School Lunch

I live in a very nice place.  I have very nice neighbors most have jobs and good incomes. The children in my community go to very nice schools, both public and private.  I was part of a conversation recently where 'school lunches' were the topic of the young moms.  Each citing what their kids liked or did not like, each citing what they desired the 'lunch programs' to look like and no one quite happy with the offerings. That is our luxury though we probably do not view it in that light.

Mawawa the village community that Hands of Hope has been working with the longest is starting to thrive. The beautiful gardens that our economic development has provided are giving fresh and bountiful food for most of the families.  Limited by our standards but miraculous by theirs.   "Malnutrition is gone" shares a school spokesman.  I saw no extended tummies on the kids and that alone is noteworthy and something to celebrate.  Not all families are equal in what they can provide or own for that is the way of life but things are improving!

I have lots of things that I want to critique and change in this part of the world but that is not my task or calling.  I can work within the boundaries set before me and do my best with what has been given to me.   If change were as simple as my wish list being fulfilled we would not be in this remote part of the world making a difference or any other place for that matter. :)

I love to cook and to feed people. I am intrigued with food from other parts of the world. The outdoor kitchen, a campfire stove, a pot or perhaps two grace the kitchen of each hut.  This is how the meal is prepared. The supermarket is foreign to most of these people, if they have been in one they could not afford to buy anything.  The prices were outrageous even to me.  They live off of the land and Nshima is their food.

My awesome journey to this part of the world focused in on a small, small place on the earth.  Mawawa, the village where there is now a school and a well and school lunch program!
As we toured the school they proudly showed me the 'kitchen'!  I lagged behind the group and was blessed with new insight into this community I am coming to love.  The incentive to get kids to school is that they will get a meal!  Let me show you the kitchen!

The first photo is inside the 'cook hut'.  The size is probably 6 X 8.  One side is for storing and 'counter' space the other side for cooking.  The floor is the same sandy soil that is out side. It is very well made and the mud walls are firm and secure.  The thatched roof is angled so during the rainy season the water runs off. There are windows to vent out the smoke from the fire and the 'cooks' can work rainy season or not. 

  The main staple is ground maize, Nshima.  For some it is a once a day meal, thus the incentive to come to school and be fed.  The kettle below cooks the Nshima over a fire. This is standard fare for all of Zambia.

Large Kettle for cooking Nshima!  The fire is lit below.

    If purchased this how a Zambian would bring their Nshima home.  Many grind their own from crops they have grown. (Another blog story)  The recipe should you want to give your children a lesson in gratitude or you just want to see what a large part of Southern Africa eats daily is:

American Style Nshima

4 Cups Water
2 Cups plain corn meal
Method: Pour 4 cups of water into a medium size cooking pot. Heat the water for 3 - 4 minutes or until luke warm. Using one tablespoonful at a time, slowly sprinkle 3/4 cup of the corn meal into the pot while stirring continuously with a cooking stick. Keep stirring slowly until the mixture begins to thicken and boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover the pot, and let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.

The two men below are the school cooks.  They were delighted to show me the kitchen and how they cooked the meal. :)    When the food is cooked they 'plate' it and set them on the counter (above) until lunch time.  Several children eat from one plate. Fingers are used to scoop it up.  It is interesting that even in restaurants our Zambian guides, interpreters and even the pastors used their fingers as well. If a family is not destitute they may have one other thing to eat with their Nshima, fish, meat or a vegetable.  Generally in these poor communities Nshima is the meal.

School Cafeteria and cooks!

Daily meal.  No choice options except perhaps the plate design.

School Lunch Aid

Dish washer

Lunch time moms

Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world. James 1:27 (Bible-Message Translation) 

Back to School

It is the second week in August.  In our part of town, school will not begin for a couple more weeks.  Last minute vacations or fun trips are planned by families.  Parents here look for activities to keep the kids busy and them from going crazy.   The chain stores have the isles stocked with the required school materials and each is offering incredible prices that scream 'come shop here'.  The weekly advertisements show pictures of the newest trend in school clothing, back packs, lunch totes and the lists do not stop.  Buy me, shop here, stock up and be fresh and ready for this next school year.  Each parent and student feels the pressure to have the 'right' and 'most popular' of items.  The gathering games begin.

