We caught both Andy and Ashlee at home this week. They were reading by candle light as the sun had already gone down. They said it sets around 7pm since it is the winter season. They have both been going through a lot of books since they got there. Next week they are going to the provincial house for a group meeting and they are having a costume party called “Anything but clothes” and Ashlee was telling us about the costumes that she has been working on for them. There were a few large plaid plastic bags left behind by their predecessors that had some holes in them, so she made pleated skirt and halter top for her and shorts and a v-neck tank top with pockets for Andy using only the plastic bags and duct tape and coke bottle tops for the buttons. Two hours of the day are too hot to do anything outside so she has been working on the costumes for a couple of weeks. They had two peace corp. visitors in the last couple of weeks both of whom were very impressed with Ashlee’s ability to make costumes with no pattern. Sara, one of the volunteers, asked if Ashlee would come to visit her village and teach the ladies there some classes on sewing as she does not know how and that was a request from her village. Ashlee said they have a sewing machine already, so she is going to go stay for a few days and teach a few classes. Who knew all the skills we learned at home growing up would turn out to be so valuable?! Thanks Mom! There sure are all kinds of education that are important in life! Ashlee has also been knitting with the yarn Andrea sent to her.
Ashlee was describing the difficulty she has been having keeping ‘decent’ while trying to ride her bike as it is not acceptable to show above the knee, however walking around topless is completely acceptable. She has been wearing a long skirt most of the time but tying in knots on both sides to keep it out of the way. Andy said that they were warned that if you are a boob man the African women will change your mind in no time. They were telling us about a woman one of their friends saw who was actually breastfeeding a child who was riding on her back. I will let your imagination fill in the blanks on that one. Whew! Who needs TV with that kind of entertainment?
Ashlee said that the villagers were quite impressed with her volleyball skills in last week’s tournament. She said that she had served 5-6 aces in a row and one of the men turned to her and said “you are making points with those” and she just smiled and replied, “I know.” She said it was fun to play.
They are getting to know the two boys who live next door and are going to tutor them. She said they are in the 6th and 7th grade, but they are behind where they should be. They are really good boys and they enjoy their company and they help them a lot around the house. They are collecting manure for their garden and they have found they can barter with the kids to get manure. The previous people left around 1000 pencils and they pay the kids one pencil for each bag of manure. They have been generating some interest with the project and hope to teach the villagers about natural fertilizer. The cost of these products is also rising there so it is important for them to learn how to help their crops with a renewable resource. They don’t have an understanding of crop rotation or alternating plant types and the soils get tire and don’t produce as well so they are also trying to teach that basic concept. There is one man in particular who is always coming by to see what Andy is working on. Most people are hesitant, but this one guy is very interested so they plan to teach him everything they can and see if it starts to bring more people in as it goes. Andy is also planning to build a chicken coop so they can get a chicken and have fresh eggs and the occasional chicken dinner, but they cannot eat a whole chicken and there is no way to preserve any food so for now they plan to buy half chickens at the market.
They have encountered an issue they are not sure how to deal with. A common practice there is illegal production of charcoal which is made from illegally chopping down trees and treating it. They recently discovered that one of the villagers is doing this at his home. He has been a really friendly guy and they don’t want to make and waves in their village, but since they work for the forestry department they are kind of the enforcers of the rules, but don’t really know how to handles it.
They went to church on Saturday and were able to get a list of things the church needs put together. The pastor, in fact, has 25 churches under his charge. They said that once the church is completed if they build a house the Conference has said they will give the church its own pastor so they are working towards that. They are sending a package of recording and information to the parents to present at their church.
It is the burning season there and they said they burn everything to the ground. Ashlee speculated that it helps with the snakes, but they have never gotten an official reason. She said the smoke is irritating to her and right now it is pretty much every day. If it helps with the snakes that is good because their neighbor killed a 3-1/2’ spitting cobra the other day. These snakes spit poisonous venom at you and it can blind you. The antidote is breast milk and Ashlee said there is always someone around who breastfeeds so that is good. Actually any milk will do, but they told them breast milk is the best.
They did some shopping while in the village. Andy just got a new outfit. It is a LA Laker basketball uniform only in olive green and navy/purple. They said the outfits are available in just about any color but the Lakers purple and gold. The NBA logo has been replaced with SV. Everything there is a knock off. They wanted to get an outfit for Aundre, but they didn’t come large enough. They said they are very lucky because their Boma has so many things. They think it is because of the hospital. There is one store in town that has candy and soda that they get from Lusaka every week so that is nice.
They will be at the provincial house next weekend so they said not to call as they don’t know when they will be home. They are supposed to get a ride home from the peace corp. after the big party Saturday night but don’t know when they will reach their home on Sunday.
Everyone remember that June 14 is Andy’s birthday so you can drop a card in the mail and it will arrive late or you can text him.
