CENTRAL DIOCESE NDOLA
WED 24th October 07
At 4pm we left Kitwe for a journey of just under an hour, heading for Ndola, along mostly dual carriageway. It is very hot, though nice to feel the breeze through the van windows as we went along. The guesthouse is just down a short drive from the Cathedral. We had a welcoming party of various people – Father Manuel, Margaret his wife, Grace, who manages the guesthouse, Janet, the
Administrative secretary for the Diocese and Florence Mumba, who is the Mother’s Union worker for the Diocese. Her husband died 3 years ago, her children are now grown up, but she is looking after 2 grandchildren whose parents have died. When Florence is travelling around the Diocese, her sister looks after the children. They were all very welcoming to us. We were shown to our rooms and freshened up. Then we went through to the dining room/lounge and chatted to people. More people arrived. There must have been over 20 of us for the evening meal together! Bishop Derek didn’t make it as he was still on the road on his way back from Fiwila. His wife Evelyn came. They have 7 children (25yrs-8yrs) and she is a teacher. Also at the welcoming meal were:
Canon Stephen Mwanza. He is Director of Stewardship.
Deacon Mwelwa Mupeta. His ‘boss’ is Rev Sam Zulu who is in S. Africa at the moment.
Susan - Bishop Derek’s secretary.
Douglas – Diocesan Registrar, and his wife Agnes, who is the former MU president, and now on the MU committee for the Province.
Dorcas – present MU president for Central Diocese.
Charles Ngesa – member of the Cathedral.
Raphael – retired Diocesan Administrator.
Evans and Patricia – husband and wife. Patricia is the Link secretary for Bath and Wells.
Rev Pascal and his wife, Jessie. Pascal is the priest of Mushili parish.
Happy Banda – Bishop’s driver
Loyce (pronounced Lois) Mary – the same name as me!! She helped with the meal and would like to study hotel management in Lusaka when she can afford it. We exchanged addresses as she was very excited to not only have her 1st name the same as me, but our middle name, Mary is the same too!!
We had a very nice buffet meal – rice, pasta, potatoes, chicken, salad, beef stew. Rev Manuel introduced everyone and then after the meal thanked all those who cooked the meal, ‘but next time could they have nshima, as without it Zambians didn’t feel they’ve had food!! We took photos and then people started leaving. Some watched a bit of the football match on TV, South Africa against Zambia. Bishop Peter and Liz headed for bed, and Ken and I sorted out the gifts to take to Lunchu tomorrow, before we fell asleep.
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Wednesday in Kitwe
24th October 07
Today is Zambian Independence Day, so there will be celebrations and parades all around the Country. Father William, last night was quite cynical about the day. He said all the schools turn out for the celebrations. In Kitwe all the school children and their teachers have to be in Freedom Square by 7.30am. Any teachers that don’t bring their children are fined. He said ‘ what do the people have to celebrate? Poverty? Aids? Many people ignore the day. We got up at 8am and had breakfast with with Bishop Peter, and Liz – toast, egg and bacon. We saw the front page of yesterday’s newspaper reporting Rev Daka’s sermon at Lusaka Cathedral, for the Independence Day service on Sunday afternoon.
Bishop Albert came and picked us p to show us around the Diocese – well not the whole diocese as that would be an enormous area! Then at 3pm his driver will take us to Ndola, to Bishop Derek. Our first visit was to St Michael’s church in Kitwe, an old very Anglican brick built church. We met Father Harry Zulu, a lovely man and good friends with Roger and Ronnie Broomhead ( a couple in our church of Holy Trinity). He sent greetings to them. All Harry’s family names start with the letter H! First born is Harriet who is studying nursing in Yorkshire, living in Harrogate. Next is Hazel who is in Ndola. She is Captain of hockey for Zambia. Then comes Humphrey who is in Kitwe and the youngest is Hector who is in Konkola. Harry showed us their large church hall, which is next to his house, with the church on the other side of the house. The car park doubles as an outside worship area with a large communion ‘table’. They have just had their 50th Anniversary celebrations. The hall was built in 1957 – when Ken saw it on his last visit it was in great need of roof and floor repairs, which are now complete. We also went upstairs and saw his office. The church was built in 1940. We met Helen, his wife and took some photos promising to email them to them.
Then we drove to St Peter’s, Chimwemwe which is a township outside Kitwe. The word means ‘joy’. We drove off the tarmac onto an earth road in a high density area and came across St Peters still under construction. The roof was on and most of the walls had been built and windows were in. As we got out of the car we could hear beautiful singing. We went into the unfinished church to find 8 St Veronicas ladies practising singing and dancing for the Sunday service. We were all introduced and shook hands warmly, and I was able to give them each a Mother’s Union card with the MU prayer on it. They were thrilled. As we got into the car another St Veronicas lady appeared at the window eager to have a copy of the MU prayer. So thanks to Chris Mahoney for giving them to me and bringing smiles to their faces.
We then continued driving into the rural areas, to Garneton. It was an area of farmhouses where a huge shanty area had grown up, Bishop Albert saying the numbers were probably 45,000. We passed a walled compound. Inside it about to be built, were houses for the Chinese owners of the copper mines. The feeling was that the Chinese only had to ask the government for land and the request was granted. If Zambians applied it would be very difficult and would be a long drawn out process. He showed us a church in Garneton, called St Philips, also part of St Peter’s parish. This church though had no roof on it yet, and as the diocese can’t yet afford it, there will probably be no roof before the rains come shortly. Next to this church is the present one that they are worshipping in. It is built of bamboo, plastic and straw with simple benches inside. Next to these 2 Anglican churches, the old and the new, is an enormous Catholic church with a wall around it. Across the dirt track is a Pentecostal church. Bishop Peter asked why the Anglicans couldn’t share the enormous Catholic building. I think it basically comes down to Holy Communion, that the Catholics wouldn’t allow the Anglicans to receive communion.
As we were driving around a car passed with a helmet on the back shelf. Bishop Albert said ‘ if you see a helmet you know that car is either a supplier or a contractor at the copper mines. Bishop Albert took us for a drive around the area where he was brought up and showed us his school. A lot of the houses were gone. Some new ones were being built to move people whose homes are in a dangerous area where the mines are. They will move into the homes as soon as they are completed. We also drove past homes that had sprung up informally. The government want to clear the area, but are afraid they’ll lose votes, so the people remain to date. Tiny homes made of any materials available – wood, mud, etc cramped together. On past a huge market that went on and on, rather run down, but a hive of activity. We were back at the guesthouse and had lunch there with Bishop Albert. Then we packed our bags into the van that Bishop Albert’s driver was going to take us in, to Ndola. We first stopped at Bishop Albert’s house to say ‘goodbye’ to him and his family. We took a family photo of Bishop Albert, Bertha, their son Michael 10yrs, and daughter 4yrs, plus their family dog. Such a lovely family, and such a hard job that Bishop Albert has.
Today is Zambian Independence Day, so there will be celebrations and parades all around the Country. Father William, last night was quite cynical about the day. He said all the schools turn out for the celebrations. In Kitwe all the school children and their teachers have to be in Freedom Square by 7.30am. Any teachers that don’t bring their children are fined. He said ‘ what do the people have to celebrate? Poverty? Aids? Many people ignore the day. We got up at 8am and had breakfast with with Bishop Peter, and Liz – toast, egg and bacon. We saw the front page of yesterday’s newspaper reporting Rev Daka’s sermon at Lusaka Cathedral, for the Independence Day service on Sunday afternoon.
Bishop Albert came and picked us p to show us around the Diocese – well not the whole diocese as that would be an enormous area! Then at 3pm his driver will take us to Ndola, to Bishop Derek. Our first visit was to St Michael’s church in Kitwe, an old very Anglican brick built church. We met Father Harry Zulu, a lovely man and good friends with Roger and Ronnie Broomhead ( a couple in our church of Holy Trinity). He sent greetings to them. All Harry’s family names start with the letter H! First born is Harriet who is studying nursing in Yorkshire, living in Harrogate. Next is Hazel who is in Ndola. She is Captain of hockey for Zambia. Then comes Humphrey who is in Kitwe and the youngest is Hector who is in Konkola. Harry showed us their large church hall, which is next to his house, with the church on the other side of the house. The car park doubles as an outside worship area with a large communion ‘table’. They have just had their 50th Anniversary celebrations. The hall was built in 1957 – when Ken saw it on his last visit it was in great need of roof and floor repairs, which are now complete. We also went upstairs and saw his office. The church was built in 1940. We met Helen, his wife and took some photos promising to email them to them.
