Back to School - Part 1

Today the kids in my neighborhood returned to school.  It is a beautiful, sunny day, the giggles and excitement were fun to hear.  They catch their bus just outside my driveway.   As I pondered on my next blog topic this mornings activity decided it for me.

While in Zambia we dedicated two new schools!  Two!  Schools that Hands of Hope built because ladies here helped to raise the money a dollar at a time.  Schools that their government should have built but would not.  The new schools are in very remote areas where children would have to walk many miles to attend a school closest to them.  Now in these two villages school is accessible.

I am bouncing emotionally  between our two cultures.  Our neighborhood children climb on a bus and go a beautiful school about one mile away.   Their school has electricity, plumbing (toilets, drinking fountains, sinks), supplies and beautiful surroundings. The schools are clean and neat!  For my neighbors and grand daughters  I am glad.  They have highly trained teachers and for that I am glad.  Even with classroom sizes fuller than we might prefer the education our students are receiving is superior to most of the world. 

The schools that we dedicated in Mongu are new with fresh paint and newly shaped  cement blocks.  Hands of Hope provided desks and black boards.  (Oh yes, Smart Boards are not even in the vocabulary listing and computers are so out of reach that even the teachers do not have them. )

The desks are simple and made locally.  Many times when a school is built there are no desks or black boards.  These students, poor as they are starting out well.  


School supplies as we know them do not exist.  Backpacks are not needed as there is nothing to put in them.  Pencils, notebooks are pure luxury but education does go forward. To read and to write are the beginnings of a changed life.  Knowledge opens doors that ignorance shuts.

This school is a gift for many generations to come.  My prayer and with the work and efforts of Hands of Hope we can help these villages to become communities that can sustain a quality of life that helps to break this cycle of poverty and ignorance.  We do not come in giving hand outs, that method has proven time and time again to not work.  It does not work in our country and it has not worked in Zambia.  So education and walking beside them, teaching them to stand on their own is a slow process but one that will stand the test of time.

I LOVE giving gifts and when I choose a gift I spend a lot of time thinking about the receiver and the joy the gift will bring.  What a  thrill to be part of the gift giving in this particular village!  Hands of Hope brought an 'unheard of' gifting for the school. These gifts were over the top exciting.  The bestowing of new soccer balls, two different colored T-shirts and soccer shorts for their 'team' were the most delightful part of my time at this celebration.  It was pure joy to see these boys faces light up.  Soccer uniforms, a luxury beyond comprehension.  Added to this, two trophy's were included.  The trophies will travel between the winning teams so others too will benefit, should they win. :)  This school has bragging rites that will spread to other schools and villages.  This excitement will bring encouragement and hope at the same time.  It does not get much better for these villagers who live in the bush. 

.  "And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive."  Acts 20:35 (Bible)

Water?

Have you ever returned from a trip eager to look at your photos in total, only to find pictures you thought were in place, missing?  Today finds me in such a place.  Grrrrrrr.   I can't believe that one of the most moving moments for me is undocumented by my pictures.  My initial subject matter today will change just a bit now :( but the theme of today's blog is going to remain the same! This theme will surface over and over again in days to come.  WATER! 

I was pulled into Hands of Hope through a campaign to raise money for wells in Uganda.  Water, water, fresh, clean water the most important element of life that I can judge, beside air.  For with water you can grow the food needed to live, you can become clean and refreshed with water, you can fish for food through water and without water you die. 

My acute awareness of how critical water is started long before I went to Africa.  My daughter Kara was a very severe diabetic.  Her blood sugars were often very high and water was all she desired.  One summer she was swimming in a nice 'clean'  lake with friends.  That afternoon she called to tell me she had ingested some of the lake water and she 'knew' it was making her sick.  By early evening she was in the ICU close to death.  For her weak immune system this water though 'clean' was a killer.

Water in a desert wasteland is precious.  When I thought of mothers and young girls having to walk miles to get some form of water (not always clean) in 5 gallon buckets, to then walk back to their dirty huts, day in and day out,  my heart wrenched with emotion over their plight.  A gallon of water weighs (thanks to my friend Cheryl) 8 lbs.  Do the math! Each day, with a baby on her back a woman will carry 40 lbs of water.  Once the water has been gathered her other work begins.

In blogs to come I will be on a mission to raise money for 8 new wells.  Just be on notice :).  Why 8? Because Hands of Hope has money currently for two wells and we need money for 10, to begin digging.  $5000 is all that is needed for one well. :)  Stay tuned.