As a child I loved getting new crayons, notebooks, pens and pencils.  I loved to gather those new fresh items and then place them in my desk or as I got older my locker. Even as a child I understood the fresh new start that a new school year offered to me.  (I always needed a fresh new start :). )  My family had little money but I always had something new to wear as I begin each year.  It was a badge of honor and privilege that delighted me. I lived in the USA and education was my right and I was expected to go to school.

Though hard to see this little boy's notebook is news print cover with a few sheets of paper.  

 

 

  Our children in the Western Provence do not know such luxury.  Going to school is the honor and luxury few get to experience.   Those from villages in the bush do not come from families where education is the norm, survival is the norm.  Being healthy is not the norm.  Having enough food is not the norm, new clothes are unheard of, each family member is wearing the only clothing they own. School supplies ... what are school supplies?  The governments task is to provide the needed items but they do not do it well. 

Hands of Hope has gifted these students with a school, desks, chalk boards and housing for teachers.  This is a magnificent gift for these are people who felt forsaken by God and their own people.  No longer is this true!  They called out to God and He answered their prayers.  God kept His promise. If you were to talk to them they would attest to God's provisions.

You will seek me (GOD)  and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah (Bible) 29:13

The Teaching Style is very British and Formal.

Text books do not exist at this school so the black board is the main teaching tool.

These boys were delighted to have us change the course of their school day. This is Mawawa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mawawa and Luntende are the two villages that we have built schools.  Luntende being the newest.  Over the next couple of blogs I am going to take you through what school in the bush looks like.  It is simple by our standards, basics that we would demand are luxuries unheard of.  However, these schools represent hope for a better life, HOPE because someone (perhaps you) cared.

Education is critical to allowing these students to escape from poverty and to have hope of a better life.  Thank you Hands of Hope for helping this become possible.
 
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” ― Nelson Mandela  

The Motorized Ox Cart

Each time I decide to blog about Mongu and the remote villages we serve outside of Mongu, I struggle with reminiscing with you the reader about my adventures, reporting facts about the poverty, the people, the broken lives, the hope, the miracles I see God performing and sharing the awesome changes we are seeing take place before our eyes from the work of Hands of Hope.  I blog because I want others to catch the vision of what a few dollars can do when collectively gathered and used solely for the economic development in the Western Provence of Zambia.   In essence teaching them how to 'fish' not just be fed.

It has been said a picture is worth a 1000 words.  But even pictures cannot convey the smells, the sandy grit that covers your feet, the flies on the beautiful faces of the children, the smell of smoke from the grasses that are being burned off, or from the fire outside of the huts cooking the maize, that permeates everything.  So with each blog I will post, the desire is to give you adequate word pictures allowing you to imagine 'you are there'.  A daunting task :). 

Yesterday, I extolled the virtues of the cabbage.  In past blogs I have written about the remote villages we have chosen to work with.  This blog is about miracles and blessings. What my blog and pictures cannot capture is the area surrounding each garden.  With out the wells and the daily attention to watering this is a barren waste land.  The only green for miles, comes from the beautiful gardens our farmers are growing. (or perhaps a green shirt)

The work of Hands of Hope in Zambia for the past 4 years has been under the radar.  We were just another NGO that chose to work in a 'forsaken' desert.  Garden by garden, well by well, school by school, project by project miracles have unfolded. The success of what is happening is becoming known and causing others to take note!  Hands of Hope by the grace of God has taken the proclaimed impossible and seeing the impossible come to life!  

Last year an organization from Europe decided they wanted to partner with us.  They are much older, larger and felt they knew best what we needed to help our farmers. Our farmers crops were producing great vegetables but getting them to the market fresh was impossible.  

