"Everyone ready? Flying over bridge!"

It's been a LONG, incredibly busy week with little to NO Internet access.... so will try to write a note, but must apologize for the lack of photo's. Internet is just not THAT cooperative tonight:).

First, the quote in the title was from our driver as he was HURTLING the Land Rover down the bumpy dirt road, trying to get us home before dark. He DID warn us before we caught some air going over this little bridge.:) Not only did he get us home on time, but he proved himself to be a very safe driver on some VERY challenging roads!

Half the group and I went out with World Hope staff today for a "Food Distribution" for the "Home Based Care" program. The grant runs out this month so this was the last opportunity for us to observe. My camera battery ran out after only three photo's today and so I used a couple of the girls camera's a few times:). I'll eventually collect them and once the Internet is working better, will try to post them. We were traveling in some STUNNING country side today!!

Last Sunday we spent the day in Jembo at the Wesleyan Bible School. (we enjoyed a youth meeting and even shared a couple songs with them... their singing/dancing was way more impressive than ours though!!:) It is a 60-75min drive from Choma. The first 20 min are on a nice paved road, but then the last 30km are on dirt roads up and over and into this "range" of hills - stunning vista's. The vegetation and dust, as well as all the traditional homes along the way kept reminding us that we're smack dab in the middle of Africa!! On Sunday, when we drove straight to Jembo, I kind of wondered why the Bible School was "out in the middle of no where", but then today as we visited 7 churches along that 30km route (some up to 30 min down deeply rutted dirt roads) - I realized how there are communities for miles around, with active churches that are being pastored by graduates of the Bible school. The food (finely ground corn meal in 10kg bags and cabbages) we were taking was to support orphans, vulnerable children and others dying of Aids. We enjoyed meeting the men and women of the communities as well as playing with the children!

I'll try to post some more stories from the past week in the next couple days... I should THEORETICALLY have some time....

Random pics

I uploaded these last week, and am finaly able to post them... enjoy!!

Some random guy riding his bike, with a bag of charcoal on the back... they make it out of wood and sell it on the side of the road!
Carla (far right), the history Prof who's here for 2 weeks with (l to r) Estie, Meagan, Kara and Brittany The turkey that wandered around our patio for nearly a day before the girls watched his last moments... he'll be our dinner in the near future!!
Taking a walk last week, we saw this pump being used to irrigate the gardens nearby. It reminded me of the pump Dad used to empty the duckpond into the rhubarb patch!

The sunsets have been stunning every night!!!

New Definitions

We are learning new definitions to word's we thought we knew. Flexibility for one. Our daily schedules often change multiple times throughout the day. It's an adjustment for all of us, but we are learning! I remember in Zimbabwe learning the difference between "just now" and "now, now" - JN meant "any time now or later" where as NN meant "right away." "A little bit difficult" is a typical Zambian phrase and we are learning it is often the ultimate understatement!!

This poster hangs near the front door of the office building here on the compound.

Here's the classroom...

And here are some of the girls wearing their traditional "Chitenge" - a wrap around skirt. We're excited that we'll be here on Zambian National Day on October 24th and hope to get to watch the festivities!! We'll all probably be wearing one of these! I love the bright designs!!

Tuesday we took a "history field trip" and visited the local museum that talked about the local provincial history. They had a lot of really interesting photographs depicting village life, as well as artifacts from the past few decades. It is interesting to see what each culture finds most important to emphasize about themselves!

We then spent some time visiting the city library. It was a very small building, one medium sized room, with two small rooms attached. Approximately 20 bookshelves full of books. The newest book I found was from 2000. Many books were printed in the 70's and 80's. It was fascinating also to read the various postings along the walls. There was a whole section just with HIV related pamphlets. Two computers were in one of the side rooms, but I am not sure if those are free for people to use or just the librarians.

That afternoon Pam and I got to meet with Dr Jain, one of the local surgeons. He and his wife, an OB/GYN own a clinic (with 6 inpatient beds), that is located just down the road from us. He is originally from Rajastan, and was born in one of the cities Kirsten and I visited over five years ago. He and his wife have lived in Zambia for over 30 years. For the past few years they have run their own clinic, but previously for over 10+ years he was the only surgeon/MD for the local state hospital. It was incredible to hear him tell of some of his experience - the challenges and rewards. As the only surgeon available he was forced to become skilled at all types of surgeries, from orthopedic to neurosurgery to abdominal or whatever else came along! His enthusiasm was catching!

