If I were back home sitting around in the Crestwood High School Sunday School Circle my GT and BT (Good Thing and Bad Thing for all you non-Crestwoodians…or Crestwoodites…or Crestwoodans…whatever) would be pretty easy to pin down this week.
My BT would undoubtedly be that I spent an entire evening this week battling with food poisoning. Not fun. But, don’t worry, after spending an entire night rolling on the floor of my bathroom moaning (sadly not a joke) I am alive and well.
So that sucked.
However, my GT, I think you will agree, more than makes up for my BT.
There are certain members of the staff at Namumu whom the children see and speak with on a daily basis. The children refer to these men and women as “Uncle So-and-So” or “Auntie So-and-So”. Now that I’ve been around long enough, I’ve been upgraded to “Uncle” status, which is awesome. And as if that wasn’t cool enough, not only am I referred to as “Uncle” now, but most of the girls are even calling me “Uncle Chuck Norris” on a regular basis. I know, it sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? I assure you, it is indeed true.
So, there you have my GT and my BT. I think every other experience of the week would fall somewhere in between those two extremes.
My relationship with my next-door neighbors has progressed quite a bit as of late. It’s been a bit difficult getting to know them for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the two adult women and some of the others speak very little English. English is the official national language in Zambia and they teach it in the schools, but since we are in a very rural area (the few white people I’ve met here are impressed that I can survive out here in “The Bush”…hah) a good number of people haven’t had much schooling and therefore haven’t learned much English and therefore speak mostly Tonga. Like these two women, Mrs. Syanjoka and Sister Syanjoka.
Another problem has been that there is a constantly shifting cast of characters next door. Family members seem to shift around a lot in Africa, sometimes living here with parents, sometimes living there with Aunts and Uncles, etc. It’s tough to get to know people when they are coming and going so often.
But, since I’m rocking and rolling with my Tonga I can joke around a bit with the two older women and everyone else now. I’ve got a long way to go, but at least I’ve moved beyond the basic greetings. I think they appreciate it. So I chat with the adults in Tonga, chat with the teenagers in English, and basically just toss the little ones up in the air whenever I see them.
Innocent is still ridiculous. At least three times a day I see his mother, Sister Syanjoka, try to put pants on him and him proceed to drop them and run away from them mere moments later. That’s my boy. He actually cried the other morning because I left him to go to work, so that made me feel good.
Junior, the son of Mrs. Syanjoka, is the other pants-less rascal. He’s about 1 year old. Junior was the last hold-out against being my friend. He’s the little guy who would start crying and crawl to his mother whenever he saw me. After three months we’re finally cool. No crying. He even laughs at me sometime now. So, now he likes me. Still hates his pants, though.
My main communicator next door is Cholwe, a 13 year-old boy whose English is pretty good. He’s a nice kid and he teaches me Tonga.
I get to interact with everybody quite a bit because almost all of their waking hours are spent right out behind our house, in the open area between our home and our gardens. The women just kind of hang around and sit all day, sometimes washing clothes and sometimes cooking, and the kids, when they aren’t at school, do the same (like I said, we’re in The Bush…not always a lot going on).
So they talk and play games and mess around in the garden and basically just hang out all day. And you know what? I think everybody’s pretty satisfied with life. The children play and the adults watch the children play. And now that I’m speaking Tonga I can sit and join the party.
So, there’s my week. I hope all is well back in the States. Keep the comments coming.
Sincerely,
Uncle Chuck Norris
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Namumu's Awesomeness
Let me tell you why the Namumu Orphanage Centre is so great and why I’m happy to be a part of it.
Most people are familiar with the basics by now. Namumu currently houses 73 children that are orphaned or considered vulnerable, providing them with three meals a day, a place to sleep, clothing, education and health care.
But it doesn’t stop there.
What most people don’t realize is that Namumu has an effect on this community far beyond helping the 73 children in residence.
At the Namumu Community School more than 200 children from the surrounding villages in grades 1-7 receive free education. It’s a good school that has been commended time and again by the Zambian government for its high testing rates.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Our clinic provides health care for hundreds of people from the surrounding villages, people who would otherwise be relying on other “traditional” local medicines that would, without a doubt, be less effective.
But it doesn’t stop there.
In a country plagued by unemployment, Namumu provides jobs to a number of Zambians in a number of areas. In the office there are five of us on the management staff. We employ an accountant. The Namumu Community School employs seven teachers. Our clinic has a nurse. We have two caretakers, one for the boys and one for the girls. We have two security guards. We have a driver. We have a carpenter and a welder, both with assistants. We have eight fishermen and we have two on the fishing day staff.
Without Namumu, many of these people would very likely struggle to find jobs. Because of Namumu they can work and help to support their families.
But it doesn’t stop there.
A number of middle-aged women are able to support their families by buying in bulk the kapenta fish caught by Namumu’s rigs and reselling it in the markets.
After I wrote about having to devise a lottery system for selling kapenta because the demand was so high some weeks back, a good friend of mine wrote me an email asking, “Why didn’t you just raise the prices?” It was a valid question. I’m sure many of you were thinking the same thing. To respond, we did raise the prices a bit, but still not by as much as we probably could have. Yes, Namumu’s profits could have been slightly higher. But our customers depend on selling our fish to survive, and drastically raising prices would have been detrimental to their business operations and their lives.
So, in essence, Namumu is supporting these women too.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Two churches hold services at the Namumu Chapel ever weekend, the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Saturdays and the Presbyterian Church on Sundays. Thanks to Namumu they have a nice facility in which they can worship.
But it doesn’t stop there.
A number of churches and other organizations from the US and abroad have formed relationships with Namumu over the years, including my own church, Crestwood Presbyterian in Richmond. I think everyone in these churches and organizations will agree that having this relationship with Namumu and getting to know these loving, caring people half way around the world has made quite an impact.
I haven’t seen much of the world. I know that there are many, many organizations worthy of support. Still, I think it’s clear that Namumu is as good as any.
Most people are familiar with the basics by now. Namumu currently houses 73 children that are orphaned or considered vulnerable, providing them with three meals a day, a place to sleep, clothing, education and health care.
But it doesn’t stop there.
What most people don’t realize is that Namumu has an effect on this community far beyond helping the 73 children in residence.
At the Namumu Community School more than 200 children from the surrounding villages in grades 1-7 receive free education. It’s a good school that has been commended time and again by the Zambian government for its high testing rates.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Our clinic provides health care for hundreds of people from the surrounding villages, people who would otherwise be relying on other “traditional” local medicines that would, without a doubt, be less effective.
But it doesn’t stop there.
In a country plagued by unemployment, Namumu provides jobs to a number of Zambians in a number of areas. In the office there are five of us on the management staff. We employ an accountant. The Namumu Community School employs seven teachers. Our clinic has a nurse. We have two caretakers, one for the boys and one for the girls. We have two security guards. We have a driver. We have a carpenter and a welder, both with assistants. We have eight fishermen and we have two on the fishing day staff.
Without Namumu, many of these people would very likely struggle to find jobs. Because of Namumu they can work and help to support their families.
But it doesn’t stop there.
A number of middle-aged women are able to support their families by buying in bulk the kapenta fish caught by Namumu’s rigs and reselling it in the markets.
After I wrote about having to devise a lottery system for selling kapenta because the demand was so high some weeks back, a good friend of mine wrote me an email asking, “Why didn’t you just raise the prices?” It was a valid question. I’m sure many of you were thinking the same thing. To respond, we did raise the prices a bit, but still not by as much as we probably could have. Yes, Namumu’s profits could have been slightly higher. But our customers depend on selling our fish to survive, and drastically raising prices would have been detrimental to their business operations and their lives.
So, in essence, Namumu is supporting these women too.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Two churches hold services at the Namumu Chapel ever weekend, the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Saturdays and the Presbyterian Church on Sundays. Thanks to Namumu they have a nice facility in which they can worship.
But it doesn’t stop there.
A number of churches and other organizations from the US and abroad have formed relationships with Namumu over the years, including my own church, Crestwood Presbyterian in Richmond. I think everyone in these churches and organizations will agree that having this relationship with Namumu and getting to know these loving, caring people half way around the world has made quite an impact.
I haven’t seen much of the world. I know that there are many, many organizations worthy of support. Still, I think it’s clear that Namumu is as good as any.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Prayer Request
Vincent, our 28 year old welder, had a daughter pass away last week. I’m not too sure about the specifics, but I do know that she was only 9 years old.
It’s crazy, just about every week somebody at Namumu has a close friend or relative pass away. I’m not exaggerating. It’s difficult to handle, especially when, as in this case, it’s a young child.
Please pray for Vincent and his family as they mourn their loss.
It’s crazy, just about every week somebody at Namumu has a close friend or relative pass away. I’m not exaggerating. It’s difficult to handle, especially when, as in this case, it’s a young child.
Please pray for Vincent and his family as they mourn their loss.
Running Water, Cross-Dressing Babies and a Choice of Nicknames
A few more random updates...
After a little more than a week of traveling to the nearby bore holes for water our water pump was fixed. At last we have running water again. I somehow managed to get on the team of around 8 men assigned to fix the problem. We had to pull up around 60 meters of vertical piping to get to the electric pump at the bottom, which was then repaired, and then connect and lower the pump and piping into the ground again. It was tough work and the piping was very heavy. However, since we were a group of large, burly men it wasn’t much a problem (afterwards we grunted, high-fived and bumped chests…then I made the proclamation, “I am a man! A man who invented the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn!”…sadly, nobody caught the reference).
