Reporting from Zambia

My latest adventure has been to implement a school feeding programme.The idea is great but as you can imagine it has taken much hard work to get it going. We have built a bush shelter dining room for the kids. We are supposed to have a roll of 45-50 but in actual fact sixty children turn up most days (sorry David) It is nursery school so the children are aged 3-6yrs Most don't get any food or drink before coming to school. They often fall asleep or sit and cry because they are hungry and tired. So, for the last two week we have fed the children every day. I love to see their faces as they wait patiently for their food and drink and then screw up their eyes and repeat a short prayer in English thanking God for their food.... Amazing. Truly amazing. A dream come true. A huge thank you to the women of the Daughters of the King Conference in Bosnia - I am using the money they gave me to pay for the food. What an amazing God we serve who else could organise all that.... Thank you Grethe and your beautiful women.

Frank the headmaster says the children are more able to concentrate for the whole morning, and they are much happier, with less crying. The parents are rostered to help prepare and serve the food and it is good to see the parents involved in the school Remember most mothers have not been to school beyond grade 5 ( is that std 3).... To have parent participation is great. It is a real community school making a huge impact on the life here. We are the only school for miles and miles around to have a feeding programme, books to read, toys to play with, parent participation and English speaking. The children now say, "Good morning Madame" though this morning one of them made me laugh, In reply to my saying, Good morning," he said, " Good morning Mr Kalimoya" which is what he says to Frank... it was funny

I have a dream that one day soon we will have adult classes . And I would also love to build a clinic. At present Frank brings any sick children to me to treat but a real doctor would be nice. Oh dear here I am dreaming again .... imagine if I could replicate myself into 1000 people spread out around Zambia or all of Africa - it would change the nation completely. A dream that came to me this morning is to have a Wakabilwa Children's Choir like Watoto and bring these kids to Oz and other places. Most of them have never been to the nearest city let alone another country.....

I will be leaving for a holiday at home in Oz soon and looking forward to that. It is hard to leave these people even tho I am hanging out to come back to civilisation. I need to learn to fund raise and take this work to another level. The people here are so very poor.Every day someone says,"grandma I have a problem. My wife/child is sick and I don't have money" or several versions of asking for help.