Hello all,
Its hard to believe that I have been in Lusaka for six months already! Time went very slowly for the first few weeks and suddenly time is flying past! Of course it took me time to adjust to a new country even though it is the neighbour to Malawi which has been my home for the past 20 years!!
So, first of all I had to find a house and then have my ‘stuff’ which was in storage in Lilongwe (Malawi) transported to Lusaka! All quite straight forward you would have thought! Finding the house was not so difficult actually. The Synod really helped me and we were able to find a house relatively quickly to rent which was within our budget! It is painted bright yellow both inside and outside (must have been cheap paint I think).
So the house was found but getting my stuff from Malawi was another issue! Transport from Lilongwe was a challenge and eventually when we found transport I was told I needed a TPIN number from Zambia Revenue Authority. So I had to apply for that (on a Friday) and it takes three working days! Great, got that, found a clearing agent and thought it was all sorted! However, the clearing agent sent the documents to the Zimbabwe border instead of the Malawi border, and so the lorry was delayed for three more days while a search for the documents was carried out!.
Eventually on 28th June, I moved into my house! Now at this stage, I had a bed, a piano and a couple of chairs! I also had the cooker and my cooking utensils and books from Malawi! It was an exciting time. There were no curtains on the windows because there were no curtain rails! The next few weeks I set about putting up curtain rails, getting chairs and a table made, buying a fridge and a few other essential items! I made curtains and cushion covers for my chairs and framed pictures to put on the walls!
I am quite pleased with the result although its a work in progress! There have been quite a few challenging issues with the house – the plumbing had a lot of problems which had to be sorted, I had a fire in the kitchen when the geyser was switched on – thankfully I heard the bang and got to it before everything went on fire! We have had one day of heavy rain since I arrived and the roof is leaking badly, so that needs to be fixed before the ‘real rains’ come!
So, house sorted, then it was time to get a vehicle! I found a vehicle and the Synod here and PCI agreed that it would be fine. So money was to be transferred from Ireland to Zambia. Money was transferred, but it never arrived – weeks passed and no money and the bank in Ireland could not trace it! Thankfully a friend here knew someone in the said bank and eventually we found out that the money had gone to Zimbabwe – I suppose banks in Ireland don’t realise that Zimbabwe and Zambia are different countries! So….the money had to go back to Ireland and then come back to Zambia! I got the vehicle on 20 August! At least I know how to use the public transport of mini buses and taxis!
Meanwhile on 17th August, I started language study in CiNyanja – a similar language to the Chichewa spoken in central and southern Malawi but with many differences too! The first days I found a challenge as I didn’t get it and yet I understand some Chichewa! But after ten weeks, I gradually learned the Nyanja differences and we graduated on Friday and now the real test begins – using what I learnt in the field!! The class were so nice, from Kenya, Congo, India, South Korea and USA! We had a lot of fun and became good friends!
I am working for CCAP Synod of Zambia (a synod of the same CCAP I was working for in Malawi). The Synod made me very welcome in Zambia and I was so thankful to be able to stay in the home of one of PCUSA’s Mission Co-workers which I was waiting to move to my house! Nancy Collins was so gracious and hospitable and put up with me for a long time!
Synod officials came to my house for a morning of orientation and we discussed how we thought we could begin with Early Childhood Development. It was a day of laughter and fun as well as the serious business we were there for! I have been assigned to Mtendere CCAP where I am now a member and am helping with the Sunday School there! No doubt you will be hearing about it in due course!
In Zambia the beginning of August was quite a tense period on the run up to the Presidential elections! Thankfully in most places things were peaceful and President Edgar C Lungu was re-elected.
August 24th to 28th was our Synod meeting which was held in Lusaka. Rev Uel Marrs came from PCI to attend the meeting. I enjoyed the time I was able to attend and I gave a presentation on Early Childhood Development to the congregation which was well received! I am excited about working with this Synod!
At Synod elections we got new office bearers, so now the new General Secretary is Rev Sevatt Kabaghe who was a student at Zomba Theological College many years ago, and his wife was my student!! The Moderator is Rev Abel Banda, the Deputy General Secretary is Rev Daniel Tembo and the Moderator Elect is Rev Chunda! I am looking forward to working with this new team as we strive to build up Early Childhood in the church.
Many other things have happened of course – I opened a bank account, I learned how to pay water and electricity bills and to pay the rubbish man (to collect my rubbish once a week). I got a piano tuner to come and tune the piano – it hasn’t been tuned since I was in Zomba so sometime pre 2006! It took a lot of work as moths had eaten inside of it, but thankfully it sounds great now! Other things like doing my driving test to get a Zambian licence, paying car tax….all things that take time, and I am grateful that I was given time to do all these things!
So language classes have finished and I am now full time in my job! I will work from home as they Synod building is still under construction. I am heading off tomorrow on a week long trip to Muyombe which is in the Eastern Province of Zambia and actually just across the border from Malawi! I hope to find out about any nursery schools which are already existing and also to meet with the Education Secretary who is stationed in Lundazi.
It was great having my friend Maureen visit last weekend and we went to South Luangwa National Park – I had been there many times and every time is special! A few pictures of the amazing wildlife of Zambia!
As you can see I haven’t quite figured out how to do the pictures properly yet! Maybe next time will be better!!
Life in Lusaka is very different from Mzuzu! Its a big city but yet a very nice place, full of the colourful Jacaranda trees, and now the red flame trees are blossoming! However, there are many challenges and two of them are water and electricty! Due to a drought in Zambia last year the water table is low and so we are rationed to water for a few hours each day! Electricity is also a problem due to hydro power and so we have a schedule – I have four hours off each day, some places are much worse!
So for now, this is my new blog – am still setting it up so be patient, and as I will have no electricity for much of this week, it will be a work in progress! Please feel free to comment, and of course I value your prayers as I begin the job of setting up an early childhood programme for the church here!
Blessings,
Diane
23 October, 2016
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