Update - March 15

The Harding Academy group headed for Livingstone on Thursday morning. They were a wonderful addition to our campus, and we were privileged to host them.

I said in an earlier blog that the Harding students would leave a bit of themselves here at the Mission. That proved to be true in a very literal sense, because many of them left behind clothes and other items to be given away! Yesterday I gathered up all the donated items and spread them out on my veranda. The sponsored students at the high school came over and selected six items each to keep. They had a great time sorting through blue jeans, skirts, T-shirts, towels, and shoes to find what they wanted.

The Harding students also left us some of their snack foods. True confession: I ate three packages of Pop-Tarts on Thursday. (I didn't even really like Pop-Tarts when we lived in the US!) We also received granola bars, trail mix, and sugar coated cereals. Yes, the Harding Academy left fond memories in our household.

Update for March 12

Today was Youth Day in Zambia, so there were no classes at the schools. Namwianga Secondary scheduled sports and games all day and invited the Harding group to participate. The Academy fielded teams in volleyball, basketball, netball, and soccer. The girls managed to win their netball game, even though it was their first time to play!

This afternoon most of the students went to the orphanage to say goodbye to the babies and caregivers. Tonight after dinner we had the Merritts and their Eric's House children come over for a devotional and S'mores. A good time was had by all.

On a sad note, baby Whitney died at the orphanage this morning. She was premature at birth and had struggled throughout her two-month life. Last week Meagan had asked the Harding students to give her extra attention, so for her last few days on earth Whitney had been held and loved tenderly. Her short life will leave a lasting impression on the students who came to know her and care for her.

Thursday morning the Harding group leaves for Livingstone. They will see Victoria Falls on Thursday and then go to Chobe Game Park on Friday. Saturday they will head back to America, leaving behind a bit of themselves and taking along memories and changed hearts.

The Day After The Babies Spent The Night

I heard that the babies did pretty well during their overnight stay on Monday night. I'm guessing that there was some lost sleep, though. These are scenes from the guesthouse after lunch on Tuesday.

Update for March 11

On Tuesday the team had another day of working at the orphanage and tutoring at the nearby school. Tuesday night a singing group from Mutala came and presented a program of their songs.

Wednesday is a Zambian national holiday called Youth Day. The Harding students will be joining the Namwianga Secondary students for sports and games.

No illnesses yet. Mr Harrell, the pharmacist on the team who came along to take care of medical problems, has been blissfully unoccupied with that area and has been busy doing other things.

Parents, you can be very proud of the way your children are pitching in to help with whatever needs done. As we get ready for meals, the two questions we hear are, "What are we having?" and "Can I help with anything?"

They are not complaining about the food, the heat, the work, the frequent power outages, or anything else. We are blessed to have them here.

Babies!

Shown here are some of the babies who spent the night with the Harding Academy girls. It will be interesting to find out how much actual sleep occurred in the guesthouse!

To Harding Academy Parents

You can send a message to your child by posting a comment on the blog. I will receive it as an e-mail before it is posted and can print it out and give it to him/her. Please specify if you do NOT want the comment to also appear on the blog.

We are seven hours ahead of you, so the last message I can deliver will be Thursday morning our time/Wednesday night your time.

Harding Academy Update - March 10

I'm posting the blog late today because we had no electricity for several hours Monday evening. Dinner was already cooked by then, so the only real challenge was washing the dishes by flashlight.

This morning the Harding students worked at the orphanage with the babies and toddlers. In the afternoon they went to Namwianga Basic School and tutored pupils there.

Tonight the guesthouse where the female students are staying has a few extra guests. The girls brought babies from the orphanage to spend the night. It was such a delight to watch them holding and loving the babies this evening. The youngest baby is a tiny one-month-old, and the oldest is Sally, a busy toddler. There are bottles, blankets, and diapers everywhere in the house. The guys have pitched in to help by bringing food to the girls at dinner time, cleaning up the kitchen and dishes, and I even saw one brave guy who will remain nameless carrying a big pink diaper bag back from the orphanage this afternoon.

