The Simon Poultney Foundation

On-line Donations

2011-09-19T14:20:00.006-06:00

We are pleased to advise that on-line donations to the Foundation can now be made through Virgin Money Giving. Whilst this is primarily relative to UK donors it can be used by anyone from around the world. That being said related tax credits (e.g. Canada and USA) would not apply though this sytem.

Note that eligible UK donaors can opt for Gift Aid which will provide an additional 25% of your donation to the benefit of SPF.

We will appreciate any money that you can give to our many projects which are listed on the VMG page. A little amount goes a long way in Africa.

Make a donation via Virgin Money Giving

Zambia - Special Gift

2011-08-18T05:28:00.001-06:00

Members of the Shumba Team in June decided to buy Costain, the head teacher at Chilunga Community School, a bicycle in recognition of all the hard work that he does for the community. Today he received it – a sturdy Buffalo bicycle made by World Bicycle Relief especially for Zambian conditions.

Pancakes and Accolades

2011-05-08T14:09:00.000-06:00

It is always gratifying to read what others have to say about the work that we are doing in Zambia and for encouraging others to support us. Alyssa is a very special young Canadian woman who recently stopped in for a visit during her hitch-hiking and biking tour of Africa – all on her own !

http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Kapiri-Mposhi/blog-609222.html

She also cooked us a wonderful pancake breakfast – a delicious treat !

Connected - At Last !

2011-04-27T14:04:00.001-06:00

My new best friend – the satellite dish that enables me to communicate in high speed with the outside world from the farm in Zambia. The technology still boggles the mind – signal goes from my laptop, through the dish to a satellite 30,000 km above the earth, then back down to the hub just outside London, UK then to whoever I am communicating with. Of course the signal goes in reverse when a communication is coming into me. Gordon

Fresh Chicken for Supper

2011-02-03T04:19:00.000-07:00

Still no solution for high speed Internet connection so it has been another couple of weeks since I was able to do a posting. Things have continued to go well and I have been having a busy and productive time. Apart from daily work for the farm I have been taking our English friend, Ann, to visit different aspects of the SPF project.

One of the highlights was a visit to the Chilunga area - another section of the community. It is across the Mulungushi river which bi-sects the community and the river is running too deep at the moment to cross in a vehicle. So we had to park at the river, cross on a wooden foot bridge made from poles cut from the bush and then walk the 4 km to the school which is the focal point of the community. The school is a community school which caters for children on that side of the river from Grade 1 to 7. There was only one teacher (out of 4) with a small class of about 12 kids in session so we sat in on the lesson. Apparently a lot of kids - and the other teachers - were unable to get to school that morning as there had been a heavy storm during the night and other rivers in the area were flooded. Anyway it was good to see the place again and we enjoyed the walk there and back in the sunshine. On our way back, at a village near the river, we were presented with a live chicken - to be taken home to eat ! Ann was thrilled and got to carry it under her arm back to the car !

We also visited some of the people that have benefitted from the micro loan fund - always good to see how they are doing with their small businesses or farming as a result of being able to borrow money to get started. That evening we had supper with Banda and Tsitsi who had cooked the chicken we had been given - it was very tasty with the sadza/nshima !

Ann flew out of Ndola on Sunday January 30 to head back to UK. She thoroughly enjoyed her stay in Zambia as a whole and particularly at Kakulu. She is sure that she will be back sometime in the near future to do some actual project work with SPF. It will be great to have her as part of our UK "team".

Three young men - Kody, Ryan and BJ - arrived safely from Canada today. It is great to see them here and the community is going to be very excited to see them moving around exploring everything and inter-acting with the people. They are here for most of February so it will be a busy time.

Zambia - January 19

2011-01-19T05:40:00.002-07:00

My first couple of weeks in Zambia have gone well overall. I spent a few days in Lusaka as I had several things to get done there. It was quite tough getting adjusted to the time change and the weather change - such a contrast coming from minus 20C and snow in Canada to plus 28C and rain in Zambia.

I was very glad to leave Lusaka and get to Kakulu on Thursday January 6. Great to be back in the community and to my final destination, after the last few weeks of intensity in preparing for the move here. The farm is very quiet and peaceful so I am lucky to have such a nice place to live.

I have been settling into the new routine and starting the work that I need to get done. Mike is very pleased to have me here and is already keeping me busy with many tasks. The crops are looking great and everything in full swing with the tobacco harvest under way and ongoing maintenance on the maize (corn).

I have been able to spend a bit of time in the community catching up with a few people and starting to asses what the immediate priorities are for SPF. As usual I have spent quite a bit of time with Pastor Justin who has brought me up to date on a number of issues. I will give more details of things as I get to visit places and people to see myself what's going on.

So far I have visited the clinic and Sungula school. Ednah has been transferred to another clinic in the region and a new sister-in-charge has been brought in. She was actually here before, in 2006 standing in for Ednah during her long leave, so is familiar with the community. Things are ticking along okay at the clinic - nothing major to report and I've got a list of a few things to consider for us to work on.

At the school I found that Kirby has been replaced as head teacher. (Kirby and Stella are still living at the school - she is still teaching there and the Ministry of Education is trying to find a placement for him although he is keen to retire he tells me.) The new head teacher seems to be good although we only had a short meeting this first time round. We had a quick tour of the school grounds. They have got to roof-level on another teacher house - similar to the one SPF/Taylor built in 2008 - this new one funded by the government. No other major developments at the school but, again, a few items on the list to consider for future work.

Ann Hendry is the niece of a good friend of ours and recently graduated from university in England with a degree in Environmental Science. She spent a couple of months in Kitwe - a city North of here - at the end of 2010 on a student exchange program. During that time she did a research project on the effects of the copper mining activities on the water quality of the rivers in that area. After going to South Africa for the Christmas holidays she came back to Zambia to spend a couple of weeks with us to learn about SPF work in the community. She is interested in doing what she can to help the Foundation once she goes back to UK.

As predicted in my last posting Internet access is very sporadic so further updates will be done as the opportunity allows. Even e-mail is a struggle so I will respond to messages as quickly as I can. We are working on some other options to improve Internet access at the farm so hopefully something will come about soon.

