October Already?

Hey again everyone
Yes i know i am horrible at updating this blog, i guess im not much for writing especially writing what i do during the day. I dont remeber really what was happening the last time i updated..it has been for ever but i think it was just before the ngobeni (boys house) and training center opened. Well we had the opening and it was a great party. Lots of dancing and singing and then after the official opening (i.e. after the guest of honor and invitees left and it was just staff) we had a big bbq and just hung out as staff so it was pretty cool. The kids all looked wonderful as they all got new outfits for the opening. The next couple weeks we stayed busy as there were visitors from the US here so i would go around with them and general hospitality while they were here.
It has begun to get warmer as Oct is the hot season so even during sept there were some pretty warm days. Some nights would have 2 fans going and just sleep with the mosquito net and still be sweating. But i can tell you it is a LOT better then winter time back home. It might just be me but i Hate the cold so Africa suits me well.
At all three of our homes, but especially at the House of Moses the amount of children admitted is declining. We dont know what it is but we have gone below 20 babies here for the first time in i think over 3 years. You walk into the nursery and wonder where all the kids are as there are only 10 in each nursery. (there is one nursery upstairs for those that dont sit/crawl and one downstairs for those that can) Each caregiver usually has one baby that they call "their" child. This is a very special aspect to the house as it gives that child a close bond with someone. Of course i also have a baby i call my own (i had two but one went to the bill and bette bryant home which is our other home for toddlers). Every time my baby has been crying a lot during the day the caregivers make sure that they let me know. And i make sure that the bed that they put my daughter in is the one directly opposite teh door so that everytime i walk past the nursery i can see my daughter. She is just learning to walk which is quite an amazing experience. One day out of the blue she just got up and took 5 steps. No one had ever seen her walk before and it was like she had been walking for a long time already. My nickname here for the past two years has been Banda, has no meaning just a very common zambian name and so now they name my daughter Mwana Banda which basically means Banda's child.
I think tomorrow night i will be bringing over the projector and my laptop and showing the kids at the house of martha (aged 4-14) shrek..the first one.. am so excited..i think ive watched that movie 4 times this past month and i love it..
Last week thursday and friday we went out into 4 different compounds to do food distribution. Every month we go out for two days and we have a list of about 150 kids under the age of 5 that we provide support in the way of milk and medicine. These children are put on the program either from visiting a clinic and they request or they come to the House of Moses and after assessment they are assigned onto the program. Some of the reasons these children are put on the program is if their mother has died and so an aunt or grandma is taking care of the baby. Or if the family is very vulnerable or there are some cases where the mother has HIV and so she cannot breast feed so the baby needs infant formula and she has no means of providing the needed formula. I have been going for the past 4 months now so am starting to get to know some of the families as it is the same children every month. There is this one set of triplets that last month were all dressed in the same outfit and it was just adorable.
Well I think that is it for now, thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. Please pray especially for this time as it seems we are having a bit of a challenge finding the needed funding for the next couple of months. The staff and children all send their greetings and voice their appreciation.
Thanks again and God Bless
Kevin

Ngobeni Progress

here is what we have all been working on for the last weeks..we have a skills center opening on friday so these are the updates i have written every other day going through what has been happening..

i will post later more on what ive been up to..sorry for not having written anything lately

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=548610146&v=wall&ref=notif&notif_t=share_wall_create#!/topic.php?uid=213932381701&topic=15661

this brings you to the Alliance for Children Everywhere Facebook page where i have been writing my updates and also posting photos of the building progress.. hope you enjoy
talk soon

August 7th

Hey again everyone

Well this past weekend and week have been pretty good for me over here. We had a long weekend with the holiday on monday so it was nice to have an extra day off to relax. Saturday we went to a big craft market that is held at the end of each month. A couple of the vendors there are starting to know me because i have been going for now my fourth month and they are also at the sunday market so it is nice to form a relationship with some of them, although in the end they always want me to buy something so i have started to not bring any money so i can just show them my empty pocket. Sunday for the first time i didnt go to church partly to rest and partly because i had an eye stye so i didnt want to have everyone asking what was wrong with my eye. But it was nice to not have to go anywhere and to just read and reflect. That afternoon we went with one of the staff here as she was looking to rent a new house. She wanted us to come and make sure it was a good place as she hadnt really done it before so Sandra and i agreed.
Monday we went, along with Sindy and Daniel (from berlin) and Karin (from USA) to the House of Martha and had lunch with the staff and then we did crafts with the kids. Sindy and Karin made oragami flowers with the girls and Daniel and I mad Paper Ninja Stars with the boys. And then we also did colouring sheets with the youngest kids. We all really enjoyed our time over there, it was nice to spend a lot of time with the kids. The rest of the week was good i think i was pretty much just around House of Moses. One day i spent most of the day in the nursery which was nice cause i havent done that for a long time.
Today, which is saturday Sindy and I went to a friends house for lunch and spent most of the day there. It was nice to meet with her family and to be able to eat with her and to just spend a lot of time there.
Finally the weather is getting a little warmer and am now able to go without wearing a sweater.
Well hopefully everyone is okay. Talk to you later.

