Today is a very special day for me. My baby, Taonga, started her Biotech studies at the University of Newcastle. It all feels like a dream - it feels like I will wake up to find that it was all a dream and my baby is still that little vulnerable baby who was born like yesterday. And yet it is not so. O how quickly they grow. I remember all the milestones in her life - the first time I saw her sleeping peacefully in that hospital crib, occasionally yawning exposing her dimpled cheeks, the first time she stood on her two little feet, the first step she made with arms stretched towards me and the widest smile on her face . I remember the first time we took her to nursery at Auntie Becky's in Kitwe, the first time she started formal school at Nkana trust School. It all feels like it was only yesterday. I remember all the exciting years of primary school - at Nkana Trust in Kitwe, Zambia, then at Saxonwold in Johannesburg, and then at Kimberley Junior in Kimberley South Africa. I remember the first time we walked her to her class at Aspley State School in Brisbane, Australia, being warmly welcomed by her teacher Mr Bates - a very special teacher! I recall her graduation from Andergrove State School in Mackay and moving on to Mackay North High School. Then there was the stint at Emerald High School in Central Queensland, culminating in the move to Lambton High School in Newcastle where she had a memorable 4 years of her High School time.
I recall the excitement when she for the first time sat behind the wheel to learn how to drive. It was such a joy to teach her to drive and now she is a competent and accomplished operator.

And today is yet another milestone for her and for all of us in the family - my wife, and Taonga's young sisters Lusungu and Elizabeth. My baby has started Uni! How exciting. We dont know what lies ahead - but one thing we are sure of is the assurance from the song I sang all the way home when we first took her from the maternity ward at Nkana Mine Hospital - "...this child can face uncertain days because He lives..." I can only thank God for bringing her this far and trust Him for her future. Thank you Lord

Home Coming

Casting my mind back to the beginning of 2009; where was I and what was I doing? Of course I remember the start of 2009 like it was yesterday. A very eventful time for me and my family. We had just arrived in Lusaka on 31st December 2008 at 21:00hrs on a South African Airways flight from Johannesburg to Lusaka - we arrived to a thunderous welcome at the airport from friends and relatives, all very dear to us, some of whom I had not seen for eight years! Yes, I arrived home eight long years after my previous visit and it felt so good to be back home. So much had changed and yet so much remained so familiar - at some level it felt like I had never left at all. Familiar places, people and familiar smells, the ease with which I was able to switch into the everyday Lusaka language - I surprised even myself!
On the other hand change was all around, nieces and nephews had grown, some even with their own children. Brothers, sisters and cousins all grown a little bit older but still in my eyes same familiar faces I always knew and cherish.


Special friends like the Dakas and the Mwilas - it was so good to just be together again.

Then it was time to go out and see how Zambians celebrate or usher in the new year! We drove past the Arcade which was packed with excited young people, down to Northmead where another throng was in full swing celebrating. When the clock struck midnight, there was a spontaneous roar of celebration with fire works going off sporadically from all over different venues. Police cars driving around keeping the peace also joined in with their flashing lights and sirens! It was indeed a spectacle.

Memories of the new year celebrations we had become so used to in Australia - the Sydney bridge spectacle, the Newcastle foreshore fireworks and the Brisbane Southbank extravaganza where a distant past. We were indeed home and it felt so good!

One year is gone by so quickly and another is upon us, fleeting past at speed as well. What a year it has been - so much has happened, words are not adequate to describe everything I have experienced. I can only say Ebenezer - "thus far the Lord has helped us." And so I will just say thank you for what has come my way and trust Him for all things to come.