1.24.2009

chitenge stall

Well, I’ve found myself reading a lot. The students are being very studious and so I can’t have any fun without them. Besides, I’m trying to fulfill a life goal in reading the unabridged version of Les Miserables. So now, out of 1463, I’m on page 428 and I keep on trucking through. Although, I’m still amazed at how Victor Hugo could write 59 pages on the Battle of Waterloo. Oh well, he was getting paid by the word.

We had class Wednesday and today and they both went extremely well. It’s fun to sit back and hear from the students and see their ideas come out when they talk together. I hope they are learning. It seems to me like they are.

Thursday was another day of adventure. We did a trust visit as a group and traveled up to Nakabanga. At one point, I got to ride ON TOP of the land cruiser with Bratcher and it was beyond fun, like, I can’t even describe it to you. It was that amazing.

But anyways, Nakabanga. It will be hard to find another group of people so incredibly welcoming. They were beautiful people, so full of joy and so happy to have us there with them for the day. It was just wonderful. They taught me how to make cabbage, and it’s pretty good. They made shima for us (the staple food of Zambia) and also cooked up some chicken and goat. Goat is really dark meat by the way and quite chewy but it has a pretty good flavor. We played with the kids, did some work on their piggery and also paid a visit to two different families.

This is where it got hard again. We saw so much joy in the faces of these people as we spent the morning with them. But our moods changed when we visited a little girl of seven who has been sick her entire life. I can’t imagine never being able to run or play with other kids. Never going to school because you simply never feel good. It was heart wrenching, again. Heartache and joy go hand in hand most days here. There’s no getting away from that.

We visited another mother who was 26 and a widow. She had just lost one of her three children and was in the hospital for several weeks. Now she’s living with her other two children and goes many days without food simply because they have nothing. We brought them some ingredients for shima and some sugar, but it still doesn’t feel like enough. Most days, I find myself wishing I could do more.

This morning we had class and this afternoon we visited the work site and pitched in where we could. I was painting some window shutters when one of the workers started working and painting close to me. The following is our conversation.

Him: What is your name?
Me: Margie, and yours?
Him: Fred. How old are you?
Me: 21, and you?
Fred: 23. What are you guys doing here?
Me: Working with World Hope. We came from the university in America.
A few moments of silence
Fred: Are you married?
Me: No.
Fred: Are you single?
Me: Yes.
Fred: I am looking for a partner.
Me: Oh really?
Fred: Yes.
Me: Well, I’ll keep an eye out for you.

Then we had to leave to go hang out with the World Hope staff. I could not stop laughing though, it was so funny. My first proposal. What do you guys think?

Chitenges are pieces of fabric that women wear that can be used for anything, including bathroom stalls when you have to pee in the bush.

6 comments:

Kathy T said...

Everyone is asking about the box. Did you ever get it?
Tell Fred he needs to talk to me before he proposes again, maybe with can skype or something.

Dad

Cousin Jill said...

SO fun to read what you are doing and how God is working. Snag that guy - sounds like he is hard working and knows what he wants - more than most American men of that age!!

You are in my prayers!

Kathy T said...

OK - the proposal is hilarious... was he cute?

Unknown said...

haha Marriage is what bring us together today. I liked your polite decline. it was smooth. he must of liked your painting strokes. You can tell a good wife by how she paints... ;)

I can't imagine how cool it is to ride on top of a land cruzer. What a great experience. I'm glad you experienced Sky diving first but I bet the Land Cruzer comes close.

Love you

mom weigel said...

hahahaha, I will definitely tell Hannah to read this she will get a kick out of it....Why is your toiled paper pink?...Thanks for the updates :) Give Leah a hug (she wrote and told me you did give her the last one, thank Margie :)

Sarah said...

What adventures! And oh my, I think you handled your "proposal" better than I would have been able to :) It's good to hear what you're experiencing, and it will be even better to hear about some of it in person in a few months.
Love you and praying for you.