The previous post was the "Happy" one. This is the "back to reality" one.
(And since I know that some kids read the blog, I want to say first check with your parents before reading on).
Unfortunately and very sadly, though Saturday was happy it was also cloudy by hard realities.
As I mentioned, I was told that many of the kids were not attending the Sunday School classes. This is discouraging since the kids are supported and all that is asked of them is to attend Sunday School or church.
The church in Ndola has continued to meet for the class sending 2 women on a rotation to teach the kids. Other kids from the area come but only about a third of the sponsored orphans attend.
Last time I was there as we visited the homes, we encouraged the kids to attend. Sometimes we were told the guardians will have work for them to do, or hinder them in some way from coming.
Then the comment made about breakfast. Well I took it in stride as they were telling me, but came home so saddened by that. I know it is a reality. I read about that before I came, that often it is "which meal will I eat today?" and not what will we eat for breakfast? But still to hear it said and know it is true for even maybe some of these kids.
A couple of the older boys, have been "in trouble" a few times. When you look at the home situation you can't help but say that is a large part of the reason, but still.
As I arrived on Saturday I greeted each kid and said their names. I got more than half of them right.
As I looked at them, I felt an "ownership" of these kids.
I have been looking at their pictures, finding sponsors for them and talking about them for the last 3 months. And here I was to spend some time with them and talk to them.
And then my heart became burdened and heavy for them again.
After the kids left I asked one of the women that works in the ministry from the church, about a specific girl.
Last time we were there the mother told us she was HIV positive. So we were surprised to hear that she was not on any treatments yet or had been to the clinic.
I have asked about her a couple times over the past months to see if treatment began or how she was doing. But even from one city to the next in Zambia communication doesn't seem to flow very easily.
So I was face to face and able to ask about her.
Well evidently she is not positive but negative. The mother is positive and possibly made that up so she could get some extra funds or food channeled that way. ( I will say this is my theory anyway. Sadly she is not a good influence on her kids and the home)
But the reason this information came out I was told is because the girl was "defiled" last month. She was then taken to the hospital for testing and treatment of other STDS.
The wicked man was a neighbor who was not taken into custody but rather is currently on the run. She is 11 years old.
I asked if she has received any counseling from the church and was told no, but soon she should go to the hospital for some counseling.
My heart breaks.
I think this blow hit even harder because within the same week, last week as we delivered the things to the kids here locally we heard some sad news there as well.
One of the teenage girls was working for a man as house help. He was a friend of the family and it came out recently that for several months he was "taking advantage of her".
Now we just found out that she is 4 months pregnant. She is in her last year of high school and now she is pregnant. He was taken into police custody.
One great question then becomes, does she now have the disease? Will she get a test? Will she give this baby a chance at a healthy life by taking an HIV test to see if she can then gets Medicines to prevent the transmission if she does have it. Even I mentioned something about would she have access to prenatal vitamins. I was told yes they give them out at the clinics but there is a suspicion about them that they cause birth defects in children.
From what I have been told, It is so hard to ask people to get tested. They often will not and are offended and maybe even more so scared to find out. So my prayer for this one is that she will open up to us and we can help her.
You know you can read about Africa and HIV/AIDS and orphans and domestic abuse and sexual abuse and witchcraft, charms, demonic activity and the like. In fact I did before I came.
And your heart might even been pulled at and torn by reading those things. Mine was.
You can try to think of how hard that would be to see and encounter those things. I did.
But it is not something you can be prepared for. When it happens to those you now know and your heart is already going out to, and you are already trying to help...the burden becomes even greater.
When I was reading the life of Amy Carmichael, she wrote a book titled, "Things as they are". It was the honest telling of what really was going on in the work she was doing. Early on she sought to tell others of what was going on in her work, not just the good and prospering but the real life bad things too. Unfortunately the missionary society or board at that time only wanted her to report the "successes" and the good things. So many of her descriptions and stories were published at a later time because of it.
When I was talking to James Saturday night and not able to sleep because my heart was heavy for these kids, we remembered her title. And he said, that's what you need to write and people need to hear.
