Hey there! I hope you are doing good!

Yuck. You are just too far away. Whoever you are. I love you. And I probably miss you.

Sorry this is the first time I’ve posted. I just don’t know what to say. So I wrote 5 pages. Words just don’t cut it at all.

My teammates are a blessing. Oh yes!

God is so good. He is here.

I am so thankful for the medicines my church family gave me for the clinic! (Hi, Highland View!) There was so many they couldn’t fit (spread out) on my kitchen table, much less my suitcase! It is incredible. I took some in my suitcase and some is being sent over in a container. I’m not sure when it will arrive, but it will likely take a long time. It’s ok. They are still very happy to have this medicine.

Dr. Benson, the former president of Harding, helped start Namwianga’s clinic. It is supported by Churches of Christ. People walk to it, sometimes from quite a distance.

9/3/2009

Arrival

We flew from Memphis to Boston to Amsterdam to Lusaka. We spent the night in Lusaka and then drove 6 hours to Namwianga. We were greeted by about 30 children singing “Wabota”. They were so precious! They held a big banner welcoming us. We now know these children. They are orphans that live at Haven #2. They were (and are) very eager to be picked up with and played with. We met several of the Aunties, who take care of the kids. We also met the Merritts and the Gregorsons, who have been here for years. We live very comfortably. Tile/concrete floors, running water, electricity (most of the time), and hot water (sometimes). We thought we would be ‘roughing it’! There are always big spiders in the house, but they leave us alone. The most common ones are ‘wall spiders’ and they just stay on the wall and eat bugs. They are 2 to 3 inches in diameter. I haven’t seen a single snake yet (as of 9/17).

We are taking lots of classes. I am taking a class on John, Medical Missions, Humanities, Missionary Anthropology, Tonga (the local language), African History and Literature, and an internship. They are fantastic. We learn then we see and do.

9/6

 A Funeral

On September 6, 2009 we attended the burial of a 14-year old boy who had died in a car accident. He had a mother, a father, and sisters. Many people came to the burial. I think it was a community event to show support to the family of the boy. We arrived in an ordinary looking field and joined either the group of women or the group of men. We greeted everyone and then sat down and kept silent. We came together and sang a few Tonga hymns. After twenty or thirty minutes a car with sirens came through the field and it contained a casket. The men took the casket out of the car and placed it into the hole. They mixed the leftover dirt with water and filled the hole back up. It was a group effort: whenever someone got tired the shovel was passed. It was a very personal goodbye. After the hole had been filled up different groups of people were called up in Tonga to place flowers in the soil above the grave. Many, many people placed flowers on his grave. One woman fell on the ground out of sorrow. Other women wailed a little. It sounded like they were devastated. It was hard to hear but I think it’s healthy that they express their grief. It felt very real to the rest of us. A few people came up and talked about him. The head of education, the only man who spoke in English, said some things that surprised me. He said that he was a great student and that his place would never be filled. He was a great son and his sisters could never fill the gap in their parents’ lives. He urged his sisters and fellow classmates to close the gap. He urged them to remain focused on doing well in their exams and not to let this tragedy distract them. He comforted those who were mourning by telling them they would soon forget this sorrow. In America normally people comfort others by saying that the person will never be forgotten. I think by saying that he meant that the pain would pass, not that they would actually forget the boy. The fact that the Minister of Education spoke at his funeral shows that education is important to them.

Life isn’t easy here at all. People are devastated when they are sad but they are also joyful when they are happy. They are expressive.

I thought I was coming here to help. To teach. I thought I was needed. Really I am here to learn. About God, about people, about life, and about myself. I am here to serve. To give.

9/7

The Haven

We got to volunteer at the Haven today! I went to Haven #1, which has the little babies. There are four rooms with 8 to 12 babies in each room. They are all so sweet and alone. The woman who oversees their development gave us a talk. Her name is Megan and she is amazing. She loves the babies so much. She can list off all of their names and quirks by memory. She told us that most of the children aren’t really orphans; they are just taken care of until they are healthy. If there is no one to nurse babies they often die because formula is so expensive. She told us to try to not feel bad about the kids not living with parents because being in the Havens is the best thing that can happen to them in their situation. They are well taken care of considering that the standards in Zambia are lower. They are prayed over daily. They are bathed three times a day and their sheets are changed three times a day. They spend a lot of time in their beds, unfortunately. Most of them are really small for their age and very behind on their development. The aunties are vigorous in taking care of them. I don’t know how they do it. I really don’t.

