Projects and Fun

Made 3 trips to the airport this week picking up and dropping off missionaries for transfers.  

Lighting the World at the Shopping Center.  Usually the members work these but we wanted a chance.  We whities are less successful than the members.  

Elder Wester's last baptism before going home. The Elders are the young men on the left and the two being baptized are on the right.  Notice our Chinese friend.  The Chinese have a great influence here in the economy.  He is a great young man who will someday return to China to be a Church leader there.  

Check out this huge avacado!  Fresh vegies from the farmers market.  

At Lupani School where our church project will build a new classroom building.  These are some of the teachers, the school district leaders, and our contractor.

While we were waiting for the meeting at Lupani school, parents were coming by to see if their child was accepted into first grade.  Their new school year starts in January.  They don't have enough teachers or classrooms to accept everyone.  Most of those accepted were 8 and 9 year olds but they had some 10, 11, and 7 year olds.  But about 20 seven year olds weren't accepted.  Felt sorry for the kids and parents who weren't accepted.  Even then, they accepted 105 kids that will be split into two first grade classes.  

Stopped on the way home from Chibombo at the Reptile Park.  Wild place.

Mid size crocs

Several varieties of Turtles

Scary Snake.  Can't remember what kind but think this is the one that spits poison in your eye.  

There were about 400 crocs here.  Many huge guys like this one.  It thinks it is guarding it's eggs but the park owners took them a while back.  They raise some of them for the meat and skin.  

The feared black mamba.  Most poison snake in Africa (or world?).  Some of the snakes were biters and others were constrictors. 

 

I had to try the African Cuisine of Caterpillars for the Grandkids.

The drill rig at the Mikango School.  See our Facebook page for a video of the drilling process.

Found Water!  Installation of the pump and drainage.  The truck couldn't get down to the original planned location so they tried here closer to the school and were successful.  A blessing in disguise.  

Safari Couples Conference

This has been a great week.  We traveled to a Senior Couples Conference in Malawi and then went on a Safari back in Zambia. Saw elephants, hippos, crocs, impala, zebra, giraffe, warthogs and more.

On our way in the airport

All the senior couples at our training.  From left, Fakalata, us, Lewis, Jones, Rowan, and our mission President and wife.

Yes we were really that close!   

Having a mud bath.  

Impalas.  They are plentiful. That's because they are the dinner for many animals.

Our last lunch in Malawi together before heading back home.

My friend at the border crossing.  I gave him a cookie so he brought me this casaba root.  

Border Crossing between Malawi and Zambia; Took 5 hours to get through.

 

Elephant brigade.  

One of the small giraffes

Easy Rider

Warthog with the two babies.  So ugly!

Our bungalow was on the right.  In the middle of the night we got up to take pills for a headache and looked out that window and there was a momma and baby hippo munching on the grass.  They had told us previously not to leave the room at night.  Now we know why...

Thankful Week

A group from LDS Charities came to train Midwifes to train others on Maternal and Newborn care.  Enjoyed taking them to church, feeding them, and helping them get everything set up.  We wish we could stay for the whole training but we have to go to a senior couples conference.  

 At the beginning of the Midwife training, they sang an opening song and had a prayer.  Loved this song.  Wish we knew what the words meant. 

The Dr. showing the uterus contraption they use in the training. 

Just had to eat here.  (Janet's maiden name is Bushman)

We wondered how they made charcoal.  Here's a charcoal mound burning in a low oxygen environment.  Many people here cook with charcoal.  

Had a great Thanksgiving feast.  An American family who works at the US embassy invited the couples and many of their coworker families.  In October they brought the turkey and ham from the U.S.  Really great traditional thanksgiving dinner but we missed our Family.  The day after Thanksgiving the roads were completely clogged and upon asking why we found it was because of Black Friday.  They celebrate that here even though they don't celebrate Thanksgiving.  

We are working to put a borehole in for a school so they can have clean accessible water.   First two pictures below shows the engineer doing the borehole siting study to figure out the best place for the well.  They put stakes into the ground hooked to wires that run to that machine in the briefcase then run current through it and measure conductivity then repeat the process moving the stakes out further and further in different directions.  

This was the school's water source.  Just a hole dug in a ravine.  It wasn't so muddy and dirty before the heavy rains this week.  

 The best teeter-totter ever at this school. 

A bit of the farmland out in the bush on our way to the school.  We have to use 4 wheel drive on the road to get there.  So fun!  Who gets to go 4x4ing on their mission??

Another Busy Week

We are trying to juggle about 8 potential projects so we have been quite busy meeting with various government offices, schools, businesses, and health clinics.  On our travels we have taken some pictures to show the country side. 

A large farm operation on our way to Chibombo (2 hr drive)

Can you tell it is watermelon season.  Yes we stopped and got one.

 On our way to Chibombo we saw a sign that said there was a Marriott hotel with a Safari option.  We were ahead of schedule so decided to check it out.  We drove on a very rough road for 3km then a nice dirt road for 4km.  A Marriott out in the middle of no where?

On the way to the Marriott we spotted this interesting tree. Looked like cactus at the top.

Arrived at the Marriott.  It was actually very nice and secluded.  

Saw a few animals on the Marriott premises and down by the lake.  It is just a very small hour long safari drive. Maybe we'll try it some weekend.

Drove out to a school (see school room below) that needs some repair and a teacher's house.  On the way we drove past a home where they had about 10 large mango trees.  They are just starting to come on this and next month. The school room is in bad shape because they haven't held school there for many months because they don't have a teacher.  We are exploring various options for revitalizing this school and making them eligible for a government supplied teacher.

Got the pit latrines at one school pumped out to prevent cholera outbreak when rainy season starts.

Took Elder Wester and Tshimbundu out for pizza for Elder Wester's birthday.  He was an assistant and is now training.  Headed home next month.

Today was quite hot.  Relief Society decided to meet outside.  Rainy season is late starting so farmers are worried. 
Janet is sitting on the other side of the tree!

Literally went 4x4ing (very rough terrain) this week as we drove about 7km into the bush to a school where a borehole is needed.  A pretty drive with little farmer plots (large gardens) along the low lying areas.

Roasted caterpillars.  We were too chicken to try them partly because we had a audience and were afraid of gagging!!!

We made a visit to a rural school and received the royal treatment.  This choir welcomed us as we drove in singing a song welcoming us to their school.  It was great.  They were really putting their best foot forward.

 The next three pictures show the school rooms for these children.  In the younger classes (the third picture), the kids sit on floors because they don't have enough desks.  The second picture below shows the older class in their desks.  Normally, they wouldn't have this many students at once because half of them meet in the morning and the other half meet in the afternoon.  We were very impressed that, as we had requested, their teachers had finalized a priority list of needs with good cost estimates.  We are recommending that the church provide building materials for a 3 classroom building, Latrines, desks, and other school supplies.  The community will do all the building.

The video clip shows preschool children at another school learning English in a fun way by chanting "We are Walking" (or jumping, or marching, or ...)

Found a KFC!  Finger-lickin' good.  

More Zambia

Stopped along the road in Chongwe after a meeting there.  They were just performing along the roadway. 

The church put in a borehole (well) for a rural community 3 years ago.  After filling one 5 gallon bucket, I was pooped. 

The children always love getting their pictures taken.  In their classroom.

This little guy was Grandma's friend.  He followed her around while we were at a school.  

Not sure what this flower is but it was huge (about a foot across).  Grows off a vine in a member's yard.  Maybe Angela can tell us what it is...