13 Aug Ndola, Zambia from Chris pix 2

To the Right: While in Lusaka (the capital), I had the honor of meeting the Zambian Ambassador to the United States, Madame Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika. She is a devoted champion of the people of Zambia, especially those who are struggling. Pictured are the Ambassador, myself, Kirk Schauer (Intl Dir of Seeds of Hope) and Evans, the Lusaka SHIP director.



To the Right: I am visiting a community-built and run school in the isolated community of Mazyopa, just outside Lusaka. This photo is the school director proudly showing me his newly-opened school library in a mud-block hut. This community school has 200 pupils in a village of 2000. Mazyopa was hard-hit with Cholera last year, with 80 cases and 1 death. In my short time with him, we reviewed the Oral Rehydration recipe for saving lives if that horrid disease returns. Sees of Hope is working hard to provide safe water to this village.

Below: the children... the ones who get hit hard when water-borne disease hits... a reminder of WHY we are doing this...

Will text-blog on the Lusaka trip and the incredible stuff that happened...

your bro,

Chris

13 Aug Ndola, Zambia from Chris pics 1

Hey, friends! Some pics..

To the Right: With the Lusaka hygiene-sanitation team in the compound of Camunga to dedicate a newly-built latrine for this community...

Below: Smiles, smiles with the Seeds of Hope hygiene-sanitation team after the week-long training.. this is a life-saving group of friends!!

To the Right: Spent the morning with the Pump Drilling Team at the school in the village of Twapia... getting creative to attempt the retrieval of the drill bit, stuck 38 meters below... Kirk (the SHIP director, far left) supervising the work

Below: A vibrant African/Zambian sunset... the colors are from the horrible air quality due to the rampant burning of the Bush... does look nice, though...

To the Right: Inspecting the well-pump repair by SHIP outside the village of Kasoti. This pump helps to provide safe water to over 1000 people in this bush region near the border with Congo. Hey, it works great!!

More Pics to come...

Chris

Aug. 12th San Vicente, Mexico

Blog from July 30th, 2009.

Delay in posting due to security issues.

It's day four on the week long sewing course, well day five if you include last Sunday when we spent hours setting up and getting organized. A majority of my "regular" adult students aren't able to attend this week as they are busy working in the fields harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers. I get tired just thinking about how early they need to arise. The alarm goes off at about 4am for most of them as they need to walk to where the farm bus picks them up to take them to the fields so work can start at dawn, about 5:30 this time of year. Still a couple of the "regulars" manage to come by for a few evening classes during the week.

Most of my students this month are preteens and teenagers who are on summer vacation from school. We're making backpacks and zippered pencil cases just in time for the new year. The above photo shows Citlalic, age 12, working on her backpack. Still, there hasn't been a lack of students with 7 for the morning class and 8 different students for the evening. And they keep me hopping with "Lorena, ayudame", Lori help me. Three new students have joined in this week. I encourage my students to invite family and friends so that they have an opportunity to rub shoulders with Christians in a low key atmosphere.

One of the girl's brothers joined in today after I asked if he was interested in learning to sew. His first project was a scrunchie for his sister' long hair, my traditional beginning project. Then he progressed to a satchel for his books. Wish all of my students caught on as fast as he did. His advantage was that he already knew how to drive a vehicle, a real plus for learning to use the sewing machine's foot pedal. Most of my beginning students are used to hearing, "Manejas como una taxista", you drive like a taxis driver. This is a common phrase referring to those that drive toooooo fast. It usually gets everyone giggling as they reminisce about their first times at the sewing machine.

Lori

Sat 8 Aug Ndola, Zambia joyful hearts and wet socks

08 Aug Greetings from Ndola, Zambia! It's Saturday, and I'm trying to catch up... the busy week has meant alot of activities, and there are always dirty socks to hand-wash...

The health-care classess with the community promoters wrapped on Friday. What a blast! These guys are so excited to go back to their communities... Mapalo, Mekenzie, Twapia, all surrounding Ndola... they want to go save lives and change things!! The greatest kick is that most of them know Jesus, and truely believe they have been called by GOD to save the lives of their neighbors (literally!) We had a stellar prayer wrap-up, giving our efforts and joyful hearts to God to work for the health of those who are suffering...
... and what can I say? This is the real deal here in Zambia, and all health care work is really life-saving. Infant mortality unlike any place in the Americas. So many children never see their fifth birthday... so many people chronically sick and suffering... and here we are, doing something about it... not a bad day's work!

