My Dreams and Reality Become One

There has been this real mix of emotions and understanding in my mind when I awake in my bed in the morning. My dreams at night consist of people and places from back home – my past reality. But when I awake, I am in my dream – my current reality. It takes me a few seconds to figure out which is my reality – my family and friends from Maryland or the school, home and culture in Zambia. Then, it hits me. I have been in Zambia for one week now. One of my dreams is now my reality.

She also congratulated me on eating my first real Zambian meal tonight – Nshima. Nshima is made from cornstarch and it reminds me of a very thick, dense mashed potato. It has no real flavor, but takes on the flavor of the relish, or the food and gravy being eaten with it. The most unusual part of all this is that the whole meal is eaten with your hands. Check me out, eating my first Nshima:
Results: I like it. It is very filling, so as I sit here, I feel quite content. ☺

Other than eating Nshima, today I got to spend the day "our" 24 amazing children at school. Teaching in Zambia can quickly become overwhelming. Not only is the content different than that of the states, but the process of teaching is also different. Bonnie has been encouraging to me as she strives to work best with what Zambia has presented with her, rather than try to conform the school to what she knows of teaching from the states. It is hard for me. As a teacher, I so enjoy the success of my students. It is hard to assess this in our 6’x 10’ classroom full of 24 students eager (and loud) to learn.

In Social Developmental Studies (STS) today, the students were copying the information from the board. The students do not have books; only the teacher has a teacher guide and one student book. As a result, every subject has the students copying the information from the board into their workbooks (a mini paperback notebook). As each day goes by in Zambia, I challenge myself to make the most of each moment given to me, so today I did in a small way.

The students write at different paces. As students were finishing their copying today, I knelt down next to them to have them practice their reading. The first girl I walked up to – Mapalo – I assumed she would excel. I was happy to see her read most of the words without struggle. When an unknown word came, I helped her sound it out and then she blended it together. The next two students I went to - Febby & Alice – I felt the need to first see if they knew their sight words. I pointed to words like “a” and “the” to see what level I was working with. To my surprise, neither of them could read these simply words.

At that point, I scanned the text and found 5 words for these girls to focus on (and, a, the, and, is). I told them I would read but when we came to one of their special words, it was their turn to read. I could see their excitement with each new special word. In the end, I wrote these 5 words at the top of their paper and had them repeat them a few times. ☺ This filled my heart with joy. Today, I taught two young students how to read. Yes, only 5 words, but tomorrow I will add to their list.

My heart aches for these children. I wish I could divide myself into 24 pieces, or at least me into 12 pieces and Bonnie into 12. Each student is eager to learn. As I read with just those 3 students today, others were gripping onto my arm - “Teacher, read with me!”

Please be praying for these three students, as well as all the other students at Lighthouse. I have seen in very real ways over the last week that education is one of the most influential ways to stop the cycle of poverty.

Check out two of the beautiful smiles I get to see everyday:

Kennedy & Moses

Everyday Life in Zambia

I cannot help but notice how different the culture is here, not only from the states but also from what I expected. I find myself enamored by things that are common everyday practices. Allow me to fill you on a few.

Today, Bonnie & I went to the Zambia’s annual Trade Fair with Bonnie’s friend Lucky and her children Metah, Thomas & Henry. They are a lovely family and anticipate hanging out with them more. While at the Trade Fair, there are hundreds of vendors from all over Africa selling whatever it is they are known for. Before checking out the vendors, we stopped to watch a mini-concert. It was being put on to encourage the public to peacefully vote in the upcoming election. Heading the show was a well-known musician. While standing there, he called up about 6 young girls – I’d say about 14, 15, maybe 16. He then held a competition to see who could dance the best. Then these young girls started shaking the bodies, particularly their hips and their bottoms, all over the place and the people watching began cheering. I was surprised and felt as though I shouldn’t be watching. Come to find out – what we’d consider promiscuous in the states is common here in Zambia. The girls were not looked at as sensual. It has boggled my mind how much are views are shaped by the society we live in.

Ironically, the girls on the stage were dancing to Christian music being sung in Bemba (the native language of Ndola). It is crazy to me how typical it is to see books about Christianity in every store, pictures of Jesus and signs like this in a taxi:
(Trust me, this taxi needed to be covered in the blood of Jesus; I was surprised we made it home alive. ☺) You also hear Christian songs on the radio of stores and in taxis, as well as see stickers such as “Praise God”, “Riding for Jesus” on the front of buses. My fear is that although Zambia has proclaimed itself a Christian nation, that much of the practices of followers of Christ are being neglected. I am not here to judge, though. I can only pray that the Lord would impact their lives in a way that would glorify him. All I know is that we serve a God of many nations – and I am learning how diverse that is everyday.

A few other things:
1) There is a “bride price” for the groom to pay the bride’s father before being bale to marry. The bride price is determined by the parents’ according to how worthy they find their daughter (beauty, education, etc.).
2) In the states, we’d consider a woman’s chest to be immodest; here, a woman’s thighs are considered particularly attractive. So wearing a dress about your knee or even wearing shorts is considered very immodest. In fact, in some parts of town, it is common for an older man to cut a woman’s clothing off and beat her if she is dressed immodestly.
3) Here, it is very uncommon for children to talk disrespectfully to their parents or adults in general. My housemate, Swazi, was saying that her main view (and much of Africa’s) of America ‘s teenagers was their wild and crazy lifestyle. Today, she met an American teenager (about 14) on fire for God and she was surprised. For passion at such a young age is not common here, nor is it common of her thoughts of America. As I thought about it more, I assumed her misconception has probably come from her view of America via Hollywood. This saddens me.
4) Bus rides are most interesting. Imagine a 10 passenger van, but a few feet shorter and a lot of feet shorter and thinner. Now imagine shoving 25 people in that van. That’s the typical transportation here, unless you are taking a taxi. But even with a taxi (as you saw in the above picture), the rules of the road are not strictly enforced.
5) The time is "military time". Six o'clock in the evening here is known as "Eighteen".
6) Lunch is at 14 (or 2pm) and dinner is at 1930 (or 730pm).

Their culture stops me in my tracks everyday and keeps me awake at night. I find myself not being able to properly take in all the things that are coming into my mind. Please pray for me to make the most of each day. I find myself missing home more and more each day, and at the same time wanting to experience more and more of Zambia.