2012 KAFAKUMBA NEWS

The traditional Christmas Hymn Sing at the Enright's house.

The KTC Choir sang a couple of Christmas numbers at yesterday's Sunday service. You can watch them by clicking on the links below. You can watch other Kafakumba videos here.

With rainy season upon us, there are lots of snails crawling on the ground. Here's one that had better move fast before another car comes by!

The Women's Group has completed their second quilt. This one already has a buyer in the United States. The ladies continue to improve in their sewing skills. They are very excited to be able to do this.

Here's Patricia, who takes care of the dorms and guesthouses. She also organizes the meals which are served to the workers each day. All our visitors get to know her. She recently celebrated her 56th birthday.

The atmosphere at Kafakumba was electric yesterday morning as 31 male and female runners gathered at KTC for our first-ever 5K race. After the opening prayer and some instructions, the horn sounded and the runners were off! The lead runners came racing towards the finish line 18 minutes and 38 seconds later while the crowd of volunteers and spectators cheered them on.

Awards were given in the following categories: Males 45 and over, females 45 and over, males 13-44 years, females 13-44 years, and females 12 and under (there were no males 12 and under). Everyone completed the race without injuries.

It was not your typical Western race with Nike running shoes and Coolmax shirts. Our runners, who ranged from Kafakumba workers to members of the community, ran in tennis shoes, boots, and even barefoot on the rock-covered dirt road.

Every runner was cheered on along the way and at the finish line. There was plenty of laughter and smiling the whole morning. It was a wonderful time of good-natured competition and fellowship.

Congratulations to all the runners, and especially to Cassie Bauson and Robin Enright, who organized the race!

Click here for more pictures and complete race results.

Race instructions

Figuring awards

Hope Kabinga

Jackson's award

The Women's Group has begun working on a second quilt. Their first quilt was quickly sold to a buyer in the United States. The women are very excited because they see it as a way to bring in money to help buy supplies and materials for their group projects.

The women have also received grant money from the Zambian government. The award was given based on the many worthwhile activities the ladies are doing. With the money, they have purchased fabrics, pots and pans, and other items. They are planning to make traditional ground nut sweets to sell around Christmas time.

Reservations for the Kafakumba Training Center opened on November 1 at 7:00 AM. By 6:00 AM, a group of people were lined up outside Pastor Kilembo's office to begin taking reservations. By noon, the entire year was booked! We are thankful that God is using this facility to help the community. Use of the center is free, but organizations need to provide their own food and pay for cooks and cleaning.

Users of the Center include local churches such as the United Church of Zambia as well as the Kafakumba Pastors' School in May and our first Walk to Emmaus in September.

Last week nearly 30 people attended the anamed Seminar in Natural Medicine at Kafakumba. anamed international is a Christian organization whose work is based on the life and ministry of Jesus, who healed people irrespective of their belief or ethnicity. In John 9: 1-7 it is described how Jesus uses locally available resources to heal a blind man.

The aim of anamed seminars is that the physical, spiritual, mental and economic health of communities is improved, by:

• Empowering people by enabling them to develop new skills that build on their traditional knowledge, e.g. in making good medicines from well-known plants and treating patients more effectively.
• Affirming the wealth in the local environment, by using locally available plants, and establishing gardens of medicinal plants.
• Broadening horizons, by helping people to understand all the factors that influence health.
• Developing local networks and structures that facilitate person-centred and community-centred health care.

Read more about anamed international at anamed's website.

Teaching about malaria

John's moringa nursery

Making chili ointment

Making a compost heap

Alternatives to charcoal

L-R: Tamara, Enala, and Melai Kabinga in the Bauson's home

Tonight we (the Bauson family) got a wonderful surprise: two zombies and a witch came trick-or-treating at our house! We didn't know they even knew what Halloween was, let alone the American tradition of knocking on their neighbor's door for a treat! We gave them some cookies to share with their family. Three of the Kabinga sisters came: Tamara (zombie), Enala (zombie), and Melai (witch).

Picnic at Lake Kashiba

This past weekend, several of us from Kafakumba went to Lake Kashiba for swimming and a picnic. Lake Kashiba is one of a few "sunken lakes" in the Copperbelt. It has crystal clear water that's about 100 meters deep. We brought along the Kabinga and Kilembo kids, none of whom knew how to swim or had ever been in a lake before. But with a few inner tubes and noodles, they were soon enjoying the water with the rest of us. It was a fun, refreshing day.

