Week One!

So I'm into my second week in  Zambia and now it seems a good time for an update! I'm enjoying a day off as its a public holiday here today (the second this week no less!).

It seems like a long time ago now that I had a debacle at Heathrow to come here last Monday 2nd March. Due to my ineptitude at reading Virgin's website, I had double the amount of luggage I was suppose to have, and each extra KG was £35!!! So I hastily repacking in a horrendous mess on the floor and was left quite upset and worried about whether or not I had everything I needed. Luckily the 10.5 hour flight was really relaxing, with 3 seats to myself to sleep in and a brilliant array of films on demand. Needless to say the transfer from Jo'burg to Ndola was less luxurious and I had the pleasure of being sprayed with insect repellant on the plane by the air hostess for what seemed like a decade (some legal thing). Sadly it didn't work because I got my first and only bite so far on the way to the farm from Ndola

airport...

I am living at Lifespring Farm, which is fantastic. It really is a beautiful and ideal place to stay. Apart from the main house and little lodges, there is a lot more to the place. There are many hectares of banana's, a big chicken house, and copious beautiful plants and trees in the bush land that belongs to the farm. We went on a great walk the other night through the farm to the top of a huge water tank for Ndola and watched a 360 degree sunset. Completely astonishing! The guys at the farm have been so welcoming, and I have already learnt so much from them. Not least, how to play Cribbage which is really fun and thankfully I’m getting a lot better at it!

I started my volunteer work last Wednesday. I am working between a project called Home Based Care (HBC) and a school. At HBC, Dickson a fantastic local pastor trains volunteers from the community to support those with AIDS, and I went to a session. I could not believe the beautiful sound of 15 people singing African worship songs in a converted 40ft metal container. That was breathtaking! The school is fantastic. It's a school for 40ish kids from the local compound who are all single (one dead parent) or double orphans. I was been working with Thelma, the Zambian teacher, and was really thrown in to the deep end when i had to teach on my own one afternoon a bunch of new kids who were little and spoke very little English! I absolutely love the children. SO much more endearing than British kids and so full of life. My favourite kid is Esau. He is 7 and a twin and has just moved from the capital Lusaka

. He doesn't speak bebma like everyone here, but he communicates with his face amazingly. He seems to have attached to me, which I am totally fine with! He does know some obligatory English for Zambians... Everyone here without fail knows how to say 'how are yoooooooooou' and 'I'm fine' in a really high pitched and hilarious tone. 'I'm fine' is literally their answer to absolutely everything - you only have to say hello and they quickly recite it! I have also tried the local food they give the kids every day (their only meal), which is a thick maize-based rice-like thing. I'm going to stick to my sandwiches! 

A lot about Ndola and Zambia really challenges me, particularly about the way people live their lives day to day and certainly a different kind of faith in God. A far more practical reality than I have ever seen. The Bible really comes alive to me here, and I have a lot of headspace for appreciating the beautiful place Zambia

is as well as the people God has made here.

This computer is really slow so it has taken me ages to write this, so I will try and be briefer next week!

The daily rain storm has started so I will probably loose power in a minute!

Hope you are all really well xx