My week in review pt. 1

I apologize for being incommunicado for a few days—(a week even!!). Tom and I were on a trip to the capital city that didn’t go quite as we’d expected. I was twittering with @halfasskrissa before leaving and she said she hoped the trip went smoothly. We fully expected it to be smooth sailing all the way. The itinerary was simple: Drop off papers at an office, buy airline tickets, pay one bill, do a tiny amount of shopping. Down by bus one day, one and a half days of city life, back on the night bus. What could go wrong?

To start off, we were still waiting to pick up a letter from the Chief that we needed for our visa. We had typed up the letter and just needed his signature. We dropped it off on Sunday night and on Tuesday evening sent our gardener down to pick it up. He brought back word that he was refused and we were supposed to go there ourselves to get it on Wednesday morning at 7 AM. We asked if he had let them know that our bus left at 4 AM. Yes, he had. We were still supposed to be there at 7. Ok, then. I talked Tom down off his rage and assured him that I would kill two birds with one stone getting my walk in as I walked down to the palace and we would still catch one of the next buses that pass through the village all morning. The only trouble with the later buses is that they are much slower meaning we would be on the bus half the day and all night. No problem as long as we got there.

Early the next morning I threw on my workout clothes, stuck my Ipod in my pocket and began the brisk walk down through the village. Normally I don’t walk through the village preferring to walk into the bush to avoid stares and mockers. This time I was too focused to care. I was on a mission!

  I got to the palace five minutes after 7 and was told by the gatekeeper to just wait a bit. When I asked if it was going to be a brief wait or a long one, I was informed that the chief was still asleep. I was furious at this point. What was the purpose of asking me to come that early? I settled in to wait, and wait, and wait. I hadn’t packed yet so I was mentally looking over my to do list and wondering how I would get it all done. The first couple hours I was somewhat patient but as hour 3 and 4 slowly passed I began to get pretty uptight. I was surprised my head didn’t explode—my blood pressure was that high.

  Around 10 AM three buses passed through the village on their way to Lusaka. I could see them from my waiting post and wasn’t sure if I was seeing the last one each time. Finally, after sending several messages into the palace with relatives who came and went, we got the letter. It was 11:15. I walked as fast as I could to get home. As I passed through the village, I got information that there was one more bus coming at 12:20. As it was usually a 20 minute walk back home I double timed it (getting laughed at by school boys for my trouble) and made it home in record time. 

  After jumping in the shower for the quickest wash in history, I frantically began throwing clothes in a backpack trying desperately to remember if there was anything important we had to bring with us. Because of my hurry I ended up not bringing any pajamas. What I thought was my long sleep T-shirt ended up being a long linen skirt. That’s what I get for being a procrastinator.

  In between my manic packing I was eating breakfast, packing a food bag, shouting out instructions to the kids, making sure they had money (the milk truck was due to come that day) and knew what to do while we were gone.

  About 10-15 minutes after I had dashed into the house we jumped into a waiting taxi (bless our gardener for bringing it) and made our way to the village center. Ten minutes later we were settled in our seats for the 16 hour bus ride to Lusaka. Tom mentioned that he had taken some medication and was pretty drowsy and went right to sleep. I pulled my book out of my bag of tricks and we were off.

   More (oh, much, much more) tomorrow…..

Are We a Normal Family?

From as far back as he can remember, Tom has been a Sci-Fi fan. He devoured all movies within this genre and I believe has seen every one ever made all the way back to the old black and whites. He is anxiously awaiting the chance to watch Avatar. 

He, like any good dad, has encouraged his children to follow in this passion as well. We would regularly watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, when it came on every Wednesday evening. T.J (less than 2 years old at the time) would sit on the floor in front of the TV as the intro came on showing the Enterprise flying (drifting) through space and would quote along with Captain Picard: "Space". It was one of his first words. 

  

Tom is always on the look out for something sci-fi related to watch on TV and gets excited when there is a new series on so he can get his 'fix'.

All the boys are serious Sci-Fi fans (one might even say geeks--gasp!) too. T.J is reading War of the Worlds right and lamenting that no one has done the book justice in movie form yet. Timothy is writing a graphic novel set in the future. Troy builds robots, draws super hero comics and creates super hero costumes.

My oldest daughter is not exactly a trekkie but just ask her about Dr. Who. She is a self proclaimed Whovian. Obviously the apples don't fall far from the tree. 

