You know something, this isn't so bad after all.
I've been trying really hard to listen to God the past two weeks. Trying to figure out why he brought us here and what we are supposed to accomplish in the next 8 weeks. The other morning I realized that maybe this isn't all about what God is going to do through me for Zambia but what God is going to do in me away from the distractions of America. Living in a slow town with a lenient schedule and few friends takes away all of the things I used as excuses to not be alone with Jesus. Here God has all of me because I don't know where else I can let myself be.
When I miss home, He is the most comfort I could desire.
When I doubt people's understanding of what I want from my time here, He is telling me to relax.
When I get frustrated by people continuously pointing out that I am White or passing me in lines or speaking in a language they know I can't understand, He is reminding me that He knows me and He loves me and in the midst of everything, THAT IS ENOUGH.
Zambia is a lot more fun when you're goal is to just sit back, relax, and make the most of everything.
Sunday we went to a dam/lake thing. Taught a family how to play Ultimate Frisbee. Watched little boys break dance. Saw a Zambian pop concert.
Monday we got to see Dayspring Street Project (the new orphanage we will be working with in Kitwe). We played Frisbee and cards with the older boys. We taught the younger ones how to play charades (basic English words of course) and ninja. That was a hit! (literally). In the afternoon, Ava Michelle and I ran errands- what?! I have errands in Africa? Lillian, the owner of Dayspring had us over to her really nice house for supper. She explained all about the Project and the kids and her vision. It was so awesome to hear about how feeding a couple kids porridge one morning turned into rescuing more than 40 boys and girls from the streets, teaching them how to take care of themselves, and being the family they thought they'd never have.
Today we had a plan to go to the girls' orphanage that Dayspring runs. Ha! Lillian took us to the market to get material for dresses we need made for a Kitchen Party on Saturday (I'll tell you about it once I know what it is). Then we had to pick up her friends and all of us went to the tailor together. Note: the "tailor" is a lady with three kids running around who made Lillian lunch because she was hungry then all the ladies talked for an hour before measurements were even taken. We made a quick stop by the girls' orphanage (which is called Faith) before coming back to our hostel.
All that to say that I'm really starting to get the hang of Zambian life. Trading punctuality and check lists for friendships and a good laugh. Shedding the doubts and anxieties that overwhelmed me a week ago and replaced them with excitement and hope for what the next six weeks holds.
Thanks again for everyone's love and support. It means more than you could even imagine.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Risa meet Zambia. Zambia meet tie-dye.
So I was trying to explain what "hippies" are to Ivor the other day and clearly I pointed to the tie-dye shirt I was wearing. He said that the people in Senegal like them, but people in Zambia don't really wear tie-dye. To enlighten the rest of you on Zambian culture, here are some fun facts...
- The staple food is nashima (pronounced "shima") and it is made from ground corn. Everyone is always so surprised that we've eaten it and like it. Ivor said the longest he's gone without nashima is 1 day. What?!?
- English is the official language but only in theory. Each province has their own language- Bemba being spoken where we are now. "Muli shani" means "How are you?" and "Bwino" means "I am fine". That's the only response we've learned so if I'm not fine, I guess I just lie.
- Drivers have no mercy and crosswalks mean nothing. We've almost been run over a number of times.
- In Bemba, "white people" is "Musungus" and people have no problem pointing and yelling that as we walk down the street.
- We are the first white people some of these Zambians have ever seen.
- Everyone here loves Obama and Zambia as a whole seems to have followed the election pretty closely. Makes me feel a little bad for being American and not liking American politics.
- The education system is not so great. Kids can pay their teachers to pass them even if they fail exams. Children don't learn to read English until 5th grade! Plus they only go to school from 8:30 am to noon.
- After a couple has been dating for 3 years, the girl can sue the guy if he hasn't proposed yet.
- Today we were accused of not wanting to make friends in Zambia because we didn't have a phone. We told the random guys who offered us their seats in the park that we (Ava Michelle and myself) are always together and our Zambian friend (Ivor) knows where to find us.
- The bigger the corporation, the more expensive the product. So I guess McDonald's and Wal-Mart have it all backwards.
