Zambia 2009 - #8

Today Jimmie & Ron planned to drive the 4 - 6 hours to Siamafumba for another 3-day bush meeting. Ron goes here every year and Jimmie has been with him before, but it has been several years. Jimmie's previous trips here were definitely what you would call "roughing it".

Jimmie used to take a tent from home to have somewhere to sleep since Siamafumba was just a crossroads for some bush footpaths. There was no town or facilities of any type.

Water had to be toted there in buckets. All food and supplies had to be carried in to feed the more than 2,000 people who usually arrive on foot for the meeting.

Now they have built a school here, Siamafumba School of Biblical Studies. These pictures are from Ron's 2007 trip, but as you can see the school building (the tin roof shown in the distance) is about the only thing there still. The other structures you see are made of brush and contructed just for the meeting.

They are used for a variety of reasons, from sleeping to cooking, so they make a quick and easy shelter. But unwelcome critters often come with the brush, so I'm glad that Jimmie & Ron will be able to sleep in the school building this year.