The last couple of days have been huge—just one of those times where life moves in giant steps. It’s not anything we planned and not even any particular big thing that got done, just a sense that things are shifting on a foundational level.
We’re incredibly impressed with the focus the women in the sewing room are bringing to their work. We arrive in the morning, and they are working. We leave at the end of the day, and they are working. It is especially inspiring to see Georgina willing to use her sewing skill to benefit the whole community—the profit from the skirts will belong to the cooperative.
Hard at work.
In the weekly board meeting Georgina told a moving story of how she learned to sew. It was 2002. She was “sitting at home doing nothing except brewing the illicit beer we make here in Kantolomba. I did not want to do that anymore. This is not right. I want to do something to help myself and my family.” She decided she wanted to learn tailoring. She found a three-month course that cost K30,000 ($6) per month. She started to ask for help. Josephine, who was living with her at the time, had K20,000 and wanted Georgina to succeed and loaned her that money. Georgina was able to scrape together the extra K10,000 for the first month. She started. The second month she found someone in the neighboring community who wanted to help and loaned her K30,000. The last month her pastor at her church gave her the final K30,000.
As soon as she finished the course, she was able to start earning income here and there and pay back her loans. We all noted that it was because of the generosity of those individuals that the whole cooperative is benefitting. Georgina is primarily responsible for the skirts that have been made in the last week that will bring in about $150 income for the cooperative.
This story was sparked by a discussion about the sustainability of the cooperative and the ability of the Kantolomba team to carry more of the financial responsibility for the project. We talked about how stepping forward in life to ask, “How can we help?” is far more rewarding than to ask “What can I get?” The discussion prompted Veronica to recognize Martha, our accountant who was present at the meeting, saying a number of months back that there was a 7-year-old child whose mother did not have the money to send her to grade 1. The child had come to the Living Compassion property and was crying inconsolably about the issue. In time she wore herself out and fell asleep. This was on a Thursday afternoon when there was to be a board meeting. When Martha arrived at the property for the meeting, there was this young girl asleep on the floor, and Martha asked what had happened. She was told the story. “And without any hesitation,” Veronica reported to us, “Martha reached in her wallet and pulled out the K60,000 needed to pay for that child’s school fees. Whenever that child sees Martha now she points and says, ‘that is the woman who sent me to school.’” Gratitude wants to give.
The weekly board meeting
Another breakthrough was realizing that the children in the new English preschool are too young. They are as cute and willing as a group of 3-year-olds can be, but we noticed that the couple of 4-year-olds we tried as an experiment were able to actually learn the lessons far more effectively than the littler ones. So today we did another experiment and pulled the littlest ones out, had them out on the lawn playing games and other fun, 3-year-old type ventures, and brought over 8 of the brightest four-year-olds from Beatrice’s class. When we talked to Joy at the end of the day to ask how it went, she replied with an enthusiastic, “Fantastic,” so it looks like we will stick with the slightly older children.
Naomi was chosen for the new classroom.
Little Veronica (big Veronica’s granddaughter) is quite clever and was chosen for the new preschool, but she lasted only 5 minutes then began crying, saying she did not want to leave Beatrice’s class. She was moved back.
On the lawn with the 3-year-olds having a picnic lunch. This is Gift.
Shabba packed up her leftovers in her Tupperware and put it in her backpack. Then she realized the lid was not on properly and that all the food had dumped into the bottom of her backpack. Without a moment’s hesitation she scooped it back up and put it back in the Tupperware. Here she is brushing the remnants off her dress.
Docus (also known as Deborah)
John storing his leftovers.
After lunch, some games. Gift with the giant beach ball that provides hours of fun.
There is a palpable air of excitement and possibility around the preschool. We are all watching eagerly to see how it will go in these first few months. Learning English fluently alongside their native Bemba will change everything for these very little children. There is a sense that the entire Living Compassion community here is behind it, pulling for it to succeed, everyone doing whatever they can to make that happen.
Joyce takes the mic in a rocking song that Phil and Joy made up to learn “Hello, my name is…”
The children learned to role play: “Hello, my name is___. Nice to meet you.” We were all very impressed that they could actually do it!
Joy teaching numbers.
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Number 2!
There is much debate about how old little Winter is, son of Winter in the cooperative. Winter senior is the about size of a 10 year old boy, though he’s a grown man (and one of the strongest workers on the team!). When Little Winter’s aunt first brought him to enroll him in the program (his mom had taken Baby Christina, whom you met in an earlier blog, to the clinic), they told us he was 5 years old. Because he is so small, we had a hard time imagining it. Later we were told that was incorrect, that he was actually 3. However, as he comes out of his shell and interacts with the 4-and 5-year-olds, we are starting to think he may actually be 5, either that or an extremely clever 3-year-old. He made the cut and is staying in the preschool program.
Winter arriving to class.
Washing up before lunch.
In the lunchroom.
As of now, Little Jen is in the new preschool program. We joked with the team that we were going to be accused of favoritism, though we had nothing to do with her being chosen. In fact, she just appeared after Veronica opted out. We think she may have been chosen because she is quite well behaved and able to follow instruction. We shall see if she remains.
Jen eating her lunch.
Grown up 4-year-olds they may be but still young enough for a nap.