The normal method of getting produce to their market, is an oxcart.  Because of the hot sun and the very long distances (10 + miles or more)  their produce wilts and making it harder to sell.  The 'older, larger'  organization that wanted to partner with us and 'help' our farmers was to get a motorized oxcart. (This quite funny to me in that this is an oxymoron - pun intended). We responded with "thank you" but "no thank you".
  
The vision of those over seeing our farmers and business growth for the Western Provence was grand. It seemed liked too grand of a plan for this poor part of the world.   We needed a truck!  We needed a BIG truck.  

Last year 2012 we got the truck!  It was a former military truck.  The really delightful part of the story is that the BIG truck was purchased in another African country.  It was painted camouflage for military purposes.   Our director picked it up and drove it to Mongu.  No one stopped him. Border by border they waved him through with salutes; no stops, no harassment, no fees or taxes to pay, just a clear sailing trip to its new home.   No one messes with the military.

This motorized oxcart has transformed our remote farmers lives.  The word is out! Our cabbages are big, beautiful and fresh!  Those buying them travel a great distance home, so to start out with fresh produce gives them a wonderful edge for coming home with fresh produce.   

Our farmers have secured loans from us.  They are given help in planting and growing their produce.  Wells are part of the package for water is critical in growing crops.  They are learning to make this a business. The success of their hard work and willingness to be taught have paid off on so many levels. Each farmer is charged a small fee for the delivery service and though they have only known the oxcart as transportation for 100's of years, they are experiencing the blessings of this awesome gift - The Motorized Oxcart.  

This big green truck has caused a 'stir' among other farmers who previously were sought out as first choice providers. Our farmers can now compete.  Our remote, out of the way farmers are now in the game and winning.  Their lives are changing. Their produce is the best.

 Just after our return home to the states we were told that the other farmers who had been 'trumped '  by our farmers are asking how they can be part of the produce pick up.  I do not know how this will play out but God took the impossible and made it possible, the least likely people to succeed are!  

Vicky Wauterlek enjoying the success of the Big Green Motorized Oxcart.

The Cabbage Patch Revolution

Never in a million years would anyone have guessed that I would become excited over cabbages.  I am not a coleslaw fan.  I am not of an ethnic background where cabbage was part of our diet. Sauerkraut as a child, was my first memory of this vegetable. I watched my mom make it in big crocks. Each day It just became smelly and sour.   

The closest thing to getting my taste buds excited over this vegetable is a good egg roll.  Now, with this use of cabbage you have my attention!  However, egg rolls are an unknown entity in Mongu and will probably remain so for a long time.

This awesome Treadle Pump was secured by a loan.  Allowing this young mom to pull water from her well to water her garden. She step pumps while another person waters the gardens.

 

On my trips to Mongu, cabbages of all things brought tears to my eyes!  Not because of the aroma created when cabbage is cooked, or the fact that it was a meal staple each day, but because the miracle that these cabbages could grow in this sandy barren land. 

We go off road for miles and head to a village.  Suddenly we come upon rows and rows of big, beautiful green heads of cabbage!  These oasis gardens, loaded with this vegetable, represent a new hope for adequate food to eat, for income and a better life.  The cabbages that are being grown in the gardens helped by Hands of Hope have become the cabbages of choice when brought to market!  They are big and beautiful.  Cabbages are sold per head not weight, so the choice of the buyer is always going to go for size and for freshness. 

The sandy soil is well suited for this veggie. Just add water.   Wells determine how big and vibrant a garden can be.  Instead of pouring water on the plants bucket by bucket as too many village gardeners do, treadle pumps with hoses attached, keep the vegetables watered well.  A brilliant and simple way to water a garden.  A small simple loan changes how these women live!  Hands of Hope has committed to work in this very remote area where these wonderful people have been over looked for centuries. I could have never imagined what a world of difference cabbage patches would make in a life.

I am also learning that God, the Creator of life provided healthy food in the midst of what seems like desolate and barren lands. His cabbages 'like' this soil and cabbages are very healthy veggies!  Go figure!

