Zambia: What a Difference a Dish Rack Makes!

What a Difference a Dish Rack Makes!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by emansfield

A dish rack in Moyo

You’ve heard the expression, “What a difference a day makes”?  I believe its origin may have come from Dinah Washington’s 1959, top 10 hit, which dons the same title – or maybe that’s vice versa – but you get my point. And if you haven’t heard the song, please take a moment to listen and appreciate it because it’s truly a classic.

Mechanized water

In Moyo Zambia from where I recently returned and am STILL suffering from a major case of jetlag, comes my own take-off on the expression/song.  A simple thing like a dish rack can make a world of difference in a place like Moyo.

Actually, our team of trip participants learned of the 5 simple things Moyo residents are being encouraged to set-up in order to “earn” World Vision’s installation of Mechanized Water.  A system that provides “nearby access” to clean water within their community.

1)  a dish rack,
2)  a trash pit,
3)  a shower area,
4)  a pit latrine with a “tip-top” (a mechanism rigged for hand washing),
5)  and a generally clean an tidy living area.

Pit latrine with tip-top for washing hands

These 5 things have so much impact on their living conditions, just hearing about it alone is not enough. You just have to meet the people it impacts to truly understand.

With a surgically created anus, because this child was sadly born without one, she is now able to thrive because she has nearby clean water to drink.

Not only does it decrease deaths from waterborne disease, the children are able to focus on things like attending school because they no longer have to walk miles and miles just to carry dirty water from a stream for drinking/cooking/bathing.

There is still much work to be done but it was exciting to see first hand the impact World Vision child sponsorship can make by not only addressing the immediate physical needs but also the transition toward the behavioral changes that must also occur in order to make a sustainable difference. If interested in learning more, please do not hesitate to ask about how you can make a difference in Moyo.

Just one (of many) examples of the impact…  Since our first visit in May 2010, World Vision and CPC (my church) have helped make Malaria, fall from the 1st to the 4th position in terms of cause for disease related deaths.

Upon delivering new bed linens to nurse Katherine in the Moyo clinic on behalf of CPC, it was a total blessing to see the once full clinic beds bringing new life instead of the alternative!

Mother and newborn in Moyo clinic

 
I feel so blessed to have been able to visit a second time to see my amazing, hard working, friends at World Vision Moyo ADP as well as my sponsored child, Beene!

World Vision Moyo ADP Team and CPC Go-Trip 2012 Team

God bless them all!

Eli

PS:  Please stay tuned for more Moyo stories to come!

Zambia: Time to Process

Lots of mixed emotions among Team Moyo as this trip winds down. We've seen and done a lot during our visit and our hearts will never be quite the same.

We are taking a little time on safari to process what we've seen and learned with discussion and prayer among God's amazing African creations before returning home.  Our team has already identified the "gifts" shown/given to us during our time in Moyo.  Among them are generosity, relationships, humility, hope and an appreciation for "just being" in the moment. 

I know I speak for the team when I say that we already miss the WV ADP team we left in Choma and it has truly been a blessing to travel with Mike Owen of World Vision. We are all bonded by new friendships solidified by sharing such an amazing experience together.  

Brianna Gustafson writes;  I love the simplicity of life here. In fact, I slightly envy the people of Choma & Moyo that we've met. Unfortunately, this type of life is so foreign to us in the States.  The landscape is so pure and untouched - absolutely amazing!  The people of Moyo are a beautiful people - so much happiness and so many smiles in the midst of such extreme poverty.  Zambia and Moyo will forever be in my heart and this will definitely not be my last trip here.  

This will likely be the last post before we return home on Sunday morning.  Many thanks again for your continued prayers for safe travels on the long journey home which begins tomorrow morning.   

