Muyundu greeted us at Castle Lodge with his trusty Toyota on Friday morning. It is always a pleasure to see him. We set out for Kantolomba with a few stops planned along the way. The first stop was the Internet Café and an opportunity to send off the new blogs. We still do not have internet service at Castle Lodge. It was raining hard this morning, and it looked unlikely any service will be connected today. We also stopped at the hardware store to make a few more purchases for the stove project.
Sequoia at the Internet Café
Sequoia and Jen check out the work gloves available at Fire Prevention LTD – a local hardware store.
The errands finished, we continued on to Kantolomba. It is always a treat to arrive to the faces of friends. We experience the excitement of a new day and the surprises life has in store for us. We encountered Duncan soon after our arrival.
Duncan contemplated the Living Compassion banner his father created while proudly wearing his Obama shirt. He says Obama is his hero.
Duncan "mowing" the lawn at the compound.
Duncan and his friend Mwewa meet up with Brian and Sequoia for a chat.
We all went in different directions to attend to the various areas of activity. The day's cooking was underway, stove production was in full tilt, the girls in the girls' project were meeting with Rose, and some women were doing clean-up from the first food shift morning meal, just to name a few of the many goings-on. But wherever you go, you can count on meeting children.
There are so many beautiful faces.
The chitenge is just the final touch on an already dynamite outfit for this adorable child!
In the cooking building, lunch was well underway. The preparation for this meal has been going on since yesterday afternoon; peanuts are roasted and then ground in wooden mortals with pestles. This is mixed with rice and served with a cup of tea to complete the lunch meal. It takes many hands to put these meals together.
Peanut sauce is poured through a strainer. The pulp is ground again until it is used completely in the rice dish.
Sequoia takes a hand at stirring the cooking rice.
The rain cascading from the roof of the cooking house makes a handy water spout to wash a spoon.
The charcoal supply used to cook the meals.
As some people worked on lunch, another group visited Brenda's house. She wanted to share what a difference her income from her work in the cooperative has made in her life. She now has comforts in her home that did not seem possible before her work with Living Compassion. Her home now has a window. We are eager to see the difference having ventilation and light make.
Alex recording the visit to Brenda's home. The pride she has in her home is evident in the tidiness we observe.
Theresa points out the new window.
Back in the compound Rose has been meeting with the girls. She is working to provide them with more life options than are available now. Many of the girls in the program are already mothers and attend with their babies. Rose is focusing on giving these girls some type of skill that will be marketable. Knitting and sewing are two of the skills that are easily taught and seem to be of interest to the girls. They are currently working on turning mealie meal sacks into mats that can be used to sit on. Each mat has threads woven into it to form a pattern. Each mat is unique in color and pattern, reflecting the skill and creativity of each girl.
Rose also took time this morning to meet with the woman in the compound regarding health issues. She continued the discussion on breast cancer she began yesterday, including a demonstration on how to do a breast exam. [Rose is a huge asset to the community and much loved by all.]
The girls weaving yarn into the meal sacks.
Alex, Theresa, and Sequoia admire a newly created sitting mat.
Theresa demonstrates how the mat is used on the floor for sitting. She also suggested they would make a good window covering for a hermitage!
Rose educating the women about breast cancer.
The rain let up and some of us took a walk up to the hammer mill building, where the stove project was in full production. We delivered the gloves we had bought. Now the men have work gloves and ear protection so that they can care for their bodies as they construct the stoves. We find this one of many opportunities to demonstrate kindness and let people know that their lives matter.
Jen looks on as the team uses an anvil and hammer to flatten the surface of a metal drum on its journey to become a stove.
The men place a metal sheet on the anvil. Ear protection and gloves are being put to full use.
A chisel being used to cut the metal strips used to join the ends of the metal sheet.
These are the completed bases for three large stoves.
This is the bottom of one of the original drums on its way to becoming the pan that will hold the charcoal in the new stove. Lingson points out the area that will need to be punched out to provide oxygen for the burning charcoal.
Lingson steadies the metal as the new holes are punched.
Brian worked with the men to construct the pan that will hold the charcoal. In order to provide the depth and strength needed for the pan, the metal disc will have to be cut on one side and overlapped to form a deep cone. This was a step in the process the men had not planned on but, able to see the value in it, they quickly integrate it as a construction option.
A newly completed charcoal pan for a new stove.
Alex interviews Brian on stove construction. It is great to have Brian's expertise on the trip.
As the rain stops, steam rises from the tin roof as the rays of sun warm the roof. It is lovely.
Steam rising from the roof of the future health clinic building.
In the afternoon there was much activity at the sewing cooperative. Sadly, Nellie has been ill this week and has not been able to lend her skills to the cooperative. She has been greatly missed. Luckily, Josephine and Georgina are also very skilled. Josephine is technically on maternity leave, since her baby is less than two months old, but she has been at the property just about every day since we arrived. We are in the process of sewing journal covers that will soon be available on Sangha Market. It is great fun to mix and match the chitenge patterns and watch the journal covers come into being.
Jen meets with Foster to discuss knitting baby hats and booties.
Josephine at work with Emanuel strapped on her back.
Sequoia gives it a try on the new industrial machines in the sewing building.
A few sizes too small for Sequoia but the beginning stages of a child's dress.
Alex interviewing Georgina on the work of the sewing cooperative as Theresa looks on.
After lunch we gathered with the women (the men would not leave their stoves--Brian is having amazing success getting them motivated to get proficient with stove-making) and watched the 100 children video. This is a video we made 5 years ago when the project was fledgling. There were just over 100 children eating and we made a video to introduce people to those first 100 children. It was truly a moving experience to sit there and watch! We all hollered and hooted as we saw these adorable little faces that are now all grown-up. All but 12 are still in Kantolomba in the project and, here is the breathtaking part, ALL OF THEM ARE ALIVE!!!! That is huge, gigantic, beyond statistical possibility! It felt so much like we are a gigantic family sitting together watching old home video. Towards the end, our cheers attracted several children who came and sat to watch, and it was so much fun to see the looks on their faces when a couple of them saw themselves as very young children! Wow.
Everyone gathers in the community room to watch the video.
Smiles fill the room as familiar faces are recognized.
Some children from the compound start to spill into the room in curiosity.
Monica, the child at the back of the group on her knees, watches as her face appears on the screen.
She is one of the first 100 children and is now 12 years old.
A newer group of Kantolomba kids
Just when we thought the day could not get any better, there was a spontaneous celebration. The women began to sing in their traditional call and response style. Some women picked up plastic wash tubs to use as drums. The dancing began, and the monks were called to the dance floor. Soon we got it that there was no way to do it wrong—they graciously and joyfully accept all dance styles. The last moments of the day were spent with some of the children. Their openness and joy in what the moment brings is always one of the best parts of visiting this community.
It's just another day in the life of a monk in Africa.
Everywhere we go there are new friends.
We saw a soccer ball around here somewhere.
Patrick, who we still think of as a baby, is already an amazing soccer player!
This was truly an extraordinary day.