I, on the other hand, do not exactly buy into this whole alien thing. I could take it or leave it and while I watched Star Trek: TNG with everyone--it was full of drama--I didn't care if I missed an episode. I didn't really care whether the Romulans or the Cardassians or the Klingons became kings of the world. Entities, hyper speed, alternate dimensions, who cares?

The other day my husband and sons were involved in an intense discussion about how aliens see us as unusual because the human race is divided. I was working at my computer and only halfway listening. Then out of nowhere I chimed in with, "I guess it looks like civil war to them." My husband and two sons turned to me with shocked expressions. I realized then what I had said. "What am I saying? I don't even believe in them."  My boys agreed. "That was weird, Mom."

It's like invasion of the body snatchers. Someone should come and save me before there is no hope left.

But then with the Academy nominating two science-fiction movies, Avatar and District 9, for Best Picture, am I the odd man out?

Reading back over this I think it may be too late to save me. I know too much!

A Bit of This and That

I'm completely exhausted after our day of shopping. It was a wonderful day with most of our errands completed, shopping done, money retrieved from the bank, a visit with another missionary couple, a trip to the hospital with baby Peter (ok, that part wasn't wonderful--but spending the day with him was) and finally getting home 12 hours later to my grumpy kids. They were hungry and we had all the food with us. Poor things!

Because I'm too tired to be clever today let me share some links with you:

This is the original website my husband started for our family around 10 years ago. He's done a wonderful job with it. You can see some of our history in photos, look at the orphanage buildings and so much more. He's working on updating some of the kids' photos but the rest is still really good.

If you'd like to watch a couple of our promotional videos (we make a new one each year) you can see them here. My wonderful brother in law put them up for us.

I'm now twittering! Or tweeting. or something. Follow me: @amyinafrica and I will return the favor.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing a story with you that will let you know that we are a very 'normal' family.

Until then, may God bless and keep you on all your personal adventures!

                                Amy

All the Children of the World

Jesus loves the little children,  

all the children of the world,  

red, brown, yellow, black and white,

they are precious in His sight.

Jesus Loves the little children of the world.

Normally, on Sundays,  I post about one of our children that we’ve taken in. I love sharing their stories with you and remembering the times they came to be with us and then how far they’ve come.

We are not set up as an adoption home and even when the laws in Zambia become more adoption friendly (they’re a bit confusing at the moment), we are still focusing more on raising children that will be Godly men and women who can help to lead their own nation.

Having said that we are not closing the door to any possibilities the Lord may have to place children with a specific family should that be the way He moves. As always we try to stay open to what God might have in store for our (& our little ones’) futures.

I feel sad when I read or hear about governments and organizations putting pride and politics before children’s welfare.

I’ve been following the blog of the Livesay family in Haiti and their undying devotion to the rescue efforts in the land they love and call home. She wrote a post about this very thing. I am copying it below and have included the link so you can see more of their wonderful work.

No place for politics

Something very odd went down with unicef yesterday. We were instructed in writing to pick up patients from the Comfort ship. When our driver got there to get the people there were unicef vehicles taking them to some camp. The unicef folks were not talking, they were just large and in charge. I'd love to believe somebody just got their wires crossed, but I'm not so sure. Something smelled wrong about it. The Comfort ship went to the work of getting us patient names, details, lists and a time to come get them. Clearly they were unaware of what was about to happen.

The problem is, giant worldwide organizations have power, and they have policies. Giant organizations are so giant that they cannot see the forest for the trees and they cannot see the individual person with the individual situation. We all know power corrupts. The unicef we're seeing is not as interested in putting people/children first as it is in setting policy, precedent, and moving forward its own political agenda. I've watched people get up in arms and say that it is wrong to not support this long-standing and "worthy" organization. I recognize that will likely happen again here. We can easily agree to disagree if need be.

We're simply stating that the policies and procedures are a long way off from meeting real people where they are. (And things are not what they appear to be. Not at all.) The anti-adoption rhetoric is maddening. Kids abandoned to an orphanage by their birth parent PRE earthquake are now being held in Haiti thanks to pressure placed on the Haitian government by the giant and powerful unicef. It is asinine and lacks all logic.

We are all for legal, careful, smart adoption. None of us want to see children taken from a birthparent that wants to raise them. That would be a terrible thing. The fact is, unicef is openly anti-international-adoption and what is happening now is nothing more than political grand-staning and a massive power trip. And all at the expense of children with waiting and approved families abroad.