An exciting development on the reporting front: Theresa, Veronica and Jen were very pleased with themselves when they overcame technical challenges and figured out how to make an audio recording from Theresa’s computer and email it to Jen—RIGHT FROM KANTOLOMBA!! This is big and will no doubt mean more regular news from the project. YEA! [swf file="http://www.thezencenter.org/mp3/blog-audio-july-25-26.mp3"]
Theresa gets Beauty to add to a recording she is making to try out our new skill.
Though it feels like we have been here only a short time, it has been a longer trip than we have had in some time. For two straight weeks we have been out here every school day for the entire day. The novelty of our presence has largely (not completely with the still occasional cry of “musungu” as we drive in) worn off. It has started to feel as if we are just part of the daily routine; that’s quite an honor and a pleasure. We can greet more and more children by name as they walk through the property gate and now know about 30-40 names.
Perhaps it is because of that, or perhaps the increased commitment to English across the community, that a growing number of children are willing to engage in conversation with us. Often we even get past the elemental, “Hello, how are you?”
Theresa dancing with some of the younger children before lunchtime.
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Remember a few days ago we talked about reminiscing with the now older first 100 children about a song they used to sing where they shimmied to the ground?? Well, this is the next generation!
Some of the students in Charles’s class help bring in the food for the younger children.
Testimony in front with Little Theresa in pink behind.
Young Nelson eating his lunch.
This trip has also brought more interest in the project from outside Kantolomba. A doctor from South Africa, who moved to Ndola last year, found us on the internet after Googling “Buddhism/Zambia.” She was looking for a local Sangha with whom to continue her practice, started several years earlier in South Africa. Imagine how excited we all were that she happened to email us when we were in the country! When she visited the project, she was quite inspired and offered her assistance if we wanted it. Hmmm, a woman doctor? Yup, pretty sure we can find a way to use her help!!!! The team is very enthusiastic about the idea, and Rose, our nurse, welcomes the addition of a doctor on the team; our family is growing.
Also, a group of young medical students doing research in Ndola who are staying at Castle Lodge asked if they could come see the project. They came out Thursday afternoon, and we arranged to have many of the children return to play games. It was tremendous fun for all, we projected.
The visitors get a sewing lesson
Welcome, Visitors!
A beautiful shot of a game the girls taught our visitors.
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And a video of another fun game.
You can put the word out and, in no time flat, have dozens of children arrive ready to play.
Perhaps you remember that on our last trip we put a pilot skills program in place. It was Rose’s idea. She feels certain that teaching someone a skill is the key to true sustainable future, and that one of the main stumbling blocks in Kantolomba is the lack of exposure to anything outside of Kantolomba. She feels that if people see their fellow neighbors learning a skill and getting a job that earns a living wage, they will realize this is a real possibility and be more motivated to go that route themselves. On Wednesday we got to visit with Floriano, one of the two young adults in the pilot program. He is learning bricklaying and reports he is enjoying it very much. His face lit up when we asked him how much a bricklayer can earn. “K1,000,000 ($250) per month at a minimum!” This would be a gigantic salary for someone in Kantolomba, indeed. He will graduate in November, and Rose is committed to helping him find employment. Yes, there are thousands more who need this kind of assistance, but somehow standing there shaking this young man’s hand, knowing that whatever happens from here the course of his life is forever changed, felt like another marker that this is working. We have a great team on both sides of the Atlantic and together we are offering possibility.
Floriano
Building on the theme of increased sustainability, we had an excellent meeting with our financial team—Martha, Theresa and Veronica. We’re not quite sure why, as there is no concrete item we can point to that has changed, but somehow there are suddenly ideas of how we could actually have some of the cooperative ventures (sewing, making stoves, carpentry, etc.) move from occasional sources of small income to organized small businesses. None of us has any illusion that will happen overnight (the African proverb “slowly, slowly” is good to remember), but we laid out a 6-month plan to start moving in that direction. It is very satisfying to have specific steps we can take.
Veronica, Martha, Theresa
As that very meeting was happening, there were dozens of women and girls outside diligently making beautiful bags that will do exactly that: create income for the whole cooperative. And, you can participate. Assuming we don’t sell them all before we have a chance, we will list them on Sangha Market.
Working out on the lawn
Benendetta
Brenda with the bag she completed. Lovely!
And then there is practice. More and more folks are interested in, and picking up, Cheri’s books. We walked into the sewing room, and there was Josephine reading The Key. She was quietly reading aloud to herself, and though it is difficult to explain, it sent goosebumps up our arms to hear her reading to herself. The Living Compassion library is now stocked with 20 of Cheri’s books. We are excited for what might happen between now and the next trip.
Josephine reading The Key.
All this happening amidst the “usual” day-to-day business of the cooperative.
We walked by Sophiya, and out of the blue she says in English, “Jen, I am cooking cabbage.” Wow!
Beautiful
Students gathered after school for reading help with Charles and Veronica.
A student reads aloud with Veronica assisting.
Some individual reading time
Veronica going over the day’s attendance
Theresa and Joy out on the lawn playing London Bridge
A girl busy braiding her friend’s hair
Pounding the peanuts to prepare for peanut butter rice on Friday
Beauty sifting the nuts
Jen got to have a try.
As if to christen our very big two days, we all get a great laugh out of a chicken who pranced right into the sewing room, amidst all the skirtolomba action, went to a corner, laid an egg and left.
A beauty