Afrikan Adventure: Oh Tannenbaum

Well, well, here we are mid-December and still no sign of snow. I’m sure it won’t be long now before it comes. I usually spend my evenings sitting by the window wearing my toque and mittens on a string, clutching my “Crazy Carpet” waiting for it to come. But I usually get too sweaty and have to give up. Plus, this past week I’ve been reintroduced to the wonderful world of socialization as my friends, Stephanie and Susan, from down south are up visiting. It has been marvelous having people living with me other than the ants, cockroaches, spiders, and lizards...and nice that I don’t have to spray these guests with a Raid like agent.

This past week Susan found a 180cm, $20 Christmas tree at the store so she bought it. We brought it home and that evening embarked on assembling it. We soon realized why it was probably only $20 while all others around here seem to be much more. Turns out the bottom two pieces didn’t actually fit together as the “trunk” of the tree on both parts was exactly the same size making for quick improvisational tactics to get the tree standing. We tried several things involving sticks, branches and old plastic bags and finally after a treasure hunt around the yard in the dark found a piece of old piping which we used our MacGyver skills to contort into a perfect solution. So now we have our trusty Tannenbaum and a most excellent foam nativity scene sent to me in a package to adorn my humble abode in a Christmas fashion.

This past Saturday I had what will probably be on my list of favourite African memories. I took all the kids at Chisomo, the centre for street kids I have been working with, to this water park called Adventure City for a little Christmas party. There were 44 kids from the age of 10-18 and we had an awesome time. Christmas is a hard time for these youth as it such a family oriented time. It was awesome to see them able to just be kids, having a blast on the slides and doing crazy flips and dives into the pools. The safety standards are not quite what we are used to back home which makes for more fun as your allowed to do pretty much whatever you want on the slides like go down 15 at a time! My favourite was probably swimming with two little 11 year olds, Danny and Anna, and helping Anna conquer her fear of the slide and just trying to teach them how to swim. It breaks my heart that these kids are so young. Danny ran away from a family who was beating him and travelled 5 hours to Lusaka by himself and spent some time on the street until someone brought him to Chisomo. Anna was being sexual abused by her step-father and so followed her sister and ended up at the centre. And each one of these kids has a heart breaking story like this.

My involvement with them is like a catch twenty-two as the more time I spend with them the more I get attached to them and see relationships really beginning to grow and it kills me to think that I am going to have to say goodbye and leave them in a month and a half. My heart hurts just thinking about it. I am going to do an all-nighter with them in January before a lot of the kids who are being sponsored to go to boarding school go back, which will be like a last hurrah!

Action Zambia has recently rented a tiny office space in town so we can finally get our office out of a home so I’ve been putting time there painting and helping to get it ready to move into (not myself moving into…although that would cut down on transport time getting there). My idea of splatter painting in neon colours was not taken to like I was hoping. So instead I will secretly paint a delightful country mural with the art skills I learned from Bob Ross on PBS, complete with several “happy, little trees.”

Guitar teaching and bible study in Kasupe continues to go well. Peter, my guitar prodigy, is really catching on quick and a great youth so I’ve pretty much decided that I will give my guitar to him when I leave and hope that he can use his newly acquired skills to be a leader in the community and his church.

I also had a meeting with the Rural Health Committee this past week and we are hoping to do another day of giving out food and health supplies to really vulnerable families. This time of the year is when the food starts to run out as the crops are just being planted and won’t be ready for another couple months and last years supply has run out.

And that has been some of the highlights of December so far. I will be heading down to South Africa on Thursday to spend Christmas with friends from the team and their family who live there. I hope all the hustle ‘n’ bustle of the season hasn’t gotten the better of you and that are having a joyous noel. If you want to get away from said hustle just come here…there is certainly a lack of hustle in these parts! And remember the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear! Take care!!

Love,

Shannon

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

~Matthew 11:28-30

Afrikan Adventure: Empty Space

I write you from a seemingly very empty space…and I’m speaking quite literally, not referring to my mental capacity. The house that I live in was furnished almost exclusively by another couple on the team that had moved into a place where they did not need much of their belongings, working out quite perfectly for the both of us. But oh, how the tides have changed. Said couple is now moving into an unfurnished home requiring said belongings and thus bringing us to the current state as I listen to the reverb of my typing, sounding much like the typewriters of old. So now I currently have a hot plate and blender to my name. It’s all one really needs really. Blending can be very cathartic while creating delicious treats that are easily accessible through a straw. And with all concrete walls and tile floors I’ve found entertainment in singing Latin words loudly and listening to it bounce of the walls. Plus, this pillaging has provided a much better space to practice my gymnastic floor routines.

