal with the queue of mainly male agents and their cheeky and good-natured banter. The conversations switched easily from English to vernacular and back again. The agent from one of the major embassies was coming in for some stick as he was clearing tax free! We also met a lady we sat opposite to on the plane who was also in the queue to pick up some goods. We finally paid and picked up our suitcases. The agents from Bridge Cargo had arranged for us to pick up the computer supplies after hours. We arrived at the warehouse and squeezed the 3 boxes and the large dish into the back of our pick-up along with Grant as we had to drive with the tail gate down so the dish would fit. The two Bridge Cargo employees whom we dropped off on their way home were in the backseat along with two suitcases..

We had missed the evening Mazhandu bus to Sesheke so we left the dish in the care of the guards at Synod and arranged for Grant to be picked upby Eddie, a Synod driver, at 0600h and taken to the bus station with the over-sized dish to return to Mwandi on the first morning bus. Grant was staying next door with the Bangladeshis at the YWCA Hostel.

We then picked up Mubita who had been cared for by Mercy Sitali the whole day, allowing us to do what we had to without having to worry about him, otherwise we could not have achieved so much.

After that we bought an Indian carry-out meal and went home to watch the programme commemorating the second anniversary of the death of President Mwanawasa. So ended our 32nd Wedding Anniversary.