July 1, 2011
Today started with a trip to town to buy supplies for the big workday tomorrow. First stop was the paint store to buy 65 liters of paint to cover a total of 7 rooms on the property. Like any place that has 650 children under its roof, the job required a paint that would be washable and preferably water-based. We went to a place that came highly recommended by Eunice, our host and friend at Castle Lodge. There we met Clement and had the pleasure of watching him mix the paint to our color specification. We got to see him mix the precise amounts of orange and yellow paint to make the color “linen.”
Clement knows the recipe for the off-white paint we are requesting.
Next he stirs the paint with a tool that looks like a oversized ski pole.
As we approached Kantolomba, we came upon more road construction so we took a slight detour to get to the project. Theresa and Jen pointed out a road that had been dug by the women from Kantolomba without benefit of any road-building equipment, using only whatever hand tools they had. The road creates a short-cut over a hill, significantly cutting their walking distance to Lubuto, where they go for supplies and food. It took them six months to dig the road out of the hill. They were halted by the rainy season, but picked it up again and finished the next year.
As we turned onto the road leading to the Living Compassion property, we came upon a group of our children – fifth graders—coming for their lunch. These are old friends, many of whom were among the original 100 children that Living Compassion first fed 6 years ago. What a joy to see them grow over the years!
The road that the women dug by hand.
Driving through Kantolomba to the Living Compassion property, we are greeted by children calling, “musungu! musungu!” (White people! White people!)
Several of the girls walking from their government school to the Living Compassion property to have their lunch. You may recognize Regina and Mary (left and center foreground respectively) who were both in the 100 children video 6 years ago.
Today’s big project is to clean out the classrooms, sort and organize the materials stored there, and get the rooms ready to paint. We will carry everything out of the rooms and put it on the lawn, and then some women can clean the floors while others sort through the items, deciding the best place for them. The second, big, on-going project is, of course, sewing chitenge pants, skirts, and shirts.
Sophiya and Pauline haul a table out of the classroom onto the grass.
More class supplies get carried outside.
Everyone pitches in to help and the rooms are cleared in no time!
While the women handle the classrooms, the men clean out old door frames and tin from another storage area.
Charles is a cheerful worker!
In the meantime, Georgina and Nellie continue their high-level task of creating patterns for the pants, skirts, and shirts in varying sizes and lengths. Once the patterns are created, we can bring in additional sewers to help with production.
Nellie and Georgina work gracefully and tirelessly at their task.
Georgina takes a break to feed her 9 month old, Gloria. Gloria loves the rice in peanut sauce being served today!
Pauline pours the water across the concrete floor while Lucy sweeps it out the door.
What an effective way to clean the floors!
The men advise saving these tin strips, saying they can be made into small wash basins and sold in the community.
It looks like we’re getting ready for a yard sale! Actually, the sorting has begun.
Veronica knows what to keep and what to throw away.
There are metal plumbing materials from past projects that are rediscovered and salvaged.
While the floors dry, the team eats lunch. After lunch, we have a meeting to discuss various things happening with the cooperative. When the meeting is over, the women carry the nicely sorted and stacked teaching materials back into the classroom.
Meeting of the cooperative after lunch.
Resting after everything has been stored neatly in its place.
Looking forward to a group effort on painting tomorrow!
Participation Game: Don’t forget to hop online and make your pledge by Tuesday to make our goal of 150 pledges!