Then we drove to St Peter’s, Chimwemwe which is a township outside Kitwe. The word means ‘joy’. We drove off the tarmac onto an earth road in a high density area and came across St Peters still under construction. The roof was on and most of the walls had been built and windows were in. As we got out of the car we could hear beautiful singing. We went into the unfinished church to find 8 St Veronicas ladies practising singing and dancing for the Sunday service. We were all introduced and shook hands warmly, and I was able to give them each a Mother’s Union card with the MU prayer on it. They were thrilled. As we got into the car another St Veronicas lady appeared at the window eager to have a copy of the MU prayer. So thanks to Chris Mahoney for giving them to me and bringing smiles to their faces.
We then continued driving into the rural areas, to Garneton. It was an area of farmhouses where a huge shanty area had grown up, Bishop Albert saying the numbers were probably 45,000. We passed a walled compound. Inside it about to be built, were houses for the Chinese owners of the copper mines. The feeling was that the Chinese only had to ask the government for land and the request was granted. If Zambians applied it would be very difficult and would be a long drawn out process. He showed us a church in Garneton, called St Philips, also part of St Peter’s parish. This church though had no roof on it yet, and as the diocese can’t yet afford it, there will probably be no roof before the rains come shortly. Next to this church is the present one that they are worshipping in. It is built of bamboo, plastic and straw with simple benches inside. Next to these 2 Anglican churches, the old and the new, is an enormous Catholic church with a wall around it. Across the dirt track is a Pentecostal church. Bishop Peter asked why the Anglicans couldn’t share the enormous Catholic building. I think it basically comes down to Holy Communion, that the Catholics wouldn’t allow the Anglicans to receive communion.
As we were driving around a car passed with a helmet on the back shelf. Bishop Albert said ‘ if you see a helmet you know that car is either a supplier or a contractor at the copper mines. Bishop Albert took us for a drive around the area where he was brought up and showed us his school. A lot of the houses were gone. Some new ones were being built to move people whose homes are in a dangerous area where the mines are. They will move into the homes as soon as they are completed. We also drove past homes that had sprung up informally. The government want to clear the area, but are afraid they’ll lose votes, so the people remain to date. Tiny homes made of any materials available – wood, mud, etc cramped together. On past a huge market that went on and on, rather run down, but a hive of activity. We were back at the guesthouse and had lunch there with Bishop Albert. Then we packed our bags into the van that Bishop Albert’s driver was going to take us in, to Ndola. We first stopped at Bishop Albert’s house to say ‘goodbye’ to him and his family. We took a family photo of Bishop Albert, Bertha, their son Michael 10yrs, and daughter 4yrs, plus their family dog. Such a lovely family, and such a hard job that Bishop Albert has.
Northern Diocese
NORTHERN DIOCESE
VISIT TO BISHOP ALBERT AT KITWE
TUESDAY 23rd OCTOBER 07
We got up at 5.30am to have breakfast at 5.45am ready to go for our early flight to Ndola. But while I was in the shower Bishop David’s car arrived with Bishop Peter and Liz – they had come half an hour earlier than we’d expected. They too hadn’t realised it would be this early. We had a quick breakfast and said ‘goodbye’ to Rodgers and Esther and left for the airport. Airport tax was 28 kwachas. I’m writing this as we are taxiing down the Lusaka runway! The pilot has just told us to ‘sit back and enjoy your flight’. There are only 8 passengers, a hostess and a pilot on board. Bishop Peter has just said ‘this is more comfortable than BA’!! We have an extra bag as luggage that contains presents from many at Holy Trinity, and groups such as ‘Explorers’, Mother’s Union, and Morning Break, as well as individuals. It contains all sorts of ‘goodies’ such as toys, crayons, pens, pencils, lotions, notebooks, calendars, tea towels, soaps, knitting needles. Jenny Humphries had given us a large bag of knitted squares, which we left in Lusaka with Catherine, who is the MU worker for Lusaka Diocese. Previously MU members she said had knitted small blankets for premature babies in Eastern Diocese.
There has just been a ‘funny’ noise, which made my heart miss a beat!
I looked to see what the pilot was doing! Ken joked ‘Oh it’s probably the kettle boiling!’ And sure enough the waitress is now up and preparing drinks for us!! We landed safely in Ndola having had a very good and comfortable flight lasting about 45 minutes. A driver from Kitwe met us, we presumed he was Bishop Albert’s driver. We had another 45 min journey from the airport to Kitwe mainly on dual carriageway. The scenery was dusty from lack of rain, huge termite mounds, quite a lot of trees and areas alongside the road that were cultivated – men and women with handheld ploughs. There were also various straw covered huts selling things at regular intervals each side of the road – from arts and crafts, to armchairs, beds, doors etc!
We arrived at Kitwe around 9am at The Providence Guesthouse. We had some coffee and toast while waiting for our rooms to be got ready, and to be picked up to go, we thought to St Michael’s where Bishop Peter understood he was to be speaking to the St John’s Seminary students. We were a bit concerned as we thought we were expected there for 10am. Midday came and still we were waiting, no sign of anyone coming to pick us up!! When we enquired in the office we were just told ‘ they will be coming’! On our itinerary and speaking to Bishop John Osmers, Rector of St John’s Seminary ( when he was in Lusaka for the Licensing of the new Dean), we definitely thought we’d got the early plane so as to be with the students and staff at 10am! So not sure what is happening.
Bishop Albert came just before !pm and asked us if we’d had a good rest. We would have done if we’d known we weren’t due anywhere for a while! He said that the programme was for us to rest and then be at St John’s Seminary at 2pm. We told him we hadn’t eaten yet as we thought we were going to be picked up any minute for the last 3 hours! So we had a lovely meal of chips, vegetables and chicken kebabs. Bishop Albert told us he’d only got back from Malawi last night – as Dean of the Province of Central Africa, which includes Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, he is acting Archbishop for the Province as Archbishop Bernard Malango has retired. Malawi has a vacancy (3 Dioceses). Elections can’t take place unless there are Bishops in place in all the dioceses. There are a lot of church politics going on with a parish priest in England pushing to be the Bishop. Bishop Albert had a very difficult time there and was threatened physically. People warned him that he might be killed. He replied ‘ if I am killed I will welcome death, I am not going to be afraid’, and he remained sitting rather than escaping. This morning he had a meeting with his archdeacons before coming to us.
After lunch Bishop Albert took us to see a building that Ken had seen on his last visit. It has since been renovated and enlarged. In the grounds offices are being built, for renting out so that the diocese can have an income. The main building ‘houses’ the Diocesan office, the Bishop’s office, MU office Community Development office and a lovely large hall for meetings etc. Bishop Albert has a lot of vision for the diocese to be self-supporting. He wants to \move from aid to development.
His driver then took us to a large compound, which has St John’s Seminary, training evangelists and ordinands. We met the Rector there, Bishop John Osmos, and the Lecturers:
Olga from Czechoslovakia originally (though she has lived in Tanzania since she was 19yrs), has been at St John’s for 6 yrs. She teaches Church History and Biblical Studies.
Keith Scott from CMS, Ireland, teaches systemmatics – homiletics and IT.
George, a Franciscan is a visiting Lecturer, teaching Spirituality and Liturgy.
Francis, a Zambian, teaches Pastoral Theology. Linda, Keith’s wife teaches English, as some come from French speaking countries.
We all sat in quite a small room and Bishop Peter spoke on Changing Lives, and showed a clip from the Changing Lives video. Ken also spoke, then questions and Bishop Peter presented them with the Changing Lives DVD series. We then had a drink and biscuits, and a tour around, plus a group photo. We visited the vegetable garden where bananas, oranges, mangoes, sweet corn, cabbages, marrows etc were growing.