I got to make another trip into Lusaka this week, which was nice because I’d been getting a little stir-crazy in Siavonga (most days I spend the entire day in the same 100 square foot area which includes my home, our gardens and the front office…like I said, stir-crazy). Harvest Helpers, an NGO that specializes in agricultural development in the area, was taking a group of local farmers to the city to see a few irrigation system demonstrated and I got to tag along. We’ll be looking into the possibility of purchasing a drip irrigation system for Namumu in the future. Eliot Coleman would be proud.
I’m worried about Innocent. Between his mother and aunts and sisters and female cousins he’s almost exclusively surrounded by women. The other morning I looked out of my window and saw him running around in a dress. When he gets a little older I think we’ll need to have some man time where I’ll teach him how to chop wood, spit and scratch himself.
The Namumu girls are always giving each other nicknames. A group of them decided I should have one too. They came up with a few options for me: Chuck Norris (I swear to you this happened and no, I didn’t even tell them about my Chuck Norris experience in Lusaka), Samson (my second favorite after Chuck Norris) and Robocop (I am as confused about this one as you probably are...I’ll have to investigate and get back to you).
Another Business Update
Kapenta Fishing
We wrapped up April’s fishing last Sunday with the coming of the full moon, docking our rigs in the harbor where they will remain until we resume on Tuesday.
Looking back, even though our catches were somewhat low this past month, there are a number of reasons to be pleased with how things went. We finally have systems in place to keep track of our catches, the payments for the catches and our expenses. This past month, every Kg of kapenta was accounted for, as was every kwacha that came in and went out. While this may not strike you as impressive, I assure you that, in the context of African business and the Siavonga kapenta industry, it is something to be proud of. We’ll try to make a habit of it.
Also, our team of fishermen are working well together and are putting forth a solid effort. As you may remember, only a few months ago we had an entirely different crew with which Namumu had a number of problems. With our new crew we have made some changes and have been trying to keep everybody happy and establish a good working atmosphere. It seems to be working.
This month, we’re preparing to send our rigs to a group of islands that are quite far away. Instead of coming to the nearby harbor to dock every morning they will remain out on the islands for the entire month. So, we’re having to stock up big time on fuel, spare parts and food for the fishermen before we send them on their way. The costs for the month will be a bit higher but we should be catching much, much more. We’ll be hiring a speed boat to bring back the catches every week or so and we’ll sell them here.
Carpentry and Welding
We changed the salary system up a bit for our carpentry and welding guys for this month. They’d always had a fixed monthly salary. Now they will have a basic salary and will be working on partial commissions. They’re good workers and were doing ok before, but I know that the incentives of the new system will boost production quite a bit.
Farming
Our gardens have come a long, long way.
My little Namumu minions have been working hard. They’ve been on break from school so they’ve had the time to work. We’ve been busy transplanting eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, Chinese cabbage and rape all week. We’re already harvesting the first beans that we planted.
I’ve been told that whenever someone in the area has a solid garden growing people will come from the villages and buy vegetables directly from them, so I imagine we’ll be seeing customers coming very soon. I’m sure we’ll find some way to sell in the market in town as well.
We wrapped up April’s fishing last Sunday with the coming of the full moon, docking our rigs in the harbor where they will remain until we resume on Tuesday.
Looking back, even though our catches were somewhat low this past month, there are a number of reasons to be pleased with how things went. We finally have systems in place to keep track of our catches, the payments for the catches and our expenses. This past month, every Kg of kapenta was accounted for, as was every kwacha that came in and went out. While this may not strike you as impressive, I assure you that, in the context of African business and the Siavonga kapenta industry, it is something to be proud of. We’ll try to make a habit of it.
Also, our team of fishermen are working well together and are putting forth a solid effort. As you may remember, only a few months ago we had an entirely different crew with which Namumu had a number of problems. With our new crew we have made some changes and have been trying to keep everybody happy and establish a good working atmosphere. It seems to be working.
This month, we’re preparing to send our rigs to a group of islands that are quite far away. Instead of coming to the nearby harbor to dock every morning they will remain out on the islands for the entire month. So, we’re having to stock up big time on fuel, spare parts and food for the fishermen before we send them on their way. The costs for the month will be a bit higher but we should be catching much, much more. We’ll be hiring a speed boat to bring back the catches every week or so and we’ll sell them here.
Carpentry and Welding
We changed the salary system up a bit for our carpentry and welding guys for this month. They’d always had a fixed monthly salary. Now they will have a basic salary and will be working on partial commissions. They’re good workers and were doing ok before, but I know that the incentives of the new system will boost production quite a bit.
Farming
Our gardens have come a long, long way.
My little Namumu minions have been working hard. They’ve been on break from school so they’ve had the time to work. We’ve been busy transplanting eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, Chinese cabbage and rape all week. We’re already harvesting the first beans that we planted.
I’ve been told that whenever someone in the area has a solid garden growing people will come from the villages and buy vegetables directly from them, so I imagine we’ll be seeing customers coming very soon. I’m sure we’ll find some way to sell in the market in town as well.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Q & A
“What can Ros and I bring to Namumu in June? We would love to help out in any way.” - Alex
"As you know two folks from Park Lake are going to Namumu in June…what do you want them to bring for the students? Do they need school supplies for example? - All the best "
-Cindy
I’ve heard this question from a few people, Alex and Cindy.
To be honest, the children and staff are doing fine with what they have. Life is simple here and, for the most part, everyone’s basic needs are met. The school and the office here both seem well equipped.
Still, there are a few things that might be a good idea to bring.
If you are traveling to Namumu I would recommend bringing a lot of pictures to share and leave with the children and staff. They’re easy to pack and the children love them. Bring pictures of yourself, your family and anything else that will show them what your life is like back home.
Or, if you wanted to bring some small gifts for any of the staff here, like Munjongo and Esther, they would certainly appreciate it. I’ve seen them receive gifts like nice coffee, tea, stationery and pens, so anything along those lines would work.
Or, you could also bring any small games for the children. I know that they like playing UNO and I’m sure they would like playing with any other games you would bring. I have to warn you, though, that I’ve learned to never under-estimate the speed with which a Zambian child can destroy a piece of equipment, so keep that in mind.
In response to those who have asked about sending books for the school or other items to help out at Namumu, I’d have to say that, while it wonderful that you are thinking of ways to help out the organization, I think the transport costs are a bit too high to justify sending them. Still, if you have something specific in mind, shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out.
As for what to bring me, I’m doing just fine with everything I’ve got here. I’m really looking forward to you, Ros and Bill coming out here, Alex, so just bring yourselves and that will be good enough for me.
(Although I would graciously accept any and all Tabasco products)
"Can the students at Boone High begin the process of being penpals with the students at Namumu?"
-Cindy
I’ve fielded a few requests to be pen-pals with some of the Namumu children. I can coordinate this with any groups that would like to start. Just email me at ssc2x@virginia.edu and let me know how many children you’d like to write to and I’ll send you back a list of names and other details.
“I was at Namumu in 2005 with The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church (WCPC). When we arrived, each our our names was being held by a particular child. Christopher had my name. One of his legs suffered from a medical condition that caused it to be disfigured. I heard that he had surgery on it a little while back. Is he still living at Namumu? If so, I'd love to know how he's doing. Thanks!”. –Ruth
Christopher is here and is doing well. He had surgery on his leg this past July and it was a success. He’s a good kid.
One of his favorite things to do is to throw sticks up at the Baobab tree in an effort to knock down the fruit. Even before, with his leg condition, he could hurl sticks with the best of ‘em. Now that he’s healthy I think he’s even better. I’ve tried a few throws and he’s put me to shame.
I’ll tell him that you said hello.
“How do you feel without your creature comforts? Are you finding your needs are fewer now or different now so you don't miss the things that you thought you would?”
-Cindy
Well, it was a tough transition into my new life here at first, but I’m happy to say that I’m now acclimated and am doing fine without many of the comforts of my life back home.
I’ve made it until now without a TV and I’m pretty happy about that. Most people here think it’s strange that I don’t have one and some of the staff have been trying to force one on me but I’ve been able to resist.
There’s no hot water in my shower which will probably suck when it gets cold at night in the upcoming months but is not really a problem now since it’s so hot.
I miss the food from back home the most, I’d say. Nsima and rice lose their appeal after eating them for every single meal every single day, as you might imagine. It’s cool, though. I’ve got hot sauce and Coca-Cola so I’ll survive.
So, life is a lot simpler now and I’m a-ok with that.
“hmmm, which is dirtier, your floor after it was pooped on or your underwear currently?”
-Bryce
Well, Bryce, I am happy to inform you that both my floor and my underwear are now squeaky clean.
Last week, while working in the garden, I sent a couple Namumu girls into my house to fetch a shovel. Apparently they weren’t too happy with the state of things in my home, so on Saturday I was bum-rushed by a group of about 15 Namumu girls who forced themselves into my house and cleaned every square inch of it. They scrubbed the floors, washed my clothes, did my dishes and even cooked me lunch. I really love those girls.
Just to be clear for all of you that may be worried about my overall hygiene, I’ve been cooking all of my own meals, doing my own laundry and cleaning my house consistently.
But, the girls insisted, and who was I to argue?
Let’s hope this treatment continues.
"As you know two folks from Park Lake are going to Namumu in June…what do you want them to bring for the students? Do they need school supplies for example? - All the best "
-Cindy
I’ve heard this question from a few people, Alex and Cindy.
