March
We need to speed up the blog as we are now seriously
behind schedule – so this is a whizz through to the end of March. We need to catch up, Zambia’s just as bad as the
UK for getting on with these things.
Well, here goes.
It’s hard to remember just what it was like back in early March as we
had still not moved then – we still had the questionable delights of a “house in the garden”
to enjoy, so life was very different.
The bridge at Victoria Falls from the Boiling Pot |
Jane was whizzing about the place with Rhoda in their big
white Isuzu 4 x 4 (not quite) to continue to meet people, being introduced as
Rhoda had to say goodbye to them. We
still had changeable weather since the rainy season was still in full swing – either rain for a couple of hours each day, or
not at all for two weeks then a humungous thunderstorm. The rest of the time it would be hot and
sunny and you would think, what rainy season?
By hot it has always been somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees Celcius,
so Jane was welded to her brolly, Zambian sunshade style, and Paul similarly
welded to his Tilley hat.
The upper reaches of the Zambeze River - Jane, Paul, Nuambe, Richeal, Ginny and the left half of Carole (Sorry Carole!) |
Victoria Falls |
That evening was spent in Olga’s, the only restaurant we
had been to apart from Choma Museum Restaurant.
We had our fill of pizza and some rather cough-mixture style white wine
– but even so the combination of cheese and wine was pretty good. Cheese is something of a luxury, so melted
all over a pizza is a good moment. What
a day.
On the Sunday we were joined by Lorraine (VSO Canada),
Jennifer (VSO Canada) and Hans (VSO Netherlands) for a BBQ. They had been staying the night before we
arrived and did the Falls the day before, and then went on a two day overnight
trip to Chobe, in Botswana, on a game viewing excursion. They arrived fresh back from all this full of
stories and photographs of elephants, giraffes, hippos and lions (also
something about forged immigration documents and refusing to have a room
without en suite) and it sounded like ‘must do’ trip. That’s one to do soon, maybe September????
One of the trips was to deliver some Chodort Crafts stock to the Museum shop, and there were some takings to collect too. (Jane later had to make three visits but got it in the end.) The shop is the busiest part of the Museum – it has crafts from local individuals and co-operatives, mainly baskets, pottery, wood carvings, jewellery and textiles. So the Museum is the place to be in Choma. It has the only craft shop and the only restaurant – we know how to live! It also has an internet cafe, but sadly the museum part is rather faded and out of date. It would be great to be able to do something about this, hopefully there will be some developments on that front but who knows.
It was around now that Jane started to order
the material needed for making a bed canopy mosquito net, one that you can
stand up in and it makes the bed look like a four poster when it is pulled
aside in the daytime. The netting was
the first thing, and this was ordered from Laxmi Electricals (where else) along
with ribbon and lining, to come from Lusaka. This was the beginning of the saga and eventually involved about ten trips to the
aforementioned store, as when it finally arrived there was no cotton thread or
the tape needed – that had to come from Zimbabwe. I was texting the assistant,
Vincent, at one stage to see if the items were in yet. Lovely friendly service
though!
Mother’s Day brought a lovely surprise, yes a call from
‘our three’! It was such fun, wonderful
to hear their voices and we had two mobile phones with calls from London and
Chichester, with all five of us talking at once – I don’t know how we do
it! It didn’t feel like Mothering Sunday
at all as we had been to a service at St Stephens earlier that day, but rather
than the same as the UK it was an ‘HIV/AIDS Sunday Service in English and
Vernacular’ with the fabulous choir in full voice. Singing about HIV and AIDS ... that was a
first for us.
From cow to churn (Rupek in red, milking boy in half overalls) |
Back at the farm though, there were a few local people
waiting around to buy milk straight from the cow – still warm and frothy. We watched a small boy with his even smaller
brother, struggling to get a very large drum of milk strapped to the back of
his grown up bike. This took at least
half an hour to accomplish, but once successful, off he went along the path through
the field with, yes, his brother hitching a ride as well. Good training I guess because the things we
see on bicycles are beyond belief – cages full of chickens (several cages as
well as several chickens) huge bundles of charcoal (again, several and they are
BIG bags), sometimes furniture, or bits of wood approaching 5 metres long. The best one that Paul saw was a pig strapped
into the child seat. Classic Choma. I
did see a small herd of goats and chickens waiting at the bus stop the other
day though.