Some of the students' clinical hours will be at their clinic and I know they will learn a lot! Seeing the various rooms within their clinic reminded me of my experiences both at Karanda Mission hospital in Zimbabwe (back in 1998) and the orthopedic surgeries I assisted with in Chennai, India (in 2003). Fond memories!!:)

Neighborhood kids

Here's a picture of the metal statues that decorate our front porch, we sit at the picnic tables for all our meals!! WHIZ (World Hope International Zambia) office is in the distance. It's a beautiful, newly constructed compound.

Near one of the neighboring villages is this site of "slash & burn" - farmers preparing to plant?! That was as close as we were willing to get to get pic's of the fire:). We saw similar sites a number of times en route to Choma from Livingston.

As we were heading back to the compound last evening, this group of kids started running after us from the village. They were yelling all the English phrases they knew and finally caught up with some of our group.

Here they are posing for my picture with "Karate chops"... The girl at the back of the group (wearing the white t-shirt) has a great singing voice! She and some of her friends were on the compound today and graced us with some of the songs they'd learned at church as well as the Zambian National Anthem. (I didn't have my camera with me at the time...) One song they sang was really heart wrenching. The verse described this incredibly destitute life, talking about hardship after hardship - and it was sung as a solo by one of the girls, then on the chorus they all chimed in to tell us that their Daddy had told them not to worry as Jesus would provide. It brought tears to my eyes as I knew that the hard life they talked of was indeed likely a reality for each of them, yet their joy and unwavering faith in God's provision humbling to observe!

Fun translates to any language!!

We have a couple big days ahead with visits to villages! Please pray for health, strength and wisdom, as we're battling a flu/stomach virus that seems to be making the rounds, lasting 12-24 hrs. As often happens when you enter a new environment, we've encountered new bugs and it will take time to adjust. By His grace and for His glory, L

Walking at Sunset

During the day here it's been getting up into the upper 90's... with out A/C that's taking a little bit of getting used to!!:) THANKFULLY, about 4:30pm it starts to cool down and with a fan the evenings are quite pleasant! I've even needed a sheet to keep me warm a few nights:). So, once it gets cooler a group of us have started going for walks on the dirt roads and paths near where we are staying. It feels great to get out and get some excercise before the mysquitos descend! Here's some pic's from our walk tonight.

Not sure if this is a wasp nest or an mini ant hill?? It's on the ground, with out obvious inhabitants and with similar things all over?? Any ideas anyone??

The whole area was pretty desolate except for the occasional bright red flowers, some up in this little tree and others at the bottom of this plant. "beauty in ashes"

I've really been enjoying getting to know all the girls in the group! Their kindness to each other, their great attitudes with all the unkowns and their openness to listening to God's voice in their lives is not only an encouragement, but challenges me as well!!

Keri, Haley, Estie, Megan, Lauren, Heather and Alyssa

Black Mamba

We've all been enjoying the incredible sunsets recently.... they don't capture so well the night's I've actually had my camera out with me, but here's one from the other afternoon. The first clouds we've seen!! No rain yet:) The other morning, four girls and myself headed out the door about 615 in the morning for a walk before breakfast. The last person out the door slid on the rug and we realized that a "small" snake was curled up below the front stoop. God's angels protected us as we'd all stepped right over it!!! Beth, who lives here on the compound (pictured below) came over and eventually (after some hissing and striking at a distance) killed the snake with a really big rock. The photo is of her holding the dead snake up after we got back from our walk. After photo's she took it to one of the guards and he told her it was a black mamba - a very poisonous snake. It was a big reminder to all of us that God is in control and is faithfully protecting us! Thank you for your prayers!!

When he was all curled up, from above he totally looked black, but the underbelly is more grey/green :).

Morning at the market

Here's just a few pics from our walk through the market the other day. I had forgotten how intense the sun can be! I always find it so fascinating to see what kinds of vegetables are available and how people go about displaying and selling them! Lots of tomatoes, onions and cabbage. They had a variety of dried fish as well, the small ones with the heads still attached and some larger fish that had been gutted. Some of the other groups described walking through a part of the market where the were selling "fresh" fish, I will have to keep my eyes open for that place next time! (We'd split up so as to attract less attention). In some ways it's like the ulitmate department store ... you can find about anything, if you just know where to look!

Ankunft in Zambia!!

It's hard to believe it's been only 6 days since we left the US!! The flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa was incredibly smooth, despite it's nearly 15 hr duration! I watched a few movies between meals and a couple good long naps:). One of the girls nearly lost her passport, but God protected us and we were able to retrieve it off the plane, where she'd forgotten it in her seat back pocket.

