Puddle-icious

'Thwock!' A small rock landed in the brown puddle overtaking the dip in the dirt road. Malachi got ready to throw another one as ripples spread out from the place his stone had landed. The air was quiet and humid, but cool thanks to the overcast sky, as well as the big rainstorm we had earlier. Occasionally a car would disturb the puddle, or a passer-by would greet the busy three year old, as they delicately skirted the water by means of a raised pathway. It was a peaceful Sunday afternoon in Mochipapa.

Sometimes it is difficult to keep Malachi awake around suppertime--when he skips his afternoon nap. The great hope is that he will go to bed early, and we will enjoy a quiet evening. This hope is not always realized, however...and the over-tiredness that his family must deal with is not always worth it. But there is always hope, and some father-son bonding time around rocks and puddles.

A few other thoughts:

This morning I was half an hour late for church (Sunday School precedes the service), and I was the first one there. The door was locked. I undertook to study Exodus 18 myself, standing outside beside the half finished clinic building, trying not to sit too long on the wet log...not too many people came for the service today (and we didn't know who had the keys) so eventually we held a short prayer time and dispersed.

My sermon last week went okay, and I am recycling it for this Tuesday's chapel, with some changes.

I had a prayer answered last week, but not in the way I expected. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at work because our morticing chisel broke, so we were morticing doors by hand...the boss had been away for awhile so I was trying to help the foreman with new customers' quotes, and scheduling pending jobs which neither of us knew enough about. I'm not exaggerating when I say that morticing by hand takes about 20 times longer. And there was a certain customer who we were a few months behind on his kitchen cabinet job due to a wood issue, and hadn't even started, and it was a huge job...just on my mind. So as I chiseled away at my piece of rosewood, I voiced these problems in my spirit, not even praying per se, but bringing God into them. At tea-time the customer I mentioned came to ask if we had started on his kitchen yet. I had to tell him no, we had not, and no, we did not know when we could start, and no, the boss was still away... yet I took the opportunity to ask if we could change the type of wood for the boxes, and he was quite affirmative and gracious, and it lifted a load off of my shoulders because it will likely save us a significant chunk of time in the midst of the busy-ness. I realized later that it was an answer to prayer.

Lastly, I hurt my upper back somehow--I think it was partly from exerting myself whilst pruning our guava trees, coupled with bad posture when reading a book the other night. Not sure if it's just muscles, or a slipped disc? I don't think it's a pinched nerve. It hurts very much to sneeze. It has put my oil-change plans on hold, and we'll see how work goes on Tuesday, as well!

Handymanning Around

It's been a somewhat eventful week here in Choma. Last Sunday our kitten bit Kate while she was trying to feed her. It was a tiny bite at the tip of her finger but we immediately became worried about rabies. Not because our kitten was acting strangely, but because our dog 'eats' the kitten, and plays voraciously with the other dog who has come back after being given away, who wanders around town frequently. So, for peace of mind we started Kate on the anti-rabies vaccine at the local medical clinic. Now, six days later, all the animals are fine, but we will continue the third shot of the series on Monday and stop after that (unless the cat dies suddenly).

We promptly got the feline version of the rabies vaccine for our kitten so that this doesn't happen again, and tried to catch our dogs so that we could give them the shot too before we give them away (we've decided they're more hassle than they're worth, and have people willing to take them off our hands). But, the dogs will not be caught. They're friendly enough until I get near them with a leash. I even drugged them with sleeping pills one day, but although they acted a bit woozy, they never slept...they have a lot of room to run around so it's difficult to contain them. However, I've fixed our front gate so it's a little harder for them to get out on the street.

I was discouraged about my failure to deal with the dogs, so I turned my energies toward other things needing attention. I cleaned out our spare room (fifth bedroom) which has been a breeding grounds for collecting junk and working on projects. We plan to convert this into Michelle's home office, and use her current office room as a dedicated guest room. Also, our fridge plug has not been reliable so I took it apart today and it seems to be okay now; while I had the fridge moved, I realized why it has been leaking water on the floor these last few months--the drain hose was directed away from the drip tray! And, while I was at it, I tackled our ensuite door, which has never closed properly--maybe due to settling? I cut off a strip at the top of the door, added a towel hook, and fixed the lock so that you can open it from the inside, not just the outside. I am very satisfied with my handymanning today!

