Newsletter (July 14, 2011)

Dear all, Many people are having cold and flu right now, and we were no exception. We had flu-like symptoms two Sundays ago, and after a few days we developed some malaria symptoms and so we went to the clinic to have blood tests and the tests confirmed that we had malaria. So for the whole last week we were resting at home. We are fine now, though still feel a bit tired, as is normally the case for malaria.

The library has finally managed to employ an assistant librarian. He was trained at the University of Zambia. We hope that he can settle in Ndola soon and can do well in his job. We all have high expectations of him.

The preliminary report of the 2010 census has been published. The whole country has slightly more than 13 million people. The largest city is Lusaka, the capital, with 1.7 million. Second is Kitwe, about 60km from Ndola, with 522,000. Ndola is third, with 455,500. Surprisingly, Chipata, in Eastern Province, is not far behind with 452,000.

The group of Chinese Christians which has been here several times is here again. Tomorrow we will go with them to have a look at the basic school that they sponsored. We will be able to meet some of the students in the morning and in the evening we will also visit some of the families. It is in a rural area just south of Ndola and we have never been to that area before, so it will be good to go.

Read in the news that there is lots of snow in Southland and Otago. Hope all of you can keep warm and won’t get cold. With Christian love.