God bless, 

Eli & Team Moyo

Zambia: The Moyo Clininc and the Ndondi High School

Written 10/30/12

Yesterday we visited the Moyo clinic and the Ndondi High School (a work in progress).  The high school is now far beyond the few concrete blocks it was just 2.5 years ago - a very exciting site (sight) to see!  That said, the clinic hasn't changed much structurally but the walls and beds that were once lined/filled with Malaria and HIV patients waiting to be treated were all empty. Now there was only one open air waiting room full of patients waiting to see sweet nurse Katherine. Thanks to her loving care and the hard work of World Vision, we learned that Malaria has fallen from the 1st leading disease for cause of deaths to the 4th position.  There was one exception however, the one occupied bed was that of a mother with her new born baby which Katherine helped deliver the night before.  What an amazing blessing in contrast from previous trips!

One of many highlights; WV facilitated the planting of trees for us.  Each of us was able to plant a tree on the Nodondi High School grounds to signify CPC's contribution to the school.  A few of us are already talking about seeing how much they've grown when we return.

A message from Tim MacPhail & Jennifer Daugherty:  Seeing and experiencing Moyo has brought to life so many complex but spiritually uplifting issues and emotions.  We're so grateful for the opportunity to walk with and learn from such a strong community of people while seeing and gaining awareness of the World Vision ADP aided by CPC and others.  Our sponsored child's family was gracious and a lot of fun - including being very comfortable laughing at our attempts to cook with them!

We were very blessed by our experiences thus far.  No one will go home the same person as we came.  Thank you World Vision and CPC!!!

Eli & Team Moyo 

Zambia: Blogging at WV Choma Office (others getting ice cream)

What a blessing!  I am sitting in the WV Choma office with Potipher, John & Fred (WV staff) while posting and blogging to catch you up. I know that some of you back home who know/miss them are jealous. Believe me, I have shared with them your thanks for all they do as well as your hellos and well wishes!  And yes Barb, I personally gave Potipher your note for Desmond (sponsored child).  :-)

We also had the wonderful and extremely generous opportunity to visit Written (Karen's), Loveless (John & Laura's) and Levincent (My own, soon-to-be, 2nd sponsored child, who has been paralyzed since birth by polio).  This day started with so much joy in seeing Beene's progress and ended in deep sadness for us all with the awareness that Levincent's wheel chair has been in disrepair and so he's back on the floor of his hut instead of smiling on the Moyo countryside.  We are making strides to rememedy this during our visit.

On a high note, the Kennedy's write: Meeting Kelly and Metness (our sponsored children), attending church in Moyo with great singing and message, riding miles of bumpy roads while getting to know our team and the wonderful WV Moyo ADP staff are memories we'll bring home.  We've been welcomed by smiling faces wherever we've gone and it's been an amazing trip so far!  Mike & Linda 

World Vision has been more than gracious to us during this trip.  We feel so blessed and will have a terribly difficult time leaving when the time comes.  That said, they are once again being generous by bringing us to their office on their day off so I must sign-off.

More as soon as we are able to connect again.

Blessing to our loved ones at home!

Eli & Team Moyo

PS:  Pictures are stuck in the pipe waiting to upload so I must sign off - bye for now.  

Zambia: Progress is good!

Written EOD Saturday, October 27, 2012:

Being unplugged for the past few days has been more of a blessing than a curse.  We've already seen so much to update you on (too much to write here) and yet there's so little time in our schedule.  No connectivity for the past few days has allowed us all to focus on what's important right in front of us. But that also makes it hard to let you know that we're all safe and healthy so please be assured that we are in fact all safe and enjoying this amazing experience visiting our ADP with our old/new friends from World Vision.  Many thanks for all your prayers!

Today was beyond amazing as we were able to have the joy of meeting our sponsored children and spending some time in their indiviual communites. It is nearly impossible to describe the emotion involved in seeing/meeting the real person on the World Vision folder, let alone for the 2nd time in my case (More pics/posts coming soon or upon our return as we are able). 

Seeing the progress that has been made since I was here just 2.5 years ago is rather mind boggling. It is easy to see why WV Moyo ADP won the award for best ADP last year under the leadership of Angela Kalambo. Sadly, we learned that Angela is taking a one year leave to go back to school in Lusaka for her masters degree in economics.  Of course we are very happy for/proud of her but she will be sadly missed by CPC for certain but especially her own WV staff.  We are grateful she made the trip back from Lusaka especially for our visit.  We love you Angela!