Cheers, Gordon

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

My trip from Canada to Zambia went well. Thanks to Milt for driving me down to Calgary on Thursday December 30 and dropping me at the airport. Although I had a few hours to wait until flight time it was good to relax after the past several weeks of hectic activity as I packed up and prepared to leave. Also a chance to make a few last minute phone calls to some people. The flight left on time at 8:30 pm and was full, but it went smoothly and I was able to get 2-3 hours of sleep on and off.

We arrived at London Heathrow at Noon their time on Friday. Fortunately I only had 5 hours to wait for the next flight and didn’t have to change terminals. It would have been nice to get out of the building for some fresh air but it was foggy and rainy so I didn’t bother with all the formalities of having to check out through immigration and then back in. As it was I did a lot of walking in the terminal to stretch the body out, in between making calls to a few people in the UK to catch up with them and wish them a happy new year. Also had pint of English beer for old time sake – and to celebrate new year in Hong Kong at that particular time !

The flight for Lusaka left on time at 6:30 p.m. – this time the flight only at about 70% full. Initially I was in an aisle seat next to another person on one side of the plane – a Boeing 767 so just two seats next to the window. I then moved across to the middle row of three seats as they were all open and thought that I would be able to stretch right out for a sleep. About 30 minutes after take-off the flight director came to me and asked if I would mind moving up to Executive/Club Class – she wanted to give the row of three seats to a woman with a small boy as they only had two seats. What a question – I couldn’t move fast enough ! There were only 7 people in total in that section so I got two seats to myself – what a blessing having the extra space with a foot rest and further tilt of the seat, as well as fancy headphones ! The food was no different to what was served to the “back” but more enjoyable in the comfort. After dinner I slept for a couple of hours. I happened to wake up just before mid-night UK time and was given a (real) glass of champagne to welcome the new year in – along with a few others who were awake in executive class. (Nothing much happened back in economy class as the lights were off and most people were sleeping !) So although nothing spectacular it was still fun to bid 2010 farewell and spend a bit of time wondering what 2011 has in store for me.

I only managed to doze for another couple of hours before we landed in Lusaka right on time at 6:30 a.m. local time – 9 hours time difference to Alberta so I had been on the go for 36 hours ! No problems getting through formalities and Chris Rogers was there to meet me. We went to his place for a great egg and bacon breakfast and a decent cup of tea before he dropped me off at Bob and Mary’s house. (They are away in the USA on furlough until end of January so I have the place to myself. Well except that they left their little dog, Nick, so I have a bit of company.) I took a bit of time to do some unpacking then had a much-needed shower followed by a snooze for a couple of hours. Then ventured out in the vehicle – no problem getting back to driving on the left had side of the road ! – to do some grocery shopping. The traffic was relatively light being a public holiday and the two malls I visited were not too crowded so it went well.

Most of the day has been cloudy with some signs – including thunder – of rain but nothing materialised here. It was 25C when we landed this morning and was up to 31C by the afternoon when I went out. Now, early evening, it has cooled off to 23C – which is actually very pleasant since there is a cool breeze blowing. As I write there are the bangs of fireworks going off around the neighbourhood – people obviously still celebrating new year tonight !

As I commented on Facebook yesterday (and many times before), flying always amazes me. That 200-300 people can get inside a metal cylinder, get off the ground, cruise through the air to half-way round the world, and then land on the ground again is always a miracle to me ! When I am up at 35,000 feet with just the throb of the engines outside, it seems so surreal to me.

Anyway I hope that you had a great new year celebration wherever you happened to be. In case you don’t already have it my Zambian mobile number is (260) 976-198-207 if you need to get hold of me by voice or by text message. (260 is the Zambia country code).

As usual, access to the Internet is going to be sporadic. E-mailing should be no problem on a regular basis with a cellular Internet stick but access to the web to do blog and FB updates will have to wait until I am in a town and can connect to high speed.

Cheers, Gordon

SPF Supporter - Elaine Duchesne

2010-11-12T18:34:00.004-07:00

Over the past 3 years, Elaine Duchesne from Stony Plain has joined us in encouraging the Kukulu community. Elaine's main focus has been in working with the women.

Some days have found her painting toe nails under a tree with about 100 other women who wanted their nails painted. Other times, she has engaged in deep conversation about life in general or many questions about the differences between Canada and Africa.

She has contributed to Sunday morning worship services as she has shared and provided music for the service. Elaine plays guitar and piano and sings - so she can adapt to almost anything.

This past year, she gathered children together to learn some fun songs on a hot April morning - the children loved it as they learned new songs with the Mazungu (white person).

When she returns to Canada - she starts making plans for the next trip. At this time, that will be returning in 2012 and is encouraging others to join her !

Thanks Elaine for your wonderful contribution to our efforts to "empower people in community" - you are much appreciated. Everyone looks forward to your next visit to Kakulu.

Halloween Excess

2010-10-24T19:30:00.000-06:00

Halloween .... the next spending frenzy is in progress. It is estimated that $ 1.5 billion (that's $ 1,500 million) is spent on Halloween just in Canada - for candy, costumes and pumpkins ! At SPF we need $ 360 a year to support one African orphan or $ 800 a year to provide high school education for an African girl ....

TED Talk About Aid to Africa

2010-08-28T07:58:00.003-06:00

This is a TED Talk well worth watching as it puts aid to Africa into perspective and affirms that how SPF is doing its work in Zambia is the better approach

http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mwenda_takes_a_new_look_at_africa.html

Zambia Internet Cafés

2010-03-28T15:53:00.001-06:00

Downloading on the porch at Kanjanji, on the roadside with the Prado, in the fallow field
with the motorcycle !

Finding a decent internet connection is always a challenge in Zambia and tends to be quite expensive. The Internet connections – and speed – are fairly good in the major centers so always okay when one can get to Lusaka – a 400km round trip though.

In the smaller cities and towns connectivity and speed are bad. Our closest city – Kabwe – has several Internet cafes but the bandwidth is jammed and so the speed is very slow. Definitely not worth the 100 km round trip unless you have other things to do – and some time to spare !