So these are the things as they really are.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday's Visit with Hope for the Afflicted Orphans in Ndola
We arrived in Ndola Saturday afternoon, checked into the lodge and then went to get some lunch.
Maureen came with us. She was going to help me when I was meeting the orphans and then also visit her children and bring them back home with her. So it worked well for both of us.
After a quick lunch, (and Maureen eating chicken nuggets for the first time- she had no idea what to pick off the menu so she got the same thing Emma ordered! ) we dropped James and the little boys off at the lodge and headed out to the Kawama / Pamodzi area.
We got to Sharon's house. All but 5 of the children were there. We said hello and then I explained that I had brought letters for everyone. That people in America and the UK were praying for them and wanted to hear how they were doing. The kids all smiled and seemed very happy. Then I told them after they read the letters we were going to write back to them and then have a treat I brought. They also liked that.
So I took the letters out and started passing them out. I told them they could go ahead and open them, but many of the kids just held on to them for a little bit while I continued to pass them out.
I then said again, go ahead. All the letters were translated into Bemba by Maureen. Some of the kids can read and write in English well. Some of them can not but can in Bemba. And some of the kids can not read or write even in Bemba. So we passed out the letters and when the kids opened them they looked so happy. They read the letters, looked at all the pictures that were included and then started showing their friends the pictures and the letters. Then they read the letters again. Especially the older boys and girls. Then I asked Maureen and 2 other ladies to read to the kids that needed help. I saw several smiles and heard laughter and they seemed so happy. I wasn't sure if all the kids had them read to them so I started asking the older ones to read to the younger ones.
Then I realized that several of them had the letter read to them more than once. One little girl Dyness was so sweet. She kept showing me the pictures. Then we went over the names of the children from her family. She repeated the names after me and seemed so pleased.
After I knew all the letters had been read then Sarah and Ian helped to pass out the paper and pencils so they could start to write letters. The older boys seemed to take quite awhile writing and thinking about what to write. I am curious what all they said in the letters. While the younger kids were waiting for their turn to tell the ladies what to write, what they wanted to say, I told them they could draw pictures on the back of the letters.
When I was going through the letters when they arrived to make sure all had pictures and return envelopes, I removed the dollars and pounds that had been included to buy postage. (Its about $1 to mail a letter internationally). I realized though as the kids were opening the letters that I forgot to take one out. The boy, Daniel was so excited, he had a dollar bill! I explained what the dollar was supposed to be for, but wouldn't dream of taking it from him. He was very happy!
The kids finished up the letters and then I collected them to take home to mail. We then passed out the brownies and cookies that Sarah and I had made. I was hoping to get milk for them as well but we ran out of time as we were driving into Ndola. So we passed out the snack and while they sat and ate it I explained that I had brought toothbrushes and toothpaste for them.
(Pastor Brian Borgman had brought them over). I gave a quick overview of brushing your teeth and how to do it. I felt a little odd talking to older kids about how to brush their teeth. When I started I asked the kids to raise their hand if they had a toothbrush, and then quickly said , "you will still get one today, just let me see who has been using one". Maybe 2 kids raised their hands.
So I then explained about brushing them twice a day. After breakfast I said and before you go to sleep at night. I then heard a couple boys laughing. I smiled and asked them what? One of them said, "What's breakfast? We don't have breakfast!". I smiled with them (trying to keep it light) and then said ok, well before you go to school. And not only does it help prevent tooth decay, but it makes your mouth fresh.
A couple of the older boys took 2 toothpastes, and I knew how many I had and asked if everyone had one. I had brought enough for all to have one toothbrush and one toothpaste. I asked again and then finally one boy held his second tube out ( for Ian to collect) and then he nudged the other boy to give his up. He took it out and then handed it over.
After that, I told them thank you for coming and that all their sponsors were praying for them.
Lister, one of the woman from Grace church Ndola then started talking to them about attending Sunday School and church. Evidently over half of the kids have not been going to church or the Sunday School class for the younger ones. She talked to them for awhile in bemba and then I added that those people that had written the letters were wanting to hear they were going and learning about God.
