Confidence and Contentment . . . finally!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Today was the first day of school for the boys. Brendan is now in Grade 5 and has a new teacher at Lechwe, Mrs. Singh. Jason is in Grade 3 with Mrs. Mvula, the same teacher he had for Reception. He was pleased that he got her again because “she is always calm.” With the new principal, there are many changes happening at the school so we are all trying to make the necessary adjustments. All in all, we think it will be a good year.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I finally took the time to visit Audrey, wife of Mukunto, whose daughter died three months ago. She was away in Addis Ababa for six weeks and then I was unable to go while the kids were home, not knowing how long the visit would last and not wanting to leave them at home for an indeterminate time. So with the boys in school, I took advantage of the opportunity to check in on Audrey. She seemed happy to see me and we talked for about an hour. After talking about her time in Ethiopia and how Mukunto, who is now in Costa Rica, is doing, I asked her about missing Kangwa, her daughter. She was eager to tell me stories of Kangwa and what she misses about her. It was sad but Audrey said it is good for her to talk about Kangwa even if it hurts. I was happy to listen. Later, Audrey asked about what I was doing these days and I told her about the mental health curriculum and trauma awareness courses. It turns out that she is part of several Peace Clubs in Kitwe, of which I knew nothing about. I indicated my willingness to share my resources with the Peace Clubs here if they are interested. I want to give Audrey time and space to grieve but I am also hoping that she can connect me to these Peace Clubs to see if I can serve them in any way.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

The last few days have been a whirlwind, with many comings and goings. Eric and Kathy, our MCC Reps from Lusaka, made the trip up to Kitwe to do mid-term evaluations with us. It was truly a quick trip, with them arriving up Thursday afternoon and leaving after lunch on Friday. It was good to look back on our work over the last year and discuss our goals for our remaining year. We have a bit more of a sense of what this next year will hold but are waiting to see how it will get scheduled.

I was asked by Mrs. Lubamba, the headteacher at Lechwe, if I would do something in the assembly to kick off the new mental health curriculum for the term. With only a day’s notice, I needed to think of something creative quick. Having trained the teachers with the material on Monday, I decided to do an “exam” for the teachers in front of the students. I prepped a few of the teachers ahead of time to play along with the presentation. The students were exuberant when I asked if we should test the teachers. I proceeded to then call the names of five different teachers and ask them questions related to the subject of “Respect Yourself.” The teachers pretended to be nervous and there was great applause when they answered correctly. One teacher had to give me an example of what a “good touch” was (the topic which addresses sexual abuse). She decided to demonstrate it by coming towards me, and I, not knowing what she was going to do, scurried away from her, giving the students a good laugh. It turned out that the good touch was a hug, which I received gladly from her. At the end, I asked the children if they thought I should test Mrs. Lubamba, and by the screams and cheering, I could tell the answer was in the affirmative. So I called her up to the front and asked her this question: What is 8,574,263 divided by 914? Mrs. Lubamba’s eyes got wide and the children tittered nervously but then I said I was just kidding. There was a lot of laughter at that one. The real question was, “Why is it important for us to respect ourselves?” And that question she answered with flying colors. It was fun and many children made positive comments to me when I saw them later.

Friday night was our final supper with Erin and Brent. They leave Monday morning and we will see them before then but this was our last time with them in our home. They brought the new interns for TEEZ with them, Ryan and Molly, so we had a chance to get to know them a bit too. I’m sure we will have more time with them in the coming year.

