Today was one of those days where I was painfully aware of being an outsider. There are things that I just don’t understand, don’t embrace, don’t appreciate, and don’t possess.
First: what I don’t understand. Today we heard that MEF fired almost fifty of its workers. This was in connection to the strike that took place back in December. After disciplinary hearings, it has been decided that all those who participated in the strike were in violation of MEF policy which they all signed and therefore they are fired. They can appeal to the director to be reinstated. We don’t know all that is going on but hear bits and pieces from both management and the workers. This has the potential to really blow up but we are praying hard that MEF will survive this ordeal intact.
Second: what I don’t embrace. Florence, the former secretary of the Peace Center as of today, was sewing my chitenge outfit. Today she had the top and wraparound skirt ready for me. She is still working on the actual skirt that goes with the outfit. She joked that now she will have more time to finish it since now she is out of a job. I put on the outfit and used Peter as a mirror since there wasn’t one in the office. He was very diplomatic as usual but I could tell he was hesitant to say what he truly thought. Later, when Carmen and Adrian were also at his office trying to understand the shocking events occurring at MEF, Peter finally spoke his true opinion. He said I looked “NFLish.” (That’s the National Football League in the United States, for those who don’t know.) In fact, that is a bit how I felt with my poofy sleeves making me feel like a linebacker. I distinctly remember that I wanted small sleeves but Florence must have felt that I needed something more Zambian. Sure enough, when I wore it to visit my Zambian friends in Carmen’s office, they thought the sleeves were perfect and definitely not too big. Besides the fact that I can’t lift my arms at all, I don’t think I will be able to embrace the poofy sleeves as is. Thankfully they can be easily altered.
Third: what I don’t appreciate. I had a conversation with Reverend Chimfwembe who is part of the United Church of Zambia Theological College (located on the MEF campus). He is very excited about the African Indigenous Christian Counseling training that I am willing to facilitate using my dad’s DVD and book. When last we talked, we were looking at a training for St. John’s Anglican Seminary (also on the MEF campus) but we were trying to move the dates. This morning I found out that he had scheduled me for two more trainings. Unfortunately, the dates he had down were dates that I am not available. When I told him this, he said that I had to do it because the letters had already been sent and people had been registered. I kindly pointed out that if he wanted me to be the facilitator, then it might have been a good idea to run the dates by me FIRST to see if I was available before assuming I could do whatever he put down. He told me that the other people would be angry and not want to do the training because of the hassle of changing the dates now. I still refused and said we needed to keep looking at alternative dates if he wanted me to facilitate.
Fourth: what I don’t possess. The boys and I always become acutely aware of what we lack after visiting Georgi’s house. Georgi recently put in a swimming pool and since we have had a string of hot days, the boys really enjoyed that. Patric has a small motorbike and both boys had a chance to ride it around on their spacious lawn. Then there is the trampoline, the club house, and the swingset – all things that are cool but that we don’t have. Another friend from Brendan’s class also came to swim and I chatted with his mother a little. She was talking about how they go back to Europe three times a year because their company pays for it. Next trip they just HAVE to stop in Dubai because the shopping is AMAZING! On the way home, we had our usual conversation about why we can’t just build a pool in our backyard and why we can’t have all the great things that Patric has. It is hard on all of us to be caught between the rich and the poor. I told the boys that Peter and I struggle with knowing how much is enough for us. There are always more things to buy, experiences to have, items we feel we must have to be happy. But we have to figure out how much we need to be content and then be generous with the rest of it. It isn’t fair for us to keep buying more and more stuff when there are others who don’t have enough money to eat more than one meal a day. We get messages from all over telling us what we need to be content but we have to think hard about what is truly necessary and then try to live joyfully within those boundaries. I invited them to help us think about these things and together we can discern how to best use the money we have. Sometimes Brendan will simply say that when he grows up he will make sure that he is rich so he can have everything that Patric has. But they were quiet this time. Welcome to the struggle, boys.
Friday, February, 22, 2008
I like the luxury of having water flow out of our taps. I don’t care that it isn’t hot water or that it only comes on limited hours a day. I just want to have water.
We have had no water in our house since Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. At first, we wondered if this was due to sabotage with the MEF workers being fired (which is still a distinct possibility). But then we heard the pump was broken. Next we heard that the pump was fixed but now there was a plumbing problem. Every day we are led to believe that the water will be on at such and such a time but it never works out that way. Thirty-six hours later we were on our last drops and wondering what we were going to do but then someone told us about a tap on the other side of campus where we could fill buckets. So now Peter makes trips over there in the car and brings back buckets of water. No, we don’t just carry the buckets on our heads like everyone else (although that would be the only way we are going to get a shower around here). We heard that girls are taught from a very young age how to carry things on their heads using their bones, not their muscles. When muzungus like us try to do this with heavy loads, we end up straining our neck muscles. We are learning to get creative about ways to recycle water. Every drop is precious and cannot be disposed of until it has served several functions.
Last night, Mark, Amy, and Tyler arrived. They are on a one-year assignment with MCC through the SALT program. They will stay with us for a few days and we will show them around MEF so they can see what MCC is doing here. But the rest of the time we will relax, eat, play games, etc. Amy plays guitar so I borrowed Adrian’s guitar and we have had a wonderful time singing worship songs together. She has a beautiful voice and we take turns singing melody and harmony. It touches me in a deep place, and I can’t describe it. That’s needed right now because it is a bit stressful hosting three people for three days with no water. Thankfully, they are flexible after living with Zambian host families for the last six months.
