Too soon

Our last days here are slipping by much too fast, but we're doing our best to make the most of them and to enjoy Mukinge as much as we can. Corey complicated things by spraining his ankle and turning it into a big, swollen, multi-colored mess- forcing us to nix our final saturday morning walk to the boma. But besides that we're doing well. We're enjoying our last few days with the Tompkins, and getting ready for our last visits to the school and he hospital. It's hard to believe we'll be saying goodbye soon....


[The walk home from school]

While Corey has been focusing on bringing his ankle back to a normal size and color, I've been doing my best to soak up the scenery. Yesterday I joined two friends on a walk through the stunning hills of Kasempa. We wandered for a while, following the many different footpaths we stumbled accross, before it started to rain. The downpour wasn't much heavier than the other rains I've experienced here, but it's one thing to admire it from the window, and quite another to be caught in it in the hills, in the midst of a maze of footpaths that quickly turned from dirt, to mud, to streams of water filling my shoes. Needless to say, by the time we found our way home (an hour or two after the rain started) we were pretty waterlogged. But it was still worth it. Yes, these hills are that gorgeous.


[Stream/path]

I've tried my best to take pictures that actually do this place justice, but I have almost come to terms with the fact that that's not going to happen. There is no way to capture the way the sun hits the clouds and reflects the brilliance of the green landscape. Or the way the thick white mist rolls in and blankets the valleys so that only the very tops of the dark, prominent hills are visible. Pictures can't capture and words can't describe the loveliness of this place. So I'll have to be satisfied with my pictures of shadows that only hint at this breathtaking beauty, enjoying it while I'm here, and committing what I can to memory. The rest I'll leave behind me, and, who knows? maybe I'll be back to enjoy it again :)



-Jamie


[The best my camera can do...]

Home Stretch

My apologies in advance for the lack of pictures accompanying my descriptions. I promise to make up for it when we return to consistent, high-speed internet

As I have been walking around the Mukinge area recently, I have been both overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding us here and simultaneously frustrated by the fact that there is no way to do describe or even photograph the visual experience completely. The hospital and center of our community is located at the foot of Mukinge Hill, and the view from the front of our house reveals other densely wooded hills in the distance that have recently begun to spring with green and life now that we have entered "rainy season".

It seems like every hill you cross or road you walk down reveals a unique view of the distinctly "African" landscape. The road to school reveals a towering view of a small maize crop and the overgrown flora surrounding the dam, while the walk to the market provides a fantastic view of the many rolling hills of the Northwest Province, complete with grass roof mud huts scattered among the grasses and small farms.

The most breathtaking part of it all, however, is the sky. The other day as I was walking home from the hospital and some gigantic rain clouds were forming up ahead, Daren remarked that the sky "seems to go on forever". It really is incredible, whether its dawn, dusk, nighttime, storming or just overcast, I find myself stopping in awe of how impressive it is. For all the things we can say about this place, I don't think I could ever get over the natural beauty of it.

Mukinge has certainly won our hearts in a variety of ways, and as we near our departure date, the thought of going home is bittersweet. I think we both look forward to some of the comforts of home; driving our cars, fresh leafy vegetables, access to ice cream and chocolate and consistent power and internet access sound awfully nice to us now. However, we are extremely torn at the cost of going home.

We have both become pretty attached to our class of 30 8-12 year-olds, and they have already begun to express disappointment that we are leaving soon and have no tentative plans to return to Mukinge. I have been helping teach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and occasionally joining "Auntie Jamie" when she goes on Fridays. In addition, the children have also made a habit of coming to our house after school hours to join us to swim or play a game of basketball. The children of Mukinge Hill Academy will definitely be sorely missed by both of us, and I will be even more upset to lose my status as "Uncle Corey".

