Thursday, September 30, 2010

My African Grandmother, Part II

Wes, Elizabeth and I arrived in Elia’s village about 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning. We were greeted by Elia in her usual way, with a dance and a big smile. We were surprised to see several others in the village, and wondered if they had heard the white people were coming. However, this time this was not the case. Two of Elia’s granddaughters and a great grandson, had arrived from Livingstone to see how she was doing after having been in the clinic for a foot injury.


I’m pretty hard-headed sometimes, and it takes me a while to see God’s purposes, so at first I was annoyed. I saw the visitors as interruptions to my plan; how would I do my interview with so many others around? And in addition to that, I had promised to bring food and cook for Elia, and now I had to cook for three others. Wes tried to encourage me not to worry; that the food would be enough, and that God had a plan. I whispered a prayer asking the Lord to forgive me for my attitude and to help me see His purposes.

Wes helped us set up the tent and cooking area. He left the trailer for me so that I would have a place to cook and store my things, and then he was gone. By this time it was noon and my stomach was shouting, “Feed me!” I had brought a gas camping stove because I figured that Elia would not have enough wood for all the cooking I planned to do. Elia was so amazed as she watched me preparing the meal. She was amazed at how fast I was able to cook on my little stove, and she was amazed that a white woman cooked for herself; she thought all white women had servants who did their cooking.

Elia’s granddaughters prepared nshima, the staple food of Zambians made from corn meal, and some rape (a green leafy vegetable) and I prepared potatoes and sausage. Together there was more than plenty, and as I watched Elia eating, I could see the joy in every bite she took. In fact, she couldn’t eat it all.

After lunch, the girls went to the nearby borehole (well) to draw water for doing dishes. I was beginning to see God’s blessings in bringing these young ladies to the village. This freed Elizabeth and I up to begin our interview with Elia.

As we sat under a shade tree, Elia sitting in one of our camping chairs feeling like a queen, Elia began to share the story of her life. Of course I had to prompt her with questions, because she really didn’t know where to begin.

For the next several hours we sat together under the tree, keeping cool with the wind God had provided, listening to Elia tell us tales from the past; these which I will relate at a later time. I had hoped Elia’s granddaughters would sit and listen, but they were not too interested, sad to say.

When we saw that the sun was turning a bright orange, we knew it was time to stop and prepare supper. Elia said that she was usually in the house for the night by this time, as she usually went in with the chickens. Yes, she keeps the chickens in her house; I think they are her companions.

As the girls heated water in the cooking hut for bathing, Elizabeth and I prepared supper on the gas stove; rice and beef stew. By the time the meal was prepared, the sun had set and we ate our supper while watching the stars come out one by one. If you have never seen an African sky at night, you are truly missing something. There are no neon lights of the city to detract from the beauty of the stars.

The girls and Elia had already bathed before supper, and so now Elizabeth and I took our splash baths in the grass enclosure that the church had prepared for us. I asked Elia where she normally bathed, and she said that she used to bathe at the river when there was water, but now she just went off into the bush to bathe. The church had also made us an “outhouse” or “cimbuzi,” for which I was very grateful!

Elia wanted to stay up and visit, but my eyes were drooping. I usually go to bed by about 9 p.m. myself, so I was ready to climb onto my comfortable cot and call it a night. September is usually a very hot month, but the Lord provided us a nice cool breeze during the day and cooler temperatures than normal at night.

It had been a good first day, and I wondered what tomorrow would hold. As I lay down I thought to myself, “I might consider staying longer than two days,” but that thought would change by the next night. Stay tuned for more.

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