Update May 07

Dear Friends of the Children:

It is already the beginning of May and I am way behind on my updates. But much has been happening.

First at the orphanage. Paula McKee, the Canadian volunteer who was living in London, was wonderful at keeping me updated with what was going on. I am including a clip from one of her emails.

“Hi Penny, sorry it has been so long since I emailed. We are still waiting for email at the orphanage We were to get a new part but Zamnet didn’t have it in stock and then their one ladder has been out of town so they can not go on the roof and hook up something. I’m not sure how they manage to stay in business with such poor customer service. I know from Eddie and Simone that Claire was equally frustrated with them. The children keep asking me when they can email all of you and I keep saying as soon as we have internet. (Eventually the ladder was returned, and when Zamnet came to hook up the part in question, the new part was broken! Ah! )

We managed to survive swimming but I have no idea how Claire did it on her own. Mfumu fell in the deep end again and Haggai swallowed a bunch of water and was vomiting. Other than that it was pretty good and the children are constantly telling me that they want to go again. They said that last year Haggai was scared of the water but he definitely wasn’t this time.

There is some decorating happening here at the house. The girls’ room has just been re-tiled and looks good. They are due to get new bunk beds today. The hallway and bathroom area are also to be retiled so all the bedrooms and hall will match. I think it will look really smart. We also had a new shower installed as the old one wasn’t working. It was nice after 41 days without a proper shower to stand under running water even if it was cold.

A few of the children have had malaria and laugh when I tell them how sick I would be if I got it. Mary burnt her arm with hot tea last week but it seems to be healing well. She was happy to go back to school yesterday.

Most of the children seem to have settled well at school. They had a bit of a rocky start with other students and even the teachers saying things like ‘those Ubumi children are bad.’ I’m not sure how good the other student are because I think these children are much better behaved than most of the children I know in Canada or London. We got Steve the boy who came in January into school last week but he is struggling with being the new kid and is getting picked on by another student. They only have a few more weeks and then will be off in April for a month long break.”

Eddy also sent news that work has begun on the volunteer residence at the back of the property. A grant from an Italian Foundation has enabled them to get started on this very necessary project. At the present time, volunteers must make their own living arrangements, or move in with the 15-18 orphanage kids, with no privacy. It’s tough. Eddy looks to be able to house up to six volunteers and administrative offices for the entire Ubumi Project. I am sure that the regularity of our donations play a role in Ubumi’s ability to dedicate larger donations to these projects without having to siphon off portions to pay for day to day operating expenses.

Now, good news from our end. Our application for non-profit status has been approved!!! Those of you holding off on asking for matching funds from your employer need hold off no longer.

The busyness of spring has prevented much progress at spreading the word about the orphanage. We did hold an event at the library called “African Dreams: African Dreamers.” Designed for families with young children, it featured information about Zambian life: music, dress, food, and, of course the orphanage. Unfortunately we scheduled it for the same weekend as “Beauty and the Beast” at the high school, and one of the nicest days so far this year. No one showed. We entertained one another by demonstrating how to tie a chibata…..

(the right way)

(…no way!)

We were, of course, disappointed that no one came, but glad to have all the material prepared. Anyone wishing a presentation for children to encourage them to make a Zambian friend via email, we now have it all ready. ( I promise not to tie a chibata and scare them.)

Lastly, we are making final preparations to return to the orphanage in July. We will deliver some laptops—so far we have two in hand and 2-5 promised, and gather pictures and stories to relay to faithful donors and interested persons. Hopefully they will soon have their computers up and running again, and soon, you will be able to email them yourself. I know they are longing to make contact with their friends in the U.S.