Bedbug Bedlam

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
I just remembered that I had forgotten to mention that Peter completed his revisions on his dissertation (again) and submitted it to his advisor. His advisor said it looked good and forwarded it on to the examiners for their final marking. Since he has already passed his oral defense, this is really the final step. We have celebrated so many times over the last several years like his proposal being accepted, the completion of each chapter, turning it in to his advisor as a completed project, successfully defending it, and now it is truly the final step. I don’t know when we will hear the final outcome but the end is definitely in sight!

Thursday, January 28, 2010
Adrian, whom our boys call “the boomerang chaplain” has returned to MEF and we are delighted he is back for another year. He and Jenny joined us for dinner tonight. When I put the boys down for bed, I noticed an inordinate number of bedbugs crawling on the sheets. I quickly stripped the sheets, put the boys in the guest bed and boiled water to wash them again. So it seems that they aren’t just living in the mosquito net but have found another place to hide and breed. Sigh.

Saturday, January 30, 2010
It felt like an Amazing Race type task to do. Many times we wished we had chosen the “Fast Forward” but we just had to push through and do the difficult challenge. The bed bugs have come back with a vengeance so we spent three and a half hours this morning taking apart the boys’ bunkbed and cleaning it thoroughly. This was not a fun job, especially since there are so many slats of wood that needed to be unscrewed and washed in hot bleach water. We found several nests with tiny baby bedbugs which was both disconcerting and gratifying at the same time. We boiled water and washed all the bed linens and mosquito net again. Since we couldn’t remove the horizontal slats on which the mattresses rest, we had to spray Doom and hope for the best. It was a disgusting job and a tiring one. But the alternative was to go into the boys’ bedroom an hour or two after they are asleep, turn on the light and kill the bedbugs one by one, squishing them with our soon bloody fingers as they crawled on the sheets and up and down the mosquito net. We did that all last week. Now that was disgusting. And then I would dream all night that they were crawling all over me. We sure hope we got them all because we certainly don’t wish to do this again.

We rewarded ourselves with a small bunch of red seedless grapes from South Africa that cost $4. Jason and Brendan were thrilled with this little treat. I had considered buying a melon but when I discovered that it cost about $10, I had to pass that one up. Last week Georgi brought us expensive plums as a thank you for helping out with her kids during the week. I’m not usually a huge fan of plums but these were juicy and sweet and delicious. Another treat this week, was when I found a couple of small trays of raspberries. I didn’t have enough for jam but then I remembered that I had frozen two small bags of rhubarb. I pulled that out and had the exact amount to make a batch of raspberry-rhubarb jam. Splendid!

For awhile there, I thought my jam-making plans would be foiled because we didn’t have power that morning. I discovered that when it is dark and rainy outside, and you wake up to no electricity, it is very hard to drag yourself out of bed to get the boys ready for school. We’ve had more power cuts this week and we are dismayed to think that Zesco found a way to do load shedding in our area. Until now, we have been spared the worst of it since we are on the side of the road that has the mines and they require continuous power. But Friday afternoon, this afternoon, as well as this evening, we have been without power for several hours. Thankfully we had finished dinner before the power cut this evening. But it went in the middle of the Africa Cup of Nations consolation football game. Disappointing for the boys but they had good attitudes. They accepted it because, really, what else can you do? With all the power cuts, at least my fridge gets defrosted on a regular basis.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
I often find myself complaining that it is hard to feel spiritually nourished here, since I have difficulty doing this in isolation and our church community doesn’t seem to provide that for me. So I had the brilliant idea of taking advantage of Brent and Erin being around the next few months before they travel again, and asking if they would want to do a weekly Bible study with us. They were game and so now on Tuesday nights, we meet together for Bible study and prayer. It feels like it has been a loooooong time since I looked at a passage of scripture with other believers and reflected on it together. We rotate leadership each week so that we can benefit from each one’s giftings and interest. Tonight was our second time together and it was enjoyable and enriching once again. You never know what we will discover together as God reveals Godself to us in the Word. Exciting. Except that the theme seems to be troubles and perserverance and trials and suffering. Hmmm. An unintentional theme in the passages we have chosen. What might God be trying to say?

One of the things that I have been puzzling over the past few months is the role of love in good deeds. If my thoughts and motives aren’t loving, then does it negate the act of charity or kindness? Peter directed my attention to an article that he read in Dream Seeker. In it, the Mennonite author argues that we have something we can learn from Judaism. He describes how pietistic Mennonites have placed a premium on inward thoughts, feelings and motives and the need to constantly examine these and repent. But it is a standard that is terribly hard to live up to. He goes on to say:

“Reform Judaism is very realistic and redemptive in this regard. It says, in effect, become a Mensch (a doer of good deeds) and don’t worry yourself to death about your inner thoughts and desires. They are a problem only if you find these should hinder your becoming a Mensch.

