An Equestrian Birthday

Our oldest daughter, Kanah, turned 8 on December 5! Given that Kanah has always had a tender heart for animals, we decided to celebrate as a family with a trip to a nearby farm. This 10,000 acre farm, located approximately 45 minutes drive from Macha, has been owned by the Bruce-Miller family, a white Zambian family of British descent, for several generations. Their farm contains hundreds of cattle, along with wildebeest, zebra, ostriches and numerous  species of indigenous antelope (e.g. impala, bush buck and puku). It is also a bird-watcher’s paradise!  Oh, and don’t forget the 13 dogs who act like they’re part of the family! Despite all of these enticing reasons to visit, the highlight of our visit would be the 7 horses who call this farm home!

Our weekend was spent on game drives (scouting out the various animals and searching the bush for an abandoned nest of ostrich eggs), horseback riding lessons for the girls, bird hunting (for Daddy!), eating wonderful, local food and chatting with the very welcoming and friendly Bruce-Miller family.

There never seems to be a dull moment at the Bruce-Miller farm – anything can happen! One evening, as we were sitting down to dinner, our host apologized and explained that very shortly she’d need to excuse herself from dinner. A neighbouring farmer was bringing over her dog who had just been gored by a wild bush pig. The Bruce-Millers are very experienced at caring for injured animals and they were prepared to clean and stitch the wound. About 5 minutes later, as the neighbours arrived carrying their injured Dalmatian, the scene suddenly became chaotic as the dog warned them of a spitting cobra slithering around the veranda, just outside the dinning room. The injured dog would have to wait! The door to the dining room was quickly closed as two of the adults donned eye goggles, grabbed whips and hoes and proceeded to corner and kill the deadly snake! (We had a front row seat to the action from the dining room window!) Now it was time to care for the injured dog. Kanah was completely intrigued by the entire procedure and held the flashlight as they shaved, cleaned and eventually stitched the gaping wound. Perhaps we have a budding veterinarian on our hands?!?!

The next morning, before the second round of horseback riding lessons were to begin, the girls got to bottle-feed and play with an infant duiker (one of the many species of antelope native to Zambia) that the had been brought to the family. It had been abandoned by its mother. The Bruce-Miller family will raise it and then release it back into the wild.

As we drove away from the farm, Kanah exclaimed, “This was my best birthday ever!”

I would, however, be remiss if I only gave an account of what we did for her birthday and left out how special this little blondie is to us. While she inherited her mom’s beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin, her personality closely resembles mine… silly, confident, outspoken and a whole lot of fun! I see so much of myself in her (although she’s got her mom’s brains!).  She loves to read and do anything “crafty”. (Some days she says she’s going to be an artist like Uncle Benj or Aunt Shel.) She also has an incredible heart for others!

It’s been an amazing year watching her jump in with reckless abandon to a culture so completely different from her own. From the moment we arrived in Macha, she was making friends, eager to attend her new school, speaking “Zamspeak” (the word we use to describe the accent of Zambian English) and taking full advantage of her new freedom to roam the area surrounding us!

Kanah has a zeal for life that, while at times can exasperate her parents, is going to give her the desire and confidence to pursue her dreams. She’s one smart and talented girl and we’re excited to see her dreams come true!

So while it may be more than a month past her birthday, I’ll use this moment to publicly declare how proud we are of Kanah and how much we love her! Kanah, we’re SOOO thankful for the miracle God gave us in YOU!