Rain!!!

I just wanted to share the wonderful news...it is raining right now! And when I say raining, I don't mean a light sprinkle or a drizzel. It is coming down like someone has poured out the Atlantic ocean over Zambia! I can see why they need all the trenches and drainage ditches (heavy rain along with clay soils makes for a lot of surface runoff - those of you that took Hydrology with Jonathan Price will understand!)

Anyway, I think I'll go sing in the rain...

A Productive Week

This week has been actually pretty productive. We finished planting the maize in the far field so all we have left to plant is the soya beans. These will be planted soon and should be in the ground in plenty of time. The garden is also coming along. Last week we planted a whole bunch of vegetables (green pepper, eggplant, okra, rape, chinese cabbage and tomato) and they have started to germinate. We had rain on Monday but not since then so we have had to water. You can pray that the rains come on a more regular basis (they are late this year) so that we will not have to spend as much time watering.

Aside from work, life is going well here. Last weekend Jess and I went to Northmead (well actually we went to a big conference for 12 of the PAOG(Z) churches in Lusaka). It was good but we didn't stay the whole time. We were there for about six hours because we were early and then we left at the first chance we had after Bishop Banda spoke. I can't remember a time I spent that many hours in church. There were a couple thousand people there so it was pretty neat.

I want to add some pictures for those of you that are visual learners (like me). The first is what I look like after I finish plowing. Notice the colour of my arms and the colour of my stomach. Unfortunately it is not a tan, it's just soil!


For those of you that know me (which is probably most of you since you are reading this), I like to take pictures of nature, especially flowers. There are some very pretty flowers here and I'm sure there will be many more after it rains for a while. I don't know what these are called (except for the rose) so you'll have to make up a name.





You may recognize some of these boys, they are (from left) Chris, Lazarus, Me and Paul. I was waiting for the bus to leave so I could go into town and these three kept wanting me to take their pictures, so I did! The little boys are always so much fun. They love showing me things and say hi to me.

Lazarus always makes me smile. Just about every time he sees me he calls out "Uncle Dan" and waves to me. It's really cute!! He was drinking water (after he put it in the Pepsi can) and he spilled all over himself!! Ahh, little boys...I'm sure Claudia will love him!!


Last weekend I wanted to post these two pictures. We had the boys and some of the staff here help us plant maize in the small field. They did a good job and it was great to see everyone helping. The maize they have planted has already started to germinate and it looks like we will have food to eat (well they will have food to eat) next May.


Lazarus was following behind one of the bigger boys covering up the maize after it was planted. I think he was ready for rain!!


Anyway, I think that's all for now. Claudia will be coming here in less than two weeks (thirteen days to be exact but who's counting). We are going to be travelling to South Africa where we will spend Christmas. I am really looking forward to the chance to travel and see some different sights. I know that I will miss having snow though. In fact, I already miss it!! But I think there will still be a bit when I come home so that will be nice!

Have a wonderful week and try to stay warm!!

It's Snowing!!!

Hehehe...that's what you'd be saying if you were in Kitchener right now! But since I'm not I'll just have to say...it's hot!!! Today is warm again and it's windy. Last night we had some very nice rain and quite a bit of wind (so much so that at one point I'm pretty sure the rain was going horizontally, not vertically.

Hmmm, I guess there's lots to share about this week. We'll start with Monday (it seems like the logical place to start!) After finishing preparing the smaller field last weekend, Monday morning we got all the boys and the staff to help us and we planted the small field. So at least we have one field planted but we are still working on the bigger field. It will hopefully be planted by this Tuesday. That was definately an exciting event this week.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I got money from the accountant and bought some seed for the garden. So on Friday, Oscar and I planted a whole bunch of vegetables. We planted Tomato, Chinese Cabbage, Green Pepper, Eggplant, Okra and Rape (similar to Collard or Kale). We have some other seeds to plant but will likely wait a bit before we do. We'll also have to plant more of each of these crops in about a week so we can have a more steady supply of vegetables when we harvest. This was definately the highlight of the week. Now, before I leave, there will be some vegetables to harvest. At least if nothing else, it will look like I've done something while I've been here!!

Tomorrow I am going to church with Jess (a girl Claudia and I met at the CIL training before we came here) and then we are going out for lunch and maybe to see a movie. I think it will be nice to be able to relax and enjoy an afternoon not doing too much.

It appears that pictures are not working right now so I will have to come back another day and add them. I had a couple flower pictures and some of me after plowing and the boys planting but it will have to wait.

Hmmm, that kind of leaves me at a loss for what to say now. I was going to show some pictures but that won't work. So I think I will go now. I hope everyone is having a great time wherever they are! I also want to remind people that if they want me to send them something (a postcard, a letter) then please send me your address!!

