Last week we had quite the adventure. Sara was not able to get her visa stamped in time and therefore she was forced to leave the country. I was not forced but offered to travel with her because I thought it would be fun to see another country and after the first 20 hours on the bus, I started to question my decision. We went to school on Wednesday and taught for a half-a-day and then left early to grab lunch and hit the bus. We left Ndola at 1:15pm and arrived in Luska at 6:00pm. We quickly got off the bus, paid to use the bathroom ($1,000k), grabbed some dinner, and got back on the bus for the next leg of the journey. We left Luska and started our overnight to Livingstone. In Livingstone we jumped another bus and headed to Kazungula where we arrived at 7:00am. After hours and hours on the bus we got off and stepped into the frigid winter of the morning. IT WAS SOOOOO COLD, I was literally looking for the snow! We then loaded a boat that transports cargo and people from Zambia to three other countries: Botswana, Namibia, and Mozambique.
While in Botswana we went on a boat cruise safari from a local resort called Chobe Marine Lodge (my new honeymoon destination). We took the sunset cruise with eight other people, four from South Africa and four originally from Canada. During the safari we saw baboons, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, giraffes, and tons of birds! The other people we traveled with had a weird obsession with birds and we had to stop and look at EVERY ONE that flew by us. As we were completing our safari the sun was setting and it was SOOOOO beautiful; probably one of the most beautiful things I have seen in a long time!
After the safari we went and had dinner, we found these huge bags of Cheetos (1kg and 4kg bags), and then got slightly harassed by a man carrying a dead fish! I am not gonna lie, he made me real nervous and so I ran into KFC because there was a security guard at the door that stopped him from coming at us. Who would have thought that one could be so happy to see KFC? :o) We went back to the Kanga Guest House and slept for what had seemed like the first time in days. The next morning we checked out at 7:30am and crossed back into Zambia. We headed up to Livingstone to visit the Victoria Falls.
The Falls were so pretty as well. I have never experienced something like the falls and I just felt so blessed to stand at a historical landmark like that where you meet people from all over the world. Victoria Falls is a place that you can’t help but stand and bask in the amazement of God and His creation! Because it is the dry season right now, the Falls were very small and we were able to walk along the top rocks. As we were playing in the water, our guide Mambwe was nervous we were gonna fall in or get hurt so he watched us closely. Little did we know, he started to enjoy the water himself, maybe even a little too much, because soon after he slipped and fell in two different times. Haha. He got up as everyone was laughing and shouted, “I have been baptized… TWICE!” Good thing that was the last thing we needed to see at the Falls because Mambwe was so wet and had to then travel in his wet corduroy pants and long sleeve flannel shirt. On the way out of the Falls a nice man with a slingshot and large stick escorted us because they were afraid the baboons might attack us to steal our Cheetos! NO JOKE! The baboons were just running around, doing their thing, and when we walked by a handful of them stopped and stared at us. It was crazy cool! For the rest of Friday we hung out and then caught the 8:00pm bus back home to Ndola. We arrived back home in Ndola at 11:00am Saturday morning. After coming back home, we spent the rest of the weekend with our family. We danced, sang, and watched Walk The Line. You all better watch out; I am learning some serious African Dance here! The number one style of dance here is called the pelvic thrust (PTP)! Haha. Everyone here is a pro at the pelvic thrust and I simply look like a fool but soon enough you all will want me to teach you! JUST WAIT… specially you Karna, Kara, and Laura! ;o) So far things here are going well. School is really great but so much work. I feel like we have been given a great deal of responsibility both in the classroom as well as with the after-school program and it just makes me nervous. I want to do my very best but I feel a lot of pressure to do GREAT things, if you know what I mean. Our days are long but packed with things we love to do.
Quick example: Today I discovered a girl in my class who does not talk, write, or read. It is very bad of me but with 40 kids, it is hard to keep track of them all. While the students were working on group projects in math, I noticed that Mellan was not participating. I told her multiple times both in English and in Bemba that she needed to participate and then my co-teacher finally informed me that she doesn’t understand much. I quickly got frustrated that no one had informed me and that no one does anything for her. She has been at our school since first grade and she doesn’t do anything! So, after switching my frustration and anger to sadness, I pulled her aside and we began writing the alphabet together. After school I asked the teachers about her and no one really had any answers. They asked me to diagnose her and do what I could but that is it. It is was really hard to talk to the teachers because I wanted to sit them down and ask why they keep moving her along if she is not capable of completing the work; I wanted to ask them what they thought was going to happen when she needs to take the government test in 7th grade and all we have done is pass her along; I wanted to ask them how they imagined her future and what they could see her doing as an adult trying to survive, and then I had to keep myself in check. I had to sit back and realize that I am not in the States and education here is much different. I had to realize that they don’t have special teachers who are able to work one-on-one with students that need extra help and it is not as easy to simply diagnose a problem and fix it at the drop of a hat. Today was a big eye opener for me because I felt my first real, raw, honest emotion about the differences and issues here in Zambia. Today I was challenged to take my struggle and turn it into energy and power to change something. I have a feeling that today was only the beginning. I get excited for work tomorrow because I will sit with Mellan with great hope and expectation that new things with come from her! As we continue, I will keep you posted.
Prayer Requests: * Please keep our host family and their friends in your prayers. One of their friends Joann, her mom passed away yesterday. They live in our building and Joann & Savour (our sister) are friends from school.
* Please pray for our water. We have not had water at the school or the orphanage since last week Monday because a pipe has broken. Because of this issue, we were not able to serve lunch last week at the school and the after-school program has not been able to run either.
* Please pray for safe travels as our friends, David and Claudine, from Stanford University leave this week. They have been here for the last month doing research on behalf of Spark.
Love, SLE
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