Saturday, September 24, 2011

9/24  Today Pam Leslie, Bud and I were invited to Mrs. Pheeri’s home for lunch; she wanted us to meet her husband and three children. We had grilled steak, chicken, mashed potatoes (not usually served here!) and a beautiful fresh salad. It was a great experience as we got to know her and her family better. Her husband goes to school in Lusaka and comes home every 2 – 3 weeks so we were honored for her to invite us on one of those Saturdays.

Mike and Cindy Helvie, missionaries, came from Jembo to visit us yesterday and today. They brought two young ladies with them, Lauren Gross on a 2-year term with Global Partners and from Houghton. Sylvea Murphy who is a practicum (3 months) student from Bethany Bible College also came with them. Even though we’ve been here only a short time, it was good to see folks from home. We plan to leave here early Wed. morning and spend the day at Jembo where we’ll be able to see the Bible College and the Secondary School. We all look forward to that little excursion.

Looking forward to another Sunday in Zambia; we will all switch churches tomorrow so we’ll each have an opportunity to visit all the Wesleyan churches in Choma.

Sept. 22, 2011

Mrs. Pheri, the director the World Hope Guest House where we are staying, gave me a short lesson on Zambian culture this AM which was quite interesting.  In Zambia, when a woman has a child, she loses her name and becomes “mother of first name”; so I would be bana Tanya.  When the first grandchild is born, she loses that name and becomes “grandmother of that child’s name”. I should now be call “banakul Kyle”, and that is my permanent name unless someone has twins which takes precedence over all the other names!

She told me that her job description includes getting to know all she can about the leader and family, so this morning, I showed her our family picture. She immediately pointed to Miranda and said she looks like Tiffany; at that point, she didn’t know they were mother and daughter. She also pointed to Malachi and said he looks like his dad.  She thought Mikala and Sierra were sisters.

I (Bud) am into high finance.  I am the comptroller for the group which is quite interesting.  One dollar equals 4900 Zambian Kwachas.  Going to the market to buy fruit and bread etc. totaled 440,000 kwaches.  Earlier this morning I handed out K 1,150,000 of which 900,000 was for diesel fuel for the Toyota Land Cruisers.  Talk about gas prices!! Fuel is sold by the liter and not by the gallon.

Even as we speak, Bud is going around to all the rooms to put oil (cooking oil) on all the hinges. It worked well in our room so we hope it will work in the other rooms. This after noon he used cardboard and duct tape to secure some big gaps in a couple windows.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Arrived in Choma to the beautiful World Hope Guest House. It is very comfortable, and we definitely have more space than back in Chikankata. We divided into three groups this morning and went to different Wesleyan churches in the area, so we each experienced something a little different. The church we attended is the Central Church in Choma; it is the mother church of the other two churches that were visited. Much of the worship time was in Tonga, but the visiting pastor preached in English with an interpreter for Tonga. This is the home church of Mrs. Makonde who is a World Hope employee and is our constant companion and guide on all our trips. We were able to visit her home after church and meet her family members.
Mrs. Makonde is a retired nurse and has a vast amount of experience both in clinical nursing and management. She has spent time in U.S., U.K. Ethiopia and other places where she was sent by her place of employment for further training. She is a wealth of information both culturally and in nursing. We are blessed to have her with us.
The students are in little groups everywhere in the compound this afternoon preparing for class tomorrow and doing assigned homework. Since they are taking both a history course and Community Health Nursing, we are all learning about both topics. Pam Leslie is the CHN professor and has so much knowledge about Community. She also does a great job of applying what they learn to how that fits into the Zambian culture. The challenge is to provide the correct information so the students can pass their State Board examinations after graduation as well as teaching them about community health in this culture. Since CHN is a passion of hers, she does an outstanding job…I enjoy listening to her knowledge and insights.
We had a birthday party last evening for all the students having birthdays while in Zambia. They baked a cake, put up some decorations in the “great room” and made cards for each person which everyone on the team signed. Afterwards, we all played a game which was hilarious…if laughing boosts one’s immune system, all of ours should be boosted!
Erin and John Stevens are the American onsite World Hope employees who have assisted in coordinating and arranging all our activities while in the country. They are very nice, and work hard to accommodate our needs.