Rain, Riots, and Rejected Refusals

Monday, November 10, 2008

I spent two hours this morning with one of Peter’s peace participants. Noyal is from Sri Lanka and he was here basically to avoid the war going on there. It is a dangerous time to be a Tamil, especially if you aren’t a rebel. In order to get a student visa, he had to enroll in a program and his auntie, our friend Anita, thought the Peace Diploma at MEF would be perfect for him. He sincerely doubted that he could do it, given his limited English. However, he persisted and he learned so much. This morning he was supposed to meet one last time with Peter before he had to return to Sri Lanka, but since Peter was delayed they were unable to meet. So Noyal came over and spent two hours telling me how wonderful Peter is. Peter spent a lot of time with Noyal throughout the year, encouraging him to do his best in the program, helping him to express himself with his limited vocabulary, giving tutorials on the computer, etc. Noyal told me that the two most important people in his life over the last 18 months in Zambia were his auntie and Peter. Noyal was shocked that Peter was always willing to put aside his own work and help Noyal, thankful that Peter took the time to listen to his problems, and gave him constant encouragement. They engaged in discussions and talked openly about God and faith and doubt, something he couldn’t do with anyone else. Noyal changed the way he thought about peace and war, marriage, and God. He admired the way Peter admitted when he didn’t know the answer, something unheard of in his own culture. Another cultural difference is that Peter didn’t yell, belittle, or become impatient with Noyal’s questions but slowly taught him what he needed to know. Noyal’s father was killed when Noyal was three. Family and friends were hesitant to discipline him when young because they felt bad about his loss. But his auntie was firm and strong and didn’t let him get away with anything. He was transformed because of the love his auntie showed him. Then he started crying and said through his tears that Peter was like a father to him. I’m sure Peter was quite unaware of the impact he had on Noyal. Peter was just being Peter and doing his best to teach, mentor, and care for his students. I wish that Peter could have heard all that Noyal told me, though I doubt Noyal could have been so free in his adulation talking directly to Peter, whom he always addressed as “Sir.”

Later, when Peter arrived home to much excitement and celebration, I related to him my conversation with Noyal. Noyal had thanked him and told him how much he appreciated Peter but Peter naturally downplayed what Noyal had said. But I hope Peter will remember Noyal when he wonders why he is here and what kind of an impact he has on others.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

We are officially in the rainy season! There is a shower or storm every day, either during the day or at night. It is blessedly cool in the evenings and sometimes even in the day, though sometimes it is still hot and steamy. Suddenly, everything is a luscious green. Peter noticed the difference when he came back. In one week, everything was transformed from a dirty, dusty, brown, to a vibrant green. Now I can make soups and bake bread and other hot meals. It’s actually not that much cooler but I can bear to turn on my oven which is a huge change. In the evenings there are spectacular thunderstorms with lightning illuminating the sky. A church member’s house was struck by lightning this week and all his appliances were fried, but thankfully everyone was safe. And the egrets are back. These beautiful white birds with their slender bodies and graceful necks parade around our front lawn, that is until the neighborhood boys start up a game of soccer.

But the rainy season has its disadvantages too, and now that I am in my second year, I know what to expect. Everything is muddy and it takes forever for our laundry to linedry. A thick layer of ice forms in the back of the fridge from the high humidity so I have to defrost it every other week. There are tons of flies and even Brendan is getting good at using the flyswatter. And then there is the fear of snakes coming into the house as they try to find a dry place to rest. But even with these drawbacks, I am still thankful for the change and for the blessings of a new season.

Friday, November 14, 2008

When I picked the children up from school yesterday, I was told I needed to retrieve the children directly from their classroom instead of the pen (holding area). I inquired as to the reason and was told that there were riots in town and this was an extra precaution they were taking. Several hours later, I was debating whether or not to go to church for music rehearsal but decided to try and I would turn back if there were problems. I stopped for gas right across the road from MEF and could see black smoke billowing up from Chimwemwe Township. I asked the attendant what was happening and he simply said, “Big problems that side.” Thankfully, I made it to and from music rehearsal without a hitch. (Avoiding riots was easier than avoiding requests by the pastor and his wife. In addition to being the sole Sunday School teacher for 20 children ages 1-13, I am also now in charge of the children’s part of the Christmas Day worship service. I got out of doing a full nativity reenactment but I have to come up with something different. They also wanted me to preach to the parents about how they have to “not beat their kids and make them love God” and they wanted me to do it on Dec. 21st. I suggested that perhaps that would be a good Sunday to somehow talk about Christ’s birth, it being the Sunday before Christmas. So now I have less time to prepare a sermon as it is now scheduled for Dec. 7 instead. It is supposed to be Children’s Sunday but that just means that I am supposed to admonish the parents and motivate them to do better. Great. Nothing like having your “theme” given to you and figuring out how to actually have it be a sermon instead of a parenting lecture. I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed if you can’t tell.)