- The mosquitoes that carry malaria bite between 02:00 and 04:00 am.
- Most people rotate between 2-3 outfits because that's all they have.
I'm trying to upload pictures but it's proving difficult so hopefully they will be available soon.
- The staple food is nashima (pronounced "shima") and it is made from ground corn. Everyone is always so surprised that we've eaten it and like it. Ivor said the longest he's gone without nashima is 1 day. What?!?
- English is the official language but only in theory. Each province has their own language- Bemba being spoken where we are now. "Muli shani" means "How are you?" and "Bwino" means "I am fine". That's the only response we've learned so if I'm not fine, I guess I just lie.
- Drivers have no mercy and crosswalks mean nothing. We've almost been run over a number of times.
- In Bemba, "white people" is "Musungus" and people have no problem pointing and yelling that as we walk down the street.
- We are the first white people some of these Zambians have ever seen.
- Everyone here loves Obama and Zambia as a whole seems to have followed the election pretty closely. Makes me feel a little bad for being American and not liking American politics.
- The education system is not so great. Kids can pay their teachers to pass them even if they fail exams. Children don't learn to read English until 5th grade! Plus they only go to school from 8:30 am to noon.
- After a couple has been dating for 3 years, the girl can sue the guy if he hasn't proposed yet.
- Today we were accused of not wanting to make friends in Zambia because we didn't have a phone. We told the random guys who offered us their seats in the park that we (Ava Michelle and myself) are always together and our Zambian friend (Ivor) knows where to find us.
- The bigger the corporation, the more expensive the product. So I guess McDonald's and Wal-Mart have it all backwards.
- The mosquitoes that carry malaria bite between 02:00 and 04:00 am.
- Most people rotate between 2-3 outfits because that's all they have.
I'm trying to upload pictures but it's proving difficult so hopefully they will be available soon.
Monday, November 19, 2012
God's got jokes.
Disclaimer: I intended on posting this last Friday but ran into some Internet trouble.
It still is kind of surreal that we are in Zambia, a days worth of travel away from home, surrounded by people who look at us like we are foreigners. Oh wait.
Let's start from the beginning. All of the flights were great. The people were all helpful and friendly (for the most part). Even the 15 hour flight from New York to South Africa was pleasant. Getting Visas and getting into Zambia was surprisingly simple- thank goodness. Oh and did I say that we got to board a plane from the runway? That has always been a small dream of mine. Bucket List... check! Ivor was at the airport with a paper that read:
After waiting for what seemed likeforever for a taxi, we loaded up our things and headed to Maramba, Livingstone. Then Ivor dropped the bomb. Or bombs I should say. We were informed that we would only be at the orphanage in Livingstone for 2 days (Thursday and Friday), helping with a church's children's program on Saturday, then seeing Victoria Falls on Sunday. Great first 4 days right? Well then Monday we will be boarding a bus for a 15 hour ride bound for the Copper Belt. There we will help Ivor's sister with her children at a Catholic School for "1 week or 2 -however long you like. Then if you want to stay in the Copper Belt we can find an orphanage for you to work there" as Ivor says. Whoa. What?! What about Livingstone? What about Heartspring Orphanage? What about my perfect imagery of walking to work in the mornings waving to people I recognize? What about settling down into our cozy little hostel? Ava Michelle and I had our little panic attack over all this being sprung on us once we are already in the country. After some prayers and rationalization, and moving into our more- temporary- than-not room, we ventured into town with Ivor to exchange money and get phones.
The exchange rate here is basically 1USD = 5,000 Zambia Kwacha. So we feel a whole lot richer here than in America. As far as the phone thing- you see I have this really sweet boyfriend who went through a lot of trouble and made some pseudo-sacrifices to make sure I had a phone to bring with me. Most of you know that I'm not big on technology and would have considered not going through the trouble of getting a phone should I have any idea what the next 8 weeks holds for us. But because of all the uncertainty I thought it best to have some form of consistent communication. Ha! After visiting 3 stores to get SIM cards, getting the cards cut to fit A-Shelle's iPhone, and trying to get my phone unlocked, we deemed it a lost cause. So for the time being we are going to try our luck with Wi-Fi .