We had an overnight in Jo-burg so had our first "African" meal together. We had just ordered our dinner when I thought to tell the girls at my table about how often when traveling to other countries, items on a menu might be called by familiar names, but the taste - though good- would likely not resemble tastes or appearances that they might have assumed. Sure enough, the "Caesar" salad they'd ordered look more like a garden salad, with tomatoes, peppers, onions, cheddar cheese and yogurt like dressing. There are moments that traveling has consistent inconsistencies!!:):)

The next morning on the flight from Joburg to Livingston, two of the girls and myself got bumped up to Business class!!! We acted like the ultimate cheezy tourist up there!! That's Rachel in the pic above... and that was just with the glasses of water before we even took off. :) The service was fabulous, with cloth napkins, yummy food, great options, and all on real china!! My coffee came in a REAL cup with a very cool rock sugar stick (pictured below with the remains of the cheese tray I had for dessert). That was a definite first in all my travels, so I SURE enjoyed it!!:):)

Then we arrived in Livingston, Zambia and were hit by a 20-30 degree increase in temperature! That's some of the girls walking off the plane below.

We have arrived!!

This is in front of the bus that took us from Livingstone to Choma. In the middle of the group is Maureen, a wonderful woman who is helping to orchestrate details for our months here. Her kind heart, sense of humor and deep love for God have already been a blessing!!

This is (some of) us all stuffed into the bus... 22 people, 38 BIG suitcases and 20ish carry on's!! The 3 1/2 hr trip was bumpy at times, but we made it, tired but safe!!

The last few days have been full of meetings, but we did spend one morning walking around town, visiting the market and buying chitenge' (the wrap skirts that women wear here).
Sunday we visited church, the Sunday school started at 9am, followed by nearly 1 1/2 hours of amazing singing and musical specials (the church has at least 3 choirs!), and then a fabulous sermon. It was "woman's Sunday" so there were women leading worship and another woman preached. The service finished around 1:15pm! Our group has been split into 3 smaller groups who have each been assigned a church to attend for our time here. I'm grateful for this as it allows us to really grow friendships with people and become more of the community! The girls in my group are really excited about getting involved with working with the kids Sunday school. We did have to walk up to the front of the church for introductions. It was a tad weird being the "leader" this time who had to say a greeting to the church body and then introduce the girls.

Tonight we had a great "debriefing" - were we each shared the thing about Zambia we had expected and the thing that was most un-expected. Laughter and tears. It is a start to processing all they are seeing/hearing/tasting/feeling!

Please pray for the girls, Pam and myself as we are continuing to adjust to the heat and life here in Choma. God's love and faithfulness is evident in the many details he's orchestrated - I am encouraged and excited to see all that lies ahead!

IWU Nursing Zambia Semester '09

Well, this is a group photo we took this morning! My bags are sitting by the door, packed, weighed and ready to go!! The last two days of orientation meetings were long, but very productive!! It was fun to meet all the girls, I've learned over half their names:), and trust I'll have them ALL down pat before we arrive!! My excitement just keeps growing!!!!

After packing and repacking for the past two months during my prep proces, it's a relief to have tomorrow nearly here. There are a lot of unknowns and huge challenges ahead, but I have confidence that God will provide strength and wisdom as I continue to ask. I'm really looking forward to seeing all that God will teach each of us on this team in the weeks and months ahead!! Keep checking back and I'll do my best to keep the photo's and stories coming!!

3 days to go...

Here's a few of the photo's I took a few weeks back while traveling in MN with Annette.

I've been in Indiana now for nearly two weeks working on Zambia prep. It's been a good time, but busy with trying to sort out many details and be as prepared as we can for the semester ahead. It's been fun too to have time to hang out with my brother and his wife, as well as a number of old friends here in the Marion area.

Being back in Marion at this time has made me realize how much I've changed and grown over the past seven years - since I moved away. My perspective on some topics has remained the same, but in a lot of areas my point of view is from a whole new angle, or has at least shifted

some. I guess that's called growing up??:)

As I've been contemplating my upcoming move back to the southern hemisphere I've been remembering watching the moon from Zimbabwe back in 1998. That was when I first learned about the "hare" in the moon, or the lady bent over carrying a load of sticks on her back. Last Thursday I was hanging out with friends who have just moved back from New Zealand. That evening the moon was especially bright. So Emily and I took a moment to twist our upper bodies more parallel to the ground so that the moon would look a little more like it does from the southern hemisphere. BEAUTIFUL!!

I'm looking forward to meeting the 16 students that will be in Zambia first thing tomorrow morning. We have two days of training before we head to the airport on Thursday. I appreciate your prayers for wisdom as there will be many decision to be made in the days and weeks ahead. Also for safety as we travel (one flight is around 16 hours - NON-STOP!!) and for a smooth adjustment to the new culture and environment!

I'm getting more and more excited... and know that God has an amazing adventure ahead!!