Moving on…with such a transitional time in the life of Action Zambia there has been need for assistance in the administrative area so I have been working in our office at least one day a week to help out. So if in the near future this mission suddenly disintegrates you’ll know why.

This past week marked a significant national holiday for our American friends and seeing as this is a predominantly American team I stuck a feather in my cap and joined the festivities. There was no turkey but there was pie for which was something to be truly thankful for.

Last week I was able to finally visit a dear woman who is on the Rural Health Committee that I work with who just lost her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Sakala had been married 43 years this November. They had been living on a farm out near where I used to live but now she will have to move into town with relatives. She shared how here in Zambia widows are often treated very poorly…it was shocking to hear what families will do these poor women. Luckily, Mrs. Sakala’s family has been very supportive but that is not the norm. Often, families will blame the widow for the death and make her walk around on her elbows and knees and they will take almost everything from her home and leave her with nothing. And when she goes to stay with other family she must be in seclusion while the man of the house is there. I hope to be able to visit with her at the new place she is staying at here in town. It was shocking and heart breaking to hear that is how these women are treated here.

I was also able to participate in a seminar put on by our CROSS team (the HIV/AIDS ministry). For the last five months the team has been training individuals and leaders in several churches to better deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic and equip them with some counselling skills. So on Friday all the people from the different churches worked with got together for a seminar. In typical Zambian fashion I was asked to lead the music last minute and completely unprepared but it all turned out in the end.

And those are the highlights of days gone by. Some days are good, others present ample opportunity for “character building” but it’s encouraging to know I’m not in it alone. I think having an empty home could be a good thing. All I really need is Jesus anyway. Thank you to you all for your love and support over these months and your prayers which I’m sure have done more than we could possibly know. Take care and stay warm…or don’t bother with a heater, just come here. We could blend and sing Latin words together!

Love,
shannon

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
~Jeremiah 29:13

Afrikan Adventure: I scream, you scream, let’s all scream…ICE CREAM!

Have you even gone say 9 months without tasting the sweet, sweetness of real ice cream? And then one day, in a seemingly miraculous act, your dormant taste buds are reawakened to said sweet, sweetness, like manna rained down from heaven? And you think this is THE best thing that could have ever happened to you? And then half an hour later you remember that you are borderline lactose intolerant? But that first half hour was magical. This may or may not be a factual life story that happened recently. Dairy products are often very expensive and of poor quality here in Zambia. Therefore, when this mysterious “Sonia” and her “Italian Delicatessen” presents itself in the local grocer’s freezer, one must pounce, no matter the consequence.

Time seems to have quickened it’s step the longer I am here. I remember when I first got here it seemed like time crept by, everything was new and exciting and the days and weeks seemed to last longer. But now in the routines of life here, even though the pace of life is usually at a steady crawl, the days and weeks hasten by.

As I believe I mentioned last time I was preparing to embark into the world of sex education, helping lead two Saturday seminars for youth from a local church. And once again things did not happen as planned. The first Saturday we had put all this planning and preparation in. Including a somewhat awkward visit to the local photocopy place where the only male employee there was the one to help me make photocopies of female anatomy diagrams. We arose way to early to get to the farm, to be the location of the festivities only to have to eventually cancel because an hour and a half after we were to start only four youth had shown up, the rest at least another hour from coming. It was pretty disappointing. But it wasn’t all for not. We had an impromptu water balloon fight with the four that were there with the balloons I had prepared for a relay we were going to do. And we did a half day of discussion and teaching which I think went really well. The best laid plans…

For this past Saturday we decided to just keep it to a half day and have it at the church itself. Two hours after the planned starting time we began! I led some music to begin with and taught them some new songs which was fun. All in all the day went well. Most of the teaching and discussion was done in the vernacular which I think was good so they could really understand and discuss. It is such an important topic to tackle here, especially with the way it is handled traditionally and frequency of abuse and myths.

Last Sunday the women of our team sang at a church. I was playing guitar and when we broke into harmony suddenly loud noise erupted from congregation and I thought someone had passed out around me or something but I guess it was because they liked it, but I totally lost my concentration. It was a fun experience. Then today in church this massive millipede crawled right past my feet. As it moved past this elderly woman next to me turned to me with this terrified-like smile and sat with her legs straight out until it past. This is Africa!