Dust!

A New Quilt

Several months ago the Kafakumba Twikatane Ladies' Group ("Twikatane" means "Unity") began working on patchwork squares. Yesterday they finished the quilt. It was fun watching their faces as they began to get a glimpse of what the finished product might look like. One of the ladies commented that when they first started making the blocks, she wasn't very excited and couldn't imagine that it would be anything nice. But when Cassie asked them if they liked the finished product, several said in unison, "Sana!!" which means "Very much!!" It was an exciting day. This was the first quilt the ladies have ever made.

Water Woes

Dry season has been difficult for us because of the low water table. By controlling our water usage and using our new borehole, we've been able to keep our 50,000 liter (~13,000 gallon) tanks full for the past couple of weeks. But it's especially challenging when a women's conference comes and everyone brings their laundry.

A few days ago, we had a problem with our main borehole: the safety rope that is tied to the submersible pump broke and fell into the hole. We spent hours trying to get it out, always fearing that the pump might accidentally disconnect from the pipe and get stuck at the bottom of the borehole 50 meters down. But we were able to get everything out without losing the pump. Now we have a new rope and some peace of mind.

Happenings

The past few months have seen a lot of activity at the Kafakumba Training Center. Annual Family Camp took place, there have been conferences every weekend for the past seven weeks, and it's been dry and hot. We did have a nice rain one night, but that's it for the next several weeks.

During the past three months, the staff has been traveling a lot. The Enrights went to the U.S. for several weeks, then the Bausons went to the U.S. for seven weeks, then the Vances also went to the States. Pastor Kilembo traveled to the Congo and also went on a Walk to Emmaus in South Africa.

We sent eight people to South Africa for the Walk to Emmaus in September. We will send more next April, and then we'll have enough experienced people to start our own Walk to Emmaus program at Kafakumba in September 2013.

Water supply has been difficult during this dry season. We have been able to keep things going because of our new borehole and better management of our water usage. We are anxiously awaiting the rains!

Snakes!

The past couple of weeks have been a bit scary around Kafakumba - we've seen a lot of snakes. It all started when we spotted a spitting cobra sticking its head out of a hole in an anthill near the guesthouses. At the same time, a second six-foot spitting cobra was slithering up another anthill. Another day, we chased a black mamba out of a tree; it jumped ten feet to the ground and disappeared in the grass. Shortly afterwards, two black mambas were seen heading into the bushes. Then some of the workers killed a six-foot spitting cobra at the sawmill. A couple of days later, they killed another six-foot spitting cobra near the houses. We did have a little fun with all this, though. The Scott Boltz family was just coming in for their first visit to Africa. Bill told the workers to hide a dead spitting cobra in his office. When the Boltzes came to the office on their tour, they got a big surprise!

Wedding Bells

Congratulations to Nathan and Robin on their June 30 wedding in Pennsylvania! The wedding was held outdoors at Robin's aunt's place in the country. The lovely home sits on a hill, surrounded by woods and above a lake. There was a winding path down to the lake that was beautiful. The newlyweds will be returning to Zambia this week.

New Fountain at Kafakumba

Our Kafakumba Fountain is running! The fountain was designed by our construction crew, who had the great idea that the fountain should look nice even if there wasn't any water. People from Huntertown United Methodist Church did the painting, and other folks from Stockwell United Methodist Church connect the pump. Click here to see a video of the fountain running.

Group from Stockwell UMC Visits Kafakumba

A group from Stockwell United Methodist Church (Indiana, USA) came to visit Kafakumba during Pastors' School. They were a big help in many areas: working with the children, helping with the computer class, teaching a Pastors' class, leading devotions, getting the fountain running, and making many improvements in the woodshop operations. We are grateful for our new friends!

Women's Empowerment Seminar

Last week, the Women's Empowerment Seminar was held. This year's theme was "Leadership." Dr. Mary Kay Smith and Jennie Conrad were the primary teachers.

Pastors' School Completed

The 2012 Pastors' School session has been successfully completed. We had several visiting teachers from the United States. The students learned many new things and are now back in their home churches and villages, better equipped to spread the Good News of God's love.