There may not be much sleeping in that house tonight, but there will be lots of love given and received, and there will be memories made that will last a lifetime.

We continue to give thanks that everyone is healthy and doing well.

Sunday at Kasibi

What a day we have had! This morning we combined the 12 Canadians who are here with the 24 students and leaders from Harding for a trip out to the beautiful village of Kasibi. We took the Land Cruiser, two double cab pickups, and a flatbed truck. Most of the students and some of the adults ended up on the flatbed truck--outfitted in style with chairs. The road to Kasibi is pretty bad; however, none of the vehicles had any major problems navigating the potholes and ravines.

We had to park the vehicles about a quarter of a mile away from the church building and walk the rest of the way. The bridge over the creek consisted of about six logs fastened together. We all managed to make it across without incident, cheered on by a warm welcome from the women of the congregation as they sang and clapped for us.

We tried to squeeze into the Kasibi building, but when it became apparent we weren't all going to fit, we moved outside under the trees and enjoyed a wonderful time of worship with the Kasibi congregation.

Afterward we gathered in the yard in front of Leonard Sichimwa's house for a traditional Zambian meal of chicken, nshima, and goat. Leonard was kind enough to add non-traditional chocolate cake and Kool-Aid for us.

Then the Kasibi Village Band arrived with their homemade instruments and performed. I told one of our Canadian visitors that afternoons like these are called "National Geographic Moments" when you feel like you have stepped into the pages of National Geographic!

The rain came just as we were leaving Kasibi--a gentle shower that pretty well drenched the riders on the back of the truck. Their enthusiasm wasn't dampened, however!

Back at Namwianga, the gang headed for the Merritt's house and spent a couple of hours putting together "Baby Packs" that will be given to caregivers who receive formula from the Mission. In cases where a baby's mother has died, an aunt or grandmother will often volunteer to take care of the child. The orphanage provides formula for the first year or two of the baby's life. A Baby Pack containing a diaper, plastic pants, diaper pins, bottle, clothing item, and blanket is given to each caregiver to help her meet the baby's needs.

Some of the Harding students volunteered to take babies home for the evening. The lucky babies were held, cuddled, and cooed over during dinner and the evening church service. I heard at least one student saying sadly about her new little one, "I don't want to take her back to the orphanage." What an experience the students have had--they will never hear about orphans in Africa without a tug on their hearts from the time they spent here.

Other happenings throughout the weekend: the Harding students have made friends with Namwianga students through working together and interactions on campus. Some attended a movie together in the auditorium on Saturday night. There were some soccer games today as well, and more are sure to come.

I've already fallen asleep at my keyboard once while I was typing this blog, so please forgive any typos and errors. Everyone is still healthy, and I can't think of a time when any other group of this size managed to avoid illness this long. As we recited in church today, "God is good all the time."

Work Crew

Here is our Harding/Namwianga Secondary crew right before they headed off to work on the roads Saturday morning.

Another Day, More Adventures

It’s not even 10:00 as I write this, and the Harding crew at our house is getting ready for bed after a day filled with activities. This morning each Harding student was paired with one of the sponsored students at Namwianga Secondary. We all ate breakfast together and then divided into three groups to work on sections of the road that were damaged by the recent rains. Students dug dirt, shoveled gravel, and filled potholes all morning.

Then this afternoon we had a Vacation Bible School for children who live in or near the Mission. We had planned to have this event out on the soccer field, but the threat of rain moved us indoors to the church auditorium. The excitement of 306 children singing at the top of their lungs was incredible! The Harding students used flip charts, role plays, puppets, games, and crafts to teach the children about God’s love. We ended the afternoon with a craft project in which the kids made visors lettered with “Jesu Ulandiyanda” (“Jesus loves me” in Tonga).

