Inverness County Cares in Zambia: #30 February 20, 2024. Back to Kawambwa

Today was a travel day. We left Mporokoso at 9:00 AM and arrived back in Kawambwa at 10:00 PM. It is a long trip but we had many stops.

We drove to Kasama to stop in to see the Sr Elizabeth Mutamba , Superior General of the Sisters’ of the Child Jesus. We were treated to a tour of the convent and had tea with the sisters. They are an energetic and wise group of ladies who are up for anything. After meeting with Sister Elizabeth, we called in to see Sister Rosaria Chilumba who is recovering from a broken leg. She and Sister Elizabeth, were riding on a motorcycle taxi, (white habits and all) on a very muddy and slippery back road. They were checking out a new plot of land the sisters have purchased to plant many fruit trees. After falling off several times, the motorcycle fell over again and this time Sister Rosaria broke her leg. They walked back to their car and after a visit to the hospital she was fitted with a cast. There is no stopping these sisters!

John MacInnis met with Fr Alan MacMillan’s sponsored child, 14 year old Robert. John gave him his gifts from Fr Alan and took him to buy school supplies. A very happy young man.

We stopped in to see the sisters’ Tetekela Convent School. It is a school which takes in children from vulnerable families, feeds them and enables them to go to school every day. Some children are street kids without a family to support them. They come to school each morning, have a shower, eat breakfast and attend the Tetekela school. It is a private school which also takes in fee paying students as well. Chalice has 33 sponsored children at this school and many more needing sponsors. This is a feeder school for the local secondary school.

We also visited the future site of a pediatric and maternity hospital which the sisters are building.

We stopped in to Shoprite the big grocery store and picked up supplies for Kawambwa. While waiting for our bus we picked up avocados, peanuts and a large Jack fruit, although the sisters said, “No”, they don’t like it, we needed to try it. It must be about 10 pounds and is like a porcupine, with an outside covering full of sharp points. Updates on the flavor to be given later.

We drove back to Kawambwa after dark with Geoffrey our driver. The daylight hours see many, many people walking the roads especially near the small villages near the highway. The night time is a similar situation. Hundreds of people were walking or standing or biking by the roadside in the dark, many almost completely invisible. Geoffrey managed to drive through this situation, without even a close call.

We are now back at Kawambwa at the school where we started.