We got a solid 11.5 hours of sleep the first night thanks to not/barely sleeping Monday night before we left then not really sleeping well on planes. The next fiasco was trying to withdraw money to pay our program fees. The ATMs are not American debit card friendly and bankers look at us like we're crazy. Hopefully Plan C to get money will work out today. Throughout all of this my prayer has been that the kids will make it all worth it. We met them yesterday and they are easily some of the happiest children I've ever met. We played lots of games and danced and sang. They made me sing the Star Spangled Banner solo. Poor kids- I'm a terrible singer. They also taught us a song about obeying your parents which coming from an orphan's mouth, is enough to melt even the hardest heart. After a day with them, half of me is excited to really get to know and invest in them but the other half of me wonders if what we do will even matter in the long run. Volunteers some in and out of places like Heartspring all the time but even if the kids don't remember us, I want to have invested in their future. I want have given them a chance at a life bigger than they think possible right now. Maybe I'm a skeptic, but playing Little Sally Walker isn't going get them there.
I just feel lost right now. Not sure how much of this trip is about me feeling happy and useful versus how much is doing whatever's does (or doesn't) take to make kids smile. It's finding the balance between going with the flow and inquiring about the purpose of what we are doing.
I told Ava Michelle last night that it blows my mind that God has known all of this was going to happen all along the way. Even as we spoke so confidently about our trip at home, He was just smiling and thinking, "Don't have expectations. I'd hate for you to be disappointed."
So here's to no expectations. Here's to making the most of Africa no matter what. Here's to loving orphans. But most of all, here's to God having it under control.
Current update: We are in Kitwe, Zambia (part of the Copper Belt where most of the country's mining takes place). We will be helping our guide's (Ivor) sister teach at the Catholic School. Well, that is one of our tasks. Today the teachers of another school told Ivor's sister that she could use our help tomorrow so we are helping teach there. Once the kids get out for Christmas break, we will work at an orphanage near our hostel. Always an adventure...
It still is kind of surreal that we are in Zambia, a days worth of travel away from home, surrounded by people who look at us like we are foreigners. Oh wait.
Let's start from the beginning. All of the flights were great. The people were all helpful and friendly (for the most part). Even the 15 hour flight from New York to South Africa was pleasant. Getting Visas and getting into Zambia was surprisingly simple- thank goodness. Oh and did I say that we got to board a plane from the runway? That has always been a small dream of mine. Bucket List... check! Ivor was at the airport with a paper that read:
LOVE VOLUNTEERS
Ava Michelle Brewer & Risa Chavez
That'
s us!!!After waiting for what seemed likeforever for a taxi, we loaded up our things and headed to Maramba, Livingstone. Then Ivor dropped the bomb. Or bombs I should say. We were informed that we would only be at the orphanage in Livingstone for 2 days (Thursday and Friday), helping with a church's children's program on Saturday, then seeing Victoria Falls on Sunday. Great first 4 days right? Well then Monday we will be boarding a bus for a 15 hour ride bound for the Copper Belt. There we will help Ivor's sister with her children at a Catholic School for "1 week or 2 -however long you like. Then if you want to stay in the Copper Belt we can find an orphanage for you to work there" as Ivor says. Whoa. What?! What about Livingstone? What about Heartspring Orphanage? What about my perfect imagery of walking to work in the mornings waving to people I recognize? What about settling down into our cozy little hostel? Ava Michelle and I had our little panic attack over all this being sprung on us once we are already in the country. After some prayers and rationalization, and moving into our more- temporary- than-not room, we ventured into town with Ivor to exchange money and get phones.
The exchange rate here is basically 1USD = 5,000 Zambia Kwacha. So we feel a whole lot richer here than in America. As far as the phone thing- you see I have this really sweet boyfriend who went through a lot of trouble and made some pseudo-sacrifices to make sure I had a phone to bring with me. Most of you know that I'm not big on technology and would have considered not going through the trouble of getting a phone should I have any idea what the next 8 weeks holds for us. But because of all the uncertainty I thought it best to have some form of consistent communication. Ha! After visiting 3 stores to get SIM cards, getting the cards cut to fit A-Shelle's iPhone, and trying to get my phone unlocked, we deemed it a lost cause. So for the time being we are going to try our luck with Wi-Fi .