9/8

Culture

 The culture here is very different. Male and Female interaction is very limited. Children are seen and not heard. They eat after the adults. Respect of older people is expected. Greetings are vitally important. Women are considered less than men and are valued by how many children they have. Education is very important. They don’t care about time. If you are less than an hour late to most things you aren’t really considered late. They are relationship-oriented. English is the official language because there are so many different tribal languages (72 just in Zambia). People drive on the opposite side of the road. (not the wrong side, the opposite side!) Flies land on people and they don’t swat them away. I tend to think people are very different, but once you get past the surface it seems like we aren’t so different. People are people everywhere you go. God is everywhere.

 9/11

 The Haven

 The aunties have been very kind to me. Today I gave some of the kids baths and dressed them. They are really fast and thorough at bathing them and I am really slow at it. They laugh at me and I laugh at myself- it works! I couldn’t imagine seeing those kids every day. They are wonderful but quite overwhelming. Sometimes I walk into a room and nearly a dozen dark, perfect eyes meet mine and I just want to run away. It’s worse when they’re crying. The Aunties might be considered harsh if you were using American standards, but this is Africa. They have a lot of kids to take care of. Sometimes they pick up a baby by one of their arms, bathe them roughly, etc. It’s not careless. They show love in different ways here. I don’t understand and I’m trying not to pass any judgments. They do what they do in the way they do it because they have to. We were told to have the general attitude “Not good, not bad, just different” about everything.

Church

We’ve had the opportunity to go to a few churches here. Normally they sing a few songs in Tonga and then invite us to sing a few songs. Their belief is that visitors bring blessings! They like our guys to do a part of the worship- at times that means giving a sermon with very little notice! There is always a translator. They’re pretty laid-back. Their worship is simple. Afterwards we shake hands with literally everyone. They form a chain and everyone moves down the line greeting everyone. I love it. Here we shake hands with people that are older than us by using a hand to support our arm and giving a curtsy or bow.

The Market

We’ve also had the opportunity to go to the market! Dried fish, chitenges, (material women use as skirts etc.) and other clothes were most common. At one stand we found a stack of world bible workbooks. They fill out questions about the bible, mail it in, and someone in the US grades it and mails it back. People bargain as a way of life and I’ve learned to not feel bad about it. What would you think about someone if they paid $10 for a coke? What would overpaying say about us? We want to become like them, so we must bargain. Some of us received marriage proposals, to which we always reply “I have other plans.” Our professors really prepared us for this trip.

9/12

Dancing

We went dancing tonight! And we didn’t know we were until we got there. We were invited to a welcoming something in an auditorium. Soon students invited us onstage and we just went and danced with them. We wrestled with wondering if it was appropriate in their culture. At Harding dancing is considered immoral, but here it’s just part of the culture. They laughed at us because we didn’t know how to dance like they dance. One girl said “Here we dance with our hips!” I didn’t dance with my hips at first and several people tried to teach me how. They would pass me off from friend to friend, each insisting, ‘Teach her to dance!’ I finally gave in. If we hadn’t danced it would have placed an unnecessary barrior between us. For example, in their culture knees and thighs (especially for women) should be covered up at all times. They consider exposing knees and thighs to be inappropriate and we do not. They consider dancing to be appropriate and we do not. Things are just different here and we should try to be flexible. Dancing is not a salvation issue. After we danced in the auditorium we joined a group of people who were dancing traditionally in anticipation of the wedding that would go on the next day. There was someone playing a drum and there was a circle of people, mostly girls and older women, who were dancing around it. They went around and around. They were happy to have us join them because we were very entertaining, apparently. There were two older women that would literally fall in the dirt laughing at us. I liked the traditional dancing the best because we did it in the dark. All the dances were pretty similar. The girls and older women were really enjoying themselves! Sometimes they got excited and ran into you or urged you to go faster by pushing you. It was a very joyful, all generations thing. We left in time to get back home at 10:00. They danced through the night! We weren’t entirely sure that our dancing was appropriate, but the wedding answered our questions. Once we saw little kids dancing down the aisle we knew that our dancing had been completely acceptable.