Plans for my work in developing some new health care aspects are coming along, and the relationships with the SHIP hygiene and sanitation education team are coming together nicely. The whole area of safe water and sanitation with a (new) HIV-AIDS prevention is coming into focus here... please pray for this 'new beginning'.

Early tomorrow, I will be traveling with a small group 3 hours south to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia until Wednesday. Seeds of Hope has another location there, and I will be meeting with their health team while the others are involved in some high-level meetings with governmental people. I am also planning to site-visit a couple of faith-based HIV-AIDS works there. There is also a possible meeting with the World Health Organization office there, and some odd thing about tea with the Ambassadors or something... we'll see...

FYI, not sure if I will have internet in Lusaka... If I do, I'll blog... if not, don't be too mad, y'all!!

So today was get some groceries, hand-wash the socks (they take forever to dry), and pack for the Lusaka gig...

Prayer requests:
the director Kirk has been fighting some GI stuff, so healing for him (yes, he needs to be in Lusaka on Monday morning bight and smiling),
the drill is still stuck in the Twapia site, pray it 'gets delivered into freedom',
pray for my time in Lusaka and for solid connections and relationship.

The sinus problems are significantly decreased, and I believe the prayers that went up meant GOD touched me!! Thanks be to the Lord!

I hear Lori is back from San Vicente, and she will have some great stories to tell... so stay tuned to the Blog, she'll be adding to it soon (for security purposes, she didn't blog until her return from Baja...)

Pics to come later this week

your brother,

Chris

5 Aug from Ndola, Zambia Bemba, Bemba...

5 Aug Wed Chris hangin' with the Mapalo Vineyard worship team...

(my new friend Peter is kneeling... more about him later...)

Hey, friends! It's been a couple of wild days here in Zambia... good, but wild.

Sunday was the off-the-hook church service at the church in Mapalo ( a sector of Ndola, Zambia). The real cool thing is that the one leader (they have many) named Peter is a real go-for-it guy who has had the Lord pour out on him a gift of writing new worship songs in the language and structure of Bemba, the regional dialect. The cool thing (besides these songs are like the great music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo live...) is that Bemba is truely the 'heart-language' of the people here... so when they worship in Bemba, their faces are beaming and tears in their eyes and hands lifted to God... I've had a couple of times talking with Peter, and he stumbled into my playing some guitar in the Seeds of Hope office (a guitar was just sitting there)... so he and I are talking alot about the prohetic in worship, and how God gives us new songs... Peter promises that he and I will continue to dialouge and hang out, and he wants to do a song-writing session next week together (now, would that be the bomb or what??!!)

Monday was a national holiday, so I spent the time reviewing some child survival literature. Plus, the SHIP directors Kirk and Denise had me move into their home, which is a few blocks down from the SHIP office (thanks, you guys!!)

Tues and today was the Community Health workers training. Evans and Blessed, the two SHIP facilitators were hoping for 25... and 39 people showed up!! The room is packed, and these people are from some hard-hit villages with extreme helath issues... and they want to help change things for the better!! What an honor and priviledge to be with these guys. I was definitely the afternoon entertainment at lunch on Tuesday, with Nshema and beef relish as the dish... and the 'white guy' trying to pose as a Zambian... Nshema is a pasty white goo made from corn mealie meal and used to scoop the relish (like a stew) from a plate... no utensils... such fun!!

Thurs and Fri are the continued health classes. I am getting so plugged in, it's definitely the right gig!

Prayer requests: the anti-malarials have played a bit of havoc with my system, and the terrible smoke from the local burning triggered a real sinus issue for me... please PRAY the Lord to touch my body!! Also, pray for the SHIP drill rig, since their main drill is seriously wedged into some rock, with 18 meters of sand above it... brings the well drilling to a scraping halt... also pray for my new friend Obby, who is really feeling God move on his heart to work in health ministry and plant churches in Zambia.

'Nuff fer now.

your bro,

Chris

3Aug Ndola, Zambia from Chris pictures!

women walking safe water back to their huts in Kasoti... my heros!

