Second (really belated) Post

After a long hiatus, we may be back blogging more regularly. We tried to get on again the week after setting it up back in October 2007 and found we could only view the blog and not enter to add posts; and then on a second try had seemingly lost our blog altogether. After that we sort of gave up. Today while writing to a friend today who had asked what had happened with our blog and feeling challenged by having lost the blog, tried to find it and lo and behold it was found and we could get in again so here we are.

The last attempt to post was back in November and that post was to share that we have reached our 10th Anniversary on Novmeber 1, wow time goes so fast. An amazing 10 years that saw us come to Zambia, begin serving at the William Masetlha Foundation, have our sons Ryan and Scott, meet an incredible number of people coming to visit, volunteer, and serve at the Foundation. From about that time we were looking for solutions to some challenges we were facing in regards to Ryan's education.

So now 7 months later our big news is that in late April we moved from the wonderful 'cocoon' of the Foundation facilities where we had lived and flourished for these 10 years to a town named Kabwe about 35 miles north of where we were and about 80 miles north from the capital.
To understand what a decision this was you need to know that the Foundation provided a very special institutional setting; located on 200 hectares in a rural wooded savanna, with some 30 households, everyone a neighbor, where kids could range free with everyone looking out for them, with the office only several hundred meters from home. It really was and is an ideal place to raise children and work. Even more personally, it is the only home the boys have known, where we have lived since we were married, and the longest period either of us have ever stayed in one place.

We looked to Kabwe rather than the capital Lusaka, first because we enjoy and prefer small town settings (Kabwe has a population 230,000 but in spite of the size it has a real small town feel). Second, it would be more economical (with the copper boom in Zambia, Lusaka has become the third most expensive city in Africa), and third, it would still be close enough for me to get to the airport for travels as a Counsellor.

Initially, the principal reason for considering moving was due to Ryan's special educational needs and the challenge for Karen to meet them without more human resources to call upon. Once we were able to accommodate the thought of leaving the idyllic situation and began thinking about Kabwe as a real possibility; we realized that it would also be good for our work with Inshindo Foundation. We have begun activity in Kabwe and as the related challenges emerged it seemed that moving to Kabwe would probably have been a necessity anyway. We found that we would need to be closer to the activity and as more staff was required it would be easier logistically to find and develop them in Kabwe. So we became more and more excited about the possibility, even while we would agonize about leaving the Foundation.

We first checked out the school situation and found a small private non-profit primary school that would accommodate Ryan and a one-on-one assistant. Karen and Ryan came and spent several days in the classroom to see how it would work, and it seems that it will. If this had not worked it would have been back to the drawing board and exploring completely different options.

We then began house searching and this was daunting. Zambia's booming economy has also affected the housing in Kabwe, partly because housing in Lusaka is unaffordable for most and even though 130km (80 miles) away from Lusaka Kabwe is a reasonable alternative, but quickly it drove rental and sales prices sky high. It has excited everyone who owns a property here; we were shown places that really were almost falling down, but for which what seemed outrageous amounts were being asked.

After over a month of searching we were told of a place that would become available at the beginning of April. We went and talked to the current renters and the owners and the house (decent enough but no dream house) was offered for a reasonable price and it was big enough that we would be able to dedicate two large rooms to Inshindo's offices.

In the meantime having decided upon the school we talked with the director about possible teaching assistants for Ryan. She gave us the resumes of teachers who had applied to the school but not been hired. Among them was one young women, recently married and graduated from a teachers college. Karen called her, they met, she came to meet Ryan. and she began working with Ryan at the beginning of May when school began.

One of the things we have thought a lot about is how the boys (Ryan is eight and Scott six) would handle the changes. We were sure that the boys would have some challenges in adjusting as they are use to open surroundings, many kids to play with and to visit, a safe environment for running around, riding bikes and just roaming free; and now we live behind a wall, not too many kids in the immediate neighborhood, and streets with lots of cars (at least more than they are used to). School has provided a source of new friends but the ease of being able step outside and walk a few hundred meters is gone.

Anyway the really great thing is that the boys seem to have settled in really well. They have learned to rely more upon their own internal resources for finding things to do. Ryan would still love to be 24/7 on computer games, but since we limit his gaming and viewing (the TV fell off the stand and hasn’t been repaired as yet); so they need to get permission to use a computer to watch DVDs. But they play with our two dogs, (Cocoa the puppy and Hobbs an old lady), which is really great for the boys and the dogs. Then they do a lot of art stuff in their ‘office” (they have a low table set up in the back utility room area), rough housing, going on bike rides with Gift our gardener. So while the first month it seemed our worst worries were confirmed (we’re bored, we don’t know what to do, etc) they now are very happy, really appreciate when they do have kids over and being with other kids at their homes. This of course has been a big confirmation about the decision to come.

Just days after moving into the new house Garth was off to Haifa for two weeks for the International Convention which was amazing, intense, confirming, spiritually significant, and sacred. As a Counsellor he remained after the convention for a three day conference and 5 more days for the African Counsellors plenary meeting. Fortunately there were two volunteers that stayed with Karen and the boys and helped with unpacking and getting settled as well as helping the newly trained PSA tutors form their study groups.

Then after being back for about three weeks, on the evening of May 28 at around 7:30 we were robbed by three armed men, tied up and left locked in our bedroom. Thank God we weren't hurt physically, but it was and has been quite an emotional ordeal. Fortunately, it hasn't seemed to bother the boys in any deep way (time may tell) but it has taken us (Karen and Garth) until just this weekend almost six weeks later to start to begin to feel normal and somewhat safe in our house again with a lot of ups and downs in between. Garth hasn't traveled since returning, at first because the intensity of the work with the PSA groups, but then due to the sense of insecurity and not wanting to leave the family alone in the house, or have to shuffle them off to the Foundation or Lusaka and disrupt school and getting life back to normal. But we are finally feeling good and a bit more comfortable again, so it looks like traveling might become a possibility again.

Our offices are in the back section of the house and this is proving to have its challenges for the family. The house is set up so as to be able to section of the office area, but it is hard to for the boys to stay away in the afternoon after school. And we are finding that we can just step into the office after dinner and get caught up in work again. So we will probably, as we had originally planned, use this first year to look for more permanent housing arrangement for us and this will include having offices somewhere else.

Well that catches us up with the major happenings in our life, future posts won't need to be quite so long or (hopefully) need to catch you up on so much.

Love, Garth, Karen and the boys