9/13

A Wedding

 The wedding started two hours after the invitation said it started. We all went to the Johnson Auditorium. The benches were lined up on the sides of the wall. There were a good number of people there. We sat and talked with one woman who told us a little about what was going to happen. She explained to us that the bride and groom would be very solemn to demonstrate that they were taking marriage seriously. As we were sitting there they were putting up balloons. There were two men at the front. The DJ was playing really fun, loud music. Finally the wedding started. Six children, three girls and three boys, made their way to the front by dancing to the music. There were two women dressed in bright pink, the matrons of Honor. They directed the dancing. After the children six women and six men made their way to the front. The women were wearing red dresses and the men were dressed nicely also. They danced up and down a bit before coming to their places onstage. Finally the bride’s father walked his daughter down the aisle. They both looked very serious. She had on a very white, western-looking dress. She had a huge train and a very sparkly something around her waist. Her veil completely covered her face. The ceremony was very western, with emphasis on the importance of being faithful to your spouse. This seemed like it was more for the community than for the couple. A lot of people came, especially to the party afterwards. A child or two wandered onstage and it didn’t seem to bother anyone. The bride and groom did their vows without cracking a smile. I wondered if their marriage was arranged, but after the words “You may now kiss your bride.” we all knew they liked each other. The crowd went wild. The women made this loud, indescribable, happy noise and others clapped. The parents of the grooms looked overjoyed. I bet it was a struggle for the new couple to be serious. They went to a table and each used a candle to light a single candle. Then the bride held the groom’s arm and the groom put his hand on his chest. They paused for pictures before they went down the aisle.

9/16

The Herbalist

Today we went out with our language teacher, Mr. Siazu and his friend, the herbalist. He treats people with natural remedies. It was fascinating! He started off by bringing a piece of plant that helps with snakebite. It is called Tati and it is kindof rubbery. You cut it into small pieces and boil the pieces in water. The person drinks the water and is often spared from death. He walked us around Namwianga, pointing out different (often insignificant-looking) plants. The first plant we came to was a bush called Musombo. It is used to also help with snakebites. It is an indicator of a large supply of water, so when people are digging wells they often choose to dig under the plant. The wecond plant we came to is called Mutenga. It is a bush with small, dark green leaves. It “helps men that become sexually weak.” You boil the roots in water and drink the water. The reason for boiling, he says, is “to take out the very best in the plant”. We also saw a tree called Mwandwa muula, which helps impotent women get pregnant. Mr. Siazu said that normally if a couple can’t have children the woman is blamed first. We also saw Mukunku, which helps relieve toothaches. You boil the leaves of this tree and “once it toughes the tooth it kills the germs that cause the pain”. Next he pointed out an unfriendly looking bush that is used for STDs. Like most of the plants, you boil the roots and drink the water. The herbalist treats STDs most often. People tend to be shy about admitting they have STDs, especially to the nurses in the clinic. It’s more natural for them to go to someone they know, the herbalist, and get natural help from someone they trust. He said that even though he is an important member in the community he is not seen as a spiritual figure. We also saw Musekese, which relieves paralysis. He said that many people that have had strokes take it and it helps them. He talked about how he understood that it was a medical condition and not something caused by a witch. He showed us a large tree near the hamby house that helps with vomiting and diarrhea. It is called Mukuyu, which means fig tree. You boil the bark and drink the water. The last thing he showed us was a jar of burnt bark, which helps with pain. He makes small marks and smears the powder into it, making a series of tattoos. They are painful, but it really helps in taking away the pain.

            I think this is wonderful. I wish that there were more herbalists that worked in hospitals. Hospitals don’t have enough medicine but that is okay if there is another way to cure diseases.  This is a good option economically as well.

 

I don’t think I want to do Nursing. I really love the idea of nursing, but I have other interests. I honestly don’t think I could do it. I don’t want to enough. I would rather do prevention. Nurses are amazing people and their job is a great opporitunity to minister to people. At the same time you can work all day caring for AIDS patients and at the end of the day they still have AIDS. Not that Nursing isn’t valuable, but there are other things I can do. I’m interested in Nutrition, Development, Health Education, Agriculture… I’m so excited! I might get a BA in Dietetics and go on to get something in agriculture or something. I’m also a Vocational ministry major (doing ministry while working a job- like tent making). Whatever I do it has to be something that I can get a job with. I want to be Vocational.

A lot of us have joined the choir and are learning how to sing tonga songs!

Thanks for reading this loooong thing! I might put pictures up sometime. They use a lot of bandwidth, though.