Two things you want to be sure to pack should you come with us: patience and a sense of humor! We have been in a plumbing nightmare for the last three days. We started with one fully functional bathroom, two other toilets that flushed, two sinks that leaked but had water, and hot water coming out of two taps. By the time the plumbers finished, we had no working toilets and water flowing only in the kitchen sink. When the water stopped flowing in the kitchen, we began making plans to abandon ship.
The bad news about leaving this lovely, spacious house (with no plumbing) is that it's Trade Fair in Ndola and all rooms are booked at exorbitant rates--$120 USD a night. The time to call on friends! Quickly we dashed to Eunice at Castle Lodge. One room with a shared bath. Whew! All we need is one more. Nothing. Ah, Gaudencia, our contractor, just mentioned that her husband is away, her children at boarding school--should we? Is it too much of an imposition? No, this is Africa! These people are family-oriented and social, the more the merrier. When asked if she had a spare room for one night, her response was an immediate, yes! All right, we're set.
Back to the house to pack up what we need for one night, we're optimistic that our plumber from the Medical Clinic, who will be arriving the next day, will sort us out. While packing we decide to check everything one more time. One toilet is flushing! Water in the kitchen sink! We can do this!!
Back to Castle Lodge to tell Eunice we won't be needing a room after all, and for a little internet time, we drop Theresa downtown to run a couple of errands. We need to get a letter to the Permanent Secretary's office inviting her to come to Kantolomba to dedicate the new building, and a letter to the Department of Education formally asking them to inspect and advise on our school project. Getting those letters requires taking a flash drive to an internet cafe where the letters can be printed. Then Theresa will get a piece of chitenge from, which Georgina, one of our teachers and a great seamstress, will make a shirt for a new acquaintance from Castle Lodge.
While doing email at Castle Lodge, we met the president of a fire services company located near Seattle, Washington. He is here for the Trade Show hoping to connect with local officials to start a program, from village level up, to assist in fire prevention and control. Air quality suffers because of all the fires--many of which are a result of a small, intentionally set fire getting out of control--and he hopes through education and some basic supplies to assist not only to improve air quality but to save lives. If his proposal is accepted, he will need lots of uniforms, and we would like our sewing cooperative to have an opportunity to bid on the job.
Since we were going to be at the house anyway, we invited Theresa to come over and bring three gals to clean the house--a gift to the Sisters and us. While the fellows were busy destroying the plumbing, we met with Theresa to catch up on community details and lay out a strategy for the rest of the trip. Probably the biggest thing we want to accomplish is the launch of the micro-finance program. Several of the gals are ready to begin their projects, most of them cooperatives, and we've decided to start with them and grow the system slowly. As an example, I mentioned earlier that Georgina is one of our primary school teachers and our best seamstress. She could teach sewing, oversee the sewing cooperative, and do quality control. But she couldn't do that and teach in the school. So, as she transitions to the sewing cooperative, we will hire another teacher for the school. Brenda currently does cooking and cleaning at the school. She wants to do tie-dye. When the tie-dye cooperative is up and running, we will need to hire another woman to cook and clean. In this way the Living Compassion team will expand, more people will be hired, the experienced workers can train the new folks while becoming financially independent through their new businesses.
Having lunch with the gals at the house.
Our goal is to keep our paid staff at our current twenty. New staff will be brought in and trained in preparation to take over the positions occupied by the current staff that will be leaving to work in their own business. With this approach, people will get the training they need to, as quickly as possible, begin their business, which will open a space for the person who will succeed them. A big piece of this plan is an adult education program that we can begin immediately. Turns out we have a retired school teacher living in Kantolomba who is absolutely qualified to teach the adults basic reading, writing, English, and math. With new math skills, they will be able to manage their businesses, including repayment of their start-up loan. And, let me hasten to add, these are not people who need a math class to know how the loan repayment works. They understand the principles perfectly. They realize they must apportion their money to loan repayment, living expenses, and business expansion.
Yes, a sustainable community is in our future--and not that far off!
John, the plumber for our medical building, who finally ended our plumbing woes.
Our canine protectors napping in the sun.
Theresa helping us stow groceries.