Meet the Family

Greetings friends,

I realized I have been rude all this time and never introduced you to my family in the village. So I took it upon myself to bring out the tourist American in me, and go around my village compound taking pictures of everyone, even the newborn puppies. Enjoy!

First, I must keep it culturally appropriate because her it's not always ladies first, so please meet my headman Ba Enoch Kayoba (Ba is a term of respect that you show for those older than you in Zambia, both male and female it can be compared to miss or madam or mr, if you will) the village I live in is named for this gentleman:

Then we have his wives, there are three. I think I mentioned I live in an area of polygamy, so I'll start with the first wife (1st one he married) Ba Selome, she's preparing dinner ( a vegetable called Rape)

Then her family (I identify families by who eats together. The three wives each have their own cikuta (kitchen/sitting space outside under thatch) and they eat with their families. At one time Ba Kayoba must have picked which days to eat with who, but now he eats by himself in his own cikuta but I think they trade off on who cooks for him. ) the children of her first daughter who passed away a few years ago stay with her. The male is Odu and his sister Patricia:






Patricia is our newest mother, she just had a baby born on November 5th. She asked me to name him so I named him Isaiah after I slept on it and it came to me in my sleep. In Zambia ChiTonga Bibles they spell it Isaya so that's his name. I almost witnessed my first childbirth but I missed it by a few minutes. But I did see the ambilical cord come out, my my was long.

This is Sianoongu front and center, I think he's a grandson of the first wife. I'm not sure who his mother is, he's always roaming the village by himself.

This is the headman's 2nd wife Ba Mary and her family (the people she eats meals with). From left to right is Myimbo, Mary, Patricia (she's actually a grandaughter to the first wife but she's in this picture anyway), Regine and her baby Choolwe, and Stella a daughter to the 2nd wife.

This is Stela's son that missed the family picture. I'm afraid to say I don't remember his name.

This is Ba Jelina Siabwi Kayoba, the third and I think final wife of the headman. She is the one I'm closest with. Probably because she's the only one who speaks English, but hopefully that will soon change as I'm trying to improve my CiTonga, she is the caretaker of Lista who is an orphan and this is her last child Cilombe, the youngest son to the headman. She has 9 children.

This is another one of Ba Jelina's son's Chimunya. She only has one daughter and 8 boys. Then there's Bishop trying to get his 5 minutes of fame at the bike of the bike.

These are most of the children Ba Jelina cares for. From left to right Cilombe (last born), Bishop (number 8), Gweny (who is best friends with Lista and not actually a part of this family, she is the granddaughter of the second wife but where Lista is she is too), Lista and Chuma her older sister, and Milimo who is the child of Ba Jelina's sister I believe.

From left to right is Beenzu, Ba Abel Sichimwabenzu Bonzo, Ba Jennifer, and Banyinzi. There is one person missing, Jennifer's husband, China Bonzo, one of the people who made life so much easier for me when I fist got to my village by knowing English and helping me interpret and going with me all over the catchment area. He is away at school, about to enter grade 12. He is one of the few believers in one wife being enough, and 2 children being more than enough mouths to feed.

This is me and most of the children in my compound. Starting clockwise from the left is Banyinzi, Bishop, Me, Beenzu, Lista, Gwenie, and Cilombe.

This is my favorite Orphan, Lista. Isn't she the cutest lil' girl you ever saw?! She's quite shy, but quite mature for her 5 years.

Then here is Milimo again, he is the cutest child. Unfortunately, he is not as strong as he should be at almost 2 years old. Ba Jelina says it's because the mother stopped breastfeed him too early. He always sits looking at you just like this with his big eyes, arms always at his sides because he has trouble lifting them, and he is often found crying when the other children abandon him or sometimes for nothing at all. I really hope we can strengthen him up because he has the potential to be a big healthy boy someday.

And finally, here is the daughter I forgot to tell everyone I had. Her name is Aunety. She is 15 in grade 8 which means I was 10 when I gave birth to her, and not even menstruating yet, a modern miracle. Okay all jokes aside, I have adopted her for my two year stay and she helps me keep my house in order while I help her with school fees. She's very bright and loves learning new things. Her mother and father live in a village about a 30 minute walk away, she's staying in a room of Ba Jelina's house next door to me.

So this is the family or families who live in my village compound. We are many as you can see. And in this country, you don't have to give birth to someone to care for them, as you can see my deep explanations of how children are connected to women. There are no orphans in the village without a place to eat or shelter, it's just they aren't always getting the protein in their diets that they need, and there is not much mental and psycological support for those who lose their parents, but we're working on that, one day at a time.