I did buy an Internet stick from Zain, one of the main cellular providers, and it works well for downloading and uploading e-mail but being pay-as-you-go it is far too pricey for any web browsing.

The challenge in our rural operating area is to find strong enough cell signal to connect and thus we ended up with some interesting localities for our own internet cafes – as seen in these photos !

Sungula School

2010-03-25T15:05:00.000-06:00

A meeting was held with the PTA to review things at the school. The new house that was built in 2008 by SPF is being lived in. They have also completed two new (pit) toilets for the students to replace the old ones which were falling into disrepair. For these they used funds raised by the community.

They were expecting us to come with funds for further development but we explained to them that we did not have any funding available due to the downturn in donations/fundraising. Also that our priority now is to get the water supply at the school sorted out as the lack of water was huge barrier to any further construction projects.

We also found that despite our previous requests to them the community has not been contribution to future construction projects by making the bricks that are required for building. So we advised that was another reason why we could not begin any further construction.

Micro Loan Fund

2010-03-23T16:38:00.000-06:00

A full review was done of the existing funds in two areas of the community – the Kakulu Revolving Fund and the Chilunga Revolving Fund – with the trustees. A few anomalies and misunderstandings in managing the loans was sorted out and the trustees were pleased for that guidance. That being said the funds are both performing well and providing much needed support to the community for economic development. So far there have been no defaults and all the money is accounted for. This is very pleasing as several other organizations we have spoken to in Zambia have attempted micro loan funds and have failed

Much of the money was borrowed late in 2009 to buy seed and fertilizer for the new farming season so it is still outstanding. Milt and Gordon visited several fields belonging to people that had borrowed money for farming and saw that it has made a big difference to the quality of their crops, so that their yields will increase significantly.

We also visited a few people to see and hear about the businesses that they have started through having a loan. We were also asked to attend a meeting of several other loan beneficiaries to receive their letters of appreciation and hear some of them speak of their experience with the fund.

An additional 2.8 million Kwacha (US $ 600.00) was added to the fund bringing the total to 13 million Kwacha (US $ 2,800). With an average loan being 500,000 kwacha this means that 26 “loan units” are rotating on a 3-month cycle.

Orphans

2010-03-21T21:27:00.000-06:00

Photos of three of the orphans

SPF Zambia Director, Justin Kalunga, manages the orphan support program and a full review was done with him of the 22 orphans that are currently on the program as well as the accounting records for the use of the funds that we provide for monthly support. With that money we ensure that they have school uniforms, school supplies and any school fees are paid so that they can attend school. They are given food each month and if they require medical treatment that is paid for if necessary.

Only one of the orphans has had to be removed due to poor performance and a replacement was chosen. Another of the orphans had left the community to stay with other relatives in Lusaka so he was replaced by his sister who is still living with their widowed grandmother.

We visited several of the group at their homes to see how they are doing and were happy that their relatives are taking good care of them. We met with four of the orphans from the Chilunga area of the community who had to come across the river as we could not get the vehicle through.

Several of the relatives asked for a group meeting which we held. During that meeting they expressed their gratitude for what we are doing to help their orphans. We also received two letters of appreciation.

Construction Method Improved

2010-03-19T15:56:00.000-06:00

Above : a house constructed with interlocking bricks. Below : bricks made and waiting for construction

Through our new friends, Bob and Mary Sendgikoski of Every Orphans Hope, who very graciously hosted us in Lusaka whenever we needed a bed for a night or more, we learnt of a new construction method that Bob has perfected for buildings on the projects he does. This uses interlocking bricks which require no cement to hold together – they simply stack on top of each other – very much like lego ! This method reduces overall cost of materials by up to 40% over the traditional method of brick and mortar and is infinitely quicker too.

To make the bricks you need a machine with the form and he advised that we would have to put our names on a waiting list for such a machine because the demand is so high, and be prepared to spend US $ 1,500.00 on purchasing it. When we got to the farm and we describing this to Mike he told us that he had found such a machine when he bought his second farm and, not having any use for it himself, had assigned it to the scrap heap ! There we found it in perfect order except for a bit of oiling and greasing and he said that we could have it !

Bob has also offered to have our project supervisor, Tobias aka Mr Banda, come and work with him and his crew when they are next building (in late May and June) so that he can learn how to make the bricks and then use them for construction, and implement that method for SPF projects going forward.

Base of Operations

2010-03-17T15:51:00.000-06:00

The owners of Kakulu Farms, Mike and Adriana Sandys-Thomas, who are now the only commercial farmers in the area very kindly hosted us in their home. Although they had agreed that we could continue to use the house previously owned by Simon’s uncle it was not in good enough state of repair to be used for accommodation at this time.

The Thomases expressed their appreciation for the work that SPF is doing to assist the Kakulu community which borders their farms and where they draw all of the labour for their operations.

They again confirmed their offer of ongoing assistance to SPF with : accommodation for SPF visitors to the project and many other general logistical needs we may have.

Zambia Visit – March/April 2010

2010-03-15T13:52:00.000-06:00

In early March Gordon Poultney, Executive Director, and Milt Marchiel, an SPF Canada Director, flew to Zambia to visit the Isaiah Project – the Foundation’s community development project in Chibwelelo near Kapiri Mposhi.

Milt returned to Canada in early April and during April Elaine Duchesne, another long-time SPF supporter from Canada, visited the project for two weeks.

They all enjoyed re-connecting with many friends in the community as well as making excellent new contacts throughout Zambia.

The entries that follow will outline what transpired during that time.

April 4/5 Back to Kakulu

2009-04-06T10:41:00.003-06:00

I drove up to Kakulu on Saturday arriving there at about 2:30 p.m. First call was at Pastor Justin's home where we talked for a couple of hours. Then to Falcon farm where I spent the night. On Sunday I spent the day moving around the community having several meetings. So much information came my way in such a short time it left my head spinning. Here's a summary of everything. Ask questions if you want to know anything more specific !

