Moments In Between, Part 2

The Gardens


One day last week we needed a break from workshop prep and the sun was shining for the first time since the rains had started full-swing. We decided to go for a walk around and check out the gardens behind the houses. The gardens are beautiful, and as the rains have picked up, they have gone from dusty and dull-green to lush and flourishing shades of deep greens in only a few days. Cabbage heads and tomatoes dominate the gardens with a helping of maize and a smattering of other veggies like peppers, cassava plants, and a few others. Some fruit trees line the areas and are just waiting for enough rain to inflate their respective mangoes, peaches, guava, and bananas. It was a beautiful walk and between the mummies, gardener, some of the children who were off school, and uncle Philip, we were able to identify most of the plants. We spent some time marveling at how banana trees work and observing the bunches in mid-bloom. But what really took up our time was when Jimi spotted a chameleon perched on one of the tomatoes. We were told they were very friendly so we had him in hand in moments. He was beautiful – about six inches long head-to-tail and he instantly changed colour when he climbed onto Jimi’s arm. We marveled at him for a while as we watched his two eyes move in different directions. Before long, one of the mummies pointed out another that had coloured itself like a snake and had scared her. We went to investigate and found a second beautiful chameleon. We spent at least half an hour with our two chameleons – the second being very adventurous and fearless – snapping her tongue at a fly from the palm of Jimi’s hand and climbing all over Jenny until she needed a quick rescue from Jenny’s hunched-over back before she ended up in Jenny’s pants! It was such a cool break from our planning! Before long we put them back and watched them disappear into the long grass and tomato plants, shifting colours as they moved like leaves blowing in the wind.

Rain-Rain-Rain

Whenever we seem to think we’ve seen the true ‘rain’ of the ‘rainy season’ we’re quickly shown otherwise. This week it has rained for nearly three straight days – stopping only briefly enough to give you the false sense that you might actually be able to get some laundry done. Needless to say, we’re running out of underwear fast and have resigned to hanging it to dry inside tomorrow! Sometimes the rains are beautifully refreshing and warm. The other day during one of our sessions we noticed that it was lightly raining on one side of the school but not the other – we could see rain out the windows to the left and yet it was dry to the right. After five minutes of this we stuck our hands out the windows to make sure we weren’t imagining it – we weren’t. It stayed that way for about 20 minutes before gradually drifting on. Often the storms come quickly, without notice, and with much ferocity. After our first ‘flood’ we’ve gotten better at keeping the water outside, but some nights the rain comes in droves, intensifying and relaxing and intensifying again, to the point that we can’t get to sleep or wake out of paranoia that we need to double-check our water-proofing. The nicest nights, however, are those that come with rain falling gently on the tin-roof all night long, drumming you softly to sleep. We hope for these each night. And every morning the greening world around us is deeper, taller, thicker, and more and more alive. The transformation is remarkable.

Night Times in the Houses

As our dinner traditions continue, we’ve expanded our repertoire of helping with reading, homework, dance lessons and card games to include a few new treats. We started bringing our guitar and drum to dinners for some after-meal jamming. Some nights this has us playing songs for them and singing ‘Amazing Grace’ together, while others are a trade – song for song with the children. It is such a thrill to hear their beautiful voices in chorus. Other times it turns into a raucous jam session. The other night a few songs turned into a virtual ‘stomp’ show in the dining room, and Jenny began arming the family with found objects from the kitchen and we showed them how interesting sounds could be produced from anything. By the end, every person of every age was playing something – drums, guitar, spoons, tables, chairs, water-jugs, scrub-brushes, bottle-caps, glasses, even a box of kapenta (tiny dried fish). It was a blast and the rhythms were incredible. It’s like every child here is born with the ability to keep a beat. What a highlight!

We had also decided that we needed to bring some Robert Munsch and other Canadian stories with us and have had a wonderful time reading to the children. Everyone, little or big, gathers around as we share some of the favourites form our childhoods. “Thomas’s Snowsuit”, “I Have To Go”, “Mortimer”, and “Jonathan cleaned up – then heard a sound” being some of the bigger hits. We also had a great moment the other night when we read “The Hockey Sweater” by Roch Carrier. At first we weren’t sure how well they would relate to it, but as soon as we opened the pages we realized it was a great fit. While once upon a time (and still in some places) Canadian life was all about the school, the church, and the hockey rink, much of Zambian life (Chishawasha in particular) is spent in three places: The school, the church, and the soccer pitch. I think this story was particularly enchanting to the older boys who seemed to have a deep appreciation for the trappings of the story and for Roch’s plight. It was an excellent feeling that immediately connected our seemingly alien worlds in some very basic and true ways. Maybe the world isn’t so big after all.

Much love,
Jenny and Jimi