For more thoughts and a specific story, read this.

Large powerful organizations with money can "encourage" and "convince" and put the pressure on ... and a government in crisis will bend to the will of a single powerful organization.

Meanwhile, children and people in crisis are not being served, cared for, or respected.

Haiti is in the news right now and so we are hearing more about their plight but this kind of thing goes on all over the world.

We have friends who were missionaries to Russia and they saw the same thing years ago where because of national pride or rather the fear of losing it, the officials chose to leave children in institutions which were not caring for them properly rather than allow them to go to good homes which happened to be in another country.

If you feel it's the right thing to do, please read more about this by following the link in the story above and write to those in power (addresses and names are included) and help to change to world for those children.

At the very least, please pray for all the children in the world who are lonely and suffering. Pray that their needs are met and that God works in the lives of those around them.

                                 Thank you!

Life or Something Like It

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a peek into an ‘average’ day in

 Amy’s Adventurous Life.

Woke up late this morning because I’m fighting off the cold that is circulating through our house. I just might beat this!

Realized upon waking that we were supposed to be at the Chief’s palace at that very moment. Woke Tom up and we rushed into the vehicle without eating breakfast. We are trying to renew our work permit and need a letter from the Chief confirming that he still wants to ‘employ’ us. We were at the palace twice yesterday but didn’t get a chance to see him despite having an appointment of sorts.

Arrived at the palace 30 minutes past when we said we would be there and were told that the Chief had “waited for us for 10 minutes and then left”. This didn’t have the ring of truth to it because this is Africa where the name of the game is waiting. Anyway, the end result was the same: We 'bounced' as they say here.

Good thing too since we were expecting an important visitor some time that morning and needed to be at home. As soon as we got home I rushed into the kitchen to prepare our breakfast. I scrambled some eggs and heated water for tea and coffee. No sooner had our eggs finished cooking and exactly as I was pouring water into our mugs than we heard cars entering our driveway. Our visitors had arrived—exactly on time! Drat! What was with this day and the odd punctuality?

We had been told that the Commanding Officer for the Police in this province wanted to stop by and see us. Who actually came were the heads of a bunch of government departments: the Army, Immigrations, National Service, Police and a few other people. It was around 12-15 people. We took them on a tour and showed them the progress we’ve made in building and shared the story of Peter with them. It was fun to tell them about Peter and then take them into the nursery and show them his rolly polly body.

After the tour which included the farm, animals and snake pen, we sat down for cold drinks and a quick chat. They asked for our story of how we came to be here and also what challenges we face. We tactfully shared some of the things we are up against.

As soon as they left we jumped back in the car and drove back to the palace. Nope, still no Chief. I was a bit thankful because by now I was starving. When we got home I heated up our long neglected hot drinks by adding hot milk and heated our eggs and made them ‘new’ by adding some cheese on top. We can’t use our microwave because our power is almost never strong enough.

After brunch I got online and read a few blogs. Reading one, I found a solution for my bookmarks. I’m really excited. I’ll share more about this at another time. This kept me busy for a while.

Tom rested for a bit and then taught the Bible Course that we hold in our dining room twice a week. After he’d been teaching for awhile I went in to remind him that we still needed to meet with the chief and he asked me to weigh in on a hot topic the class was debating. It was about forgiveness. This is a big subject for discussion here--how forgiveness and justice go together. I will write more about this soon because I’d love for you to offer your opinions.

When class was over a couple students stayed behind. One of them missed 33% of the first semester and now seven classes into the second semester he had only attended the last two. We had to break the news to him that he was being expelled from the course. We have a policy that students have to attend 75% of classes. There is a problem with lack of commitment here with other activities coming up and distracting students. We have to be hard sometimes in order to find the real students as opposed to those who attend only for bragging rights.

The other student that remained was asking for a loan for his carpentry course and business. He had asked on Monday already but we explained then that we had already used our discretionary fund for other needy causes and didn’t have anything to help him with. When I turned him down a few days ago he had a really hard time understanding this. His English isn’t very good but it was more than that. In his mind he had already used the money and was hard at work so when I turned him down he just couldn’t get his mind around it. I felt really sorry for him but we can only do so much.