An appointment followed at The Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation with Rev Reuben Daka. He is a lovely Zambian, full of humour and wonderfully welcoming with a beautiful smile. His sermon at the Independence Service in Lusaka Cathedral, was front page news in The Zambian Times newspaper! Reuben has taken over from Charley Thomas as Director of the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation. He is a Presbyterian. Bishop John Osmers told us that Bishop Michael Lapsley is here for 3 days to speak about Reconciliation and Healing of the memories. Like Bishop John he had publicly supported the ANC during the Apartheid in South Africa. The S. African Government didn’t like that, and the Security Forces sent parcel bombs to try and kill them. Bishop John said that his parcel bomb was only a small one compared to Bishop Michael Lapsley’s! Bishop John lost his whole hand and Bishop Michael lost both hands and one eye. He now has a huge ministry not just in Africa but places like East Timor etc. on reconciliation. As we left the Mindola centre in the car we saw Bishop Michael walking along the road to the MEF. We dropped Bishop John off at St John’s Seminary and then went back to the guesthouse.
The room we were moving into still wasn’t ready – a couple of men were trying to fix the air-conditioning to no avail. When we were able to move in we had a shower and then just after 7pm we walked along the road to Bishop Albert’s house for dinner. His wife, Bertha is a lot better since having treatment for cancer in England. Their 3 yr old daughter has also had treatment in England for sickle cell anaemia. She is a very sweet petite little girl, quite ‘bouncy’, but still has to return to hospital at times. We didn’t meet their 10yr old son, Michael as he was out playing with friends. When we arrived at the house it was all in darkness – there was a power cut, so we had dinner by candlelight, which was very nice.
The food had all been cooked on a brazier as the power had been off since 9am. I couldn’t help thinking that if that happened to me in England, with lots coming for supper, I might have either postponed it or given them something cold!! Bertha produced lots of different hot dishes!! The electrician came while we were there and found a huge cable completely bent, and someone out there with a fire going, obviously sleeping there. They warned him the cables could kill him. I think he was taken off to the police station! Anyway it’s going to be a huge task to get the electricity back on, so they might be without it for quite a while.
In the candlelight we met other invited guests church leaders who live nearby. There was Frazer, an Archdeacon and his wife, Judith. He had been Rector of St John’s Seminary before Charley Thomas. Then there was William, a priest who was supporting his mother and I think niece and nephew, who’d both lost parents to Aids. The niece had also had a child out of wedlock. In Zambia, he said that poverty means that if someone offers you some meat in exchange for sex, then it will happen. William not only has a parish, but is also the Bishop’s chaplain. Then there was Joyce and her husband, a lay Canon and also on the Standing Committee. We then enjoyed the buffet meal- nshima, rice, pasta, chicken, chicken curry, beef stew, and various vegetable dishes. We all felt quite exhausted, and it was hard at times to make conversation, especially as it was hard to see anyone in the dimness! Bishop Albert was in and out trying to deal with the electrical problem and also, and also phone calls on Provincial business. It was a delicious meal, Bertha had done amazingly with so many to feed and no electricity!
Just after 9pm we returned to the guesthouse and were in bed at a reasonable hour. Our room had been sprayed with mosquito spray. Our mosquito net had holes in it but we weren’t disturbed by any! In fact we only ever saw one dead mosquito!!
VISIT TO BISHOP ALBERT AT KITWE
TUESDAY 23rd OCTOBER 07
We got up at 5.30am to have breakfast at 5.45am ready to go for our early flight to Ndola. But while I was in the shower Bishop David’s car arrived with Bishop Peter and Liz – they had come half an hour earlier than we’d expected. They too hadn’t realised it would be this early. We had a quick breakfast and said ‘goodbye’ to Rodgers and Esther and left for the airport. Airport tax was 28 kwachas. I’m writing this as we are taxiing down the Lusaka runway! The pilot has just told us to ‘sit back and enjoy your flight’. There are only 8 passengers, a hostess and a pilot on board. Bishop Peter has just said ‘this is more comfortable than BA’!! We have an extra bag as luggage that contains presents from many at Holy Trinity, and groups such as ‘Explorers’, Mother’s Union, and Morning Break, as well as individuals. It contains all sorts of ‘goodies’ such as toys, crayons, pens, pencils, lotions, notebooks, calendars, tea towels, soaps, knitting needles. Jenny Humphries had given us a large bag of knitted squares, which we left in Lusaka with Catherine, who is the MU worker for Lusaka Diocese. Previously MU members she said had knitted small blankets for premature babies in Eastern Diocese.
There has just been a ‘funny’ noise, which made my heart miss a beat!
I looked to see what the pilot was doing! Ken joked ‘Oh it’s probably the kettle boiling!’ And sure enough the waitress is now up and preparing drinks for us!! We landed safely in Ndola having had a very good and comfortable flight lasting about 45 minutes. A driver from Kitwe met us, we presumed he was Bishop Albert’s driver. We had another 45 min journey from the airport to Kitwe mainly on dual carriageway. The scenery was dusty from lack of rain, huge termite mounds, quite a lot of trees and areas alongside the road that were cultivated – men and women with handheld ploughs. There were also various straw covered huts selling things at regular intervals each side of the road – from arts and crafts, to armchairs, beds, doors etc!
We arrived at Kitwe around 9am at The Providence Guesthouse. We had some coffee and toast while waiting for our rooms to be got ready, and to be picked up to go, we thought to St Michael’s where Bishop Peter understood he was to be speaking to the St John’s Seminary students. We were a bit concerned as we thought we were expected there for 10am. Midday came and still we were waiting, no sign of anyone coming to pick us up!! When we enquired in the office we were just told ‘ they will be coming’! On our itinerary and speaking to Bishop John Osmers, Rector of St John’s Seminary ( when he was in Lusaka for the Licensing of the new Dean), we definitely thought we’d got the early plane so as to be with the students and staff at 10am! So not sure what is happening.
Bishop Albert came just before !pm and asked us if we’d had a good rest. We would have done if we’d known we weren’t due anywhere for a while! He said that the programme was for us to rest and then be at St John’s Seminary at 2pm. We told him we hadn’t eaten yet as we thought we were going to be picked up any minute for the last 3 hours! So we had a lovely meal of chips, vegetables and chicken kebabs. Bishop Albert told us he’d only got back from Malawi last night – as Dean of the Province of Central Africa, which includes Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, he is acting Archbishop for the Province as Archbishop Bernard Malango has retired. Malawi has a vacancy (3 Dioceses). Elections can’t take place unless there are Bishops in place in all the dioceses. There are a lot of church politics going on with a parish priest in England pushing to be the Bishop. Bishop Albert had a very difficult time there and was threatened physically. People warned him that he might be killed. He replied ‘ if I am killed I will welcome death, I am not going to be afraid’, and he remained sitting rather than escaping. This morning he had a meeting with his archdeacons before coming to us.
After lunch Bishop Albert took us to see a building that Ken had seen on his last visit. It has since been renovated and enlarged. In the grounds offices are being built, for renting out so that the diocese can have an income. The main building ‘houses’ the Diocesan office, the Bishop’s office, MU office Community Development office and a lovely large hall for meetings etc. Bishop Albert has a lot of vision for the diocese to be self-supporting. He wants to \move from aid to development.
His driver then took us to a large compound, which has St John’s Seminary, training evangelists and ordinands. We met the Rector there, Bishop John Osmos, and the Lecturers:
Olga from Czechoslovakia originally (though she has lived in Tanzania since she was 19yrs), has been at St John’s for 6 yrs. She teaches Church History and Biblical Studies.
Keith Scott from CMS, Ireland, teaches systemmatics – homiletics and IT.
George, a Franciscan is a visiting Lecturer, teaching Spirituality and Liturgy.
Francis, a Zambian, teaches Pastoral Theology. Linda, Keith’s wife teaches English, as some come from French speaking countries.
We all sat in quite a small room and Bishop Peter spoke on Changing Lives, and showed a clip from the Changing Lives video. Ken also spoke, then questions and Bishop Peter presented them with the Changing Lives DVD series. We then had a drink and biscuits, and a tour around, plus a group photo. We visited the vegetable garden where bananas, oranges, mangoes, sweet corn, cabbages, marrows etc were growing.