We then all went outside for some pictures, and then the kids said goodbye and all headed to their homes.
(I have more to write later, but here are the pictures for now)
Joshua showing his friend Joseph his pictures and letter
Sharon reading the letter to Patrick
Patrick having his letter read to him again
Joseph with his letter. Elias in the background in the yellow shirt, I think you can see him smiling
Florence reading her letter.
Felix writing his letter
The kids writing the letters and drawing pictures
Florence and Daniel writing their letters.
A few pictures of the kids. They smiled more this day and seemed to be more themselves, than I have seen them before.
I had asked just for the kids to be there, not the guardians and I think that helped as well.
Christine
Bupe
Elias
Joyce
Mirriam
Dyness with her toothbrush
Then I took a group picture. I told them this was the Zambian smile.
Then I said, now lets do an American smile, so they smiled more
Then I said, (which we do sometimes with our kids,...) now a silly picture!
They just looked at me. So I took the picture anyway. They looked the same.
Then one of the kids said hold up your letters and toothbrushes. So here is that picture
Maureen came with us. She was going to help me when I was meeting the orphans and then also visit her children and bring them back home with her. So it worked well for both of us.
After a quick lunch, (and Maureen eating chicken nuggets for the first time- she had no idea what to pick off the menu so she got the same thing Emma ordered! ) we dropped James and the little boys off at the lodge and headed out to the Kawama / Pamodzi area.
We got to Sharon's house. All but 5 of the children were there. We said hello and then I explained that I had brought letters for everyone. That people in America and the UK were praying for them and wanted to hear how they were doing. The kids all smiled and seemed very happy. Then I told them after they read the letters we were going to write back to them and then have a treat I brought. They also liked that.
So I took the letters out and started passing them out. I told them they could go ahead and open them, but many of the kids just held on to them for a little bit while I continued to pass them out.
I then said again, go ahead. All the letters were translated into Bemba by Maureen. Some of the kids can read and write in English well. Some of them can not but can in Bemba. And some of the kids can not read or write even in Bemba. So we passed out the letters and when the kids opened them they looked so happy. They read the letters, looked at all the pictures that were included and then started showing their friends the pictures and the letters. Then they read the letters again. Especially the older boys and girls. Then I asked Maureen and 2 other ladies to read to the kids that needed help. I saw several smiles and heard laughter and they seemed so happy. I wasn't sure if all the kids had them read to them so I started asking the older ones to read to the younger ones.
Then I realized that several of them had the letter read to them more than once. One little girl Dyness was so sweet. She kept showing me the pictures. Then we went over the names of the children from her family. She repeated the names after me and seemed so pleased.
After I knew all the letters had been read then Sarah and Ian helped to pass out the paper and pencils so they could start to write letters. The older boys seemed to take quite awhile writing and thinking about what to write. I am curious what all they said in the letters. While the younger kids were waiting for their turn to tell the ladies what to write, what they wanted to say, I told them they could draw pictures on the back of the letters.
When I was going through the letters when they arrived to make sure all had pictures and return envelopes, I removed the dollars and pounds that had been included to buy postage. (Its about $1 to mail a letter internationally). I realized though as the kids were opening the letters that I forgot to take one out. The boy, Daniel was so excited, he had a dollar bill! I explained what the dollar was supposed to be for, but wouldn't dream of taking it from him. He was very happy!
The kids finished up the letters and then I collected them to take home to mail. We then passed out the brownies and cookies that Sarah and I had made. I was hoping to get milk for them as well but we ran out of time as we were driving into Ndola. So we passed out the snack and while they sat and ate it I explained that I had brought toothbrushes and toothpaste for them.
(Pastor Brian Borgman had brought them over). I gave a quick overview of brushing your teeth and how to do it. I felt a little odd talking to older kids about how to brush their teeth. When I started I asked the kids to raise their hand if they had a toothbrush, and then quickly said , "you will still get one today, just let me see who has been using one". Maybe 2 kids raised their hands.