Aug 3 here are some pics from the last week... forgive me as I am still learning how to put pics up on the Blog...

Here I am with some of the kids in Kasoti. They are about to begin hygiene training in this village. They were my first students in Zambia, as I tried to do an impromptu hand-washing lesson with them... well, there was great laughter, for sure!

Here is a pic with the new Hygiene committee at the school near the Congo border... they are still smiling about meeting the 'white giant'...!

Women in the village agree to be a part of a Hygiene committee... there have been many unsafe water-related issues in their village... Stella (L) is the dedicated hygiene team member who is helping me learn so much about Zambians and being a health worker here

A pic with the principal and some students at a school where SHIP has build a (nice) pit latrine, a bore-hole well and will start Hygiene training in the classroom... this school sits in the middle of over 6000 people who need safe water...

Thanks for visiting!

Chris in Ndola Zambia

1 Aug Ndola, Zambia Day 7 of trip, two-sided coin

01 Aug Sat in Ndola, Zambia from Chris

Hello! Had internet access and wanted to shoot out a quick message.

I'm wrapping the 7th day of this journey (well, two of them were flying here) and it's been verrrrry interesting.

I've spent two full days out in the villages surrounding Ndola, doing some community health assessment with the SOHIP hygiene/sanitation team. This has meant going way out and being surrounded by 200 people who have only shallow, contaminated water as a drinking source, and terrible health problems, sometimes resulting in babies dying. The hygiene and sanitation initiative comes alongside the well drilling or well repair work, to make sure that the people have good hygiene practices when the good water is supplied, significantly reducing their death and disease from bad water.

I've also been involved in a couple of the 'international development agency' stuff: my friend Kirk, the SOHIP director has had me sit in on a couple of data presentations and planning meetings to get better acquainted with the broader organization. That's the two-sided coin: being able to drill these wells and provide health care for the poor requires a great deal of funding, and the proper management of that is an important part.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is church, and it will probably consume the whole day. I'm told the worship group is waiting to meet me... Pastor Francis just come over to insure me he wants me to got out with him to his church, the Mapalo Vineyard... Mapalo is an area of 60,000 people outside Ndola, half of which do not have safe drinking water...

Monday is a Zambian national holiday (Farmer's Day), so not sure what that may bring.
I hit the jackpot with my timing for being here in-country with regards to next week. Tues thru Fri is a 4-day training seminar-meeting with the entire SOHIP hygiene -sanitation team, plus a number of leaders from the village Health committess, all coming together for training and strategic meetings. This will give me the opportunity to see and hear the full training curriculum used, as well as build relationships with all the key people in the area of health development for many villages.
So, not sure when I will get to Blog-post next week... by then, I should have some of my pictures on the Blog as well.

My new friends have decided I need to do the 'rapid Zambian' emersion... they are making me speak Bemba to people (natotela= thank you, mulishani=hello, bwino=good/nice/reply, etc), and I have had to learn how Nshema is cooked and eaten... lets just say that no utensils are involved... and I will never be able to eat a banana the same way!!

Funny story... we went way out to a school right along the Zambian/Congo DR border, and as the hygiene team were meeting with the principal, the entire school let out for recess... all 120 students... and they decided that I was the 'white giant' and a 20-minute game of trying to avoid me tagging them ensued... the place was off the hook, everybody laughing and moving about... a couple of bold kids came close enough and got tagged, all with smiles and laughter... the principal was standing there, watching and laughing loudly... afterword, when the kids were all called back into class, she told me that I may be the first white persom most of these village children have seen... and what good fun !!

Prayer requests: continued connection with the Zambian team, understanding of the complete and complex health program already in place, relationship with the community leaders, better skills at speaking Bemba and eating Nshema (well, all things Zambian) and patience with all the anti-malarial stuff (meds, bednets, my new fragrance Ode de DEET 24/7)

In devotions this past week, Matt 11 really stood out to me where Jesus said "come and learn of Me"... I'm trusting He's got all this stuff covered, and He's letting me learn from Him...

I'm finding myself praying for more than a few people with alcoholism in the villages. My Zambian friends estimate that a third to half of the adult males drink heavily here. Pray the scourge of alcoholism is broken in the Spirit realm over Zambia, and those men are released into the freedom of being filled with the Holy Spirit!!

your brother,

Chris