Inverness County Cares in Zambia: #19 February 9, 2024. On the Road to Mporokoso

This morning after breakfast about 9:00 we got on the road with a loaded bus. There were the 6 ICC members, Sr Marjory, Sr Agnes, Sr Petronella, our luggage, musical instruments, bags of gifts from Canada, and several students and teachers who needed a ride to Mporokoso.

We took the long route to Mporokoso since we had so many places to stop and people to see. We picked up some more students and a teacher by the roadside as well as Gilbert part of the Chalice staff. We continued on to Kasama where we drove in to see a student (called Memory) who was sponsored by a friend of John MacInnis. She and her family were thrilled to see us and happy to receive the gifts.

We stopped in to the Shop Rite grocery store where Winnie was able to finally get some butter, a very difficult commodity to find in Zambia. As we waited, we had several vendors come to sell their wares, one was a beautiful puppy. However, we couldn’t convince the sisters to add one more dog to their security team. On the road again the Sisters could not resist the lure of fresh roadside mangoes. They bought two buckets of mangoes from children by the roadside.

From there we drove up a remote bumpy red dirt road to the St Theresa’s School for girls in Chilubula. The school and a hospital and clinic are run by the sisters of the Child Jesus, the order which Sr Agnes and Sr Marjory belong to. It is quite an amazing place, buzzing with activity as the students are returning to school. We were treated to a wonderful lunch and met the sisters. We saw their chapel with the tabernacle in the shape of a traditional African thatched home. Sr Veronica is the oldest member of the congregation at St Theresa’s. The location has lovely fruit trees and beautiful gardens. At St Theresa’s we saw the very first bit of mechanical farm equipment, a tractor.

We arrived at the St Odilia school about 7:30 PM. It was along ride but interesting. The last two hours were at night. On the way to Mporokoso we hit a bird which made a huge noise and stayed on the front grill of the bus. It looked like a grouse or in that family. Geoffrey gave it to a man passing by and the bird was on the supper menu. Their main housing is the thatched roof mud brick homes and some with steel roofs. Most do not have electricity and depend on candles or solar powered flashlights. As we drove through the evening, we were surprised to see scores of people walking and biking on the roads in the dark with no lights. Must be a Friday night thing.

We will be working at St Odilia school and staying at a hotel nearby.