Other than the school, I have spent the last few weeks using my experience in the food industry to assist in the opening of a "restaurant" built to help generate some income for the hospital. It is a small building with a kitchen the size of a small bathroom, but the menu includes a number of local favorites as well as "chips" (where I was happy to lend my "expertise" on making some quality American french fries). In the first week of being open, I have been managing, assisting the two cooks and trying to help the business to become somewhat autonomous (having the workers order their own vegetables, pick up their own meat, etc.), being that the hospital staff does not have the time to be overly involved in everyday business. I have also had some great opportunities to assist in some medical procedures with Daren during the days that I shadow him at the hospital and have even gotten to scrub in and assist in a few major operations. Speaking for myself, my time here has already proven to be invaluable in so many ways, and it will be excruciating to be driving away from this place when it is time to leave.

Jamie continues to fill in any and all gaps around the house, depending on what needs to be done, whether its watching the boys, taking care of the baby, doing laundry, cooking, baking or helping clean. She has also been "volunteered" to play piano for the hospital chapel service on Sunday night, which entails leading a few hymns and praise songs. She is a bit nervous, but it will be a great opportunity, and the enthusiasm of the worship here will provide its own reward.

I know I speak for both of us when I say that we are extremely excited to be going home soon, but are equally anxious to make the most of our valuable last two weeks here.

Village in the bush

A few weeks ago Corey and I were invited by Giveness, a Zambian woman that works at one of the missionary's houses, to come and have lunch at her home. It took us a while to work out our schedules, but we finally made it out there last Tuesday. One of her sons came to our house in the morning and led us to the village, about a 45 minute scenic walk from the mission. When we arrived at her house Giveness was already starting our lunch, so, after being introduced to another of her sons, we sat down and learned how to prepare sweet potato and cassava leaves. After that she walked us through her family's village, identifying different things in English and Kaonde, and introducing us to relatives along the way.


[Giveness, our lovely hostess]

Giveness has been a part of the missionary community for quite some time, but she only knows a little English, so it requires extra effort on both our parts to be able to communitcate. She will be talking about something in English, stop mid-sentence, mutter to herself in Kaonde as she tries to figure out what she wants to say, and then continue on in English. It's a long process, but we appreciate her efforts. After our tour we came back to the house to make lunch. We washed and pounded some kind of grain, I think she said it is sorghum, you can never be sure with Giveness, but we'll call it that anyway.


[Sorghum, being poured into the bucket for more pounding...]

After we finished pounding the sorghum we sifted the maize meal and started cooking the nshima....


[Corey, the nshima cooking boy, got a few good laughs out of the relatives that were hanging around.]

Cooking over the open fire was quite an experience. I did the stirring at the beginning, but the smoke made my eyes water so badly I couldn't see anything, that's when Corey took over. They thought that was pretty funny too :)

After we finished our nshima, beans, casava and sweet potato leaves (absolutely delicious) we sat down on her couch to wait out the midday sun, and she showed us her photo album and shared her life story with us. It was a bit of a challenge to understand her, but we got most of it. We sat outside for a bit with Giveness and her mother, finished sifting the sorghum, and then hoed the garden for them.


[Giveness' mother sifting the Sorghum. Somewhat of an art form that we couldn't really get the hang of...]

Then we gathered our things and got ready to say goodye, but Giveness and her mother insisted on carrying our bags and walking part of the way with us, a cultural tradition, apparently. We walked together for a while and then got our backpacks and learned how to give a proper farewell. The entire day was an incredible experience. Thank you Giveness!!!

-Jamie

MONKEYS

Special post for the Burns Family,
Bill, Michelle, Billy, Abby, Richard, Ella, Heather, and Rockford :)


Here is one of the promised monkey pictures!


This is one of the vervet monkeys that wandered around the
lodge we stayed at for our first nights in Zambia.
There were tons of them around the lodge, and they
were a mischievous bunch.
Anytime they saw humans with food they would come very
close and try to get it from you. One afternoon when we
were eating lunch we noticed an adorable little monkey
in the tree above us. He was sitting right over Corey's head,
and before anyone knew what was going on he had pooped
right on Corey's head and on the lemon garnish on his
plate. Corey jumped out of his chair right away, and
the monkey moved to a branch that was directly over my
head. I made it out of my chair just in time to avoid getting
pooped on, and he got my empty chair instead. The crafty monkey
continued to move to a different branch to get ready to drop
another present, but we scared him away before he got a chance.
The clever guy almost got a free lunch for himself and his buddies.
Almost... :)




I love you guys!

