On every trip, as the days progress, the experience deepens exponentially. We find we want to write things like, “Truly, this trip is the best yet; this day is the best yet.” And it is always true. The work we are doing (the Zambian team here, the team who travels from the U.S. to facilitate the next steps, all who donate, all who follow along in the blog, all who participate in any way) is building on itself. All that came before makes this moment possible, and it is a joy to see it unfold.
Today was the “volunteer” day at the property. We did not realize that July 4 and 5 are Zambian national holidays, and thus not working days. At first we were disappointed, feeling like we were losing two precious days. Soon we realized that we could hold many meetings on Monday and that Tuesday we could go out to the property and do some work even if no one else would be there. Yes, of course! We told Theresa our plan and she said she would love to join and said she would spread word around to the team that anyone who wished could come as well. We planned to get started on painting and other of the tidying/organizing projects on our list for this trip.
We arranged to get a ride with Rose (the nurse) around 9 a.m. and to meet Theresa at the compound. Tuesday is one of the days Rose usually comes out to the property, and she was very willing even with the holiday. She and Jen have many items to discuss so today would be perfect for that meeting.
Theresa arrived at the property early. When we called to ask if anyone else was there she said, “Yes, I can’t count all of the people that are here!” Almost every member of the team had come out to participate! Wow. That was very moving. It is a holiday, people could be at home doing whatever they wish, and they chose to put on their work clothes and jump in to help make the project beautiful.
Rose and her daughter Diana, who joined us for the day as well (home from school due to the holiday). Diana doesn’t live in Kantolomba and attends a different school from our children, but she joined right in and made friends with some of the Living Compassion children.
This is what we saw when we arrived – people busy cleaning the rafters.
Josephine can wield this long cleaning stick even with her small frame.
Priska was cleaning windows in one of the classrooms.
Veronica cracks up laughing while cleaning. There is often laughter when Veronica is around.
Team cleaning!
The ladies are carefully clearing out cobwebs and dust.
The sewing ladies had finished an astonishing number of garments by the time we arrived. Now that the patterns are established, they are rapidly producing pants, skirts, and shirts. Our challenge now is to keep them in chitenge. The men are building free-standing shelves so the sewing team can keep their work area neat and tidy. We’re quite excited about the potential for these shelves to help give the sewing room a professional feel.
Meanwhile, the carpenters are busy making the boards smooth and flat with the planer.
The wood shavings will be used as kindling for fires.
Friday and the other men discuss how to assemble the shelves onto the frame.
This is a familiar sight--Georgina and Nellie behind their sewing machines.
Foster, Ethel, and Susan serve on the sewing team. Ethel was not feeling well on Saturday, so it is good to have her back!
These styles and more…coming soon to a Sangha Market near you! (Don’t worry, shirts and skirts will be sold separately.)
One of the day’s projects is to paint tables, stools, and chalkboard stands. We picked up a nice brown paint in town. Although we didn’t intend for the paint to be the same color that is frequently used at the Monastery (we thought we were buying “mahogany”), when we saw the finished products, we noticed a striking similarity. It made us feel quite at home! There was something about this day -- maybe it was because it was a volunteer day, maybe it was because we didn’t have the energy of hundreds of lively children here, or maybe it was just the nature of the day itself, but the work of the day had a laid-back, relaxing, joyful feel to it, even as an astonishing amount of work was getting done before our very eyes.
All the items to be painted are moved out onto the lawn. These classroom tables are first on the list to paint.
Peter gets started on a table. Doesn’t the dark brown color look familiar?
Rebecca and Charles work together painting this table.
Theresa is laughing at something that was said. The painting conversations were cheerful and light.
Everything is getting painted brown today!
Jen paints a tall teacher’s stool.
In the late morning, Friday arrived with a new bed frame that would live in Rose’s workspace for people who are not feeling well. With the fresh coat of paint and a new bed, Sister Rose’s room is taking shape as a nurturing space for rest and healing. Everyone wanted to try out the new bed – even before it had a mattress! A frame for a bed is a luxury almost no one can afford.
Friday arrives with the new bed. His pick-up truck comes in very handy!<
Brenda and Regina testing out the new bed.
From left to right: Agness, Pauline, Brenda, Regina, Lucy, Christine and Priska
Margaret, Rebecca, and Regina
Rose sees the freshly painted walls for the first time.
Feeling the paint to see how washable it will be.
Agnes, Jen, Lucy and Brenda (kneeling) in Rose’s room
Throughout the day, children would come to the water spigot to fill their containers. This is the only clean water available in the community.
Children learn at an early age that remarkable skill of balancing items on their head!
Theresa loves her new diary (calendar) that was a gift from Living Compassion. She says it helps her stay organized and remember all her to-dos!