Hands of Hope shares pictures of the joy and hope that is brought by the work that we do.  However to begin to make my point on the desperate need for water or clean water,  I am going to show you pictures of a little girl getting water from the harbor.  I will tell you more of the harbor in blogs to come,  but for today imagine your child or family getting their water this way.  I watched as she filled the bottle. She then jumped out of the boat and ran with it filled, to the kiosk where her mom was working.  This harbor is filled with people who get their water the same way day after day.

She is just one little child  among many, who live here and get their water like this.  In these pictures water abounds but it is filthy.  In pictures to come you will see photos where water does not exist.   Tonight, as you fill your glass of water from your sink, refrigerator water  filter or you are pouring it from a pristine bottle, savor your blessings.  Then begin to think about giving so another person could have clean water.   I will let you know how to do this...so again stay tuned. :)


Pure water is the world's first and foremost medicine.  ~Slovakian Proverb

"Those who give one of these little ones a cup of cold water because they are my followers will truly get their reward." Matthew 10:42




 

Why in world the Western Province of Zambia?

Why Zambia?  Why Honduras?  Why Uganda?  Why Jamaica?  Why do you go to help in places outside the US when we have so many needs?  Why?   In my case it is not an either/or it is a commitment to both.   In the US we are blessed and in a position to do both.

Our poor in the United States are cared for VERY well.  Our government more than compensates for the needs of those who have less than most.  I am certain some will debate me on this statement as we can always find a child or person who has fallen through the cracks, but that is not the fault of our government or a lack of our compassion, it is a fact of life that will never go away.

I will not soap box here but having been in 3rd world countries seeing and working with those who truly are poor I remain committed to having my feet in their world while doing what I can here as well.  The 'why' is because they truly are needy.

How I landed in Zambia was not by my doing.  It came about as a choice I made to help Hands of Hope raise money for their projects.  http://www.handsofhopeonline.org/.  Their projects can be small loans to women who can raise poultry, or goats, or run a 'boutique' and raise the standard of living for their family.

Their projects are placing wells in very remote villages so water, clean water is close by and in turn improve the quality of life for a village.

Hands of Hope  projects provide irrigation to remote villages so they can grow food for their people and then earn additional money for basic things in life. Their projects are building schools, once again in the very remote villages so these children will attend school.  Their projects are building a medical clinic in a remote area so that the people can get some medical attention without having to walk 10-20 miles while sick or ready to deliver a baby.

For each of these projects I will eventually write about in them in the future but for now I hope you sense the impact of doing just a few simple things well.   The two photos below are both 'clinics'.  The one on the left is the new clinic built by Hands of Hope in a very remote village.  The photo on the right is the clinic built by the village that we visited to dedicated their well.  As humble as it is this village was excited to show us that they were improving their village life and the well helped to make this possible.   These two places are where a baby may be born, aids victims cared for and hope given.   Perhaps someday this second village will have a real clinic to utilize.

I love that all of the money raised at our events go to projects and the needs of those who have nothing.  All of the money!  No one stateside earns a salary and the money sent over to Zambia is accounted for penny by penny.  It does not get better than this.

Economic Development to a very, very poor and overlooked part of the world has captivated my heart.   From the worlds perspective this tiny spot on the face of the earth does not matter, for it brings no value to the world market.  However,  from God's perspective these people are valuable,  important and worth our focus.  In Matthew, chapter 25 and verse 40, a book of the Bible, Jesus shares with us this truth. ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it (giving - my words) to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’  Though not everyone reading this blog or who participate in Hands of Hope accept this as a divine mandate, It is a special and rewarding mandate that I hope captivates your heart and draws you into thinking about how you can reach out to those who truly are in need.   It is my mandate. 

If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.  Mother Theresa

The Mongu Zagat Review

Over the years I have logged many, many hours in hospitals because of the journey we took with Kara.  Hospital food reports became a part of my life as the food served was generally not the highlight of our days. Kara and I encountered many hospitals (too many) and  I would willingly give a 'zagat' report for each experience.  It started as a 'tongue in cheek' status for most hospitals had very bad food. I had hopes that someone would actually read what I wrote and change how the food tasted for those who would come after we had gone.   For example, my weeks and months of being in Minnesota allowed me to experience wild rice in every form possible.  Not being a wild rice fan,  I was amazed at what could be concocted with wild rice.  For the record it is limitless.

Today's blog will be a Zagat report on the food establishments in Mongu.  No food critic would come to this place to give a review, it would serve no purpose :).   Zambians eat to live.  Food is hard to come by, cooking is hard and tedious by our standard.  The variety of food choices are limited. Oh yes, consistent refrigeration is also a problem.

