5/20 Update from Holly - Moringa Project

It's been yet another beautiful day in Zambia. We woke up and went to church; a few of us went to a church to hear Jeremy preach, and the rest of us went to Agape with Dr. T. They were singing our favorite song as we came in, but it went on a while so that we were able to join in. The service lasted about 3 hours today as opposed to 4 last week. There was so much singing and dancing that it seemed to pass quickly though. The services here make ours in the U.S. look so boring! We definitely get much more exercise at church in Zambia from dancing.

After church we made a trip to the ShopRite where we stocked up on water, chocolate, and Fanta- all the important things. The crew from ZNBC came by to film the documentary on STS shortly after we returned home. They had intended to speak to us only about moringa, but we made sure that the other teams spoke with them. Carol demonstrated how to plant the moringa and Jim cut the top off of a mature tree to show how it is pruned. Next we went back to the Murundu village, where we planted the grove earlier this week. The TV crew wanted to see who our project would be directly benefiting. As we raced to get there before dark, we passed village children screaming "muzungu!", which always makes us laugh. When we pulled up to the grove area, about 50 orphans were waiting for us and screamed at the top of their lungs. Holly was first to get out of the car and they all quickly surrounded her to say "muli shani" and hang onto her. She almost got knocked over! Jim, Jess, Dr. T and the rest were also greeted with many smiling faces. We brought clothes for the children and Pastor Joseph, a local pastor and vice-mayor of Murundu, arranged all of the kids around us so that we could speak a little bit and then hand out clothes. The kids were very excited because they are only used to getting clothes once a year, so for them it was like Christmas. Many of the clothes they wear are very worn and torn, since they have only a few items year-round. The children ate their meal, which they receive once daily. We played and Jess took many pictures while the cameraman filmed the action. Dr. Gilbert Siame and his friend, Dr. Brian, accompanied us and provided medical recommendations for some of the orphans; specifically the young 6 year old girl that we mentioned the other day that is suffering from HIV and is very malnourished. We are incredibly grateful to Gilbert for all of his help, including arranging the ZNBC spots, providing Carol with medicine for her strep, and arranging the moringa workshop that will occur this week at Kitwe Central Hospital.

The sight of the orphans is so heartbreaking. There is nobody to care for them and they are severely malnourished, all very thin with distended bellies. The orphan problem in Zambia is absolutely appalling; in the Mufulira area alone, there are over 40,000 orphans. In addition to being malnourished, they can't afford to attend school although their education costs mere pennies. We are praying that we can be a part of the solution in Murundu by taking over the Murundu Village Orphanage Foundation. Please pray for God's direction as we contemplate this large undertaking.

After returning home we spent the night relaxing, playing card, painting our nails (the men opted out) and sharing stories. Jeremy and Dan assumed the manly role of BBQing sausages while Dr. T and the girls made a fresh salad. It was an amazing meal. We all realize how lucky we are to have nutritious, yummy food to eat and constantly make sure that we thank God for what we are given. We realize how blessed we all are and hope that through our work we will continue to bless others.

Until tomorrow...