Falcon Farm

Banda and Tsitsi are still living there in their little house
He had been engaged by the Receiver to manage the guards and keep an eye on things
Loveness still living there too as are Rhinos and Shadrek - although I have not seen them all yet
The Receiver has been supplying a bit of diesel so that they can run the generator for water but no electricity
The farm yard and house yard are in terrible shape as there has been no maintenance on them
The house is fairly reasonable but will soon start deteriorate - more below
The swimming pool is only half-full and very brown, part of the roof on the pool house has collapsed
I spent the night in my small tent pitched in Banda's yard - see photo - and had good chats with him and Tsitsi
Was able to get into the master bedroom at the house and us the flush toilet and have a bucket bath - luxury !
She cooked delicious nshima and chicken for supper and scrambled eggs with tomato and onion for breakfast !!
They are both well and in good spirits - asked after everyone and send their greetings

Mike Sundys-Thomas, the farmer next door, has managed to buy the farm but the deal has only just been concluded and he only receives the keys as such the week after Easter
He does not plan to live in the Falcon house - as he is already settled into a house on another of his farms - but he intends to get everything cleaned up and repaired
He plans to make Falcon farm his tobacco growing center and the other two farms will primarily be for maize (corn)
He has said that he will allow us to use the house - free of charge - for the foreseeable future as he would rather have it being used by someone rather than sitting empty for too long
He now has a better understanding of what SPF is doing in the area and what our long term plans are and is keen to support us in whatever way he can - including use of tractors, trucking, mechanics and power. (He plans to have a large central generator plant to supply all three farms !)
He told me that the 2007/2008 season was the best he has ever had in some 20 years of farming and 2008/2009 is shaping up to be as good so he is doing well financially
He has big plans for expanding his operations and wants to continue buying more land when possible to further increase the output
Mike has graded and fixed the road from the railway line to the farms so it is wonderful now - one can clip along at 80km per hour and no potholes or bumps to dodge !!
The other main road into the community and down to the school is worse than ever after the heavy rainy season - have no idea why the community doesn't do some minor repairs at least.
Mike has offered us the use of his mail box in Kapiri to ensure that any letters that are now sent will get through to the people. (I will put details on the Blog)

Sungula School

Kerby is on long leave this term so Stella has been acting head (principal)
The Taylor house is not yet lived in as there was a problem with glass for the windows. (Still haven't figured out what the reason is but will dig further when we meet with the PTA.
No major changes in enrolment or staffing. The grounds are looking fairly neat and tidy.
They are very appreciative of the desks that the Isaiah team built and all of them, but one, are holding up well. (I did not see them myself but will when I go back.)
Sadly Mr Chanda lost his youngest daughter - still quite a baby - to malaria just three weeks ago. I spent an hour with him and his family to pay my respects.
There was a soccer game in full swing at the school on Sunday afternoon with one team all wearing the Spruce Grove uniforms ! The balls we donated last year are looking very worn out so the ones we have brought this time will be most welcome, I'm sure.

Glad Tidings Church

I met with Mike on Sunday morning and the meeting went longer than I thought but still by Noon I thought that I would make it for part of Pastor Justin's sermon. For once they were finished early so when I walked into the church just after Noon it was in time to be acknowledged and then be asked to give the closing prayer !!
Not the usual crowd there but many familiar faces - all wanting to know about everyone back in Canada etc etc
Pastor Justin and family are well - still living the simple life.
Justin still wearing the same shirt - the brown one with yellow collar and cuffs !
The only real addition to their belongings is a new bicycle which they, that can ride, share
Actually Pastor Justin also has a phone now so you can text him or phone him if you want to - 260 975 138 494
Jennifer is a very cute toddler now - walking all over the place. Very cute but very afraid of me. Justin said that was strange because she had had no problem with Chris Rogers but thinks that perhaps it's because I am still whiter than white !!
No progress on their building - have lots of bricks and sand but still need money for cement

Other

Nothing to report on the clinic as it was closed for the week-end and no one around to speak to.
The maternity ward addition is only at floor level - again some stories about why not further so I'll have to find out the real reason/s
Paint job and mural still look in good shape
A couple of problems with a few of the orphans but Justin has a good handle on them
We will be focusing on them when I go back after Easter and visiting them all
Headman Jackson and Miriam not around so hopefully when I get back
The micro loan fund is doing well still although some loans were used for agriculture so the pay-back time is going to be much longer than usual; and the trustees have asked for a small amount of the corn as "interest" - to feed the orphans - after the harvest.

Zambia 2009

2009-04-03T20:52:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone - welcome to the 2009 chapter of SPF Zambia - which tends to be the main focus of this blog.

I had an excellent trip over, leaving Edmonton on Tuesday March 31 - to Toronto and then on to London Heathrow overnight. Landed at the new Terminal 5 - very huge and impressive but also somewhat sterile with that. Not a lot of people about - maybe just because it is so vast or because of the down-turn in travel - so one never felt crowded like the older terminals.

I took a quick trip into Central London on the Underground. Had a wander through the daffodils in Green Park and St James, past Buckingham Palace, down The Mall, through Admiralty Arch and to Trafalgar Square where I sat in the sun and watched the world go by for a while. Lots of activity all over the place gearing up for the big G20 meeting - media and security everywhere - but nothing much happening while I was on my walk-about so I was glad not to get caught up in any of the demonstrations and crowds coming out to see Obama et al. It was reported that it was all going to cost about Cdn $ 100 million - a complete waste of money at a time when they are all supposed to be battling the economic woes.

I then had lunch with my niece, Bridget (Brebner) Dale who had an extra suitcase for me filled with clothing to bring over to give away to needy people. On the special charity fare that British Airways had afforded me they also gave me extra baggage allowance for humanitarian purposes.

The overnight flight to Lusaka on Wednesday evening was smooth and I managed to get a bit of sleep. Good to catch up with people in Lusaka and get some logistics sorted out over the past couple of days. I am heading up to our project area, Kakulu, today (Saturday April 4) and am looking forward to finding out what's been happening there in the 7 months we've been gone.

Hope to do update installments - including photos - every few days as I get access to the Internet - so hope that you will check back regularly for those updates.

