KAOMA ORPHANAGE

This morning I walked to the orphanage that is run by Sr. Vianney and Rita (a local woman). When I arrived--the youngest children were all being bathed outside in the yard by their caregivers. The children sat on plastic bags while they were washed down with soapy water from big plastic containers. A number of children attached themselves to me immediately and several wanted to be held--all at the same time!

While a few of the little ones were playing on the swings a strange man walked through the property and tried to shake their hands. The children all started to cry--climbed off the swings and clung to me. I had to tell the man he needed to leave because he was scaring the children. Luckily, he did!

I also spent time holding and feeding some of the babies. There were about 15 infants in cribs (one a set of twins) and quite a few others that were just old enough to be running around. Some of the infants were obviously ill (probably HIV pos.) and may not survive.

All of the children at the orphanage have lost their mothers (usually to aids). If there is some extended family the children make home visits and when the children get older some go to live with that extended family. The home observes and makes sure the family is able to care for children that are returned to the village.

The children are raised similarly to life in the villages. The older girls go to school, help cook meals outside over charcoal, they do laundry, clean, and help with the babies. The older boys, who are boarded at another location, go to school and work on the farm that helps to sustain the orphanage. They learn how to care for animals, how to plant, etc.

ZAMBIAN FOOD

I've been asked a few times about the food in Zambia, so here is the basic menu:

The Africans always eat (nshima) a very thick corn meal that they form into a ball and flatten in their fingers to scoop up the other food (they eat with their hands rather than utensils). They often eat a vegetable called rape (it's a large leaf that grows pretty tall on a thick stem). They slice the rape into very thin slices and cook it. They cut most things quite small to conserve the wood or charcoal for cooking. Some of them have chickens for eggs and they usually only kill and eat animals that have grown old, so the meat can be very tough. The also like fish (usually bream) and a root that they eat both raw and cooked called casaba. The fish here in the market doesn't look too appetizing. They were setting out on a table in the sun with flies all over them.

Even the convent dogs and cat eat nshima mixed with a little beef and beef juice for their meal everyday. For a treat they get a cow leg.

I've been living with sisters from both Ireland and India. When with the Irish we always have potatoes and a little fish (frozen from Lusaka) or meat (which is a far cry from SD meat)! For vegetables we often eat rape, cabbage, tomato or (dried) peas. A young African man (Clement) does most of the cooking for us in Kaoma and the Irish sisters have taught him how to cook Irish meals.

The Indian sisters almost always have rice instead of potatoes and sometimes cook native Indian food. There isn't a lot of food variety here...there are mostly small markets on the street. However, I have found Coke...not Diet Coke...but at least Coke! They are very concerned that you bring the coke bottles back to the store when empty, because of the return deposit. I had to promise I would bring the bottles back and the little business owner trusted me to take them...ha!

The big meal of the day is served about 1pm and a small meal is eaten between 6-7pm...usually bread / scones, cheese, fruit, etc. I eat Cornflakes or Rice Crispies a lot for supper.

There are a number of fruit trees in the back yard--grapefruit, orange, lemon, papaya, guava & strawberries. Villagers also grow apples, mangos and avacados, so when the plants are bearing fruit it is a treat! We have moved into the very dry season, so there isn't much growing right now. I'm told that after the rainy season (which begins late November) Zambia looks like a whole different country...right now everything is dried, brown, sandy & hot.

KAOMA HOSPITAL

We visited the Kaoma Hospital the other day to find a doctor who would do a skin biopsy on a young boy with a terrible skin disease. I brought the instruments, supplies, and directions on how to do the biopsy with me on the plane. The biopsy is going back with Sr. Virginia to be looked at by a doctor in Aberdeen.

While at the hospital, one of the nurses I had previously met, gave me a tour of the women's ward. It was a sad site. Most of the patients stay in one large room with lots of beds and mosquito nets over each one. The outside doors were wide open to get some air flow during the hot days.

The next room was the labor room. One woman just had a baby and three others were still in labor. We were able to walk right through the room...there is absolutely NO privacy! There was one room that was so small that the new mother had to move her suitcase in order for us to open the door. She and her two premature twins were laying on a mattress on the floor.

I told the story earlier of the elderly woman who was camped out at the hospital shelter. Through the translator she told me that she had no food and was dying. I ran into her again on the streets carrying a plastic container of water and she recognized me. She called to me, but this time the translator didn't know the language she was speaking, however her body language was easy to read. She stopped, squatted down in the sand and looked at me so desperately. I had money on me this day so I gave her 5,000 kwacha to buy some food.

COMMUNICATION IN KAOMA...OR SHOULD I SAY...LACK OF COMMUNICATION!

We once again have communication with the outside world!

