Hello everyone,
This has been started so many times, Its now 22 January 2020 and I didn’t manage to finish the post because of the electricity problems and also somehow it would not upload my photos! Its still giving me problems but I decided to go ahead and publish this anyway! So I started this on 27 October, amended it mid November and am now completing it. I hope you can follow my ramblings…
This part was written on 27 October but I didn’t finish the post…so I will now finish what I started!!
As I write this morning there is no electricity since evening yesterday and its already 30 degrees C in my sitting room! We are in the middle of a heat wave which I hear is going to last for another week or so! Yesterday inside was 34 degrees and I took my indoor temperature thermometer outside for a few minutes and it was reading 47 degrees C! So, its pretty hot and with no electricity to power a fridge, there are no cold drinks on hand either!! At least I have water and for that I am thankful! Zambia suffered last year due to low rainfall and so the river and dam levels are low which means our hydro power doesn’t work. Countrywide we are on load shedding from between 10 and 16 hours off daily! So, I bought an inverter (thanks to some kind friends – you know who you are) which powers the laptop, a fan, and charges some small gadgets! I am so thankful for this because otherwise there would not be much work done!
I visited Monze ECD centre last week and its a few degrees hotter there! The sweat was running down the faces of the kids, teachers and me and down our backs too! Its hard work with lots of children keeping them hydrated during this hot weather. The kids had a lot of fun despite the temperatures! I was so delighted to see the children playing with both bought toys and locally available materials too. I loved my day with them and it was good to talk to the teachers about how they are trying to assess the children and the struggles they have with parents not understanding that children learn through play! I am pleased that even with these struggles they are still allowing the children to play even in this extreme heat!
I also facilitated a day seminar with some colleagues to finalise some issues in our Child Protection Policy for CCAP Synod of Zambia. We had a lot of good discussion about how we think we can implement the policy once it is finalised. Now, the final write up has to be done when I get some time to do it!!!
I am planning to go to Mzuzu in Malawi the first week of November to assist with a refresher course for the teachers at CCAP International Pre-school. This will be a busy week but hopefully fruitful too and it will be good to see what they are doing in the school these days!
I am not having much luck with external hard drives these days! I I dropped one the first few days I was in my new home and today I was lifting books out of a bag when the other one dropped on the floor and is no longer working! Thankfully I have some of the stuff on it backed up! The joys of having tiled floors!!
Even with the heat these days and the dust, we have lots of colour among the brown! Jacaranda trees have just passed and now the beautiful red of the flamboyant trees are everywhere! It amazes me that with no water really since the beginning of the year these trees still blossom! God created colour and beauty no matter the time of year or season and I am so thankful for that!
Now its 18th November and I am getting round to updating the blog again! I think the electricity outage has frustrated me. This past week hours of no electricity has gone up to 20 in some places so as you can imagine its quite frustrating.
I went to Mzuzu in Malawi to assist Nicolas Mwakasula (the ECD Director) with a refresher course for the teachers in CCAP International Pre-school. It was so good to be back in Malawi despite the hassles at the border on the way! It is a 2 day drive and I arrived on Sunday afternoon in Mzuzu and began work on Monday morning. I was impressed that all the teachers except one were still at the school which says a lot for the Head teachers leadership. Many of the Montessori materials were in good shape and we did a session on using locally available materials using the Montessori method to ensure sustainability within the school. I listened to the many issues and problems that the teachers and the school are facing and together we discussed possible solutions for some of them.
It was a tough week – I was the only facilitator for the 5 days and then I set off on the drive back to Lusaka. I am thankful that I had a good journey and arrived safely.
Lusaka was still incredibly hot on my return but thankfully this last week the first rains came. With the rains come flying ants and I woke up after the first heavy rain to find millions of wings and ants on the yard outside. We collected two bags of ants as many people enjoy eating them! I didn’t keep any for myself!!
