Mongu - Day Three

It is Tuesday a.m.  I am in the Zambia Works office which is a very old abandoned British office.  This is the typical building here. Every thing is very old, the streets are sandy, the plumping primitive (flush with a bucket) etc.

The school was so excited to see us. They had a program of dancing, each chief greeted us, the kids were giddy and like in Honduras you take a photo and they mob you.  The teachers who were living in the class rooms are living elsewhere.  It is so interesting to see a school in the midst of huts. :) 

We saw the gardens of the women and the farm area.  It is like an oasis in the desert. It is awesome and brought tears to my eyes.  

We had dinner at the Ambassadors house last night.  I am uncertain where she is serving now but she had pictures of her shaking George Bush's hand in the Oval office and I guess she likes to connect with him when he comes to Zambia.  She is quite a character.  Her home is modest by our standards...again a very old British style abode.  She cooked dinner for us, we ate with plates in our laps.  We arrived and the power was out. So it started with candle light as we had peanuts (monkey nuts), potato chips and punch to begin the evening.  Mongu rice is a staple with most meals and that was included with pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and a stewed chicken.  Oh yes we had ground beef with pasta.  It was very simple and tasty.

We went to the harbor which is the poorest of the poor.  It is on the river that connects Mongu with Angola.  Dugout boats bring food and goods in and out of the two countries.  It is a 14 day trip between the two countries but it is the fastest way to go.  

 Main Street Mongu, Zambia

Mongu - Day Two

It is Sunday evening.  It has been a very good and LONG day.  I awoke very stiff, acutely aware of last two-day travel adventures.  My shower was cool but cleanliness is good at any price. 

Breakfast is included in my room charge.   The dining room is probably 15 x 20 feet.  Our juice is ‘tang’, our coffee ‘instant’ , instant hot chocolate and  tea are other beverage choices.  The breakfast menu included Eggs, Sausage, Baked Beans and Toast.  The ‘butter’ consists of ¼ inch cubes of a yellow substance…I did not taste it. It looked scary.
   

We attended church this a.m.  It was a 3 hour worship time.  We were treated like dignitaries.  The choir consisted for 5 people and one drummer.  The building was rented from the department of human resources.  It was left from the British when they moved out many years ago.  It needed work but the people were warm and delightful.

We went to a new ‘fast’ food restaurant attached to the hotel.  It was clean (sort of) painted in bright bold colors.  It sold sandwiches (many new to me) a form of a hotdog, hamburgers, fish ( a real whole, head and fins still on the fish) and other curious foods. Several of us ordered hamburgers. Our young order-taker comes back after about 10 minutes to tell us they only had one hamburger!  

We eat out for each meal.  They serve one meal at a time.  I think they cook one meal at a time too.  So with a group as large as ours, it takes a very long time to complete a meal.  Another very interesting thing is that they go out and buy the ingredients after you order your food.  I guess it is comforting to know that the ingredients are fresh.

The rest of our day consisted of meetings.  One took place with the wives of the pastors at an orphanage.  The buildings are modest and old (again from the British occupation era).  I will detail in a future blog the purpose of the meeting as I am tired and there will be more to tell on this subject later.

We had another eating out experience tonight as we met with the pastors and their wives.  The power was out but the restaurant was ‘open.’ They let us know that they could serve us with a selected number of items so we stayed.  We had no other option as the power was out all over.  Candles were brought to the table.  They were tapers slipped into soft drink bottles.   The eating experience again was long but delightful.

Mongu - Day One

After 50+ hours of travel and 6 hours of sleep we arrived in the middle of ‘nowhere’ to a place called Mongu.  My FB post was a google map shot of Lusaka, Zambia where I landed in Africa to Mongu where I will now reside for the next 8 days.  The picture shows one very straight shot between the two cities.  Well it is very accurate.  It is straight!   Before I begin my adventure accounts in Africa, I will share how miraculous our trip was.  We had concerns before we left and so prayer was critical and some of you joined me in these requests. 

If you have never traveled abroad it is so easy to assume that our hiccups in the US are quite traumatic. I had concerns about the leg from London to Lusaka.  We were not able to book our seat assignments for this part of the trip.  For my traveling companions who had booked business class and for me who I might find myself sitting next to this was a worry.  I do not do well with poor hygiene seat mates. My ‘fear’ was that I would have a 10 hour flight having to deal with this issue.  I was envisioning a very close relationship with the restroom.

Our seat assignment ended up toward the back of the plane.  We were all to sit together so that prayer was answered but extra room was the other issue for my friends. 

