Jessica Bokhout has been in Lusaka Zambia since August 2005. Recently she asked our churches and the Clinton community to help raise funds to provide uniforms, shoes and other school necessities for kids in Ng’ombe Compound in Lusaka. The response was overwhleming and $30,000 was raised. A special section of our web site has been set up to follow Jessica's news from Africa.
Jessica Bokhout in Lusaka Zambia
Helena and Maarten's Zambian trip
Hello everyone- happier news to report! We have spent the weekend at Livingstone and seen Victoria Falls - 1.7 km. wide - makes Niagara seem like a trickle. We did the whole experience - all the trails and look-outs and got thoroughly soaked. It has taken 3 days for my running shoes to dry. We stayed at the CARE guesthouse - basic but clean with wonderful friendly caretakers. On Sunday, we went to Chobe National Park in Botswana for the day. Jess knew the tour manager for an adventure tour and we had a wonderful adventure. We spent the morning on the Chobe river, watching hippo crocs, black mamba snakes, elephants and impala. The birds were fantastic - too many to name! Lunch was at a wonderful lodge beside the river and then we did the "game drive " in the afternoon - saw herds of elephants, giraffe and impala and kudu. We travelled in an open safari 4x4 truck- you do NOT get out of the truck! Our guide told great stories and was great at finding everything - even a huge flock of marabou storks and at the end - two baby hyena and the mum, hiding in a concrete culvert! Jessica is a fantastic tour guide- bargaining with taxi drivers, advising on how to dress and what to watch for (pickpockes!) and knows the ins and outs of all the taxi/mini-bus/ coach bus details. Her little flat is lovely, in a guarded compound with friendly staff and beautiful flowereing trees.
On Monday, we wnt to Monze Mission Hospital - 4 hours from Livingstone - and had a tour of the facility. It was fabulous- clean and extensive and very friendly staff. It is a series of low bungalows, each for a different purpose- men's ward, women's ward, tb ward, AIDS counselling, etc. We visited four tiny waifs in the malnutrition ward. One baby was 18 months and looked as though he was 4 months old.- So sad. We delivered the flanellette baby blankets (thank you Kate and Oma!) and creams and ointments from Huronlea . The confiscated meds (a huge suitcase ) will apparently be given to the hospital when they can send someone to fetch it from the drug enforcement police. We have given the administraor a list, so hopefully most of it will make it to Monze. There is so much corruption here that someone else may end up enjoying the antibiotics and cough meds! Today- we are banking but there is a bomb scare at one bank we walked to, so we are on our way to another. We are trying to get together enough cash to buy 100 blankets. I brought travellers cheques but only one bank will cash them and only $300 at a time- each day! Very frustrating. Howver we have our bank cards with us, so between us, we will have enough cash to get the blankets- on order from a local shop like the Giant Tiger or Biway. Tomorrow we go to Flying Angels and on Thursday to Kondwa. We are excited about delivering the big suitcase of school supplies and the teddy bears and blankets!
Hope all is well with all of you!
God Bless- H.
A visit to Flying Angels School
Today we had a wonderful visit to Flying angels school in Ngombe Compound. The compound is a maze of dusty roads and footpaths with little concrete shacks with tin roofs. Barefoot children are everywhere and the occasional pupil in a school uniform can be seen, walking to school Flying angels is a scattering of buildings, some on one side of the road and some on the other- all concrete brick with no windows or doors. The pupils sit 4 to a desk and were very excited to meet us. The grade 6 class cheered and clapped when they heard that we had brought school supplies, especially pencils. They loved getting their photos taken, and then seeing the picture on the digital camera. Our little sponsored children looked so cute in their uniforms with warm school sweaters as the temp was only about 25 C. today- considered very cold! Bernard, the headmaster was very welcoming and proudly gave us a tour of his hopes and dreams. There are foundations for a library and a new classroom and a dormitory room, complete with bunkbeds- but no mattresses yet- for orphan kids- he hopes to eventually look after 16 in this room. He is so grateful for all the help- and was quite overwhelmed by the big suitcase of supplies (thanks to Carruthers Creek Church and Huron Centenial School!) We had great fun unpacking the suitcase with the help of Maggie and Pelika- two little girls who had arrived for school at 8.30 in their uniforms - even though they are not supposed to be there until 12 noon. The contents of the case were heralded by much squealing and clapping.
