So, today started out like our typical work day. Leave the compound somewhere between 7:45 & 8:45 am, travel for an hour & 40 minutes over dirt roads the likes of which don’t exist in North America, not even in the mountains. Trust me, I’m pretty sure most of you haven’t seen roads like these. Philemon told us that we should enjoy this bouncy, rattling drive as it is a free Zambian massage provided compliments of CCAP. Hmmmm...
Work was good. Four wheelbarrow loads of sand to one bag of cement. There is a very specific way to mix this, then ad 2 1/2 buckets of water & mix some more. Once it is the right consistency, then we are ready to slap it on the walls, which is not a neat clean job... Today, Taylor took the opportunity to learn how to make the some of the fantastic food we have been enjoying here, including Zambian Chicken & Zambian Red Sauce. Thankfully she shared the recipes so we can all relish these heavenly creations even after we return home. Thanks Taylor!!! She has also been working real hard to befriend one of the teachers here, Victoria. So today, Taylor spent time with Victoria’s class learning to play Net ball. Other than that, Nathaniel has been busy answering all of our difficult questions. (He truly is a walking, talking encyclopedia!). Jerry & Collins wrestled, & Reese as always kept us all laughing. Nico is the master parger. Bill keeps everything moving.
The real fun started on the drive home. We generally take 2 vehicles to Chasefu which isn’t a bad idea. Today, several km away from Chasefu the Land Rover stopped. Turned out we ran out of diesel. Thankfully we switched to the second tank & moved on down the road. Shortly thereafter, Collins gave Jerry the opportunity to drive again. He didn’t miss a gear despite shifting a manual left handed. Pretty good driving until we hit a bump a little wrong & the right spring dislodged. Collins heard the noise & requested Jerry stop to check things out. The guys tried prying the spring back into place using a shovel. No go. Apparently Collins has been in this predicament before & suggested taking the tire off & beating the spring back into submission. Something like that occurred. The spare tire was removed from the top of the vehicle, a Very LARGE rock was placed on top of the spare, & the jack placed on top of the rock. With this good old ingenuity, the front of the vehicle was lifted enough to remove the tire. A small hole had to be dug to get the tire back on. Sometime when this was all being tended to it started to rain just a bit. Well, actually quite a bit. Once everything was put away again, we headed toward our temporary home. That’s when the other part of the team in the other vehicle finally came back to assist. All went well for quite a while. Jerry gave the task of driving back to Collins at the edge of Lundazi. Collins had turned onto the street where the guest house is located when we felt a thud & heard an unwelcome racket. The right front tire came off of the Land Cruiser. A few of the local kids came out to encourage those putting the tire back on & a rousing rendition of the song, “This is the day the Lord has made” was sung. Two of the lug nuts were recovered close by & a third was stolen from one of the other tires & once again the Cruiser was headed home. This time we made it! Everyone is still happy, healthy, & having a good time. Tomorrow is our last day of work & closing ceremonies.
We give thanks for Gods watchful eye on us and protecting us from harm!
Hope 7
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