To be honest, the children and staff are doing fine with what they have. Life is simple here and, for the most part, everyone’s basic needs are met. The school and the office here both seem well equipped.
Still, there are a few things that might be a good idea to bring.
If you are traveling to Namumu I would recommend bringing a lot of pictures to share and leave with the children and staff. They’re easy to pack and the children love them. Bring pictures of yourself, your family and anything else that will show them what your life is like back home.
Or, if you wanted to bring some small gifts for any of the staff here, like Munjongo and Esther, they would certainly appreciate it. I’ve seen them receive gifts like nice coffee, tea, stationery and pens, so anything along those lines would work.
Or, you could also bring any small games for the children. I know that they like playing UNO and I’m sure they would like playing with any other games you would bring. I have to warn you, though, that I’ve learned to never under-estimate the speed with which a Zambian child can destroy a piece of equipment, so keep that in mind.
In response to those who have asked about sending books for the school or other items to help out at Namumu, I’d have to say that, while it wonderful that you are thinking of ways to help out the organization, I think the transport costs are a bit too high to justify sending them. Still, if you have something specific in mind, shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out.
As for what to bring me, I’m doing just fine with everything I’ve got here. I’m really looking forward to you, Ros and Bill coming out here, Alex, so just bring yourselves and that will be good enough for me.
(Although I would graciously accept any and all Tabasco products)
"Can the students at Boone High begin the process of being penpals with the students at Namumu?"
-Cindy
I’ve fielded a few requests to be pen-pals with some of the Namumu children. I can coordinate this with any groups that would like to start. Just email me at ssc2x@virginia.edu and let me know how many children you’d like to write to and I’ll send you back a list of names and other details.
“I was at Namumu in 2005 with The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church (WCPC). When we arrived, each our our names was being held by a particular child. Christopher had my name. One of his legs suffered from a medical condition that caused it to be disfigured. I heard that he had surgery on it a little while back. Is he still living at Namumu? If so, I'd love to know how he's doing. Thanks!”. –Ruth
Christopher is here and is doing well. He had surgery on his leg this past July and it was a success. He’s a good kid.
One of his favorite things to do is to throw sticks up at the Baobab tree in an effort to knock down the fruit. Even before, with his leg condition, he could hurl sticks with the best of ‘em. Now that he’s healthy I think he’s even better. I’ve tried a few throws and he’s put me to shame.
I’ll tell him that you said hello.
“How do you feel without your creature comforts? Are you finding your needs are fewer now or different now so you don't miss the things that you thought you would?”
-Cindy
Well, it was a tough transition into my new life here at first, but I’m happy to say that I’m now acclimated and am doing fine without many of the comforts of my life back home.
I’ve made it until now without a TV and I’m pretty happy about that. Most people here think it’s strange that I don’t have one and some of the staff have been trying to force one on me but I’ve been able to resist.
There’s no hot water in my shower which will probably suck when it gets cold at night in the upcoming months but is not really a problem now since it’s so hot.
I miss the food from back home the most, I’d say. Nsima and rice lose their appeal after eating them for every single meal every single day, as you might imagine. It’s cool, though. I’ve got hot sauce and Coca-Cola so I’ll survive.
So, life is a lot simpler now and I’m a-ok with that.
“hmmm, which is dirtier, your floor after it was pooped on or your underwear currently?”
-Bryce
Well, Bryce, I am happy to inform you that both my floor and my underwear are now squeaky clean.
Last week, while working in the garden, I sent a couple Namumu girls into my house to fetch a shovel. Apparently they weren’t too happy with the state of things in my home, so on Saturday I was bum-rushed by a group of about 15 Namumu girls who forced themselves into my house and cleaned every square inch of it. They scrubbed the floors, washed my clothes, did my dishes and even cooked me lunch. I really love those girls.
Just to be clear for all of you that may be worried about my overall hygiene, I’ve been cooking all of my own meals, doing my own laundry and cleaning my house consistently.
But, the girls insisted, and who was I to argue?
Let’s hope this treatment continues.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Questions? Comments?
So, like I’ve said before, even though I haven’t been able to respond to any of your comments I do read them and I do enjoy them.
I’ve seen a few questions pop up here and there. I’m sure some others of you have questions as well about one of the Namumu businesses, the Namumu children, the current state of my beard, everyday Zambian life or Innocent, my little naked neighbor, so if you do post them here. I’ll do my best to answer them in next week’s blog.
If you’ve previously posted a question I apologize for not yet answering. Go ahead and post it again and I’ll try to answer it here.
Hit me. And be creative.
I’ve seen a few questions pop up here and there. I’m sure some others of you have questions as well about one of the Namumu businesses, the Namumu children, the current state of my beard, everyday Zambian life or Innocent, my little naked neighbor, so if you do post them here. I’ll do my best to answer them in next week’s blog.
If you’ve previously posted a question I apologize for not yet answering. Go ahead and post it again and I’ll try to answer it here.
Hit me. And be creative.
Breakdowns
Business is good here at Namumu. But still, for various reasons, every day is a struggle.
One major problem is that something breaks down EVERY SINGLE DAY. Without exception. Every day. It’s ridiculous. In case my use of capital letters and repeated phrasing didn’t drive home the point, let me give you an example:
Sometime last week Namumu’s electric water pump broke down. This has without a doubt been the most frustrating breakdown yet. Now, to get water we (Namumu children and Namumu staff living on the Namumu grounds) have to make a trip to one of two nearby bore holes, both of which are around a quarter of a mile away, and to pump water out into 20 liter jugs.
It wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but given that we’ve just done a good deal of planting in our gardens it’s gone from a minor annoyance to a major headache. The gardens are suffering. So far I’ve been recruiting groups of children to fetch water with me every afternoon, carrying the jugs back and splashing the beds. The gardens are surviving but it’s taking quite a bit of both time and effort.
Since fetching water is such a pain and most of the water that I fetch goes toward gardening or drinking or bathing I don’t usually have much left over for things like laundry. I only own 3 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, 4 pairs of underwear and 4 pairs of socks and I haven’t done laundry for 2 weeks. You do the math.
TMI?
Friday was especially difficult. The water pump had been out for a few days. That morning the kapenta rig came back with a few busted light bulbs (which, again, are a crucial part of attracting and catching kapenta). Awesome, I thought, just what I need, more broken stuff.
Then, as I moped back toward the Namumu office I heard a loud sound that was a little something like on LOST when there’s a bright light and the Island jumps through time. A snake had climbed up the pole and had caused the transformer to blow, knocking out the power for all of Namumu. So we were without power. And rig lights. And running water.
Not a happy day for Sam. Not a happy day at all.
I suppose I have to count my blessings, though. After all, nobody has pooped on my kitchen floor for the last few days, so that’s good.
So, if you get a chance it would be super duper if you could pray for our water pump to be fixed so that I can stop cracking the whip on my water-carrying Namumu minions. And while you’re at it, please pray that we can at least have a few days where nothing breaks at all.
One major problem is that something breaks down EVERY SINGLE DAY. Without exception. Every day. It’s ridiculous. In case my use of capital letters and repeated phrasing didn’t drive home the point, let me give you an example:
Sometime last week Namumu’s electric water pump broke down. This has without a doubt been the most frustrating breakdown yet. Now, to get water we (Namumu children and Namumu staff living on the Namumu grounds) have to make a trip to one of two nearby bore holes, both of which are around a quarter of a mile away, and to pump water out into 20 liter jugs.
It wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but given that we’ve just done a good deal of planting in our gardens it’s gone from a minor annoyance to a major headache. The gardens are suffering. So far I’ve been recruiting groups of children to fetch water with me every afternoon, carrying the jugs back and splashing the beds. The gardens are surviving but it’s taking quite a bit of both time and effort.
Since fetching water is such a pain and most of the water that I fetch goes toward gardening or drinking or bathing I don’t usually have much left over for things like laundry. I only own 3 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, 4 pairs of underwear and 4 pairs of socks and I haven’t done laundry for 2 weeks. You do the math.
TMI?
Friday was especially difficult. The water pump had been out for a few days. That morning the kapenta rig came back with a few busted light bulbs (which, again, are a crucial part of attracting and catching kapenta). Awesome, I thought, just what I need, more broken stuff.
Then, as I moped back toward the Namumu office I heard a loud sound that was a little something like on LOST when there’s a bright light and the Island jumps through time. A snake had climbed up the pole and had caused the transformer to blow, knocking out the power for all of Namumu. So we were without power. And rig lights. And running water.
Not a happy day for Sam. Not a happy day at all.
I suppose I have to count my blessings, though. After all, nobody has pooped on my kitchen floor for the last few days, so that’s good.
So, if you get a chance it would be super duper if you could pray for our water pump to be fixed so that I can stop cracking the whip on my water-carrying Namumu minions. And while you’re at it, please pray that we can at least have a few days where nothing breaks at all.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Kapenta Sales
There are two paths one can take to get to the part of the lake where our kapenta rig arrives.
There’s a more direct path via the main Siavonga road that leads right down to the water. However, that path brings you to the opposite side of the lake from where our rig arrives, so you have to hop on a boat and ferry across. The ferry boats are small and have either one or two young guys paddling. It’s a short distance across, maybe about 75 yards, and you only have to pay 1,000 Kwacha (about 20 cents). Still, I prefer the second path and use it every day.