Gordon

Zambia 2008 Presentation

2008-11-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

On Sunday November 23, 2008 we hosted a most enjoyable evening with members of the teams that travelled from Alberta to Africa in 2008, members of their families and many others who have supported the Zambia project. Videos, photographs and stories highlighted the works done and the impact that they had on the Zambian community. If you missed the evening and are interested in hearing more, or would like us to speak to your church or association, please contact us to make arrangements to do so. Call (780) 289-1803.

Zambia 2008 Summary

2008-08-31T15:02:00.003-06:00

As we leave Zambia to begin our journey home it was gratifying to look back on what we have achieved in the five months since Gordon arrived to begin this year's program.

- Three teams and several other visitors from Canada (over 40 in total) came to work with us
- Constructed a new staff house at the school
- Refurbished 40 desks for the classrooms
- Refurbished chalk boards and doors at a community school
- Team members taught classes at the school or did presentations to students about life in Canada
- Donated large amounts of school supplies to students and resource materials to teachers
- Conducted a one day workshop-seminar for teachers
- Painted the clinic and provided material to complete the building
- Dug the foundation for the next phase of the clinic and provided some material to get started
- Large amounts of general medical supplies and some small items of equipment donated to the clinic
- Assisted the clinic with clerical work and transport to monthly outreach clinics
- Donated sports equipment and uniforms to local sports teams
- Identified 20 orphans in the community needing most help and provided them with some resources as a start : food, school uniforms, clothing and mosquito nets
- Put a new roof on the house of an old man - nearly blind - taking care of his two orphaned grandchildren
- Attended local church and participated in services and ministry groups - men, women, youth, children and choir
- Distributed 70 bibles in the community, many of them in the local language
- Added funds to our small micro-loan fund which is helping people in the community - currently 11 loans are out and 49 have benefited since April 2007
- Connected with local women`s clubs and provided assistance to them in their activities to help themselves make money

Note : We estimate that over 2,000 pounds (900 kg) of goods were brought from Canada to be donated - as listed above

In addition there has obviously been a lot of interaction with many, many people in the community so that we have strengthened our relationship with the community. We have learned a great deal from this year`s time here which will help us greatly in planning and preparing for the years ahead. There is so much more to be done and we are excited about what is still to come.

A reminder that in addition to the photos posted on the blog there are many more in our Facebook albums, the links to which are listed to the left.

Knitting Machine

2008-08-29T07:12:00.002-06:00

We were given a donation in Canada to assist women in our Zambian community with a sewing program to generate income for themselves. After meeting with a women's club it was decided to purchase a new manual knitting machine with the funds as they already had a plan in place to produce knitted items for sale.

The cost of the machine is being treated as an interest-free loan which will be paid back by the club as they sell goods produced on the machine. Once the full amount has been repaid either another knitting machine or some sewing machines will be purchased to increase their capacity.

The long-term goal is to start a sewing school to teach other women in the community and enable them to generate money for themselves.

Above : Jenny presents the machine to some delighted members of the club
Below : The machine just unpacked from its box

Tools for the Community

2008-08-24T09:10:00.001-06:00

A guitar brought to Zambia by Bronwen was donated to Glad Tidings Church as they have a young man who had some idea how to play - and actually did one song in the service that day ! He is excited to have an instrument so that he can now improve on his ability to play.

Ten hoes (badzas) - made and purchased in the community - were donated to Sungula School for their school vegetable garden project

Small Business Support

2008-08-08T09:04:00.001-06:00

Rich purchases fritters - the Zambian equivalent of donuts - from a local tuck shop, aka Zambian 7-11 ! Several of these small shops in the community have been successfully started by women through interest-free loans from the SPF community support fund.

Orhpans Assisted

2008-08-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

The team helped present new school uniforms and school supplies to some of the orphans that needed them.

Chilunga Renovations

2008-08-06T08:47:00.001-06:00

Today the team loaded up the pick-up with tools and supplies and headed to Chilunga Community School to do some basic renovations for them.

While the women and the girls helped re-paint the chalk boards and decorate the outside of the school ......

.... Rich and James constructed and installed some doors on the classrooms

Desk Rebuilding

2008-08-05T07:48:00.000-06:00

Funds were raised by Living Waters Christian Academy in Spruce Grove, Canada for the refurbishing of desks at Sungula School. This task was tackled by Rich and James who came up with an innovative plan to use the old metal desk frames to build larger, sturdier desks in a cost effective way.

The whole team - all who have been involved at Living Waters - had a hand to play in the desk project.

The completed desks - 20 of them providing seating for some 100 students !

The Roof - Phase 2

2008-08-04T08:37:00.001-06:00

Rich decided to add a porch to the front of old man's house to provide shelter from the rain and wind. A portable generator was taken on the back of the pich-up to provide power for the saw.

The roof was constructed on the ground and then lifted into place by several helpers ! The Zambians were very impressed with this innovation

Teachers Workshop

2008-08-02T07:35:00.001-06:00

Jenny, Leah and Carrie organized and presented a one-day workshop for teachers from Sungula and Chilunga which was held at the farmhouse base. It was much appreciated by those who attended and a very beneficial to them all.

Note : the three teachers from Chilunga had to get up at 4:30 a.m. in the morning to ride their bicycles to get to the farm in time for the start ! At the end of the day Gordon drove them back to their homes some 20 km away - quite a feat along narrow bush tracks and across several streams.

Taylor House Opening/Handover

2008-08-01T09:43:00.000-06:00

Although the staff house, built with funds provided by the Taylor Team who were here in May, is not totally complete we had set today as the day for an opening/handover ceremony as it was the last day of school before a four-week break and our last opportunity to have such an event with all the staff and pupils as we leave before school opens again. We also felt that it would be good for our final Canadian team here to participate.

It turned into quite the event with virtually the whole community being invited out for the festivities which started in the late morning and continued on for several hours !

