Weeks 28 & 29 - 14.10.12

Week 28

What a week! How many times have I said that now? Just when I think that things might be quiet for a while, something happens to keep me on my toes.

On Monday, I went with Big Laura (a girl on site) to see Lumwana East Markets and Luamvundu School. LTG is sponsoring the building of toilets at the markets, as they would have had to close if no facility was built. Now the markets can stay and people can buy and sell goods as before. The toilets are still in the early stages. They have dug the ‘hole’ (drop toilet) and are bricking up the inside walls of it. I had not been to Lumwana East before, let alone walked around behind the buildings. To get to the toilet you have to walk over all sorts of rubbish, ranging from plastic bottles to broken glass and razor blades. There is no rubbish collection facilities, and so things get left on the ground or blown there. The kids were with me and I hope they took in what the other kids have, which is not a lot. From there we went to Luamvundu School. Tom and Little Laura certainly were the main attraction. It is not very often that the kids get to see little Mzungu’s (white person). We dropped off some supplies and I taught some of the kids to do high five’s. Next year when Laura goes to Kindy, I will be able to go out to the school with the Literacy Program that LTG runs. This is something I am really looking forward to doing. The local kids really were great, so happy to see us. It was a lovely day.

Then on Tuesday, after a hard 9 km walk. I came home to blood all over the back bricks and Laura crying and with a Band-Aid on her finger. Carol told me she had cut it quite badly on the outside sink (the underneath is really quite sharp) and probably needed stitches. So off we went to the clinic. The doctor took the Band-Aid off and oh my gosh! She had nearly sliced the whole pad of her left index finger off. She was given some pethidine and diazepam in the backside and left to calm down before they could begin to stitch. Thankfully Phil came to hold Laura and I helped the doctor while he gave her 5 stitches. Unfortunately, he had to remove some skin as it had gone blue from lack of blood supply and then had to pull it all together with the stitches. To make it worse, they did not have any paediatric sutures and needles and so it was very awkward.  But OMG!!!! It was nasty. Thank goodness I don’t faint in those types of situations. Poor Laura came home and slept off the drugs. That afternoon we went for a short while to Tristan’s 6^th Birthday party. Her finger was so sore poor love.

Wednesday was quiet as Laura could not do too much with her sore finger. I had an LTG meeting in the morning and then we crashed around the house.

On Thursday, I drove to Solwezi to do some shopping. The kids at the shops have learnt now to leave me alone. So I am able to go in and shop without being hassled. It was really busy and took about an hour to go through the check-out. I was lucky that the customer behind me helped to unload my trolley as I packed it up at the other end. Most days there is no-one to help pack, which is why we generally go shopping in two's.

Friday was the best day I have had here so far. Unfortunately, my walking partner Kat is leaving and it was her farewell. But what a great night! Dinner was lovely and then the tables were moved out of the way and the dance music put on. I had not been dancing since my hen’s night and boy did I dance. I started dancing at about 930 pm and finished at 1 am. I was one of the last 6 girls to leave. The 5 tequila shots and wine kept me going! I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was worth it. So were the sore calf muscles for the next 3 days. LOL! Thankfully I did not have a hangover, just an incredibly tired feeling.

We had to take Laura to the clinic on Saturday to get her stitches out. Unfortunately the skin was too soft and a slight infection had developed. So we had to give it some air and go back again on Sunday. Even then the skin had not sealed together, but the stitches were removed. My poor little girl's finger was a mess! If she does not have a huge scar from this I will be amazed.

On Sunday I took the kids to the dam to see if the fish had come back. Again there was none to be seen. However, we did spot masses of tadpoles and so collected a couple. I loved watching them change into frogs as a kid and so I want mine to have the same experience. Let's hope they survive.

Week 29

Thank goodness school started back again today. After dropping Tom off, Laura and I had to go to the clinic again to have her finger cleaned. The Doctor was still a bit unhappy with its progress, but it was a nasty cut, so I was not expecting miracles in a week. When we went back again on Tuesday he was impressed and so it was left up to me to keep cleaning morning and night. Now it looks good, or as good as it can. The cut is healing really well and Laura can feel the tip, so the nerve damage was only minor. I am so glad she did not take the whole tip of her finger off. 

On Wednesday, we came across 2 Chameleon’s and 3 Snake tracks. The Chameleons were gorgeous. The first was a small bright green one and when we picked it up, it started to change colour. They have the most amazing feet and eyes. See photo. I would absolutely love one. The next was obviously older as it was quite a bit bigger and a more brown in colour. I picked it up again off the road and put it down safely out of trucks path. They move so slowly, the trucks run them over, so it is always best to move them off the road. I did not enjoy seeing the Snake tracks though, quite scary really. I am not enjoying the thought of coming across one. I have picked out a decent size piece of bamboo to take with me on my walks, just in case.

That afternoon, Laura and I went to the dam to get some more water and food for the tadpoles. It was so muddy and sticky that Laura fell over on her bottom. As she was trying to get up, she stumbled and slipped and went face first into the mud. It was so funny. There were a few locals there and we all laughed together. Thankfully, Laura saw the funny side of it too.

Thursday, saw me make cakes, cakes and more cakes for the LTG cake sale. Then on Friday, I headed to the mine with Big Laura to sell them. We made 1 million!!!!!!  Kwatcha that is.

On Saturday I headed to Solwezi with my friend Michelle. We were escaping for the weekend. We left our husbands and kids at home and went to Solwezi for the night. It was great. We had a lovely lunch at the Royal Solwezi Hotel and then wandered through the local markets. I found some beautiful fabrics and I am going to get a local Zambian dressed made from one.  We then stocked up on alcohol and chocolate and headed back to the hotel to sit and relax. It wasn't long before the hotel was full of local men. Zambia was playing Uganda in a qualifying round of the Africa Cup and the hotel was showing it on big screen. It was such a great atmosphere and thankfully Zambia won, 1-0. That night the power must have gone off about 20 times. It would come on for a minute or two and then go off again. Thankfully, the kitchen was run on a generator and so dinner was still available. Then it was back to the room for a peaceful night’s sleep. It was so lovely to wake up when you are ready, instead of being pulled out of a sleep by kids screaming ‘MUM’! We have already booked our next night and this time there will be about 6 of us!

I have to admit that the last 6 ½ months have been interesting. As far as Laura is concerned she has never been sicker and I worry about long term damage to her small body. She has been on antibiotics almost constantly since being here. Most days I feel as though I am living the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ every day. We still have not received our belongings (upset about this, as we were told we would get them within a couple of months) and I have considered going home. But then I realise just what I and the kids would miss. First of all we would miss Phil, and then the whole experience. I am looking at all options at this point. How many kids can say they lived in the middle of Africa? We really want them to learn from this experience and I want to be able to say that I did help a little bit. Every little thing I do for LTG, helps a child get an education. The LTG may not be able to put a lot of kids through school now, but the 4 that we are sponsoring is 4 more than before.  Who knows how many more we will be able to do next year. So I will keep going day by day and we will see how Laura goes. The rain should be here soon and so that will make a difference.