The second path loops around a bit more, but it takes me right to where our rigs arrive. I’m not on the main road for long. It follows mostly small dirt paths and, at one point, passes through a small village (where all the kids stare at me, pointing and yelling “mukuwa” ,the Tonga word for “white man”, every single day…sometimes they wave and smile, but mostly they just point). It’s quite a bit of up and down and is a pretty strenuous, but it’s nice because it gets my blood flowing in the morning. Plus, Saviour told me I got fat, so I have to exercise.
The boat usually arrives somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 am (we have two boats but only one has an engine so the other stays out on the lake and all eight fishermen return on the other). Jere, one of our day-workers who stays with the rigs during they day and helps dry the fish, arrives about when I do. Since Mubita, our kapenta sales supervisor is still on leave, Kebby, the Namumu boys’ caretaker, has been showing up to help out as well.
100% of our customers are women. At the beginning of the month there were around 20 showing up each day. They buy in bulk from us and sell the kapenta all around town, mostly in the main market. They are business-savvy and, let me tell you, they can be vicious. I do as much flirting as possible to ease the tension.
It was madness on the first day. We tried to be fair and divide up our catches equally amongst the women, giving them all small quantities. This month we’re only catching around 80-100 kgs a night, so almost all of them wanted more than what they got. They crowded around us as we weighed out the catches, trying to get our attention and even putting their money in our faces to get what they wanted. Most of the women are from the surrounding villages and don’t speak much English, so Kebby did most of the communicating.
At first I thought, “Well, I guess this is just how businesses operate in Zambia. It’s crazy and unorganized, but that’s just the way things go.” To Kebby and the women it just seemed natural. I figured that to develop any formal system would be too American of me and that it was best just to keep doing what we were doing.
However, after a few days of dealing with middle-aged-cat-fighting Zambian women we tried something new.
It wasn’t anything fancy. One day we had a lottery. Each woman was randomly assigned a day on which they could come and buy from us, with two women assigned per day. If on any woman’s particular day they did not want to purchase all of their half of the catches they could designate any of their friends to receive the remainder, but only the day’s two assigned women control over the catches. To assign them days we just had them draw slips of paper out of a hat.
It was simple and it worked. Even the women themselves appreciate it and think it’s fair.
After talking with a number of other fishing camps I’ve found that some of them use a system somewhat like what we created. It just makes sense. So, things have calmed down around our area of the harbor and we're having no problem selling all of our catches every single day.
After we sell the fish there’s not much to it. We have racks set up, long wire sheets on top of wooden polls, where the customers spread out their fish to dry after buying them. Jere, our day-staffer, stays around to monitor and I head home.
So there you have it. Our kapenta business is coming right along, and every day we find some way to do things better than the day before.
There’s a more direct path via the main Siavonga road that leads right down to the water. However, that path brings you to the opposite side of the lake from where our rig arrives, so you have to hop on a boat and ferry across. The ferry boats are small and have either one or two young guys paddling. It’s a short distance across, maybe about 75 yards, and you only have to pay 1,000 Kwacha (about 20 cents). Still, I prefer the second path and use it every day.
The second path loops around a bit more, but it takes me right to where our rigs arrive. I’m not on the main road for long. It follows mostly small dirt paths and, at one point, passes through a small village (where all the kids stare at me, pointing and yelling “mukuwa” ,the Tonga word for “white man”, every single day…sometimes they wave and smile, but mostly they just point). It’s quite a bit of up and down and is a pretty strenuous, but it’s nice because it gets my blood flowing in the morning. Plus, Saviour told me I got fat, so I have to exercise.
The boat usually arrives somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 am (we have two boats but only one has an engine so the other stays out on the lake and all eight fishermen return on the other). Jere, one of our day-workers who stays with the rigs during they day and helps dry the fish, arrives about when I do. Since Mubita, our kapenta sales supervisor is still on leave, Kebby, the Namumu boys’ caretaker, has been showing up to help out as well.
100% of our customers are women. At the beginning of the month there were around 20 showing up each day. They buy in bulk from us and sell the kapenta all around town, mostly in the main market. They are business-savvy and, let me tell you, they can be vicious. I do as much flirting as possible to ease the tension.
It was madness on the first day. We tried to be fair and divide up our catches equally amongst the women, giving them all small quantities. This month we’re only catching around 80-100 kgs a night, so almost all of them wanted more than what they got. They crowded around us as we weighed out the catches, trying to get our attention and even putting their money in our faces to get what they wanted. Most of the women are from the surrounding villages and don’t speak much English, so Kebby did most of the communicating.
At first I thought, “Well, I guess this is just how businesses operate in Zambia. It’s crazy and unorganized, but that’s just the way things go.” To Kebby and the women it just seemed natural. I figured that to develop any formal system would be too American of me and that it was best just to keep doing what we were doing.
However, after a few days of dealing with middle-aged-cat-fighting Zambian women we tried something new.
It wasn’t anything fancy. One day we had a lottery. Each woman was randomly assigned a day on which they could come and buy from us, with two women assigned per day. If on any woman’s particular day they did not want to purchase all of their half of the catches they could designate any of their friends to receive the remainder, but only the day’s two assigned women control over the catches. To assign them days we just had them draw slips of paper out of a hat.
It was simple and it worked. Even the women themselves appreciate it and think it’s fair.
After talking with a number of other fishing camps I’ve found that some of them use a system somewhat like what we created. It just makes sense. So, things have calmed down around our area of the harbor and we're having no problem selling all of our catches every single day.
After we sell the fish there’s not much to it. We have racks set up, long wire sheets on top of wooden polls, where the customers spread out their fish to dry after buying them. Jere, our day-staffer, stays around to monitor and I head home.
So there you have it. Our kapenta business is coming right along, and every day we find some way to do things better than the day before.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Random Updates
Phew. I’m tired.
I wish I had more time to write this week, but internet time is short and there’s work to be done so I’ll have to try to catch you up quickly on what’s new around Namumu with a few short updates
My schedule has changed quite a bit in the past two weeks. Mubita, our kapenta fishing sales clerk is still away on leave (more on his situation later), so I’ve been especially busy as of late. We started fishing last Tuesday, April 14th, so with Mubita gone I’ve had to high-tail it to the harbor every morning to sell the night’s catches. The boats usually arrive around 7:00 am or somewhere shortly thereafter, so I’ve have to set out from my house around 6:30. Since the garden beds need to be watered early and I’m never sure when I’ll get back to Namumu, I’ve been getting up around 5:30 to water (I’d assign one of my little Namumu minions to water but, I have to be honest, they all suck at it…just have to do that one myself). Since the boats go out every night for 24 days there’s no break on the weekends. I’m worn out.
The Namumu children are happy and content as always. They’re still on break from school, so these days they just play around and talk all day. School should be starting in a week or so, so it will eventually be back to work for them.
The cholera scare has died down, thankfully, so thanks to all who prayed for that one.
Of course, now our water pump is broken, so if you could switch your prayers from cholera to our water pump that would be just dandy. We’re trying to make other short-term arrangements, so there’s no need to panic. Still, prayer would be nice.
My little naked next-door neighbour, Innocent, wandered into my kitchen again the other day for another naked dinner party. This time he didn’t just watch me, though. This time he pooped on my floor. Yes, you read that correctly. I would have informed his mother but as she speaks zero English and I haven’t yet learned how to say, “Your 1 ½ year old took a dump on my kitchen floor” in Tonga I just cleaned it up and kept quiet. Innocent has been banned from my kitchen indefinitely.
Bread has made up about 90% of my diet recently. The bakery in Siavonga is the bomb dot com. Once our vegetables start coming in I’m planning on getting a little bit healthier, but for now I’ll stick with my bread, nsima and eggs.
The dogs have been staying out of the garden, but I think they got together and decided that since they couldn’t tick me off that way they’d have to find another way. They found it. Now they’ve started howling outside of my window around 4 am. I learned my lesson last week, though, so I’ve stayed away from murderous thoughts.
So, all is still well here in Siavonga. I’m hoping to post another update in the next day or two about selling kapenta, I think you’ll find it interesting, so stay tuned. Until then, take care.
I wish I had more time to write this week, but internet time is short and there’s work to be done so I’ll have to try to catch you up quickly on what’s new around Namumu with a few short updates
My schedule has changed quite a bit in the past two weeks. Mubita, our kapenta fishing sales clerk is still away on leave (more on his situation later), so I’ve been especially busy as of late. We started fishing last Tuesday, April 14th, so with Mubita gone I’ve had to high-tail it to the harbor every morning to sell the night’s catches. The boats usually arrive around 7:00 am or somewhere shortly thereafter, so I’ve have to set out from my house around 6:30. Since the garden beds need to be watered early and I’m never sure when I’ll get back to Namumu, I’ve been getting up around 5:30 to water (I’d assign one of my little Namumu minions to water but, I have to be honest, they all suck at it…just have to do that one myself). Since the boats go out every night for 24 days there’s no break on the weekends. I’m worn out.
The Namumu children are happy and content as always. They’re still on break from school, so these days they just play around and talk all day. School should be starting in a week or so, so it will eventually be back to work for them.
The cholera scare has died down, thankfully, so thanks to all who prayed for that one.
Of course, now our water pump is broken, so if you could switch your prayers from cholera to our water pump that would be just dandy. We’re trying to make other short-term arrangements, so there’s no need to panic. Still, prayer would be nice.
My little naked next-door neighbour, Innocent, wandered into my kitchen again the other day for another naked dinner party. This time he didn’t just watch me, though. This time he pooped on my floor. Yes, you read that correctly. I would have informed his mother but as she speaks zero English and I haven’t yet learned how to say, “Your 1 ½ year old took a dump on my kitchen floor” in Tonga I just cleaned it up and kept quiet. Innocent has been banned from my kitchen indefinitely.
