Ottawa

We made a quick trip to Ottawa to pick up Aly.

Ivy Christmas

We had a great time with an early Christmas with Ivy.

November Jobs

November brought an number of jobs including Solar Panel Installation, Baking Sticky Buns for Crisis Pregnancy fundraiser, and then in Dec a trip to Red Lake to see Ivy.  More picts to come of the trip to Red Lake.

Ivy to Visit

Josh, Lynne and Ivy dropped in for a visit on their way home from Toronto. They had been in Toronto for a wedding and to buy a new vehicle.  The bought a 2003 Buick Rendezvous.  It was really great to see them, especially Ivy.
I got a chance to try out the Buick and Josh took our recently purchased 2006 Honda CRV for a ride as well.  Take a look at the cars and the special little girls as well.

Ivy out with Grama

Ivy likes to come out side and help with the renovations.

More Red Lake Pictures

We have made lots of trips to the dump and the bears are plentiful.

Red Lake visit

It has been a long time since we updated the blog, but at the moment we are in Red Lake ON enjoying the great Ontario North.  We arrived in Red Lake Sept. 5th and got a chance to see the most beautiful grand child ever.  We have been working on Josh's house and it needs a lot of work.  We have been leveling the floors, putting in new beams and then tearing off old siding.  We plan to put in some windows and doors and insulate.
The most important job is playing with Ivy.  We have been spending a few hours a day working and taking Ivy for walks and just hanging out.

Leaving Sakeji

Our journey home to Canada began with a goodbye to the students at the Sakeji airstrip.  Then a 5 hour flight to Lusaka via Chavuma.  We spent a day in Lusaka then  a 2 hour flight to Jo'burg.  World Cup excitement was amazing.  We travelled into Jo'burg and the noise and energy was electric.  The horns were deafening.  After a long lay over we spent the next 11 hours on a 747 to London.  Another long lay over and finally a 8 hour flight to Toronto.  It was great to touch down in TO and be back on Canadian soil.  Oh Canada!

At the source

Our last weekend we got a chance to travel to the source of the Zambezi River.  It has very humble beginnings as a spring rising from the ground on the edge of the Congo border.

last days at Sakeji

Here are some pictures of our final days at Sakeji. They were busy times but we were getting anxious to be going home.

Mwiniluga Trip

Pictures of trip to Mwiniluga, Zambia.

Back at Sakeji

We are back at Sakeji  Mission School near Kalene Hill in northwest tip of Zambia (Angola to the west and Congo to the east and north). I have posted a couple of pictures.  We are two weeks into second term and things are going well.  I am teaching Maths, Science and Art to grade 7&8 and P.E. for the school.  Mary is teaching some science and health classes.  One of our major responsibilities is dorm parents to the boys.  It means long days  up at 5:30 and tucking them in at 7 pm for the small boys and 8:30pm for the older ones.  We also get the younger ones up at about 9:30pm to go pee or we have flooded beds in the morning.  Besides the regular teaching we also have swimming lessons, river supervision, crafts, games and Sunday School.  It is quite busy.

Last Wednesday I went south to the Boma (political capital of the area)  Mwiniluga.  The trip is 70 km but took 3 hrs by landcruiser because the road is so bad.  I have posted some pictures of the road and people/villages along the way.  We went down to pick up 800kg of flour for the school kitchen and to pick up a teacher coming on the bus from Kitwe.  The trip was successful and we arrived home at Sakeji about 11:30pm. 

I have no really good snake stories but we did have a village boy bitten by a night adder this morning. Last week we killed a snake in my classroom but it was small.  We hope the snake situation will be uneventful this term.  We will be here til mid June then we head home to Canada.

Miriam

Here is Miriam doing her Sister Mary imitation.

Boston heads to school.

Boston is heading to Kitwe for school and examinations.  We said goodbye as we will be off to Sakeji when he returns.

Views of the Zambezi

Dugouts ready for a river crossing.

Lucy

I would like to introduce you to Lucy.  She has been hired to continue the feeding program here at Chitokoloki.  Mary is in the process of training her and she is doing very well. She seems to catch on quick and show good initiative and love for the kids.  As a result of some generous help from folks in Canada Lucy will be paid to continue saving the lives of these many malnourished patients.  We will be leaving Chit by the first of May and by that time Lucy will be settled in.  We wish her all the best.

--
Tim McDougall
Check out our blog   www.timmaryadventure.blogspot.com

Latest Croc Attack

Just yesterday this teenage girl was brought to the hospital attacked by a small crocodile.  She had been to the river to wash casava root and was attacked by a 4 foot crocodile. The doctor was away, but the Canadian nurse here did an excellent job of stitching her up.  She is expected to recover fully.  As it was she was very fortunate to get away.

Building Projects

Here are some pictures of the new hospital staff houses. Tim has been involved with building these since we arrived at Chitokoloki at the end of December 2009. These houses will be a real change for some of the hospital staff as they do not have running water (other than running to the river) and they have dirt floors. These will be nice houses for small families. There are two duplexs and one single family dwelling. Hopefully they will be ready by June for families to move in.

Faces from the Feeding Program

I thought you might enjoy some of the faces of the patients in Mary's feeding program here at Chitokoloki.