Lil' updatio

Ok so it is probably about time I gave y'all an update seeing as it's been a month no big deal. 
This month was vacation month in the Village of Hope so I found that a lot of my students would be gone sometimes I had all sixteen of my students in a day and the next I might have three. But really who can blame em! When I was a wee lass and on vacation I would be gone body and mind! And then of course I would also forget all the knowledge I retained over the course of a year of schooling. Well so what if I refuse to work with fractions and I don't know what 14 x 39485 is off the top of my head these are not life skills!! Ok side tracked lets focus...

There has been a ton of praise reports this month! The girls finished their skirts and the boys finished their mens shirts a while ago and now they have switched and are working on the other which they have almost completed and so I am preparing for our next/final project! It is so crazy how fast time is going I am going to miss teaching this group of students.

A Canadian team from Winnipeg came at the beginning of August to do some work in the new clinic they just made in VOH and do some VBS stuff with the kids. I told one of the nurses with them that our class made a bunch of skirts and shirts and that they are for sale and word got around so we ended up selling almost all fifteen skirts and sold six mens shirts to them. Man, my students were so stoked! They started talking about how they are going to open up their own sewing shops and it made my heart so proud!!

I want them to see the money that they earned for the clothing being spent so for the next project I will take them to the market where they can help choose fabric for the dresses, and buy zippers, thread and all that.

Working hard to make a skirt and four mens shirts in two days for the Winnipeg team!

Intense scene..

  So I had a little party with all my students and some other students that weren't mine showed up as well of course for pop, chips and a movie they all had a good time and they deserved it! We watched the Golden Compass and there was a polar bear fighting scene in it and they all got so into it and started cheering and shouting and I was just laughing loved it. Some of them started asking me about snow and what it was like, I got some wows. They keep asking me when we are going to have another one so I said when we are finished and you are graduating from my class we can have a lil' shindig.

The container from Winnipeg arrived last week it was an exciting day in the Village and an exciting day for me! On it are twenty five treadle and hand wheel sewing machines and boxes of fabric Hoooraaahh!!!

A treadle machine in all its cast iron, wood paneled glory. Beautiful.

A different container that Langley CLA church sent over that was stuck in Lusaka with my sewing machines in it finally was set free last week which was so great and I got my stuff! One machine was a serger and my students were pretty amazing with that and excited of the prospect of not using pinking shears anymore!

I think that is all for now folks! I am doing great still, lovin' Zambia and the great people I get to work with. Next weekend I am going to go to Lusaka the capital city in Zambia, Villages of Hope is opening up another Village just on the outskirts in a community called Chongwe. Liz and I want to go to the opening ceremonies, visit some friends and of course visit the mall and theater :) Ooooh dalaalleee! So happy!

I am sick today

My body decided it wanted to retain a head cold and stay at home this morning so I was forced to comply. The day started with tea and Robin Hood and is ending with tea and Muppet Treasure Island! Seriously am a kid at heart and not ashamed! There is something so comforting when you are sick and you're watching movies you used to watch when you were young, maybe it's nostalgia but I think that I just never stopped loving Disney movies.  

"...Sailing for adventure..!"

Pass me my grog and a felted animal please lets piratey! Bahaha.. yeah ok I will get some sleep too

I wish

I have been in Africa for about four and a half months and am very much looking forward to seeing some of the wild life in Zambia.. I know many of you would think that those typical African animals are just running rampant but I have been living in the city and I have only seen dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, and chickens. I thought I would see a monkey at least. Bust alas, the animals here are scared of the human race as well they should be so we have to go hunting searching for them. 

Source

This made me smile.

No MY Dad can beat up your Dad

But seriously. He can. Do you remember having those arguments with your friends in elementary school? I totally do! And I still think my dad can take your dad and using only his witticisms. Hah.

I just needed to let the whole world know how wonderful my parents are and if yours are not I am sure my parents would take you in, I am currently not using them and they have three bedrooms available. 2109 Churchill Drive. Terrace.