Bread has made up about 90% of my diet recently. The bakery in Siavonga is the bomb dot com. Once our vegetables start coming in I’m planning on getting a little bit healthier, but for now I’ll stick with my bread, nsima and eggs.
The dogs have been staying out of the garden, but I think they got together and decided that since they couldn’t tick me off that way they’d have to find another way. They found it. Now they’ve started howling outside of my window around 4 am. I learned my lesson last week, though, so I’ve stayed away from murderous thoughts.
So, all is still well here in Siavonga. I’m hoping to post another update in the next day or two about selling kapenta, I think you’ll find it interesting, so stay tuned. Until then, take care.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Business Updates
As usual, things in the front office are busy but good.
Our two fishing rigs have been sidelined for the past week. Once a month, every month, around the time of the full moon all kapenta fishing companies shut down for around 6 or 7 days. The boats use special light bulbs, both out of the water and deep down in the water, to attract the small kapenta fish into the nets. When the moon is full or close to it the small lights are ineffective, so everyone takes a little break. It works out well though. The fishermen set out to fish around 3:00 pm and return the following morning around 7:00 am for about 24 days straight, so they need and deserve a rest.
While our boats were sidelined we took them to a neighboring fishing company’s engineers to have some maintenance work done. Most of the local owners are friendly and willing to offer advice, something that I’ve been trying to take advantage of. I’ve hit a number of owners with question after question and have received a crash course in everything from engine repair to catching strategies. I’ve come a long way but still have a lot to learn.
Catches were pretty terrible last month, so we’re hoping for some improvement here in April. Still, there’s only so much we can do. Much of it depends on weather and, to a certain degree, on luck.
I’ve also received a crash course in both carpentry and welding. I’ve been trying to find out what tools our guys really need and what they say they need but could really do without to get the job done. Again, I’ve learned quite a bit but still have a long way to go.
Last but not least, farming is coming right along. I’ve got a few hard working little Namumu-ans helping me every day. I’ve discovered the secret to effective farming here. Before, I’d try to organize big groups to come to work and get a lot accomplished. They’d always mess things up and get in each others’ way. Now, instead, I just walk over to the beds and start working. Inevitably, around 4 or 5 of the kids will wander over to see what’s going on and to help me. With the small numbers we always get a lot finished and I’ve been able to teach them a thing or two.
Recently we’ve been seeding and mulching and building fences to keep out the stray dogs. These dogs are really ticking me off. They wander all around Namumu and keep doing little dances all over our newly planted beds. We built a fence but they continued to get through. Man oh man did I start to get angry. Really angry. I learned my lesson after God punished me, though…
It was early in the morning and I was tired and grumpy. I walked over to the beds and found the usual doggy footprints all over some recently planted cabbage. While I was gathering straw to do some mulching I started having Michael Vicki-ish thoughts about the Namumu dogs, I mean really terrible thoughts about what I wanted to do to them. As I was having said thoughts, and I mean RIGHT when I was having said thoughts, my foot fell into a deep hole, a hole that had previously been used for an outdoor toilet. God’s punishment was swift. I quickly repented for my bad thoughts and for my anger.
So there you have it. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and he spoke to me through an outdoor latrine.
Our two fishing rigs have been sidelined for the past week. Once a month, every month, around the time of the full moon all kapenta fishing companies shut down for around 6 or 7 days. The boats use special light bulbs, both out of the water and deep down in the water, to attract the small kapenta fish into the nets. When the moon is full or close to it the small lights are ineffective, so everyone takes a little break. It works out well though. The fishermen set out to fish around 3:00 pm and return the following morning around 7:00 am for about 24 days straight, so they need and deserve a rest.
While our boats were sidelined we took them to a neighboring fishing company’s engineers to have some maintenance work done. Most of the local owners are friendly and willing to offer advice, something that I’ve been trying to take advantage of. I’ve hit a number of owners with question after question and have received a crash course in everything from engine repair to catching strategies. I’ve come a long way but still have a lot to learn.
Catches were pretty terrible last month, so we’re hoping for some improvement here in April. Still, there’s only so much we can do. Much of it depends on weather and, to a certain degree, on luck.
I’ve also received a crash course in both carpentry and welding. I’ve been trying to find out what tools our guys really need and what they say they need but could really do without to get the job done. Again, I’ve learned quite a bit but still have a long way to go.
Last but not least, farming is coming right along. I’ve got a few hard working little Namumu-ans helping me every day. I’ve discovered the secret to effective farming here. Before, I’d try to organize big groups to come to work and get a lot accomplished. They’d always mess things up and get in each others’ way. Now, instead, I just walk over to the beds and start working. Inevitably, around 4 or 5 of the kids will wander over to see what’s going on and to help me. With the small numbers we always get a lot finished and I’ve been able to teach them a thing or two.
Recently we’ve been seeding and mulching and building fences to keep out the stray dogs. These dogs are really ticking me off. They wander all around Namumu and keep doing little dances all over our newly planted beds. We built a fence but they continued to get through. Man oh man did I start to get angry. Really angry. I learned my lesson after God punished me, though…
It was early in the morning and I was tired and grumpy. I walked over to the beds and found the usual doggy footprints all over some recently planted cabbage. While I was gathering straw to do some mulching I started having Michael Vicki-ish thoughts about the Namumu dogs, I mean really terrible thoughts about what I wanted to do to them. As I was having said thoughts, and I mean RIGHT when I was having said thoughts, my foot fell into a deep hole, a hole that had previously been used for an outdoor toilet. God’s punishment was swift. I quickly repented for my bad thoughts and for my anger.
So there you have it. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and he spoke to me through an outdoor latrine.
New Friends and a Break-In
So, as I noted last week, a few of the children that lived next door were, for a while, absolutely terrified of me. As I’d walk up to my house they’d quickly run away and the smallest ones would even begin to cry at times. No joke. We’re in a rural area and while there are a few whites around town, most of them just work in the local fishing industry and live elsewhere, separated from the local Zambians. These kids just hadn’t been exposed to many whites and I was strange and different and scary.
On second thought, maybe it was just the beard…
Either way, I’ve turned the corner with the kids next door. They love me now. They’re used to me. I get to throw them around and play with them some nights when I’m out chatting with the adults next door. It’s almost getting to the point where I wish they were still scared because now they come up and bug me all the time to come throw them up in the air. Most nights I can’t even relax and read on the porch anymore because they are always coming around and wanting to play.
To further illustrate, I was cooking dinner the other night, whistling a little diddy and minding my own business when my smallest neighbor, Innocent (if you met him you’d note the irony there), about 1 ½ years old, wandered right on through my back door and into my kitchen. His mother was nowhere to be found. He was, as you might have guessed, completely naked. He just stood there and stared for about 30 seconds, smiling, with no intention of leaving. He wandered around a bit, checking the place out and watching me cook.
It’s funny how quickly things can change. This was the kid whom I scared the most and here he is showing up in my kitchen for a naked dinner party. I escorted him back to his mother quickly, lest she think I had kidnapped her naked son.
So, I’m getting a little less peace and quiet these days but a lot more play time.
On second thought, maybe it was just the beard…
Either way, I’ve turned the corner with the kids next door. They love me now. They’re used to me. I get to throw them around and play with them some nights when I’m out chatting with the adults next door. It’s almost getting to the point where I wish they were still scared because now they come up and bug me all the time to come throw them up in the air. Most nights I can’t even relax and read on the porch anymore because they are always coming around and wanting to play.
To further illustrate, I was cooking dinner the other night, whistling a little diddy and minding my own business when my smallest neighbor, Innocent (if you met him you’d note the irony there), about 1 ½ years old, wandered right on through my back door and into my kitchen. His mother was nowhere to be found. He was, as you might have guessed, completely naked. He just stood there and stared for about 30 seconds, smiling, with no intention of leaving. He wandered around a bit, checking the place out and watching me cook.
It’s funny how quickly things can change. This was the kid whom I scared the most and here he is showing up in my kitchen for a naked dinner party. I escorted him back to his mother quickly, lest she think I had kidnapped her naked son.
So, I’m getting a little less peace and quiet these days but a lot more play time.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Animal Attacks and Church
My favorite time of day here is in the early evenings. I get to sit out on my porch, kick back and do nothing for the first time all day. I sit and read, sit and chat with my 15 or so neighbors, or just sit. There’s a nice view. I can turn my chair and watch the sun go down behind the Baobab tree. The sky is orange and purple and hazy and beautiful. Later on, if I pull my chair out from underneath the overhang I can see the stars. Most nights now are clear and I can see about a million of them. It’s wonderful.
Except, that is, when I get attacked by freakish African animals. A few nights ago I was sitting and enjoying the view when a bat flew into my leg and fell to the ground. That’s right, a bat. I don’t know what compelled the crazed devil-bird to come into my personal space, but needless to say I wasn’t very happy. Have you ever seen a bat up close? They are freakish and terrifying. I shooed it away but my peaceful evening was pretty much ruined. It’s ok though, I’ve had a few nights since with no incidents.
Other than being under attack by one of Satan’s little friends things are still going well. I don’t have cholera, so that’s good.
I’ve enjoyed settling into my new church home at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church. Siavonga isn’t a huge town but there are a number of churches to choose from. There’s the United Church of Zambia, the Reformed Church of Zambia, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Catholic Church to name just a few. St. Marks is in Mitcho, an area a little ways from town, but I can usually get a lift with Munjongo in the Namumu truck. The Namumu children and staff are pretty much split up amongst all the churches in town, but a few go to St. Marks with me.