  Today he was trying again. Again we told him that we are not made of money nor do we have a Kwacha tree in the backyard (oh how I wish we did!). This gentleman is one of our best students, has a really sweet spirit, and is a talented carpenter. When we do have funds available he is at the top of our list.

With this work done I grabbed a half can of tuna and an avocado—called it lunch—and jumped back in the car to head to the palace. This time I was told to enter. I’ll have to tell you later about what it’s like to meet with a chief. For now let me just say that I did the regular protocols and was nicely asked to come back in the morning. Oh well!

Back at home I took Peter from the nannies for some play time and started writing this. We also had dinner (T.J cooked) and watched America’s Got Talent (season three—don’t tell me who won). We are not a passive viewing family but get really involved with keeping score (on paper no less) and loud cheering for our favorites. At one point our cheering startled baby Peter and his little lips quivered as he began to cry. It was adorable! So, of course, we did it again. We’re terrible!

Right now as I wrap this up the power has been on all day and since our batteries are fully charged I’m taking the risk of typing that. Good night and may all your adventures be good ones.

Fab Friday Foto--Volume XII

photo by Tom

Saturday morning Tom played with our monkey.

Kanono was just hangin' out.

Doesn't he look relaxed?

I had already scheduled this for publication when I read this post from Katie in Uganda. I've posted an article by her before. I love that her life is so much like ours.

Be Prepared...

....It's not just for Boy Scouts. Missionaries need this motto as much if not more.

We never know when a routine shopping trip is going to turn into an adventure or when a bus trip already full of adventure will become even more exciting. For this reason I carry with me at all times my not so little bag of tricks.

Tom's mother gave him this backpack for his birthday shortly after we moved to Africa but since he prefers a fishing or police vest to carrying a bag I became the proud owner of this nice courier bag. I love the little pocket that holds me cell phone so when I'm walking down the road the phone is nestled in the strap across my chest in easy access.

Here is a peek inside the bag--My 'necessities' for a day in Africa.

I never go anywhere without a book. Tom mocks me but it saves me from losing my mind when we are delayed over and over again here. We have to wait in an office for someone--no problem, pull out the book. A bus ride takes 19 hours instead of 12--extra reading time!

I read at least two books a week and so usually have two books in my bag when I go to town and if I'm traveling it's not uncommon for me to take 5 books! A Kindle would be wonderful for this reason.

Carrie at Reading to Know is holding a challenge for the month of January where she is encouraging people to get to know L.M Montgomery's work or to revisit some of her books. I love the Anne of Green Gables books and decided to read this one above, Emily of New Moon. I'm enjoying it so far.

Another huge form of entertainment is listening to music. I'm so thankful for my little Nano.

The black sphere thing is a speaker. It produces amazing sound and allows us to listen to music in the car.

We also take it into the kitchen or use it for dinner music. It's wonderful!

Very important! My wallet. (See the photo of my precious in the corner?)

Our money here is quite pretty. That large wad of cash is not actually worth very much. The largest bill here is only worth between $10-12. I routinely carry 2 million kwacha with me but that is only just over $200.

Some of my favorite things:

• My pink snakeskin planner. I've had it for years and use it all the time.
• My head lamp. This I lose or break frequently so this is a recent model. It really comes in handy.
• My gold business card holder. This makes me feel like a professional (missionary!).
• The red notebook takes down my thoughts from day to day. If you could see inside you would see my notes taken during the Policeman's Ball.
• That blue, stripey thing is the case for my oversized sunglasses. So important!

My little trusty cell phone.

See that green thing at the back? Those are little cards containing credits for our cell phone.

Nearly all cell phones are pay as you go so we have to buy little scratch cards and type a pin code into our phone in order to add time. Sometimes we can get the big ones--$10-20 worth but these little ones are just over $2 each. We go through about $10 a week each so that is a lot of scratching and entering.

Big time essentials:

• Eye drops--things are so dusty.
• Allergy pills (see above)--risky though because they're kinda illegal here.
• Mints (front right)
• Pain pills
• Mosquito repellent
• Lotion
• Sunscreen (the sun is really intense here)

Other essentials:

• Tissue (remember my hectic roadside stop?)
• Mirror
• Splenda (even here!)
• lip gloss with sunscreen

And lastly: hair scrunchie and bandana. With no airconditioning our windows are always open and a hair drifting across your face over and over again for hours can make you slowly lose your mind.

So, there you have it! My daily pack. What is in your purse?

Can you tell me what is missing from mine?