In other words, take care of that Samaritan on the side of road, and don’t beat yourself up for the fact that while doing so, you grumble about it inside your head and wish you could be somewhere else. Let good deeds become your habit, and over time (who knows?) you might find your inner desires conforming to your actions. It’s a process; relax already, and give it some time.”
(For the full article, go to http://www.cascadiapublishinghouse.com/dsm/winter10/liecda.htm)

I found this comforting as I continue to struggle with how and whom to love and serve when there are so many poor around me.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Dang. If we were on “The Amazing Race” we would have been eliminated. I killed a bedbug yesterday morning and Peter found two this morning. They’re baaa-aaack.

I told Georgi about our bedbug problems and she said in her no-nonsense doctor voice and lovely Australian accent, “Buhn it.” Really, the only option is to burn it? Considering that bedbugs carry diseases like typhoid, in her assessment, that was the best option. Looks like we might have to have a bonfire one of these days.

Friday, February 5, 2010
It was Book Week at Lechwe and so today the children dressed up as their favorite book characters. The resource teacher has such a kind soul and I was reminded of this as she selected a handful of young kids who had come in their school uniform and not as a character or in street clothes. She had brought several dress-up costumes from home and she proceeded to get them all decked out. I watched these children come back to the assembly with heads held high and huge grins on their faces. Pip’s thoughtfulness made their day.

All the children from Grades 2-6 have to write book reviews during the week and awards were handed out at the assembly. A boy and a girl from each class won an award. Brendan, who has won the last two years running, won again this year for his review of C.S. Lewis’ book “The Last Battle.” This was Jason’s first year to enter the competition and to our delight, he won the award for his class too! Both boys brought home new books with a certificate pasted into the front. We are very proud!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A friend sent us an encouraging email a few weeks ago and at the end included this thought:
I don’t know if you remember Ransom, the hero of CS Lewis’s science fiction trilogy, reflecting towards the end of the third book that his mission was not what he thought it was but rather something else entirely, and that God had been able to use him better in part because he didn’t realize just how he was to serve the Kingdom. In our weakness...

This is encouraging because I’ve felt quite weak lately. Actually, what I’ve felt is despair. I’ve been listening to Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” on audiobook and while I have a deep sense of respect for his faith and his balanced perspective, I am overwhelmed by the huge mess American politics is today. The number of monumental problems America faces like health care and our national debt and the cost of war and are greedy lifestyle that uses up way more than our fair share of the earth’s resources is just too much. Zambia has enough problems to deal with but it is also an election year and so the divisions between parties and tribes is exacerbated. MEF’s troubles weigh on us like a heavy blanket and we feel impotent to make a difference or help change the course of this institution. Part of me, a big part, wants to escape. I wondered where we could move that would be free from mass systemic issues but I was hard pressed to find a place like that. All over the world there are major injustices, corruption, divisions, and poverty that are so messy that it seems impossible that there could ever be change. When I shared this with Peter, he said he too was feeling that same despair. As he was walking home from lunch, it was as if he physically could not keep his head from drooping. He tried praying, now there’s a good idea and one that I hadn’t thought of yet, but the heaviness has remained. Since then, there is a thought that keeps resurfacing that sings, “Take it to the Lord in prayer . . .” but there is a cynical voice that pipes up immediately after saying, “The Lord could do a heck of a lot more if we didn’t keep screwing things up so badly.” I want to throw up my hands and give up but perhaps a better option would be to stay in the struggle and keep praying.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Because there are no therapists in Kitwe, I often get asked if I do counseling. My role with MCC is as a mental health consultant and in order to reach as many people as possible, my work focuses on training. Sometimes I am glad for the protection of this role as I would quickly have a full schedule if I began providing counseling to individuals. But sometimes it breaks my heart that I have to say no and there is no one that I can refer them to. Recently, a family from Lechwe contacted me and asked if I would provide grief counseling for their son who has had a series of losses recently and they were concerned. Instead of providing grief counseling, I offered to consult with the parents, provide them with information on grief in children, and give them tools so that they could help their son better. They were very eager to receive any help they could get so tonight we met together for an hour. They are a lovely family, with so many strengths and resources that will certainly help their son through his grieiving. Mostly, the consultation was about calming the mother’s anxiety and encouraging them both to allow their son to grieve differently than they do. You could physically see the relief on their faces when I told them that all the symptoms that they described in their son were all normal grief reactions. A bit of education went a long way, in this instance, and because these parents are so grounded and already have a strong bond with their son, I believe they will be able to continue to help him on his journey. My despair shrank a bit.