Rain, rain and more rain

The rains have been relentless the last week, raining most of each day. They have been trying to get things done around the house, but it is difficult when you are stuck inside most of the day. Ashlee finally broke down and did laundry in the rain. She said there was only about two hours of sun in the afternoon, but they couldn't wait any longer to get their clothes clean.
Andy and Ashlee have been spending most of their time on the tree farm lately. It is about a 20 K bike ride to the site so they have been putting a lot of miles on their bikes. Andy has make the trip pretty much every day and Ashlee has been out 3 or 4 times this week as well. They go caught in the rain once and said they were soaked to the bone. Things are moving along and they are excited to see the progress. A man from the Embassy is making a trip to the NW province soon and would like see the tree farm and interview Joseph about it. They are very excited about the interest it is generating and the good publicity that will be a result.
Their supervisor was in town this week as there are soon to be two new volunteers coming to their district. They went with their boss to do site prep, which basically involves visiting the villages and letting them know that they will soon have a volunteers and give them a briefing of what they will be there to do. They also took their boss to the tree farm. It sounds like everyone if very impressed with their efforts so far. As mentioned before, the chief also wants to plant his own tree farm. This could be a very lucrative business as well as providing the building materials that could help improve the housing.
You have an example in the photos that were just uploaded the the Flickr account of a great use for the lumber: the new bridge. The children were crossing the bridge labeled the 'bad bridge' in the photos to go to school during the rainy season. Not something most American parents would ever allow. Andy helped them design and build the bridge with sturdy posts with concrete footings, and 2x decking that is raised well above the highest water level. You can also see in the photos how they regraded the path on either end of the bridge to raise the level. A concept American are very familiar with as it is how most highway intersections are addressed, but this was a new concept for them. Having lumber available would be a huge benefit in many ways.
Ashlee has just started working with a new man who has been frustrating her. She said he treats her like she is an idiot. He says things to her like: Didn't you study geography in school? And she has been snapping right back at him which I am sure was a surprise to him. He has been testing her every chance he gets. As he feels they couldn't possibly know anything about plants in their region. He has been having trouble with his banana plants and had Ashlee over to take a look and prove to them that he knew more about it than them. Ashlee proved that she did know what she was taking about and so now she is helping him with banana trees. Stubborn man! He spends time on the Internet and wanted to buy a tractor on Ebay and have it shipped to Zambia. He was asking Ashlee if he could do that. She told him he could but he should just to go to Lusaka and buy one as shipping would be a fortune. The tractor he found on Ebay was several years old and was was trying to explain to him that it could be a collector and may not be a functioning tractor. He could not understand why you would keep on old tractor just to look at. Antiques are a foreign concept.
We kept getting cut off on the phone due to the oncoming storm so that is all for now.

Christmas letter

Happy New Year from the Royal Solwezi

Andy and Ashlee enjoyed the New Year's in the Royal Solowezi a hotel in the Boma. The hotel had fireworks and live music but Ashlee soon bored of that an opted for a little TV time. The provincial house was full of volunteers and they were in need of a little peace and quite and ESPN. She said they got an American station and were able to watch a count down of the most significant events of the year. They thought it ironic how may they had not even heard of. Ashlee said they would be there for two nights and would go to the provincial house tomorrow after is settles down a little bit and do some cooking and Internet surfing done before going back to the village.

They said it was a good time for a break. They have both been pretty frustrated with village and their project lately. Right now all they are getting is a hand out and a "Give me Christmas". They are constantly asked to give them things and there is not nearly as much interest for learning how to do something.

Ashlee was full of American football comments after two days of ESPN. She couldn't believe Miami was in the playoffs and her only satisfaction in this year's Chief's season is that Detroit managed to be even more pathetic. That is a wound I am sure she rubs plenty of salt into for Andy. Some things never change.