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!