I spent the first two weeks in Lusaka, Zambia with these beautiful women:
I learned so much from each of them and was honored to share this experience with such extraordinary people. I think about them and the wonderful Zambian people I met every day and they are still what I think about every night before I fall asleep.
While in Lusaka, we visited several partner organizations in addition to spending several days visiting the Mothers Without Borders Children's Resource Center which has an orphanage and a school. I'll talk about the partner organizations later but I want to start with a few images from the MWB CRC. It is a little piece of heaven. It's away from the chaos of the trash filled city streets of Lusaka and the days we got to visit the CRC and play with the kids was a welcomed reprieve from the harsh realities of poverty and sickness that I was witnessing and trying to understand for the first time. We played games, sang songs, danced, read, colored, played soccer on their soccer field...or as they say, "Played football on the football pitch." We arrived around 11pm on Saturday night, went to church on Sunday and tried to stay awake for the rest of the day, then we went to the CRC on Monday and I had the most surreal moment standing on the soccer field. I thought, "I am in Africa playing soccer with Zambian children." Not a sentence I ever thought I'd be able to say.
Here are the older boys doing their laundry:
Shanna and I with a few of our new friends:
Melissa and Gift:
The warehouse and the army truck, our sweet chariot:
Peter reading, "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly." Auntie Pam taught them the song and it was absolutely the cutest thing I've ever heard.
Shanna and Precious, the most perfect name ever given:
They love to sing!
One of the volunteers brought a sticker book and it was a huge hit. The kids were all covering themselves in stickers and my friend, Alice, (in the red sweater and yellow skirt above) went over to join them. I thought she was getting some for herself but she walked back over and put them on me. Once I was sufficiently covered. She got a few for herself.
This was the night we arrived and loaded all of our luggage into the huge Bedford army truck:
The wonderful Mothers Without Borders Zambian staff:
Unloading and sorting the donations we brought with us:
Fred - our driver and one of my very favorite Zambians:
Climbing into the truck after church. Innocent, the LDS Branch President and MWB employee, holding the ladder:
Listening to the kids sing the whole hour home was heaven.
One of the LDS church buildings we attended in Lusaka:
Terry spent about half of her time working with the women in the sewing club. She has serious skills.
Jennifer, Pam, and Julie planting trees on the MWB property.
MWB works with many organizations in Lusaka. We were able to visit a few of these partner organizations while we were there. It was awesome to visit these projects and hear about all they are trying to do to make a positive impact in their communities. It was overwhelming at times to see so much need but I learned that even if all you have to give is a small hygiene kit and your love, it goes a long way.
One of the hardest days for me was the day we visited Bwafano, an organization started by a Zambian woman that provides medical resources and education in the Chazanga compound (the non-PC term for compound is slum). Bwafano does home health care visits for TB and HIV/AIDS patients. I visited four patients in the compound in their homes and was honored to be a witness to their suffering and hardships. Zambia is a Christian nation and they have incredible faith in the Savior and strong testimonies of His love for them. It was a powerful reminder of the infinite power of the Atonement and the fact that our Heavenly Father is aware of each and every one of His children. The last woman that we visited that day was so ill that she most likely died before I left Zambia. They had no food in their home and hadn't eaten for days. I think of her three children under the age of 10 often and pray that they are safe.
A classroom at Bwafano:
Homes in the compounds:
Sweet Sarah teaching the children how to say, "I love you," and making sure they knew that she loved them (note: this isn't actually in the Chazanga compound...I just needed to add something happy.):
The busy streets of Lusaka. Notice the two small children in the bottom center. I never got used to seeing such small children walking around the streets on their own:
Kapila Village was one of my favorite stops. We ventured out of Lusaka to a legit African village. We were greeted by the women of the village singing and dancing to meet us as we climbed off the truck. The women who joined us were representatives of the villages clubs. Each club took a turn telling us what their club does for the village (sewing, keeping chickens, etc). Kathy Miner (founder of MWB) told them about our mission and how we hoped to partner with them in the future. This was MWB's first visit to the village and they were very excited to have us there. At the end of the meeting we gave them clean birthing kits and feminine hygiene kits. They burst into singing and dancing when we showed them the feminine kits. Something that any woman reading this blog would consider a necessity, was viewed as a luxury by them. After the official meeting, the women in our group who have sewing skills helped the village women learn some new skills. The rest of us who are good at things like duck duck goose and jump rope went outside to play with the kids. This was pretty exciting because only a few of them understood any English and we certainly didn't speak any Nyanja. After sewing and games, we got a tour of one of their homes. Another surreal moment to sit on a mat with a Zambian woman outside of her hut while her children played outside listening to her talk about her daily life. Zambians eat Nshima made of cornmeal every day. The corn crop was attacked by a worm infestation early this season and their is a drought this year. Kathy told us that the villages expect to bury 5-6 children each week once the harvest is finished due to starvation.
Greeting:
Home Sweet Home:
Hat looms:
The group with the village people (I couldn't resist):
There are around 13 million people in Zambia and 1 million of them are orphans. 20,000 of those orphans live on the street. One of the projects we visited works to provide a meal for street children each day at a drop-in center. They also have an orphanage that we visited. We played a game to learn all of the names and then we broke into groups to tour the facility and play with the kids. This visit was a little different because the youngest "kid" was 12 and the oldest that I talked to was 23. The project is called the Chisomo Street Kids Center. One of the young men I talked to will be starting at the University of Zambia this September. He was able to find someone to sponsor him, which is often the thing that keeps most street kids from attending college. I asked him if he was nervous or excited to go to college. He looked at me and said, "I have no reason to be nervous. God has always been with me and He will be with me at school. He will help me."
The boys after their soccer match:
The boys room in the Chisomo orphanage:
Shanna and I with Sunday and Stanley:
We also visited a baby orphanage called the House of Moses. We were only there for a little over an hour holding babies and playing with toddlers. One of the hardest things I had to do in Zambia was to set little Mary down on the grass and walk away as she cried and reach for me.
So many experience and memories that I hope I never forget. If you have any questions or would like information on how to get involved, I would love to talk to you. I've provided a link to the organizations and invite you to learn more about them if you are interested.
Finally, I want to thank those of you who so generously donated to help make this trip possible for me. Know that your donations really did make a difference in the lives of many, including mine.
