Drenching rains and a variety of unexpected events in Kantolomba caused a change in our plans for Friday. We had hoped to go out to Kantolomba with Mukonda so that more of the Living Compassion team there could see her for their medical needs. It turned out, however, that three people in the community had died in the past few days and most people would be paying their respects during the day. Also, eight or nine of the team were sick either with the flu or, in one case, Josephine, a recurrence of malaria. Plans for the Kantolomba visit were postponed until Saturday, Jen and Melinda's last full day in Zambia.
Whether out in Kantolomba or back in Ndola, there is never a shortage of tasks for the Living Compassion team. The morning was spent in phone calls, emails and planning: planning for the days immediately ahead, and planning for the next steps into the future in Kantolomba and in the United States.
Negotiations with Mukonda and Martha are proceeding, with the plan to have Mukonda working in Kantolomba four days a week and Martha teaching and coaching the cooperative on financial issues every Saturday. Both women will be in direct and constant communication with the US team.
A big piece of the work on Friday was creating a mission statement and working guidelines for the cooperative applicable to both the Zambian and US teams. Conscious, compassionate awareness and communication are the foundation of the guidelines, as they are in all of the work of Living Compassion.
After lunch, Theresa, Jen and Melinda set out for town to do some last errands: a visit to the bank, to ShopRite and to the chitenge shop.
Theresa all decked out in hearts
Some cheerful chicken chitenge for cooperative sewing projects
After the town trip we talked with Theresa about Kantolomba, and were brought up-to-date on the health status of some of the team. We also learned about a difficult situation Georgina is in; she is one of the English speakers on what we have identified as the cooperative's leadership team, is a teacher as well as a superb seamstress, and it is likely she is suffering from cataracts. Georgina is the sole support for her own family - her husband does not contribute to the family income - and, as the only employed person in a large extended family, is constantly pulled to support everyone else, including her brother and his family of 5. The fifth baby of her brother's six children recently died. We were told that when the newest baby was born, the family's meager resources were turned to her, and the baby before her was neglected and subsequently died of malnutrition. Georgina struggles to feed her own family and to pay her children's school fees with the income she receives from the Living Compassion Cooperative, yet she feels she cannot turn her brother and his family away, feeling trapped, as are so many who live in dire poverty. Her story is not unusual here in Zambia.
By mid-afternoon the sun had begun to shine again in Ndola, and Eunice dropped in for a chat - which she does fairly often, to our delight. Someone suggested we would enjoy going for a walk, and she offered to be our tour guide. We walked around the neighborhood of Castle Lodge, with Eunice pointing out landmarks along the way.
Walking on a road behind Castle Lodge
A view from one of the roads near the Lodge
One of the sights she showed us was a giant 12 to 15 feet tall anthill.
The tall, pointed structure in the distance beyond Jen is an anthill.
It was nice to be outdoors walking, even for a short while. We returned to Castle Lodge in time for a meeting with Friday, one of our many favorite folks in Zambia. Friday is doing important construction work at the compound, and we were looking at estimates and negotiating prices with him for future work he will be doing.
Friday and Jen looking over some construction estimates
By day's end the rain had stopped, and we gladly retired to rest up for Saturday.