Game Night and Water

Game Night

Once a week we have a game night.  After dinner, we clean the common room and then I pull out all the games.  The kids have their favorites and are easily entertained until bedtime.

Justina and Josephat LOVE playing memory.  We have lots of versions of the game but their favorite is the I Spy cards.

Just a little twister action with Lweendo, Charles, and Gift.

Blocks and toy cars.  The little kids love to play with these.  Robert plays while he eats (it takes him FOREVER to finish his food).  Emmanuel and his big grin.

Lovemore and Alice

They like to line up the blocks from one end to the other and watch the domino affect.

Rabecca and Kennedy playing Mancala.  It’s definitely the most favored game.

Festose jammin’ to his little radio.

Robert praying…always praying.  When you ask Robert to pose for a picture he immediately holds his hands up as if he is praying.  He is always casting out demons and sending them to the devil.  True Pentecostal blood.  This boy makes me laugh.

Water (or lack thereof)

I would like to invite you all to join me in my pity party while I lament about the absence of water.  For the past 6 weeks we have not had running water at the CRC.  Do you have any idea how many things you use water for and how much water is needed to do all of those things?  Let me just list a few things that come to mind…flushing the toilet, washing hands, brushing teeth, washing hair, bathing, drinking, washing plates, washing clothes, cooking, and the list goes on and on. 

This is how I clean myself everyday.  I squat in the tub (too scary to actually sit) and then splash water on myself.  I don’t think I’ve been really clean for six weeks (thank goodness for the weekends and the chance to actually shower in town.)

This is where we get our water.  We fill up all the yellow buckets and carry them back to the house in a wheelbarrow.  We use this water for everything.

Here I am pretending to be pumping the water.

When in actuality this little boy pumps all my water.  I keep three buckets outside my bathroom.  When they are empty I stack them all up.  A few hours later I come back and the buckets have been filled…it’s like magic. 

Don’t know what I would do without my sweet Bwalya.

The good news: the pump should be fixed on Monday and we’ll have running water by then.  The bad news: that’s what they said last week.

School Updates

Parent Day

We started our second year at the school with another successful parent day. I think we had every parent show up (for the kids outside the CRC). I loved being able to introduce the new teachers and the new headmaster. I have loved working with these parents and their children.

Here they are waiting to get their reports.

Giving a thumbs up to Rozaria’s mom because Rozaria is doing such an awesome job.

We have parent day at the start of every term. It’s nice to be able to connect with the parents and let them know how great their kids are doing.

New Classroom

We have a new classroom and it’s beautiful. We’ve been meeting in the little hut on top of the termite hill and now we have an actual classroom with desks and everything. It’s such a blessing.

Before picture…

After…

The Teachers

Our teachers are absolute dynamite. I just can’t even begin to tell you how lucky I am to have such awesome teachers. They’ve made my job so much easier and I’m confident that when I leave in August the school will be in good hands.

From left to right: Lord, Thelma, Me, Brenda, Phales, and George

Lord is the headmaster. He also teachers a grade 1 math class and a grade 1 reading class.

Here he is with his reading class…

George also teaches one hour of reading in the morning.

Thelma teaches the Grade 1&2 class.

Brenda teaches the Grade 3&4 class.

Phales teaches the grade 5&6 class.

We had a wonderful volunteer from the States come and stay with us for a month. Austin was a huge help to us.

The whole school

Baptisms by Numbers

In February, some of the kids at the CRC had the opportunity to start taking the missionary discussions.  I was elated when I found out and made sure to attend the first discussion.  The missionaries committed everyone in that discussion to be baptized and on March 19, 2011 they were all baptized. 

It was an awesome event.  There were eight others who were also baptized along with our eight.  It brought me to tears seeing all those people in white starting on the path that leads to eternal life.  It was such a blessing for me to be a part of it all. 

The missionaries started making weekly visits to meet with us at the CRC.  We also started a morning scripture study with all the kids preparing for baptism.   

I had to take lots of snaps of everyone in their white clothes.

The girls…from left to right: Ethel (who was baptized in October), Bridget, Me, and Diana.

The boys…Festose, Josephat, Lweendo, and Bwalya.

All the kids.

Lord, George, and Innocent did the baptizing.  Justin (one of the workers on the farm) was also baptized.  I love seeing him come to church every Sunday.  He’s a good man.

Here they are patiently waiting for the baptism to start.

These kids have been coming to church ever since I’ve known them.  They’ve wanted to be a part of this marvelous work but have been unable to be baptized because they are orphans.  As they were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days, I couldn’t help but be grateful for this miracle.  They will now play a crucial role in helping to build the Kingdom in Zambia. 

January 19, My Favorite Day of the Year

Suddenly I realized that March is half over and I so desperately wish that I could hit the slow motion button and have more time to enjoy this incredible place.

This is the first of many posts with updates of the last few months.

I’ll start with my birthday (since it is my most favorite day of the entire year).

Thelma and I share the same birthday.  In the morning, like 5:30 in the morning, she gathered all the kids together and they sang happy birthday to me.

I made the kids sing happy birthday to me and Thelma frequently throughout the day.  I also got lots of really great homemade presents…those are the best kind.

My birthday dinner was so scrumptious…potatoes, green beans, and chicken (such a nice break from nschima).

(notice the bouquet of flowers…courtesy of the girls just for my birthday)

Exactly at 7 PM the birthday bash began and boy was it a party.  We played games.

The scream game…

Ultimate Ninja…

For sure Lord won…check out that Ninja stance…nobody could compete with that.

Bwalya spent the whole afternoon preparing a little somethin’ somethin’ for me.  Love that kid!!!

He made me a purse and got me a box of mangoes.  Loved it.

We had some popcorn…

And of course it wouldn’t have been a birthday without a cake.  I have missed Stephanie’s cake but this is certainly an upgrade from what I had last year.

Thelma and I continued our birthday celebration with a dinner date at the only Mexican restaurant in all of Zambia.

Oh how I love my birthday!!!