All is dark and the only water is coming from the sky!
I have arrived in Lusaka and I am starting out with many new experiences! I came in on the third day of no water or power, in the compound where the GEMS Service Center is. We (Steph & I) were pretty sure that it would be on tonight, because the power has never been off for such a long period of time that we have experienced. But that was not the case! So thankful for the new lantern I brought, it gives off a lot more light than the candles do.
We arrived in Lusaka on time, but our landing was aborted just before touch down because of a thunder shower, we circled the airport at about 12-15 miles out for the next 45 minutes, and finally were able to land about 7:20. Siwali and Stephanie were there waiting
The roads that are normally swarming with people walking here and there were filled with women and children carrying buckets, jars, yellow bottles, and bowls all in search of water. The compounds have been out of water since Thursday. Small boys carrying two bottles, ladies balancing water in bowls on their heads, never spilling a drop! Two young girls walk carrying a very large open container between them. All in search of something we never even think about, we touch the tap and the water pours forth, cold, hot or just right! Be thankful for water!
After delivering all my stuff to the Service Center, Siwali took me to the Bureau of Exchange to change American dollars into kwacha. Came back and unpacked, and the Steph and I walked to Pentecostal Holiness GEMS club. We listened to a young counselor tell the lesson of Joseph.
As we walked back, I thought about how different things look, this being the rainy season.
This is my first experience during the rainy season, not only are there puddles everywhere in the dirt roads, in some spots the road totally washes away. The small amount of grass that is here is really green. The ditches are filled with muddy water, and all the garbage is floating. The water and mud are unbelievable! And the rains come and go, it will be sun shining, and the next thing you know the rain is coming down in buckets, and then back to sunshine. I think it did that 5 or 6 times during the day. Then about 7pm it started raining and rained for several hours. Thanks for the shoes, Mary, so far the mud hasn’t come over the top…….
After lunch of peanut butter and jelly, I took a little nap, and then worked on reorganizing the closets of potholder materials and supplies. About 4:00, Steph and I got out the brazier, and thought we would cook some once frozen chicken for dinner, so we wouldn’t have to throw it out. We needed help from Siwali to get the fire going, he said he can do it with two matches, couldn’t tell you how many we used and we still weren’t successful, but Siwali was! When we asked how he knew, he said that he had grown up in a village and everyone in the villages knows how to start the charcoal. Charcoal is harvested from the forests where they burn out tree roots until it turns into charcoal. Next time you picnic with charcoal give thanks for lighter fluid
How do you cook 5 chicken legs on a brazier? We decided to put a bit of oil in the bottom of a pan, put the chicken legs in, covered them with some, chopped bell pepper and tomatoes. There is no grill or cover, which means there is no way to regulate the heat. The pan sits directly on the coals. So our chicken began to smell really good in just a few minutes, the next time we checked it, the inside bottom of the pan was black and the chicken was burning. So we carefully turned it over and over, until it was done. The vegetables, yeah, not so much, burned to a crisp, but they did add a great flavor to the chicken. So we each had 2 ½ chicken legs, and topped it off with popcorn done in less than 2 minutes over the coals. That was our first dinner together, by candle light! We were so hoping the power would come back on so we could take warm baths before bed. After we did dishes, with water we heated on the brazier, we each grabbed a flashlight and a candle and settled down to read. After reading until I couldn’t keep my eyes open, we headed off to bed. Took a cold bath and went to bed praying that tomorrow the power comes back on.
I have arrived in Lusaka and I am starting out with many new experiences! I came in on the third day of no water or power, in the compound where the GEMS Service Center is. We (Steph & I) were pretty sure that it would be on tonight, because the power has never been off for such a long period of time that we have experienced. But that was not the case! So thankful for the new lantern I brought, it gives off a lot more light than the candles do.
We arrived in Lusaka on time, but our landing was aborted just before touch down because of a thunder shower, we circled the airport at about 12-15 miles out for the next 45 minutes, and finally were able to land about 7:20. Siwali and Stephanie were there waiting
The roads that are normally swarming with people walking here and there were filled with women and children carrying buckets, jars, yellow bottles, and bowls all in search of water. The compounds have been out of water since Thursday. Small boys carrying two bottles, ladies balancing water in bowls on their heads, never spilling a drop! Two young girls walk carrying a very large open container between them. All in search of something we never even think about, we touch the tap and the water pours forth, cold, hot or just right! Be thankful for water!
After delivering all my stuff to the Service Center, Siwali took me to the Bureau of Exchange to change American dollars into kwacha. Came back and unpacked, and the Steph and I walked to Pentecostal Holiness GEMS club. We listened to a young counselor tell the lesson of Joseph.
As we walked back, I thought about how different things look, this being the rainy season.
This is my first experience during the rainy season, not only are there puddles everywhere in the dirt roads, in some spots the road totally washes away. The small amount of grass that is here is really green. The ditches are filled with muddy water, and all the garbage is floating. The water and mud are unbelievable! And the rains come and go, it will be sun shining, and the next thing you know the rain is coming down in buckets, and then back to sunshine. I think it did that 5 or 6 times during the day. Then about 7pm it started raining and rained for several hours. Thanks for the shoes, Mary, so far the mud hasn’t come over the top…….
After lunch of peanut butter and jelly, I took a little nap, and then worked on reorganizing the closets of potholder materials and supplies. About 4:00, Steph and I got out the brazier, and thought we would cook some once frozen chicken for dinner, so we wouldn’t have to throw it out. We needed help from Siwali to get the fire going, he said he can do it with two matches, couldn’t tell you how many we used and we still weren’t successful, but Siwali was! When we asked how he knew, he said that he had grown up in a village and everyone in the villages knows how to start the charcoal. Charcoal is harvested from the forests where they burn out tree roots until it turns into charcoal. Next time you picnic with charcoal give thanks for lighter fluid
How do you cook 5 chicken legs on a brazier? We decided to put a bit of oil in the bottom of a pan, put the chicken legs in, covered them with some, chopped bell pepper and tomatoes. There is no grill or cover, which means there is no way to regulate the heat. The pan sits directly on the coals. So our chicken began to smell really good in just a few minutes, the next time we checked it, the inside bottom of the pan was black and the chicken was burning. So we carefully turned it over and over, until it was done. The vegetables, yeah, not so much, burned to a crisp, but they did add a great flavor to the chicken. So we each had 2 ½ chicken legs, and topped it off with popcorn done in less than 2 minutes over the coals. That was our first dinner together, by candle light! We were so hoping the power would come back on so we could take warm baths before bed. After we did dishes, with water we heated on the brazier, we each grabbed a flashlight and a candle and settled down to read. After reading until I couldn’t keep my eyes open, we headed off to bed. Took a cold bath and went to bed praying that tomorrow the power comes back on.
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