My lovely, lovely parents sent me over a care package sent with Nancy and Serge Bersaglio, the Village of Hope directors who were coming back from Canada. They sent so many goodies!!!! Including vacuum sealed Tim Hortons coffee!!! Sewing needles, DVDs, and ten rolls of tape!! Oh happy day! Love and miss you guys as i'm sitting here eating breakfast with my Timmys coffee thinking about you. 

PS That is Jerry my giraffe beside me, I rescued the lil guy from the market he has only one ear.

Regal 

Has anything funny happened to you lately?

WELL let me tell YOU because I know you want to get this imagery engraved into your noggin..

It was a bright and sunny morning like all mornings are here in Zambia and all seemed most tranquil... I had to use the lil girls room in a bad way so blearily I hopped out of bed and found I had to use the second bathroom the very creepy/slightly damp/boarder lining inhospitable bathroom as Liz was having a shower in the other. Well you know how it is got ready to sit down and then suddenly I felt something underneath my foot and looked down to see something of no small size squirming, squealing, and struggling to get out, needless to say I jumped up screaming ran down the hall with my pjs half off, and booked it right out the door. New record. Liz with perfect timing having just emerged from the loo could not stop laughing at me and then after about twenty minutes five minutes my heart resumed its normal rate and I was able to laugh about it. I am still alive praise Jehovah!

Still do not know what it was or where it went.. shudderrrrr...

Every day is market day

The first signs that we are approaching the Chsokone market is the sudden congestion and confusion of cars, people are dodging the vehicles as cars are worth more than the people’s lives here. We step out of the taxi and head towards what looks like chaos. But underneath the surface there in lies the iceberg. You have to look closer to see that everything has its place and everyone knows what their purpose is. I have yet to figure all this out and still cannot understand why it take five men for me to be able to purchase fabric or some oranges, but one day. For now there is still a tourist sticker on my forehead, I am lost puppy trying to look like a big dog in some other canines’ territory.

Take a breath and step in, step left, step right, step over.

We dodge the cars we dodge the people.

We dodge their goods in transit coming at our heads. (Liz got hit in the noggin last week by a sack of potatoes a man was carrying on his head, she's ok!) 

We try not to hit the children and the wheel barrels.

We plug our ears and hold our breath where it is required.

We do our best to ignore the crude remarks, the proposals directed at me, the in-law comments to Liz, the demands and requests for money.

We feel like walking dollar bills, ATMS with unlimited cash withdraw limits.

The shouts broadcasting of the colour of our skin, as if people can't see us coming from a mile away.

Everyone is calling to us "Mazungu!" “Madame!” “Talk time! Fresh naches! Slippers! Spices!” 

I always think of my goal and try not to look too long at one thing or the owners will come running up and try to direct you back to their stalls "Looking and touching is free madame!" If you look too long you are doomed so those peripherals come in real handy!

I have a habit of being too accommodating sometimes and so when I first came to the market it would take me about five minutes to make someone understand that I do not need a four foot laundry stirring paddle and apologizing to them all the while. Now I am much better, I can just say no thank you and move on! Oh, the break-throughs. 

Last week Liz and I were searching for this one area that had a lot of fabric to choose from we couldn't find it and got hopelessly lost. The market is pretty big but what makes it larger is the maze integrated into it. It is just waiting for victims like me!! Going to bring out that compass my Pa gave me that I never thought I would need. I said lets go straight until we get out somewhere and we eventually got out, but the annoying part is we went back to look for this place again and found it (incredible) and we were only one alley/path way away from it last time blarrrrghh! Oh well.

This market is crazy nuts and at first my insides were like aaah! but I really like going now. It is insanely grimy, dodgy, worn, colourful, gritty, chaotic, smelly (good and bad), undaunted, living and breathing Zambian life. It is completely normal. One day I will see the whole iceberg and understand Zambian culture, this year may not even be enough, my understanding comes good and bad, and always in little bits.