End of July

Well another month has past and i guess it is about time to update my blog.

Sorry i havent done this for a long time. Things here are going great although as some of you may have heard i also got my wallet stolen from me this month so that was a big downer. All the big mission teams that come from NA have all come and gone and all of us here have made and now are missing our friends that came for to short a time. There are now only 6 of us mzungus (white people) here at House of Moses so it is pretty quiet compared to a month ago when there were up to 21 people. This past month i have been working a lot in the office with some of the staff and have especially been working with our new sponsorship liasion officer. I have been with her a couple of times to the Helen de Vos Christian School collecting photos and stories to send to the children's sponsors. Remeber it is only $200 a year to sponsor. Sorry if it feels like i am pushing this but if you were me and you could see what a difference being at the Helen de Vos school is compared to the child being out in the street begging for food or having to stay home and care for their siblings you also would regard it as a very little contribution. I would love to be able to tell the children at the school that my family and friends are sponsoring them so that i could bring their photo home with me and maybe even print a photo of you for them to have. I have had a couple of special conversations with my sponsor this year. I bought her a bible and a couple of school supplies and she introduced me to all of her friends and was excited to hear about my family back home.

At the House of Moses we have had a hard month as we have had a lot of trouble with the Measles. Having to put the house in lockdown was a very difficult decision for everyone. Not allowing visitors is one thing but not allowing any new admissions was just heart breaking. I dont even want to begin to think about what happened to those babies that were supposed to be admitted to House of Moses.

The following is a disturbing story and some of you may want to skip this next paragraph.

Yesterday at about 19 hours a vehicle arrived at house of moses. There were 5 people in the vehicle. 3 from the social welfare department, 1 baby and 1 grandmother. They had come from the eastern province of Zambia. The baby was 3 days old and had already gone through so much. Shortly after birth the mother who no longer wanted the child wrapped him in a blanket and threw him into the local community pit latrine. Afraid that her neighbours would hear the babies cry she grabbed a long stick and tryed to drown the baby in the latrine. We are so very thankful that the babies grandmother saw what was happening and yelled for some help and quickly the baby was retrieved. After being in hospital for 1 day he was brought here to House of Moses. He is doing very fine after even just one day and other then having a bit of scarring on his face he is very healthy. We prayed with the grandmother that her daughter who was now in prison would be saved from the evil spirit that had engulfed her. Please pray for the child and the family involved.

Well i hope everyone at home is okay. Sorry to leave you with a heartwrenching story but i thought it would be good for some of you back home to realize the situation we are facing on a daily basis. I again say thank you for all your prayers and support and again i am sorry that i have not been blogging regularly.

Banda

Happy Canada Day

well good morning...this is the second time in two years that i am in zambia for canada day...last time was in 2008 and i decorated the house of moses with canada flags and stickers and taught a couple of the staff O Canada...since i dont really have any canada stuff this time i think it will be a little more low key...although i told a couple ppl that they should wear red and white today...maybe if i find time today i might be able to get out to the canadian embassy here in zambia...but i doubt i will have time to..

but it has been a very long time since i have last updated this blog...i am truly sorry bout that but i have been extremely busy this month of june..since june 3 we have had teams here non stop...the only reason i am able to write right now is that the team is off to livingstone for the week...we have had about 15 people on average here from NA this whole month so the house of moses has been FULL and busy...but it has been great

all of our three homes are doing good...the one good thing bout having the teams here is that i am usually the one to be showing them around to all the three homes so i get to visit each home on a regular basis...each home is overflowing with kids and we are beyond capacity at each home...although this may sound bad we always say..if they dont come into our homes where else would they be...either left in the garbage dumps or left on the street alone..so being a little crowded isnt that bad at all...i believe the house of martha (4-14yrs) has about 43 children this week.. bill and bette bryant(2-4) has 27 and house of moses(0-2) has 36. But with the new homes at house of martha and bill and bette complete and with LARGE outdoor yards it really doesnt seem as crowded as it did a couple of yrs ago..

