the gift of gab

The primary function of Flying Mission’s existence is to support those who are already doing God’s work in rural parts of Zambia and Botswana. That involves a lot of flying of people and their stuff. I love flying in small planes. You’re far enough off the ground to get a great birds eye view of the landscape and not so far that you feel like you’re on a roller coaster ride.
So imagine my excitement when Bryan (FM Zambia director) told me that I could fly along to Macha while I was there. I was standing at the airstrip bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7:00 AM! Those of you who know me well know what a feat that is for me!
Macha is a village of about 200-300 people. It takes six hours to cover the bumpy dirt road between Lusaka and Macha during the dry season. However, we flew the distance in just under an hour in our six-seater plane. An airplane landing at the airstrip is quite an event! So a fair crowd had gathered in Macha to see who was arriving.
Many wonderful things are happening in Macha.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday started out pretty normal. However, as the morning wore on, I realized that I was starting to feel the heat and humidity. I was also getting a little tired of all the bugs. I worked in the office a bit in the morning and then had lunch with Rick and Tracy.
After lunch the three of us left for downtown Lusaka. Rick dropped Tracy and me off in a shopping district of town called Kumwala. The streets are lined with stores selling everything from rugs to appliances to household items. Many of the stores sold fabric used for the wrap skirts. They are called chitenge in the local Nyanja language. I bought several while I was there. They are quite comfortable to wear and incredibly versatile. The sidewalks in front of the stores were lined with vendors. Shoes. Tomatoes. Cell phones. Fish. Bananas. Whatever you wanted, you could find it. The streets in Kumwala were dusty and hot and crowded.
In order to sell her car, Tracy had to fill out a ream of paperwork. We found that at the police headquarters. Canadian imigration (for when she marries Rick) required her to get fingerprinted and a background check. We went to InterPol for that. The interesting thing about both of those places was the working arrangement. The offices generally just had several long tables and 3-8 people working in each office. There was no airconditioning, so the windows were open and everyone was hoping for a cross-breeze. I saw no computers anywhere and if there was a phone, it was one phone for the entire office. And somehow the work still gets done.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »