We passed!

This is only one class in the Young Peace Maker's school.  They are displaying proper Zambian sober faces for the picture but they're smiling inside!!  They just received certificates before leaving on Christmas vacation saying they passed to the next grade.

Merry Christmas!



 (Chipulukusu student artist)

The HealthEd Connect Team 

wishes you the happiest of holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year!

A dime's worth of joy!

Chisemphere children joyfully chasing a yellow balloon

We introduced balloons to several rural villages in Malawi on our last trip.  Ever wonder how much joy you can buy for $.10?  Wonder no more. 

A $.10 balloon can miraculously light up the day for countless children chasing it.  No high tech video games necessary to bring smiles in Malawi!  An old fashioned balloon works just fine.  So if you're pondering how to spread the most joy for your money this Christmas, please consider a gift to HealthEd Connect. Donate Now

Angela's dream come true!

Angela - Sinkhani volunteer for 22 years

Angela, one of the original Sinkhani health workers trained in Malawi in 1992, will be making the trip of her lifetime in January.  Angela lives in the tiny poor village of Chisemphere, Malawi and has worked tirelessly for years to help the children in her community.  Angela has been chosen by her peers to travel to Zambia with 4 other Sinkhani, to attend a HealthEd Connect training Spread the Word, Not the Disease:  Ebola Facts and Fiction.  HealthEd Connect health workers from Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo will join the Kafwa health workers in Zambia for the training.  For Angela this is a dream come true!  International travel to another country to share with 30 other health workers who share her passion.

Why didn't I think of that?

Josephine (L) the Congo health worker supervisor,
with Kabo and Mwaba, two of the volunteer
Traditional Birth Attendants.

Last January when Josephine and two Wasaidizi health workers from DR Congo traveled to Zambia to meet with me, they brought along a very interesting item ....the string of beads shown in the picture.  This is not a necklace or a rosary.  It is ingenious item to help the women track their menstrual cycle for "safe" and "fertile days" for those trying to use the rhythm method.  The red bead slides along reminding them where they are in their cycle.  This is especially important in the rural areas of the Congo where few affordable birth control options exist.  I'll never forget several years ago when a very tired and elderly looking little woman approached me with an infant in her arms.  I thought she was the grandmother.  Then she very timidly said, "This is my fourteenth child.  Is there anything you can do to help me?"  Unfortunately, unless the government gets behind family planning programs, there are few options available to the women in the villages.

Good Life Garden

Model gardens at Echo Farm in Florida

Nutrition is on the way up in our communities in Zambia.  We introduced small kitchen gardens planted in old tires last summer and they are receiving a very enthusiastic reception.  The tire gardens require a minimum amount of good soil (most of the soil in our communities is hard as cement!) and the tire maintains moisture content thereby reducing the transporting of water.  Now to get stuff to grow!  We're getting expert agricultural advice from Echo Farms, however, and hope to have proof-of-the-pudding gardens next growing season.

Echo Farm

Tour of Echo Farm

Jac and I learned so much during our visit to Echo Farm in Fort Myers, FL.  It is the mecca for developing world agriculture.  We had earlier contacted Iowa State University that is known for agriculture in developing countries and they suggested Echo farm would be even more helpful.
Remember the bags of Moringa seeds Randy Heintz gave us to plant in Africa last year?  Good news!  The health workers have been successful in getting some to grow.  Take a look at the incredible nutrition in this fast-growing plant.  In addition, the seeds can be used to purify water.  What a find!