It seems the rains have come. There is a wild lightening storm taking place right now. Although the combination of the heat and the rain often make for a less than pleasant environment, unless you’re a big fan of sweating. The other day I was walking and got caught in a downpour. I was in jeans which immediately changed states form being cloth to lead. Then the rain stopped and the sun came out again and it was like an instant sauna, except I don’t usually walk in lead “trousers” in a sauna (pants here means underwear…which has got us North Americans into some pretty funny situations). Really cleans out he pours. But I know here in Lusaka we have it pretty good compared to what it could be, like in other places in the world. So I will embrace it.

And that’s another lengthy snapshot into this adventure that is my life. Apparently it’s the middle of November, how did that happen? I can’t wrap my head around it and the climate here. It’s about time for those Christmas portraits! Book now, ask me how! You should all book your appointments with the Abbotsford Sears Portrait Studio now. Tell them Shannon sent you and I’m sure you’ll be in for a treat!

Take care of yourself now. Love and peace from Zambia!

shannon

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is a gift from God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Afrikan Adventure: Trimester Four

As I left you last I believe I was still holding out hope that the highly anticipated rains would make their traditions Independence day debut…but alas, my waiting was to no avail. They did not come. I went to bed with a heavy heart knowing something was a miss. I got over the devastation pretty quick. But never fear, today the rains came! It was a nice hiatus from the November heat…there are two words I've never put together before…except at home when my sister and I would insist on keeping the heat off in the house as late in the year as possible, until appendages went numb with cold, just to be obstinate, yet frugal children. I took advantage of running in the rain. It felt like the good ol' days in the motherland…and I don't mean Russia…I've never run there. But then it got dark and lightening came, and since I usually run holding a long conductor rod I decided it probably best to get indoors.

As you can tell, this past week hasn't really held all that much in terms of captivating action. I've gone about my business as usual: choir, teaching guitar, Bible studies, visiting people out in Kasupe, riding on mini buses and waiting for hours, the usual. Although this past week my patience seemed to hit an all time low with the unwanted attention I seem to attract from the men here for the fact that I am white, female, and out in the open. So of course why wouldn't you yell degrading comments at me! When I stayed in Mexico several years ago guys used to think that they could impress us by squealing their tires as they drove by…and let me tell you it worked. I was impressed every time. Not so here. But I feel my patience tank is topped up and I'm ready to take on another week.

It was also a hard week in that I received news of two deaths. That stuff never seems to gets any easier. One was the mother of a youth named Edmond leaving him now an orphan who can't afford to go to school and forced to live with difficult relatives. The other the husband of one of the dear ladies on the Rural Health Committee that I've been working with.

There are these ladies who sit on the corner of my street and sell produce and whatnot everyday. So one day last week I sat down with them and they invited me to eat nshima with them (the corn meal like staple here). It is usually eaten with some kind of "relish" or sauce. This day they had something I had never heard of before. I couldn't understand what it was but it looked like little green leafs in a bed of oil. I delved in (you eat it with your hands) which caused them great amusement as apparently my nshima technique could use a little work. With every bite they would be on the edge of their seat to watch me try and eat it and then would break out into laughter. I'm thinking of coming out with my own Zambian comedy special that just involves me eating nshima and saying my full name.

This coming week is panning out to be a busy one, which I'm all for. Among the delicacies mounted on my plate is this Saturday I will be joining with the CROSS team (our HIV/AIDS ministry team) to do a day long seminar for 20 youth on sex education with a Biblical perspective. This Saturday we will be meeting with the girls and then the next Saturday it will be with the boys. This is a topic that is not really addressed here in Zambia, at least not properly. So this a pilot project to see where youth here are at and get feedback and info on how we could structure a longer program for youth. So there is a lot of preparation still to be done for this.

I am entering my fourth trimester here in Zambia. Don't worry, I am not a pregnant sea lion nor alpaca. Rest assured I am not a pregnant anything but nine months have gone by since I set out from that blustery Toronto airport. My time here has been anything but what I expected it to be. It's been hard and challenging on a whole but I'm learning to count it all as a privilege. It's a privilege to be here, to learn the things that I am, to know these people, to get a glimpse at the things that break God's heart every day, to gain a new perspective on just how much I need a Savior, and to see just how great a Savior we have. So these last nine months have seen a lot of development in my thinking and in my spiritual growth…even though I spent a lot of time kicking, wanting to get out of here at times…going back to the pregnant sea lion analogy…or just a the pregnancy analogy. Looks like I'm all prepared for this Saturday!

