JoAnne, visiting from Beyond Shelter (our partners in Los Angeles); and Marcie, a colleague from Washington D.C., arrived at the airport right on time. We learned that Marcia, who is with U.S.AID in South Africa, would be arriving on a noon flight. We whisked Joanne and Marcie away to the Strawberry Cafe, our little corner of heaven. After much scrutiny of the menu, we all decided on bagels for breakfast, something we had never seen on a menu in Ndola. The bagels arrived looking suspiciously like pita bread. We've since discovered that all bread choices on the menu are actually pita bread in different shapes–fortunately, delicious.
At the Strawberry Cafe. Left to right: Jen, JoAnne, Marcie, Cheri.
Since we had a little time before Marcia's flight, we came back to the guesthouse to let Marcie and JoAnne settle in, take a shower, and get ready for the day.
At the airport at noon, we were told there was no noon flight; the next plane would arrive at 1:45. How disappointing! Since we still had plenty of time before the plane landed, we left in search of lunch. After lunch, we helped Cheri move out of her room so the staff could prepare it for Marcia. Cheri would move into Brian's room for one night, and he would stay with the rest of the guys at their guest house. Not a problem.
Did I mention that Dave was with Friday the mechanic? Of course he was. These are the constants in our life: Dave works on the car, we go to the clinic, we spend hours looking for internet, we call and wait for taxis' we buy chitenge, the guys make soap, and we go to ShopRite. Those are the givens. In and around those activities we do our work here. Did I mention we love it?
Back to the airport. No Marcia. How is this possible? Where is she? JoAnne says, "Let's walk through the airport and the restaurant, just in case she's here and we missed her." Now, this is one of the world's tiniest airports so it's hard to lose an entire person, but that's what had happened. She was sitting in the lounge drinking a soda. She thought we had forgotten her. She told us that, after she gave up on seeing us, she booked a flight back to Johannesburg. "I need to be back at 3:30 to get the ticket." Noooooo. It was already 2:00. Jen said, "Let's go see if our friend Peggy can help us out." Peggy works for South African Air and has saved our skins more times than we can count. She knows what we're doing here, and after we explained who Marcia is and what her visit means to us, Peggy said, "Five o'clock. Have her here by five o'clock at the latest, and we will make it work." Thank you, Peggy!
Now, here's the part we don't want even to think about: While we were at the airport, a plane landed and no one there knew it was scheduled to come in. What might this tell us about air traffic control? We don't even want to know!
We go to Kantolomba with Marcia, Marcie, and JoAnne, where the tour begins with introductions all around and a viewing of the well. Meeting in the palapa (not sure that's a word anywhere but in Kantolomba), we explain a little about the community and what we're doing here.
James uncovers the well for us to peer in.
It's amazing and heartening to see people's reactions. To us, we're just this little group of folks plugging along trying to make a difference in the lives of some people we've really come to care about. And we get feedback from "the big kids" that what's being accomplished here is huge and very important. We're actually accomplishing what so many are trying to do. Our success lies in our relationships with the residents of Kantolomba and the officials for the city of Ndola--an amazing group of people.
Everyone gathers around as Marcia (center) explains funding possibilities for the projects in Kantolomba.
Meanwhile there is cute happening all around.
We returned to Strawberry Cafe for more questions and answers from both sides and to say our thank-yous and goodbyes. After seeing Marcia to her gate, we walked back through the airport and spotted the guys waiting to meet our latest team member, Rebecca. We didn't get a picture of her coming through the door, but there will be some good ones ahead as she adds her skills, talent, and youthful enthusiasm to our endeavors.
Left to right: Gaudencia, Marcie, Marcia, JoAnne, Cheri.
After Cheri moved back into a sparkling clean room, we reconvened for dinner and story sharing.