I  am throwing this aspect of the journey in here because our first meal was a highly anticipated event. We had driven 8+ hours to get here.  We had nibbled on biscuits and drank water through out the day. We put exhaustion aside and delighted in the thought of a warm meal.  We were taken to the Oasis!

Oasis is a perspective and to us North American Westerners the term took on a very broad meaning. At one time, probably the 60's this place was where it was 'happening'.  Actually, that is probably still true but the 'Oasis' has not been upgraded since that time. I am glad it was 'dark' for lots of lights would have probably sent us all away.  Ironically, this was the best place in town and we repeated several meals here.

I will probably repeat this next experience in many blogs to come because, restrooms here in the US are often an issue for me and thus an issue I had to put aside now being in a 3rd world country again.  Most buildings had restrooms, sinks and electricity.  However, plumbing was a thing of the past, so the flushing of toilets was often a manual activity, bring your own toilet paper was a good idea and washing ones hands was done outside the restrooms. The light bulbs hung from ceilings and the atmosphere at the Oasis was unique, I use 'unique' for lack of a better adjective.

 These photos are dark, because the 'place' was dark.  Dark is good. :)  Below is where the orders were delivered and cooked. I was never comfortable getting  close to see what was behind the broken plexi glass... I just could not do it.  Ignorance is often the best place to stay when the reality of truth would not help at all.

 The fountain truly had bubbles spewing from it.  One time it was 'off'  but each time we came to eat, if it was running, so were the bubbles.  Above the mantle are three wreaths with what I would call Christmas Light Wreaths, however, it was August and for some reason it just seemed to 'work'.

 This photo is weak but it was the best I had to continue to 'feel' for the dining room.  The Christmas Light Wreath theme ran through the room, along with heads of the various animals that were native to this part of the world.

The photo below is a representation of how we washed our hands.  This particular picture came from a very nice resort spot where we had lunch one day.  Thus, the 'light, airy feel' of the room.  The wash basin for the Oasis, was dark, dark green and as a result it did not photograph well.  But ...you get the 'drift'.  :)

Each eating establishment had menus.  However, these were just a formality of what might have been or what they hoped to serve.  They also had beautiful pictures on the walls of salads, fruits, hamburgers and food that was impossible to obtain.  We would each order off of the menu.  They would take our order and then return about 15 - 20 minutes later to tell us that they did not have that particular kind of food.  Basically our choices became, Village Chicken (stewed), Chicken Kabobs,  a very thin, tough, steak from Zambeef, Mongu Rice or Chips (french fries), masa (grits :) ), a green leafy vegetable (spinach like), salad (a cole slaw) or fish with the same sides I listed above.  Each meal was served one at a time, over the course of 1 - 1/1/2 hours. The chicken was very fresh, most likely killed after ordering, I am guessing because refrigeration was poor. The other reason is, who would know in advance, if a patron was coming in that particular day.

You ate when your food arrived, eventually everyone got to eat.    We also discovered that if a restaurant did not have a 'certain' food, someone would leave and purchase it elsewhere.  Oh, one more thing.  Coke or Pepsi products were everywhere.  They served us these semi warm soft drinks in bottles immediately upon ordering but it really helped to ward off the hunger while we awaited our meals to arrive an hour plus later.

  

The fish plate is typical fare.  It's appearance is light and pretty because the restaurant where we ate this fish at was light and in a newer building.  However, the food offerings always remained the same. The white mounds to the right are masa. Both the fish and masa are eaten with your fingers.  Actually most food was eaten with your hands.

This 'Zagat' report is not a complaint as we were getting the best of the best!  Food is expensive and hard to come by here.  The standard boiled egg, fried egg, bread, baked beans, sausage breakfast and the standard fish, chicken, slaw, rice, chips or masa for lunch or dinner are for the wealthy.    Before these blogs end I will share of two more meals but for now this is the Zaggot Report of Mongu in 2012.

I will get the details of how we 'lived' out of the way early.  Then, as I blog in the future the substance and the purpose of why I actually came to Zambia will be shared.  However, every adventure is surrounded by ones living circumstances,  My new surroundings  made me so grateful for the blessings of life that had been bestowed on me by no act of my own.

An empty belly is the best cook. A proverb

There Really is a Mongu

Our very long 50+ hour journey beginning in Chicago to Mongu, Zamia ended.  We had a bill board for the hotel we would be staying at about an hour out.  It screamed civilization is near! It was the only bill board we had seen since leaving Lusaka (7 hours earlier).  The billboard gave us hope and an expectation that life would be somewhat normal as we knew it.