Well being here in zambia during the world cup is soemthing else...everyone here is SOO excited for ghana and we were cheering when they beat the USA...haha i loved it..sorry to any american friends...my main team is still netherlands..and will be wearing orange on friday...

well this weekend is the girls soccer tournament...every year the girls in grade seven from the community schools that we sponsor get together for the month of june and have a tournament and then on the first sat in july the final game is played...so the team comes back friday afternoon and then we are all going to go out and watch...everyone is pretty excited about it..i went to the tournament 3 yrs ago and i had a blast...

well i hope everyone has had a good month of june...hope ur first half of 2010 was good and may God bless u all in the next half of the year to come

Blessings from Zambia
thanks for all your continued prayer and support
-Banda

My Birthday

hey so what an amazing day today...so since i have arrived i have been keeping my birthday date kept quiet..but there were also a couple of the staff who knew and also sandra...who ended up not keeping it quiet at all...so the day began and i took my phone, my wallet and my camera out of my pockets in anticipation of getting soaked today...the morning started out okay...but i made sure that no one could come out from behind me and so i had to keep looking behind me...during devotions i started to get very worried as some of the staff started talking bout hose pipes and where the largest buckets were...Alice the PR rep for here ended up chasing me out of the lounge immediately after devotions ended...i ended up getting soaked...and so that was the end of my first t-shirt...i had left 4 t-shirts out on my bed so i could change easy...we then went to bill and bette...i dont know why i kept going to different homes but their is a new team here so i was showing them around to all the homes..and chilala was at bill and bette..i was talking with her in the kitchen and then turned away for 2 seconds and she pulled a water jug out and soaked me...so that was number 2...number 3 i was walking through the kitchen and christine one of the cooks was washing dishes so she cupped a bunch of water in her hands and got me as i was walking past...number 4 i went to house of martha...and then matildah told one of the teachers to tell all the kids it was my birthday...i could see this wasnt going to end well...all of a sudden ten of the kids went into the house and came out with large buckets...they ended up sneaking round the other buildings on the property trying to get behind me...now i know what it must feel for an impala being surrounded by lions haha...so they started coming at me and so i ran...ended up having every single one of the 39 house of martha kids chasing me with buckets and cups of all sizes...well i was SOAKED...head to toe...socks and shoes...pants..boxers..shirts..hair...it was a nice shower haha...they then all surrounded me and sang happy birthday...they have amazing voices...number 5 was when i was getting out of the vehicle sandra came out around and poured the remainder of her water bottle on me...number 6 was clement the guard..he started asking me all these questions..like do i get frustrated when people pour water on me.. and do i mind being wet...lets just say i knew what was coming...he had a bucket waiting around the corner...

but after that we had a wonderful party with cake and ice cream and scones...i got a couple presents including a wonderful quilt for my bed...which is very usefull because it is getting colder and colder at night...and then i got some maheu..its a zamiban drink that i love...some chocolate bars and some talktime for my phone...after the party i figured it was safe to change again...since the first time i hadnt changed and had just been wet all day...but it was a great dya...thank you to everyone for all your birthday wishes...
banda

A NEW HOME

So the toddlers from Bill and Bette Bryant home have finally been able to move to their new property. They have been looking forward to this for months. The kids are always asking their mothers "When are we going to the new home?" Well the day has arrived! At 6am the kids were all dressed, packed, and had breakfast cooking and lunch already packed in travel containers. Fackson came with the truck and first loaded up all the appliances and some of the mattresses and moved them to the new house while the bus came and brought all the children and caregivers. Waiting for them already at the new house were new play toys, including a large swing and slide set and a teeter totter. What a huge property compared to their last one. The old home was basically just the house and then a cement path all the way around the house, with no grass to play on and no space for any play equipment. This new property has so much room to run and explore with many different types of fruit trees as well. The new home has 4 bedrooms and an office compared to their two bedroom and office in their last home. With a big dining room and big kitchen and multiple bathrooms it will be a major upgrade from their previous home.

We went over in the afternoon to take photos and to see how the children where enjoying the new place. They were moving the beds in but none were set up so the kids would be sleeping just on their mattresses on the floor tonight.

Don and I have finished the bathroom and the staff here at House of Moses are excited to use the new shower and to be able to have access to their bathroom again especially when they are bathing the babies as they have had to do it from the floor for the past week. Tomorrow am going to immigration to deliver a request to stay a year so if you could pray that it all goes smoothly that would be greatly appreciated. Then after i return from that we will be repainting the front of the House of Moses. The paint has started to peel this past year and so i decided to redo it.

Other then that most things are the same here. Although today a group of mzungus(white faces) arrived today. I introduced myself and then i saw their truck and that they were from the CRWRC in Zambia. I was quite surprised and quickly told them that i went to Fleetwood CRC in Surrey Canada. Ended up that one of the youth that was along with them was actually from Abbotsford CRC!! I thought that was pretty neat. He even knew a couple of people from Fraser Valley!..They were just here for a half day and i was out most of the morning picking up supplies to finish the bathroom so didnt spend to much time talking with them. And they were departing Lusaka this evening so that is to bad that we did not meet each other earlier.

Well thats all for now...its getting late and i am tired...

Nalema maningi..nayenda kugone.(i am very tired and am going to sleep)

I have been taking Nyanja language lessons with the guard here every night...its going well..and am becoming more and more fleunt...the staff are starting to use very little english for me..sometimes it gets difficult ..but it also helps cause i am able to pick out a couple words here and there.

well talk to u later goodnight