In addition to the "tithe scholarship" student sponsored by MICS, we also have a student sponsored by a missionary family in Macha.
The picture is of Beauty practicing her "letters" by writing in the sand.
Beauty is a little Zambian girl whose mother remarried and the new husband rejected her as a daughter, so she lives with her grandmother. The missionary family, has sort of adopted Beauty and she spends most of her daytime hours at their house. She does go to her grandmother's neighboring house to sleep.
Beauty's tuition is being paid for by this family and was actually the first MICS student sponsored by a caring family.
You, too, could help partially sponsor a new student who might not be able to afford to attend MICS and learn English at an early age.
Because of the limits places upon visitors as to the length of time they can be in Zambia during a given year, we had to return to Botswana for a time this month. Our days in Zambia had exceeded the 90 day yearly limit. The papers for our Zambian "work permit" are in process but not completed.
We returned to Tlokweng to see friends of the past 8 years and get more of our "things" sorted out. Ronda spent some time doing "teacher observations" of some of the new staff that had been hired for this year.
We had a great time back at TDS and were able to pack another load to bring to Macha. (some of the things we forgot to bring in January) Word came that our papers should be ready at immigration in Lusaka and we were e-mailed a copy of the receipt for processing the work permit. (a mere K 1,000,000)
When we got to the Zambian side of the border, immigration was only going to give us 2 days to go to pick up our permits. After much pleading and whining about the condition of the road to Macha, they agreed to allow us 10 days. Customs did not give the same hassle that they did in January.(PTL)
On our trip "south our car developed a great thirst for oil. Coming back to Zambia this thirst continued. We felt that we needed a second opinion about the car.
So....our limited time meant that we had to promptly proceed to Lusaka to get our more permanent papers. Monday 27 March we drove to Lusaka, taking 3 additional people along, dropping 2 in Choma and the third person accompanying us to Lusaka.
In Lusaka, the car went into the "hospital" for major surgery (an engine overhaul). And, our papers were not yet completed; but immigration did give us an additional 30 days. So,we flew back to Macha again on Wednesday. Fortunately, there were flights scheduled to and from Macha, even with the shortage of AvGas here in Southern Africa. This is "Life in Africa".
Our garden is taking shape thanks to the hard work and knowledge of the gentleman who is assisting us at the house.
The yard area for the garden has been worked to allow some planting of vegetables that will start to grow in this season (the start of what we might know as Fall). However, in order to add neutrients to the soil, fertilizer needed to be delivered. And with this being the rainy season, the collection of "cow manure" is very difficult. So, an alternative was to bring wood-ash from "the fires" at the Mission Hospital. (These "fires" are where the relatives of the patients prepare the meals for themselves and the patients.) This ash would be transported to our yard by "ox cart", however there was a delay of several days because the "ox cart" had a "puncture". Finally, the two loads of ash was delivered along with a third load (of fence posts) for the fence to keep animals (cows, goats, etc) out of the garden.
We now have internet access in the house again. (At least for now) This is after quite some time when either the electricity was off for the village and/or the signal to our house was such that we had to walk down the path toward the Mission Hospital to our "favorite tree" where a wireless signal could be received. So, what we would do is compose e-mails at home and then take the stroll to send and hopefully receive new e-mails. We checked cables, climbed on the roof to check the receiver, and said "this is Africa". But this morning, 31 March, the connection is available.
The Web-site has only had updates because Greg took the time to keep you all informed.
Back in the beginning of March the school had their "Commonwealth Day" observance. With Zambia having been a British Colony, Zambia is now part of the "Commonwealth of Nations". There are two countries of the "Commonwealth" represented at MICS (Zambia and Zimbabwe). But all of the students coloured the flags of their country (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, and USA) and the flag of our "Host Country". The children also dressed in the "native dress" of their country and brought artifacts common to their country. It was a good start of a tradition at MICS. The pictures that were taken have been lost in cyberspace. Sorry!!
I just wanted to let everyone know that Gil and Ronda (dad and mom) made it safely back to Macha. Their trip to Botswana went very well and all of the border crossings went smoothly. It also looks like they are making progress on the paper work for their residency visas...please keep praying.
It appears that there are some problems with the internet in Macha at this time. Gil (dad) has just let us know that they are able to check their email occasionally, but not at thier home. It is also known that there have been problems with power outages in Macha too...so the two issues together make it difficult to communicate with the outside world.
Please continue to pray for them. Living in a remote African village can be tough enough...Living in the dark, no running water, and no limited communication would make it that much harder!
They will be flying to Sue and Joel's (and Kaleb and Ethan's) house in Lusaka this coming Monday, so we should be able to get full updates at that time.
A special "Thanks" to Sue, for helping to keep us updated!
A special 'thank you' to all of you who check www.SoMacha.com regularly for updates! We have been having internet connection problems for the past several days, so we have not had email, skype, or web access to update this. Please continue to check back, we will update as often as possible.
We are heading on a trip to Botswana today. We have been in Zambia on a tourist visa, and our time limit is up. Our papers for work permits and long term visas have been filed, but the government requires that we leave the country and re-enter after the papers have been filed (we know...it doesn't make sense to us either :). We will most likely be gone a week as we need a receipt showing that we have applied for the work permits. It will not be ready before we leave Macha, so it will have to be faxed down to us or Bryan will fly it down to us next Saturday. Please pray that it all works out in the Lords timing.
We are very excited to return to Botswana for a few days. Joel will be meeting us in Livingston and riding with us. He has some tests to take (pilot/mechanic) in Gabs and he has to fly a plane back to Zambia next week. It will be great to see all of our good friends back at DaySpring School. I can't wait to go shopping in a real store and I am looking forward to a real shower with hot water!
We will continue to keep you posted with any updates, as we are able to.
Please keep us in your prayers...Thank You!
