Friday morning I chose to walk downtown instead of having Gershom meet me at the Guest House. Mr. Kayula and I had arranged to meet at the Savoy to discuss legal papers of Living Compassion's NGO status. As I walked along Buteko road towards the hotel, I looked up and saw Elvis, our young friend we met when here in July. We both stopped in our tracks, about 50 feet from one another. When it sank in that, yes, that was him, and for him, yes, it was me, we both smiled broadly and embraced. Elvis is an orphan and supports his three younger siblings. He has nothing extra--no cell phone, no money to get into town regularly. We had thought of him many times on this trip but had no way to get in touch with him. He seemed stunned to see me. He said just yesterday he was thinking about how he might communicate with us and wondering if we would ever be back. Seeing me appear on the street, he was sure God had brought us back to him--I had to agree. He pulled up his trousers legs and proudly displayed the running shoes Dave had given him in July. They were in as good shape, if not better, than when we gave them. Zambians tend to take great care with their appearance, keeping clothing as clean as their circumstances allow. As I was a bit late for my meeting with Mr. Kayula, I suggested that Elvis find me at the Guest House on Friday evening for us to talk further.
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After Mr. Kayula and I finished our meeting we joined Theresa and the three of us set off around town to do several errands. We shopped for bigger cooking pots and more plates and cups to accommodate the growing school/food program in Kantolomba. We also purchased the next batch of black plastic to be given to the residents of Kantolomba to take their leaky roofs through the rainy season.
Next Theresa and I went to the District Health Management Office where we hoped to meet with the head woman doctor there. She was not in but we talked instead to another woman doctor! We remarked that we were so pleased to find woman doctors. The primary reason for our visit was to ask her how best to get medicine for worms. Children and worms are an automatic combination in a place like Kantolomba. They do not even need to be tested. In fact, it is recommended that all children in such places take de-worming medicine every six months. For many of the children the signs of worms are clearly visible--white scab areas on the scalp. We were delighted to hear that the government has a twice-yearly program called Child Health Week. The government clinics travel to all of the schools during the designated week and give the children de-worming medicines, vaccinations, and routine checks. The doctor was surprised that our children had not been attended to in the spring, but we told her the local clinic may not have known about us. We will go to Lubuto Clinic (the clinic that would serve our area) and be sure we are on their schedule for the next Child Health Week (week of November 6). It is wonderful as we learn more about how things work here that we are able to plug into existing services rather than reinventing everything ourselves. It feels like we are really becoming part of the community!
We went back into the center of town to price material for making uniforms for the children at the Living Compassion school. We are in negotiations about who will sew them--Martin or the women in Kantolomba who are learning to sew. Theresa is concerned that having the sewing students make them will take too long. I am lobbying to see if we can work it out in a timely way. We shall see.
Next we went to meet Steve, the Head of the District Building Department, for our appointment to go out to Kantolomba together to measure and assess the new property we are about to purchase. Steve brought along Nobel, an assistant who helped him measure all 4 sides of the property boundaries. It came out to be approximately 40 meters by 76 meters--plenty large to accommodate the first building and a spacious courtyard area. Steve and his team will draw a site plan as well as the architectural plans for the building itself. We told him to draw in at least one classroom (two if space permits), the medical clinic, a community room (could include a library) and a bathroom. We decided that the existing house on the property could be renovated to be one large room serving as a kitchen. It is exciting to be on the property and laying out the plans--to see this long-time vision is finally here!
Measuring the new property lines.
We dropped by the school on our way out of Kantolomba so Theresa could talk with someone. It is fun to walk into the schoolyard and see the increasingly familiar faces of the folks who are making all of this happen--they are becoming old friends. As Theresa talked with her friend, I walked over to look at the outdoor kitchen structure they have erected in the schoolyard. Just across the fence there was a family sitting out on their porch. I greeted them in my simple Bemba. There was a boy sitting on a chair who looked to be about 6 or 7 (but could easily have been 8 or 9). He showed signs of severe malnutrition--very swollen belly and tiny arms. Josephine walked up just then, and I asked her (I am discovering her English is far better than we first knew) if she could ask the family if he was okay. When we were at Rainbow a few days ago, we had seen a girl who looked similar (though not quite as severe as this boy), and Theresa told me that her twin sister had died of malnutrition earlier in the year and they were treating this girl for the same. It was difficult to understand through Josephine whether this boy was being attended to. I told Theresa I would like to follow up when we are in Kantolomba on Monday and see what we can do to help.
In the school yard.
We finished in Kantolomba and went into town for another computer lesson. Godfrey had told them there would be a test. Employing him for computer lessons for our team is one of the best decisions we have made! I labored through on email while they had their lesson and then we parted ways--they going back to a few short hours of their life outside Living Compassion and me to the Guest House to forge ahead--blogging, communicating with folks at home, planning for the coming day. It is a miracle that a person could be this busy while feeling blessed beyond measure.
Stay tuned, more soon…