For the past week neither the phone nor email has been working. Tonight we were praying and reading by the light of our solar lanterns (because electricity goes out for several hours every evening) and the phone rang for the first time this week, so as soon as the electricity came back on we checked the computer and are again able to send and receive email!

I don't have access to any internet other than the house email, so thanks to my neice (Cathy) for posting my blogs for me. And my sister (Linda) is forwarding my email and blog comments to me, so I am getting your messages even if you are not hearing back from me right away.

When I get back to Lusaka in later October I hope to post some of the photos I've been takings, so keep checking in! It's great to hear from friends back home!!!!

VISIT TO KAOMA ORPHANAGE AND SCHOOL

Yesterday, I visited the orphanage that one of the sisters here in the house runs. The sister has been in Ireland since I've been here so haven't met her yet. She comes back next week. I walked through both orphanage buildings. There were a lot of little babies lying in cribs...their mothers have died of aids. Some of the babies looked pretty sick as well. The older children were in school, so I didn't meet any of them. The younger children who weren't of school age were running around outside and a few came up and hugged my legs when they saw me. Some I picked up and held...others just held on to my skirt wanting some attention!

Today, I went to the school where one of the Sisters teaches high school students. The Catholic students meet every Wednesday afternoon for singing, discussion, etc. I met with the group of about 25 students and did some activities, discussion and singing. You have to be creative here because I didn't even have paper and pencils. I taught them a game I've done with american youth groups and they loved it! They wanted to play it over and over. They did a great job using the game to associate to the discussion topic, but I did have some trouble understanding everything they said! It is a challenge to understand the dialect and the African names. However, people are very patient and are willing to repeat! The children learn english in school so they are anxious to practice on us!

NEWS FROM KAOMA

On Friday I took a bus to Mongu (about 2 hours away) and met with the bishop, so he could sign some papers for a land purchase in Kaoma. The land purchase is for a farming project that is beginning here. The land is being purchased from a woman who's brother owned the land, but is now passed away. I went to the village with Sr. Virginia to obtain a signature from the woman selling the property. As we walked through the village all the children followed. They all gathered around the door of the hut to see the "whites"! We are an unusual site in this part of the world!

I stayed in Mongu two nights and took the bus back on Sunday morning. The sisters in Mongu run a home for physically disabled children (Cheshire Home). The convent is attached to the home and I stayed there.

The bus ride to Mongu was interesting. Everytime we stopped near a village the people would run to the bus and sell things to the passengers through the windows. Most popular was a bundle of roots that they eat. The roots are usually cooked, but on the bus they were breaking chunks off and eating them raw. The villagers were also selling chicken from their cooking bowls, bananas, drinks, handmade knives, etc.

While in Mongu I attended a jubilee Mass for ZAS (Zambian Association of Sisters). It is an association of all the different religious congregations of sisters that work and live in Zambia. The Zambians sang and danced throughout the whole Mass in their native language and customs. It was great but I kept hoping I wouldn't pass out from the heat in the church!

I also visited the site of the farming project that Sr. Virginia has helped to establish. Loveless, one of the caretakers, was proud to show me the garden, nursery, and fish ponds that have been started. It is the dry season, so it takes a lot of work to keep things growing this time of year. Many people are hungry right now because of the lack of vegetation...and the rainy season won't come until sometime into November.

DAY 2 IN KAOMA, ZAMBIA

Today I went with an african woman doing home health care visits to sick people who have been in the hospital. One of her clients died yesterday so we stopped at that house. They were in mourning, so the women were sitting in a circle on the floor of the hut, we came in and sat with them. The young woman who died was only 21 years old. She had a 2 month old baby whom they passed around for me to see. It was a beautiful little girl. She had a cough, so I think the baby was sick too. The sisters have been giving them milk so the baby would have something to eat.

We, also, visited a home where both husband and wife have aids and are sick and on medication. They have 8 children one of whom couldn't have been more than 1 year old.

We stopped at a shelter where families stay who have someone in the hospital. The shelter is just several grey brick buildings sitting next to each other...no doors, windows, or furniture. There are so many families there that not everyone fits into the buildings. You see suitcases, and all their belonging sitting in the sand next to where they are settled. A couple of people were lying in the sand, sleeping in the shade. There are several spots around the shelter where they have built camp fires for cooking (when they can find food). One elderly woman stopped me and the translater told me that she said..."Sister, I came a long way to bring my daughter to the hospital. I have no food. I am dying." There are so many of them everywhere you look.

