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Team HealthEd Connect distributing earthquake supplies in Nepal

School is serious business in Zambian schools!

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Bad photography?

Think your eyes are tricking you or a super bad photographer took this picture?  Actually it is neither.  This was a typical scene at meal time in Nepal prior to the earthquake where food was cooked over non-vented open fires inside the little homes.  The smoke is even worse than you might think since the cooking fuel is made of dried cow dung which releases methane gas when ignited.  Pinkey, the supervisor of the Nepali health projects took this picture in March when she visited rural mountain villages.  Now we are back to square one since most of the homes are destroyed and people are in survival mode.  We still haven't lost sight of the future, however, and Pinkey is making inquiries and contacts hoping to find helpful interventions that can be introduced as the rebuilding process goes forward.

Proud Teachers!

(L to R) Florence, Agness, Idah (head teacher), and Zelly

Introducing the Zamtan teachers!  This is the hearty crew that endured 150 kids in the one-room church when they started and rain pouring on their heads when the plastic 'roof' failed in the temporary shelter the community built.  Now they have an incredible school complex with 3 classrooms, a Kafwa Center, Library AND the very important head teacher's office shown here.  All of them are eager to improve their credentials as well.  Florence is new and hasn't enrolled in a Teacher Training program yet, but Agness has already completed her diploma, and Idah and Zelly are enrolled thanks to YOUR generosity in providing funds for teacher scholarships!

Working by moonlight

Busy last day in Zambia!  After a marathon of meetings, we ended the day with Festus, the local silver-artisan.  By then it was so dark Tara had to hold a flashlight for Sherri to see the silver jewelry she was buying for resale in the US.  One more way to raise funds for the orphan programs.

Geography

The all important geography lesson.  Hannah Henson, Tara  Sheehy, Natalie Sherer, Karl  Bradford, and Lindsay Harmon comparing the US (50 states) to Africa (50 countries) in the Kasompe 6th grade classroom.  The kids loved having Graceland University students as new friends!  Our 3 week adventure is almost over.  We (including Jac and Sherri) head home on Wednesday with about 33 hours of travel between us and Kansas City.  Ugh!

Reason for GAP

Yesterday while visiting homes in Kasompe, we bumped into Rachael along the path.  She's 14 years old and dropped out of school in grade 4.  She now has total responsibility for the 2 babies she's carrying.  We asked if she'd  like to come back to school and she said, "Yes, tomorrow!"  The problem is she has no one to watch the children.  If only the Girl's Achievement Program (GAP) had been organized earlier to keep her in school.  We now have over 60 girls attending GAP each week so hopefully we will reduce the Rachael ' s in the communities.  For $10 a week we can provide a great GAP program for 5th, 6th and 7th graders.  For $200 a year we can provide a scholarship to send a girl on to highschool.  you can help by going to www.healthedconnect.org and donating now.

Fun Time

It's  hard to tell who is having more fun---the little kids at Chipulukusu or the big one (Karl Bradford) who they insist on calling Carol.  They just can't quite get the Karrl sound. 

Flag raising

Over 150 Zamtan cherubs were lined up ready to regale us with adorable speeches, saucy little songs, and multiple stumbles through memorized poems when we arrived at their new school today.  All but one little girl seemed to love the limelight --- that one totally froze to the spot and finally had to be retrieved by her teacher.  The highlight of the morning was the raising of the Zambian flag and the HealthEd Connect banner; the signal to the world that we've arrived as a real school.