Change of plans and the rest of August

It's been several weeks since the last entry and as we end the month here's what did and didn't happen. Ryan and Garth didn't get away to Southern Africa for Ryan's check-up and Counsellor's meeting (which was postponed). We are now looking into a trip to visit family in the United States once schedules sort out for the next few months. the visit most likely will be in November and the most reasonable route (cost wise) is through South Africa so we will do those tasks by having a stopover in South Africa for a day or so.

Last week Garth and Chuungu made a five-day trip (2 days driving and 3 days visiting) up to Mwinilunga 800 km away in the northwest corner of Zambia to visit the 8 PSA study groups there. While Garth and Chuungu were away Chuungu's family (his wife Mushota, their 12 year old son Mwape, and their almost 1 year old Chisanji) came to Kabwe to stay with Karen and the boys. so there was a houseful. They stayed an extra day when Garth and Chuungu returned and it was great to be all together.

This last weekend the family took a day trip to some beautiful old granite rock formations about 70 km away. Garth has been curious about these formations for years, but only saw them from a distance on trips to and from the northwest. Not even sure where they were the family set off, picnic in hand, and actually found them with no difficulty. Most of Zambia is flat and rock formations like these (jutting out of the flat land, covering a few acres, and disappearing again) are few and far between. Upon arriving we had out picnic and then began climbing. We climbed over the nearest and smallest formation into a dusty valley (maybe 500 metres across) between the formations. We hiked down the valley until we found a way up the larger formation and had a more challenging climb. The boys did really well, Scott is a mountain goat and Ryan, even with his coordination challenges, did great need very little help except for a few spots. The view at the top was wonderful; we could see across the flats to the hills that dotted the distant horizon. This was the first time to really be out in what seemed the wild on our own, although out on the plane we could see a number of small farms. It is definitely worth another visit with the goal of exploring the top and seeing how to reach all the formations without coming down.

As we left we saw some newly placed power poles, so we followed the road further until we came to a new dam/reservoir. A vehicle was on the far side of the earth berm so we drove across the dam to find out what we could from them. We found a family that lives in Kapiri Mposhi ( a nearby town) having a barbecue and a swim. From them we learned that the dam had been recently completed and although not yet officially commissioned is already full of water. They come out most weekends with the aside that there just isn't much to do in Kapiri. So now further visits to the rock formations definitely looks like a reality and more interesting with the dam and swimming thrown in as well.

The rest of the month before, around and after these trips has been focused on working with the PSA groups in Kabwe, home publishing/printing 700 copies of the texts we will need for the next three months, and , as mentioned in the last entry, applying what had been learned by Daniel and Chuungu about accompanying the tutors and groups during their two-month stay in Colombia. This last week is being dedicated with preparing for the upcoming two-week tutor training that will be held in our old home place the William Masetlha Foundation.

As a family we have been discussing how we would manage this training now that we are in Kabwe. When we lived at the Foundation we just stepped our the door walked 200meters and we were in the thick of the training and could easily organize for and watch the boys. We decided after prayer that we would take the boys out of school (technically not out, but not show up for the opening of the last term) and see if we could lodge with one of the families at the Foundation for the duration of the training. Now we have learned that with the passing of the Zambian President and the attending funeral and mourning, the school's opening has been postponed a week, so in the end Ryan and Scott will only miss one week of school and possibly not even that if they attend their old school at the Foundation for the second week.

The block of courses that will be studied are really fascinating: Environmental Issues, Planting Crops, and Numerical Statements (which as titles may not inspire, but through studying them the students begin to initiate solid research into their communities and to begin to carry out a number of projects that protect and improve the environment and to start diversified, high-efficiency backyard gardens. I think with all the discussion about PSA and references to our activities, we really do need to dedicate one of these entries to describing our work and service. We will do this in the next post.

PS We will soon (in just days) be replacing the camera that was stolen in May and so will be able to include photos from now on.

A busy week (nothing big just busy)

.
Well another week has gone by and the big news is that the boys finished the school term Friday and now have the whole month of August off for the term holiday.

I guess what was also exciting is that after waiting two months we were finally able to begin working with the carpenter to build three wardrobes, a bunk bed for the boys, and a some shelves for the office. We had waited two months for Mr Zulu as he finished-up another project~definitely worth the wait as he is a craftsman with an eye for detail. Projects like this require patience first in finding able craftsman as they are in high demand, second in finding materials, third the interruptions of the lives involved (ours, the craftsman, suppliers, others) as the projects go forward. We also keep moving forward with painting the house, this week it was the enclosed ex-veranda (there is another open veranda beyond this hard to describe area). We have been repainting room-by-room using enamel. (ENAMEL you say!! Yes, we first encountered rooms painted with enamel (other than the kitchen and bathrooms) at the Foundation which was an economical measure as enamel paint holds up much better than flat paint. After ten years of living with enamel painted we found we prefer it). Anyway as we finish these projects we will finally be more settled in.

Back to the boys term holiday: now we need to come up with a program for the term break that will keep the boys creatively occupied while giving us time to keep up with out work. One of the things coming up this month is a probable visit to South Africa (at least Ryan and I will go) to do Ryan's annual heart check-up combined with my regional Counsellor's meeting. I will also do my regular annual check-up, get my hearing aid adjusted, and buy some equipment and supplies for Inshindo. So it will be a busy time and hopefully will be fun for Ryan (at least some of the time as we go around and get everything done.)

Hopefully, this will also be a special time for Karen and Scott to be one-on-one. Each time one of us (Karen and Garth) get one-on-one with Ryan or Scott, it is always wonderful, amazing and a time for learning about these wonderful guys. They love it too. Wished there were more opportunities for one-on-one. Guess the deal is to plan for it rather than waiting for it to occasionally happen.

