First Weeks of School

Aaron and Lorraine sent money so the sponsored kids at Namwianga Basic received mattresses for their boarding place. Up until now Sibajene, and the boys, and Charity have been sleeping on cold, hard cement. They also each received a blanket. Thanks Aaron and Lorraine and other members of Lorraine's family. Good comfortable sleeps for our kids, and we still have money left over for some other projects!

The sponsored kids at Namwianga and and Good Hope schools along with Febby Muleya received new school uniforms this week. You cannot attend school in Zambia without a proper uniform. Dickson, the tall fellow in the middle (grandson of Marta) had come to school in a blue shirt this week, but it was the wrong shade of blue so he was told he could not attend until he had a sky blue shirt. Rules, rules, rules...

Have a good week everyone and please pray for these kids and the country of Zambia as it struggles to provide for its people! There are reasons why a country like this is so poor—hmmm... Something to think about—if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

Weeding the Maize Field

This group was the Kalomo High and Mwaata kids.
Can you pick out the Canadian girls helping with the weeding of the maize?
(Hint, it's colour-coded!)

After the weeding we had a prayer for the field and for the potential harvest and a group photo.

Then, it was back to the house for chili and buns and chocolate cake and another round of flying Zambians.

It rained and rained, so we were unable to take back the kids on time (oops, Mr. Krogsgaard gets punishment!) and so we sang and sang outside in the car park! That was the best!

Please pray for each of these kids - such stories - such strength! Double orphans, single orphans, timid kids, noisy kids, quiet kids, contemplative kids, mischievous kids, all beautiful ones of God's creation!

Have a great week!

Hope for Tomorrow Update - 2008

Dear Sponsors of the Hope for Tomorrow patients

Greetings to you all! I hope this all finds you well in your life and in your service to our Lord.

Thank you again for your partnership with these patients and their families. I hope you realize the difference you are making in their lives. As Stephen Lewis says, the Lazarus effect happens when these folks are able to start on the ARV medications. We also know that God who is the giver of all, including healing, has much to do with the improvements for these ones!

Florence and Sibeso
Florence seems to have her ups and downs. When I saw her two weeks ago she was on the way to the clinic for her ongoing problem of heart palpitations. She continues to need our prayers! Sibeso is an energetic four year old with a smile that can melt a heart! Florence will be off the program in May 2008.

Judith Muyani
This is one I need to check on before I leave Zambia in three weeks time! She has struggled with TB and has been slow to regain her strength. Judith will remain in the program until she is stronger.

Muna Lubaya
Muna lives at Bbello. Tiffany and the girls try to go to Bbello on Thursday to work with the under-five baby clinic, but due to rains the road was impassable, so they were unable to visit Muna. Many villages are experiencing hunger right now; Bbello is one of them. We need to get Muna a large bag of high protein food before we leave so he will not be one of the hungry ones. Muna will remain in the program until he is able to look after himself.

Caral
She is doing well. She always greets me with the hugest smile. She lives with an aunt and uncle who are very caring. The aunt is helping her with her business plan. She will be off the program in May 2008.

Kelvin
He is still in the village. Our attempts to get him into the hospice have failed because the family is hesitant to bring him to us. I would like to try again sometime, but it won't happen before we leave. He will remain in the program.

Lemmy, Alice and Lucia
I call them our poster patients! These three have been very diligent and cooperative to get into Chodort Training centre (a training centre for carpentry, tailoring and computer skills). We have rented a three-bedroom house in Choma, complete with electricity and water. It is within walking distance of Chodort. (look up Chodort on the internet) I had them devise a food budget so that they could ensure their health is maintained. They will get their monthly food allowance from Mr. Thomas, the program manager. As I left Lemmy with the other students, I felt like I was leaving one of my boys! I had a lump in my throat and was so proud to see him shyly join the other apprentices! This will be a major stepping stone for these three patients and will make a big difference for the rest of their lives! Thank you sponsors! Please continue to sponsor these ones until graduation in December 2008!

Agness, Jelina, Joyce and Stella
These ladies are all working on their income generating plans; I will review the plans before I leave Zambia. These ladies are all in good hands with the nurses. They will no longer require sponsorship after April 2008.

Elizabeth
We purchased a treadle pump for her with some of our general purpose funds. She will have it delivered the week after next. She will no longer need sponsorship after April 2008.

I have been so impressed with the gentleness and the gratitude of these people. I pass along their thankfulness; I wish you could be here to receive it yourself!

