Wow! 9th Graders already!

Five of our GAP 9th graders met with us at Chipulukusu this week.  All 5 of the girls continue to come back to see their primary school teachers on a regular basis.  They said they sometimes have challenges with math and rely on the Chips teachers for tutoring.  Patience, on the left, became the spokesperson for the group and asked us to tell the donors how very much they appreciate the scholarships that have allowed them to go on to school.  We are in our third year of scholarships and have no dropouts so far!

Live Cargo!

This little charmer wanted to be sure he didn't get left behind!   While his mom was busy learning new information in the health worker training, he crawled into her suitcase to assure stowaway privileges!  Both he and his mom will be up before dawn tomorrow to catch the bus for the long ride home along with the other 24 attendees.  What a great group!  We ended the training this afternoon with a joyous celebration service and awarding of certificates.

Not the coconut wireless!

I was able to talk to our Luapula Kafwa supervisor, Jane Chibwe,  yesterday while she was in no man's land in the long journey to our training in Chipulukusu.  We were getting worried about Jane and the 10 Kafwa with her since they were long over due for arrival.  Thank God for cell phones!

 The convenience of cell phones is ubiqitous in Zambia. Virtually everyone has a simple inexpensive phone---many people carry two in order to take advantage of  competing cell services.  There are no phone contracts.  If you have a few kwacha to buy talk time and can find a way to charge your phone, you're in business.  

Happy Kafwa!

These happy smiles on the faces of the Kafwa are not because of personal gifts they are receiving but because they will now be able to provide a few items of desperately needed clothing for little girls in their community.  

These adorable little dresses were lovingly sewn by a group of volunteer seamstresses one of whom is an ardent HealthEd Connect supporter.  We were able to find room in our supply trunk to tuck in a few along with other essential supplies such as the antibiotic ointment referred to as liquid gold!!  

A huge thank you to the women responsible for these smiles --- and dresses!!!

Honored

What a pleasure to honor our good friend Bernard Chalwe this week!  Bernard was our co-founder partner and first head master at the Chipulukusu Young Peace Maker School in Zambia and is now skillfully serving as the chairman of the school board.  He has given more than seven years of service that has changed the lives of countless orphans and vulnerable children---all as a volunteer.  It is with honor and great enthusiasm that we salute Bernard for his many years of compassionate and tireless service and the hundreds of miles he has walked to and from the school.

Lauren Hall presenting Bernard with a certificate of honor.

We Have a Dream

The mighty three travelers (Lauren, Jac and Sherri) have arrived on African soil at the Jo'burg airport and are now awaiting the flight to Ndola, Zambia.  So far we've been in transit 3 days due to our early departure to avoid the ice storm in Kansas City. 

How appropriate that we celebrate and honor Dr, Martin Luther King Day from a continent that identifies with his dream.  According to a WOW email received this morning, "The original and prepared speech did not contain the phrase, "I Have a Dream!" 11 mins into the speech gospel singer Mahalia Jackson -- sitting behind Dr. King -- shouted "Tell 'em about the 'dream,' Martin, tell 'em about the 'dream'!"  Dr. King recalled that he 'just decided' to go with it! In front of millions, he started RIFFING!"

HealthEd Connect is proud to join the many who have continued to pursue the dream Dr. King so eloquently presented.  Onward....

Traveling light!

We're packed and ready to take off tomorrow for Zambia and Malawi.  We're especially excited about the new opportunities we'll be exploring on this trip!  With two training sessions planned for 58 health workers it takes lots of supplies...not to mention the items we're taking to the schools.  It's a good thing Jac is a United lifetime Million Miler since one of the privileges is 3 free suitcases weighing up to 70 lbs per bag -- for each of us!

We were scheduled to leave Sunday but moved it up a day  in an attempt to avoid the predicted ice storm in Kansas City.  We'll find out in the morning if we were successful.