Pastor Helm	Pastor Dunn	Kids' Class	New Trampoline
Pastor Hankins	Pastor Vance	Dr. Mary Kay	Crystal and Denise

New Pulpit for Kafakumba

New pulpit

Today we debuted a new rosewood pulpit that was made at the Kafakumba woodshop. Funds for making the pulpit were donated by good friends of Kafakumba. The pulpit was dedicated to the Enright family.

Pastors' School Activities

Pastors' School has been going for two weeks now. Everyone is settling into the routine of the schedule. Here are some pictures of a few of the activities at the Center.

Teachers' Dinner

Evening campfire

Bicycles for the first year pastors

Beef for lunch

Pastors' School has Begun

Teacher: Pastor Conner	Teacher: Bill Bauson	Teacher: Pastor John Enright
Teacher: Pastor Daiman	Teacher: Pastor Tanga	Teacher: Pastor Kilembo
Teacher: Pastor Steury	Teacher: Cassie Bauson	Preparing chickens
Wives' Teacher: Mama Ilunga	Children's Class

Pastors' School started this week. The pastors began arriving last weekend and started classes in earnest on Monday. The teachers came from the United States, Zambia, and the Congo. More teachers from the US will come in later weeks. In addition to welcoming back old friends, we also started a new first grade class. This class will continue attending Pastors' School six weeks each year for eight years until they graduate in 2019.

Easter Choir Videos

Rejoice Greatly

He Arose

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

The Kafakumba Choir sang three songs during this year's Easter service. The choir was directed by Matthew Raymond, who also wrote all the songs. Click the pictures to see videos of the choir.

Big Hymn Sing

A couple of weeks ago the Bausons had the hymn sing at their house for the first time. We normally alternate between the Enright's house and the Mission House. This time, the Huntertown group was at Kafakumba. In addition, a large family came to the hymn sing for the first time. There were 41 people in the house! A good time was had by all.

Huntertown UMC Visit

The Huntertown group	Laurie's quality class	Deb helping Zilose with computers
John and Dave taking soil samples	Lunch with the workers	Karen and Augustine fixing chairs
Will and Augustine fixing chairs	Laurie, Deb, and Gabrielle in the PC lab	Kim and one of the kids
John, Dave, and John roofing Dorm 5	Brenda and Patsy painting the cross	Bob and some local boys

A group of people from Huntertown United Methodist Church, Huntertown Indiana, came to Kafakumba and helped us with a lot of projects. Led by Gabrielle Ginter, we had Dave Beer, Brenda Biggs, John Bracht, Will Deeds, Laurie Haas, Patsy Hendricks, Deb Podgorny, Kim Shatto, Bob Smith, and Karen Ungerer for almost two weeks. The list of things they accomplished is huge: replaced burned outlets and bulbs, connected the guesthouse water tank, fixed many plumbing problems, set up our PC lab, installed new computers, taught people how to use computers, set up our network, roofed Dorm 5, replaced wallpaper, decorated rooms, fixed broken locks and handles, painted the cross fountain, installed trampolines, fixed our water tower level meter, did soil testing, fixed chairs, provided manufacturing quality training, did laundry for the team, and more! In many cases, they worked side by side with our African residents and workers. They made a big difference to Kafakumba. Many thanks to our new friends!

Recent Conferences

Hands At Work Conference

Beekeeping Conference

Heifer Int'l Conference

New mattresses on the "ChicKEN truck"

We've been busy with several conferences at KTC lately. Hundreds of people have been here for the Hands At Work Conference, the Beekeeping Conference, and Heifer International's Tenth Anniversary celebration. Zambia's Minister of Agriculture joined the Heifer International celebration. It's great to see the Center being used so well! We even had to buy new mattresses to accommodate the people.

New Trampolines

New resort grade trampolines have been donated to Kafakumba. Here is one being tested by some of the local children. Visitors from Huntertown United Methodist Church set this one up. They also installed one at the Da Gama Home for Handicapped Children in the nearby city of Luanshya.

Sawdust Cookers

Patricia and Maggie learning about the new cookers

Kafakumba is planning to start using new cookers at Kafakumba. Rather than burning charcoal, these cookers burn sawdust. We have abundant supplies of sawdust from our sawmill. This will save us a significant amount of money each year.