More on a fun note...
I went to Mass last night. I was sitting in the pew praying before Mass, when one of the sisters' dogs "socks" (a black lab) came trotting up the center aisle and laid down in the aisle beside me. I wasn't sure if the dog should be in the church or not, so I looked around. Nobody seemed to have a reaction, so I let the dog sleep there during the whole Mass. People stepped over him to go to communion. After Mass I asked Sr. Angela if "Socks" usually goes to Mass. She said "yes" he usually comes. So I guess the sisters' dog is a Catholic!
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LIFE IN KAOMA, ZAMBIA

I arrived in Kaoma (Cow-oh-ma) on Monday, September 15th. I'm living with two sisters in a convent that was built in the 70's. The house is in pretty bad shape...walls...floors....etc., are badly cracked. The water from town only comes a couple times a day, so they have big containers of water by the bathrooms and you have to fill the top of the toilet with water before flushing. But I guess at least they have a toilet...most of the people only have a hole in the ground.

The living room floor is just a grey cement floor, some of the other rooms have tile. The kitchen is not attached to the house so you have to go outside to go to the kitchen. There is also a laundry room in the same building as the kitchen. The laundry room has two sinks one for washing and one for rinsing. They have a young african man that works here and was doing some of the laundry when I went in there this morning.

The beds here have mosquito nets, so I had my first experience of sleeping under a net. I figure it will hopefully keep other bugs off of me too! Electricity goes out a lot so the sisters have little lamps that they can use during those times. We finished supper with those lamps last night.

Everything through the whole country is quite primitive. Everyone lives in little huts, grass houses, or mud houses (which collapse during the rainy season) There are a few brick buidings but not many. Even the markets are all just made of sticks with canapies over them. Tons of people walking or biking along the roads. Little children have to walk a long, long way to go to school.

The people are very friendly most greet each other as they pass by. The little children especially like to say good moring...how are you. The children are precious.

Yesterday it was a long hot drive here, but we got to drive through a game park for quite a few miles which was very cool. Saw wild monkeys, wart hogs, dear, and an elephant herd. It was exciting to see them in their natural habitat.

We stopped at one of the little villages where the sister driving had worked. The women had prepared a traditional african meal that we ate in the hut. They killed a chicken and cooked it, we had corn mush which is their staple, a green relish vegetable and some sauce to go with it. The corn mush takes some getting used to. Everything is eaten with the hands (which also takes some getting used too). They work the corn mush which is the consistency of playdough into a ball in their hands and flatten it to use to scoop up the other food. The chicken was very tough to chew...the chickens must run around a lot!

The kitchen is a separate small hut with brick sides half way up and great big cooking kettles in it. They have to carry their water, so they have big plastic containers with spouts on them for washing hands, etc before and after eathing.

ARRIVAL IN AFRICA

I arrived in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia early in the morning on 9/11/08. I was greeted with the warm hospitality of my Presentation Sisters from Ireland and India, who minister here in various parts of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Many of the sisters have traveled to Lusaka this weekend for a meeting, so I've had the opportunity to meet many of the sisters I will be visiting over the next several months.

Lusaka is a city of over 1,000,000 people and is very different from any city I've visited! The African culture becomes visible as soon as you travel down a street. There is much traffic and many people traveling long distances by foot or bike (often loaded with more than I can imagine getting in a car). Women are carrying their babies on their backs and sometimes baskets balanced on their heads! Busy streets are filled with young men selling what goods they can to the passengers in the autos driving by. There was even a man carrying a puppy in each hand offering them for sale as we passed by today!

Most of the roads (at least in the part of the city where I'm located) are dirt and full of pot holes. A rooster crows in one of the yards near us. Every building is surrounded by about eight foot cement walls and then topped with sharp broken pieces of glass and barbed or electric wire. There are heavy steel gates always closed and locked. Obviously, the crime is very bad in the city and there is need to take much precaution. We stopped at a small shopping mall on Saturday morning and there were a number of military personel walking around carrying large machine guns and a guard in each store.

I had the new adventure of traveling in one of the city mini-buses, which is about the size of a van. Two men work the buses, one to drive, the other to round up customers. He hangs out the window and yells at pedestrians to see if they want on the bus. They fill the bus up as full as they can possibly get it...even if it means backing up to pick someone up! It reminded me of the game "sardines" where you try to get as many people into one space as you can.

On Monday morning I'll be traveling to the village of Kaoma with a couple of sisters who are continuing on to Mongue. It'll be a five or six hour drive west of Lusaka and I will be staying there for the next several weeks.

BYE EVERYONE!

My plane goes out tonight at 7pm...so I'm on my way to Zambia. The sisters at the Heights had a very nice sending off blessing for me at the noon Mass today. It was very touching to be blessed and sent to serve by my congregation. I will post again as soon as I have internet access. Thanks for all the phone calls from so many of you the last few days. I will miss you and will look forward to seeing you upon my return!

VISA CAME THROUGH!

Yeeeah! My visa came back from the Zambian Embassy today, so I'm on schedule to leave on time. My flight is September 9th around 7pm and I should arrive in Africa on Sept. 11th. From what I understand internet access will be hit and miss, but will keep up the blog as often as possible.