We are off now to meet with Angela from the pre-school and collect the 100 blankets for distribution tomorrow.
Love to all- H.
Here's a fundraising update on the African project
We have received lots of support for the blankets and are happy to receive more donations. There are 90 children at the Kondwa Day centre (www.kondwa.org), so at $20.00 per blanket- that would be $1800.00 for blankets. So far, we have received more than $800 this week alone with an additional $638.00 being sent to us from Rebecca Woodall. Rebecca, daughter of the Revs. David and Donna Woodall, grew up in Clinton. She and her room-mates at Brock University decided to have a party and silent auction, with the proceeds of the evening going to Jessica's projects! In one evening, with the help of many generous friends, the girls raised $638.00. What wonderful friends they are!! They were very pleased with the outcome and are happy to be contributing to the cause.
The teddy bears continue to arrive and they are being given little red hearts on their chests. They are all so different and so cute. We look forward to taking them to Zambia on May 2nd. Thanks to all who have been knitting, stuffing and sewing! Thanks also to the supportive family members who have been cooking, cleaning up and making the wee cups of tea for the knitters. We will have a "commissioning" and prayer of dedication for the bears on April 23rd during the Sunday church service.
CARE's website features an article about Jessica and her fundraising. You can read it here.
Adventures in the countryside
To date - the weekend with Mike (CARE's agricultural worker) is among my best adventures in Zambia. We took his fun little Honda bike out on Friday morning - drove 2 hours to the milk cooperative in Kazungula (at the Botswana border) and met with the farmers to discuss harvesting sorghum and a bird scaring contest that is happening next week. Mike is the big man with all the farmers - Mr. Mike - and people bring him stories of pest problems, and have him come to their villages to sleep over and eat with them under the milky way. After 7 months of Lusaka - the trip to the village was what I needed! I was loving every moment.
The big adventure on Friday was travelling 8 km into the bush (dirt path) after an hour of rain. The "road" had turned into a mud bog and we struggled - really struggled to get the bike through. The trek took 2 hours - during which a man walking his bicycle passed us 4 times - and by the time we arrived at Mr. Kawa's house - Mike was soaked with sweat and exhausted. The highlight for me - I must say - was in the last 2 kms when I just climbed off the bike altogether (two people makes the struggle even harder) and walked through the sludge. All the village children - about 15 - came running out of their homes and started cheering that the muzungus (white people) had arrived. I gave the oldest girl my helmet to wear (which resulted in cheers all around) and then with three children holding on to each of my hands - we plowed through the muck to the finish line. Mike told me later - "Jess - I turn and see you and a million kids coming and you are totally in your element!" Oh man - it was great.
We pitched our tent in the storage room at Mr. Kawa's place - sleeping on a cement floor is something I have yet to enjoy - and between the hard surface and the rats running around us - I didn't sleep so well. Saturday began at dawn with the village chief - Mr. Samukondo coming to collect us for a 2 hour trek (again - trek is a mild term compared to what we survived) through mud and flooded fields that had become rivers - to get to his village to see his crops. At first I took my shoes off, rolled up the pants and waded through - but after 40 minutes - I was a muddy mess anyway and just put the shoes on and ploughed through. (I impressed the men with the white girl can suck it up routine!) We visited a variety of sorghum fields and were taught the various methods of bird scaring... throwing mud, catapults, whips... that are necessary to protect the sorghum crops from swarms of birds. (Mike is a star with the catapult - but I definitely starred on the mud off the stick routine.) We arrived back in Lusaka sweaty and filthy and with numb bums - but such a great adventure. Feven (the other university student) joined us for dinner (after a nap and showers) and we shared the adventure stories and laughs about rats. Yesterday morning we went to Victoria Falls and got completely soaked - and then I hopped on the bus for the 6 hour ride back to Lusaka.
A great weekend!
