Monday and Tuesday in Zambia
On Monday morning, I drove the 13 kilometers (about 8 miles) with Bryan to Chilongolo. It took us about 30 minutes because of the conditions of the road. Chilongolo is the name of the farm where the Flying Mission airstrip and office is. Makeni Road started out paved in Lusaka. As we drove out of town, there were more and more potholes. Eventually, it was just a very bumpy dirt road.
During this week, about 20 men were on the farm being trained to build with Hydraform blocks. The blocks are made with only 5% cement and 95% local soil (dirt). The soil is very clay-rich in Zambia, so all of the blocks were a beautiful shade of red. Hydraform blocks are interlocking and therefore don’t require any mortar. It’s a wonderful and inexspensive way to build in rural Zambia. By the end of the week, the men had completed a toilet/shower building for the new worker housing.
Bryan gave me a tour of the Farm and I met Roger and Sally Green, a lovely couple from England. Roger and Sally are in charge of the physical projects. Sally also runs a soccer ministry with the children in the area. We had lunch with the Greens on Monday.
I saw where future missionary and guest housing would go, as well as the future hangar/office. I also saw the current office that I’ll be working in. It’s a converted storage shed and has no airconditioning. But – it does have high speed internet!!! On both Monday and Tuesday, I spent time in the office chatting with people as they came in and working on little projects. I cleaned up the office some and moved some of the furniture around. Bryan had me working on some documents that he’s been wanting to create for months but hasn’t had time to complete. It was great to be useful right away.
Tuesday was much of the same at the farm. I got to chat with Rick and Tracy some more. Doug and Deb Hammes, along with two short-termers from Germany, had arrived late the night before and we were all very happy to see them. They had driven up from Jo’burg to Lusaka. It took them two days to get there.
On Tuesday evening we all went to Bryan and Diane’s for dinner. Deb and I drove in early with Bryan so that we could help. Diane figured the best way for us to help was to play with her children while she fixed dinner. Just fine with us. We had a great time playing with Charis (2 months), Ross (19 months), and Toby (4 years).
That night I went back to the farm with Doug and Deb and slept in the house of one of the other pilot families, the Breuningers, who were out on vacation. I had a square mosquito net there, which worked out really well, especially in keeping the spiders out of my bed.