Over the last 3 months Gemma and I have had 4 summer teams come out to work with us in Zambia on many of the projects we are involved in. This last week saw the final team leave us and as we begin organising for our trip home it is amazing to see what has been achieved and indeed how God has brought things together right at the end.
One of the ministries Gemma and I have been involved with since we arrived in Zambia together in January 2010 is St Anthony’s Children’s village which is an orphanage looking after many children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS or because of disabilities their parents were unable to cope with. God provided a physiotherapist to teach us some techniques we could use with children with Cerebral Palsy and that made a massive difference to what we could do as volunteers. It kick-started a whole host of work with the orphans and even volunteers from other outside NGO’s have followed suit so that the interaction the children have with people each day has improved immensely – even the carers who live and work at the orphanage seem to now enjoy being with the children more. This summer we made sure all the teams that came out to us had time to go and visit St Anthony’s and they loved their time there, whether simply holding the babies, playing football or skipping with the toddlers or trying out various new craft activities. What capped it off for me, however, was this last team who spent a week building a playground for the children – swings, see-saw, monkey-ladders and even a cargo net. It was a pleasure to work with the 4 guys we had to do that task, not only did they work hard and excellently as a team but the finished result is excellent!!
This last team also had the privilege of finishing two major tasks the previous summer teams had also been working on. With so many teams coming we really wanted to make sure the hammer mill, pastor’s house and school in Kamfinsa village were all finished and ready for use. And I can’t believe how much that hope has been met! The first team finished plastering the school, and then painted everything inside fresh and vibrant colours. They also started to lime the inside of the pastors house (lime is a cheap form of undercoat but not especially pleasant!). The second team continued further, drawing and painting a number line and alphabet on the school classroom walls as well as painting more of the pastor’s house literally with floors and walls still being finished all around them as they went. The third team were able to finish the interior of the house to a good standard.
We had a 3 week break between teams 3 and 4 during which time we managed to plaster/rough cast the outside of the pastor’s house and begin white-washing the walls with lime. We also were able to interview and appoint a new teacher for Kamfinsa school, employ a sewing teacher who has been teaching the ladies to make uniforms (which look great) and organise for a ZOE pump to be put in. The borehole at Kamfinsa has never really provided a reliable water sauce due to mechanical break down and rusting metal pipes, we have tried fixing it several times but never with lasting results. A few weeks ago the whole village had diarrhoea as a result of having to go back to drinking from the closest river (5 or so kilometres away) and so we decided to install a ZOE pump on a hand-dug well. Lifeline in Zambia provided the plastic piping, simple hand pump and all necessary expertise to fit it and at a low cost – really amazing. So it was a productive few weeks even without a team here. Once the fourth team had finished the playground at St Anthony’s they also wanted to help with the projects at Kamfinsa and so started by finishing off painting the pastor’s house and in record time. Then they noticed the house lacked a veranda and so set about making one. They completed that and still had time to paint the outside of the school building! Brilliant!
Then yesterday I was called by Seeds of Hope, which is an NGO in Ndola that I have been liasing with since June to see if they could also help at Kamfinsa. Out of the blue they called to say that they had found someone to fund a new borehole – which costs around 23million kwacha (£3000) – and wanted me to show their staff where we would like it to be drilled! Soon after phoning me they arrived at the college with a lorry and drilling rig which they immediately took out to the village with me showing them the way. It was just incredible to arrive in Kamfinsa and see not only the reaction of the community as they saw these huge vehicles arriving and setting up camp in their village but also to see the sewing class in full swing, the children in the school all shouting and learning IN ENGLISH and the school itself along with the children in new uniforms all looking so beautiful! What a way to end the summer! God is so good!!!
And I haven’t even mentioned the new school we are building here at the college – but I will very soon! Watch this space!!! ;-)
One of the ministries Gemma and I have been involved with since we arrived in Zambia together in January 2010 is St Anthony’s Children’s village which is an orphanage looking after many children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS or because of disabilities their parents were unable to cope with. God provided a physiotherapist to teach us some techniques we could use with children with Cerebral Palsy and that made a massive difference to what we could do as volunteers. It kick-started a whole host of work with the orphans and even volunteers from other outside NGO’s have followed suit so that the interaction the children have with people each day has improved immensely – even the carers who live and work at the orphanage seem to now enjoy being with the children more. This summer we made sure all the teams that came out to us had time to go and visit St Anthony’s and they loved their time there, whether simply holding the babies, playing football or skipping with the toddlers or trying out various new craft activities. What capped it off for me, however, was this last team who spent a week building a playground for the children – swings, see-saw, monkey-ladders and even a cargo net. It was a pleasure to work with the 4 guys we had to do that task, not only did they work hard and excellently as a team but the finished result is excellent!!
This last team also had the privilege of finishing two major tasks the previous summer teams had also been working on. With so many teams coming we really wanted to make sure the hammer mill, pastor’s house and school in Kamfinsa village were all finished and ready for use. And I can’t believe how much that hope has been met! The first team finished plastering the school, and then painted everything inside fresh and vibrant colours. They also started to lime the inside of the pastors house (lime is a cheap form of undercoat but not especially pleasant!). The second team continued further, drawing and painting a number line and alphabet on the school classroom walls as well as painting more of the pastor’s house literally with floors and walls still being finished all around them as they went. The third team were able to finish the interior of the house to a good standard.
We had a 3 week break between teams 3 and 4 during which time we managed to plaster/rough cast the outside of the pastor’s house and begin white-washing the walls with lime. We also were able to interview and appoint a new teacher for Kamfinsa school, employ a sewing teacher who has been teaching the ladies to make uniforms (which look great) and organise for a ZOE pump to be put in. The borehole at Kamfinsa has never really provided a reliable water sauce due to mechanical break down and rusting metal pipes, we have tried fixing it several times but never with lasting results. A few weeks ago the whole village had diarrhoea as a result of having to go back to drinking from the closest river (5 or so kilometres away) and so we decided to install a ZOE pump on a hand-dug well. Lifeline in Zambia provided the plastic piping, simple hand pump and all necessary expertise to fit it and at a low cost – really amazing. So it was a productive few weeks even without a team here. Once the fourth team had finished the playground at St Anthony’s they also wanted to help with the projects at Kamfinsa and so started by finishing off painting the pastor’s house and in record time. Then they noticed the house lacked a veranda and so set about making one. They completed that and still had time to paint the outside of the school building! Brilliant!
Then yesterday I was called by Seeds of Hope, which is an NGO in Ndola that I have been liasing with since June to see if they could also help at Kamfinsa. Out of the blue they called to say that they had found someone to fund a new borehole – which costs around 23million kwacha (£3000) – and wanted me to show their staff where we would like it to be drilled! Soon after phoning me they arrived at the college with a lorry and drilling rig which they immediately took out to the village with me showing them the way. It was just incredible to arrive in Kamfinsa and see not only the reaction of the community as they saw these huge vehicles arriving and setting up camp in their village but also to see the sewing class in full swing, the children in the school all shouting and learning IN ENGLISH and the school itself along with the children in new uniforms all looking so beautiful! What a way to end the summer! God is so good!!!
And I haven’t even mentioned the new school we are building here at the college – but I will very soon! Watch this space!!! ;-)
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