Love from Jessica
Toilets and shoes for Philimon
To be honest, the hole didn’t strike me as being anything special when I first saw it two months ago. In fact I was so busy waving at the little children yelling Muzungu that I didn’t even notice it in the first place. (And let’s be real – who notices holes anyhow?) As far as I’m concerned, a hole in the in the ground is not something to get excited about.
But Bernard Sakala, father of five and principal at Flying Angels school is not me, and I’ve learned that Bernard gets exited about things that the rest of the world tends to ignore. For Bernard this hole by the side of the road is a dream waiting to happen. Someday, this hole will be 6 new toilets.
Since I arrived in Zambia last August, I’ve shared stories about my little friends at the Kondwa centre: Charles and Dudu and Frida and Philimon (whose name I’ve been massacring for months!). I’ve shared with you my hope for sending them all to grade one and my desire to raise $6300 to cover the costs of their school fees. And I’ve told you all about Bernard, the man with the beautiful smile who dreams of building 6 more toilets so that his 751 students and 10 teachers will no longer have to share just two.
And since I arrived in Zambia last August, I’ve been completely overwhelmed at the generosity of so many kind souls who have shared $30,000.00 with Zambia’s children.
Well friends, today was a great day. Today a great many dreams came true.
This afternoon 140 children went home from school with new shoes on their feet. 140 pairs of leather school shoes from the Bata shoe store purchased with your money.
This afternoon 90 little children left Flying Angels and Roma Girls and Ng’ombe Basic Schools in school uniforms and carrying new backpacks. 90 little children who are going to school because of you.
And this afternoon, I stood with Bernard at the side of the road, sharing his happiness that after two years of being empty, his hole was being filled with the bricks for 6 new toilets. 6 new toilets and no more cholera at Flying Angels – all because of you.
I know there are many causes in this world to which you could give money - many organizations and initiatives that could use your help to make this planet a better place. But I just want to tell you that I am so grateful for your help in making life a little bit brighter for 140 children in Ng’ombe Compound in Lusaka. 140 beautiful children, just like Philimon, who have new shoes and will go to grade one and use new toilets because of you.
I hope these photos will reassure you that your generosity is making a difference.
Thank you, thank you for helping me share in these smiles.
With love and love and love and love
Jessica
How's Been the Day?
Yesterday, as I made my way home from work, I passed an old woman balancing a big basket of peanuts on her head while carrying a suitcase under one arm and a live chicken under the other. I saw the man sitting underneath the old tree with a pile of dusty footwear and his cardboard "shoe repair" sign - just waiting for business to begin.
Last week I saw a young man wearing a shirt that said Grandma To Be, another carrying a car door on his shoulder as he walked into the bus station and a third walking down the street underneath a coffee table.
As I took the minibus back from an afternoon meeting, I passed the sign that reads “A roof without Harvey Tiles is like being burnt in Hell without a Savior” while chatting to a man who insisted on showing me the grapefruit sized tumor hanging off his stomach.
Yesterday, from my office window, I watched two security guards give a man a fine for urinating in the field beside the care office (a place I’ve just learned to accept as Lusaka’s largest public toilet) while just a few steps away I could see at least 4 other souls peeing into the bushes at the same time.
On my walk home today I was greeted very affectionately by 9 different men, passed at least 4 wheelbarrows laden with cartons of homemade beer, and saw 6 trucks packed with women wailing sad songs on the way to the graveyard.
By the Church street corner I shook my head no thank you to the men selling Arabic monopoly games and Virgin Mary nightlights and Manchester United Beach Towels. And yesterday, like every other afternoon, at the Great East and Makishi traffic lights, I was met by John - waving madly and shouting madam! madam! with his hands full of pineapples and bananas. And then I laughed as I always do, as he and his friends came running from all corners of the intersection – laden with grapes and plums and oranges – trying to convince me that at least three of everything needed to go home with me.
There was a time when all of this seemed completely overwhelming and bizarre and ridiculous, but now it’s old hat. This is reality. This is life in Lusaka.