An appointment followed at The Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation with Rev Reuben Daka. He is a lovely Zambian, full of humour and wonderfully welcoming with a beautiful smile. His sermon at the Independence Service in Lusaka Cathedral, was front page news in The Zambian Times newspaper! Reuben has taken over from Charley Thomas as Director of the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation. He is a Presbyterian. Bishop John Osmers told us that Bishop Michael Lapsley is here for 3 days to speak about Reconciliation and Healing of the memories. Like Bishop John he had publicly supported the ANC during the Apartheid in South Africa. The S. African Government didn’t like that, and the Security Forces sent parcel bombs to try and kill them. Bishop John said that his parcel bomb was only a small one compared to Bishop Michael Lapsley’s! Bishop John lost his whole hand and Bishop Michael lost both hands and one eye. He now has a huge ministry not just in Africa but places like East Timor etc. on reconciliation. As we left the Mindola centre in the car we saw Bishop Michael walking along the road to the MEF. We dropped Bishop John off at St John’s Seminary and then went back to the guesthouse.
The room we were moving into still wasn’t ready – a couple of men were trying to fix the air-conditioning to no avail. When we were able to move in we had a shower and then just after 7pm we walked along the road to Bishop Albert’s house for dinner. His wife, Bertha is a lot better since having treatment for cancer in England. Their 3 yr old daughter has also had treatment in England for sickle cell anaemia. She is a very sweet petite little girl, quite ‘bouncy’, but still has to return to hospital at times. We didn’t meet their 10yr old son, Michael as he was out playing with friends. When we arrived at the house it was all in darkness – there was a power cut, so we had dinner by candlelight, which was very nice.
The food had all been cooked on a brazier as the power had been off since 9am. I couldn’t help thinking that if that happened to me in England, with lots coming for supper, I might have either postponed it or given them something cold!! Bertha produced lots of different hot dishes!! The electrician came while we were there and found a huge cable completely bent, and someone out there with a fire going, obviously sleeping there. They warned him the cables could kill him. I think he was taken off to the police station! Anyway it’s going to be a huge task to get the electricity back on, so they might be without it for quite a while.
In the candlelight we met other invited guests church leaders who live nearby. There was Frazer, an Archdeacon and his wife, Judith. He had been Rector of St John’s Seminary before Charley Thomas. Then there was William, a priest who was supporting his mother and I think niece and nephew, who’d both lost parents to Aids. The niece had also had a child out of wedlock. In Zambia, he said that poverty means that if someone offers you some meat in exchange for sex, then it will happen. William not only has a parish, but is also the Bishop’s chaplain. Then there was Joyce and her husband, a lay Canon and also on the Standing Committee. We then enjoyed the buffet meal- nshima, rice, pasta, chicken, chicken curry, beef stew, and various vegetable dishes. We all felt quite exhausted, and it was hard at times to make conversation, especially as it was hard to see anyone in the dimness! Bishop Albert was in and out trying to deal with the electrical problem and also, and also phone calls on Provincial business. It was a delicious meal, Bertha had done amazingly with so many to feed and no electricity!
Just after 9pm we returned to the guesthouse and were in bed at a reasonable hour. Our room had been sprayed with mosquito spray. Our mosquito net had holes in it but we weren’t disturbed by any! In fact we only ever saw one dead mosquito!!
Monday in Lusaka
MONDAY 22ND OCTOBER 2007
We had a large breakfast at 7.30am – omelette, eggybread, ham, and tomato, toast, cornflakes and orange segments! Rodgers and Esther popped in to see us and told us we were to be at the Cathedral at 8.40am ready to be taken with Bishop Peter and Liz to the British High Commission. We left at 8.30am with 2 of the ZAC staff who were going to drop us off at the Cathedral, so we could meet up with the Bishops to go to the High Commission together in Bishop David’s car. Three times the car alarm went off as we were driving and the car lost all power! As it happened on a dual carriageway it wasn’t very pleasant with cars whizzing past us. They tinkered under the bonnet and the car worked again for a while. The 2nd time we managed to veer off into a side road to get out of the traffic’s way. We went along the back roads after that to the Cathedral.
We walked through the Cathedral grounds to the Diocesan office and met up with Bishop David. We also saw Constance who works there- I’d met her last night at the ‘pot luck’ supper. We discovered that the High Commissioner was expecting us at 10am, not 9am as we had thought, so Bishop David showed Bishop Peter, Liz, Ken and I around the Diocesan land and property. We met Molly Wadey, who works for ‘ Voyageurs’, a tourist company. They rent an office from the Diocese and her husband Gordon, was involved with Rod Humphreys (Jenny his wife, is the World Mission Advisor for Bath and Wells Diocese), to develop the land that the diocese own, so that the church is able to have an income.
Then we drove to the British High Commission and met with Charley Thomas and William – Dean and Sub dean. Bishop David drove separately and Bishop Peter, Liz, Ken and I went with Bishop David’s driver in another vehicle. Bishop Peter has the use of Bishop David’s driver and car while he is in Lusaka. We all trooped into the building and while in the queue waiting we met an elderly lady, who’d come here from England when she was 2 yrs old, and lived here ever since! The High Commissioner was nowhere to be found, and so the man in the office phoned and discovered we were expected at his residence!! So we all hurried back to the cars and arrived late!! We arrived at his lovely house and beautiful garden, and found him very welcoming to us. We all sat outside on his veranda and enjoyed ‘English’ tea or coffee in china cups and saucers, with brownies and homemade chocolate chip cookies! We were there for at least an hour and it was a good contact for Charley. He was able to offer the use of the Cathedral for any official services.
Then Bishop Peter, Liz, Ken and I went to the Craft Village, which were selling a variety of arts and crafts, in a number of circular mud brick shops. All the people who had made the crafts were keen to sell to us. Mr Katema, our driver kindly came with us when we were ready to buy to make sure we weren’t ‘ripped off’. I was the last to get back in the car, and we hurried to the Kainga Lodge (where Bishop Peter and Liz were staying) where there were lots of clergy, wives and Diocesan workers for an informal lunch under a tree in the garden. Several of the Lodge staff were barbequing chicken and there was beef stew, rice, nshima, salad, Chinese cabbage (delicious made with crushed peanuts) etc. Pudding was a delicious fresh fruit salad. After lunch Bishop David asked Bishop Peter to speak for about 20 mins on ‘Changing Lives’, which has been an initiative in Bath and Wells Diocese for the last few years. Ken also spoke followed by questions.
Afterwards Ken and I went back to ZAC, and Esther, Enelesi and I went to buy some material for me to get a Zambian outfit made. The shop was full of materials and I felt overwhelmed, I just didn’t know what would suit me. Also the shop was about to close, so I didn’t have any time to dither and made a rushed choice! Across the road by the car was another shop also about to close. I quickly bought another material there, as enough for an outfit only cost about £5. Then we drove to a tailor. She is a Mother’s Union member, and I was pleased to be able to give her some work. She measured me and I chose 2 different styles. The pink material cost me 35,000 kwacha (about £5) and the orange/ yellow/ blue material cost 50,000 Kwacha. To make up the outfit is 80.000Kwacha each – about £11, so very good value. Then we made our way back to ZAC, Esther driving in very heavy traffic, everyone going home from work.
We got back at about 6pm and I went in search of Ken, finding him relaxing under the pagoda. We had supper together in the guesthouse dining room – noodles with chicken and mixed vegetables. It was tasty, followed by a banana and orange segments.
We sat in the lounge to wait for Malele, who was going to pop in to see us after work with one of her daughters, Saraiya and granddaughter, Ariana. While we were waiting Christine Muyawala, the People’s Warden at Holy Cross Cathedral arrived and presented us both with a present – a shirt, with ‘church of the Holy Cross’ printed on it. Also for me a chitenge, and Christine taught me how to put it around me to secure it like a sarong. I loved them and was so pleased with the gifts!
After she had left, Malele, Saraiya (24yrs) and Ariana (18mths) arrived. It was lovely to see Malele again, and to meet for the first time, her daughter Suraiya, and granddaughter, Ariana. Suraiya was so eager to learn all about the family she belonged to, and I was able to show her a few photos, one with Mum and Dad (Pat and Marion Ashe) and children at Dad’s 90th birthday celebrations.
Malele told us that Mulilo’s house is chaotic and Mulilo is devastated, because a really good friend of his died the night of the Rugby final, in a car crash – 3 people killed altogether. His Swedish wife and 4 month old daughter was out of the country at the time.Mulilo had to go to the airport to pick her up, and since then she has been at his house , his wife Donna trying to protect her. In Zambian culture, when someone dies, relatives turn up from all over the place , so her home is inundated with people. They are now turning up at Mulilo’s, so he has lots of people now around at his house trying to see his dead friend’s widow. Mulilo and family and Donna’s mother never made it for their holiday break in Tanzania. The funeral is on Thursday.