Nutrients in
Cabbage
1.00 cup raw (70.00 grams)

Nutrient%Daily Value

 vitamin K66.5%

 vitamin C42.7%

 folate7.5%

 fiber7%

 manganese5.5%

 molybdenum4.6%

 vitamin B64.5%

 potassium3.4%

 tryptophan3.1%

 calcium2.8%

 vitamin B12.6%

Calories (17)0%

Added to this list of nutrients, cabbage lowers cholesterol and helps with digestion.   I have a ways to go to love all of the cabbage recipe options.   Mongu has a ways to go before Egg Rolls will be offered for dinner.  So I will share with you a quick and simple egg roll recipe while I work at adding cabbage recipes into my meal plans.  

Egg Roll - 1 lb  (small) shrimp, pork or chicken, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp garlic powder,  1 tbsp creamy peanut butter lightly saute in skillet with small amount peanut oil, drain.  Two cups shredded cabbage, 2 ounces of shredded carrots, mix into meat toss lightly and allow to drain.   I place this mixture in a colander and push liquid out.  On square egg roll skin, place about 1/3 cup of mixture in middle.  Directions on how to fold the Egg Roll are on each pkg.   Fry until golden brown, place on paper towel, drain, serve warm with Sweet Sour Sauce. Makes about 8 rolls. (Test one Egg Roll to determine best cooking time.)

This young mother waters her beautiful cabbage garden.

These simple garden tools help to turn the soil and weed the gardens.

I am helping to water this garden.  The step pump is easy to use.  Stair master with a purpose.

In the night the cabbages catch at the moon, the leaves drip silver, the rows of cabbages are a series of little silver waterfalls in the moon.
-  Carl Sandburg

Not Forsaken

 A world away and 7 hours later in this day a place called the Western Province of Zambia is going about life.  It is winter now in this part of the world and for me the climate is just right; cool at night and during the day the heat index is just above 80. The mosquito population is almost gone  and though DUSTY and the roads quite bumpy getting around was not too bad.  I was encouraged to come and visit during the rainy season but other than being a curious soul, I am not thinking this will happen.        (rainy season road travel)

I cannot imagine how hard life must be in the mud, the sand/mud and the wet hot temperatures that accompany the rain.  Life, month after month, season after season is just plane HARD.   The people who live here are resilient and survivors, this wimpy white lady from the suburbs of Chicago could not make it a day, left to herself.    I am in and out of Mongu after almost two weeks, I bring my peanut butter and Clif bars to assure I won't starve, bottled water is as close as a request.  We are equipped with bug spray to ward off the mosquito's who did not get the memo that rains are gone and  I get to sleep in a tight and dry room at The Dolphin Lodge. (A Place Better Than Home).

He has not moved in a year. 

I mentally force myself to not whine about my food offerings reminding myself that each day we are offered 3 meals. Less than a kilometer or two away orphans are starving, moms are hoping to provide one meal of maize that they cook on an open fire perhaps with very dirty water.  

 Hands of Hope is like a breath of fresh air and hope!
There are many NGO's in Africa, (Non Government Organizations) each trying to make this vast continent a better place.  By the worlds standards Hands of Hope is small and insignificant. (We are under the radar but getting a lot done! Stateside there are no employees and we are small but becoming mighty as we promote our work.)

What excites me is that size does not determine the effectiveness.  We are small but what is being done is being noticed.  We with God's blessings are making a HUGE difference.  Let me know if you want to be part of this...:)

Yes, God has blessed our work! In two very remote and forgotten villages life and hope are coming to these people.  Like dormant seeds that are watered Lutendee and Mawawa are blossoming.   Hands of Hope chose a barren and desolate place on the earth that no one wanted to help, not even the local officials.  (More on that later.)

Scripture (Bible) is my source of guidance as I do life.  I do not take sections from the Bible out of their context and make them fit into my life filter to then justify my actions.  So as I share this verse with you I do so because I was reminded of a Biblical principal that threads throughout scripture.  It applies to these people we are focusing in on to help.  God cares for them!  God has heard their cries and is meeting them here in place no one signs up to go. 

