New Girls Hostel

Yesterday was a big day for the community of Macha. It was the official opening of the girls hostel at Francis Davidson High School. Unlike most high schools in Zambia which are boarding schools, Francis Davidson is a day school. The students who come from far away must find their own lodging, and this leaves the female students particularly vulnerable and their enrollment and academic performance are much lower than the male students. Also, their drop out rate (often due to pregnancy) is much higher. The teachers, students, church and parents have all expressed the need for a place for the girls to live for years. Typically this is not the type of project that MCC helps with, but they kept asking, statistics were produced and the female students wrote letters about their experiences and their need for a dorm. The funding was raised from three groups of people.  A large BIC church in Canada called The Meetinghouse, several BIC churches in Pennsylvania and friends in Winnipeg. The project was finished on time and within budget. The PTA made all the bricks locally in the community. You could sense the ownership of this new building.

Lots of government and church officials were present for the several hour ceremony. A tent was even rented for the guests of honour to sit under. Parents and teachers found shade under a few trees, but most of the students were out in the sun. There was singing, traditional dancers, many speeches, a ribbon cutting ceremony and a tour of the hostel. When it was all finished they served all the guests lunch. It was an exciting day.

There are still some finishing touches. The outdoor kitchen needs to be built for the girls to do their own cooking. A house for the matron needs to be built and a good water supply connected. Mattresses and curtains are still missing, but some of the girls are moving in on Monday. The entire hostel which will house nearly 60 girls (only three toilets and three showers to share amongst them all!) cost $40,000.

Over the last few weeks, as I have mentioned the opening of the hostel to people in conversation, several of them, especially women leaders in the community would comment on how needed this hostel is and what a benefit it will be for the girls. There are over 200 female students at the school. The girls had to apply for a place in the hostel and a committee of about 6 people (teachers and church leaders) chose the most needy (usually those from farthest away with no family locally to live with). Hopefully the benefits of this new hostel will be sensed soon, you can already sense sighs of relief.

Not a Good Patient

So, I was down sick this week, again. I think this is the third illness that has caused me to miss work since I have been here.  My co-workers are all very understanding and tell me I need to be home resting, but I have a hard time, sometimes listening to what my body needs. Thankfully, I am able to do some work at home on my computer since I am involved in a lot of data gathering and management. I had a cold that started about 10 days ago. Able to work the first couple of days, rested over the weekend, went to work Monday (a mistake) home Tuesday and Wednesday, back Thursday (sent home by my co-workers) and stayed home Friday. My energy is finally picking up today, Saturday. I guess it is just a whole new germ pool that I need to get used to and build up some immunity to. Mentally it is a challenge for me to be ill. A true test in patience and grace.

There were some good things that came out of the week. I was able to read most of two books. Shake Hands with the Devil, about the Rwandan genocide and failed international/UN attempt at stopping it. Not light reading, but an eye opener. Then I am almost finished with Unbowed, the autobiography of Wangari Maathai the late 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner who started the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. She has lots of perspective and insight into the Africa of today and what has contributed to it's state in today's world. I had known of her briefly for her environmental work, but she is an all around inspiration of peace and justice in the world. In seemingly simple grassroots ways, she connects all the important pieces of the puzzle to the complex world we live in today.  As one of the first African women to receive a Phd, she used her opportunities for the betterment of her country and the world and stood up nonviolently to some pretty powerful people and institutions along the way. What a loss to this world her premature death was. I highly recommend this easy read. Fun fact for those of you from Kansas City, Wangari went to undergrad at Mt. St. Scolastica in Atchinson, KS in the 60s and worked at the lab in St. Joseph's hospital in Kansas City during the summers.

I also was home one day when Bridget, a woman from the village of Lupata stopped by selling her beautiful hand made baskets. The quality was excellent. I couldn't believe when she told me the price of just under $3 US. These baskets would have sold for $60 or $80 in the States. She understood enough English to tell me where she got the grasses/reeds (from two different neigboring towns) and to tell me that it takes her two days to make each one. Once my Tonga is better I hope to visit her at home and learn more about basket making. I paid more than the asking price for the basket I bought.

