Treasures of the Earth- God's storehouse


The jackaranda tree is in bloom again. I love this tree, it's so pretty!

I went to the fields this morning with some of my young friends- Mercy (11) and her older sister Mildred (17). And I discovered another of my young friends is the brother to these two girls- Gershom (13)or as I know him- Junior. Eliza (8) younger sister to Mercy n Mildred had malaria yesterday so she didn't come with.

Last time I went to cultivate I learned how to use their hoe to clear away brush and vines and old sticks from the cassava mounds.

This time Mildred informed me I would learn how to dig for makamba- the root of the cassava plant which they pound into flour to make the main ingredient of nshima the staple of their diet.


Nothing to it, I have learned, just digging in the dirt at the bottom of the plant for the root- kinda like a long, thick, woody potato. When one is found, you dig around until you can loosen it from the dirt, then break it off the plant and leave it in a pile to collect once you are finished.

Although, if you look closely at the mounds, in some of the places you can see where the packed dirt has cracked from the top of the mound down towards the bottom. If you start to dig there you will find many of these roots and many of a good size. Who would've known that the earth can actually tell you where is the best place to dig.


I pause for a moment from my work and look around at my companions- barefoot, dressed in 'work' clothes, the little one half humming and half singing a Sunday school song, the blazing blue of the sky above, the warmth of the brown dirt on my bare feet, the prickles of the cassava plant, the weight of the hoe in my hands, my permanently dirt stained hands and feet. And my mind goes back some years to a plush, posh work dinner everyone in their finest clothes, the best that the city of London Ontario has to offer, some of the brightest minds in relation to my profession... Is this really me? Am I really here now, digging in the dirt with two young girls I call friends and loving every minute of it???




After we collected two buckets full of cassava roots, Mildred n Mercy took me down a ways to where their mother and brothers Gershom and Peter were working. Mama Solochi had an axe and was cutting sticks of mature cassava plants, while the boys collected those sticks into a pile... For burning?? Nope! For planting.

Imagine taking a stick of a plant, putting it in the ground (right side up of course- there's a trick to knowing that) and leaving it until the rains come in three months time to water it. And then, dry season after dry season digging up the roots to make nshima with.

I am not much of a gardener or a farmer to be sure, so maybe people know this already. But this amazes me! A simple stick becomes a staple part of a country's diet.

Isn't our God amazing! These are a simple people, they live simply off the land and God provides for them simply. A stick planted, grows roots and leaves and year after year after year for maybe the last thousand years or so this people has dug the roots to provide their daily bread. Amazing in His simplicity.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth... O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all... I will sing to the Lord as long as I live... I will rejoice in the Lord... Bless The Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord.

Oh the things I am seeing and the lessons I am learning from digging in the dirt. My God is amazing!

On the way home, Mildred rolls up an old chitengi into an 'mbun'a' and places it on my head. Onto that she lifts one of the heavy bowls of nyikamba (cassava roots). Eish, its heavy! My balance is terrible so I hold it tight with one hand all the way back to their village- maybe a twenty minute walk (normally only about ten). Greetings come for each village we pass and tho I don't hear Luvale well, I can tell they are commenting and laughing about my attempt to carry this bowl on my head. Meh- let them laugh- it's laughter that draws people together and makes friendships. And many of them, it's not mocking, it seems more appreciation for trying to learn what comes as second nature to them.... Well, I'll think that anyway😝. My neck and shoulders ache once the load is finally lifted from my head. But me- I can't wait till the next time I can go back once more to the fields