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

Another Week in Zambia

So it seems like it takes me a week to write a blog...haha...it has been super busy around here and so it is hard to find time to write these blogs...it usually takes an email from my grandparents saying "where is your new blog update...its been a week" for me to write a new one haha...but its good to know they miss it...so this is the first time in a week and a half that i am up for the sunrise...ive been waking up late the past little while...and it rises at 6:26 i have been missing it...it is a beautiful sight every morning..
so monday was back to work and we had a major problem with the hot water for the upstairs nursery...so fackson, (maintnenace officer) lucky(worker) and i took the geyser apart and replaced the heating coil..and then when we turned it on the pressure was still very low...so we opened the pipes and found that they were almost completely full of hardened mud...so it took us another 2 hours of clearing the pipes before it was all fixed...but now the pressure of the hot water is the best it has been upstairs for 2 years soo that is good...
tues don and jane(a couple that are here for 3 months from hawaii) and i started renovating the downstairs nursery bathroom...we tore out all the tile in the shower(the staff use it) and started scraping the walls for paint...it was about 4 wheelbarrows full of tile....but it came of pretty easy because it was installed wrong and only had grout on the edge of each corner of the tile...ive never seen it like that but oh well it made removing it easier...
wednesday we went into town to purchase the materials needed...i love shopping in town for the materials...i know a lot of the venodors from 2 years ago...and a couple of them even recognized me which was pretty cool...so it takes a long time to find everything u need here...we first had to go to a paint store...and we got two 20 litrs and two 5 litres(we are doing more then just the bathroom)...and then we went to the hardware and supply stores to search fro tiles and the other needed materials..we ended up finding real nice tiles and i think it will look great...
thursday we had to go get our visas to stay in the country...i was hoping to get a visitors visa but because they had stamped my passport at the airport with a buisness visa i have to go that route...so this friday i have to apply for a business visa...so pray that it works out well please...
so friday we began on the renovating...we painted the ceiling boards white(with anti-fungal liquid added)..and then repainted the walls yellow...just with the paint it looks a whole lot better...so we have 4 workers here that are assigned as cooks for the teams...(when it gets busy it will be very needed) and so i have been helping them with cooking the past couple nights...we have been using the brie(a bbq but with charcoal) and i enjoy bbqing so i am usualy the one to cook the meat...
saturday don and i began tiling in the shower...it was a neat experience as it took us about an hour to just find a bucket to use...then we thought we had a grooved trowel but we didnt so we had to go to the market to look for one...amazingly we found one at the chelston market(which is about a 5 min drive 20 min walk from House of Moses) and so we could begin...it is going well and i am excited for it to be finished...
sunday i went to matildahs church (its in walking distance and no one else was really going to church today) so went there and then after church we met up with everyone and went to the Michael W Smith concert...what a line up...it strecthed around a whole empty field and down the road...so on our tickets it said it was from 14-20(2-8pm) and so we got there at about 130...well by 2 the doors still hadnt opened...and we ended up not getting inside tell just after 3!!...when we got in they were still working on setting up the stage and the sound equipment...so we knew it was still going to be a while...well at about 5 they opened the gate to outside and in rolled MWS in a police convoy...it was pretty amazing...haha...when he arrived everyone forgot that they had already been waiting for 3 hours...they were just soooo excited to have MWS in Zambia!!!!...so after bout another half an hour he took the stage...man what a great concert..Zambians sure know there MWS and man can they sing!!!!...i loved just listeneing to the crowd sing along...well i guess even if ur from america u are on zambian time...(i.e. if something starts at 2 ...it doesnt actually start at 2!)...and the concert was over at about 7:30...but it was a great time and am glad i went...we were with about 7 of us...and everyone had a wonderful time...
well today is a new day...monday morning...so it is almost devotions time...i will talk to u all some time...thanks for all ur prayers and support

May 16

So i dont know if you read my update that i did on the ACE facebook page...but if you didnt..on friday we went to Helen de Vos christian school...that is the high school that CACZ runs here in zambia and it currently has students in grades 7-12...it has 325 students...more boys then girls...and most of the students are OVC's (orphaned or vulnerable children)..when i was here in 2008 i met one of the students...her name was abigail..she was on the girls soccer team and she told me before one of her games she would score a goal...so i went to the game and i cheered her on...i dont think she ended up scoring but i came to a couple more of her games and everytime i went to the school (which was alot doing maintenance and construction) she would update me on how she was doing in school. well i found out she was one of the many students not yet sponsored and so i decided to sponsor her for the needed $200 a year...not a big commitment but what a difference it makes for these students....when she found out i was sponsoring her she was overjoyed...and when we went to the school on friday she didnt know i was returning her face brightened when she saw me,...it was such an amazing experience...she is now in grade 8 and is doing very well...she sits at the front of the class and is also eager for learning...when i first met her she was very shy and didnt smile very often...but now she is a ray of sunshine...i was also with two other people that sponsor a child at helen de vos and their experience was the same as mine...just exctitment to see your child...