I also have been cared for by my neighbor Jaeron who has been bringing me food here and there and just checking in on me.Which is very sweet of her considering she has to listen to my coughing all night ( she and her husband share a duplex and a bedroom wall with me).  One day, she hollered through my window "Lisa do you want to go on an adventure?" She had a big butcher knife in her hand and led me to the banana grove in our backyard. She had spotted a bunch of bananas that the birds were getting to so she had me do the honors of cutting down the whole plant to get to the bunch. They have ripened beautifully and I am sharing them with friends.

Maria, Patricia and Racheal

I want to tell you about three new faces for me. I will start with Maria. I was taking a walk one evening through the dry brush near the water tank when I heard pounding and conversation so I turned off my path and found Maria and Naomi sitting on the ground with legs out in front of them pounding away at white quartz rock turning it into piles of golf ball sized pieces to try and sell. They had old feed sacks wrapped around their chitenges (colorful wraps women wear here as skirts) to protect them from the flying rock shards. Both Maria and Naomi had to have been in their 60s. Luckily Maria's English was pretty good, she even pulled up from her memory the word slab when I asked her what the rocks were used for (the concrete slab which a house is built upon). I have also seen them used in landscaping/mud removal or prevention around buildings. The rocks are natural in this area, sticking out where erosion occurs and just needing someone to dig down and break off big pieces or pull up large rocks.  Maria worked at the hospital for 27 years before retiring. She was using a sledge hammer and Naomi was using some old piece of metal from a vehicle of some sort that had a heavy head. I shivered to think of the shock their hands, wrists and arms were absorbing which each blow of the hammer against the rock. Maria told me it took them three or four days to make a heap and they could sell it for about $12 US. I thanked Maria for answering all my questions and let them get back to work. I keep meaning to go back (with my camera) and visit again, but I have not made it.

Patricia is a 12 year old seventh grader who loves to read! This is a rare thing in Macha. She quickly moved on from the children's story books I have and is borrowing some old children's encyclopedia's that were in the house when I got here. She borrows one at a time and usually brings them back the next day. While here, she often picks up some of the adult books on the shelf and browses through them asking what certain words mean. Winter, precious and souls are a few that come to mind. She also likes to look at my map of the world. She seems to be a sponge for new information. Patricia is the youngest of three girls I also am one of three girls. From there our similarities part. Patricia's father died four years ago, her mother three years ago. I am assuming from AIDS, but I have not asked. Patricia was raised in the Copperbelt an area in the Northwest of the country where the primary language is Bemba. When their parents died, the girls were split up. Her oldest sister now 17 is in Kitwe with friends. Her other sister 15 is with an uncle in the town where they grew up. Patricia was sent here to live with her grandmother. It is just the two of them in their home. She says they get along. I have not met her grandmother yet, but hope to soon. Patricia seems to mentor some of the younger children around and so far is a young twelve, not trying to grow up too fast. I look forward to getting to know her better these next few years.

Finally I want to tell you about Rachael, the most vibrant one year old I have seen yet in Zambia. Rachael's mother has hiv, and we had called her in because her last CD4 count was under 350 indicating it is time for her to start full HAART, a three drug regimen that she will be on for the rest of her life. Because she is still breastfeeding Rachael, this is even more important. As the head ART nurse was talking to mom and explaining her lab results and the next steps, little Rachael was wiggling and smiling and clapping and flirting with me.   Rachael has been taking Neveripine daily since birth and a daily dose of prophylactic antibiotic since six weeks of age. She was due for her one year hiv test.  I carried Rachael next door where the testing takes place with mom close by. Thankfully she tested negative. I just could not get over how active and engaging Rachael was. Most babies that age are pretty stoic and observant around here. Rachael's love of life was contagious and we were all laughing at her at some point. Mom is not married, but you could tell this baby was getting lots of love. I asked the nurse to ask mom who all lived in their house. Sure enough, mom still lived with her parents. So this little one had three adults to love her up, and it showed. So many kids have stressed out parents with many to take care of, you could tell this little one had lots of one on one attention. I hope I get to see more of her.