Later I learned the story of the rioting. Father Bwalya, the manager of Radio Icengelo station, had been arrested and charged with issuing statements intended to promote hostility between sections of the community. Basically, over the past few days, he was asserting that the elections were rigged and calling for a recount. This doesn’t seem so bad, but given Rwanda’s history and the role that radio played in inciting violence leading to genocide, I can understand the need for caution. Crowds gathered to protest the arrest and demand his release. Later, Father Bwalya, who Peter knows, was released and appealed to the demonstrators to stop the violence. Unfortunately, his appeals were not heeded and things got out of control. People were throwing rocks at Shoprite and managed to break windows of several stores near the main market. People looted mealie-meal from one store as well as stock at other stores. Burning tires were thrown onto the main streets and this was followed by street kids, of which there are many, throwing benches and trash bins and other things into the roads as well. The police arrived and used tear gas to disperse the crowds. In Chimwemwe, just across the road from us, cars were torched and there was an attempt to loot the bank. When the police tried to stop the rioters, they began to throw rocks and other things at the police station. There was a demonstration by Sata supporters planned for Saturday. (Sata lost the election and since the riots, has formally applied for a recount.) However, given the violence of today, the permit granted for the demonstration has been revoked.



Friday morning, Jason’s class was scheduled to take a field trip to a nearby farm. I went along and stood with all the children in the blazing sun, while they learned about how tomatoes grew, pulled their own carrots out of the ground, and picked sweet corn. One of the other mothers, a friend of mine, was very anxious about letting the kids go because she was scared that more rioting would occur. She had me text her when we were leaving the farm so that she could drive the route the bus would take and make sure it was all clear. I thought all this was bordering on paranoia because everything was utterly calm and peaceful. Then another friend told me that the people who lived through the riots in Kitwe in the mid-90s are really fearful when there is any sign of riots or uprising. Those riots lasted two weeks and things were really out of control. Then it made more sense to me why this friend was taking all these extra precautions.

The boys went to a birthday party in the afternoon but Georgi agreed to pick up the kids and take them so I could stay home for a few extra hours. Somehow I got roped into going to a Friday night worship service at St. Andrews AND playing the keyboard for worship. It turned out that it was a good chance for me to get my feet wet playing along with how the church is used to singing. But I don’t know if twelve people really constitute “the church.” The pastor was hoping for more than two people so he was really pleased. I had secretly hoped that the service would be a little different than Sunday morning but it was exactly the same as usual, except the pastor preached half as long and stood at the small pulpit instead of the larger one. I’m dying for a bit of creativity!!!


Sunday, November 16, 2008

I think I am going to have to get better at saying no, or to put it more accurately, making the church accept my no. This morning I played the keyboard for the opening hymn but that got off to a rocky start because the keyboard wouldn’t stay plugged in. There were a lot of things plugged into the one power strip and the power adaptor had to be angled just the right way for power to be maintained. The drummer was persistent and finally got it to work. At the rehearsal Thursday night, Dorcas and Patricia wrote out the words to two Bemba worship songs so that I could learn them. So this morning they called me up to sing with them during the praise and worship time. I was supposed to play for the offertory hymn as well but the pastor forgot about it and did it after the sermon instead when I was still teaching Sunday School. I had already arranged for the children to share their memory verse with the congregation this Sunday so that happened as well. I introduced it and then the kids said and signed Psalm 86:15. Then I led them out and taught Sunday School to them all in The Sauna. It was all a bit too much. I’ve told Patricia that I am happy to play keyboard on the hymns (so the other guy doesn’t murder them) but that I can’t do music and teach Sunday School every Sunday. I’ve already made it clear that another teacher needs to be found so that I don’t teach every Sunday all year. I also need a helper but Peter is still doing that for me until that is found. I was also told that Saturday afternoons the youth will come and I will teach them how to play keyboard. They have no musical experience but they think that a few Saturdays and they will be able to play. I think that it would be great for these youth to learn to play but I am not a piano teacher AND it might just take more than a few Saturdays to teach them. I said no to this request but received the reply that I can do it in January if now is not a good time. See how saying no is hard?

Monday, November 17, 2008

Bob joined the malaria club today. The boys and I took him to Company Clinic to get a malaria test. That is actually a fun outing for us. The clinic is one of the few places in town that has luscious green grass and play equipment for the boys to enjoy. It’s practically a park! So bad news for Bob but fun for the boys!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Speaking of having to say no a little louder . . . I heard it through the grapevine that TEEZ has scheduled me to do a training in Lusaka for a week in February. I thought I had made it clear that I was willing to conduct trainings locally but that it wasn’t feasible for me to do traveling for them. But I guess I wasn’t clear enough or my clear no was simply rejected.

I also had a minor setback with conducting African Indigenous Christian Counseling trainings at MEF. I met with the Head of Programmes a month or two ago and after a few postponements, we had scheduled a training for mid-December. Well, last week, MEF got a new Head of Programmes so I had to go through it all again. I met with Mr. Katebe and explained it all again and since he will need to talk about it with the Director and see if people are available for the dates that were set, I have a feeling that it will be postponed again. Especially since the Director is in Norway for a week or more.

On the way out of the Head of Programmes office, his secretary, my friend Christine commented, “You’ve gained weight.” Thanks.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

TEEZ accepted my “no” second time around and I successfully gave them the responsibility of ordering resources and printing certificates. They need to learn to do it for themselves, now that they are a partner with Fuller Seminary and using the Christian Counseling resources regularly. I’m trying to build capacity which is not always easy.

I was right. The Christian Counseling training has been postponed yet again. Now it is scheduled for mid-January but I’m not holding my breath that it will truly take place then.

And my scale says I weigh the same as usual.