The completed boundary wall at the front of the plot - maize growing for now with houses in background |
UCZ St Stephen's Preschool |
Mrs Mwaybe and her grandchildren (maybe not all of them) |
The Friday of that week was Richeal’s last day in Choma –
her VSO placement here hadn’t worked out so she was off to the bright lights in
Lusaka. We had a final Wonderbake
cappuchino (Yes, the only place in Choma for those) and a few farewell visits
around town.
We were getting close to moving day – David and Rhoda had
lots of dinner and lunch invitations, and we were included in lunch with Subi
and Sophia Thomas on the Sunday. (Subi is the accountant at Chodort and is
running it with Mr Mwango who is now the Vice Principal.) The Bishop and his wife (no English) were
there too, and the Thomas’ have two boys, Harrington, 4, and baby David. They have just moved in to a lovely house
they have designed themselves, and lunch was served outside under a modern but
traditional style thatched roundel with two tables built in – I couldn’t help
but imagine them at a Garden Show at home!
(Sorry I digress.)
Back in Choma, the next big event coming up was the House Move, but that would be a bittersweet moment involving our goodbyes to David and Rhoda. They did so much for us, made us feel so welcome and part of the community, and ensured that we had all the information we needed. We had frequent visits to the house; very often for a meal with friends or a quick coffee between visits or, more often than not, to bring our washing to use the ... yes ... washing machine! Such luxury. The norm here is to wash everything by hand, sheets and towels, the lot, but this we have been spared. We know that we are house sitting until a new principal for the college can be found, and keep that thought at the back of our minds. Paul’s houses better be good if and when we need to move in to one!
Back in Choma, the next big event coming up was the House Move, but that would be a bittersweet moment involving our goodbyes to David and Rhoda. They did so much for us, made us feel so welcome and part of the community, and ensured that we had all the information we needed. We had frequent visits to the house; very often for a meal with friends or a quick coffee between visits or, more often than not, to bring our washing to use the ... yes ... washing machine! Such luxury. The norm here is to wash everything by hand, sheets and towels, the lot, but this we have been spared. We know that we are house sitting until a new principal for the college can be found, and keep that thought at the back of our minds. Paul’s houses better be good if and when we need to move in to one!
All our worldly goods in Zambia on the back of a lorry |
Incidentally our address, should anyone feel like writing/posting chocolate etc, is:
Chodort Training Centre, PO Box 630451, Choma, Zambia, even a landline
00 260 213 220663. There is a prefix number from UK of 0844 323 6444 so if you dial that first from a UK landline it costs 2.5p a minute. Our connection to our old life!
The house in Edinburgh Road |
We soon met our lovely bubbly neighbour Rahem, another volunteer
here working with Scripture Union and hails from Denver, Colorado. Her house is in the garden of our house, and is compact but beautiful – she calls it her palace. She invited us to dinner soon after we had
moved which was delicious, so she is a great cook too. We don’t see each other
every day, quite, but we lend each other things as good neighbours do; sometimes shop together and often have meals
together with her and Ben as they are good friends. We've even joined them playing tennis on a Saturday!
Next entry under way is for April, which seems the way to go at the moment. The delay is putting the photos on the blog; we get there in the end though. If you would like to be an official follower (we have a grand total of four at the moment) of our blog then follow the instructions, and you will receive a note by email of the next update. Just found that out - would have been handy before but there you go.
Next entry under way is for April, which seems the way to go at the moment. The delay is putting the photos on the blog; we get there in the end though. If you would like to be an official follower (we have a grand total of four at the moment) of our blog then follow the instructions, and you will receive a note by email of the next update. Just found that out - would have been handy before but there you go.
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