Ariana was quite active and a real ‘sweetie’. Suraiya would love to meet family and visit England. She has visited once but didn’t know about her large extended family!! Their taxi (one of Mulilo’s taxi firm) didn’t turn up for ages and Malele was getting crosser and crosser!
The Ken and I packed, left a few things we didn’t want to take on the plane to Ndola, and went to bed under our mosquito nets.
We had a large breakfast at 7.30am – omelette, eggybread, ham, and tomato, toast, cornflakes and orange segments! Rodgers and Esther popped in to see us and told us we were to be at the Cathedral at 8.40am ready to be taken with Bishop Peter and Liz to the British High Commission. We left at 8.30am with 2 of the ZAC staff who were going to drop us off at the Cathedral, so we could meet up with the Bishops to go to the High Commission together in Bishop David’s car. Three times the car alarm went off as we were driving and the car lost all power! As it happened on a dual carriageway it wasn’t very pleasant with cars whizzing past us. They tinkered under the bonnet and the car worked again for a while. The 2nd time we managed to veer off into a side road to get out of the traffic’s way. We went along the back roads after that to the Cathedral.
We walked through the Cathedral grounds to the Diocesan office and met up with Bishop David. We also saw Constance who works there- I’d met her last night at the ‘pot luck’ supper. We discovered that the High Commissioner was expecting us at 10am, not 9am as we had thought, so Bishop David showed Bishop Peter, Liz, Ken and I around the Diocesan land and property. We met Molly Wadey, who works for ‘ Voyageurs’, a tourist company. They rent an office from the Diocese and her husband Gordon, was involved with Rod Humphreys (Jenny his wife, is the World Mission Advisor for Bath and Wells Diocese), to develop the land that the diocese own, so that the church is able to have an income.
Then we drove to the British High Commission and met with Charley Thomas and William – Dean and Sub dean. Bishop David drove separately and Bishop Peter, Liz, Ken and I went with Bishop David’s driver in another vehicle. Bishop Peter has the use of Bishop David’s driver and car while he is in Lusaka. We all trooped into the building and while in the queue waiting we met an elderly lady, who’d come here from England when she was 2 yrs old, and lived here ever since! The High Commissioner was nowhere to be found, and so the man in the office phoned and discovered we were expected at his residence!! So we all hurried back to the cars and arrived late!! We arrived at his lovely house and beautiful garden, and found him very welcoming to us. We all sat outside on his veranda and enjoyed ‘English’ tea or coffee in china cups and saucers, with brownies and homemade chocolate chip cookies! We were there for at least an hour and it was a good contact for Charley. He was able to offer the use of the Cathedral for any official services.
Then Bishop Peter, Liz, Ken and I went to the Craft Village, which were selling a variety of arts and crafts, in a number of circular mud brick shops. All the people who had made the crafts were keen to sell to us. Mr Katema, our driver kindly came with us when we were ready to buy to make sure we weren’t ‘ripped off’. I was the last to get back in the car, and we hurried to the Kainga Lodge (where Bishop Peter and Liz were staying) where there were lots of clergy, wives and Diocesan workers for an informal lunch under a tree in the garden. Several of the Lodge staff were barbequing chicken and there was beef stew, rice, nshima, salad, Chinese cabbage (delicious made with crushed peanuts) etc. Pudding was a delicious fresh fruit salad. After lunch Bishop David asked Bishop Peter to speak for about 20 mins on ‘Changing Lives’, which has been an initiative in Bath and Wells Diocese for the last few years. Ken also spoke followed by questions.
Afterwards Ken and I went back to ZAC, and Esther, Enelesi and I went to buy some material for me to get a Zambian outfit made. The shop was full of materials and I felt overwhelmed, I just didn’t know what would suit me. Also the shop was about to close, so I didn’t have any time to dither and made a rushed choice! Across the road by the car was another shop also about to close. I quickly bought another material there, as enough for an outfit only cost about £5. Then we drove to a tailor. She is a Mother’s Union member, and I was pleased to be able to give her some work. She measured me and I chose 2 different styles. The pink material cost me 35,000 kwacha (about £5) and the orange/ yellow/ blue material cost 50,000 Kwacha. To make up the outfit is 80.000Kwacha each – about £11, so very good value. Then we made our way back to ZAC, Esther driving in very heavy traffic, everyone going home from work.
We got back at about 6pm and I went in search of Ken, finding him relaxing under the pagoda. We had supper together in the guesthouse dining room – noodles with chicken and mixed vegetables. It was tasty, followed by a banana and orange segments.
We sat in the lounge to wait for Malele, who was going to pop in to see us after work with one of her daughters, Saraiya and granddaughter, Ariana. While we were waiting Christine Muyawala, the People’s Warden at Holy Cross Cathedral arrived and presented us both with a present – a shirt, with ‘church of the Holy Cross’ printed on it. Also for me a chitenge, and Christine taught me how to put it around me to secure it like a sarong. I loved them and was so pleased with the gifts!
After she had left, Malele, Saraiya (24yrs) and Ariana (18mths) arrived. It was lovely to see Malele again, and to meet for the first time, her daughter Suraiya, and granddaughter, Ariana. Suraiya was so eager to learn all about the family she belonged to, and I was able to show her a few photos, one with Mum and Dad (Pat and Marion Ashe) and children at Dad’s 90th birthday celebrations.
Malele told us that Mulilo’s house is chaotic and Mulilo is devastated, because a really good friend of his died the night of the Rugby final, in a car crash – 3 people killed altogether. His Swedish wife and 4 month old daughter was out of the country at the time.Mulilo had to go to the airport to pick her up, and since then she has been at his house , his wife Donna trying to protect her. In Zambian culture, when someone dies, relatives turn up from all over the place , so her home is inundated with people. They are now turning up at Mulilo’s, so he has lots of people now around at his house trying to see his dead friend’s widow. Mulilo and family and Donna’s mother never made it for their holiday break in Tanzania. The funeral is on Thursday.
Ariana was quite active and a real ‘sweetie’. Suraiya would love to meet family and visit England. She has visited once but didn’t know about her large extended family!! Their taxi (one of Mulilo’s taxi firm) didn’t turn up for ages and Malele was getting crosser and crosser!
The Ken and I packed, left a few things we didn’t want to take on the plane to Ndola, and went to bed under our mosquito nets.
Licensing of Charley Thomas as Dean of Lusaka
LICENSING OF CANON CHARLEY THOMAS
NEW DEAN OF LUSAKA CATHEDRAL
SUNDAY 21ST October 07
We had a knock on the door at 6am! The cook called through the door saying breakfast was ready. We’d thought it would be at 6.45am! So we hurried up, showered, dressed and went to the dining room. Breakfast was fried egg ( very nice though I think it had been made before 6am!), spam and bread that we could toast, followed by a banana and orange segments.
Then we went with Rodgers and Esther to the Cathedral. The Girl’s Brigade and all the various uniformed groups were congregating when we arrived. Rodgers and Ken went off to robe and Esther and I went into the Cathedral to a row at the front reserved for clergy and Bishop’s wives. I sat next to Bishop Derek’s wife (Central diocese) and Liz Maurice. Also on our row, was Bishop David’s wife, Noreen, and Susan Rivett. Susan and her husband Peter are from England and know John Simons (who was the previous vicar at Holy Trinity, Nailsea), and Chris and Janet Faull (two of our congregation at HT), as they were with SOMA ( Sharing of Ministries Abroad) and Crosswinds. They came to Mapanza Mission Station, Peter as Chaplain to the large boarding school. Then the Bishop asked him to be the parish priest as well! They have 16 churches as well as the chaplaincy! Rev Charley Thomas’s family were sitting in front of us in the front row.
The service lasted 4 hours from 8am – midday! There were several choirs – Cathedral Praise Team, Diocesan Choir, Mary Sumner choir, Mother’s Union, and at various times during the service they would burst out in song and dance. The choirs were wonderful to watch and listen to. It was a lovely service with a lot of variety and very lively.
During the installation of Rev Charley Thomas, as Dean, one of the questions and response was this:
Bishop: ‘My brother, will you proclaim God’s word with boldness, teach the truth and banish error?’
Priest: ‘ With God’s help I will.’