New Signs

We have new signs at Kafakumba! The signs were made by one of Kafakumba's friends in Indiana. They make a huge difference in the way the Center looks.

Cutting Grass

Slashing grass

Here in Zambia, we cut the grass the hard way - with manual "slashers." In this picture, several of our workers are taking their turn at slashing some of the grass in the center. It's amazing how much progress can be made in one hour. Click the picture to see a video.

The Walk to Emmaus

L-R: Daiman Mainsa, Njekwa Thabo, Kenneth Kalichi, Renny Stoltz (Emmaus organizer)

L-R: Cassie Bauson, Esther Simapuka, Matildah Musonda, Josephine Mbilishi

Last month, Cassie and Bill Bauson went to South Africa with some folks from Zambia to attend the Walk to Emmaus. Bill went with three guys one weekend, then Cassie went with three ladies the next weekend. Cassie and Bill were very active in the Walk to Emmaus in Indiana and are in the process of starting it here in Zambia. It will take a while before we can do it in Zambia because we need to build up a team of people who know how to run the retreats. These six Zambians are the pioneers. Everyone had an awesome time! We are all excited about what the future holds for Zambia with the Walk to Emmaus. For all but one of the people who went, it was their first time to South Africa (including Bill and Cassie). It was also the first airplane ride for all but two. It was fun talking to them about their feelings when the plane started to take off.

Snails!

With the rainy season in full swing, we need to watch where we're walking. Each morning, the snails come out and make their way across the paths. We always feel bad when we don't pay attention and suddenly hear "crunch!"

Wildlife

A flock of cattle egrets has started hanging around Kafakumba. Their pristine white feathers make a beautiful contrast with all the greenery around us during this rainy season. It's too bad that the reason they're here is because they're attracted to all the bugs and flies that come with the tons of fresh chicken manure that have been deposited here to fertilize the aloe! There is also a new fragrance around the area.

New Uniforms

The workers at Kafakumba recently received new uniforms. Here is one proud group standing near the woodshop.

Sewing Class

Cassie Bauson has started a new sewing class with a small group of women. Her goal is to teach the women how to read sewing patterns and concentrate on detail and quality. Later the women will be able to teach others these skills.

Rainy Season

Baboon spider

Rainy season is in full swing now. That means the grass is growing fast, the mangoes are ripening, and the farmers are busy planting. Also, the snails and big bugs are emerging and we have to watch out for snakes. A big cobra was on Pastor Kilembo's doorstep, standing up and weaving back and forth!

Large moth

Center Improvements

The Mall	New bamboo fence
Dorm 5 storm damage	More storm damage

We've had several recent improvements to the center:

• A new bamboo fence around the guest houses improves security and privacy.
• The “mall” in the center is greening up and we’re almost done with our Methodist Flame fountain.
• The new “Upper Room” guesthouse has been completed.

However, we've also had a setback: a storm came through on December 17 and ripped the new roof off of Dorm 5. It also knocked down a couple of trees. We're thankful that nobody was hurt.

New Borehole

At the end of the last dry season, our water situation was pretty miserable. Every time a large group came to the Center for a conference, we would run out of water by the second day of the conference. Thanks to a generous donation, a new borehole has been drilled on the Center grounds. Additional donations are coming in to help us fund new water tanks and plumbing. By next dry season, we hope to have plenty of water for the conference attendees and the Center residents.

Help from our Visitors

Luke Raymond installing an antenna	Angus Ramsay teaching computers
Warren Tranter on the water tower	New water level meter
Len Kerswill

Several visitors to Kafakumba over the past several months have helped make Kafakumba a better place. Here are some of the highlights:

• Visitors Luke Raymond (USA) and Angus Ramsay (New Zealand) helped us set up a bigger wireless network and a file server. Now the whole center has wireless internet. Angus also taught PC classes.
• Visitor John Taller (USA) helped get several machines running in the woodshop.
• Visitors Warren Tranter (UK) and Len Kerswill (UK) made a meter to show how much water is in our holding tanks (they were empty a lot during dry season).
• Visitor Steven Morgan (USA) has been helping with God's Kids and is teaching the computer class each week.