Village Funeral

We went with other members of church to the Pastor's village for the burial of his mother.  She was 86 years old, had 9 children, 47 grandchildren and 72 great grandchildren. We were not told how many great grandchildren, but we know some of them.
To get to the village was a 3 hour journey each way in a crowded, open lorry (called a canter).



Setting out in the cold morning

The burial site was next to a field of sun flowers

A Little Trip Away

We had 2 very restful days in Livingstone:

Woodland kingfisher

Bee eater - ask Amos which one!

The Maramba River which runs into the Zambezi.  Full of crocodiles!

Steam train

Egrets

Egret

We stayed in a very nice tent, but I forgot to put the pictures on the computer, so it will have to wait until next time...

Here's the tent

Inside

Outside.  Handsome man not provided by site.

Evening Light

Baptisms

On Sunday 4th March we had a baptism service at church.  8 adults went through the waters of baptism as a witness that they have found forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus and are now committed to following him.
Most of them have little experience of deep water and you could see that the prospect of being 'dunked' was terrifying.
Here are some pictures

Siavonga

We had a weekend trip to Siavonga, on the dam end of Lake Kariba.  We
 went with 6 others and had a good time, relaxing and getting to know each other better.
Some pictures:



Kariba Dam.  There is a large crocodile on the rock in the middle of the pool.

The lake.  Zimbabwe on the left, Zambia on the right

Downstream from the dam. Zambia on the left, Zimbabwe on the right

Just chillin'

Add caption

Ever hopeful....

Baobab tree

Some serious cloud!

Cholera

Cholera in Zambia has not arrived in Choma, so the effects we are feeling are only the precautions that people are taking - for us this is mostly not shaking hands when greeting.
We are being constantly reminded about personal and food hygiene, and symptoms to look out for.
The outbreak started in Lusaka in October and has as yet not been contained, although considering the virulence of the bacteria, the spread is slow.

What the papers say:

Front page on Saturday 6th January

Clean water being provided in an affected area

This is Lusaka, but the street traders in Choma have also been removed, and when I went into town today the sides of the road looked very like the top picture, where all the traders' shelters have been dismantled.

Harry Mwaanga Nkumbule

This statue was recently unveiled in the grounds of Choma Museum:

Harry Mwaanga Nkumbule

These are the information boards about the statue.  They are well worth reading.  Harry Mwaanga Nkumule was an opposition leader who put aside his own objections to single party government for the sake of peace and stability in Zambia.  He is credited with the years of peace that have followed the signing of the Choma Declaration in 1973.

"In December 1972 Nkumbule opposed the one-party state and strongly debated against the one-party state in parliament.  This led to more struggles in the country causing a lot of damage to people and property.  However since peace and unity were of the utmost importance to him Nkumbula eventually went along with the UNIP and agreed to the formation of a one-party state during the meeting that was held in Choma on June 27th 1973, which came to be known as the Choma Declaration.  ..........  Had Mr Nkumbula opted not to sign Choma Declaration, inter-party rivalry would have been perpetuated, leading to countless deaths and destruction of property."