This morning as I was lying in bed, I asked myself the question, “Water or power?” Which of these would I rather do without? The people in the neighboring compounds make do without both of these things. They have learned to live without power and easy access to water. But me? I want both and I want it all the time and I want it NOW! There’s so much I take for granted, it’s not even funny.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
It is six months ago today that I first blogged on Zambia. This is how we celebrated our “only two and a half years to go” day.
Peter took Amy, Mark and Tyler to the bus depot after breakfast. We officially have water now, but it is just a trickle and only in the bathroom. It took several hours to fill a few buckets. And then it was gone. I raced around trying to ready myself and the boys to go to church. We walked out the door and Peter realized he didn’t have his keys. Mine were inside as well. We were locked out. One important fact we discovered this morning is that our house is VERY secure. Carmen was planning on going to church with us but since that wasn’t going to happen we went over to her place to hang out. Peter found a security guard to see if he could help us get the spare set of keys that Mindolo should have. But he is a temporary worker since all the MEF workers were fired last week and he didn’t know anything. The receptionist doesn’t work Sunday mornings because everyone goes to church. Peter finally got in contact with the matron (in charge of housing). She eventually came with her set of spare keys and we discovered that she doesn’t have a spare to our house. All of the windows on our house have bars across them, making it impossible to get in which is great if you are a thief, but not if you locked your keys in the house. Peter and I finally discovered that the bathroom window only has bars going horizontally but not vertically. As an added bonus, the window was already cracked but still hanging in place. We broke that window and Jason went through the bars to fetch our keys so we could open the door. Jason was so proud of himself for saving the day and told everyone that we had declared him a hero!
This whole ordeal took over three hours to resolve. Meanwhile, we passed the time at Carmen’s house. I had hurriedly prepared a Sunday School lesson this morning, in case I was called on to teach, so Carmen suggested that we just do church at her place. I must admit that this was the last thing I wanted to do. After singing a few worship songs, we read the story of how Jesus first called his disciples and told them to follow him and be fishers of people. We played “Follow the Leader” to get a bit of practice in the skill of following and then talked about what it would mean for us to follow Jesus. Brendan proved to be our hero this morning and carried us all along with his active engagement in worship. He had songs he wanted to sing and reflections on the story. Now both boys have something to be proud of today.
We were so thankful to be in our house again and Peter and I set to work cleaning up all the broken glass. We put some water that we had collected this morning on the stove to boil since we are almost completely out of drinking water but then the power went off. Jason was extremely disappointed that we couldn’t heat up the Mexican Fiesta leftovers that he was really looking forward to eating. No power, no water, locking ourselves out, a tantruming kid, Mindolo in the midst of a very messy situation . . . and things are pretty grim after six months in Zambia. All we need is malaria and then the picture would be complete.
Peter and I are both feeling pretty emotionally low so he asked me how I was going to take care of myself this afternoon. In response, I pulled out a puzzle. I find puzzles soothing. I like how it is completely overwhelming when you see 1000 pieces that all look the same. But then you gather the edge pieces and slowly a frame takes shape. Then you find a few pieces of similar color and are elated when they fit together. There are times when you feel you can’t do anymore and then you take a break. But when you return, you see things that you missed before and pieces come together quickly. And if you work on it at different times of day and in different light, other matches become more apparent. I think it is a metaphor for life, really. And since my life sucks right now, I was glad to escape into another world, one of snowcovered trees and frozen rivers, and see progress and gain satisfaction by working hard on something and actually seeing the fruit of my labors.
The power came on 8 p.m. in the middle of me blubbering on the phone to my parents about my life’s woes. At least now I can boil water and work on my puzzle. Tomorrow is a new day and things usually look better in the morning. Even without water.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Does a trickle count? If so, then we have water. Kind of. At least the public relations officer and the head of administration are in the same boat so we know this issue will be addressed. Peter had a little chat with them and wondered aloud if it was wise to use the same people that were fired (and possibly the saboteurs) to fix the problem. It is possible that their motivation to speedily address the problem could be low.
The boys are back in school after a week holiday. Jason decided during the break that he loved school and he was very excited that he could go back today. Brendan is back in uniform and looking spiffy. Brendan was good to me last week and wore his same favorite outfit every day which helped the laundry situation. Jason made up for it by changing his clothes several times daily. I usually do at least one load of laundry a day but haven’t now for a week due to no water. This is not good.
I was telling Peggy about our “exciting” weekend and she shook her head and had compassion on me. I asked her if they ever get visitors that stay with them, like family from out of town. In response, Peggy said, “We have suffered, I’m telling you. There is no one left to come visit.” Then she told me how her father and her uncle died within days of each other and so her grandmother buried two sons at the same time. Her mother left her with the grandmother and took Peggy’s youngest sister to the Northern Province to stay with her family. She died two years later and Peggy has no idea what happened to her baby sister. She has no way of contacting the village to find out about her sister. It was my turn to shake my head and have compassion on her. I guess I’d rather choose the inconveniences of no water or power than the heartbreak of dead parents and a missing sibling.
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