Bats, Bats, Bats

Sorry for not being in contact with any of you for a while. Internet access is spotty at best. Plus, we are figuring out all the right gadgets to use to get internet. If we didn’t buy it in Livingstone, we are out of luck buying it here. We’re working out the kinks.

Our first few days in Mwandi were a little rough. The house that we were to stay in was supposed to be ready for us to live in, but when we arrived, we were told that bats had nested in the rafters of our house. A missionary that was helping us get the house ready, thought that we should use an all-natural approach to kill the bats. This involved putting hot peppers in the rafters to “smoke” them out. The man that we paid to do this assured us that this would get rid of the bats, and that we could safely move in the next day. This was supposed to be a lot quicker than the chemical bomb that would require us to be out of the house for a longer period of time. So, the day after the all-natural hot pepper method, we moved into our new house. As we went to bed that night, we heard a lot of bats flying around in one of the bedrooms. I mean A LOT of bats! So, we decided to shut all the bedroom doors and sleep in the middle room of the house where there had been no signs of bat droppings. As I went to sleep, I thanked God that the bats were not in the room that we were in and then fell asleep. Later in the night, I woke up to a noise by my ear. I hopped up and screamed! There was a bat crawling up my mosquito net by my head! After this, Paul got up and hunted the bat down! He killed it, and then killed 2 more! I have never loved a man so much in my life! I could not have done this. I was terrified! So from this point on, Paul and I positioned ourselves in combat mode with our headlamps on in defense against these bats to protect our 3 kids who slept peacefully the entire night while this was going on. When morning came, we were so happy. The bats started slowing down. They stopped flying around. We were not trapped anymore. Paul was worried that the bats that were in one of the bedrooms, had trashed all of our stuff. They were so noisy. It sounded like a bunch of raccoons rummaging through a garbage can. So, Paul decided to go into the bedroom and assess the damage and maybe kill a few bats. About 30 minutes later, Paul comes out and asks, “Do you know how many bats that I killed?” I guessed 20, he said, “No, 50! And guys, hurry up because we’re going to be late for church if you don’t get your shoes on.” None of our stuff was damaged, and we made it to church on time.

After we told this story to a few of the missionaries here, someone offered us a place to sleep until our bat problem got taken care of. We were so thankful!

We have been working on getting the house taken care of, and we have become quite comfortable around the bats. During the day, the bats are very slow. I killed 2 bats while organizing all my homeschool books. Believe me, it was ridiculously easy to kill them.

On another note, we have met a lot of inspiringly persevering people. A few houses down from us, some other missionaries from Scotland, Keith and Eda, have taken in 5 kids. One girl from Mwandi and 4 refugees from the Congo. (Their parents fled to Zambia because of the turmoil in the Congo, but were put in prison because they didn’t have the proper papers to enter the country). Our kids have fallen in love with these kids. They have played with them non-stop since we arrived in Mwandi - building sandcastles, swinging, sword fighting with sticks, and running through our sprinkler. Ellie is the oldest. She is 9. Her mother was going to abort her because she didn’t think that she could take care of her. Keith and Eda promised to help care for her when needed so that this mother would not abort her. Her mother decided not to abort her. She comes to visit Ellie often. I am absolutely crazy about Ellie. I want Isaac or Ethan to marry her someday! She is so kind and compassionate, and cares for Rachel and the younger kids in a very motherly way. She has a prosthetic leg but she runs, jumps, does cartwheels and flips, and kicks a soccer ball with either foot. You would never know that she had a prosthetic leg unless you were told. She is also missing her pointer finger on one of her hands. I don’t know the story behind this. Also, the Congolese boys are so adorable - Oneil, Omedy, Omerl, and Omari. They are so sweet and kind. All of the kids walk almost a mile to school each day without a guardian. They are also very tough and independent. I am so glad that my kids have them as friends.

Paul has worked on a few cows at the mission farm for the Orphan Center, met with the leaders of the newly formed cattle farmers cooperative to discuss organization and the upcoming artificial insemination program, and learned how to drive his new farm land cruiser on the wrong side of the road with stick shift on the wrong hand. (Isaac informed me that we drive on the correct side of the road because cars were invented in America. I agree).

Isaac has been great at leading games with kids in front of our yard. Four boys from the village come by everyday to play with Isaac. He has played four-square, football, and soccer with these boys. One day, I noticed one of the boys holding an empty peanut butter jar that he had dug out of the trash. He was reaching in and trying to get out any remaining peanut butter. I knew the people were really poor, here, but this woke me back up to the reality of their poverty. Then, I decided to bring them out some bananas to eat. All four boys madly took and ate the bananas that I gave them. I felt so sad that they have to worry about not getting enough food to eat. There is great need here.

Another day, while I took my kids to play with the 5 missionary’s foster kids at their house, a lady with her 11 month old came to get free formula from the missionaries through a program that they started. As far as I understand, if a mother has HIV, as long as she starts giving her baby formula instead of breast milk before the age of 6 months, the baby will not be infected with HIV from the mother. What a blessing this is to these children and their families! I have been told, that in Zambia, children are not treated with anti-retroviral drugs - only adults are. So, this formula program is vital for these children to grow up as adults.


Thank you for your prayers! We really appreciate you!






With love,


Alicia






Paul's quick add on-


Going to meet this week with cattlemen in 3 different areas to talk up the AI program, encourage participation in the co-op, and introduce myself.

Treated 3 cows with upper respiratory infections (successfully) on the farm!

Alicia is amazing with the house and kids, killing bats now, general difficulties she handles so smoothly. She was washing clothes in the shower today and made roasted peanuts- boiled, then baked. She loves the kids here so much (ours and not-ours).

Isaac is doing great- he is scared of nothing except the plane flight back and motion sickness. Bats, whatever...he is such a help today plugging holes in the house with cement and decorating his room.

Ethan is having a great time, "Dad, I think I really like Africa." is my favorite quote. He helped paint the inside of the house today and is looking for a dog.

Rachel is the leader of every kids group that forms and is loved by all the kids here so far. She loves bats, terrified of ants...?

-paul

The kids with some neighbors!