-Jamie

Finally Settled In

As of this past Sunday, Jamie and I have been temporary residents of Mukinge for two weeks. After getting over the initial culture shock, we discussed how our time here was more comparable to going away to college for a semester than a vacation or short trip. That being said, we have adjusted quite nicely to our Zambian life with the wonderful Tompkins family.

Jamie continues to act as "mommy's sidekick", busying herself with laundry, child care, clean-up, cooking and anything else she can do to help Elissa around the house. After discovering the great "appreciation" of quality baked goods in the household, she has also made it a point to provide a new dessert on an almost daily basis, utilizing the abundance of fresh bananas in a variety of ways. She has also managed to venture her way out to the Boma (the "bustling" central marketplace of Kasempa), which she accomplished with the help of Miranda, one of the missionary nurses from the hospital. She seems to have gotten into a groove and is thoroughly enjoying her time here.

I am nearly firing on all cylinders (thank you for the prayers) with my first run-in with some lovely African microbes that likely entered my system after my partaking in some local cuisine during my first trip to the Boma. I am now back in the kitchen, trying to relieve Elissa of a meal or two a day, and my culinary skills are once again being challenged by the limited resources we have out here.

Since getting back on my feet, I have resumed shadowing Daren at the hospital, which has been a truly eye-opening experience. My exposure to medicine and healthcare in the states consisted primarily of minor ailments and most of the patients I saw were generally treated for minor symptoms (coughing, headaches, runny nose, etc.). Mukinge Hospital is an entirely different animal. At any given time, there are multiple patients in any ward that likely have TB, and HIV is so prevalent that the fact that someone is on medication for it is generally just a side note when you look at a patient's chart. In addition, because Mukinge is one of the best hospitals in the country, many people travel from hours away or walk for hours in their terrible conditions just to be treated by this handful of doctors.

One case that really has stuck with me was the father of a boy and girl in the class that Jamie and I have been helping teach. He was diagnosed with HIV a year ago and had refused treatment with ARVs(not uncommon due to certain social stigmas that I still don't understand), even though he was actually pretty well off financially. As he is in Daren's ward, I was able to see the tail end of his decline in health and he passed away several mornings ago. It is sobering to see the harsh reality of life here, and knowing his beautiful children and seeing his wife on rounds each day made really made it hit home for me.

On a positive note, thanks to some favor with some of the Hospital management I have also been cleared to observe and assist in Theater (O.R.), which I did for the first time yesterday. David, the New Zealander surgeon, is somewhat of a "bush surgery" specialist, and has had a lot of experience performing procedures without the luxuries of surgeons back home. In fact, during my previous trips to Sierra Leone, he was stationed with a medical mission group in one of the cities nearby to where I was staying. It really is great experience working with him, as he has to work with his limited surroundings. He says I am getting to see how some of these procedures were done 50 years ago in the States.

As I mentioned, both Jamie and I have begun to volunteer at the local school on alternating days, teaching children eight to twelve. The children have already taken quite a liking to us and we are very fond of them. As with the other teachers, we are affectionately addressed as "Uncle Corey" and "Auntie Jamie", and the two of us share stories about our favorite pupils when we get back home.

I had intended for this post to be a bit more insightful, but there is a lot to catch up on, and now that I see it typed out I realize we have been very busy. The experience has been incredible for both of us, in different ways and we still have almost eight weeks to go. Please continue to pray for our time here, and we will try to keep everyone caught up on any exciting occurrences.
Corey

P.S. GO PHILLIES!

Perspective part II

Because most are unable to support themselves, the residents of the village rely on outside sources for food and necessities. There is a man who brings them each 18 kg bags of maize once every two months, and David brings them luxuries like shoes, socks, sugar, cooking oil, etc. Other than the outside support, those who are physically capable, and those who have relatives to care for them, live off whatever they can get from the bush or from their few small gardens.