So I then explained about brushing them twice a day. After breakfast I said and before you go to sleep at night. I then heard a couple boys laughing. I smiled and asked them what? One of them said, "What's breakfast? We don't have breakfast!". I smiled with them (trying to keep it light) and then said ok, well before you go to school. And not only does it help prevent tooth decay, but it makes your mouth fresh.
A couple of the older boys took 2 toothpastes, and I knew how many I had and asked if everyone had one. I had brought enough for all to have one toothbrush and one toothpaste. I asked again and then finally one boy held his second tube out ( for Ian to collect) and then he nudged the other boy to give his up. He took it out and then handed it over.
After that, I told them thank you for coming and that all their sponsors were praying for them.
Lister, one of the woman from Grace church Ndola then started talking to them about attending Sunday School and church. Evidently over half of the kids have not been going to church or the Sunday School class for the younger ones. She talked to them for awhile in bemba and then I added that those people that had written the letters were wanting to hear they were going and learning about God.
We then all went outside for some pictures, and then the kids said goodbye and all headed to their homes.
(I have more to write later, but here are the pictures for now)
Joshua showing his friend Joseph his pictures and letter
Sharon reading the letter to Patrick
Patrick having his letter read to him again
Joseph with his letter. Elias in the background in the yellow shirt, I think you can see him smiling
Florence reading her letter.
Felix writing his letter
The kids writing the letters and drawing pictures
Florence and Daniel writing their letters.
A few pictures of the kids. They smiled more this day and seemed to be more themselves, than I have seen them before.
I had asked just for the kids to be there, not the guardians and I think that helped as well.
Christine
Bupe
Elias
Joyce
Mirriam
Dyness with her toothbrush
Then I took a group picture. I told them this was the Zambian smile.
Then I said, now lets do an American smile, so they smiled more
Then I said, (which we do sometimes with our kids,...) now a silly picture!
They just looked at me. So I took the picture anyway. They looked the same.
Then one of the kids said hold up your letters and toothbrushes. So here is that picture
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday
Today James took Robert and Brian up to Kabanana to see the Lusaka College.
They sat in on one of the classes and then had lunch and were able to meet the students there.
It went well and then Robert had something to deliver to one of the boys there from his sponsor back in California.
So they went to his home and gave him the gift. He liked it, though the Zambian culture is very reserved in expressing their excitement or even approval of something. (At least all those that we have interacted with). So his older brother was watching on and he seemed to express some of the joy and excitement.
Last Friday when we delivered the mosquito nets and blankets and sweaters, we only got an occasional smile.
Though one boy, Wisdom did get visibly excited about the new sweater when I asked him to try it on.
It was refreshing, and Fanny said, he couldn't contain his excitement.
Often I will take a picture of kids asking them to smile and they are pretty expressionless and then after I show them themselves on the camera they will break out in the smiles and laughter. Only then its too late.
So we head up to the Copperbelt tomorrow for the weekend. Robert and Brian are flying up and we will be driving. As soon as we arrive I have a meeting scheduled with all the orphans and I am bringing letters and pictures of their sponsors for them.
I also made cookies and brownies and hope to give that to them as a treat. Brian brought over a duffle bag full of medical supplies and toothbrushes and toothpaste, so I have packed the toothbrushes and paste to give to the kids.
Maureen translated all the letters and she will be going with me to meet the kids.
They sat in on one of the classes and then had lunch and were able to meet the students there.
It went well and then Robert had something to deliver to one of the boys there from his sponsor back in California.
So they went to his home and gave him the gift. He liked it, though the Zambian culture is very reserved in expressing their excitement or even approval of something. (At least all those that we have interacted with). So his older brother was watching on and he seemed to express some of the joy and excitement.
Last Friday when we delivered the mosquito nets and blankets and sweaters, we only got an occasional smile.
Though one boy, Wisdom did get visibly excited about the new sweater when I asked him to try it on.
It was refreshing, and Fanny said, he couldn't contain his excitement.
Often I will take a picture of kids asking them to smile and they are pretty expressionless and then after I show them themselves on the camera they will break out in the smiles and laughter. Only then its too late.
So we head up to the Copperbelt tomorrow for the weekend. Robert and Brian are flying up and we will be driving. As soon as we arrive I have a meeting scheduled with all the orphans and I am bringing letters and pictures of their sponsors for them.