We got a solid 11.5 hours of sleep the first night thanks to not/barely sleeping Monday night before we left then not really sleeping well on planes. The next fiasco was trying to withdraw money to pay our program fees. The ATMs are not American debit card friendly and bankers look at us like we're crazy. Hopefully Plan C to get money will work out today. Throughout all of this my prayer has been that the kids will make it all worth it. We met them yesterday and they are easily some of the happiest children I've ever met. We played lots of games and danced and sang. They made me sing the Star Spangled Banner solo. Poor kids- I'm a terrible singer. They also taught us a song about obeying your parents which coming from an orphan's mouth, is enough to melt even the hardest heart. After a day with them, half of me is excited to really get to know and invest in them but the other half of me wonders if what we do will even matter in the long run. Volunteers some in and out of places like Heartspring all the time but even if the kids don't remember us, I want to have invested in their future. I want have given them a chance at a life bigger than they think possible right now. Maybe I'm a skeptic, but playing Little Sally Walker isn't going get them there.
I just feel lost right now. Not sure how much of this trip is about me feeling happy and useful versus how much is doing whatever's does (or doesn't) take to make kids smile. It's finding the balance between going with the flow and inquiring about the purpose of what we are doing.
I told Ava Michelle last night that it blows my mind that God has known all of this was going to happen all along the way. Even as we spoke so confidently about our trip at home, He was just smiling and thinking, "Don't have expectations. I'd hate for you to be disappointed."
So here's to no expectations. Here's to making the most of Africa no matter what. Here's to loving orphans. But most of all, here's to God having it under control.
Current update: We are in Kitwe, Zambia (part of the Copper Belt where most of the country's mining takes place). We will be helping our guide's (Ivor) sister teach at the Catholic School. Well, that is one of our tasks. Today the teachers of another school told Ivor's sister that she could use our help tomorrow so we are helping teach there. Once the kids get out for Christmas break, we will work at an orphanage near our hostel. Always an adventure...
Monday, November 12, 2012
this is really happening!
Yupp. In less than 6 hours, Ava Michelle and I will be boarding a plane to Livingstone, Zambia. A lot of people have been asking me what is going through my head right now. My answer is either "nothing" or "everything". There are so many emotions - excitement, anxiety, sadness, joy... I feel unprepared but as ready as I could possibly be. I cannot wait to see those little African children but at the same time I am dreading walking through security, away from America. I am thrilled for another adventure but already crave the comfort that comes with settling down.
In order to avoid all of the confusion, I have just been going through the motions...
Getting everything I need for five months to fit in two less-than-fifty-pounds bags.
Saying goodbye to my best friends.
Scanning and emailing and making copies of important documents.
Making sure that Mom and Dad are set for once I'm gone.
At this point, all of the logistics are as good as they are going to get.
It's all about heart change from here on out. A good friend of mine told me this summer that our biggest prayer is always that God will change our hearts. I'm going to a place that is anything but North Carolina. The food is different. The people are different. The communication is different. Everything is different. But the one thing that is constant is God. In the midst of change and uncertainty and sadness, He promises to be steady and firm. I am so excited to be stripped of everything that I know- everything that is comfortable- so that I may gain more intimacy with the Father than I have ever known. He is the same God in Zambia that He is in Maiden that He is in Cambodia that He is in Raleigh. I pray that He will open my eyes to struggles I didn't even realize existed and that He will literally break my heart for the people around me. I pray that in five months I am not the same Risa who is writing this.
I know fully well that it isn't going to be easy but I do know that everything will be worth it. Thank you to everyone who has walked through this whole process with me. You have planned surprise parties. You have taken me out to eat. You have given me sweet, thoughtful gifts. You have organized fundraisers. You have prayed for me. You have driven far just to give me a hug. You have contributed to some of the best looking journals Africa will have ever seen. Above all, you have loved me.
I can't wait to share in this adventure with all of you. Stay tuned. I hear things are about to get crazy!!!
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