Its now January and am continuing the blog…
In December I headed off to Lundazi to do my first training week with the teachers from the CCAP primary schools in Lundazi district, Muyombe and Chipata. It was a really good week – great for me to get to know the teacher and hear the challenges they face in primary schools!
We did some theory and a lot of practical work during the week. The disappointing thing for me is that all these teachers teach as if they are teaching a primary school class. Most of them have Diploma’s in Early Childhood Education, but what they do in the class is basically trying to get children to read and write! They have NO play materials, and even when I tried to get them to make activities for the children, most of them ended up making things they could ‘teach’ with!!
At least I have made a start and hopefully if one thing gets through and they change the way they teach these young children, I will be happy!
The journey to Lundazi is long – while I was there it rained heavily so the road home was a big slippy! Between Lundazi and Chipata there is a stretch of road that has more potholes than road…its horrendous to drive on and I am always thankful to reach Chipata. Coming down through Nyimba there was very heavy rain and a lot of flooding – water levels coming up the the sides of the main road. The day after we saw on the news that the whole place was flooded and due to the fast rushing water many vehicles could not pass! I was thankful to be home!
Christmas was quite quiet. I had a friend here for Christmas day lunch! I did have a Christmas tree though for the first time in all my years in Africa – not quite the traditional green tree but off cuts from charcoal burning in the bush here in Zambia!
Also went to a lovely 9 lessons and carols service in the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross here in Lusaka! The music was wonderful! It was really the only time it felt like Christmas to me because it was really hot! When I was in Malawi I used to receive so many Christmas cards – here, because of the bad postal system I am fortunate to receive one! By Christmas day I had 2 and now I have 4!! So if you sent me a card…its lost somewhere….
After Christmas Fidelis visited for a few days from Malawi. We had a lot of fun during the short visit!
New year’s eve – I had a meal out with a friend although I was not feeling well. When I got home my throat began to get very swollen and sore and almost closed – I thought it was an allergy! When I went to the doctor it was severe tonsillitis! I had no energy so just had to allow it to gradually get better. As I was coming to the end of the medication my ring finger on my right hand started swelling up! Excruciating pain, bright red, hot and throbbing is how I would describe it. So off to the doctor again who was shocked at how it looked. Another strong dose of antibiotics but it got worse and the whole finger became swollen, tight and sore! So…back to the doctor again and this time got a second opinion – obviously it was an infection of some sort! Took about 10 days with much prayer, many antibiotics and a compress bandage!
As I write today a big blister which formed on it a couple of days ago has burst and its now well and truly on the mend!
So, because of the hand, the training I was supposed to have the first week of January with teachers from Southern province and Lusaka had to be postponed and will probably be done during the next school holidays!
So…it is now almost the end of January and I have been visiting Kabwata centre here in Lusaka which opened last week. I have much to do during the next couple of months but due to not having my annual leave in December, I am taking it at the end of January. Hoping to go and visit my friends in South Africa…bought a ticket with South African Airways who have since had problems so I hope I will still be going!
We have had a lot of rain in Lusaka the past couple of weeks although today it is dry! In the city there is very poor drainage and everything is underwater when it rains. I went to a meeting last Saturday in Chawama CCAP in Lusaka. I found the road on the way under water and many people trying to get water out of their homes with buckets. When I reached the manse, I found the sitting room flooded because the tin roof was leaking! Its quite a difficult situation for many Zambians just now.
Continue to pray for safety on the roads, especially during these rains! Pray for food security in Zambia too – in some places crops are dying due to lack of rain, in other places crops are being washed away in the flooding!
In the midst of all the chaos surrounding us, it is good to remember that God is in control, and that we need to trust Him in all of this!
Thank you for reading the blog – its a bit mixed up and bitty but at least it brings you up to date to where I am today!
Have a good week ahead.
Blessings,
Diane x
And below, an interesting stick insect on the wall yesterday – about 10cms long!!
January 22, 2020
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