We drive in while it is still daylight and to describe what Mongu looked like at first glance is hard.  An Oasis?  No.  A city? Perhaps.   Intersections?  Sort of.  Stop lights?  No.  But there were cars, bikes, oxen and  lots of people walking to and fro or just standing around watching what I was watching.

There are lots of very old buildings made of cement blocks and kiosks or mats on the on the road side selling items that I had yet to figure out what they were. The roads are just wide sand trails and ruts, serious ruts.  If there was a sidewalk it was crumbling. We had arrived.

A gate opened to let us onto the property.  There was room for maybe 4 vehicles.  The lobby was simple and on the wall behind the check in was a photo of the President.  I learned later that his picture is required to be hung in every establishment.  He came into office in the fall and stacks of pictures were delivered to each business shortly after his term began.  It is 'strongly' suggested that his photo be placed in a prominent spot.

 The check in desk filled the small entry way.

My room was small but adequate. It was clean to the best of my knowledge.  A sign I did not photograph informed me that I was to remove anything of value as I left the room for they would not be responsible for any theft.

Below is my closet. I had one hanger.  I actually had a small refrigerator with a key as well.  This convenience remained unused as mold had made it's home inside.

I truly found my simple abode to be just fine.  I did note one morning that the maid carried a can of raid into the room.  But there are no complaints here.  I found one medium size roach and it had a short life upon my discovering it.  Electricity was 'iffy' and when the lights went out it was pitch black.  So,  I learned to keep my I Phone with me and the trusty Flashlight App became my friend. :)  I do have to say that my bathroom was wonderful!  It had a toilet that flushed!!!  It was clean by Zambian code!!!!  My shower had good water pressure and no mold!!! Life was good. 

Breakfast was included in our rate.  Breakfast was served in the very, very, very small eating area.  It consisted daily, of hard boiled eggs, fried eggs, white bread which could be toasted, a funny yellow substance that I believe was to be 'butter', baked beans and a fat sausage.  Coffee does not exist in Mongu apart from instant, the 'cream' was a packet too.  Tea was the beverage of choice and we could also make hot chocolate.  Tang was our juice option.   But no one ever came to Mongu for the food.

We were so very tired and longed to drop into bed but dinner beckoned us.  I will save this dining experience for another blog.  I had to photograph our parking attendant.  This is for my Oregon friends and family.  The shirt is phonetically correct. :)  OREGIN.  He wore this each night. I would soon find out that states and cities from the US were represented on the clothing worn by these Zambians.

It is so hard to capture the sensory experiences into words and quite likely this entry is for me alone to remember a world so many miles away from mine.

Where in the world is Mongu?

We live in a great big world.  I know as I just flew over 1/2 of it.  In a jet, the journey seems like the trip takes for ever.  Unless you are in business class or first class, leg room is at a premium, the seat you claim as your spot,  helps one grasp what a child feels like each time he or she is placed in the car seat.  Movement is restricted and you are strapped in for the long haul.   However, compared to traveling on the surface of the earth I will take a jet most days and not complain. (Most of the time.)

After a wonderful breakfast and 'refresh' moment from 40+ hours of air/travel time, we load up, into our vehicles for the journey to Mongu.  Many months back when deciding to go to Africa I Googled the earth map to see, if in fact. this place existed.  I then zoomed in as close as the system allowed hoping to see what was there.   Well, a red dot showing that Mongu existed, popped up.  This "red dot" was among what looked like trees and open spaces.  There were no close ups of buildings, roads or clues of what might exist in this place called Mongu.  I just had to wait and see what would unfold.

I have experienced several Third World countries and each time I am amazed at the tenacity of people in their efforts to carve out a life.  This trip was no different.  Lusaka is the capitol of Zambia and claims to be one of the fastest developing cities in south Africa.  We begin our adventure here.  The western world has made its mark.  I would have liked to have spent more time in this capitol city for it was mixture of some modern buildings, cars, intersections, stop lights, bill boards, ancient traditions and shacks. Chaos, clutter and hope seemed to define this 'growing city'.

Our very long journey began after a 2 hour detour to pick up a spare tire for one of the vehicles and clothing for one of the drivers that had been left in his overnight lodging.   It was really quite fun because I was able to grasp a flavor of this city we were about to leave.

Once you leave Lusaka the real Zambia begins.  We drove on the very, very straight road to Mongu.  Again if you google map the route the road is one line, no turn offs (noted) no curves, just a straight road.  I now confirm that the Google map is very accurate.  The paved road is actually not bad, Illinois has roads needing more help and we are not a third world state.  Hmmm?