Here is a picture of a typical lock in Zambia (the one I fixed). I couldn't believe that these are the norm here, but it's true--even our exterior doors have these, though often a second security mechanism as well. I don't like them personally--they seem to break easily, and are probably easy to pick if you know how.

We took our monthly worker renewal meal at the Choma Museum tonight. We usually order chicken and chips, and the kids love getting Fanta to drink! They jump on the trampoline while they wait for the food, and we eat outdoors at a picnic table nearby. Fine outdoor dining in January! And now I need to polish off my sermon for church tomorrow. I'm borrowing the sermon idea from Gerald Janzen--'The Snake and the Son.' It combines the bronze snake in Numbers 21 with John 3:16.

So, that was my week. How was yours?

Give Me One of Your Children

On Monday, I was walking along the road with my children. Kate was running ahead to the raised grass path, and Malachi was dawdling along in the dirt. Two Zambian ladies approached us, walking the other way. I nodded in their general direction; they greeted me and then one of them said, "Give me one of your children."

"Which one?" I asked.

She pointed at Malachi, the two-almost-three year old, decked out in his shorts, t-shirt, and hat, slowly scuffing his shoes in the dirt. "That one."

"You don't want him," I said consolingly. "He's too much trouble." We smiled amicably at each other and parted ways.

Swing Project

A project I have been meaning to work on for some time now that we are settled in Choma is to make a swingset for the kids to play on outside. Although there is a park nearby with swingsets, the swings are missing (the slides are a bit rusty, but functional; Michelle has photos on her blog). Awhile ago I put up a single rope swing, hanging from a large tree, but it only works so well.

The main challenges were finding timber and tools. I used pine planks (roughly 2x6 size). Everyone warned me that they would be eaten by termites, so I coated them with some black oily stuff. I made a couple of 'A' frames by chiseling out half of the top so that the two main supports would fit together nicely. For tools, I used a handsaw purchased with precious allowance money, as well as an electric drill MCC had bought, and some screws and a screwdriver. My hammer was a nailbar I had brought from Canada.

My design isn't perfect--there is slight horizontal play from side to side, but for swinging it is fairly solid--unless you get going a bit too high, when the whole thing starts to rock out of the ground--so that will need some concrete poured into the ground and around the legs. But the kids enjoyed their first swing--despite swings made out of rope and hardwood scraps--and I'm pleased.

Snow in Africa? I'd settle for a little Rain

It is now December, so the Christmas season is officially upon us. Here in Africa there are not too many signs of it, though. For one, there is the 30 degree weather with sunny blue skies and puffy white clouds! The rainy season is late and even the locals are complaining about the heat a little bit. Inside our house, however, Christmas is making some sneaky inroads. The tree is up, as well as an advent calendar that gives some candy and a new Christmas activity to do each day (today the kids made gingerbread cookies).

The Christmas spirit seems to be affecting Cookie, our three-legged mutt. She is not the friendliest dog I've ever met; in fact, I've never even petted her. She shies away when anyone gets too close. Ever since she hurt her leg somehow--her front right paw dangles uselessly as she hobbles around--she's been even more scarce. She's supposed to be our guard dog, but I'm not sure how much use she'd be against an intruder. She is, however, attempting to make friends with our new kitten, Fanta. I don't think she even knew Fanta was living on our porch for a few days, until I drew her attention to her at dinnertime. Ever since then, Cookie cautiously approaches, sniffing and wagging her tail, making strange, happy half-growl, half-whine sounds in her throat, with the odd bark. Fanta isn't scared of her, but doesn't get too close either. It's interesting watching them interact. I'm hoping Fanta will help Cookie be easier to tame. Cookie doesn't have a problem eating cat food, either!

I recently read 'The Dog Who Wouldn't Be' by Farley Mowat. Now there is a dog with some character!

Things are going well at Chodort. I'm working on some cabinets with another carpenter. They are going in a kitchen in a new duplex on 'The Plot,' a parcel of land close by where Chodort is building rental houses to help supplement its income. We are using white melamine for the actual boxes, but everything else--rails, doors, plinth, etc--is made of rosewood, the go-to hardwood around here. Rosewood looks okay when it is finished, but it is very time consuming to plane from rough planks, and cut into the right sizes. I'm enjoying my days 'off' at work--having two preschoolers home all day gets on my nerves sometimes!