St. Marks has undergone quite a few changes since I was last here (I wrote about it in a blog way back) and it’s looking good. It has new doors, windows, benches and a new pulpit. It has four walls now, too, which is nice. It’s coming right along. Attendance is still a bit low but everyone expects it to grow.
The building is new but the worship remains the same. There’s singing and praying and singing and preaching and singing. Most of the service is in Tonga, but every now and then I get an English prayer thrown out there. Still, I can follow along with the Bible passages and can get the gist of the sermon. The singing is out of control. These guys can harmonize like you wouldn’t believe. The songs are all in various Zambian tribal languages but it’s ok because God can understand them even if I can’t and I’m sure they make God happy. They make me happy too.
I got to go with John Luneta this week to his choir practice at the United Church of Zambia, one of the bigger churches in town. There they have microphones, a keyboard, speakers and a mixing board. I felt like I was in a recording studio. Their singing was very nice as well, but I think I like the simple sound of the Presbyterian singers better.
So worship and life in general are just swell. I discovered a local type of hot sauce that is pretty darn good, so when my stash from home ran out I didn’t have to kick that addiction. Our crops are starting to come up already. Beans and cabbage are looking good with eggplants close behind. The little kids next door aren’t scared of me anymore (white is/was scary sometimes for the little ones) so I get to play with them sometimes. I finished “The Catcher in the Rye” which might just be my favorite book of all time. On Sunday I got a nap after church and then at night I slammed a few Cokes and watched LOST season 4.
If you ask me, life couldn’t be much better.
Except, that is, when I get attacked by freakish African animals. A few nights ago I was sitting and enjoying the view when a bat flew into my leg and fell to the ground. That’s right, a bat. I don’t know what compelled the crazed devil-bird to come into my personal space, but needless to say I wasn’t very happy. Have you ever seen a bat up close? They are freakish and terrifying. I shooed it away but my peaceful evening was pretty much ruined. It’s ok though, I’ve had a few nights since with no incidents.
Other than being under attack by one of Satan’s little friends things are still going well. I don’t have cholera, so that’s good.
I’ve enjoyed settling into my new church home at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church. Siavonga isn’t a huge town but there are a number of churches to choose from. There’s the United Church of Zambia, the Reformed Church of Zambia, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Catholic Church to name just a few. St. Marks is in Mitcho, an area a little ways from town, but I can usually get a lift with Munjongo in the Namumu truck. The Namumu children and staff are pretty much split up amongst all the churches in town, but a few go to St. Marks with me.
St. Marks has undergone quite a few changes since I was last here (I wrote about it in a blog way back) and it’s looking good. It has new doors, windows, benches and a new pulpit. It has four walls now, too, which is nice. It’s coming right along. Attendance is still a bit low but everyone expects it to grow.
The building is new but the worship remains the same. There’s singing and praying and singing and preaching and singing. Most of the service is in Tonga, but every now and then I get an English prayer thrown out there. Still, I can follow along with the Bible passages and can get the gist of the sermon. The singing is out of control. These guys can harmonize like you wouldn’t believe. The songs are all in various Zambian tribal languages but it’s ok because God can understand them even if I can’t and I’m sure they make God happy. They make me happy too.
I got to go with John Luneta this week to his choir practice at the United Church of Zambia, one of the bigger churches in town. There they have microphones, a keyboard, speakers and a mixing board. I felt like I was in a recording studio. Their singing was very nice as well, but I think I like the simple sound of the Presbyterian singers better.
So worship and life in general are just swell. I discovered a local type of hot sauce that is pretty darn good, so when my stash from home ran out I didn’t have to kick that addiction. Our crops are starting to come up already. Beans and cabbage are looking good with eggplants close behind. The little kids next door aren’t scared of me anymore (white is/was scary sometimes for the little ones) so I get to play with them sometimes. I finished “The Catcher in the Rye” which might just be my favorite book of all time. On Sunday I got a nap after church and then at night I slammed a few Cokes and watched LOST season 4.
If you ask me, life couldn’t be much better.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A Good Week
Greetings from Siavonga, where the weather is mercifully cooling and the kids next door still run around naked. It’s not even just in the morning anymore, actually, they’re naked pretty much all the time now.
It’s been another good week here, even with all the complications and frustrations. I promised you a happier blog this week and I will try to deliver.
The big news from this past week is that I got to make a trip to Lusaka on Thursday to pick up some farming supplies. Munjongo had a few business items to attend to in the big city and our fishing coordinator, Mubita, had to pick up a new ceiling wire to fit on one of our kapenta rigs (it seems like something breaks on one of the rigs every other day, this being one of the aforementioned frustrations), so I got to come along. In order to carry everything we hired a truck driver for the day, which meant I wouldn’t be traveling in the fetal position this time. Imagine my relief.
Since it won’t be raining much at all this upcoming season we figured securing irrigation supplies would be priority number one, so we upgraded on hoses and got a few sprinklers as well. I’ve been fooling around with them for the last few days and have been trying to teach a few of the older children how to work them so that the beds can be watered even if Kebby (the boys’ caretaker and my farming partner) and I are not around. Manga, one of the oldest girls, is very bright and speaks good English, so it’s looking like she will be my point-person with the watering.
We also picked up shovels, garden forks, hoes and more seeds. We started planting on Friday.
Farming is going to be very important for a few reasons. First, we’re planning on selling our vegetables to have some more income for Namumu. More importantly, though, it’s critical that the children learn these skills. We’re in a rural area and many of them could be doing some form of farming after leaving Namumu. We’re trying to teach them the skills they need now so that they’ll be equipped when they leave.
The other businesses are doing fine. We’re looking to hire a new welder to work with Vincent, our young current welder who is good but perhaps still in need of some mentoring from someone with more experience. We’ve interviewed two and should be making a hiring decision this week.
Since I’m usually either working, cooking or cleaning I haven’t had much free time. On nights when I have time I’ve been reading a bit and watching old episodes of LOST on my computer. I hope all you LOST fans back home are enjoying season 5. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a spoiler-free critique of the last few episodes I’d love to hear how it’s going. If you aren’t a LOST fan then all I can say is I’m sorry (for you).
Well, that’s about it for the week. God is good and is still doing wonderful things through his workers at Namumu. Please continue to pray for Namumu and the community.
Since I promised you an uplifting blog I’ll leave you with a true story from the streets of Lusaka:
It had been a long day. We’d been running around the city for hours and hadn’t even had time to stop and eat. The sun was going down and, to top it off, we knew that we still had a three hour drive ahead of us back down to Siavonga. I was dragging. We all were. But then God sent me an angel to give me the encouragement I needed…
As I was walking back to our truck from one of the stores, I saw a younger Zambian fellow point at me, turn to his friends and saw, “Look, it’s Chuck Norris!” I kid you not.
You know, growing out my beard hasn’t always been easy. I’ve faced opposition from friends and family alike. However, moments like this make it all worthwhile. To have been associated with a true American hero like Chuck Norris, all because of my beard, gave me a feeling I can’t quite put into words. What a great ending to the day.
It’s been another good week here, even with all the complications and frustrations. I promised you a happier blog this week and I will try to deliver.
The big news from this past week is that I got to make a trip to Lusaka on Thursday to pick up some farming supplies. Munjongo had a few business items to attend to in the big city and our fishing coordinator, Mubita, had to pick up a new ceiling wire to fit on one of our kapenta rigs (it seems like something breaks on one of the rigs every other day, this being one of the aforementioned frustrations), so I got to come along. In order to carry everything we hired a truck driver for the day, which meant I wouldn’t be traveling in the fetal position this time. Imagine my relief.
Since it won’t be raining much at all this upcoming season we figured securing irrigation supplies would be priority number one, so we upgraded on hoses and got a few sprinklers as well. I’ve been fooling around with them for the last few days and have been trying to teach a few of the older children how to work them so that the beds can be watered even if Kebby (the boys’ caretaker and my farming partner) and I are not around. Manga, one of the oldest girls, is very bright and speaks good English, so it’s looking like she will be my point-person with the watering.
We also picked up shovels, garden forks, hoes and more seeds. We started planting on Friday.
Farming is going to be very important for a few reasons. First, we’re planning on selling our vegetables to have some more income for Namumu. More importantly, though, it’s critical that the children learn these skills. We’re in a rural area and many of them could be doing some form of farming after leaving Namumu. We’re trying to teach them the skills they need now so that they’ll be equipped when they leave.
The other businesses are doing fine. We’re looking to hire a new welder to work with Vincent, our young current welder who is good but perhaps still in need of some mentoring from someone with more experience. We’ve interviewed two and should be making a hiring decision this week.
Since I’m usually either working, cooking or cleaning I haven’t had much free time. On nights when I have time I’ve been reading a bit and watching old episodes of LOST on my computer. I hope all you LOST fans back home are enjoying season 5. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a spoiler-free critique of the last few episodes I’d love to hear how it’s going. If you aren’t a LOST fan then all I can say is I’m sorry (for you).
Well, that’s about it for the week. God is good and is still doing wonderful things through his workers at Namumu. Please continue to pray for Namumu and the community.
Since I promised you an uplifting blog I’ll leave you with a true story from the streets of Lusaka:
It had been a long day. We’d been running around the city for hours and hadn’t even had time to stop and eat. The sun was going down and, to top it off, we knew that we still had a three hour drive ahead of us back down to Siavonga. I was dragging. We all were. But then God sent me an angel to give me the encouragement I needed…
As I was walking back to our truck from one of the stores, I saw a younger Zambian fellow point at me, turn to his friends and saw, “Look, it’s Chuck Norris!” I kid you not.
