Some Fun and Some Miracles

We're back at school and going full blast for our last couple of months here! The past two months have held many different things: a break from school, many visitors from the States, Christmas and New Year's, and many new challenges and developments. Here's a list of some stories and realizations that have transpired.

*Mama Maureen (one of the house mothers at the orphanage) told me a story about a recurring dream she had shortly before Christmas. In her dream there were some visitors from America, but it wasn't the four of us. They came to say good-bye, and everyone was very sad, but they had many large suitcases filled with something to leave for the kids, she thought maybe some clothes. She had this dream two nights in a row and took it as a sign from God that something wonderful was going to happen. So she told the kids about her dream and encouraged them to pray for this thing that God was doing. Just a day after that we went to the orphanage to get the clothing and shoe sizes of all the kids so some people at Spark Ventures could prepare a gift package of clothes and shoes for each child. Funny how God works in such intricate ways across an entire ocean.

*One day during our break from school, the four of us visited the baby AIDS orphanage here in Ndola. It's a place for orphaned children under five who are HIV positive. I remember when we came here in May of 2007 as the North Park group, many of the children were small for their age and very weak. Some of them couldn't even stand on their own or smile. This time when we went there the children were full of crazy energy. I remember many of their faces, and now most of them are nice and plump, more social, and very healthy looking. One boy had so much energy that he threw a book at my head when we were playing, and now I will forever have a scar on my forehead from a little child in Zambia. One of the older girls has an amazing story. She came into the orphanage HIV positive and since being there for some time now, all her tests come back negative. Miraculous.

*Aaron, Amanda, and I also went to Lusaka for a little trip for a few days in December too. It was great to go there and see everything. It is much more urban than here in Ndola. There are shopping centers and restaurants, more businesses, government offices and homes, and the busyness of a typical city. A few times I forgot I was in Zambia. There is definitely more developments, but the funny thing is there will be a wealthy residential area or a strip of beautifully landscaped government homes and then the next block there will be extreme poverty, just like we see in Twapia where we work. It was a nice little getaway, but the few short days we were away made us realize Ndola is home. We have a history and community here now. It was a nice feeling to come home to.

*We went to a wedding for someone from our church on Christmas Day, and right afterward there was something called a kitchen party. It's the equivalent of a bridal shower back at home, although the celebration is far from the same. There are no dainty finger foods and chairs set up nicely in a circle for everyone to chat. This was an all out, crowded, crazy, estrogen-filled, Zambian dance party. I have never seen a group of women so nuts. When you give the bride your gift, it is customary for you to do a dance as you present it to her. Being the only white girls in a group of about two hundred women, Amanda and I were bound to get pulled up to dance, and dance did we. I don't think I've ever heard so much cheering in my life (and I'm sure there was an equal amount of laughter in there too). Needless to say, it was a Christmas to remember.

*On New Year's Eve we went to the orphanage for a little while to hang out with the kids, and as we were leaving we joked saying "We'll see you next year!" Their faces went blank, and they looked at us in shocked confusion about ready to panic. But when we said it again with a smile on our faces, they got the joke and laughed happily. I was surprised to see how concerned they got when they thought we were leaving them. It's a sign to me of how our relationships have grown from the first few weeks of not really knowing where we fit in and them not really knowing how to act around us. Now we're used to seeing each other nearly everyday and have built lasting relationships that really will be hard to leave when the time comes.

But we're not there quite yet. There's still lots of work and fun to be had here. In just about a week the four of us are heading down to Livingstone to see the great Victoria Falls, do some safari-ing, and relax. Hopefully our bus ride down will be uneventful...but that wouldn't be very Zambian, so we'll just have to see.

-Roxanna