 ^"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;  but because the Lord loves you"...my words.. He has brought you hope.  

 In the blogs to come more pictures of Hope and Happiness will be shown.  From barren sandy plains to lush fertile crops Hands of Hope and Zambia Works are making a huge difference. 

From villages with no wells many of you through Hands of Hope have given clean water.  These crops are an oasis in the middle of a desert.

From a flat dusty plot of land, a village chief gave of his families legacy, land for a school! He wanted his people to be educated, Hands of Hope  with Zambia Works have built that school!

It takes great courage to open one's heart and mind to the tremendous injustice and suffering in our world. V. Gallagher 



Having been here twice I still find it hard to convey the bareness, the dirt, the poverty, the primitive thinking in place where time has stopped. I wish I were a word smith that could transfer you to a place few travel to  and have you grasp what is so foreign to you.  But through many of you Hope has come to these wonderful, grateful people.  Hope and hope for their future is what we desire to bring to them.  I am blessed because they have changed me.  





















   

It's Sunday

It is Sunday evening here in my home.  Sunday's are important days to me and to my family.  Our worship of God the creator of heaven and earth is pivotal to all that I do.  To many reading these blogs God is irrelevant or archaic. He perhaps is something one might consider at another time or choose not to believe in at all. 

Sundays are the day we corporately worship, while daily I am drawn to seek my Creator and Savior.  My relationship with Jesus compels me to serve others.  It gives meaning to my life and hope to those who need it.  I am also mandated to help those in need.  "Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors Him." Proverbs (Bible) 14.31 

Why do I include my personal beliefs in this Mongu adventure and journey?  I share this aspect of my trip because God is acknowledged and plays a part of the lives those in the Western Province of Mongu.  It may be a simple belief but He is an aspect of life that cannot be ignored.   Most villages have a church.  What they believe may vary but God is acknowledged in some way.  Another aspect of their spiritual journey is mystic and fearful. For those who fear I am sad. The spirit world is real, I believe this totally and the dark side of this realm paralyzes many from going forward in life.  

As I asked a 'million questions' about things I observed, one overriding question had to do with abandoned buildings that with little effort could be inhabited. Many were from the Colonial era when Britain dominated Africa, they are red brick structures that have stood the test of time.  Often a straw or mud hut is erected next to these homes of the past.  I was puzzled as to why these good buildings were not occupied.  The answer was that someone had probably died in the house and the fear of spirits kept them from inhabiting them.  The supernatural is real and cannot be ignored. 

I was privileged to visit several churches during our time here.  My husband, Don journeyed with us this year.  He had the privilege to teach a workshop for pastors and church leaders.  For both of us it was exciting to see the desire of  90+ people coming to learn how to study the Bible.  The spiritual hunger in this barren land, matched the physical hunger.  

The places of worship ranged from the primitive to constructed buildings.  The pictures below are Protestant in focus.  The photos at the bottom have the same building structure as do the Catholic churches. Most churches in the villages are mud in structure with thatched roofs.  Below are some snapshots of various places of worship. 

This was the host church for my husbands workshop.

The host church was one of the larger churches and could handle the group.

All pulpits are decorated in some form. This one had a drape.  The one below, flowers.

A simpler church, mud walls but a very nice building in the center of this village.

Guest home for visitors at the church above.

The Pastor, Choir Director and Don.

 Below is the best 'sign' I have yet to capture.  I shared in an earlier blog that cell phones in Africa have transcended all other modern conveniences.  An inhabitant of a grass/mud hut, the driver of an ox cart can be seen talking on his phone.  It is a status symbol and the ring tones are ear piercing.  This new world invasion has to be curbed within the church. Take note of the sign below! 

I asked the pastor of this church how they collected the fine for incoming phone call.  He shared that it is the task of the ushers.  They do collect! 
 

Take note all ministers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?  Mathew (Bible) 16:26

The Spiritual cannot be ignored if the physical life is to change.  It is impossible.  Poverty is not just a financial state but a spiritual one as well.