Tomorrow we’re going out with a group of Canadians who are also here working at the Mission. We’ll visit the church at Kasibi, a beautiful village that is home to our beloved Zambia Medical Mission cook Leonard Sichimwa. He’s promised us chicken, goat, and nshima after the worship service. We’ll also get to hear the Kasibi Village Band.

Everyone in the Harding group is still healthy and happy as far as I can tell.

The Adventures Just Keep on Happening!

This morning the Harding Academy students walked up to the Haven 1 (baby orphanage) and Haven 2 (toddlers) to give special attention to the little ones there. The students were divided into two groups, and the groups rotated their time at each house. Meagan had planned all this and had made the assignments of students to babies. She said she almost cried just seeing all the babies being held and loved!

This afternoon the Harding group went to the nearby village of Wasawange and observed daily activities there. They also held an impromptu VBS with about 30 or 40 of the children in the village and had a wonderful time with them.

Tonight we loaded into the Land Cruiser and two pickups and traveled over some typically rough bush roads to Mutala to attend the Friday night Bible study there. We gathered in the local schoolroom with candles and a lantern for lighting. Mark Benton spoke with Rodgers as his translator. The singing was incredible, both when we sang as a congregation and when singing groups (including the Harding students) presented their gifts of songs afterward.

The riders in my vehicle got an extra adventure on the way home. I was following David and got behind a little bit and lost sight of him in the dark. I went the wrong way at a fork in the road. We ended up parallel to the right road, but couldn't quite make it back to that road because of one narrow place between a tree and a stump. Mark helped out by taking the wheel and backing up the truck to turn it around, and then I managed to backtrack and get onto the right road. No mission trip is complete without at least one "lost in the bush" story, so I guess I've done my part!

Tomorrow the students will be paired with high school students from Namwianga Secondary to work on the roads in the morning. Then in the afternoon we've invited all the children on the mission to a Vacation Bible School.

Everyone is still healthy and everyone seems to have a wonderful attitude. They are a blessing to us!

Harding Academy, Day 2

The Harding Academy students have had a busy and exciting day. We had originally scheduled them to be at secondary chapel this morning at 6:30, but after seeing how bleary-eyed they were last night, we let them sleep in a little longer. After an 8:00 breakfast, they loaded onto a flatbed truck for a tour of Namwianga. They saw the clinic, the schools, the college, and then they spent some time with the orphans.

This afternoon Louisa had arranged for them to visit Kalomo Hospital. For this trip we had reserved the school's blue lorry (truck). They grabbed the chairs from our front veranda and put them on the flatbed so they could travel in style and comfort.

The students visited two wards in the hospital and sang for the patients who were there. Then they went to the Family Shelter and sang. Next it was off to the market for an introduction to shopping and bargaining Kalomo style.

So far everyone is still healthy--an unusual occurrence for a group of this size. Tomorrow they will spend the morning working with the babies and toddlers at the orphanage. In the afternoon they will visit Wasawange village to get a glimpse of village life.

Harding Academy Arrives!

A group of high school seniors and chaperones arrived today from Harding Academy in Searcy. We are thrilled to have them here, especially since David's nephew Wil is one of them. They had a relatively uneventful flight and--miraculously--arrived with all of their personal luggage! The only bag missing is one that was full of goodies for Louisa and Meagan. We'll share some of the good stuff we received until it gets here.

Tomorrow morning they'll be going on a tour of Namwianga and get a look at the places where they'll be working during the week they are here. Then tomorrow afternoon we've planned a trip to the market in Kalomo and a visit to Kalomo Hospital where they'll sing for the patients.

One of their ministries will be to play with and love on the babies and toddlers at the orphanage. Meagan has assigned each Harding student two infants and two toddlers to give special attention to. I made sure Wil has my little Jason as one of his!

I will try to post a little bit every day to keep the Harding parents informed about their kids.