Bishop:’ People of this parish will you hear what is preached, apply it to your lives, and by word and deed commend the gospel to others?’
People: With God’s help we will.’
Bishop David then said ‘ That means listening to the sermon and not reading your parish news!!’
He made funny remarks quite a lot. He introduced Bishop John Osmers, as ‘retired but not tired!’ Bishop John is missing one hand, die to the South African Government security forces (during apartheid) sending him a parcel bomb that blew off his hand. He is head now of St John’s Theological in Kitwe, in Zambia.
Buomba was amazing with their music and dance. They are a Roman Catholic cultural worship group from Kaunda Square Catholic parish and performed twice during the service. Towards the end of the service different groups – cell groups, Bishops, Mother’s Union, Youth, Clergy Wives, etc. all came up to the front to shake hands with Charley and all his family, wife Rachel and children, Tony, Mollie, and 3 yr old Jolly. His mother too was there at the service – she had come over especially from India where she lives. Many brought up gifts for Charley. At the end of the service there was a large procession out. Everyone greeted each other on the Cathedral steps and in the grounds. Then followed refreshments – drink, sandwich, chicken drumstick, and 2 varieties of samosas, and sausage. We ate it in a tent (put up in the Cathedral grounds), which became very hot, as the tent was made of plastic material and there was no through breeze. We greeted various folk, everyone was so welcoming and friendly.
A red carpet was being put out on the steps of the Cathedral ready for another big service in the afternoon, for Independence Day, with the President expected. Eventually we went back to ZAC with Rodgers and Esther, dropping George (who lectures at St John’s Seminary, in Kitwe) off at a house. There was a fierce some dog there, so he wouldn’t get out of the car until the security guard on the gate had secured it behind a fence!!
In the afternoon we changed into cooler clothes and sat under the pagoda where there was a gentle breeze. We had a short nap, and then I wrote up my diary. At 6pm we went with Rodgers and Esther back to the Cathedral for a ‘pot luck’ supper. We arrived to find no one around, except 2 ladies coming out of an Alpha course! We discovered the supper was supposed to be at 6.30pm. We’re learning to live by Zambian time and the supper actually materialised at about 8pm!! Bishop Derek never made it – he’d gone to bed!! I joined the ladies sitting around the table. I met Irene and Pinky from Zimbabwe. Four of them had driven here for the service – it had been a 12hour drive from their homes in Zimbabwe! That’s longer than the flight we had from UK, which had been 10 hours. Irene is a primary school teacher and we got talking about the lovely Zambian dresses. We both said we’d like one, and she was doing a drawing of one I liked of a lady called Wanga, who was wearing a lovely green dress. She was trying to do the design so she could have one made when she got back to Zimbabwe. I went over to Wanga and chatted with her saying how lovely her dress was. She gave me all the details of where to buy the material and the person who could make it. I took a photo front and back, and said I’d send the photo by email to Irene. Austin and Pinky came with her. I also sat next to Rachel and Jollie (4 yrs). Rachel is Charley’s wife – Canon Charley Thomas, Dean of Lusaka Cathedral. I spoke with Margaret Katongo Willombe, who is the National Coordinator of Mother’s Union. I met her 2 children, Bevan and a daughter, who’s name I forget. They are both studying in Australia, in Perth. Margaret gave me her contact details as she may come to England sometime. I also sat next to George Kateka and his wife Hilda and chatted with them. He was Master of Ceremonies this morning at Charley’s Licensing service.
We had a delicious ‘pot luck’ supper of rice, chicken, chapatti, pumpkin leaves, etc. Ken chatted with a number of the men. We came home about 9.30pm. Esther said we could go shopping for material tomorrow when I am free, probably after lunch. In the morning I think our itinerary includes The British High Commission, and then lunch with some of the clergy and wives. Esther and I are then hoping to be able to have a bit of free time to go shopping! Bishop Peter has a bad back – I said I could give him some back exercises. I think the plane journey was part of the cause.
NEW DEAN OF LUSAKA CATHEDRAL
SUNDAY 21ST October 07
We had a knock on the door at 6am! The cook called through the door saying breakfast was ready. We’d thought it would be at 6.45am! So we hurried up, showered, dressed and went to the dining room. Breakfast was fried egg ( very nice though I think it had been made before 6am!), spam and bread that we could toast, followed by a banana and orange segments.
Then we went with Rodgers and Esther to the Cathedral. The Girl’s Brigade and all the various uniformed groups were congregating when we arrived. Rodgers and Ken went off to robe and Esther and I went into the Cathedral to a row at the front reserved for clergy and Bishop’s wives. I sat next to Bishop Derek’s wife (Central diocese) and Liz Maurice. Also on our row, was Bishop David’s wife, Noreen, and Susan Rivett. Susan and her husband Peter are from England and know John Simons (who was the previous vicar at Holy Trinity, Nailsea), and Chris and Janet Faull (two of our congregation at HT), as they were with SOMA ( Sharing of Ministries Abroad) and Crosswinds. They came to Mapanza Mission Station, Peter as Chaplain to the large boarding school. Then the Bishop asked him to be the parish priest as well! They have 16 churches as well as the chaplaincy! Rev Charley Thomas’s family were sitting in front of us in the front row.
The service lasted 4 hours from 8am – midday! There were several choirs – Cathedral Praise Team, Diocesan Choir, Mary Sumner choir, Mother’s Union, and at various times during the service they would burst out in song and dance. The choirs were wonderful to watch and listen to. It was a lovely service with a lot of variety and very lively.
During the installation of Rev Charley Thomas, as Dean, one of the questions and response was this:
Bishop: ‘My brother, will you proclaim God’s word with boldness, teach the truth and banish error?’
Priest: ‘ With God’s help I will.’
Bishop:’ People of this parish will you hear what is preached, apply it to your lives, and by word and deed commend the gospel to others?’
People: With God’s help we will.’
Bishop David then said ‘ That means listening to the sermon and not reading your parish news!!’
He made funny remarks quite a lot. He introduced Bishop John Osmers, as ‘retired but not tired!’ Bishop John is missing one hand, die to the South African Government security forces (during apartheid) sending him a parcel bomb that blew off his hand. He is head now of St John’s Theological in Kitwe, in Zambia.
Buomba was amazing with their music and dance. They are a Roman Catholic cultural worship group from Kaunda Square Catholic parish and performed twice during the service. Towards the end of the service different groups – cell groups, Bishops, Mother’s Union, Youth, Clergy Wives, etc. all came up to the front to shake hands with Charley and all his family, wife Rachel and children, Tony, Mollie, and 3 yr old Jolly. His mother too was there at the service – she had come over especially from India where she lives. Many brought up gifts for Charley. At the end of the service there was a large procession out. Everyone greeted each other on the Cathedral steps and in the grounds. Then followed refreshments – drink, sandwich, chicken drumstick, and 2 varieties of samosas, and sausage. We ate it in a tent (put up in the Cathedral grounds), which became very hot, as the tent was made of plastic material and there was no through breeze. We greeted various folk, everyone was so welcoming and friendly.
A red carpet was being put out on the steps of the Cathedral ready for another big service in the afternoon, for Independence Day, with the President expected. Eventually we went back to ZAC with Rodgers and Esther, dropping George (who lectures at St John’s Seminary, in Kitwe) off at a house. There was a fierce some dog there, so he wouldn’t get out of the car until the security guard on the gate had secured it behind a fence!!
In the afternoon we changed into cooler clothes and sat under the pagoda where there was a gentle breeze. We had a short nap, and then I wrote up my diary. At 6pm we went with Rodgers and Esther back to the Cathedral for a ‘pot luck’ supper. We arrived to find no one around, except 2 ladies coming out of an Alpha course! We discovered the supper was supposed to be at 6.30pm. We’re learning to live by Zambian time and the supper actually materialised at about 8pm!! Bishop Derek never made it – he’d gone to bed!! I joined the ladies sitting around the table. I met Irene and Pinky from Zimbabwe. Four of them had driven here for the service – it had been a 12hour drive from their homes in Zimbabwe! That’s longer than the flight we had from UK, which had been 10 hours. Irene is a primary school teacher and we got talking about the lovely Zambian dresses. We both said we’d like one, and she was doing a drawing of one I liked of a lady called Wanga, who was wearing a lovely green dress. She was trying to do the design so she could have one made when she got back to Zimbabwe. I went over to Wanga and chatted with her saying how lovely her dress was. She gave me all the details of where to buy the material and the person who could make it. I took a photo front and back, and said I’d send the photo by email to Irene. Austin and Pinky came with her. I also sat next to Rachel and Jollie (4 yrs). Rachel is Charley’s wife – Canon Charley Thomas, Dean of Lusaka Cathedral. I spoke with Margaret Katongo Willombe, who is the National Coordinator of Mother’s Union. I met her 2 children, Bevan and a daughter, who’s name I forget. They are both studying in Australia, in Perth. Margaret gave me her contact details as she may come to England sometime. I also sat next to George Kateka and his wife Hilda and chatted with them. He was Master of Ceremonies this morning at Charley’s Licensing service.
