Forest Cobra

Today I was approached by a villager who said he was pulling out his fish trap and noticed that a large snake was in tangled in the trap and he wanted me to remove it. See, I am known as a missionary who has knowledge of snakes and how to get rid of them before they bite someone. So I went to the river and found the snake. I identified it as a forest Cobra, it was about 7 feet long and black in color. It is important that I identify what type of species of snakes are in the area so that we can obtain the anti-venom in case someone should get bit.

Back from bush

I just returned from the bush. I spent the last 3 days teaching headmen from the Chieftainess Kanyembos area. We taught about Leadership and positive re enforcement.
The headmen were thrilled and said they won't cane and beat people very much anymore.
I was located across from Mofwe Lagoon. In between classes, I took a canoe out in the water to visit some of the islands. I got caught in the rain coming back and it was rough letting the hard rain to hit me and also to fill up my boat.
When I arrived back to the orphanage, I found two new additions to our orphans. They are still in transition but in a few days they will be permanent.

Babies and guest!

Busy, busy, busy! The last few days we have been doing and accomplishing a lot of things.

First we got the Pump guy on the bus from Lusaka, he arrived and installed a new control box. We had to spend time lowering a 50 meter poly pipe back into the ground with the hook ups. Right when he finished it by 8 PM the power went off. So we couldn't test it. I told him to try tomorrow. His bus back comes at 6 AM so he came back to the orphanage at 4 AM. By God's grace the electricity was back! He adjusted a few things and we now have water!

The two baby Orphans (Jenny and Queenie) are now a permanent residence of our place. Amy has been sleeping these few nights in the baby room to help the transitions. She will be making a blog of her experience.

Three guys from South Africa needed a place to stay for 3 days as they see the Luapula river. It was nice to talk and visit with them.

We also got a lady from Mansa who wants to be on our permanent staff so she arrived today.

Rain and storms are occurring daily indicating that the rainy season has arrived!

I got in contact with a guy with a truck that could possibly pick up our walking tractor in Lusaka, I think it will take him 2 trips.

I got a trip tomorrow for 3 days to teach a leadership course to 15 Headmen in Chiefs Kanyembos area. Only 20 kilometers from the Orphanage.

Long Day

Today started a 5 AM with the rush of getting out the door to go to Mansa. See Mansa is a town about a 3 to 4 hour bus ride from our village. Yes, you heard it, a bus ride. At present, we do not have a vehicle to run around in. So we are taking public transportation. Amy and I both went as it was the monthly shopping plus I needed to pick supplies at the hardware store. Once we got out of the orphanage, I noticed that our unfinished wall was a bit moved. Apparently the earth that was being held up by the 3 course wall got a drenching and that compacted the soil down causing the wall to move off the foundation. After examining it further, I found out the the cement mix was poor and some of the burnt clay bricks were soaked thru and just crumbled at my touch! I am contemplating what to do. We have 3000 bricks still waiting to be built with, but now I have my doubts with the quality of the clay. hmmmm

Well, we went to Mansa, did the ATM, got the shopping done and picked up pipe fittings. By 12:30 we were back on the bus returning to Kazembe. We got back just in time to greet a friend, Sanjay and a secretary from the Lions club from the next town over who arrived to use our Internet. So they stayed for dinner. Oh yeah, both babies, Jennifer and Queeny were here for about 4 to 5 hours. Jennifer is happy with the baby room and us, but Queeny is still crying for her uncle. We tried cookies, milk, playing toys, etc. but when her diaper needed changing, ohhh boy. We told the guardians to bring them by 9 AM tomorrow and leave them until 4 PM. So it will be a big, loud day tomorrow.

At 6:50 PM we had a power cut. This has been going on weekly. The electric company (Zesco) calls it "load shedding", in other words, there just isn't enough power to go around. In the evening, everyone is using their electric stoves. So all the villages and non-towns get cut from around 6 PM to 9 PM. Well, by 9:40 PM our electricity came back on! But this normal candle light time we have been enduring for the past 5 years has now come to an end. Last week we got one back-up supply battery inverter. I connected it to our main house and now our light can stay on! Praise God! We still need three more systems to completely maintain our Orphanage. Lord willing soon, because the baby wing still goes off in a power cut.

Transition time

Yesterday the two babies Queeny (14 months) and Jennifer (29 months), arrived with their caretaker to play in the orphanage. Queeny cried a bit because the new environment and seeing white people for the first time was a bit scary. Jennifer, however just walked into the play room and started playing.
I, in the mean time, was putting together connections to the poly pipe for the kitchen. Plus I took measurements for the inside of the kitchen pipes.
Today, I did a lot of electrical work, mainly on the inside junction box. It was a mess. I was trying to re-organize it with labels plus hook the lights up to a back up battery system. I wish we could do the sockets and the rest of the buildings, but each 1200 watts system costs a bundle. So now if the electricity goes off, which it does very frequently, we will at least have lights in the main building.
Only Queeny arrived today. She was a bit better and didn't cry as much. She spent about 3 hours here. Jennifer didn't come, I think because it was about to rain and it did get a bit stormy.
The two should come over tomorrow, then again Friday, Saturday should be the drop off day! It will be an all day and nighter for Amy. Ha!

Meetings

So today I went deep into the village to have a meeting with two different section Headmen and their area people. I think about 40 attended. I introduced myself and explained about our orphanage. I told them how we are looking for baby orphans.
Many questions were asked. Questions like: "We are afraid to give you our orphans because if we give it today tomorrow we will find out that a plane has taken them away to another country!"

Questions like this one are common. It was a good meeting and on Monday we shall see who wants a tour of our place.

Amy is still in Lusaka the capital getting much needed supplies.

Tired

Just finished showing the orphanage grounds to the guardians. They were very pleased!
During the day, I went around through the village having meetings with different groups letting them know that we are now in operation.

Changed the gas bottle on the stove. Then pumped two 55 gal. drums of water to the water tower.

The farmers are burning their fields so the air is filled with smoke and ash. It reminds me of a forest fire. Hard to breathe.

Last Night

Well, last night was tough. At around 4:45 PM the electricity went off. The standard thing I do is walk around checking on all the different breakers. All was OK. I then tried to call the local electric company office which is located in the next town, but no one was answering. In the mean time I checked our small 1000 watt generator, filled it up with what little gas we had (about 2 liters), then attempted to pull that string thing. But then the pull string just broke at the end. Thank God the generator started up. With little fuel, I announced that once it is off it is off. Plus we have no more fuel! As night arrived at 6 PM we hooked up our security lights and then had some dinner and watched some TV. By 9 PM I knew that the gas was about to finish, so I got in bed pulled out my head lamp and continued to read my favorite subject on Livingstone. At this time, Timmy, my third born son, prayed a good prayer that the generator would stay on until the electricity would be ready to come on. By this time it was already a miracle that a couple of liters of gas had lasted so long. Then at 9:45pm I heard the generator fluctuate. This was the end. I could imagine the mosquitoes getting ready for my blood. See if we have electricity, the fans blow them away, plus the lights help also. Then within 30 seconds, all the lights on the property went on signalling that electricity was now on. Praise God. I talked to Timmy about this and he said it was a great encouragement for him that God answered his prayers.
So now we have no generator. The Lord is going to have to do something! Prayer is the answer.

Another entry

Well, just did my profile only to find out that it gave my sheep year and sun sign. I guess it does that automatically.

The Beginning

Well, this is my first blog. One reason I started is because I have just installed a satellite dish for the Internet in the village where I am staying. More information about my family can be found at http://www.missionaryfamily.com/