A case in point: last Friday the kids were driving me nuts, and it was only the morning! Michelle was at her office in town for the day, doing Teacher Mentor work. The Lord provided a boy named Provide to play with Kate and Malachi. I got a little uneasy near the end of the day when he didn't seem ready to go home--and then he did the dishes, swept the floor, and asked me for a job--but overall he was a welcome distraction. He is an eleven year old orphan who lives with his aunt, and has school break now.

Well, enjoy the snow this Christmas, and don't forget to pray for rain for Zambia!

Zambadian Comparison Microeconomics

Some of the striking economic differences I have noticed between BC and Zambia are:

Wages--minimum wage is now $10/hr, I think? in BC. Here in Zambia we pay our gardener the equivalent of 50 cents an hour. He works hard outside in the sun...we're giving him a small raise this month. Labour here is cheap.

Cell phones--I never bothered with one in BC. They are expensive, even on a pay-as-you-go plan. Michelle had one for emergencies. Here in Zambia I bought a simple one for $20. SMS (texting) is free to receive and only 4 cents to send, on a true pay-as-you-go SIM card plan. Most people seem to constantly be running out of airtime, though.

Food--Prices for western food are comparable. However, if you eat two meals of nshima per day with pumpkin leaves and groundnuts, you will not be spending very much money.

Rent--our 5 bedroom house on a large lot is a steal at $400 US/month. However, it's a bit of a fixer-upper. :) Rent for a similar place in BC--maybe $1300?

Prescription Drugs--ridiculously cheap in Zambia, though probiotics seem to be more expensive. Most drugs available over the counter, prescription or not...

Hardware prices--comparable.

Trades--we had a plumber fix a couple of things in our home. He worked for about 2 hours and charged us 60 kwacha (about $12). All of his tools fit on the back of his bicycle. In BC the plumbers I met generally had a large van or a trailer to transport all their tools, and charged upwards of $200 an hour.

Employment--Unemployment is very high (I'm not sure of the number, but judging by the number of people who have come up to me on the street and asked me for a job, it's big). In Canada I have felt the sting of different recessions a bit as layoffs at work have continued. It's still nothing compared to Zambia, though.

Glamdring the FlyHammer

Week 3 in Choma is complete. This past week went by quite quickly for me. Some things are settling into routines, while others are still waiting to happen. We have set up language lessons for the next few weeks, for two hour sessions in our home. (We will keep the kids busy during lessons with the ipads, but I'm not sure they will last for two hours so there may be a few interruptions.) We also went back to our church today as a family--last week it was just Malachi and myself, as Kate was not feeling well. It is a very small church that meets in an L-shaped classroom in town. It is almost more like a Bible Study--but it works for us because it's in English, and shorter so the kids have a better chance of sitting through it. There doesn't seem to be 'sunday school' here for the kids--it's all together before church services begin.

There continue to be a few challenges with our house, which we are slowly trying to meet. We have some friends in the attic who like to make noise at night sometimes. Sometimes the noise is quite considerate, so we call them ROUSes (see Princess Bride). Probably it is just a mouse or two. I made a homemade trap for now instead of searching in the local stores for a mousetrap. It is a bucket with a wire stretched across it and a jar suspended on the wire. I spread peanut butter on the jar and put some water in the bottom. Then I put it in the attic with a ramp leading up to the edge. (My uncle and aunt in Brackendale have used this in their basement with good results). The mouse climbs on the jar to eat the peanut butter, but the jar turns and sploosh! the mouse drowns. I've had this trap in the attic all week and most of the peanut butter is gone, but no mouse. So I've modified it so the jar turns easier, and hopefully this week we'll meet our furry friend.

The flies have also been a challenge, and again, I have not found a flyswatter or flypaper in the stores yet, so I made a homemade swatter one out of some electrical wire attached to heavy cardboard. It works okay but I only have about a 10% success rate. Still, it's therapeutic, and there are many less flies bothering us as we prepare supper, etc. I call the swatter 'Glamdring.' I think that's Bilbo Baggins' sword?

On the work front, I have been asked by the carpentry instructor at Chodort to teach a session on cabinetry. So last week I made a model of a cabinet out of 8mm plywood, and on Tuesday I will attempt to teach the class about kitchen cabinets and countertops. The students will have the opportunity to make their own model for future reference. It is not high quality joinery like they are used to, but I feel it will be very practical for their future occupations. Plus it's good practice for me, as part of the rental agreement with our landlord is to install new cabinets in the kitchen!