Karen and I are really busy with Inshindo trying to keep up with the 8 study groups here in Kabwe, provide support to the 8 groups in Mwinilunga, as well as the related financial and logistic chores. And now we will be getting caught up on the latest as our colleagues Chuungu and Daniel have just returned from a two-month course in Colombia and are bursting with new insights, abilities and vision about PSA. (I promise that in the next blog we will explain more about our what Inshindo and PSA are and are doing). Having them being away (being an already lean organization staff-wise) for such a long time right when we were starting up 18 new groups has been a challenge to say the least. So we are very, very happy to have them back.

Most of August will be focused on beginning to apply what was learned in Colombia particularly as it applies to working with our tutors and supporting them and their groups, increasing community interaction and having the learning go forward. We will also be preparing for the next two-week tutor course to begin September 1. This involves preparing the venue, travel arrangements for the 30 tutors, getting materials printed, equipment and supplies made and ordered. So it will continue to be busy intense month as will be September. Not just the training which is intensive enough, but also the follow-up and support of the tutors as they return to their communities and start up their groups again and get started in the new materials.

Love from us

Muck Monsters and Silver Linings

Yesterday, after dropping the boys off outside the school yard (the school is adding a grade 8 and 9 classroom so the drop off circle gets pretty crowed with building materials and causes a back up of cars of parents dropping of kids, so we have recently begun dropping them off outside). I had just gotten home (we live about 3 minutes from the school) when I heard a car honking incessantly in our drive way.

Going out to see what the commotion was about, there in the front seat next to the driver was a muck monster, actually Ryan, who had fallen in the shallow open drainage canal just at the school gate. Covered in fine silt, algae, mud and unidentifiable goop from head to toe was Ryan, who having recovered once from the initial shock let go with good hearty cry. Poor guy, we quickly moved him into the shower and 'unmucked' the muck monster with a long hot shower. We weren't sure how much the fall in the canal had affected him, so when his aide called from school we let her go home and thought to keep him home for the day, but quickly realized that he was fine and could have gone back to school with a tale to tell, but surely will share the next day in any case.

Hopefully Ryan learned a lesson about taking risks. By the end of the day we were able to unravel the story and found that Ryan was walking on the raised curb separating the walkway from where the canal verges toward the walkway and goes under the road and he can't say exactly what happened but he fell in. Scott's teacher was walking by and fished puled Ryan out. One of the parents dropping off his children bundled Ryan into his car and brought him to us. During the day as the conversation would come back to his fall we would discuss the wisdom of walking on curbs were we could fall into water or fall from heights.

Karen said she prayed that out of the mishap some positive might come, and very quickly we found what that was to be as it unfolded throughout the morning. The parent who brought Ryan home's wife called about a half hour later to see how Ryan was doing and in the course of the conversation invited us for dinner later in the week (our first dinner invite in Kabwe). We talked about the need for antibiotics in case Ryan had swallowed some of the foul water she said she had an alternative natural anti-biotic so Ryan and dad went off hand in hand to visit and get the medicine. This led to actually getting to know the couple who are longtime missionaries in Zambia and a long conversation with the husband about Zambia, living in Kabwe, serving God, and an offer to help us find a house at a reasonable cost that might serve as our permanent abode here (something that just that weekend we had thought was going to be just about impossible).

So being open to and expectant allows us to become aware of the latent bounties in every situation.

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

First Post

Greetings to all! This is our first post.

Garth came back yesterday from a 4 day visit to the Baha'i community in Zimbabwe. We thought he would be heading out again this morning for Northwestern Province 800 km from here for another 4 days. But this trip has been postponed due to the need to further develop the Inshindo Foundation project proposal we submitted for funding. Inshindo Foundation (see links) is the local non-government organization that we helped form and which Garth is currently the director. Our institutional partner for this proposal BASED-UK (a Baha'i inspired agency in England) and representing BASED-UK is Michael Richards. Michael and Garth will be working on the proposal this week. The interesting thing is that Michael is currently in Honduras which is about 9-10 hours behind us here. So their email consultation will start in the afternoon and continue into the evening.

Karen gave a talk in Lusaka last Friday on 'On Moral Education and the Media'. Specifically she spoke about the elements of our program "Preparation for Social Action" and the curriculum that focuses more on 'what a person needs to be able to do in life' rather than only on 'what a person needs to know'. This capability focus is much broader than knowledge and integrates concepts, knowledge & information; skills & abilities; and attitudes, values & virtues. In this curriculum moral education is not learned as a separate subject but in the context of how we act in all spheres of life. The attendees really appreciated learning about this new approach to moral education.

As usual during the week Karen will be working with Ryan in his semi-home school class as well as doing the moral education with the first and second graders. The boys are back in school after a week mid-term break and there are only a few more weeks before the school year ends in November. Scott will be finishing the first grade and Ryan his modified second grade. It has been a month of birthdays which the boys love. First was Ryan's 8th, Garth's 55th, and then a slew of friends around us: Musa, Rosie, and Houman. The guys are in the process of showing us that they are responsible enough to have bicycles. To do this they have 4 chores that they must do each day without being told (make beds, pick up bathroom after baths, set dinner table, and pick up toys). For each task done daily they earn a bean (eight beans a day if all goes right) and when they reach 350 beans then they will have shown us that they will be able to look after their bikes. An added bonus is that as we accumulate beans in the can, we count them into 10’s and wrap them up so the guys are learning to count by tens as well.

So with Garth's trip canceled and looking at the weeks schedule we will have a nice family week home together at the Foundation.