Well, that's about it for this week. I should stop procrastinating further and get back to the tasks at hand. I hope November is treating you all well and you are enjoying your saved daylight. Thanks for all being part of this adventure. I can't seem to express my gratitude sufficiently. Take care.

Peace,

shannon

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." ~Lamentations 3: 22-26

Afrikan Adventure: These flip-flops were made for walking

These flip-flops were made for walking and that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these flip-flops are gonna…disintegrate right into the ground. So this week marked my first week without any sort of vehicle to use. For the past several months a team mate who was back in the states graciously let me use her vehicle while she was away. A humongous help. But those days are behind me now and it’s back to the world of public transportation. I prefer to walk when I can, I quite enjoy it really. It may not be the most efficient of methods of transportation, although, as a I found today, neither is the public transport system.

Today I spent approximately five hours in transport time to get to the farm and back for an hour and a half program. Here’s how it works. I had to get downtown to get on another bus to take me to the farm. However, at the bus station you wait until your bus is jam packed before you commence. Meaning if you get on and it’s not very full, you wait. The bus I got on was fitted for about 30. I was number 3. So after well over an hour the bus was finally full. Then of course we had to stop at the gas station. Two hours from the time I left home I had arrived at the farm (a trek that normally took me about 35 minutes by car). I had a lovely time teaching guitar and tutoring another youth in math (luckily it is grade 7 math). Then it was time to head home. The buses don’t frequent that area very often so I waited about an hour and a half for a bus to finally come my way. By the time we got back to downtown with all the stops another hour had gone by. By this time nightfall was fast approaching and not desiring to be traveling in a bus for another hour under the cover of darkness I opted to hire a cab to take me the rest of the way home. Perhaps walking isn’t as inefficient after all. But I was entertained by watching the events around me. Such as at the station men come around and try to sell you random things. I witnessed one trying to sell a man on my bus a pair of nail clippers. My busmate took the clippers, proceeded to clip his nails, and then decided not to purchase them and gave them back to the man at the window. Note to self: don’t purchase nail clippers at the bus station.

This past week there was another baby shower! This time it was for the wife of one of our Zambian team mate who works with the HIV/AID ministry. So Andrea and I did all this preparation and baking and it turned out to be one of the most awkward events ever! I think this was a little unusual for a shower to be had before the baby is born but the whole time the woman looked like she wanted to be anywhere but at this shower. I pretty sure it was just a cultural thing because at weddings and bridal showers the bride always looks like she wants to be dead too, when I’m pretty sure that’s not what’s really going on. We didn’t make them eat chocolate out of a diaper…maybe we should have, it may have been the kick start that party needed.

Today on the 24^th of October, the year of our Lord, Zambia celebrated 43 years of independence. I had a stunning sweater vest made displaying the Zambian flag colours and name which I proudly sported along with my Zambia toque. If you recall, I once mentioned that everyone told me that on this day is when the rains would come. Anticipation was high for me on this day and although at one point there were several clouds in the sky…no rain. I did see several people carrying umbrellas. And why wouldn’t they because they were probably thinking “it’s October 24th…it’s gonna rain!” There are still a couple hours of October 24^th left. I will not loose hope until the strike of midnight.

Living here in Zambia over these last through months has begun to paint a picture of humanity. I’ve seen the beauty of the people here, the preciousness of their souls, the forgotten and overlooked and shared glimpses of what God must see in his unfathomable love for those he created. But then the picture is tainted with strokes of deep sadness and the broken souls that each of us are. I think I used to see things to be more separate, like Zambia was very “other” from myself and my country. And superficially it is, we look different, the culture is different, the language is different, the economic conditions are different, our countries are separated by a vast space, and the surface problems may be different. But deeper at the souls of people we are really all the same. We all have this emptiness inside of us that aches for a relationship with Jesus. And we can try and fill it with stuff, or other people, or empty religion and trying to be “good.” But when it comes down to it none of that satisfies the void. Our hearts still ache for the restoration of that perfect relationship with our Creator that was broken long ago whether we realize it or not. It’s encouraging for me to think that whatever “programs” or “ministries” we have here aren’t in and of themselves going to make a difference, because sometimes I feel like I screw up everything I touch here. But it’s this relationship with Christ, no matter how cliché it sounds, that changes our lives and fills us with purpose and meaning and love. And it’s for everyone, no matter poor and overlooked or wealthy and noteworthy, free for the taking.