I glue my eyes to the sights.  All along the 8+ hour drive are grass huts, sand, sand, sand, a few bushes, sand, a tiny kiosk that might be selling tomatoes, cocoa cola, Fanta Orange Soda or masa.  People are walking in African garb along the road to seemingly now where.  There are a few people on bikes and my untrained eye cannot figure our where they would be going.   I see grass and mud huts.  We come upon old cement buildings where people are congregating, selling some produce or goods and then it is nothing again. I have a lot to learn.

I am anticipating with great delight the national park that we will spend most of our day driving through.  I have heard there are wild animals there but thanks to Disney and professional documentaries that have been beautifully edited, my expectations are not met.  I did see wild animals!  Monkeys in trees but they were few and they did not stay in the tree long enough to get a picture. Go figure!  Gazelle's were plentiful and like deer in IL they soon became common place.  The wild boars were running about and we sped by a couple of elephants but we only saw the back end of them.  I did enjoy seeing these animals in their proper place, I just did not see enough or see them up close and personal.  I think that is why Zoo's are to our liking.

We finally got to stop.  It was our rest stop 'potty' break and it was the only one for the trip.  The rest area was at the national park, and we paid to potty. For many of you reading this the 'squatty potty' is a foreign concept but to most of the world it is quite familiar convenience.  I will allow the photos to 'talk' for me.

Though I end this blog with these photos I was not put off by what was to come.  Most of the world lives like this and each experience caused me to be grateful for my blessings. 

I am a collector of quotes.  The quote I am about to share haunted me most days of my trip. "A luxury once tasted becomes a necessity."   I found I had many necessities that would not be part of this adventure. 

Zambia - A country lost in time.

I am home.  I am zoning today as I adjust to the 7 hour time difference.  I was wide awake and functioning at 3:00 a.m. I am paying the price at 3:00 p.m.   I keep thinking "oh just take a little nap and you will be fine" however I know better,  No Nap!!!

My internet connection in Mongu was weak at best and I was not able to do a daily entry of this wonderful adventure.  As I reflect on the past couple of weeks and not being able to post everything as I had planned I am actually glad it came about this way.  Each day was filled with so many experiences, thoughts and emotions that I could not have shared adequately my observations, thoughts and blessings.   I feel that the best way to describe what I just experienced is like peeling an onion.  I have the whole onion in my hand and each experience is a layer.  I peel off the layer only to find another equally intense layer.  So if you want to journey with me, the experiences will be many, the emotions all over the place and hopefully this blog will be an introduction to you  for a very remote area of the world that would have no voice had Hands of Hope and Zambia Works chosen to work elsewhere.  Greater than that, I hope that my adventure gives you a desire to find your own and that you would choose to make a little difference in this rough place called the world.

I will begin with our arrival in Lusaka, Zambia. The airport (International) was simple, old and lacking amenities.  After spending 10 hours in Terminal 5 of Heathrow, London, with every amenity one could probably need at an airport, then flying 10 more  hours to Zambia, was to  step back into time at least 40 years.  Checking into the country was long, we were the last to get through their customs.  We were finger printed, all fingers and our thumbs.  It was a most interesting process and again, very antiquated.   I was about to learn that life had just slowed to a pace foreign to me and that this was just the beginning of living in another world.  

Our anxiety of going through customs was high.  We were bringing in 'goods' to gift those we were going to visit.  This government is one that will take bribes and charges a very high fee to bring in products or gifts.  God miraculously answered our prayers and we paid nothing!  For those of you who do not believe in God or that He does not take interest in the small details of our every day lives you might view these 'miracle' encounters for us to be 'luck'.  Luck??  The law, we found out, states that customs is to charge 'dollar per dollar'  fees. If we brought in $1000 worth of goods we would then pay $1000 in customs fees, even if it was donation and we had paid nothing the face value was to be claimed.    No one even checked our bags. :) 

However :) we did get duped by two young men who were helping to load up our bags into our vehicles.  We headed to use the restrooms and they ran after us stating they had not been tipped. So I gave them $20 only to find out that had been tipped at least one other time.  Oh well!

If you have traveled a great distance you will know how tired and dirty you feel at the end of your journey.  Well, we started our first morning in Luska at a beautiful hotel where we rented one room to freshen up and change clothes, to then sit down in a beautiful, outside eating area with birds nesting over a pond and partake of an incredible breakfast of fruits, coffee, pastry, omelets, orange juice and ???   Little did I know that from this point on how much life would change drastically for the next 8 days. :) 

I will end this small chapter of our entry into Zambia with this thought.  It comes from the Bible the source of wisdom that guides my life.   Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. Proverbs 19:21