Entertainment by the school Cultural Club (above) doing traditional dancing and the Drama Club (below) doing skits - several performances each throughout the afternoon

Women from the community also did displays of traditional dancing - above and below

Grade 9 students present dramatical poems and dialogue (above) and the school choir (below)sang beautifully throughout the afternoon

Several speeches were made to the assembled audience and invited guests

The school head, Kerby (above) and senior headman, Jackson (below) address the gathering

Guest of honour and keynote speaker the District Commissioner (equivalent of county reeve/mayor) for Kapiri Mposhi presents his speech

Jenny and vice-head, Stellah, (above) wait for special guests to complete their tour of the house before the ribbon cutting and then Jenny and the DC cut the ribbon (below)

A framed inscription was presented to Kerby to eventually be hung in the house when occupied. The text reads :

"Funding for this House was provided by Taylor University College Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
and handed over to Sungula Basic School on August 1st, 2008 by The Simon Poultney Foundation.

May God bless this home and everyone who passes through it."

The event was a wonderful ocasion with excellent perfomances and speeches and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Community Outreach

2008-07-31T06:47:00.000-06:00

Today members of the team visited Shipungu Community School which has about 150 students in Grades 1 to 6 and is staffed by four volunteer teachers. Sports items and teacher resources, donated in Canada, were given to the school

The ladies and girls joined a community women's club for their regular meeting where they handed out knitting and sewing supplies brought from Canada

Let There Be Light

2008-07-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

We were very fortunate to have Rich's mechanical skills here when the generator engine went down and he was able to carry out the required repairs on it so that we could have power again

Roof Goes On

2008-07-29T16:43:00.001-06:00

We brought the material with us to the site and found that the old roof was already off and waiting for us to get started

Work gets under way with help from the home owner and some friends from the community. Rich was pounding nails while James had the tough job of hand-sawing the timbers, ably observed by Gordon !

Work continues on the back side of the house - the brick work will be dealt with by the owner

Rich climbs up on the roof to nail into the centre beam

The team celebrates the completion of phase 1

Isaiah Team Gets Started

2008-07-26T16:27:00.002-06:00

The ladies and girls visited the clinc where they presented Ednah with some donated medical supplies which they had brought from Canada. They also finished off some painting which could not be done by the Heroes team due to a delay in supplies.

It was decided to replace the roof on the house of an old man who is looking after his two orphaned granchildren. He is almost blind so it would be very difficult for him to do it himself and the grass is not a good permanent material to use.

Rich and Mr Banda (our construction supervisor) did a site vist to determine what materials would be required.

Passing the Torch

2008-07-24T16:15:00.000-06:00

The Isaiah team (Bazak family) arrived yesterday and we all spent the night at Eureka Park so the Heroes team were able to connect with them and share some of the stories of their time in Zambia. This morning the Heroes team did their final packing for the trip home and loaded up the bus for the airport.

But not before passing the torch on the "My Pony" song which the Isaiah team will have to use in their children's outreach activities !

On Safari !

2008-07-23T07:17:00.001-06:00

The last two days were spent on safari in the African bush. We stayed at Mukambi Safari Lodge on the banks of the Kafue River in the Kafue National Park, reputedly the second largest national park in the world.

Above - the outside of one of the safari tents where we stayed, two people per tent
Below - the inside

The highlight of the trip was an afternoon game drive during which we saw a variety of animals but most excitingly two lionesses and their four cubs

Final Day in the Community

2008-07-21T21:30:00.001-06:00

On their final day in the community the team and clinic staff celebrate their efforts in painting the place.

We visited one more family with an orphan to give them a care package of food, clothing and mosquito nets.

Visiting Orphans

2008-07-20T21:19:00.001-06:00

The team went to visit three of the most needy families who are looking after orphans. The families were given food, clothing for the orphans and mosquito nets for the entire family to use.

Above : a care package. Below : the bed of one of the orphans. Blankets are next on our list !

Mosquito Nets

2008-07-19T21:14:00.001-06:00

Some of the 120 mosquito nets we were able to purchase with the money raised by the Muir Lake Stony Creek program. Thank you to everyone at Muir Lake who so generously donated to make this possible.

School Donations

2008-07-18T08:21:00.002-06:00

This morning Chris and Anita went to visit Ndili Basic School - another school in the area - where they made donations of school supplies and teacher resources and soccer uniforms and equipment which the team had brought from Canada. Thank you to the community of Devon and the Spruce Grove Minor Soccer Association for your generosity to provide all these items.

Students and staff show appreciation for the donations - above school supplies largely from the Devon Community - below soccer uniforms from Spruce Grove Minor Soccer

The Final Push

2008-07-17T15:51:00.001-06:00

This was a busy day of hard work for the team at Kakulu health center.

Some began digging the foundations of the new 3-bed wards

Anita shows off the shovel she was given to begin work with - we did find more suitable tools soon after the start !

Beth makes finishing touches to her amazing mural

While inside the building others started on the blue paint of the dual tone chosen by the staff

As the day passed by so the progress of digging and painting was great

Paint and Outreach

2008-07-14T16:18:00.001-06:00

Day three of painting - the application of the cream paint to the top half of the walls

while Beth continued with her masterpiece

and the rest of the team did outreach with young children of the community

Clinic Mural

2008-07-12T16:11:00.000-06:00

Beth Loates continued to make progress on the mural that she is doing in a corner of one of the clinic porches

Let the Painting Begin

2008-07-11T16:06:00.000-06:00

The painting project at the Kakulu clinic began with the application of the primer

Chilunga Visit 2

2008-07-10T14:31:00.001-06:00

The day continued with presentations by the Canadians to the Chilunga students about various aspects of life in Canada

After some time playing sport and games with the students it was time for the Canadians to learn African versions of X and O's (above) and checkers (below)

The visit rounded out with a presentation of a set of soccer uniforms to the school which had been donated by Spruce Grove soccer association

Chilunga Visit 1

2008-07-10T14:18:00.002-06:00

Today we visited Chilunga Community School with the team. The morning started with a gathering of the entire school for the singing of the Zambian national anthem and some traditional dancing by some of the pupils.

The Canadians sang "O Canada" in return

Matt Brisebois then entertained the crowd with his acrobatic abilities

Temperatures and Dedication

2008-07-09T05:10:00.001-06:00

I was up at 5:30 this morning to drive to Lusaka to pick up the luggage which had not arrived with the Heroes team.

