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