Another "spiritual opportunity" day.
The cell phone network is down. There are several cell phone networks in Ndola, but, unfortunately, everyone we need to talk to is on the same one--the one that's down. As the morning wore on, Theresa came over to find us, having realized we were probably trying to reach her as she was trying to reach us. Pauline and Gaudencia also came by our Guest House "office," realizing that we were very likely trapped without service.
Our guesthouse "office." Left to right: Cheri, Dave, Jen, Pauline, Theresa
In the blue dress, Mulima, a guesthouse employee and the photographer of our group meeting.
Being unable to make anything work gave us time to have some essential meetings. We spoke with Theresa about how things are progressing with the projects in Kantolomba and the children in the Living Compassion house (home to 9 children we are raising). There are decisions that need to be made about the older girls, all of whom have just failed the exams that determine whether or not they may progress in school. This is a very understandable situation that we could have anticipated had we had all the facts. These children left their home (at undetermined ages, no one knows how old they actually are) where they spoke Lunda and came to a school of English/Bemba speaking folks very late in their school career. They had two years to learn English, catch up on their studies, and pass the exams. In addition to these challenges, we found out that the tests are written in English and the students give their answers in French. (I know I'd fail!) At this point we're discussing options, such as boarding and trade schools. None of the girls wants to go to a trade school, but their choices are limited. In this system, if you fail exams, that's the end of it.
We also discussed the possibility of expanding the food program in Kantolomba. Currently we are still feeding just over 100 children. This costs about $1500 per month, $15 per child per month for approximately 20 meals. The meals are served only on school days, which means the children don't eat on weekends. We would like to begin serving seven days a week, and we want to increase the number of children fed to 500. With this number, Theresa thinks we could provide one meal a day for all of the most vulnerable children in the compound. Of course, these numbers will change as more of the parents are employed and able to feed their own children. $100,000 would provide food for those five hundred children for one year. By the end of that year, if all goes as we plan and hope, the number of children Living Compassion is feeding will be greatly reduced. (If anyone out there reading this would like to take on raising that amount of money, please let us know. We will help in any way we can.)
Some of the adorable children who will benefit from the expanded food program.
We have written a letter, making an offer on the house, to the lawyer representing the divorcing couple. Everyone we talk to thinks this would be a perfect investment for Living Compassion. Having a permanent physical presence would demonstrate our commitment to this community; would give us headquarters with electricity that doesn't threaten to electrocute us each time we try to charge a computer or make a cup of tea, would save us a fortune in guest house rent, would allow us to host visitors, and once we expand the building, would enable us to accommodate more retreatants. We will let you know what happens.
Mr. Kayula came by this afternoon with samples of the new monk bags and napkins that Martin the tailor has been making. We really like the new, larger size bag. Tomorrow we will see how Neli has done with the new pants pattern. Perhaps we will finally have some larger meditation pants in a spiffy new style to offer upon our return.
Dave has gone with Theresa and Pauline out to Kantolomba to prepare security for the well digging rig that may arrive tonight, while Jen and I put finishing touches on the blog. We have contracted with Godfrey to send this out from the University, where he has access to high-speed internet. The service at the internet cafes is slow and unreliable, nearly impossible to get a picture to go out. And we have lots of pictures to send!
Ah, but the adventures did not end. Jen and I decided to walk down to our newly discovered luxury internet cafe to see if they had finally opened. Nope. But parked in front of the place was a car jacked up waiting for a new tire. As we walked up, we expressed our condolences, describing our flat tire extravagance of the night before. One of the young women waiting with the car said, "Don't I know you?" We all looked at each other, scrunching our foreheads in our shared effort to remember–she got there first.
She's Joy, one of the four young high school students with whom we spent so much time at the Savoy last summer. It was great to catch up with her and get news about her other three buddies. She's finishing up school, still with her dream of studying journalism at university. We got her email address again, and we'll try an exchange before we leave this time--our last attempt to keep in touch via email failed.
Joy and her friend.
The internet lady drove by and asked us if we wanted to browse. We said we would, and she went off to open the shop. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to get the system up and running, and since it was getting dark, we decided to call it a night and try again in the morning. As we were leaving, we had a brief conversation with two young women who were also waiting for the system to come up. Something in the exchange caught our attention--these are very bright and savvy gals. We pursued the conversation and learned we were right. Pamela, who has a degree in accounting, recently left her job with a car rental agency. She offered to send us her resume, and we readily agreed--never can tell what opportunity might open up for a bright, savvy gal. Martina Peterson--yes, Peterson--is in her last year of high school, attending the private school across from St. Joseph's. How, we asked her, did you manage to come up with the name of Peterson? Turns out her grandfather was from Scotland, and, in fact, she has an aunt living in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was an uproarious conversation about cultural misconceptions. Seems her aunt, who has never been to Zambia, has the impression that folks here stop just short of carrying spears and making shrunken heads. Here's how wrong prejudices can be: We were talking about a soft drink made by the people who own the internet cafe. I asked Martina if she thought they would get as popular as Fanta. "Not any time soon," she replied. She sounded like any American teen.
Left to right: Our Internet cafe host, Pamela, Martina, Cheri
Making our way home in the dark, we came across Dave just returning from Kantolomba. All reported success. Dinner: Spaghetti with tofu "balls" and cannelloni beans. Yum.