Cheng @ Zambia: Whao.......I am back on BLOG to post pix and notes....

Don't ask me how I got it back.......or what I did to lost it almost three months back.....

The following was created before today whenever I have had time, power and internet connection, which was not often happened in 2013 so far, but I even tried on new label 2013 Cheng @ Zambia that did worked but can't be posted. Now I copy and paste them here to save time before I could have lost the power, internet again or I need to get going....
This is March 15, 2013 today.

Happy New Year 2013 again to all.

My last posting with pictures were up to seeing off Mrs. Abila and children in Mansa on December 27, 2012.

December 29th, one JICA volunteer, who was working at Mansa college in 2010 to 2011 came back to visit Mansa and didn't have time to come to my post home, so I went to Musaila bus stop to see her for about 15 minutes.

Really appreciated Ms. Maki had taken effort to make a stop to see me. She also brought me one plastic wash board, I had asked for, I hope to have villagers here to make it in wood, so many women here can wash their clothes easier.

Thank you very much, Maki san.

Continuing on pond managements......

This raining season seemed different than the one I remembered while I was in Yasakwa....back than, after heavy rain, I remembered bright blue sky after every rain. But here it seemed the heavy rain more often following by Seattle kind of winter sky.......of course, not that gray,

I am missing the bright blue sky here.....

December 30th, many PCVs called that they were camping at our usual lake front camp group so I went after my fish pond routines.........all were having great fun, so I decided to joint them the next day, New Year Eve Day, to come with my bathing suit, etc.......

Before I got out from bed at my usual time of 05:30, there were couple text from PCVs at camp site and PC in Lusaka...."All PCVs be off Samfya beach, boma and guest houses......" for there had been a robbery case happened to two PCVs who stayed in guest house in Samfya, in the night....

not far from the camp site.....

Ben and Diana were there waiting for me at the beach camp site, therefore, the three of us went to stay at Carmen and Mark's home right on the hill top from the camp site for the day and night for the New Year's Eve.

We were treated with big lunch, resting afternoon, tea and dinner......on the top of they are already having a house full of guests. Mark's sister's whole family - Julie and husband Steve with their four gorgeous children are visiting from USA.

Three of us managed to sleep in the TV room, on air mattresses with mosquito nets.

I am grateful that my pot stickers were always been welcomed, anywhere, any time.

Creatively everyone made something to add to the dinner was planned.....we ate dinner while watching the full moon above the lake.......(that orange dot was it)

The happy event was clouded up with the sad news......

Thanks to Carmen and Mark always taking PCVs in for whatever reason.

After dinner all were playing cards, games before the mid-night fire work that Mark had prepared, I went to bed at my usual time 20:30....a little later, actually.

Cheng 3/2/2013

A great beginning for year 2013.

My neighbor, Ba Helen, who has two children, one is 3 and one is less than 1, she was so nice to give me a cup full of soya bean from her garden and I offered to show her how to make soya milk and soya cakes....at the end I bought most of the milk and cake and left some for her own family to enjoy.

Just hope she will remember that soya milk is not good for babies under 1 year old.

Continuing pond managements........
All ponds have heavy rain effecting water level issues, but all handling it fine.....

This 17 year old, 10th grader, Ba Dimus has being working hard for his fish pond, besides he had garden of veges for fishes, he went out to find the termites to feed them, and he continues going to school too.....Good Job and keep on going, Ba Dimus.

There were late coming Christmas graces from SCCP (Samfya Community Care Providers), that they have great many wonderful American ladies in Chicago that they had done these beautiful quilted blanckets that I gave the three I got from them to the three oldest persons around my post home.
They are all women.

With the blankets, there were one box of clothes for a mom with six children, and.........

Three bundles of baby clothes, that I gave two bundles to two down syndrome teenage girls, both been rapped that one has two children.......

One has one child......

All children looked normal to me, but they have to depend on Moms' parents to care for babies......

I talked to the parents to give these girls the "5 year birth control implantation" only the one parents with the two grandchildren agreed. I jumped ahead and asked SCCP Mark to drive them to hospital to have it done before they changed their minds.

The other parents said they will protact the girl better...Wish them the best luck from me........

The last bundle of baby clothes, I gave it to the girl I had pushed her back to school last July. She is 15 year old now and her son is 2.

Thanks to Carmen and Mark.
Thanks to SCCP
and thanks to all ladies in Chicago who did all these great things for my villagers.

First Thursday of January, I had the Camp officer, Ba Mawara, to give my farmers a gardening workshop and all went well. Thank You, Ba Mawara.

None of them were stage shy on presenting their groups' discussions.....

At the end of this workshop, one girl who is also in my embroidery group, shown me one of her project got completed..........

How wonderful to see this one been really happened.

Isn't this beautiful!!! Hope more ladies will come forward to joint our embroidery group.

Thanks to Bob that he brought more colored thread and the rings for my embroidery group.

Ben and Diana arrived after workshop was over and camped in insaka till Sunday morning that three of us went on the trip to Malawi together.

Saturday, Rachel and Joe came to lunch with us............

I show all of them to my close by fish ponds.....

Sunday morning, we left my post home before sun raised, at the day break Ben and Diana got a ride on the flat bed truck to Serenje to stay in PC house over night and going to Lusaka the next day.

They were to Lusaka for their IST (In Service Training) for the week.

I took the bus straight to Lusaka for my COS (Close of Service) conference and I will meet the two of them and Emily in Lusaka at the end of the week and go for Malawi.

As usual, I asked for the front seat and granted one behind the driver........

Out of Luapula on this swamp land, it might have been the largest in Africa.....I'm not sure......
In the swamp, there were termite peaks all over places.....