It was a big day on the MEF campus with the daughter of Vivian, the assistant to the director, getting married. Peter and most of the staff attended the wedding in the morning, which was at the UCZ church on campus. The wedding was supposed to start at 9:00 but Peter decided he wasn’t going to go over until after 10:00. I could see the wedding party trying to get everything together and get over to the church, since all the commotion was happening across the road from our house. The wedding finally began at 11:30, two and a half hours late, plus it was all in Bemba, so Peter played a lot of games on his cellphone during that time. It was my turn in the afternoon to show support to Vivian, so I attended the kitchen party at the MEF swimming pool (which is empty, but there is a bit of shelter and lawn). From the morning’s experience, I didn’t walk over there until 2.5 hours after the start time and for once, I arrived at the right time. I was happy sitting in the back, not being the center of attention as a muzungu. Erin and Molly were sitting with me and we had purchased a gift together. Wouldn’t you know it, the very first present that the matron selected from the pile was mine? I don’t believe that was a coincidence and frankly, it made me mad. I already hate having to go up front and dance for everyone but to have to go first? Thankfully, Erin and Molly went up with me. I unwrapped the gift I brought, knelt in front of the bride and explained what it was (like she couldn’t see for herself), paid the drummers then had to dance. Molly loves music and dance and she could wiggle just like the Zambians so they were really cheering for her. I danced a little bit then moved to the side and let Erin and Molly dance away. But one song apparently wasn’t enough so we had to stay up there for TWO songs! Ugh. I swore to Peter that if I was invited to any more kitchen parties this year, I would be permanently unavailable.

And then tonight was the TEEZ dinner that officially welcomed Molly and Ryan and said farewell to Erin and Brent. Peter was kind enough to stay home with the boys and let me go since I know the people in the TEEZ office and enjoy being with them. This is my third dinner like this: first to say goodbye to Carmen and hello to Bob, then goodbye to Bob and hello to Erin and Brent, and now hello to Ryan and Molly and goodbye to Erin and Brent. It is hard to say goodbye to these good friends each year but we are profoundly blessed by this regular stream of good people that we enjoy each year.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Another week has passed and all in all, it has been a very good week.

• We are getting into a new routine with the boys and afternoon activities, which started this week. Jason is playing cricket and loving it, even more than football he says. That is hard to believe, given how much Jason loves football. Brendan is going to stick with football and his private music lessons.
• I attended a “Keep Fit” class for moms on Tuesday afternoon and felt it in my hamstrings the rest of the week.
• I learned there was singing in the MEF chapel on Wednesday night, so I joined the group. I enjoyed singing along with a guitar again and learning new songs as well as singing old familiar ones.
• I’ve made progress on preparing for the “Gender and Peacebuilding” class I will be teaching at MEF in several weeks.
• I attended a PTA meeting and felt more like myself. I made a decision a few weeks ago to approach life and relationships with confidence, something I had lost somewhere along the way, resorting to tentativeness and shyness. But during the meeting, I spoke up and joked around a little and that felt good.
• I consulted with a mom at her wits end with a tantruming five year old, giving her ideas and options in how to respond to him.
• I made eight jars of freezer strawberry jam, actually half were strawberry/raspberry, and now my little freezer is overflowing. But that is a good problem to have!
• I’ve been listening to sermon podcasts by Rob Bell and Shane Hipps, which have been thought-provoking.
• And lastly, we are starting to apply for positions for Peter when we return this summer. There seem to be several good options in the United States. We are very encouraged that these possibilities are out there.

Peter, on the other hand, while encouraged about the future job opportunities, has been bogged down by arranging field work again. Housing for two of the participants fell through this week, so he has been scrambling to figure something out. It also remains to be seen if MEF will have the cash available to send out the students at the end of this week. It will be a relief when the students are at their internships and everything is worked out.

In the midst of all this, Peter reconnected with a Zambian participant from last year, Max. (He is the one who lent us his car when we returned from home leave.) Peter was working at fixing Max’s computer and got a chance to hear what Max is doing with the knowledge he gained in the Peace Program last year. Max did his final project on ecology and peacebuilding, understanding the effects of global warming on communities and the possibilities for conflict as a result. He discovered that teachers in Zambia are required to teach on global warming but they don’t really understand the curriculum. He has been able to work with the Ndola School District, holding seminars on global warming and explaining to teachers the concepts they need to know. He also has had the opportunity to teach peacebuilding as it relates to ecology, something he is passionate about. It was encouraging to hear how a graduate of the peace program is working in the community and making a difference!