You know, growing out my beard hasn’t always been easy. I’ve faced opposition from friends and family alike. However, moments like this make it all worthwhile. To have been associated with a true American hero like Chuck Norris, all because of my beard, gave me a feeling I can’t quite put into words. What a great ending to the day.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Keep the Comments Coming...
One last thing before I go...I've enjoyed reading all the comments, please keep them coming. Due to time constraints I won't be able to respond to them but I always like to look at them and to be reminded that I'm not writing to myself on this blog.
So thanks for the comments, and on that note thank you all for your support, whether it be financially or through prayer. Until next time...
So thanks for the comments, and on that note thank you all for your support, whether it be financially or through prayer. Until next time...
Cholera
There’s been a recent, serious development that I’ve been debating whether or not to write about, mostly because I know it would make certain people overly worried (you know who you are), but there has been an outbreak of cholera in the community surrounding Namumu. It’s serious enough that they have temporarily closed the Namumu Community School. Two people in the community have already died.
We’ve already had a meeting of Namumu children, staff, and surrounding families, informing all about what cholera actually is and how to prevent its spreading. The response has been quick and we are spreading information, but some people are still, understandably, quite worried.
Please take a moment today to pray for our community and that our children and staff can stay safe now and in the future.
(Sorry to post two real bummer blogs this week…next week I promise to be more positive and uplifting)
We’ve already had a meeting of Namumu children, staff, and surrounding families, informing all about what cholera actually is and how to prevent its spreading. The response has been quick and we are spreading information, but some people are still, understandably, quite worried.
Please take a moment today to pray for our community and that our children and staff can stay safe now and in the future.
(Sorry to post two real bummer blogs this week…next week I promise to be more positive and uplifting)
Story Time
Gather ‘round, boys and girls. I’d like to start this week off with a little story (actually it turned out to be not-so-little but please read anyway as it involves me looking foolish and should be entertaining) that I think illustrates certain frustrations I’ve encountered in the work arena quite well:
Sunday morning was shaping up to be just great. I’d had a long week in and around the Namumu office, running here and there, seeing to the daily details of the Namumu income-generating activities (which shall henceforth be referred to as IGA’s). Even Saturday I spent most of the day working, preparing and planting in the garden beds and going to check on the repairs to our kapenta boat engine. But Sunday…oooh Sunday I was going to get to sleep in. I’d been getting up around 6 each morning to clean my house before heading to the office, but since I wouldn’t have to get out to meet Munjongo to go to worship until around 9:30 (Munjongo said 9 but in African time that means 9:30) I was going to get some quality rest.
My phone rang at 6:14. Yes, I have a phone now, something I avoided getting until recently, probably because I knew that once I got one people would be calling me at 6:14. It was the captain of “Lucy”, one of our kapenta boats (“Namumu” is the other), wanting to tell me that there’s a problem with the engine. At least that’s what I gathered, as our fishermen speak Tonga, the local tribal language, almost exclusively, and while they do know some English we still have communication difficulties.
We have a man who has been supervising the fishing operations, a nice man in what I’m guessing to be his late 30’s, named Mubita. Mubita speaks good English and is my guy I use when I need to communicate with our fishermen. However, as I had recently been informed that Mubita did not have a phone at the time, I had no way of getting in touch with him to find out the specific problem. Plus, he usually meets our boats in the morning at the harbor to collect and sell the night’s kapenta catches (the boats fish all night), but since the boat’s engine had been miraculously fixed the day before I started to think that perhaps the message had not reached him that they had gone out the night before and that he might not even show up. So, I rolled out of bed, got dressed, grabbed some bread and headed out the door to meet our boat at the harbor.
It’s a nice 30 minutes walk to the harbor, partially through the woods on a foot path and partially on a paved road. The morning air was fresh and cool. I was now fully awake with my blood flowing, feeling better about life. Then it started to rain. Awesome, I thought. Just the previous evening I had loaned out my only rain coat to my friend, Patrick Luneta (you may remember his cousin, John Luneta, from a previous blog) for his walk home from my house, so turning back home wouldn’t do much good as I had no other rain gear. I decided to press on (wearing only, ironically enough, an old high school t-shirt that says on the back, “The Rapids will get you wet”).
So there I am, walking briskly along the path, still feeling pretty good despite everything. I came up to a section of the path that goes through a stream. It’s not a big stream, but it was higher and faster than usual with all of the rain we’d been getting. There are a number of rocks sticking out, so I decided to, as I’d seen done by many and as I myself had done before, jump nimbly-bimbly from rock to rock to get to the other side. Three-quarters of the way there I make a not-so-nimbly-bimbly jump onto a rock and it turns over, sending my foot about 5 inches down to the bottom. So I reach the other side with one wet foot, seriously considering sticking the other foot in since having shoes of a mismatched dryness might actually be more annoying than having two wet feet. I decided against it, however, and continued.
Undaunted, I cruised through the path and up the road to the harbor. The hills are very green and quite lovely at this time of year, which I was able to appreciate even given my somewhat miserable state. I made it to the harbor after a brisk 25 minute walk, expecting to find the boat waiting.
After standing, shivering, under a lakeside hut for around an hour, chatting on and off with some young local guys who didn’t speak much English and who I’m pretty sure were laughing at me, the boats arrived. Since they park on the opposite side of the lake from which I was standing, they swung by, picked me up, and took me over.
Where I found Mubita. Who, by the way, does have a phone, and has had one the whole time, about which I had apparently been misinformed.
The engine was indeed broken and in need of repair, so we sold off all the night’s catches (easily done this time of year as most boats’ catches are low and as kapenta are always in high demand) and made plans to repair the engine, the same engine that we had been taking for repairs the entire previous week, all of which could have been told over the phone. Then it started to rain again. Hard. And I got back too late to go to church.
The story does have a happy ending, though, and if reading it made you as sad as it made me living it then you’re going to need to hear one. I came back home and collapsed into a long, peaceful sleep that pretty much took up my entire afternoon. Boo ya.
Before I end this sad, sad post, let me be clear: there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be at this moment. God has me right where he wants me. I love the people around me and I love my job. Sometimes, and almost always because of communication issues, it just gets very very frustrating.
Sunday morning was shaping up to be just great. I’d had a long week in and around the Namumu office, running here and there, seeing to the daily details of the Namumu income-generating activities (which shall henceforth be referred to as IGA’s). Even Saturday I spent most of the day working, preparing and planting in the garden beds and going to check on the repairs to our kapenta boat engine. But Sunday…oooh Sunday I was going to get to sleep in. I’d been getting up around 6 each morning to clean my house before heading to the office, but since I wouldn’t have to get out to meet Munjongo to go to worship until around 9:30 (Munjongo said 9 but in African time that means 9:30) I was going to get some quality rest.
My phone rang at 6:14. Yes, I have a phone now, something I avoided getting until recently, probably because I knew that once I got one people would be calling me at 6:14. It was the captain of “Lucy”, one of our kapenta boats (“Namumu” is the other), wanting to tell me that there’s a problem with the engine. At least that’s what I gathered, as our fishermen speak Tonga, the local tribal language, almost exclusively, and while they do know some English we still have communication difficulties.
We have a man who has been supervising the fishing operations, a nice man in what I’m guessing to be his late 30’s, named Mubita. Mubita speaks good English and is my guy I use when I need to communicate with our fishermen. However, as I had recently been informed that Mubita did not have a phone at the time, I had no way of getting in touch with him to find out the specific problem. Plus, he usually meets our boats in the morning at the harbor to collect and sell the night’s kapenta catches (the boats fish all night), but since the boat’s engine had been miraculously fixed the day before I started to think that perhaps the message had not reached him that they had gone out the night before and that he might not even show up. So, I rolled out of bed, got dressed, grabbed some bread and headed out the door to meet our boat at the harbor.
It’s a nice 30 minutes walk to the harbor, partially through the woods on a foot path and partially on a paved road. The morning air was fresh and cool. I was now fully awake with my blood flowing, feeling better about life. Then it started to rain. Awesome, I thought. Just the previous evening I had loaned out my only rain coat to my friend, Patrick Luneta (you may remember his cousin, John Luneta, from a previous blog) for his walk home from my house, so turning back home wouldn’t do much good as I had no other rain gear. I decided to press on (wearing only, ironically enough, an old high school t-shirt that says on the back, “The Rapids will get you wet”).
So there I am, walking briskly along the path, still feeling pretty good despite everything. I came up to a section of the path that goes through a stream. It’s not a big stream, but it was higher and faster than usual with all of the rain we’d been getting. There are a number of rocks sticking out, so I decided to, as I’d seen done by many and as I myself had done before, jump nimbly-bimbly from rock to rock to get to the other side. Three-quarters of the way there I make a not-so-nimbly-bimbly jump onto a rock and it turns over, sending my foot about 5 inches down to the bottom. So I reach the other side with one wet foot, seriously considering sticking the other foot in since having shoes of a mismatched dryness might actually be more annoying than having two wet feet. I decided against it, however, and continued.
Undaunted, I cruised through the path and up the road to the harbor. The hills are very green and quite lovely at this time of year, which I was able to appreciate even given my somewhat miserable state. I made it to the harbor after a brisk 25 minute walk, expecting to find the boat waiting.