We had a delicious ‘pot luck’ supper of rice, chicken, chapatti, pumpkin leaves, etc. Ken chatted with a number of the men. We came home about 9.30pm. Esther said we could go shopping for material tomorrow when I am free, probably after lunch. In the morning I think our itinerary includes The British High Commission, and then lunch with some of the clergy and wives. Esther and I are then hoping to be able to have a bit of free time to go shopping! Bishop Peter has a bad back – I said I could give him some back exercises. I think the plane journey was part of the cause.
Arrival in Zambia
SATURDAY 20.10.07
We Arrived at Lusaka airport about 8am and were met by a contingent of Anglicans and had VIP treatment, bypassing the long queue! We sat in the VIP lounge while our passports were checked. I think having the Bishop of Taunton with us wearing his purple shirt helped! Ken and I tagged along with him!! Bishop David Ngovu ( Bishop of Lusaka), Rev Rodgers Banda ( Administrator of ZAC – Zambian Anglican Council), Rev William Vwapu ( Subdean of Lusaka cathedral) and Rev Charley Thomas ( he will be installed as Dean of Lusaka cathedral tomorrow morning), were all there to greet us! They were all so welcoming.
We piled into 2 vehicles, Bishop Peter and his wife Liz (Bishop of Taunton from Bath and Wells diocese) in one and Ken and I in another. We went to the ZAC guesthouse with Rodgers Banda and Bishop Peter and Liz went to Kainga Lodge (two of the Cathedral congregation own the Lodge and are very generous in letting it be used). Ken and I met Esther, Rodgers wife and we were shown to our room where we had a nap until lunchtime.
After lunch, having contacted Mulilo, we met up with my 3 cousins, Malele, Mulilo, and Chiko. It was wonderful to meet up with them again as it had been many years since I’d last seen them, when they were no more than children. Now they are in their 40s and have families. Mulilo came and picked us up and we discovered we were staying only about 1 mile from his house. Their house is in quite a large area of land, and they have a swimming pool, swings, trampoline etc. We sat on the veranda and met everyone there. Chiko was there with 2 of his children, a girl and a boy, Luka. There is a baby girl who wasn’t there – they have a full time nanny, as Chiko’s wife, Sam, works full time with the British Council and is often abroad. She is in Senegal at the moment. Chiko works as a lawyer. We also met Mulilo’s wife, Donna. She is English – they both met when Donna was renting a room at 65, Birdhurst Rise, Croydon, where Mulilo’s smother was brought up. They have 2 girls about 9yrs and 6 yrs. Donna’s Mum, from Bexhill was also there visiting them for a month. Her name is Noreen and she was originally from Ireland. Mulilo and family are due to travel to Tanzania tomorrow for a few days holiday.
Later Malele arrived straight from work. It was so lovely catching up with her and her brothers and families. She works for an advertising magazine that also has interesting articles. She wants me to write an article for the magazine on something like ‘First impressions of Zambia’!! We gave them all love from Mum and Dad and gave each family a ‘London bus’, full of toffees, which when empty becomes a moneybox. Mulilo runs a ‘dial a cab’ taxi firm. We spent about 4 hours with them – it was so lovely to meet up with them again after so long.
Mulilo dropped us back at ZAC about 6pm and then at 7pm we had supper with Rodgers and Esther in their home next to the guesthouse. Some of their children were there, so it was lovely to meet them. The 2 girls, one a niece cooked a delicious supper of chicken, cabbage a bean mix, nshima (the staple maize food), pumpkin leaves with peanut butter (delicious!). This was followed by ice cream with fresh pineapple, and the final of the World Cup Rugby!! Soth Africa against England. Soth Africa won 15-6. It was a late night. I felt quite exhausted from the plane journey, and lack of sleep, and had swollen legs. We slept under a mosquito net, but didn’t actually notice any of the nasty creatures!!
We Arrived at Lusaka airport about 8am and were met by a contingent of Anglicans and had VIP treatment, bypassing the long queue! We sat in the VIP lounge while our passports were checked. I think having the Bishop of Taunton with us wearing his purple shirt helped! Ken and I tagged along with him!! Bishop David Ngovu ( Bishop of Lusaka), Rev Rodgers Banda ( Administrator of ZAC – Zambian Anglican Council), Rev William Vwapu ( Subdean of Lusaka cathedral) and Rev Charley Thomas ( he will be installed as Dean of Lusaka cathedral tomorrow morning), were all there to greet us! They were all so welcoming.
We piled into 2 vehicles, Bishop Peter and his wife Liz (Bishop of Taunton from Bath and Wells diocese) in one and Ken and I in another. We went to the ZAC guesthouse with Rodgers Banda and Bishop Peter and Liz went to Kainga Lodge (two of the Cathedral congregation own the Lodge and are very generous in letting it be used). Ken and I met Esther, Rodgers wife and we were shown to our room where we had a nap until lunchtime.
After lunch, having contacted Mulilo, we met up with my 3 cousins, Malele, Mulilo, and Chiko. It was wonderful to meet up with them again as it had been many years since I’d last seen them, when they were no more than children. Now they are in their 40s and have families. Mulilo came and picked us up and we discovered we were staying only about 1 mile from his house. Their house is in quite a large area of land, and they have a swimming pool, swings, trampoline etc. We sat on the veranda and met everyone there. Chiko was there with 2 of his children, a girl and a boy, Luka. There is a baby girl who wasn’t there – they have a full time nanny, as Chiko’s wife, Sam, works full time with the British Council and is often abroad. She is in Senegal at the moment. Chiko works as a lawyer. We also met Mulilo’s wife, Donna. She is English – they both met when Donna was renting a room at 65, Birdhurst Rise, Croydon, where Mulilo’s smother was brought up. They have 2 girls about 9yrs and 6 yrs. Donna’s Mum, from Bexhill was also there visiting them for a month. Her name is Noreen and she was originally from Ireland. Mulilo and family are due to travel to Tanzania tomorrow for a few days holiday.
Later Malele arrived straight from work. It was so lovely catching up with her and her brothers and families. She works for an advertising magazine that also has interesting articles. She wants me to write an article for the magazine on something like ‘First impressions of Zambia’!! We gave them all love from Mum and Dad and gave each family a ‘London bus’, full of toffees, which when empty becomes a moneybox. Mulilo runs a ‘dial a cab’ taxi firm. We spent about 4 hours with them – it was so lovely to meet up with them again after so long.
Mulilo dropped us back at ZAC about 6pm and then at 7pm we had supper with Rodgers and Esther in their home next to the guesthouse. Some of their children were there, so it was lovely to meet them. The 2 girls, one a niece cooked a delicious supper of chicken, cabbage a bean mix, nshima (the staple maize food), pumpkin leaves with peanut butter (delicious!). This was followed by ice cream with fresh pineapple, and the final of the World Cup Rugby!! Soth Africa against England. Soth Africa won 15-6. It was a late night. I felt quite exhausted from the plane journey, and lack of sleep, and had swollen legs. We slept under a mosquito net, but didn’t actually notice any of the nasty creatures!!
Leaving for Zambia
ZAMBIA TRIP THURS 18 OCT 07
MEETING FAMILY
Ken and I packed and piled into the car with Simba. We managed to fit in just about everything – our clothes, and gifts from many at Holy Trinity, to our link parish in Lunchu, Eastern Diocese in Zambia We had pencils crayons, toys, soaps, tea towels, bible stories, knitting needles, cards and money collected to buy things out there that are needed etc.!
