Saturday was a catch-up day--the standard type you know so well: to Castle Lodge to do email and send blogs; errands around town including roof materials investigation; and getting set with food in preparation for the daily power outage.
On Sunday, that being a quiet, church-going day for most of our friends in Ndola, we arranged to meet some of the folks we'd been attempting to find time with. In anticipation of this great social whirl Eunice begin to create a special vegetarian feast. Every Sunday Castle Lodge puts out a huge buffet lunch, but vegetarian fare is not a big part of what is on offer. While our spread was being prepared, we met with Gaudencia to go over building details that needed to be addressed so construction can continue smoothly in our absence.
Gaudencia and Jen working out the financials.
Cheri has Gaudencia and Jen pose.
During a Living Compassion Board call last week, we realized we have never explained clearly the financial aspects of the Community Center building. We concluded that if the Board wasn't clear, probably no one else is either! Here's the good news: The cost of the entire building is being covered by two very generous individuals here in the U.S. through a grant from the Dewey Dreams Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation. Their generosity makes it possible for the rest of the funds contributed to the work in Kantolomba to be used for all the other aspects of the project: feeding the children, providing schooling (which includes uniforms and tuition at schools other than ours), medical care, employment, home-improvement loans, and micro-finance.
A photo Theresa just sent us of one of the roofers working on the new building. We think she has a future in photography!
Next came Godfrey. Over an amazing lunch of veggies, etc., prepared by Eunice's visiting Chef from Amsterdam, we caught up with Godfrey about school, family, entrepreneurial pursuits, and all the latest Apple products! Like many folks around the globe he is fascinated by the iphone and eager to get his hands on one. He was very pleased with the 8 Gigabyte flash drive we brought him, but it created barely a blip in his exuberant "commercials" for the wonders of the iphone. So many things that are easily available to us simply are not possibilities there. And yet, for a young fellow like Godfrey the dreams and desire are as real and immediate as if he could just grab a credit card and head off to the nearest superstore.
Eunice thought it was so funny that we were thrilled to find a Coke Light in a bottle. Imagine--a bottle of Coke that can be reused!
Cheri joins in the fun.
During lunch Agness arrived, looking smashing as always! Her dream is her own beauty salon, and we are scheming to get a partnership going between her and Eunice since it is part of Eunice's dream to have a day spa at Castle Lodge. How do these people even know about these things, you may ask? Let me assure you the World Wide Web is bringing everything to everybody in a hurry. In the short term what Eunice needs is a good cook, and we can definitely attest to the fact that Agness is that. We hope it will work out for them to begin their adventure over food and let it expand to beauty treatments, healthy spa cuisine, lattes, and beyond! Part of our eagerness for this alliance rests in the fact that Agness is currently separated from her husband and children five days a week because, in this country of horrific unemployment, the only place she can find work is more than two hours away by bus. Currently she stays with her sister all week, works 14-hour days, journeys back to Ndola for her two days off, then goes back to Chingola to start the process all over again. It would be a huge boon for her and her family if she could get steady work in Ndola.
Jen, Agness, and Godfrey
When most of our friends departed, we joined the Mashano family to view progress on the Castle Lodge expansion and to learn about what's proposed. Pictures cannot do justice to the "insaka" they're building as home to the event pavilion, restaurant, and bar. It's enormous. Very difficult to imagine it full of people. Maybe 500 capacity? These people think big!
Touring the site.
A view from one side of the giant restaurant insaka structure.
Bales of thatch still to be used to finish the roof.
Then across the street to the open space they've negotiated to take over from the city. It's a beautiful spot, large, open, lots of trees, but in recent years it's become home to some unsavory characters. The Mashano, of course, don't want that sort of influence next to their huge investment, and they've convinced the city to give them five years to turn it into something beneficial to the community. Their plan includes a wedding site, picnic areas, a water feature, a playground for children, and lots of little nooks for meditation or quiet conversation. At the rate these folks move it will very likely be completed by the time we return next year.
Gaudencia and Mr. Mashano (Eunice's dad) at the park site.
Home to electricity. Oh, joy!