Walking through the village and meeting all of the people there brought on a healthy dose of reality for me. Witnessing first hand their meager living and joyful spirits made an incredible impact on me. The people here are suffering in ways that we in America can't even comprehend. We can try and wrap our heads around it but we don't know what it's like to pray that our next portion of cornmeal comes on time. We can't understand what it means to rely totally on one man to bring us the only substance standing between us and starvation. Hunger is a foreign concept to us.

Right now David is working on getting shoes out to them, because the ones they have are beginning to fall apart. They need to have shoes to wear because many of them have lost feeling in their feet and will tear up their feet by walking on thorns or sharp stones. Their feet then end up getting infected and they usually end up needing to be amputated. One man in the village kept burning his fingers on cooking pots without even realizing it, and now all of his fingers have been reduced to stubs. Their reality is a painful one, and yet at nearly every little house we were greeted with grateful hearts and joyful spirits. What an impact they make by choosing joy!

-Jamie




You will show me the path of life;
In your presence is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

Perspective

Last Tuesday Corey and I were blessed with an opportunity to go out to leper colony nearby. David, the general surgeon here, goes out there once every few weeks to meet different needs, usually basics like cooking oil or sugar. Corey and I went along to meet the people there and to take some pictures for publicity.
There are about 22 lepers, some who live by themselves and some that are lucky enough to have family living with them and caring for them.
I should be getting to sleep so that's all I'm going to write for now, but I wanted to get on the ball and share these photos with you guys. Shalaipo! (Remain well/ bye)

-Jamie

photo documentation

As long as the wireless connection is good I thought I'd try and catch everyone up on our ever growing photo collection. I'll start with London....




Shooting at Tower Bridge our first day in the city.



Hanging out with the Cate family (Jared's little ones).



Buckingham Palace




St. Pauls Cathedral


Pictures of Mukinge to follow soon!!!

Byepi Mwane

Well after a long wait and some failed attempts we have managed to acquire internet access! Lovely :)

Before Corey and I start filling you in on our adventures here you should get to know our new home. Mukinge is a beautiful place. It is hidden among the hills, deep in the bush, but not totally removed from the world. There are plenty of villages in the surrounding areas, and there is a market, the Boma, at a walking distance of about 45 minutes.

There is spring all around, and lots of blooms and growth despite the dry and dusty earth. We will be coming into the rainy season soon, and Zambia will see it’s first rain since April, so foliage all around is shooting up in anticipation of the coming deluges. I’m beginning to get used to the red clouds of dust that are stirred up by any movement, so it will be strange to see this place after the rains start.

I’m amazed at the way of life here, it is a different world entirely. Very few things have taken me by surprise; but it is one thing to consider this way of living while sitting at home on my leather couch with my a.c. blasting, and another thing entirely to come and play a part in this world. Nothing is easy here, and yet I am still living so well off, compared to the rest of the population. We have a pantry with plenty of food, a full fridge and freezer, and many of the comforts of home. Then again, the pantry isn’t full like my pantry at home. If there is bread in it’s because someone has baked it. If there are vegetables in the fridge it’s because someone got them from the garden and went through the 20 minute process of sanitizing them. I am beginning to realize how much I take for granted. Zambia has much to teach me, and I’m ready to learn.

Shalaipo Mwane!

-Jamie

the journey continues

Here we are, day two in Zambia, enjoying the company of the Tompkins family and the beauty of our surroundings.  The Tompkins brought us to the Lilayi lodge in Lusaka where they are spending the last few days of their vacation.  

As I write this I'm watching Corey trying to entice a velvet monkey to take a piece of an apple from him.  The monkeys run as rampant as squirrels, and are just as bold.  Around dinner time they start swarming the trees around the huts, leaping on and off the roof and knocking dried grass into the beds.  As the sun starts to set bush bucks, warthogs, and other animals grow bolder and forage right outside our windows.  It's a beautiful place and we're having a great time with the Tompkins.  Catching up on things with Daren and elissa, going on safari walks, holding baby Emelyn, playing with Zach and Nate, and making up for the sleep we missed out on during our stay at the hostel.   The connection here is incredibly slow, but we should be able to post pictures once we get to the house in Mukinge.   

God Bless!

England continued...