Some of you will not be sponsoring after April 2008. If you still wish to support this program the nurses, Tebia and Fortune will continue to have some money in order to help a few other patients. They have asked to enrol some more individuals, but I've tried to keep the work load down for them; they are both very busy ladies. Tebia mentions that she really likes the Canadian program because there are goals to have the patients become independent.

If you wish to continue to sponsor then please advise me directly and I will communicate that to the nurses.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me or phone me after March 1, 2008. (306-543-0502)

Sue Krogsgaard
suekrogs@sasktel.net

Highlights of the week

• Monday and Tuesday we picked up our girls—Tiffany, Ashley and Amanda—who are visiting from Canada. A few bags were missing, but they have now been found and are in our possession! The girls have quickly adapted and the house is full of girl talk and laughing! So much fun! Besides that they cook and clean and iron! And there are a few more high school and college kids around—especially of the male gender! The girls made us mango smoothies for breakfast this morning—not something I'd even thought of!

• My driving horizons have expanded. Richard and I had to start making tracks this week as with going to Lusaka we lost a couple of work days while construction projects and paying of school fees and final selection of 2008 scholarships are in full swing. So, like back home, he took one vehicle and I took another and we each worked at our lists. We are still quite Canadian! Up until now I had mostly driven within about a nine kilometre radius of here! My horizons were expanded as I drove to Zimba and a few other places this week.

Sue's driving experiences!
Zimba is about a thirty minute drive from Kalomo. Since it was my first longer distance I wanted to take a male passenger who could help if it was needed (my only other passenger was a blind pupil from Kalomo High School!). Luckily, Passwell came by the house with nothing else to do since he cannot return to College until he receives his first year marks—maybe in March! We had an uneventful trip and the vehicle was full on return from Zimba, including the elderly brother of Wilson Siazilo. He is a very lively chap and filled all of us in on the education history of Kalomo and of himself personally! He is a very honest, Christian man and admitted that as a child (fifty plus years ago) he lied to get a scholarship from the American missionaries. He said he was a double orphan and years later told his parents what he'd done so that he could get his education! As a teacher he has assisted MANY others to complete school, including most of his own children. I learn something everyday!

Twice on Thursday I got severely stuck in the mud. The first was with the DYNA when Ashley and I were driving to Kalomo on the Namwianga road. The extreme rains have left all shoulders of the sandy roads very mushy! I was trying to avoid the deepest part of a newly formed lake so I swung to the right a bit too wide and suddenly felt the rear left tire sink! OOPS! I called Omas on the cell phone while one fellow went back to the clinic to bring manpower and shovels. Pinegar and Cecelia happened by with the Haven's Isuzu. With Cecelia's directions and pushing (along with Ashley and others who were standing by) Pinegar and I were able to loosen the DYNA from the muck! The DYNA is a three-ton Lorry! Ashley was amused, and maybe a bit scared at choosing to accompany her aunty, but I hope not! Later the same day I got stuck in the Isuzu at the Mulamfu's house. Again, I got off the edge of a more solid area and went way down! Tiff's friend Amanda is a country girl—so with her direction, I put the truck in four-wheel low and with the girls pushing and Obert (a one sponsored student), Voila! We were out! Then a neighbour came by and remarked, "Oh, that is a low spot!" (Now he tells us!!) I didn't even call Richard for help! Or Omas!! More amusement for Ashley.

Zambian English
Zambians will often fail to say the Y sound at the end of a word, e.g. Tiffany is ALWAYS called Tiff-ann. Then (to make up for it!?) on some words that don't have a Y sound, they add the Y sound, e.g. ant would be ant-y. Yesterday, two college girls were doing laundry for us and as I walked out of the house dressed in my Saturday garb—pants, Audrey says to me, "Madam, I like your pantys." I was a bit embarrassed, but quickly tried to figure out why she would be saying she liked my panties. Then I figured it out, she liked my pants; I held my laughter until I returned to the house!

Update on Phineas's finger
Phineas is a Kalomo High School student. Last week I took him to the clinic because of an infection in one of his fingers. It is still quite ugly, but a bit less inflamed with a deeper hole than last week. I looked at it on Friday and sent him back to the clinic. If he doesn't get some very strong antibiotics, he will end up losing the end of the finger with a severe bone infection. I'll check back with him on Tuesday.

Simakakata Church
Today we loaded up the DYNA with our girls, and some secondary school boys and one college boy. Timmy did the preaching, Victor did the Lord`s supper and one of the secondary school boys led singing. We delivered mealie meal to the hungry ones at Simakakata and as usual they were deeply grateful! Following all this we stopped by the Kalomo Hospital and delivered baby clothes and blankets to three new moms and babies—all boys! We also visited the pediatric ward (where some very hopeless cases are); some are definitely in the final stage of AIDS. Too sad—but the family members were happy with a new little blanket and most of the patients and family sang along as our guys sang choruses in the atrium of the hospital. A little encouragement for some very sick folks!

