Africa Grows Purple Trees

God is so faithful. Even though I doubt and get impatient, He has been showing me again and again that His timing is far better than mine. From the time I was accepted to go on this trip until now, He has proved that He is in control and that I cannot even begin to know the things He has yet to show me. Last week, we were able to go to the village behind the compound and spent a couple hours with about 150 kids just playing, singing, and having fun. They were so excited to have visitors and just loved to see themselves on our cameras. They are such beautiful and loving children.
We also had the opportunity to go to a community school called Arise. It's a free school that kids can go to who do not have money for books or uniforms, which are required for most other schools. A local teacher felt that street children and children who's parents did not value education needed somewhere to go, so she started the school. It is one room and only half has a tin roof over it. Only the teachers get books, so they write the content on their three foot chalkboards and the children copy from the board on to their notepads. The teachers are all volunteers and some have to walk up to an hour one way to get there every day. There are seven grades and each has about 40 kids to one teacher.
On Sunday, we traveled to Jembo Bible College, which is about an hour away, to visit a missionary couple who we know from IWU and attend a youth revival. They opened their home to us, cooked us lunch, then let us use all of their guest beds for naps before we went to the service! The service was for those in grades 10-12. They sang song after song accapella. It was amazing to see and hear how wonderful they were when it was all student-led and organized choirs.
Yesterday, half of the group was at Zimba Hospital and half went to the villages to distribute food. The half at Zimba saw some really difficult things and in just their first time at the hospital dealt with two deaths. They learned a lot and were able to get some more clinical experiences, but some really struggled with the suffering they were around. My half of the group went to about six villages and had a great time. We had kids chase after the land cruiser and those who wanted to be held, but what surprises me the most here is the way people smile so genuinely and freely.
We have another group going out to distribute the rest of the food today. Our group will be going to the local hospice and to the hospital to see the pediatrics ward.
I have been so blessed to be a part of this group. Our leaders have incredible strength and determination. It seems like we have been running into a lot of brick walls in getting everything organized. Yet every time something goes wrong, our two professors have been quick to find a solution or just patiently wait with a smile.

Picture 1: Jacaranda Tree (it has tiny purple blooms all over)
Picture 2: Sisters
Picture 3: Little boy in love with the camera

Creatures of all kinds!

We have had an eventful last three days here in Choma! Sunday, about 8 of the girls woke up with some kind of stomach virus. Luckily, most of them recovered within 24 hours. Megan, however is still really struggling and not feeling back to normal. We’ve been praying that she bounces back to her normal, lively self before we go to the villages for food distribution on Thursday. Sunday night, several of us went on a walk down a dirt road near the compound and about ten kids started yelling for us to come talk to them. We stopped for a moment to chat, but when we needed to leave they did not want to let us go. They followed us the whole way home.
Yesterday, we had planned to be gone all day for food distribution. We were to leave at 8, but 3 ½ hours and a long game of Phase 10 later, we were told we would not be going. After this, we had a turkey delivered to the compound on the back of a bicycle and he walked around our porch all day and got inside at one point. One of the girls found a Rock Hyax (similar to a muskrat) in her room about five minutes after the turkey was shooed back outside.
Today, we watched Fred, one of the workers here at the compound, kill the turkey. He told us how he would prepare it and cook it and that the heart and gizzards are just as delicious as the meat. We'll be having our feast on Friday!
We all made a trip to the Choma museum and the Choma library to get a fuller understanding about the history. We also were able to break a new record for the 11 seater van, as we stuffed 19 people in it, using the open sunroof for more head room.
I’m really enjoying getting to know my teammates and our leaders. We are all anxious to start our Community Health hours and get out to the villages because we know we will see some amazing things!


Picture 1. The kids, who followed us home, posing for a picture
Picture 2. Poor turkey
Picture 3. Me, Fred, and the head

Day Five

We've been here in Choma for five days now, and the staff here at the Guest House has really been wonderful to us. There is a guest house manager, a couple cooks, and a couple more employees who do cleaning, laundry, and odds and end jobs around all day. The work very hard and are making our stay very comfortable.
These first days have been learning, learning, and more learning! We have had many cultural orientation meetings to get us informed on the things we will later be experiencing. We also have been learning about all of the programs World Hope International Zambia (WHI-Z) has to offer. We heard from the director of the Hope for Children programm, which gets children in poverty connected with a sponsor. We also heard from the Home Based Care program, which connects volunteers with people who are living with a disease. Today, we learned about the AB (Abstinence and Be Faithful) and Reach for Life programs. The AB program goes into the villages and sets up a several month long program that teaches abstinence to unmarried singles and faithfulness to one partner to married couples. The Reach for Life program is an astinence program taught in urban schools to students in grades 10-12.
On Monday we were able to go into town, which is a 30 minute walk, and see the market. We bought fabric for a chitenge, which is what we are wearing in the third picture. The Zambian women wear these to carry children on their backs, to lay down if they need to sit, and to pad their head if they need to carry something heavy like a water jug.
We've been realizing recently how cautious we need to be about creatures in and around the house! We knew, of course, to stay away from any dogs in town and to keep our mosquito nets on the bed, but we had a wake up call this morning. Alissa, one of the girls on the team, stepped outside early this morning to go for a walk. When she stepped onto a mat, it made her slip and fall. As she was sitting on the ground, she saw that a small black snake had been curled up under the mat. She called over a staff member and they quickly threw the mat over it, threw a large rock on top of that, and then jumped on the rock. After all of this, we found out it was a black mamba, the world's deadliest snake. God was for sure with us on that one! Thanks for all of your prayers, guys!

Picture 1 - our view of the sunset from the front door
Picture 2 - The compound. Guesthouse on the left; offices and classroom on the right
Picture 3 - Some of us in our new chitenges
Picture 4 - Eating the staple food, nshima. It is made from mealy meal, which is ground corn

We've Arrived!

Hey all! I am not a blogger or a writer, but I wanted to be able to have a spot for people to go to check up on me while I'm here since our internet time is very limited and we have no phones.
We left Indiana on Thursday morning and got here Saturday into Choma at 7:30 in the evening. The 15 hour plane ride took a lot out of us, but it was well worth it! When we got to Zambia, the World Hope staff met at us the airport with a bus to transport us to Choma. They did a great job of packing us all in, as they had to fit 36 50lb bags, 36 backpacks, and 22 people into a 15 seater van! We were told to be ready for a two hour drive on a dirt road, but that turned to a four hour drive. It actually wasn not as bad as I was thinking it would be, though, because we had huge windows and a breeze to keep us cool.
So far since being here, we have just been around the Guest House and to a local church. The way the Zambians worship just blew me away. They truly worship with everything they have. We arrived at 9:30 am and left at 1:45. The church was one room, but they crammed at least 250 people in there. The singing was beautiful, the children were adorable, and the message was heartfelt. Every week after the service, the people are dismissed by rows. The first person exits and stands by the door. When the second person exits, they shake the first person's hand and stands beside them. The third person comes out and shakes the first and second person's hands then stands beside the second person. This keeps going until every person has gone down the line and shaken every single hand. By the end all 250 people, including children, were lined up outside the church. It was so different than in the States where we can go to church for an hour in a room full of people and probably get away without talking to anyone.
All is well and we're having a great time!