I ‘love’ this next answer to prayer.  The video/tv control on the arm of my seat was broken.  It was actually not attached with wires sticking out.  So…I mentioned this to the flight attendant.  British Airlines was unable to get it fixed before we left London.  So they moved my one friend and he got an entire row to himself!  He now could stretch out and sleep.   That allowed us two isle seats with a ‘free’ seat between us. This arrangement gave us room and we too could stretch out and I had no one with hygiene issues This may seem very trivial but 10 hours on a flight with ‘issues’ is not something to take lightly. Trust me it was a big answer to my prayer.

The International airport in Lusaka is probably one of the most primitive airports I have experienced.  God truly did pave a smooth path for us to enter the country beginning with being  told in London our visa’s would be about $140 dollars.  We could have purchased them there.  We ended up paying $40 in Lusaka.  No one demanded extra money.  We were finger printed, both hands and thumbs. I am not certain what they do with this info but I am now in their system.

We were swept through customs. No one looked at our luggage. This was the biggest miracle, for my companions who have made this trip before never know what to expect.  Most of the goods we bring into the country are donations for the school, the pastors and chiefs.  But the government does not care what we paid, they want the declared value and charged that fee to bring it in. An example is,  if our ‘goods’ are valued at $100 we now pay $100 more to bring it into Zambia. We paid nothing !!!!  Why?  The Zambian team that we work with had a connection at the commissioners office. They went the day before, plead our case and we were given ‘grace’.  This is truly a MIRACLE and saved Hands of Hope a couple thousand dollars.

The trip between Lusaka and Mongu should take 8 hours.  We started 3 hours late because one of the drivers needed to pick up a spare tire and he had left his clothes in the hotel where he had stayed.  It was a interesting beginning as we traveled to some of the off beaten paths into areas where most ‘city’ people live.  However, it made our 8+ hour start very late and we arrived very late.

The African plains are vast.  It is the dry hot season and just like the Illinois I left behind, it is quite parched!  The African plains have a desert like ‘feel’ but there are plenty of trees scattered around.  As we drove through the National Park, I saw a lot of gazelles, some deer like animal (I will find out what it was), wart hogs, monkeys and the back end of an Elephant.  (I hope to see the entire elephant on my return home).

I saw hundreds of huts scattered along our route.  We experienced a roadside rest area where the women’s bathrooms (wrong name) were ‘squatty potties’.  We had to pay to use them and to ‘wash’ our hands we have ‘not so clean’ water.  

I am functioning on no sleep as I try to capture some of my thoughts and experiences. My hotel room by Zambia standards is very nice. It is small. It is marginal on cleanliness and there are notices to take everything of value with you when you leave.  I hope that by the time I leave Zambia my suitcase is not empty.

Blessings to all of you as you continue to pray!

Internet Access Finally

Claudia was finally able to gain internet access in Mongu Zambia long enough to send us an email with two days worth of blog entries which I will be posting here shortly. Thank you for your continued prayers for her trip. You will enjoy her posts.
In His Grace
Don (Her husband, for those who are following her blog that I might not have met)

Preparing for the Journey

It has been a long time since I 'blogged'.  As I begin this adventure of traveling to Mongu, Zambia. I will bring those of you who have asked, along with me.  I am hoping my internet connections will allow me to post often, as I know I will have down time to write.  

Today, before I leave the country I decided to share my emotions from yesterday as I finished up my packing.   If you followed me on FB then this will be a repeat entry.  However, the preparation for any journey is vital to the success of the trip.  Knowing the blessings I experience daily overwhelmed me and humbled me.  For those I will visit are grateful for a cup of water or a meal.

"In 24 hours I leave for O Hare heading to Zambia, via London. Today as I was driving through a very plush shopping area picking up the last few items I am to take with me, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I could go and purchase anything I might want or need. I had options of brands and offerings to choose from. I had a car and gas to get me to the destinations of my choice. It was 90+ degrees and my car was air conditioned. Tears filled my eyes as I thought of my incredible blessings and the plush life that I experience. I pondered the very plush life that most Americans live and the lives we complain about or choose to be dissatisfied with. I know personally of those on public aid and they too live very well compared to 2/3's of the world. Seriously!

I have been in 3rd world countries. I have seen starvation and poverty at its worst. I came home today humbled and grateful for my blessings but weighed down by what I am going into. We will bring a 'drop' of water in a vast desert but they will be grateful. We will bring hope and encouragement because they see that Americans care. These emotions alone will warm their hearts and carry them for many days. As you choose to grumble about your life's bumps think of this little girl, or the little boy pushing his 5 gallon jugs of water up hill to his home. Take a deep, deep breath and give a prayer of thanksgiving that you have been blessed."