Meeting Thandie

 The lost chapter.

Part of the EDC-CARE initiative is a “knowledge transfer” element, whereby each EDC employee seconded to Care is paired up with a Zambian university grad, so that the Zambian can learn from the Canadian while we are in country, such that the knowledge we gain does not leave with us.  The result of this is that Care hires two Zambians and pairs them up with us as “interns”.  My intern was Andrew Mushoke and Kat’s was Anna (Anisha) Simutowe.

I immediately connected with our little team of Kat, Andrew, Anna and me.  We had lunch together almost every day on the verandah of the Care office, which was located in an old rambling house in the Kabulonga area of Lusaka.  Anna and I formed a strong connection from the start.  The fact that I was separated from my ex-wife mystified her and she kept asking me what happened and how I could possibly be single.  She was recently married, so I wasn’t sure at first why she was so interested, but one day at lunch she told me:  “I want you to meet my older sister”.  I thought to myself “why not?”.   Anna thought I was nice and worldly and smart and she told me Thandie was very like-minded and she was sure we would get along.  More importantly, she told that Thandie was into older guys!    She also told me that Thandie was a single mom of a 5 year old and was currently working in Livingstone, in the south of Zambia.  Since I was a single dad of a 6 year old, I thought this would go a long way toward bridging the age difference between us.  And while I thought it would be fun to meet her, I was certainly not looking for a relationship and particularly not a global long distance one!

So, when Kat and I invited Andrew and Anna to our residence at Shakespeare Court in Lusaka for a braii (a barbecue) and Anna asked me if she could bring some family, including her sister Thandie, Kat and I said “sure”.  On that fateful evening of October 12, Kat and I watched anxiously as Anna’s minivan pulled up.  Much to our surprise, 5 girls got out of the minivan (I learned that when a Zambian says “can I bring family” they mean business!).  I guessed which one was Thandie and I distinctly remember Kat whispering to me “she’s hot”.  I couldn’t disagree.  She brought Lee-Ann, her daughter with her so I got to meet both of them at the same time.    

After running to the store to get more food, we settled in for dinner and a lovely evening together, talking eating and laughing and Thandie and I hit it off from the get go.  I also got to meet many of the Simutowe family at once, including another sister (Eve), Thandie’s sister-in-law Rachel and another cousin.  Here are several photos from that evening.

                                                                     toute la gang

                                            Eve, Mwaka and Thandie

                                            Kat and Andrew

                                    who knew these people would be my wife and daughter?

                                                         Kat and Anisha the first

                                                                       sleepy Lee

                                                              first snuggle, but not the last

A month and two dates later, we had another braii and the funnest night of dancing ever where I met Thandie's posse, Nancy, Upe and Euphemia and Kat and I tried our hand at making nshima.

The rest is history. But that's another story...