Since August, my morning routine has remained constant: a 35 minute walk along Makishi Road in Northmead to the Care office on Dedan Kimathi Road in Kamwala… passing the fire and police stations, Evelyn Hone College, and the bustling Inter-city bus station – where the buses’ horns sound like bugles and you are always guaranteed to find at least 30 offers for taxi! Madam! Taxi!
Most days, as I force myself to get out of bed with the 6 o’clock alarm, I’m not smiling about the early morning stroll through Lusaka, but rather wishing my contract included access to a car or at least a personal driver. The rainy season has turned Lusaka into a giant mud puddle, and no matter how big the umbrella or how carefully I walk, I always arrive at the Care office muddy and wet and sweaty and just a little frustrated over the harassing comments from the drunk men drinking shake shake by the bus depot. A car, I always think to myself, would make life so much easier.
But, no, I don’t really want a car. Because even with the puddles and sweat and marriage proposals, the walk to work is always one of my favourite things about the day.
Each morning, just after 7 as I leave my flat, I am greeted by the neighbourhood caretakers, Arnold and Mr. Tembo. Mr. Tembo is washing Manny’s car, stopping his chat with Arnold to wish me a “good day Madam” and to see how I’m progressing with my Nyanja. I’m not. Like every other morning, Arnold laughs that I’m carrying an umbrella to work, especially when the sky is blue, and I again defend myself, insisting that every time I leave it at home it ends up pouring. I say it’s better to be prepared and look silly than to come home soaking wet. Arnold shakes his head and mutters something about Muzungus.
Just outside our gate, my neighbours from Senegal, 4-year old Adia and her dad drive past me along Mwalule road. Because he’s such a gentlemen, Solomon always slows the car to ask which direction I’m headed (in case the office has moved since yesterday morning) and then just like the day before, apologizes for not being able to give me a lift since they are headed to Adia’s school on the other side of town. Adia waves frantically from the passenger seat giving a hearty “bonjour Jessica!” and I wish them a happy day. (Despite our age difference, Adia counts me among her best friends. And so, in exchange for French lessons, I’m helping her learn how to be bossy in two languages.)
As I walk to work there are always lizards scuttling across the road, a few squashed frogs to avoid, and a carpet of flowers from the trees in the little park by the primary school. Some mornings I pass Mary and her two little girls – Juliet and Alice – as they walk to the preschool Juliet attends. Mary has become a great friend - visiting me every Saturday morning, helping with the laundry and cleaning the bathroom in exchange for grocery money for the week. Juliet waves hello and baby Alice, who Mary assures me is a chatterbox as soon as I’m out of sight – snuggles into her mum’s back and avoids my eyes. At the end of my street I smile a hello at the old lady, who uses the tree stump as a stool while she cooks fritters in the early morning sunshine.
Each day I pass Marvin and his sisters, wave hello to the shy girls selling vegetables on the roadside stop and shake hands with 17 year old Lizwe who helps his mum with her corn roasting business and always asks, so how’s been the day, Jesca?
In the afternoons I hear Maggie puffing behind me, racing to catch up. Maggie the 40 year old mum who is convinced that if she walks as quickly as I do she’ll loose her African booty. “Jessyca – tell me your secret…where is your bum?”
Each day I always find the crazy assortment of men, who, as frustrating as they are, should be commended for 7 months of persistence in marriage requests and offers to escort me to work, to my home, or back to my country.
Every day I pass the old man with one tooth left in his mouth. The old man pedaling his bicycle towards me on the dirt path – always with a look of fear that he’s going to crash into me and then smiling with relief when disaster has once again been averted. I love that smile. And each day just before I reach my gate, I find the group of soccer-crazed little boys kicking about a wad of old newspapers calling out a muli bwanji Jessica! whilst cheering each other towards victory.
This is the Lusaka you see when you walk to work, the Lusaka you’ll miss from the driver’s seat of the car… This crazy city full of beautiful smiles and hello madams! And how’s been the days? This city of Arabic monopoly games and fresh pineapples from the traffic lights. This city of Maggies with big bums, and old ladies selling fritters and beautiful children playing soccer by my gate.
This is Lusaka. And man, I love this place.