As I left the farm the temperature was 8C and fluctuated for the next couple of hours between 4C and 12C until settling at around 15C by the time I reached Lusaka three hours later. By 2:00 p.m. the city was a sweltering 35C and very tough to move around and get things done.

As I started my journey in the early hours there were already many people on the move along the side of the road, where they walk, cycle or catch rides to get places. What struck me, as always, was the resilience and determination of people to get to school or work. Along several sections there were children - some as young as 7 - walking in the half-light and cold - many barefoot and with only a thin sweater at best - to get to school. I measured some of the distances from where I passed them to where their school was further along the road and some would have been walking up to 6 km - each way - to get there and back. At another point I passed two well-dressed women - one in high heeled shoes - walking along the side of the road from a small settlement. They were likely teachers at a school which was 3km further along the road.

Community Familiarization

2008-07-08T14:10:00.001-06:00

The day was spent walking through several villages to meet families who are taking care of orhpans. Also an ideal opportunity to get to know the surroundings and become familiar with the community.

Unpacking

2008-07-07T14:04:00.000-06:00

Team members unpack the duffel bags that they brought with them packed with a variety of donated items from Canada

Heroes Team Here - Finally !

2008-07-06T05:27:00.002-06:00

The Heroes Team from Spruce Grove finally arrived in Lusaka this afternoon after a 36 hour delay along the way. It started with a flight from Denver to Washington being cancelled and the next flight arriving too late in Washington to make to make their connecting flight to Johannesburg. Then due to communication problems - and delays at security - they just missed a flight to Heathrow which would have kept them somewhat on track.

They ended up spending Thursday night at a Hilton hotel in Washington and having time the next day to take in some sights of the capital during Independence Day - a bit of a bonus in the scheme of things. On Friday night they caught the flight to Heathrow where a few of them took the opportunity of a few hours lay-over to go into London and see some of the sights there. Last night was the overnight flight to Johannesburg and a final flight from there to Lusaka this morning. There was a further delay at Lusaka airport as some of the luggage had not arrived with them and claim forms had to be filled in.

The final leg of their long journey - a 4 hour bus ride from Lusaka to our base - went well and everyone was pleased to arrive at the final destination - to be able to relax and unwind and have a decent home-cooked meal.

Canada Day in Zambia

2008-07-01T05:03:00.001-06:00

We spent a couple of hours today at Chilunga Community School handing over the supplies package which we had put together to donate to them. It was a memorable Canada Day for us - the teachers thought it was Christmas !

Weekly Update - June 29

2008-06-29T13:16:00.002-06:00

This week has been fairly quiet in terms of field work - just the daily check-up on progress at the staff house construction site at the school and some short meetings with community leaders. Otherwise mostly preparing for the coming week which will be busy with various activities and then the arrival of the Heroes team at the end of the week.

In the photos below Jenny and Carol prepare a donation of school supplies, text books and soccer balls to be donated to the Chilunga Community School. This was supposed to take place on Friday but has been postponed until early in the coming week.

Zambian Health Care

2008-06-24T13:04:00.001-06:00

Last week during our visit to Chilando Health Zone I took a couple of photos which I thought I would share to show how health care is in rural Zambia; just in case you think that in your part of the world things are not so good ...... !

Above - Nurse Ednah and the pre-natal group at Chilando. Behind them is the consulting room where she does their regular check-ups. Below is the examination bed which they had just made, on her insistence. Normally the women just lie down on the bare, dusty floor and she has to kneel down to examine them !

Child Health Week - Day 6 - the final

2008-06-21T15:01:00.003-06:00

Today, the final day of a very busy week and to Chilando Zone - the furthest health post in the area being 16 km each way; 40 minutes by vehicle due to the rough track in parts and usually 2.5 to 3 hours for the clinic staff on bicycles. They - two of them, usually including Nurse Ednah who is no spring chicken - do it once every month come rain, sun, cold or hot - it blows me away what they do in the line of duty to their community. (After being with them this week they surely deserve the highest recognition and some way to help them with this situation in the future.)

When we reached the Chilando health post we found it being used for a church service so had to wait for that to end - fortunately the pastor decided to cut everything short so we didn't have to wait for too long ! Probably being a Saturday the pace was slow to start and steady throughout the day. We only dealt with 110 children so it was less intense than the previous days. The health committee is also very well organised and keen so they were a great help in keeping things flowing smoothly.

At one point in the day there was a string of unusual names (of the children) - "Confidentiality", "Confidence" and "Shamestone". This highly amused Nurse Ednah and she really teased the mothers about their choice of names. It was all harmless and everyone, including the mothers, enjoyed the joking. She then proceeded to have us all in fits of laugher with a story about when she worked at a large hospital some years ago and there were some similar goofy names such as "Children", "Whoever" and "Whatever". She really is such a character and totally loved by everyone.

It has been such a great experience to move further afield in this area during the week, seeing places off the usual beaten track and interacting with a huge number of people in the community. I am sure that it has brought further exposure to the Foundation and understanding of the work we are doing here for the community. And it has been so humbling for me to see the dedication and determination of so many people to do what they can, with what little they have, to make life better for themselves.

I have often wished that I had the GPS I have been meaning to buy for a long time now and to have been able to record all the routes we have taken to get places. I have thought how amusing it would be to contact the original Japanese owner of the vehicle we now have and show him just where his old vehicle has ventured this week. The bush of Africa is a far cry from the highways of Japan !

Child Health Week - Day 5

2008-06-20T13:37:00.001-06:00

Today was my third visit, in as many months, to the Chilunga health post next to the Chilunga Community school - 14km directly west of the health centre - and we got a warm welcome from everyone. The road is very bad in parts including a crossing of the Mulungushi River - at this time of the year only about 20 meters wide so not much more than a stream but quite deep at the crossing so requiring a change into four-wheel drive - and the 14 km takes about 35 minutes to do. In comparison to the bike ride- which usually takes the staff 2-2.5 hours this is still not bad !