And with that I will bid you “adieu, adieu, to you and you and you” for the evening as I wait for the rain on this 43^rd Independence Day. I hope this electronic message finds you well. A reminder…you only have about three more months to come visit, so book your tickets now. Take care my friends!

Love,

shannon

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20

Afrikan Adventure: The Guests

I am pleased to report that in the days gone by since I last wrote I have managed to keep all my digits and limbs intact and securely in place. My stitches are gone leaving me with only a memory of past events…and a nasty scar. I’ll be back to “Thumb War Champion” material in no time.

It’s been a hectic week with what seems not a whole lot to show for it but it’s been good. My friends Susan and Mike came up from Sinazongwe (Susan is the nurse who I used to live at the farm with who now works with an organization called Missionary Ventures International, and Mike is the also a member of MVI and the trusted team mechanic) on Monday…just in time to help me celebrate Thanksgiving: Canadian style with Americans! Nothing like forcing Americans to celebrate your holidays. I made a little makeshift feast and it was nice to have friends there to share it with. It’s just not the same if you have to eat a whole pumpkin pie by yourself. I even wore a “harvest sweater” even though it was 30 degrees Celsius outside.

So Susan stayed with me this past week and on Thursday our friend Stephanie (who I used to share a hut with!) returned from a short trip to the states. So there were three of us in this itsy bitsy house but it was fun. So I spent most of my spare time running around with them trying to help them get everything done and all the supplies they needed before heading back down to the bush and generally hanging out and catching up. We threw a baby shower for two of our pregnant team member (Andrea and Elise). It was a good time. I insisted that we incorporate a game that involved eating a mashed up chocolate bar and green jello out of a diaper with no hands. I hope that it sticks as a Zambian tradition and can be passed down from generation to generation.

This afternoon I invited my church choir over to my place for our practice followed by a little BBQ. It was fun to have them all over here. They brought all the sound equipment and seem to think that every song we sing should have a drum loop from the electric keyboard and so they pumped one out of the speakers. I’m sure the neighbours thoroughly enjoyed our time as well!

And so it goes here in Zambia. It’s been eight months and it seems the more time goes by the less I understand about why God put me here. God doesn’t really need me here, I mean, He’s God…he doesn’t need a broken human like me to do anything for Him. But I’ve been thinking that it’s like parents and children (I’m around a lot of children and wondering if I really ever want to embark on drudgery of parenthood:). Like when a parent lets their kid “help” them do something even though by doing it themselves said parent could complete the task immensely faster. They let their child “help” because they love them and that is how one learns and grows, even though the kid usually makes a bigger mess than to begin with and the parent ends up cleaning up the aftermath of the “helpful deed,” but the parent still loves them and is even proud of what would normally be thought of as aesthetically displeasing…or something of that matter. I think this is the way it is with I and God. I want to help Him. He lets me. I make a mess. He cleans it up and still loves me anyway.

Thanks to all of you who are here with me even though not physically. I miss you greatly. I end with the classic words of Stevie Wonder, adapted by Shannon Storey. “I just wrote to say I love you, I just wrote to say how much I care, I just wrote to say I love you and I mean it from the bottom of my heart!” Ahh, Stevie. Until next time...

love

shannon

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grown tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.” ~ Isaiah 40:28-31

Afrikan Adventure: All Up In Stitches…

Although there may occasionally be a dull moment here in Zambia, apparently not a dull knife. Opposable thumbs help to make us some of the most dexterous creatures on earth, but not so when said thumb is severed with a sharp metal object such as a knife. Perhaps severed is too harsh of a word…it makes me think like it is hanging by a thread. Not so in this case. It was a day just like any other, the sun was up, so was I, and there was a cabbage to be cored. But one slip of the hand and bam…blood everywhere. I kind of just stood there for a while wondering what to do next. This seemed like no match for my Dora the Explorer Band-Aids. So I wrapped the “opposable” in many paper towels and napkins and headed to the neighbours. Stephanie was kind enough to drive me to the clinic where my new good friend, Dr. Joseph from Egypt, kindly stitched me up; three in total. It was a gory scene but I watched every second of it. It even squirted out blood everywhere just like one of those fine television medical drama shows. But now I’m back home and admiring my new battle scars. Sadly, it was at the hand of a knife and cabbage rather than a crocodile. Check it out on the blog: shannonstorey.blogspot.com.

Until next time…stay safe and have fun!

shannon