The strength of our ZMF-C scholarship boys!

Zambian kids are tough! The training starts early. Babies are shushed during cold baths. Young girls with a baby tied on their back hoe for long hours in the maize fields. Most school kids tell personal experiences of being disciplined (beaten) for breaking a school regulation. Life is very difficult for these kids—parents die; an uncle takes them in; they work hard in and out of the house. If they are lucky they may have an uncle or aunt who can pay for their education. If they are very lucky they may qualify for ZMF-C scholarship (the criteria are VERY tough and opportunities are limited due to the fact that we are a relatively new and small NGO). So... many don't go to school and they try not to cry as they hear they do not qualify. And I try not to cry, as I tell them they didn't make the 2008 list.

Steward has a ZMF-C scholarship at Namwianga Christian Secondary School. He is a bright and very obedient boy. When he's not in boarding school at NCSS he lives with his  granny and mom at Bbell (about a 45 minute drive from the mission on the worst roads you can imagine! At this time of year there is no way I'd even try to drive there, even in a 4-wheel drive truck.

Steward's mom died last week. Steward is the eldest son of two children in the family. Being the oldest male, Steward was in charge of the funeral arrangements—he's 17 years old! We helped him with some kwacha, some mealie meal and by transporting some of the elderly women of the family to as close to the burial place as we could drive. Throughout the ordeal, Steward was as stoic as a rock. We fed him tea and buns and listened to his version of the last few days of his mom's life—no tears were shed, just saddened eyes. A strong, but now double-orphan young man! 

Phineas is a grade 11 boy at Kalomo High School. This week while I was at KHS I noticed he had a dirty piece of chitenge cloth tied around one of his fingers. When I asked him to remove the cloth he revealed an abscess the size of the largest marble you can find—full of puss—on the end of the pointer finger of his left hand. The finger was so infected that the nail was displaced to a horizontal position. Yuck! The skin was pealing off in pieces. So... off to the clinic and David, the clinical officer froze it, drained it and we dressed it. I loaded him up with some good antibiotics and taught him how to clean and dress it daily. He said he'd injured it three weeks ago while on holiday in the village and had been trying traditional medicine. I will check on him on Wednesday. Throughout the  procedure of injecting the lidocane and then poking around and squeezing the gunk out of it, he flinched once. Messy things like this always remind me why I favour psychiatry to medicine! Tough boy!! Now we have a bond!

Kids are tough here. They have to be! I admire their strength, but I have great difficulty with their suffering. Kids can survive having cold baths and working HARD in the gardens, but kids should NOT have to lose their parents; they should NOT be denied going to school, and they should not be hungry! The kids in the ZMF- C are so APPRECIATIVE of the scholarships they receive. They do NOT take it for granted.

One last thing… Hunger is very apparent now. I had spent a lot of time with the KHS kids and some of the other kids in this area prior to their holiday in December. Five or six weeks have passed and now the kids have returned from their villages. They are obviously thinner! There is not much food in the remote village areas where a lot of these kids live and during the holidays many of them have worked hard in the fields. These kids are happy to return to their boarding school where they will receive beans about five times a week (mixed with a few interesting bugs that don't get cleaned out!) and nsima every day.

And one other last note. The maize harvest was a disaster in 2007 and it seems that it will be another disaster for 2008. Too much rain has stunted the growth of the maize and a constantly cloudy sky has provided little opportunity for photosynthesis to occur resulting in yellowish maize that will not produce.

Please remember these kids and this program in your prayers. Kids should not suffer.

A Day's Work for Rich!

Today was moving day for teachers (even though school opened three days ago). Students have been at school, sweeping the floors, slashing the grass, laughing with friends, and waiting for their teachers to arrive. We took three new teachers out to Katungu, and picked up Jerry and one other new teacher from that area and took them to Mutala. It was an adventure that took the entire day—it makes one smile.

This morning we met two of the new teachers at El Pantano in Kalomo and news got around town that the truck was going to Katungu. When we left, we had three teachers and their katundu, seven or eight others and their purchases from town, and three bicycles. It was a full load, but we picked up four others along the way.