Have a wonderful weekend!! Goodluck and Godspeed

Mailing Address

I wanted to put this in a separate post so people will not just skip over it. It seems as though there are two addresses you can send mail to me through. The one I gave everyone at the beginning works but it is actually not the correct one. I have received letters from Claudia and Jeanette that were sent to it so if you sent something, don't worry I will get it.

So, the correct address is:
Dan Brown
c/o Lazarus Project
Post Net 317
Private Bag E 891
Lusaka, Zambia
Africa

The only difference is the Private Bag (E 891 instead of 391). You can also send parcels to this address as well, from what I understand.

Well, that's it for now.

Pictures

I will try to post as many pictures as I can and give a little description of them.

The first one is quite obvious - me on a tractor! Paul took this picture on Friday morning while I was plowing the back field.

This is another one of me plowing the fields. I think it's really happening, I'm turning into a farmer (and I have the tan to prove it!!)

On Wednesday, we had a couple whirlwinds pass near the Lazarus Project. Whirlwinds are like mini tornados and one of them passed right though the project. I was in my room and I heard some strange wind. When I went out I just caught it leaving the property towards York Farms.

It's incredible what a little wind can do. It took part of the roof off of the outdoor kitchen. There was sheets of metal scattered a bit. It reminded me of the damage from the tornados that went through Fergus in August.

Now for some scenery shots. The 'road' outside the Lazarus Project is rather bumpy and I'm told that when it rains, it's very difficult to pass. So I thought I should include a picture from before it starts to rain. As you can see, it's not very flat and there are holes and bumps everywhere.

This next picture is one of my favourites so far (the other one is at the end - the radishes, not the bug). It was the sunset on Thursday evening. I took a few pictures but this one definately turned out the best.

Since I have been turning into a farmer, I figured I should include a couple of pictures of things growing. The first is a Banana tree. It started off as a small sprout in the ground. Unfortunately, it will take at least ten months to produce fruit so I will not be able to have any.

I have also planted a mini garden on my own time. Right now things are just starting to sprout and before long I will have fresh vegetables. The earliest vegetable that I will be able to eat are radishes. They should be ready in a couple of weeks. This picture is a close up of some baby plants.

And finally, this picture is for Claire and Claudia. After their adventures on Thursday night I'm sure they don't want to see too many more bugs! Well at least this one is in a different country!

Ok, that's it for now! I hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Goodluck and Godspeed

Reality Check

Well, a lot has happened this week and I could post a lot of pictures (which I will try to do as many as I can) but first I want to start off with a 'Reality Check' for those of you reading this.

One of the people that has been reading my updates is the intern that was here last year. He sent me an e-mail to ask how things were going and he had a bunch of questions to ask. I answered them and in his reply to that he said that everything was sounding great from my blog and he was starting to ask why I wasn't having the problems he was having.

So, before everyone assumes things are going wonderfully (and they are actually, but I think a lot has to do with your attitude, not with what happens), I want to just remind everyone that it is Zambia and, well, things never work perfectly here. For example, the tractor wouldn't start for several weeks and instead of getting a mechanic the first day and getting it fixed, it has taken until this Wednesday to have it fully working again (yeah I know I said it was working last weekend and we thought it was, but it turns out there was more wrong than just the starter). For us, when something is broken, we fix it. If we can't fix it we find someone who can. If they can't fix it we buy a new one. Here, things are a lot slower and it can take a week just to get some simple supplies (like seed for the garden, which...come to think of it, we still need).

I guess the moral of the story is, even if things seem to be going well (and they very well may be going well) prayer is always a good thing!

Now, on to some of the excitement from this week. As I mentioned above, the tractor was not working on Monday. The starter was fixed, we had diesel and the battery was charged. So we went to York Farms and talked to the Farm Manager to see if he had any suggestions (or maybe an extra tractor...) He pointed out that right next to us (and I didn't realize it) was a mechanic with a full shop and tool kit. So I went to talk to him. He came over and looked at the tractor and thought that the fuel lines were blocked and needed cleaning. Tuesday he towed the tractor to his shop and got it cleaned out. We got it back on Wednesday morning and I have been out plowing everyday since then.

On Wednesday, I also picked up my temporary permit so I can stay!! It is nice to actually have it and not have to worry about having to go back and get it.

Perhaps the most exciting news from this week is that it rained yesterday. In the early afternoon it started to rain lightly and in a matter of twenty minutes it was pouring. The rain only lasted for about an hour and the ground is dry again but it means that it will start raining now. This is great for the garden because now less work will have to be done to water and more energy can be put into other things.

Hmmm, it appears the pictures will not work this week so hopefully I can put some up later. I had a couple of me actually driving the tractor, in case anyone didn't believe me, and also some of the boys playing in the rain. Yes, boys are boys no matter where you are in the world.

Anyway, I think that will be all for now. It would be great if people would still pray for the plowing and the field preparations. Also pray that we get the garden to be more productive. Thanks for all the e-mails, comments, letters and support from everyone. It is greatly appreciated.

Goodluck and Godspeed