Water from the Rock
[Previous Post ] The Mchinji Mountains are a small highland area atop a plateau. Home of Hope draws water from both. Water from a spring at the base of the hill we climbed feeds the Home’s taps, and irrigates its on-site vegetable gardens and Macadamia tree nursery. The plateau plain below is characterized by "dambo" areas - wet all year-round, with rich, black soil. (A geologist may mention “weathered basement aquifer” at this point. I will stick to “reliably swampy areas”.) When Rev Chipeta retired from church ministry in Zambia, he purchased a large tract of land that includes a number of dambo areas. Dig a little, and there is the water. After lunch we went to see these little oases and the fields they irrigate, but first - our morning. Next door to the Home of Hope campus is the Mchinji Mission - a congregation of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) - and the “home church” for many at Home of Hope. We donned the traditional attire R...