One of the women adds charcoal to start the fire for preparing the nchima for lunch.
Josephine bundles Marian up in a warm coat. (It is at least 75 degrees today, but it is winter in Zambia, after all.)
Estella and Martha carry the cooked nshima to the eating space. That nshima is heavy!
Here it is scooped onto individual plates. They give generous portions, about the size of a softball.
With all the projects underway, Jen and Rose broke away for their meeting. Rose is a brilliant addition to the team. As you may know from previous blogs, she is the second nurse we hired. The first was a very sweet, bright young woman who was dedicated to her job but ended up needing to move to Lusaka soon after we hired her. Theresa then found Rose as her replacement, and it turns out Rose is a better fit for our team. She is down-to-earth, a very motherly figure, with both great care for those around her as well as a desire to assist people to be the best they can be. In other words, while being kind and generous, she is willing to do the sometimes hard job of asking people to go beyond their ‘comfort zone’ to reach for what is possible. In our language, we would say she is willing to go up against people’s conditioning in order to support their hearts. We are lucky to have her!
One of the things we value about Rose is her willingness to be straight with us. In the meeting today she talked about the great difference the project is making in so many lives and said, “We must look to the future. We must look at what is next. We are feeding children and that is very good. Now we must think about what will become of these children.” She is talking, of course, about the thing we all have our attention on: how can we make the project sustainable? How can we translate this work into offering people the long-term possibility of providing for their own future and their children’s future?
It was striking in the meeting to realize how similar Rose and Cheri’s visions are. For some time now Cheri has been seeing the importance of learning to read and speak English in giving people opportunity. This was what Rose focused on in our discussion. The system of education here is not strong; the resources are inadequate to meet the challenge. But, she pointed out, “What we can do is to fill the gap. If we offer children a foundation in English, reading and writing skills, they can use that to fill the gap in their education. The books are there, she noted. Even if one does not get a strong education in the classroom, if she truly wants to learn, a student can read. We both noted that Theresa was an excellent example of this. Due to her family circumstances and the bias to prioritize boys’ education over girls’, Theresa dropped out of school in the seventh grade. And yet, she is extremely smart and her mother insisted she read. She learned to love to read and to this day reads everything she can get her hands on (this is true of Muyunda as well). And Theresa has the best English of anyone we have met in Zambia, and we have met some very educated people. Rose added with a big smile, “You see, and she has been to America. She runs a successful NGO. So it is not all about degrees. One can succeed if one has the language and ability to communicate.” So, very true. Here and at home, in practice, we see again and again that it all comes down to communication.
We have learned the wisdom of the African saying, “slowly, slowly” and recognize its parallel in practice of realizing that we are not “going anywhere.” We are learning a process, not working to achieve an outcome. And it is thus very relaxing and even joyful to have a meeting like the one with Rose today and not need to end it with a sense of urgency that we must now “do something about this,” but rather to realize that with that awareness, Life will undoubtedly reveal to us a way to move in that direction.
Later, after lunch, a group of children gathered in the yard with Jen and Rebecca to play games. The games really took shape when 12 year old Diana (Rose’s daughter) and Monica (Brenda’s daughter) came and took charge. The little ones looked up to them and followed their lead. While they have different words and a different tune, it seems that “Ring-around-the-Rosy” and “Duck, Duck, Goose” are universal children’s games.
Jen and some of the children after lunch.
Patrick gives cartwheels a try after Jen shows them how it’s done!
Jen holds Patrick up in a handstand. Laughter abounds!
Patrick and friend. Such cuteness!
Fast friends – Diana and Monica.
“And they all fall down!” (sung in Bemba)
The ladies are taking a nice after-lunch break in the shade.
One of our very favorite parts of the day was that Marion came. She is sick so often, and we just never know how much time we have with her. We cherish every day we get to see her, and especially the days where there is enough life force for her adorable, full-of-beans energy to shine. She came and sat between Veronica and Theresa.
A little later, Marion finds us on the grass and joins in viewing photos on Jen’s computer.
At the end of this lovely day, the Monastery-brown furniture has been moved back to its home, the carpentry area has been cleaned and tools put away (the shelves for the sewing ¾ done), the medical house, sewing room and large classroom are freshly painted, and the sewing ladies have finished many more items. There are only a few children around, staff’s children, and people are heading home or sitting on the lawn chatting. We can project a deep contentment that comes at the end of a satisfying day of working together. Theresa extended an invitation to come together, and the team accepted. It’s hard to imagine many people in the United States volunteering to come in on the 4th of July just because you wanted to work together with your colleagues – without extra pay or “brownie points.” It reminds us of the experience in practice of periods of working meditation, enjoying the oneness of sangha and the pleasure of a job well-done.