We left Nailsea and stopped in Maidenhead for a cuppa with my brother, Andrew and his wife, Eve and their family. Andrew is going to Malawi on Saturday, the day after us, with his daughters, Rachel and Lois. The charity side of his company is involved with education, using handheld computers, solar powered or wind up. The amazing thing is that the lessons are all in the local language. He has been out several times to Malawi and the schools, parents and government are excited about what is possible. He first trailed it in 10 schools, and then expanded to more schools, as it was so successful. This time he is taking his 2 teenage daughters and building a classroom to use his technology. Rachel and Lois will take some lessons. Their flight stops briefly in Lusaka!
We arrived at Pam and Peter’s just before 8pm. Peter is my cousin and he and Pam have very kindly said they would have Simba, and our car, while we are away for 10 days in Zambia. Peter had a finance meeting in his study (he is the treasurer at their local church!) and Pam was at a Guiding meeting! She had kindly left some stew in the oven for us. Rachel, their daughter, had just got home from work, and welcomed and fed us. It was so lovely ‘catching’ up with my goddaughter, as we hadn’t seen her for ages. Later in the evening when Pam and Peter had finished their meetings we all watched ‘Question Time’ on television, as Eve’s sister Rosie Millard (‘Fuzzy’) was on the panel! Simba very quickly seems very much at home with Peter and Pam in their home.
FRIDAY 19TH OCTOBER 2007-11-16
Peter took Simba for a walk, and then we all had a leisurely breakfast. Later in the morning we walked to their church and newly built church centre, and had a look around. A lovely crisp sunny day, with Autumn colours and lots of leaves on the ground. When we got back we sat in the sun for a coffee. Lunch was bangers, mash and beans. I spoke on the phone to my sisters, Ruth and Jane and also Mum and Dad and Mary, Esther and Zoe, before flying, to say ‘bye’. I also managed to phone Mulilo, as Jenny Humphries (World Mission Advisor for Bath and Wells Diocese) had given me prefix tel nos. to enable one to have cheap overseas calls! The call to a landline is only 2p a minute and to a mobile phone it is 10p a min. We arranged that we would phone Mulilo when we arrived in Lusaka, and try and meet up with him, Chiko and Malele. They are my cousins on my father’s side of the family. His sister, Mary Poore (nee Ashe) had a daughter, Rosemary who married Patrick, a Zambian. Their 3 children, Malele, Mulilo and Chiko are now in their 40s and have families of their own. Ken and I are very excited to be able to meet them! Last time I met them they were small children, so that’s quite a number of years ago!
Peter very kindly drove us to the airport where we met up with Bishop Peter Maurice and his wife, Liz. The booking of the seats was a bit of a disaster, as unbeknown to us you had to book your seats online 24 hours before departure. We had booked our tickets back in April, but the travel agent hadn’t imparted this rather vital bit of information, so we found we weren’t sitting next to each other. We all tried to make a fuss, which worked with Bishop Peter and Liz – it must have been his purple shirt! – but Ken and I were a long way from each other! The food on the plane, amazingly was quite edible – chicken curry, cheesecake, kitkat, and a ‘superfood’ healthy drink. I passed the hours watching films and chatting to the neighbours on each side of me. On my left a young lady, a teacher from California, teaching at an American school in England near Thorpe Park. She goes to Romania 2-3 times a year helping with an orphan project, and next March she is going on an expedition to Antarctica, with about 70 others in leadership/teaching roles. The man running the expedition is Robert Swan, who is very interested in the whole subject of global warming and is keen to educate others. He takes an expedition each year. He has been to clear up other people’s mess that previous explorations over the years have left behind. On the other side of me was a lad (over 6’ tall!) who had just done his GCSEs at a school in England. He was born and brought up in Zambia and his family own several large farms in Central and Northern Zambia – growing such foods as maize and soya. When we arrived at Lusaka airport he said ‘ There are my parents on the tarmac, and that is our plane, the blue one, that I will go home in’. He wants to go to university in America. His great grandfather was one of the first missionaries to Zambia, ‘one of Livingstone’s ‘side kicks’ he said!
MEETING FAMILY
Ken and I packed and piled into the car with Simba. We managed to fit in just about everything – our clothes, and gifts from many at Holy Trinity, to our link parish in Lunchu, Eastern Diocese in Zambia We had pencils crayons, toys, soaps, tea towels, bible stories, knitting needles, cards and money collected to buy things out there that are needed etc.!
We left Nailsea and stopped in Maidenhead for a cuppa with my brother, Andrew and his wife, Eve and their family. Andrew is going to Malawi on Saturday, the day after us, with his daughters, Rachel and Lois. The charity side of his company is involved with education, using handheld computers, solar powered or wind up. The amazing thing is that the lessons are all in the local language. He has been out several times to Malawi and the schools, parents and government are excited about what is possible. He first trailed it in 10 schools, and then expanded to more schools, as it was so successful. This time he is taking his 2 teenage daughters and building a classroom to use his technology. Rachel and Lois will take some lessons. Their flight stops briefly in Lusaka!
We arrived at Pam and Peter’s just before 8pm. Peter is my cousin and he and Pam have very kindly said they would have Simba, and our car, while we are away for 10 days in Zambia. Peter had a finance meeting in his study (he is the treasurer at their local church!) and Pam was at a Guiding meeting! She had kindly left some stew in the oven for us. Rachel, their daughter, had just got home from work, and welcomed and fed us. It was so lovely ‘catching’ up with my goddaughter, as we hadn’t seen her for ages. Later in the evening when Pam and Peter had finished their meetings we all watched ‘Question Time’ on television, as Eve’s sister Rosie Millard (‘Fuzzy’) was on the panel! Simba very quickly seems very much at home with Peter and Pam in their home.
FRIDAY 19TH OCTOBER 2007-11-16
Peter took Simba for a walk, and then we all had a leisurely breakfast. Later in the morning we walked to their church and newly built church centre, and had a look around. A lovely crisp sunny day, with Autumn colours and lots of leaves on the ground. When we got back we sat in the sun for a coffee. Lunch was bangers, mash and beans. I spoke on the phone to my sisters, Ruth and Jane and also Mum and Dad and Mary, Esther and Zoe, before flying, to say ‘bye’. I also managed to phone Mulilo, as Jenny Humphries (World Mission Advisor for Bath and Wells Diocese) had given me prefix tel nos. to enable one to have cheap overseas calls! The call to a landline is only 2p a minute and to a mobile phone it is 10p a min. We arranged that we would phone Mulilo when we arrived in Lusaka, and try and meet up with him, Chiko and Malele. They are my cousins on my father’s side of the family. His sister, Mary Poore (nee Ashe) had a daughter, Rosemary who married Patrick, a Zambian. Their 3 children, Malele, Mulilo and Chiko are now in their 40s and have families of their own. Ken and I are very excited to be able to meet them! Last time I met them they were small children, so that’s quite a number of years ago!
Peter very kindly drove us to the airport where we met up with Bishop Peter Maurice and his wife, Liz. The booking of the seats was a bit of a disaster, as unbeknown to us you had to book your seats online 24 hours before departure. We had booked our tickets back in April, but the travel agent hadn’t imparted this rather vital bit of information, so we found we weren’t sitting next to each other. We all tried to make a fuss, which worked with Bishop Peter and Liz – it must have been his purple shirt! – but Ken and I were a long way from each other! The food on the plane, amazingly was quite edible – chicken curry, cheesecake, kitkat, and a ‘superfood’ healthy drink. I passed the hours watching films and chatting to the neighbours on each side of me. On my left a young lady, a teacher from California, teaching at an American school in England near Thorpe Park. She goes to Romania 2-3 times a year helping with an orphan project, and next March she is going on an expedition to Antarctica, with about 70 others in leadership/teaching roles. The man running the expedition is Robert Swan, who is very interested in the whole subject of global warming and is keen to educate others. He takes an expedition each year. He has been to clear up other people’s mess that previous explorations over the years have left behind. On the other side of me was a lad (over 6’ tall!) who had just done his GCSEs at a school in England. He was born and brought up in Zambia and his family own several large farms in Central and Northern Zambia – growing such foods as maize and soya. When we arrived at Lusaka airport he said ‘ There are my parents on the tarmac, and that is our plane, the blue one, that I will go home in’. He wants to go to university in America. His great grandfather was one of the first missionaries to Zambia, ‘one of Livingstone’s ‘side kicks’ he said!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
