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.
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
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.
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
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!
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!
Friday, 1 November 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, 13 October 2013
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!
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!
Sunday, 29 September 2013
African Church Service
Today we went to church! We knew most churches started around 10am so we headed out a bit early, looking for one we had heard about. We couldn't find it so we followed people who were walking with Bibles until we found ourselves on a dirt road. I realized we were heading to one of the BIC (Brethren In Christ) churches that I had been to recently, so we went there--there were a few other churches along the way that would have worked as well. It was hot and there was no shade but we found the church and were welcomed inside. It turned out that we were catching the end of Sunday School; the service started soon after. Most of the service was in Tonga but there was some English as well, so I had a general idea of what was going on. We didn't realize at first that it was a special 'revival' service, which was fine except there were several choirs singing songs, a soloist, offering time, and it all took about two hours and then a special guest got up to preach. The kids were done with it all by that time, fighting with each other, so we left a bit early. We had a long walk in the hot sun and we were all hungry, so I jogged on ahead and brought the vehicle back for the rest of the family. After we all got some food in us we were happy again and the kids did a puzzle for quiet time:
It was interesting and good and I enjoyed the part of the sermon that I heard, and the singing (I think I recognized the hymn even though it was in Tonga). But we're not used to the length. I think we'll still try to find that first church because I've heard that it's a bit more informal and all in English.
Below is a picture of the front of our house, as well as the backyard. We hired a gardener to tame the backyard, and he has done an enormous amount of work in three days. I'm hoping to have a fenced-in, level grassy area with swings for the kids to play in, as well as a large garden (behind the big tree). The house in the background belongs to a different tenant, and there are two dogs that came with the house that no one really owns or feeds...which we're a bit nervous about (around the kids), although so far they've been fine; our landlord is trying to find a new home for them.
So far there have been some challenges but Zambia really is a friendly country and we feel welcomed. Our house is starting to feel a bit more like home. Our actual work here will commence more in the next couple of weeks.
It was interesting and good and I enjoyed the part of the sermon that I heard, and the singing (I think I recognized the hymn even though it was in Tonga). But we're not used to the length. I think we'll still try to find that first church because I've heard that it's a bit more informal and all in English.
Below is a picture of the front of our house, as well as the backyard. We hired a gardener to tame the backyard, and he has done an enormous amount of work in three days. I'm hoping to have a fenced-in, level grassy area with swings for the kids to play in, as well as a large garden (behind the big tree). The house in the background belongs to a different tenant, and there are two dogs that came with the house that no one really owns or feeds...which we're a bit nervous about (around the kids), although so far they've been fine; our landlord is trying to find a new home for them.
So far there have been some challenges but Zambia really is a friendly country and we feel welcomed. Our house is starting to feel a bit more like home. Our actual work here will commence more in the next couple of weeks.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Almost There
But we are not in Africa yet! We are in Alberta to say good-bye to Michelle's side of the family. I spent today doing some final paperwork and then rode Michael's bike to town to use the bank and post office (I do love small towns!). Then I worked on supper preparation a bit while everyone else drove to town for slurpees. It's been quite a relaxing day after the last whirlwind week of getting ready.
We have had many people giving us words of encouragement, and I think only one giving us a word of warning...we have felt very supported by our family, friends, and church community. Christian Community is indeed a wonderful thing! Many people have also given us some cash to help with our moving expenses, which are a bit more than I anticipated, but it looks like everything will work out about right. When you leave a first world country for three years, you have to take care of lots of things, such as making sure your medical, vision, and dental health is all up to date. Then times that by four if you have four people in your family! Then there is the matter of immunizations for strange diseases you may pick up in a third world country. Don't forget to load up on meds for malaria and other things you normally take. It's a lot at once!
Anyway, I hear the call for supper...Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf. Mmm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
