Photos and Story

Well, I moved into my house. Here are pictures of my room, the den, and outside the house. I need to find things to put on the walls because they are pretty bare, and I also need curtains. And some plants around the front would be nice so that it does not look like a prison. That will come though.

I can’t believe that I forgot to write about my journey into Mapalo, the compound, by myself. Lawrence was very scared for me. He made sure that I had everybody’s cell phone number in case I got myself in trouble. The purpose of my trip was to visit the four schools with whom I will be working. I can't drive my car into the compound because if I did I would have to buy a new car in a couple of months. The car would be ruined because of the wear and tear. I have to drive one of the Jubilee Centre trucks or the bus. When driving there you have to drive about 10 mph because the roads are so bad. In the rainy season you need a 4 wheel drive vehicle, or you will be stuck. I got to the first school ok, but when I went to leave in the van and go to the second school the van would not start. They had just put a new battery in the van that morning; therefore, I played around with it for about ten minutes. I could get nothing to happen though so I called somebody at the office. They said that they would be there with a mechanic. Well, the drive is a 15 minute drive; therefore, I expect them to get there in about 2 hours.

Not wanting to waste time, I asked my guide Sam if we could walk to the other schools. Sam is the principle at the Bread of Life Community School. That was the first school I visited. He said that we could. Little did I know, but Mapalo is a very big compound and my four schools are not close together. We ended up walking around and visiting schools for three hours in the middle of a very hot day. Needless to say that I was very tired when I got back to the van. Guess what though? 3 hours had gone by and nobody had come. Oh, Zambia! I called someone again, and they apologized profusely and said that they would be right out. Lucky for me though one of the men at the Bread of Life just started fiddling with the battery. He spent about 15 minutes working on it but eventually got it to start. I took no chances on the way back and drove straight to the Jubilee Centre. It all worked out for the best though. Sam and I had a great time walking and talking. He is one of the main people that I will be working with; therefore, it was good for me to spend time with him. That is all for today. Enjoy your weekend!