this weekend has been a nice relaxing weekend...right now their are only 5 ppl at house of moses and most of us are all here for awhile so not part of teams...it is kinda the calm before the storm as we like to say because on june 3 we get a team of 11 coming...then things really get busy...so we have been taking turns taking days off where we just go away from house of moses for a day to relax,...it is starting to get colder and colder here now...(well in zambian terms) its about 23 today but the wind is blowing which makes it seem colder...June is the coolest month and during that month most people will be wearing winter jackets...it is quite amusing to see actually...but even i have started wearing a sweater in the mornings and evening...

i have uploaded a couple photos on facebook and hope to continue..thanks again for the prayers and support..

kevin banda (thats my name here)

Friday Morning-Week Two

So i think i last updated monday night...i know i havent uploaded any photos...but i havent really taken a lot of photos..and the photos i have taken i am saving for the videos i will be making..

So tuesday i took the day off and hung out with a friend here for the day,...it was nice to get away from the busyness of House of Moses for a day and just relax...
Wednesday in the morning i was doing data entry of the books that they have at our schools..and then the afternoon i just played with the babies...madaliso(my baby) fell asleep on my lap when i was doing data entry on my laptop...it was so cute...we also got two new kids on tuesday night...one was to old to be here but because he came with his brother they kept him here for a day..he was able to already talk and so it was nice to practice my nyanja on a kid...wednesday during the day i played football(soccer) with him for bout 20 min in the hallway...he had pants on that were a bit to large for him and so we had to keep stopping the game to pull up his pants...haha we couldnt find a belt anywhere..then that afternoon it was the executive directors birthday so we had some ice cream...
Thursday we had to redo the main plumbing at House of Moses...we used to have two 5,000 litre tank..and they bought a ten thousand tank so we had to elimate one of the tanks...so we took apart all the water lines and did some changes on the lines...while we were loosening on of the lines, it was connected to the line from the tank in the sky...and we loosened the main line and all of a sudden a waterfall of water came down from the tank in the sky...needless to say we got completely soaked...and we ended up having to shimmy up the tank stand..bout 25 feet up to resecure the line attached to the tank...well we ended up getting all the pipes back together and all the leaking stopped...but this night the pressure wasnt the same and so we had no hot water in the house cause of low pressure so we have to fix it again this morning...so another exciting day...i will keep you posted on whats happening with that...have a good day everyone thanks for prayers and supports....