I also made cookies and brownies and hope to give that to them as a treat. Brian brought over a duffle bag full of medical supplies and toothbrushes and toothpaste, so I have packed the toothbrushes and paste to give to the kids.
Maureen translated all the letters and she will be going with me to meet the kids.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Pastors arrived
Pastor Robert Elliot and Brian Borgman arrived here early this morning. They are scheduled to teach this coming week at the Copperbelt Ministerial College.
They joined James, Emma and I as we visited an orphanage that I have been visiting the last few weeks.
Here is a picture from this morning. The kids at the orphanage are just starving for attention. They come up to us and just all wanted to be held and loved on.
They will head up to Ndola on Saturday. We are also going up to visit over the weekend.
Please pray for the preaching and the upcoming classes this week.
They joined James, Emma and I as we visited an orphanage that I have been visiting the last few weeks.
Here is a picture from this morning. The kids at the orphanage are just starving for attention. They come up to us and just all wanted to be held and loved on.
They will head up to Ndola on Saturday. We are also going up to visit over the weekend.
Please pray for the preaching and the upcoming classes this week.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Traveling around Zambia
We saw this pretty soon after we left Lusaka.
I had no idea what this meant.
It is quite common for the minibuses around town to have sayings or just words on their bus, but this one was quite funny. What is this supposed to mean?
Driving around Zambia is interesting. As soon as you get out of the main cities, there is really just huts and villages everywhere. The drive we took to Eastern Province and up to South Luwangwa Park was on one of the main roads in Zambia.
It is a 2 lane highway. With Monkeys, cows, chickens, dogs and goats roaming about. Not to mention all the people walking on the sides of the road or riding their bicycles.
Once we came over a hill and their were about a dozen monkeys just hanging out in the middle of the road.
Another time, Cows crossing back and forth. One almost ran into our car.
As part of James's job as missions coordinator we made two quick stops on the way up and then attended a church service at one of the churches in Petauke.
We also saw the boys that herd cows. One of the churches in Sinda has a ministry to reach out to these boys.
Sometimes we saw smoke rising up in the distance from far off villages.
One of the challenges of traveling is that you can not stop whenever you want for gas or food. We drove all day long and apart from a few snacks I had brought we didn't eat lunch and then didn't have dinner until about 8:30 at night.
There were no places to get lunch. Same with using the facilities. We stopped at one of the gas stations at which point we opted to continue on until we found a place in the great outdoors outside of town. (Think worst public bathroom you have ever seen and then multiply it... that would get you out of town fast!)
Coming from a girl who used to get off the interstate, take a good look at the gas stations from the outside and then choose which one to stop at, this is quite a change to say, "Let's get out of town and then find a place. " Who would have thought?!
The other challenge is finding a place for us to stay. We stayed at 3 different places, all of which included me in one house or cottage with some kids and James in another with the other kids. Not quite what you picture when you think, "Family vacation". And then they charge you on a per person basis. So each person has to pay, not just a flat rate for the room, so it can be very pricey when you are paying for 7 individuals.
We really enjoyed the time in the Park, though we thought it was ironic that we were the farthest out in nature we have ever been and it was not peace and quiet at night. We both didn't sleep very well. We heard lions and Hippos burping and making hippo noises all throughout the night!
I had no idea what this meant.
It is quite common for the minibuses around town to have sayings or just words on their bus, but this one was quite funny. What is this supposed to mean?
Driving around Zambia is interesting. As soon as you get out of the main cities, there is really just huts and villages everywhere. The drive we took to Eastern Province and up to South Luwangwa Park was on one of the main roads in Zambia.
It is a 2 lane highway. With Monkeys, cows, chickens, dogs and goats roaming about. Not to mention all the people walking on the sides of the road or riding their bicycles.
Once we came over a hill and their were about a dozen monkeys just hanging out in the middle of the road.
Another time, Cows crossing back and forth. One almost ran into our car.
As part of James's job as missions coordinator we made two quick stops on the way up and then attended a church service at one of the churches in Petauke.
