Homestay in Petauke

 

Today is the first day of "homestay". Lynn and I have cleared out our tents and are ready to go to stay with our family for the next three days. We have to take all of this stuff with us and we are walking.

 

We are staying in the home of Pastor Amos and Mary Mwale. They have eight children. We walked to their house from camp - probably about 1 km. Pastor Amos had a bike so we put the 2 mattresses on it. I pulled the suitcase and Lynn carried a camera, backpack, choo (indoor potty, and a big bag of things to give to our family.



Amos is a pastor and also a farmer. Mary can't speak English so I did a lot of watching and using sign language. I watched Mary cook lunch inside their outdoor kitchen which had one door, no window nor any way for air to circulate or smoke to go out.. She cooked over wood and the smoke made me cry nearly the whole time.

 

We ate each meal with the pastor, separately from the family. We sat inside while the rest of the family ate outside. We would leave and go to our bedroom at about 7 p.m. so that the rest of the family could come in. There were no lights so going to bed was just about the only option.

Our bedroom is one of three rooms. Our two mattresses that we brought just fit side by side.

Moving to Petauke

After 12 days in the city, we moved by bus about 5 hrs away to a smaller town called Petauke. We lived in bush camp and it was camping at its best. We all enjoyed our time there. We all had large tents with mattresses in them.


We had outdoor camping showers which were rigged with a bucket with a shower head on a pulley system. We filled our buckets that we pumped from a well and set them out to warm during the day. We could have heated them but it really wasn’t necessary. We also had great cooks and the food was good.

 

Our DFAs (daily field assignments) here were much the same as in the city. We asked some of the same questions but found much more tradition. Each day we loaded up into a truck and rode into town. It was kind of like going on a hayride.

 

This was our helper Peter.

 

Lusaka

 

Our daily assignments were progressive in nature. First, we just went out to observe. We had a partner and a Zambian helper. My partner was Shannon and our helper was Bridget. She took good care of us, helping us not to make too many mistakes.

 

Lynn’s partner was Ken – Shannon’s husband. Every morning we walked to the area where we could catch a taxi -- buses that usually carry 14(limit) or many more. We went to an area that our helpers were very familiar with.

 

As the days went by we learned how to properly approach and greet people--which is so important here. Relationships are everything! We learned the right questions to ask we learned how to share the gospel. The approach is different from the States because there is a different “worldview” here.

 

One of the popular snacks was caterpillars. They are usually fried then put into a sauce. I had to try one day just to prove to Lynn that I would. Not too much taste but it got stuck in my throat. I had it later in a sauce and it wasn’t too bad. Another favorite (NOT) was kapenta, which are little dried fish that they also put into a sauce. They are sold in the dried form in the markets, and they STINK!.