The answer is actually 10 plus one Norwegian (Paul) and three Zambians. This morning began as every morning so far breakfast and devotions plus singing which we normally do in the evenings but were too exhausted to last night. Today was an eventful day and many of the group experienced different things; so we have decided to each write our own paragraph on the day’s events, although getting some of the team to write more than a yard list (beekeeper humour?) might be like pulling teeth.
I will begin with mine as head blogger. Since Rosa our cargo van had a date with the mechanic today to get a new spring we got a new driver and a minivan. Our jaws dropped as we all did the calculations of just how close we were about to get. Being one of the slender ones I climbed into the back corner. Our new driver Jaimie has quite the heavy foot and on a road that claims many casualties it did not bode well. Shortly into the trip we noticed one of the bolts on the window rattle loose and pop off. I told Ed to watch the last bolt and I watched the rope holding the back of the window in place. Well it didn’t take long for the string to snap and the window to swing down. We now had a much cooler ride. After a brief stop at Hoya we continued on to the local chief’s village to present him with a gift. Unfortunately he was in Lusaka so we met with his wife. After we made a stop at one of CCAPs many schools and met with some of the teachers and gave them a few soccer balls and a pump. I was struck at the extreme value of education here in Zambia, we learned that after grade 7 students take entry exams similar to trying to get into a prestigious university but this is just to get into grade 8! We read a poster listing the DO NOTs when writing exams and at the bottom it read cheating could lead to possible jail time! How many of us would have a criminal record if this applied in Canada. After we made it back to Hoya we had lunch after which some commented how I look redder than usual not because I was burned but because I was covered in red dirt, I told them was a SUPER GINGER! After an afternoon of work we finished the walls of the left 2 classrooms and headed back. Moffat had driven to Hoya on CCAPs newest motorbike and I had the privilege of riding back with him (yes mother I wore a helmet although it wasn’t more than a Styrofoam cap with a helmet shell on top). We got to take a shortcut back which was quite enjoyable. When we got back we played some volleyball with the local guys which I quite enjoyed. All in all it has been the most enjoyable day of the trip so far for me. Jeremy
Well, this is Adam, since I am the fastest eater I suppose I’ll do my part while everyone else eats. After breakfast and a moderately terrifying bus ride in a can of sardines we had an interesting visit with the chiefs wife and with some teachers from Emusa school. The teachers in this country are an amazing bunch, extremely limited resources and overwhelming need everywhere you look don’t intimidate them at all. Their faith is clearly evident in the confident way they perform a difficult job. If they can pass their attitude down to the children along with their education I believe these people have a bright future.
This is John, I loved interacting with the workers and for the majority of the afternoon I moved a mountain of bricks. I also enjoyed doing the hokey pokey with some of the students this morning.
This is Amanda, Today was a pretty busy day. It started with a crazy bus ride to visit the chief and a school. Since our bus was undergoing repairs we had a new driver who made us very grateful for our usual driver. We went everywhere in record time while he was honking and running people off the road as we cruised by. We gave gifts to the chief’s wife since the chief was not home and gave soccer balls to the schools which they greatly appreciated. We then went to the worksite where we continued to build the school. We got a lot accomplished today and we are getting better at laying brick.
Hey Edmonton and to my fiancé! This is Jodie. I’m sure you’ve re-read a few stories by now, but let’s just say the tight squeeze in the van today got me closer to my future mother in law...literally closer. Minus feeling sick from the long hot ride, it was pretty fun. With visiting the other school and having an afternoon of work it was overall a really great day. After work there was the usual volleyball game going on with the local guys right outside our guest house. A few of us joined in and today we were able to play a few games. They don’t really rotate positions, but somehow I ended up being setter for 3 games in a row. It was a ton of fun and I wish it didn’t get dark here so quickly! I could play that all night. Evening devotions were once again thought provoking and I really enjoy the conversation. As usual, this kind of trip really rejuvenates my Christian life and my dad and I talked about how we could do this kind of work a lot more often.
Hello to everyone back home, this is Ed and Rebecca here. By now you probably have heard a couple times about the squishy bus, the crazy driver, what we did and where we went, so I had a bit of a hard time thinking about what to write. I have to say that we are crazy blessed to be here right now in this beautiful country. We have gotten closer to the people that we work with and have learned about their families (one even brought pictures of his wife for us see!) and they have been excited to teach us many phrases and words from their language. Our cook Dorothy also gave us some recipes for some traditional Zambian meals and a couple of us picked mango’s straight from the tree! We have been busy most days from sunup to sundown and we are excited to see what the rest of the trip brings.
Greetings from Zambia ! That’s a book I’m reading by an author from Westlock, my neighboring town back in Alberta! The author is Marianne Stamm and now I really find it more interesting now that we are here and seeing some of the things she talks about in the book. I’ll have to admit that I’ll be returning the borrowed book to my friend a bit soiled. Red that is .The soil here is red and it gets everywhere. So thats why our floors in the guest house are red , just figured that out. Okay y’all .... Thanks for your prayers and all your support!
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