End of Year Celebration

Kasompe Kafwa preparing Christmas celebration meal

Chipulukusu kids gathering for Celebration meal

Kafwa Cooks in new Cook Shack

What a celebration!  A special meal is always planned for the children for the last day of school before Christmas break.  Please don't judge the excitement by the very sober children in the pictures.  That's the Zambian 'look' for photos!  Last year they gave each child a large bottle of orange Fanta soda to take home as a treat.  When we suggested they might want to look for a more nutritious treat, they readily agreed.  This year they gave them Cokes!

P.S.  Please ooh and aah over the new Cook Shack where the Kafwa prepared the meal.

Kasompe kids enjoying Nshima and beans

Beat the deadline!

A nervous student in Chipulukusu making a speech for the visitors!

It's not too late to make a 2013 charitable donation to HealthEd Connect.  Just go to our website www.healthedconnect.org and click on DONATE NOW.   The women and children who benefit from your generosity will be ever so grateful!

Tragic News

Last day of School Celebration in Chipulukusu
 

We just received word that one of our fifth grade boys, Alex Mumba, in the Young Peace Makers Community school was killed by lightening while at home.  Alex was a double orphan and one of the children who enrolled in April 2009 when the school first opened in Chipulukusu.  Two other children at home at the time were knocked unconscious but are recovering.  This sad event occurred two days after a huge celebration at school marking the end of the school year.  We look at this picture and wonder if Alex is shown celebrating with his friends.  If so, it is comforting to know there was joy in his life because of his school days.... 

Perfect last-minute Christmas Gift!

The perfect last-minute Christmas gift!  Just go to www.healthedconnect.org and click on DONATE NOW.  You can designate the person you want to gift and we will send them a card telling them of your thoughtfulness.  The kids in Zamtan will be ever so grateful that you helped to build them a classroom that doesn't leak!

 

We're Excited!

We're excited --- but also nervous!  We were pleased sometime ago to learn that two of our schools had been named Model Schools by Time to Learn a USAID sponsored program in Zambia.  They told us at the time they would be bringing visitors to see our schools in action.  That's great -- we're always eager to show off our kids!  We just learned who one of our first visitors might be -- and now we're nervous!  Conrad Bwalya, our Time to Learn  contact in Zambia sent us an email saying " I will be having the US Deputy Ambassador visiting the Copperbelt community schools in 2 wks time to look at our work, might choose one of your schools which is doing very well in our literacy activities to showcase."  We haven't heard yet if he visited one of our schools or not but wouldn't that be great?  If he came, I hope no one was shooting paper wads that day :-)

The rains are coming!

Open-air school built by community in Zamtan
 

Note the cardboard ceiling/roof

We are in a race against the clock to raise money and get classrooms in place before the rains start in Zambia.  The amazing little community of Zamtan took it upon themselves to build a little rough lumber open-air (literally!!) shelter to house some of the school children.  If you look closely, however, you can see BIG cracks between all of the boards.  What you might not be able to see is the flattened cardboard boxes they're using for the roof.  Neither the walls nor the roof are going to protect the children when it rains. 

A new structure with 3 classrooms will cost about $35,000.  If you can help we would be deeply appreciative.  Just log onto our website www.healthedconnect.org to make a donation or mail a check to HealthEd Connect, 1401 West Truman Road, Independence, MO 64050.

What a great Christmas gift this would be to honor someone special on your list!

Teacher Training

Agness in purple dress on Right

 

We are so proud of Agness!  She is always front row and center when there's something new to learn.  You may remember Agness as the Chipulukusu teacher who told us her story of reaching the depths of despair after her husband died before she became employed in our school.  She is a community activist and the first in line to roll up her sleeves to improve her community. She is being sponsored by HealthEd Connect to attend daily teacher training classes so she can receive a teaching certificate.  In addition she has been attending the monthly literacy training sessions for teachers sponsored by Time to Learn.  We were so delighted to receive this picture from Conrad Bwalya, our Time to Learn colleague in Zambia.  Thank you Conrad for sharing this news with us.

Packing decisions

Last year Flat Stanley hitched a ride in the trunk!



We're in the count down!  Our trusty blue trunk is filled to overflowing and hard decisions are being made regarding what to take to Zambia and what to leave behind.   We have children's books for the library, birthing kits for the Traditional Birth Attendants, training materials for the Kafwa, beautiful carrying bags for the workshop participants donated by a church, supplies for bead making, etc. etc.  Everything is needed!  How to decide???

Smile.Amazon.com

Smile!  And think Amazon.com.  If you are an Amazon shopper (who isn't??) a portion of every purchase you make on line can be designated for HealthEd Connect.  In addition to our Kindle purchases, we've started using Amazon gift cards for those hard-to-shop for teenagers in our lives.  Now we can benefit HealthEd Connect at the same time.  It's so easy!!

You just need to be sure you enter Smile.Amazon.com and it will ask you what charity you want to have benefit from your purchase.  When you enter HealthEd Connect in the blank box, our information will immediately pop up.  Next time you shop from Amazon, HealthEd Connect will automatically show up as your charity of choice.  You just have to remember to smile!  You always have to get onto the Amazon site by going through Smile.Amazon,com.

Help us spread the word!!

 

Christmas is just around the corner!

 

We need your help!  Our 1st grade children in Zamtan are meeting under a temporary outdoor shelter with a cardboard roof.  Obviously that doesn't work well when it rains.  In addition, there is only room for Kindergarten and 1st grade with no way to expand with more grades.  This means there is no second grade and children are forced to drop out of school at the age of 7.  Imagine! 

 

We desperately need classrooms for the kids so they have a chance to learn to read and write.  A three-classroom cement block structure costs around $35,000.  Please help us make this not just a good Christmas but a good life for our kids.  Just go to our website www.healthedconnect.org and click on the DONATE NOW button.

The kids need your help!