so its been almost a week...it gets to busy here for me to find time to update my blog...but i will try to get better at this..
this week has been pretty busy getting back into the groove of things and finding out how everything is working..
i think i last updated of what happened on monday...so tuesday we went to Mundawanga zoo with the kids of House of Martha..i dont know if you saw the video i made but if you havent its on youtube just search for "Mundawanga Zoo"....so we got to the park and for the first part we just hung out in the gardens and played some group games...it was nice to have the kids out of their home for awhile...after about 2 hours of different games and singing we ate lunch and played on a playground and then it was time for the Zoo tour...the kids were soo cute during the toour...seeing their reaction when they saw the lions was awesome...they were all walking forward and then when they saw the male lion they all jumped back and stopped in their tracks...but after the adults went forward they slowly inched forward...one of the little girls when she saw the lion grabbed my hand but i told her it was alright that the cage was strong enough to hold them in...the kids also loved the little velvet monkeys...they were being fed when we got there so they were all sitting on their own eating...then on the way back from the zoo our bus broke down in the middle of the main road...we ended up getting it started again and were able to pull over to the side and after about 45 min when a new bus came for us we were on our way again...i was in the back of the bus during this and having about 25 kids and 2 leaders in the last two rows where there is seating for 10 was an experience haha...needless to say i slept well that night
on wednesday we had a meeting with a man from UK Missions...he is having four teams come this year and they will be helping us with redoing one of our schools...so beginning in the middle of june we will be tearing down part of the school and building two classrooms and 1 office..it will be a big job but it will go all the way to october...just so that all the teams that UK Missions is bringing will have a chance to work on the building..that afternoon i walked to House of Martha and was there for about an hour...just to see the kids again...and then that evening just was around the House of Martha again doing suduko and learning nyanja with clement (the guard)
Thursday i spent the day at House of Moses,...played with the babies and spent a lot of time with my son Madaliso...most of the time i will bring him out of the nursery and he will walk with me around the House of Moses or be on my lap when i am working on my computer,...he has come to know now that i take him out...and he is getting a little spoiled haha...everytime i go in the nursery and hes in his crib he starts to cry...that afternoon i went to House of Martha again...i went with the new teacher for the school that they have their...and so i introduced her around to the staff and showed her the classroom...then i stayed there for a couple hours...matildah also came and i tried my hand at a game they play that is similiar to jacks...i'm not good at all...i quit playing after two rounds haha,..i have to practice on my own for a bit first..at about 17 i walked back to the HOM and spent the evening here...
friday...a table in the nursery broke so i had to take it apart and repair it and i also put together a picture frame for the botswana high commision as a present for visiting the House of Moses, House of Martha and Bill and Bette bryant nursery...i cant really remeber what else happened...but i think i was just at the House of Moses most of the day..
Saturday i tried to move the table back in...but we couldnt get it through the doorway...so i brought it back outside...took the other leg off brought it inside in pieces and then repaired it inside the nursery...we also had a meeting with sandra, don jane and i...we are kinda the ones in charge of the teams so we have to go through day by day what each one is doing.,..and how many ppl are here because their are times when we will have up to 20 people at the House of Moses...so it will get very populated here pretty soon...i think the first big team come on June 3...that night we did suduku and nyanja learning again and then i also played matildah in chess..(2 years ago when i came for 5 months i taught her how to play and we played each time she was on...so sandra and i bought her a chess set...) well she almost beat me in that game...sandra wouldve been so happy if she had won haha...
sunday in the morning i chatted with my parents on skype...it was nice to be able to connect with them again and catch up...then we went to church..the same one as last week...again it was a good service and the singing was just amazing again...went to the main shopping center right after where the craft fair is so that the new people could check out zambian crafts...for me after the first one they are all the same...but i have a couple people that are vendors their that i have known for two years so i usually go and just talk with them and see how business is going...one of them hadnt gotten any buisness yet so i bought a 10 billion dollar bill from zimbabwe off of him for about 1 dollar thats how bad the economy is in zimbabwe...when u need billions of dollars to buy a loaf of bread...
monday we had morning chapel at 8 and then after we had a management meeting for 2 hours...i didnt get a lot of sleep sunday night...only bout 3 hrs...so i was pretty tired the whole afternoon and i took a nap on the couch with madaliso sleeping on me...evening we had a birthday/farewell party for one of the visitors here...so we had a turkey dinner(something other then chicken which is the main meat eaten here) and we had cake and ice cream...well today is tuesday morning...hope you are all doing good...and talk to u all soon

May 4 2010

Hey so it has been awhile since i last updated but it has been pretty busy around here.
So i think i lasted blogged about thursday..i will try to remeber what has happened since then..

Friday..so we had a meeting in the morning with the social welfare and nursing dept..and then after that i cant really remeber what i did haha...i think i just was around the House of Moses..i was working with a carpenter on sealing some cracks around windows in the office and i fed my baby madaliso breakfast...saturday morning we headed to a craft fair that is held once a month...we were there for a couple hours and i bought this cool stone feature in the shape of africa...we were there till bout noon and then went back to HOM for lunch...then in the afternoon we had a birthday party for Sandra's godson (sandra is the vice president of ACE)..so we had about 40 kids here and then an orphange from down the street came for a visit so in total we had about 50ppl it was pretty crazy but it was fun...sunday we went to church in the morning...i love church in zambia..the singing is soo amazing..and the pastor spoke about praise and worship..it was a very encouraging message..it was based on psalm 103:1-5...very nice verse...then after church we went to the local shopping center and to another craft fair...i didnt buy anything there but was able to see some of my friends who are vendors there again...they still remeber me from when i was there in 2008!!...monday we had devotions with all the staff at 8 and i love the devotions here...then after we had a meeting with all the managers..and then part of the group that is here along with sandra and i went to the shopping center where they went shopping while i went to get my phone to work...and it is now working which is nice..also on monday one baby..pascal(yes sindy the big eyed pascal) went home to his mom or aunt today...i wasnt here so i didnt get to say goodbye...sooo sad...but it is better he is home...and then that afternoon we recieved 3 more tiny babies...they are sooo cute..that evening we were just around house of moses and clement (the guard at HOM) and matildah (one of the workers) and i were doing soduko till pretty late...then all of a sudden alarms started to go off and next door at a hospital some former worker had apparently returned and was demanding money or something and started smashing all the windows...so clement and i ran out to see what was going on but by the time we got there a security company had already come and had found the man and beat him...(thats how its done here...the cops usually dont show up so if someone is caught stealing or breaking someones property the neighbours will just surround him and beat him..ive seen it a couple times now but still pretty hard to watch)...so that was my evening and then i woke up at 430 this morning to listen to the last part of the canucks game and unfourtunately we lost...but there is always next game...okay...so you all may be wondering where i will be uploading photos...right now i dont know as i think i have only taken like 4 photos..if you have any questions u can email me kevin_6489@hotmail.com.. or post a comment...thanks for all ur support and prayers..