After standing, shivering, under a lakeside hut for around an hour, chatting on and off with some young local guys who didn’t speak much English and who I’m pretty sure were laughing at me, the boats arrived. Since they park on the opposite side of the lake from which I was standing, they swung by, picked me up, and took me over.
Where I found Mubita. Who, by the way, does have a phone, and has had one the whole time, about which I had apparently been misinformed.
The engine was indeed broken and in need of repair, so we sold off all the night’s catches (easily done this time of year as most boats’ catches are low and as kapenta are always in high demand) and made plans to repair the engine, the same engine that we had been taking for repairs the entire previous week, all of which could have been told over the phone. Then it started to rain again. Hard. And I got back too late to go to church.
The story does have a happy ending, though, and if reading it made you as sad as it made me living it then you’re going to need to hear one. I came back home and collapsed into a long, peaceful sleep that pretty much took up my entire afternoon. Boo ya.
Before I end this sad, sad post, let me be clear: there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be at this moment. God has me right where he wants me. I love the people around me and I love my job. Sometimes, and almost always because of communication issues, it just gets very very frustrating.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Weekend Road Trip
I got the chance to mix it up a bit this past weekend, to get out of Siavonga and head into the big city of Lusaka. Even though I had work to do here (updating spreadsheets, preparing garden beds, all while drinking copious amounts of Coca Cola), Munjongo’s daughter, Ndandula, invited me to come up for her 24th birthday party. How could I say no? I decided the work would have to wait.
After about 3 ½ hours of riding in the fetal position in the back of a minibus I arrived in Lusaka around midday. Ndandula and her cousin, Janet, picked me up at the bus depot and took me back to Ndandula’s place just outside of the city, a nice, two-bedroom house, where I spent the afternoon helping Ndandula and her friends cook for the party (and by help them cook for the party I mean I watched them cook for the party and periodically asked if they needed any help all-the-while knowing that they would say no and I would be safe) and rocking out to music on their stereo (it was all girls…we listened to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” no fewer than five times).
The birthday party was great. I made some new friends, most of whom were about my age. So, we ate and danced and danced and danced. It was actually a lot like the dance parties I’ve been involved in back home, only instead of standing around in a circle with my guy friends seeing who can do the best robot or Michael Jackson impersonation I was in the middle of cute African girls droppin’ it like it’s hot. No complaints from me.
Munjongo arrived in Lusaka the next day and took me to worship at a large church in the city. There was a special ceremony going on, so there were a good number of people there from all over Africa, including my friends, Ted and Sue Wright, the Outreach Foundation’s Regional Liaisons for Southern Africa. We didn’t get to chat long, but it was nice to touch base anyway. After the service and a quick trip to the grocery store I re-entered the fetal position in another minibus and headed back home.
As for life back in Siavonga, I can’t complain. Work is going well. With fishing we’ve installed some good record keeping systems, and despite a few problems here and there the boats are doing well. As for gardening, Kebby and I have been trying to lead a small army of boys to get new beds cleared. We’ll get there. Also, I’ve planted beans, lettuce and peas in my backyard garden, so I’ll keep you updated on the progress (if you’re reading this, Pete Markham, I want you to know that I’ve followed Eliot Coleman’s instructions perfectly, so I’m pretty much guaranteed success…).
Well, I suppose I should be working and not blogging. Catch you later…
After about 3 ½ hours of riding in the fetal position in the back of a minibus I arrived in Lusaka around midday. Ndandula and her cousin, Janet, picked me up at the bus depot and took me back to Ndandula’s place just outside of the city, a nice, two-bedroom house, where I spent the afternoon helping Ndandula and her friends cook for the party (and by help them cook for the party I mean I watched them cook for the party and periodically asked if they needed any help all-the-while knowing that they would say no and I would be safe) and rocking out to music on their stereo (it was all girls…we listened to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” no fewer than five times).
The birthday party was great. I made some new friends, most of whom were about my age. So, we ate and danced and danced and danced. It was actually a lot like the dance parties I’ve been involved in back home, only instead of standing around in a circle with my guy friends seeing who can do the best robot or Michael Jackson impersonation I was in the middle of cute African girls droppin’ it like it’s hot. No complaints from me.
Munjongo arrived in Lusaka the next day and took me to worship at a large church in the city. There was a special ceremony going on, so there were a good number of people there from all over Africa, including my friends, Ted and Sue Wright, the Outreach Foundation’s Regional Liaisons for Southern Africa. We didn’t get to chat long, but it was nice to touch base anyway. After the service and a quick trip to the grocery store I re-entered the fetal position in another minibus and headed back home.
As for life back in Siavonga, I can’t complain. Work is going well. With fishing we’ve installed some good record keeping systems, and despite a few problems here and there the boats are doing well. As for gardening, Kebby and I have been trying to lead a small army of boys to get new beds cleared. We’ll get there. Also, I’ve planted beans, lettuce and peas in my backyard garden, so I’ll keep you updated on the progress (if you’re reading this, Pete Markham, I want you to know that I’ve followed Eliot Coleman’s instructions perfectly, so I’m pretty much guaranteed success…).
Well, I suppose I should be working and not blogging. Catch you later…
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Bonus Blog
Since I have a few minutes, in addition to the week's update I'd like to include a few interesting notes/observations/facts about my new life...
1) I'm living in an apartment that is one half of a duplex. Both apartments in the duplex are of equal size and are alike in every way. I am the only one living on my side. I haven't gotten an exact count on the number of people in the family living next door to me, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere around 15. No joke.
2) Every morning I wake up to the sound of birds and cows and the sight of my neighbor's little naked African children running around outside. Every...single...day. It's interesting, though, they only run around naked in the morning. I guess if I had a choice that's the time I would choose to run around naked, too.
3) On Sunday afternoon I watched about five hours of WWE professional wrestling, including two separate five-man every-man-for-himself "No Way Out" steel cage matches. After said matches I had a lengthy discussion with various members of the Namumu staff where we broke down the strategies and tactics of each wrestler. What a day...
1) I'm living in an apartment that is one half of a duplex. Both apartments in the duplex are of equal size and are alike in every way. I am the only one living on my side. I haven't gotten an exact count on the number of people in the family living next door to me, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere around 15. No joke.
2) Every morning I wake up to the sound of birds and cows and the sight of my neighbor's little naked African children running around outside. Every...single...day. It's interesting, though, they only run around naked in the morning. I guess if I had a choice that's the time I would choose to run around naked, too.
3) On Sunday afternoon I watched about five hours of WWE professional wrestling, including two separate five-man every-man-for-himself "No Way Out" steel cage matches. After said matches I had a lengthy discussion with various members of the Namumu staff where we broke down the strategies and tactics of each wrestler. What a day...
Week Two
Yes, I'm still alive and yes, I'm still sweating like a 4th-quarter Patrick Ewing.
My job as Income Generating Activities Coordinator began on Tuesday, so I've been working in the Namumu front office all week. Things have gone well so far. I've been getting caught up on how the businesses are performing and am trying to organize their records. Exciting, I know. Still, it has to be done. Besides, having an actual job and a purpose in life again has done wonders for my self-esteem.
Kapenta fishing and farming are the first two operations on my hit list. Fishing is going great. Namumu recently made a large staffing change, suspending or terminating the employment of all fishing staff as it had become quite clear that they were stealing on the job, making side deals with the fish caught on the Namumu boats. It was a big change but a necessary one. The new group has done incredibly well in its first month and has even out-performed a number of the boats from other companies. I've been compiling and organizing the fishing records for the past few days to see where to take things next.
Farming is moving in the right direction as well. Kebby, the boys' caretaker and I are working together on this operation. This season's crops of maize and ground nuts is almost finished, and with the rainy season about to coming to an end we are busy preparing beds and planning our crops for next season: tomatoes, beans, peas and rape.
My home is great. I've been cooking almost all of my own meals so far. Funny, I know. I haven't been eating much because Saviour said I got fat. Just kidding. It's been mostly rice, eggs, vegetables, bread and kapenta. And Coca-Cola. Lots of it. It comes in glass bottles here and on warm days tastes a little bit like heaven.
So, that's about it for now. Life is good. I hope all is well back in the US. Until next time...
My job as Income Generating Activities Coordinator began on Tuesday, so I've been working in the Namumu front office all week. Things have gone well so far. I've been getting caught up on how the businesses are performing and am trying to organize their records. Exciting, I know. Still, it has to be done. Besides, having an actual job and a purpose in life again has done wonders for my self-esteem.
Kapenta fishing and farming are the first two operations on my hit list. Fishing is going great. Namumu recently made a large staffing change, suspending or terminating the employment of all fishing staff as it had become quite clear that they were stealing on the job, making side deals with the fish caught on the Namumu boats. It was a big change but a necessary one. The new group has done incredibly well in its first month and has even out-performed a number of the boats from other companies. I've been compiling and organizing the fishing records for the past few days to see where to take things next.
Farming is moving in the right direction as well. Kebby, the boys' caretaker and I are working together on this operation. This season's crops of maize and ground nuts is almost finished, and with the rainy season about to coming to an end we are busy preparing beds and planning our crops for next season: tomatoes, beans, peas and rape.
My home is great. I've been cooking almost all of my own meals so far. Funny, I know. I haven't been eating much because Saviour said I got fat. Just kidding. It's been mostly rice, eggs, vegetables, bread and kapenta. And Coca-Cola. Lots of it. It comes in glass bottles here and on warm days tastes a little bit like heaven.
So, that's about it for now. Life is good. I hope all is well back in the US. Until next time...
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