Your friends at CPC and Team Moyo in Zambia

Zambia: Blog Post 3- Safe, semi-rested and engaged in Moyo...

Written EOD Friday, October 26, 2012:  

From our departure until EOD on the 25th our transpo looked something like... plane, plane, shuttle, shuttle, bus, plane, bus (and I may have even left out a step) but we've finally reached the reason why we are here.

Today we ventured 2 hours on washed-out roads into the very bumpy hills of Moyo in rugged SUV's where we started our journey with the privilege of meeting the Chief of Moyo (fondly named, Chief Moyo). We were also able to participate in some gardening in Kauba, an area that was empowered to grow a huge garden to feed the people of Moyo that are living with HIV/Aids. 

But perhaps the most impactful thing we witnessed was the first implementation of the WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) Project. This project is extremely significant to the community as it brings clean water closer to home for Moyo residents in a very sustainable way.  Clean water not only means tremendously improved health conditions, it also equates to the ability for children to be in and focused on school and their studies. It also means that mothers are able to be more active within their own community because a closer proximity to water takes the emphasis off of the hours and hours it takes the children and women to fetch very limited amounts of water daily from very far places. 

We also gained a better understanding of the impact of BEEP (the Bicycle, Education, Empowerment Program) upon the teachers and children of Hamabbonka. Last but not least, we concluded our day in Moyo with the excitement of playing with the children of the Hamabbonka primary school with bubbles followed by handing over the many pounds of school and playground supplies we brought/donated as a team.  

Though we were plenty tired, the 2 hour journey back out of Moyo was filled with energetic conversation about the satisfaction we felt by seeing so many sustainable projects making so much progress.  Great work World Vision!

Hoping to find some connectivity to post/update you again soon.

Blessings,

Eli & Team Moyo

  

Zambia: One night in Joburg

Several (15+ actually) hours and few wind shears later, Team Moyo has safely arrived in Johannesburg! We successfully met up with Jennifer and Tim (as well as all of our luggage - 140 lbs in school supplies and bed linens for the clinic) - so that makes 8 - and our team is complete.  We all had dinner together before retiring this evening.  We're ready for our last day of travel (the flight to Livingstone and the drive to Choma) tomorrow before we settle in for a few.

We'll do our best to keep you posted at home but things get a little more sketchy (in terms of WiFi) from here.

Wishing our loved ones back home all our best!

Elizabeth (Eli) of Team Moyo

Zambia: Headed to Hotlanta

Leg one of our trip to Moyo Zambia is finally underway.  Mike and Linda Kennedy, Brianna Gustafson and Kate Kirk are all accounted for and resting up before leg two.  Eli Mansfield blogging live from the airplane. We are headed to Atlanta for a short stop where we will be joined by Mike Owen of World Vision before skipping over the pond to Johannesburg, South Africa.  We will then fill out our team by meeting-up with Jennifer Daugherty and Tim MacPhail. We will stay the night in Joburg before our final flight to Livingstone, Zambia on Thursday. It's going to be a looooong couple days but we are all very excited to meet up with Musonda Chimbamba for a WV overview on Thursday before we head to Choma (our new home) to get settled-in.  Friday morning will be our first full day at the Area Development Project (ADP) in Moyo.

We will post as we are able to get WiFi.  The whole team is feeling pretty blessed by all the thoughts and prayers that have been coming our way. Please keep 'em coming! We have a ways to go.

God bless,

Team Moyo 

Zambia: Welcome!

Welcome to our Blog for the CPC 2012 Go! Trip to Moyo, Zambia!

Here you will find blog posts from members of our team as we travel to see, love, and hear God's people in rural Zambia from October 23 through November 4.

As we prepare to leave, please be praying for our trip. Pray for God's hand in preparing for the trip, and any pre-trip nerves. Pray for safe and 'uneventful' travels. Pray that God would move in the hearts of us on the trip as well as all whom we encounter.

We look forward to having you alongside us as we GO!

Sincerely,
The Zambia Team