Thursdays This 'n' That

We are in the middle of elections here in Zambia. The election day was Tuesday, but the results have yet to be announced. We're anticipating the announcement to take place tonight. It will be good to have the campaign season done. Most of the campaigning was done via loudspeakers and honking horns since people out here in rural Zambia don't have radios or televisions to be able to hear the speeches and announcements.

I won't say much about the elections aside from the fact that we are praying for peace and safety, and for the right candidate to win.

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Tom, in his capacity as a police reservist, served as a peace keeper on election day. Things went smoothly during the day but once the polling stations closed and counting started the wheels began to come off. Tom had to stay for the entire process and as the counting carried on into the night, the crowds got more and more restless.

By 2 AM things were getting bad enough that the police had to begin shooting into the air in an attempt to ward off the crowds. I can't begin to describe to you how nervous I was to hear gunfire and not know exactly what was taking place. Thankfully I could contact Tom via text messages and I wrote him to ask what was going on. Tom wrote back: It's getting bad down here. Certainly not words that comforted me. 

Tom was stationed at an elementary school where the counting was being done. The crowd got more and more impatient and eventually began throwing bricks onto the roof of the building. Tom told me later that at this point he got really nervous. 

Finally, about 4 AM, the counting wrapped up and the announcement of winners for local offices was done. (The Presidential announcement had to wait) Upon hearing the winners, the crowd ran off to 'celebrate' in the village center. Since the celebrating involved more brick throwing the police had to bring in tear gas. 

Please pray for peace to continue especially as we wait on the big announcement. Life could change depending on who wins, so we are definitely praying for God to look after things.

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Joseph is doing so well. He eats like a champ now and is settling into a schedule. We have so much fun with him. One thing he does particularly well is burp! I love holding babies just after they've eaten and when I rub their back and pat firmly they bring p those adorable little burps. Not so Joseph, When he burps he does it with his whole heart and belly. His explosions of air go on forever. I'm always amazed at how much wind is contained in such a tiny body.

How does this section about Joseph's hot air relate to the above two sections on elections? Well.....

Exactly One Year Ago: A Tale of Two Shoes