At Katungu about 150 children and adults gathered around to watch the unloading and reloading of the truck. When we returned we had the katundu of two teachers, and the truck was full again. The load was about six feet high at the front and it included an entertainment centre!, coffee tables, large chairs, a bed and mattresses, pots and pans, jugs, suitcases, books, pieces of metal, old boards with nails sticking out, five bags of charcoal, a bike, two puppies, eight chickens, and a large pig. The crowd really enjoyed watching the loading of the pig.

Even though we had it all tarped down, that Kabanga road is so rough that we had to stop more than once to collect things that fell off. Jerry had his nsima ready for supper in one container but lost that to the Kabanga road. Once the puppies escaped and had to be chased down by those who rode on the load. Two women and one baby rode in the front with me, two girls and one boy road at the back with the animals, and three men rode on top of the load swaying back and forth with the truck.

In addition to this, yesterday I had trouble with the electrical system on Dyna and so each time that I turned the vehicle off, several people had to push in order for us to get started. It felt like I was in a scene from the Beverly Hillbillies! When I left Mutala the pig was rooting around in its new surroundings. Tonight the Dyna is resting at the maintenance shop.

Sue is saying that I will never be able to work at Walmart, so we will need to plan another adventure!

Back to School! Back to Work!

Our time in Zambia is quickly coming to a close. Working in Zambia has been a wonderful experience. We have expanded our family to about 150 kids and have learned a ton about the Zambian school system, construction, orphan care, and farming. The Zambians have taught us well about the importance of relationships! Every encounter with a Zambian starts with a proper greeting and asking about family; we can discuss what we came to talk about, but not before a very good greeting. Zambians take time—a fair amount of time, greeting. They are a warm and very caring people! We've been well cared for! Definitely, it can be said, "North Americans keep time, Zambians have time!"

This week the new school year begins. However, just because January 7 was the start of the 2008 school year doesn't mean that the pupils are in school. It doesn't even mean that the teachers are in school. As a matter of fact Richard met Mr. Samaaya (our new acting head teacher at Katungu) in town today. And the new teacher, Albertina, who we took out there on Sunday, will be in a three-day workshop this week. What do the kids do? Most of them won't show up and those who do will stand around or sit maybe in a desk, if there is a desk to sit in. I was at Kalomo High School yesterday and it was a ghost town! When school is really in full swing (in a couple of weeks) there will be about 1300 students there!

Some of the sponsored students are trickling by the house with their 2007 term 3 reports. It's kind of like when our own kids used to show us their reports—the kids who get good grades can't wait to pull the paper out of their pocket, and the ones who have struggled? Well, first, they apologize and then they reluctantly pull the ragged paper out of their pocket! Some have promised now for a couple of weeks to come and show results tomorrow! So far Cynthia has not showed up with her paper. Her teacher tells me Cynthia had difficulty—another common Zambian expression.

Fighton Munduli, Amos's nephew came today and his report indicated nine points—an outstanding achievement—I'm so excited for him! Another very terrific kid, Mvulu has scored six points (even better!); his report was sent to me here at the house and so he has yet to see it. I'll be very excited to see him view his report. He is a very hard working boy, both in school and with his sponsored student volunteer work! Good work to all you sponsors and to Mrs. Ruhtt Mbumwae for selecting such great kids.

We've had a TON of rain in the past few weeks. Today was the first sunny day in about three weeks. Everything is wet and soggy and musty! I think cockroaches like wet because I see more of them tonight! The rainfall has been the most anyone has seen in December and January in many years. The crops actually need more sun; they are looking rather yellow instead of a nice rich, green colour. Our tomato plants died because of too much rain—not one tomato. But the mangoes, oranges, papaya have all loved the rain! The kids that come to the yard love to eat up the mangoes; we take a big bag of them when we go out to the field.

We had a very enjoyable sponsored-student party the other day. We played Flying Zambian. (If you remember the game, Flying Dutchman, I just changed the name.) These Zambian boys can run fast! I got dragged around and I'm sure my feet came right off the ground; the kids laughed so hard to see me run—kind of fast!! We cooked up three chickens, had cabbage and nshima, rice and even pop! We sang songs and had some motivational speeches and a devotional—a very special time with some very special kids! And then, all of us girls washed dishes—also a Zambian tradition!!

Now, I need to go and figure out a few more fee schedules for the morning. Tomorrow, we're off to Choma to deposit money, take out money, pick up a new teacher and her katundu (belongings), do shopping and go to Chodort (again!). Timmy is coming along, but we need to be back by noon because I have very long line ups of kids coming to show their reports to me!

Hope you can enjoy the smiling face of this pupil. I asked him if he was glad that school was back in session. He said, with the loveliest smile,"Maninge!" (very much) You can't beat that!