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to be able to visit and spend the day with the beautiful Cate family. It was the first time I had seen the Jared extension of the family in nearly 2 years and the first time Jamie had seen little Abby. We had a fantastic time reminiscing with the whole family at their beautiful home in the country, which also allowed us to see some of England outside the city.

Now that we are back in London, we have resumed our mission of seeing and eating our way through the streets on a tight budget, keeping in mind that we still have 10 weeks of our adventure ahead of us. We have seen the inside of St. Paul's Cathedral for free by attending evensong service, seen one of the most impressive collections of modern art (including many original Pollocks!) in the world at the free Tate Museum and stumbled across incredible Thai, Turkish, Lebanese, Portuguese and Indian cuisine at small cafes and hole in the wall restaurants. We are planning on seeing what we can of Westminster Abbey this morning, and trying to squeeze in whatever else we can before our departure in two days.

While the experience of bumming around on of the most incredible cities in the world has been thrilling, we are still wrapped up in anticipation of our arrival in Zambia. Even here, we are still gathering last minute items that could be of use during our stay with the Tompkins and trying to prepare ourselves for the last leg of our journey. Neither of us knows what to expect once we arrive in Lusaka, and despite the fun we are having in the U.K., we are beyond thrilled to finally arrive safely in Mukinge with Daren, Elissa and the kiddos.

There's no place like London...

Our third day and we've already covered almost the entire city.

Yesterday we journeyed into Central London, where we visited the Museum of London, and ate lunch in a scrumptious vegetarian place located in the crypt of a church. After that we went to see St. Pauls Cathedral, and reminisced about Mary Poppins and the "feed the birds" song.
From there we took the tube to see the tower bridge, the tower of London, and All Hollows by the Tower church.

We haven't had an agenda since we arrived. Our system is fairly simple: we choose a neighborhood, check our book for the sights and food there, hop on the tube, and check out the places our book points out. By the way, if you ever come to London get the book "let's Go London - London on a budget" So far it's taken us to several VERY good, VERY out of the way restaraunts. I could probably go on for several paragraphs about the excellent restaraunts we've been to for great prices. This book has made our trip.

Today we started out our day with a trip to a somewhat hidden book market on the south bank (thank you let's go london book), where I spent a few quid for several books I have NO room for.
From there we grabbed a quick bite and headed down to the Tate Modern and enjoyed the works of Pollock, Picasso, Matisse, Masson, and several other favorites. Londons free museums have been quite enjoyable.
From the Tate we wandered back into central London and stopped at an old bank on Fleet street that was converted into a fancy bar, where Corey had a beer and I had afternoon tea :)

We're heading out now for some fish and chips in Marlyebone. Cheers!

And the journey begins....

Day 1 in London:

We arrived at Heathrow early this morning.
After some complications we ended up staying in the city instead of visiting our friends, the Cates.
So we went ahead and checked into the hostel a day early
and then wandered around bayswater and notting hill.

Pictures tomorrow, possibly!

really

Our visas came today!!

It's really happening.


Thank you Jesus!!!

Finally!

The visa applications are in the mail and en route to D.C.
I'm just praying that everything checks out and we get the visas back soon!

So, provided we get the visas taken care of in time,
we should be flying out of JFK on September 9th.
Our flight connects at Heathrow,
and me and Corey have adjusted our tickets to allow us 8 days in London.
We are planning on spending a few days with the lovely Cate Family,
and the rest of our time at a hostel in the heart of the city.
So if anyone has any suggestions for sightseeing on a budget,
feel free to share them!

After our little detour we'll be flying out of Heathrow on the 17th
and arriving in Lusaka on the 18th.
Then our African adventure begins!

waiting waiting

The last big thing to take care of is the passport visas.
Right now we are waiting for our letter of invitation from our hosts, the lovely Tompkins Family.
The letters are en route to NJ, so as soon as we get them we can get things going. After we mail the visa applications it shouldn't be much more than a week before we get them back. After that it's smooth sailing.

Please pray for excessively fast postal service, and for even faster visa processing!


Twenty one days and counting!

soon

49 days til departure.

The last thing we have to worry about is our complicated passport visa situation.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Once we have that taken care of it's smooth sailing.

49 days.


Are we ready?