Remember Rebecca?

Well, she's at it again!  Rebecca, one of our special young donors in California made jewelry to sell last month so she could make a donation for the kids in Zambia.

 Now she's set a goal of making 300 bracelets to send as gifts to the children.  She almost had enough when another good cause came up and she donated several of her bracelets there.  Now she's in hurry-up mode (along with some of her friends) making more bracelets so she can get them to us before we leave the first week of January. 

She gets the trophy for being HealthEd Connect's most committed donorn 2011!  Go Rebecca!!

20 Cooks Needed!

The usual school lunch at our schools in Zambia is either porridge made of cornmeal and soya flour or nshima (thick corn meal) and beans.  The last day of school before Christmas vacation, however, there was a very special meal!  Our good friend Gershom wrote "it was a good celebrations. food was just enough for all the children, the Cooks and the staffs..... we had nshima, chickens, salads, rice,& potatos. this was a wonderful experience for the school children. parents that were present during this time was very happy, and children took drinks home."

The drinks they took home are a fun part of the story.  The 'official' special occasion drink in Zambia is Orange Fanta.  Instead of a candy treat, each child was presented with a large bottle of the Orange Fanta to take home to share with family.  165 children were served in Kasompe and 259 at Chipulukusu.  It took over 20 cooks working over wood and charcoal fires to prepare the food. 

The Orange Fanta trophy!!

As Gershom said, "It was good, as you will see the children singing with drinks in their hand, what a wonderful time is this day."

Merry Christmas!

To the many friends and supporters of HealthEd Connect, thank you for making this a truly memorable year for the orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia.

Merry Christmas from Little Boss Mirriam and the whole gang!

Sherri Kirkpatrick, PhD, RN, FAAN
Executive Director, HealthEd Connect
1401 West Truman Road
Independence, MO 64050
816 833 0524 ext 4115

The new School!

First classrooms for the Young Peacemaker's Community School in Chipulukusu, Zambia

The new classrooms at Chipulukusu are almost finished!  Construction is virtually completed and we're down to plastering and painting.  A BIG ribbon-cutting celebration is planned during our visit in January.  There will be dancing in the dusty pathways as the community joins in the festivities.  Many people made generous donations to make this dream a reality.  Thanks to their caring, many orphans and vulnerable children will now have the opportunity to go to school and learn to read and write.  Imagine the worlds of opportunity this will open up not just for these kids but for future generations.  Education is the key to sustainable progress.

Why we're called HealthEd "Connect"

Bella selling coffee at Door County Century

Great little story sent to us from Michelle:

Eric Resch [owner of Stone Creek Coffee] received an unsolicited phone call from a man who said that he wanted to sell very large amounts of Eric's coffee to benefit a non-profit that he works for in Africa (for a day job, he's a pilot in Appleton). Eric asked him how he learned about Stone Creek Coffee, and the man said that he attended a bike ride in Door County this fall and some little girl was going around selling coffee for a non-profit [HealthEd Connect!!]. He bought the coffee from the little girl and loved it, so wants to do the same thing for his own non-profit. He had no idea that Eric owns the Door County Century. So, our little DCC booth is benefiting both Stone Creek AND Africans.... in a rather indirect way!#Stone Creek Coffee #Africa #Zambia #Door County Century

And the Winners Are...

The 'health' in HealthEd Connect came to the forefront this month.  Scholarships were awarded to five fortunate young people pursuing a career in nursing.  And they are from all over the globe! 

Martha Khadka,  Kathmandu, Nepal
Priscilla Rubavathy Grace,Tamil Nadu, India
Brianna Cole, Texas
Brian Bendorf, Missouri
Charlotte Wilson, Missouri

HealthEd Connect is the trustee of an endowed scholarship fund started many years ago by far sighted nurses, primarily 'San' graduates, who established the RLDS Professional Nurses Association.  When that association disbanded several years ago the funds were transferred and now reside with HealthEd Connect.  How very fortunate for the five 2011 recipients!!  Congratulations to all of them.

Hear ye, hear ye all Young Adults!

HealthEd Connect is seeking applicants for a Social Media/Graphic Design Internship. The successful applicant will be given assignments within their career trajectory which may include development of special occasion donation flyers, annual report brochures, website communications, Facebook, Blog, and Twitter postings. The intern must be committed to alleviating suffering and poverty and be committed to telling HealthEd Connect’s story in a compelling way (see www.healthedconnect.org ).

A $1,000 stipend per year plus modest local travel expenses is available. Send resume and cover letter, as well as samples of projects that demonstrate your ability to use words and graphics to capture the interest of readers, to HealthEd Connect, 1401 West Truman Road, Independence, MO 64050; email: kirkpat@graceland.edu; fax: 816 833 2990. Phone inquiries to 816-519-4925. Application deadline is December 24.

Our first Interns

Kelsey surrounded by new friends in Zambia last January

Another first!  We just received news that HealthEd Connect was awarded a grant from Tangible Love Ministries for three young adult interns.  We couldn't be more thrilled!  Two of the positions have already been filled by super-incredible-awesome people!  Lisa Ash, a young, enthusiastic first grade teacher from Independence, declined a school contract this year so she could go to Zambia for 5 months next year.  The teachers will gain so much from her coaching and mentoring.  And the 500 children will be beside themselves with joy at having Lisa around!  Our second intern, Kelsey Welch, is a known and loved quantity in Zambia since she traveled there last year to help with the training of Child Support Specialists to work with the grieving orphans.  When the health workers learned there was a chance Kelsey could come back they said, "Send her!  We need her!"  Kelsey is a social worker and we are thrilled to have her joining Lisa for a couple of weeks next spring.  The third internship, social media/marketing, has not yet been filled.  So if you know of a young adult that might be interested, have them get in contact with us.