We also saw the boys that herd cows. One of the churches in Sinda has a ministry to reach out to these boys.
Sometimes we saw smoke rising up in the distance from far off villages.
One of the challenges of traveling is that you can not stop whenever you want for gas or food. We drove all day long and apart from a few snacks I had brought we didn't eat lunch and then didn't have dinner until about 8:30 at night.
There were no places to get lunch. Same with using the facilities. We stopped at one of the gas stations at which point we opted to continue on until we found a place in the great outdoors outside of town. (Think worst public bathroom you have ever seen and then multiply it... that would get you out of town fast!)
Coming from a girl who used to get off the interstate, take a good look at the gas stations from the outside and then choose which one to stop at, this is quite a change to say, "Let's get out of town and then find a place. " Who would have thought?!
The other challenge is finding a place for us to stay. We stayed at 3 different places, all of which included me in one house or cottage with some kids and James in another with the other kids. Not quite what you picture when you think, "Family vacation". And then they charge you on a per person basis. So each person has to pay, not just a flat rate for the room, so it can be very pricey when you are paying for 7 individuals.
We really enjoyed the time in the Park, though we thought it was ironic that we were the farthest out in nature we have ever been and it was not peace and quiet at night. We both didn't sleep very well. We heard lions and Hippos burping and making hippo noises all throughout the night!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
South Luwangwa National Park
One of the most amazing things to see was all the different animals together.
Elephants, Impala, Zebra, Bush Buck, Kudu, Monkeys, Warthogs, Birds...
It Made me think of what it will be like in the new Heaven and Earth, where the lion lays down with the lamb and all the animals are living in harmony. This scene also made me think about what it would have been like for Noah and all the animals after the flood.
We saw so many animals, but when we would drive up to a valley and just see animals everywhere, all kinds of them together, that was truly Amazing!
There were so many hippos!
This picture looked like the hungry hungry hippo game. 4 of them floated into the corners. We tried to explain the game to the kids but realized they have never played it or seen it!
Elephants
Ian scoping out the wildlife with his binoculars
On the last drive of the day they surprised us with a bush brunch!
We were driving way out where no one was and we arrived with a table set up and tea and a full brunch.
We overlooked the river with hippos. It was quite nice!
The Baobab Tree
Elephants, Impala, Zebra, Bush Buck, Kudu, Monkeys, Warthogs, Birds...
It Made me think of what it will be like in the new Heaven and Earth, where the lion lays down with the lamb and all the animals are living in harmony. This scene also made me think about what it would have been like for Noah and all the animals after the flood.
We saw so many animals, but when we would drive up to a valley and just see animals everywhere, all kinds of them together, that was truly Amazing!
There were so many hippos!
This picture looked like the hungry hungry hippo game. 4 of them floated into the corners. We tried to explain the game to the kids but realized they have never played it or seen it!
Elephants
Ian scoping out the wildlife with his binoculars
On the last drive of the day they surprised us with a bush brunch!
We were driving way out where no one was and we arrived with a table set up and tea and a full brunch.
We overlooked the river with hippos. It was quite nice!
The Baobab Tree
The Predators
We saw LIONS and LEOPARDS
We saw a leopard in the daytime up in the tree, then we saw him again that evening drinking water at a stream.
The photo doesn't capture the beauty of it all. It was so beautiful, the driver turned the engine off and shined the light on him and we just sat there in the peaceful quiet and watched him with his reflection in the water.
Then the next evening we saw a leopard again with a kill. It was up in the tree. An impala.
The leopard was guarding his kill, and at the bottom of the tree were about half a dozen hyenas, just circling.
We saw a leopard in the daytime up in the tree, then we saw him again that evening drinking water at a stream.
The photo doesn't capture the beauty of it all. It was so beautiful, the driver turned the engine off and shined the light on him and we just sat there in the peaceful quiet and watched him with his reflection in the water.
Then the next evening we saw a leopard again with a kill. It was up in the tree. An impala.
The leopard was guarding his kill, and at the bottom of the tree were about half a dozen hyenas, just circling.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)