My First Week in Zambia

I've been here for a little more than a week now and so far everything is going well. I think I have adjusted pretty well and have no complaints about life. So much is different here so I will try to give you some ideas of what it is like here. I am living at the Lazarus Project, in a dorm with a few of the boys. I have my own room (which I am very glad about) but I still see the boys a lot. My room isn't very big but it is big enough (Kate – it's probably the size of our rooms at Mom and Dad's house or maybe a little bit smaller). It has a private washroom attached to it so it's quite nice.

The food here has been…let me say…interesting. It's actually not too bad but it is nice to have something different once in a while. The main dish is called nshima and is made from ground up maize (corn). They usually have one or two relishes with it, either beans, kapenta, tomatoes and onions or chicken. I don't mind the chicken and the beans and the tomatoes and onions are alright too but I can't stand the kapenta. To give you an idea, kapenta is a type of fish that is pretty small (about an inch or an inch and a half long). I kind of though right away that I might not like it but I tried some and found that I was right. Oh well, it's not the end of the world. I have been eating some eggs and bread as well. Paul (whom I will tell you about below) has been good about getting other food for me. I will buy some more from town soon so I have my own food if I want it. Another dish we sometimes have here is called simba. It uses whole maize kernels and it is kind of like a porridge. It's alright but I think I prefer nshima.

At the project there is a gentleman by the name of Paul who helps look after the kids. He is the one who is in charge of getting them up in the morning and looking after them at night. It's pretty crazy that they have one person for all of the kids (70+ kids) while in Canada we would have one person for 8 or 10 kids. The standards here are different than in Canada but it seems to be working. I think it helps that it is easier to motivate the kids to behave because the threat of going back on the street is always there.

On Sunday we had church here at the project. Brother Paul (as the kids call him) led some singing and then gave a little message about the reality of hell. It was a pretty good service and I think the kids enjoyed it. I've included a picture of the boys when Paul was praying. It's pretty inspiring.

Last Friday was quite a special day. A group from UNICEF visited the farm and (Claudia, Karl and Kathi you will appreciate this) the German First Lady was one of the representatives. Mrs. Koehler came to visit the farm so she can return to Germany and get support for UNICEF Germany. So I got to meet the First Lady of Germany. It was pretty exciting. I think she must have thought it was kind of weird though before I was introduced. I was the only white person at the project that wasn't from UNICEF. I had a brief chance to talk to her (but I didn't speak any German).

Another interesting note is that William (the one in the pictures with the cooks) speaks French, so I have been speaking French with him. It is quite nice to speak again, except now I have to remember four languages (English, French, German and Nyanja/Bemba – I guess technically that's five but Nyanja and Bemba are rather similar).

One of the biggest differences I have noticed here (all you environmentalists and health professionals close your eyes, you won't want to read this) is that they throw garbage just about anywhere. It is not a nice sight but that is part of the way they live. Hopefully that will change in the future. I stopped to take a picture of a pile of garbage that is along one of the walking paths. It doesn't smell too nice and I would not want to live too close to it. Paul is the one at the top of the picture standing on the pile.

Well, I think that's about it for now. There is so much more to say but it will have to wait for another day. Things are going well here and I am enjoying my time. I think that when I come home I will have lots of stories to tell and pictures to show. For those of you in Canada…Good Day, eh! For those of you in Australia…Good Day, Mate! For those of you in the US…Y'all take care now! And for those of you in Africa…Goodbye (sorry if you were expecting something unique…they speak English in Zambia quite a bit)!!
Goodluck and Godspeed

P.S. Sorry the images would not upload so I'll have to try again another day.

Hello from...Zambia!!

I'm here. I landed just after 6:00 this morning local time. The flights were good but I'm a little tired. I am currently at the home of Bishop Banda. He is the bishop at Northmead Assemblies of God and he is in charge of the Lazarus Project, where I'll be working. I met him and his wife and they are super friendly. Later today I will go and see the Lazarus Project and see where I'll be working. I think it will be a great time here but probably pretty difficult in some ways (but that's what God is for).

Anyway, thanks to everyone that e-mailed or posted a comment. I will try to respond to individual e-mails on a regular basis but there are no guarentees (unless you're related to me or will be related to me). If you send me an e-mail I will do my best to answer it but just give me a week or two.

Well, I think I may go have a shower. I haven't had a shower since Sunday morning (and it's Tuesday morning, gross!!)

Godluck and Godspeed

Goodbye Canada

This is it. I leave today. My flight leaves at 7:55 pm tonight. I will arrive in Lusaka on Tuesday morning at 6:10 (local time). Zambia is six hours ahead so it will be just after midnight in Fergus, Ontario. Thank you to everyone that is praying for me (and Claudia). We both really appreciate it and we would love to share our experiences when we return. If you would like to keep in touch with me (and I would love it if people did call/write/e-mail) here is the information:

Dan Brown
c/o Lazarus Project
Post Net 317
Private Bag 391
Lusaka, Zambia, Africa

Cell #: 011 260 96 692937
E-mail #: dj4brown@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you and sharing stories with you. Thanks for all the support. Good luck and Godspeed

The Last Goodbye

Well, my time here is quickly coming to an end. I leave Canada for Zambia in less than a week and I have been busy getting things ready to go. A week ago (Labour Day) Claudia and I had an engagement party to celebrate with some of our friends and family. It was a great opportunity to see many people before we leave. It would be nice to see everyone individually but this is virtually impossible. We would spend so much time saying goodbye that we wouldn't have time to go to Africa.

Plans for our wedding are coming along quite nicely. We have a hall and a church booked. Claudia has also bought her dress and we have a photographer and plans for decorating. I'm sure there will be much to do when we return but I know it will be a great time. We are both really looking forward to our wedding.

In other news, for those of you who have met my sister (Kate) she now has a boyfriend. Kate is currently studying in Australia and will return to Canada next August. Her new boyfriend's name is Anthony and he is from England. I think Kate is pretty happy about it (as she should be). I know we are excited for her.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. Feel free to e-mail me or add comments here (even anonymous comments are great). I'll try to keep everyone updated about how things are going. Goodluck and Godspeed