Weeks 55 & 56 - 21.4.13

Week 55

Welcome back to Lumwana.

Things here are looking very dry. Instead of lush green and mud surroundings, we are back to brown, dry and dusty. The wet season came to an end earlier than hoped and everything has dried off very quickly. The garden was beautiful and lush when I left, now it looks dry and half dead. We are not getting water delivered and so it is back to saving bath water and washing water, so that we can use it on the garden. Unfortunately, we have a huge garden and so the water does not go far.

There are also a lot of fences up, which is surprising as we have been told that we are not to have fences on site. But now several houses in the township have huge chicken wire fences and gates and the pool, car park, bar and gym area is now surrounded by a huge fence as well. Not too sure why these have gone up and the rumours are flying.

There is also a wild animal on site. It is a Jackal / Wild Dog / Hyena / Lion depending on whom you talk to. There are a couple of traps on site, but so far they have not been able to catch it. My guess is a Jackal. The prints have been quite large, but a lion seems unlikely. Thankfully, no crocodiles have been seen either although the amount of snake sightings have been numerous. So have the photos of them sliding into people’s houses. Touch wood we have not come across one yet.

On my first day back, Michelle came to say hi and we spent several hours catching up which was lovely. She is a dear friend. I also thought I would cook a braai for dinner as it was hot in the house and I thought I had better get back into the swing of African life. However, when Phil and Luke came over at 5pm I was still struggling to light the damn charcoal! After 40 minutes of trying and then Luke and Phil helping we got it done and I was able to cook the chicken. Give me gas any day! For cooking that is. Lol…

Tuesday I did a quick trip to Manyama to grab some peanuts. The squirrel’s had not been fed in a while and I was hoping we still had them around.

Wednesday saw me cleaning the play group area with Michelle. This was my undoing. As I was still not well this knocked me around quite a bit and had me in bed early. But at least the play group area was ready for the next term. We also had Andrew around for the morning and then Sally, Ethan and Ella for the afternoon.  I was told by Rose, one of the newer ladies here that I had “put on”. That was lovely to hear, it is nice to know when someone thinks your fat. When I feel better I will be up at the gym every day!

On Thursday we headed to Kitwe to do some shopping. The shop on site is fairly poor with things, it has not improved in my absence and so we went to do a huge shop. The road was actually in better condition than when we went through previously. Most of the pot holes had been filled with dirt and rocks, so it was a better drive. We could not believe our eyes when we arrived,  what should we see but another truck crashed in the same spot as last time.

Thankfully, the truck had not tipped over and no crowd was gathering. I could not have gone through tear gas again, especially with the kids. They still remember last time. 

We managed to get our shopping done and even bought some more masks and have ordered some really big ones. Goodness knows where we will put them. We were back on site Saturday afternoon and on Sunday I lost my voice. As we had bought a huge amount of sweet potatoes, I made up a sweet potato, butternut, bacon and garlic soup. I thought this would help the throat.

Week 56

On Monday  it was up to the clinic after dropping Tom off at school. I was diagnosed with Laryngo tracheal bronchitis. Yeah! Home I went with some antibiotics. Let the Lumwana sicknesses begin again!

Tuesday I made some bread and rolls for Tom for school. After seeing Virginia make bread I kneaded the dough a bit more and it turned out delicious. I also used my new bread pan for the first time and it was a great looking loaf.

I went crazy in the kitchen on Wednesday and should have taken it a bit easier as it really wore me out. But we had no snacks for Tom’s lunch box. So I made some Weetabix balls, honey oat muffins and Anzac slice instead of biscuits. I also made a Lasagna for dinner. I don’t even think Tom likes the muffins or slice, but he is fussy. Laura will eat them.

Thursday was truly a day of rest all round.

On Friday I made pizza for dinner. I had also invited the usual group around for drinks so I made a Focaccia, some banana bread (Recipe from Michelle)  and also another loaf for dinner the next night as we had guests coming over. I also made a caramel custard ice cream. It did not turn out too bad, but it is no Peter’s ice cream!

Poor Tom and Laura are feeling a bit down. Laura’s friends all go to school and so she has not really had any one to play with during the days and Tom is desperate for more to play with. Fabian is sick and Andrew has been playing with another boy and Tom feels left out. It is quite sad really.That's the thing about a small community. Sometimes there just aren’t enough kids. We also found out today that one of the biggest contractor’s on site has to leave. Not too sure why, but I think the work that they do is coming to an end. This means that Fabian will be leaving in the near future and so will about 8 other kids from the school. This is a real shame as I like his Mum and Tom and Fabian get along really well. The school is getting smaller and smaller as no kids are coming in, only going out.

On Saturday I was back at the clinic with the kids as Tom had a fever. Phil had gone to Solwezi to get some things for dinner. Tom had to be checked for Malaria and the poor thing screamed. He was put onto antibiotics as his chest sounded a bit wheezy. I was also checked again and put on another dose of antibiotics. My chest was just not getting better and the doctor was worried about it developing into pneumonia. We then had some people over for dinner, Jan and Michelle with kids, Luke and Sally, Pete and his daughter Sonja. Phil cooked a braai and we had the fire going. I tried a new chocolate cake recipe for dessert and it was delicious. By this time I had most of my voice back, but was still coughing like crazy. I was also finding it incredibly hard to breathe. During the night, Janni managed to pull a chair over to the counter, climb on top and pour out the chocolate sprinkles I had left out after decorating the cake. Phil came in to find chocolate sprinkles all over the floor. I came in to find the kids eating them off the floor! 

Sunday was well and truly another day of rest and relaxation. We have been back 2 weeks and I have been ill the entire time and now Tom is as well. I give Laura until Wednesday before she has a fever also. I am wondering whether it is the house. It was full of mould when we got here and Carol did a great job of cleaning most of it up, but I still wonder.  I don’t want another year of the kids being sick and they certainly don’t need the constant antibiotics. I still have them on a multi vitamin and probiotic every day. The Sister at the clinic says we don’t like Zambia, but as I say, Zambia does not like us! We are the only family on site to have as much illness as we do. WHY? I wish I knew.

So as I said at the start. Welcome back to Lumwana!

Whilst I was home, my sister Jo was complaining about a couple of ants that were inside. I have included a photo to show what can happen when more than a few come inside. Now this is something to complain about!!!!!! By the way, our blankets were in this cupboard and I received a big surprise when I pulled one out.