We recorded 226 children today which was apparently down a bit from their usual monthly attendance of nearly 300. As I've worked each day it has been incredible to see the sheer numbers of people. It is mostly the women/mothers or grandmothers bringing their kids - only a few men bring them. They - mothers and kids - come in all ages, sizes, looks and levels of dress and it is very difficult to discern who may be well off and who may be dirt poor. Their patience is infinite as they wait to be processed at each station but then it is quite a social event as the women have a chance to sit in groups and chat while the kids get together in groups and play. There is a constant buzz in the air and people milling about - quite tiring mentally and one just has to focus on the mechanics of getting the paperwork done. Some walk up to 6km each way to attend so they must see some benefit from the whole program. One thing for sure -you see very few remotely fat people in this part of Africa because they eat reasonable amounts of food and get a lot of exercise.

It is surreal however that amidst all of this the modern world still pervades the backwaters of Africa. Many of the women have cell phones. Not that I heard them speaking on them much but they obviously have to buy them, keep them charged and then pay for air time when they do use them !

Child Health Week - Day 4

2008-06-19T23:04:00.001-06:00

Today we headed to Shipungu Community School - only 7 km North of the health centre - along the railway line and then a stretch along the power line - for the day's session in the Shipungu Zone.

It was interesting to watch the local volunteers strip some bark off a sapling in the bush to use as a rope to hang the scale, for weighing the children, from a tree where we had our gathering.

It was a busy session as we dealt with 136 children and we worked without a break until 4:00 p.m. to get through. Nurse Ednah yet again amazed me by then wandering over to the netball field and joining in a game with the young girls. She kept up a good pace with them for almost 20 minutes - she's such a character. We were then given a late lunch of nchima, vegetables and fish - always welcome and delicious after a long day of work !

Child Health Week - Day 3

2008-06-18T22:14:00.000-06:00

After picking up the vaccines at Green Leaf we proceeded directly to today's site - Kaunga Zone - based at the Kaunga Primary School. By road it is 20 km from the health centre but usually the staff take a shorter route by bicycle along narrow paths so the distance by cycle is only (only !) 13 km !

We had an interesting encounter as we drove out. Driving along a narrow dirt track, rounded a corner and there comes a half-grown chicken running down the middle of the road with a mongoose (like a ferret) in hot pursuit. I jammed on brakes to watch and just then the mongoose caught the chicken and was about to kill it. I moved forward and the mongoose took off leaving the chicken to head in the other direction. Lucky for the chicken that we came along when we did !

During our session we were visited by officials from USAID - the huge American government agency that provides aid funding to developing countries and who are the main sponsor, if you will, of the Child Health Week. They had stopped in at the health centre for a visit and having heard about SPF and the support we are giving the program locally, decided to stop in at our location too. That was pleasing especially given that we were way off the main highway down a rough dirt track and good to be recognized by them.

Today we recorded 126 children which was apparently a low turn-out for this area. As we left the school a teacher asked for a ride back to her house. I was yet again astounded - and humbled - by how dedicated some of the people are to what they do when I found that her home is 5km from the school and she walks to and from work every day - rain, sun, .... whatever.

Child Health Week - Day 2

2008-06-17T23:28:00.001-06:00

Today we started with the drive to Green Leaf to pick up the vaccines then back to the health centre to load up the rest of the supplies and Nurse Ednah before heading to the Sungula Zone for the day. This is located North of the school itself and along narrow dirt tracks - I never realised that there was such a network of tracks which are fairly navigable with a vehicle once you leave the main gravel road ! Again only about a 7km trip each way so not a bad jaunt.

At Sungula they have built a small shelter (above) to serve as the health post so this is where we set up for the day (below) and dealt with 156 children.

The routine is that each child first gets checked in and weighed (done by the zone volunteers), then goes to a station to receive Vitamin A and de-worming pills (Salome and a volunteer), then to me (in this case) to record some information off their health card onto the data sheet and to record some information onto their health card about the treatment they have just had; and finally to Nurse Ednah for some more statistical information and any vaccinations if necessary.

The health centre had only been given a few of the printed forms necessary for the data collection so prior to the session today we had to take time to make up our own forms using a ruler and pen to draw the lines on blank pages. As the day wore on we had to stop to make more sheets to accommodate the numbers that had shown up. When I got back to base this evening I formatted the form in Excel and now have a file to print the necessary forms for each day. Such a simple thing for us but they just don't have the resources to do that sort of thing here on the ground. We could serve the community so well by being able to provide such a typing and printing service as anything they need done either gets done by hand or they have to take to Kapiri/Kabwe and pay for it to be done.

Child Health Week - Day One

2008-06-16T13:05:00.000-06:00

This week it is Child Health Week in Zambia during which the goal is to have every child under 5 years old be seen by a medical practitioner of some sort. In the Kakulu area, where we do our work, there is the main Kakulu Rural Health centre - commonly known as the clinic - and from there six health zones in the outlying parts of the district. Normally each zone is visited by staff from the clinic once a month to do under 5 outreach sessions - weighing children to monitor proper growth, administering vaccinations to children and mothers, doing ante-natal and post-natal check-ups and providing family planning advice and medication. The outreach sessions are held at what are known as health posts which are manned by a zone health committee comprising local volunteers who do as much as they can with local health activities - for example malaria prevention and traditional child birth - and assisting their local population with their health problems. The committee assists the clinic staff with the outreach sessions when they are held.

During this week there has to be an outreach session in each zone during the week to capture additional data and administer extra treatments. All of the zones are some distance from the health centre - three of them 12-14 km away - and normally the health centre staff have to get there an back by bicycle as there is no other form of transport ! Not to mention that someone first has to ride 5km each way to collect the vaccines from a refrigerator at Green Leaf farm - the health centre currently has no power or sufficient security to run their own refrigerated storage and the farmer kindly allows them to have a room in his house.

Given the logistics of the week I offered to provide transport to get the staff to each of the outreach sessions as well as myself and Salome (she normally does the cooking at the base but since there's no one around this week she doesn't have anything to do) to help with the sessions.

So today was day one and we headed off to Ndili Basic School - known as Powerline Zone as it is just beyond the power lines to the east of the main road (for those of you who have been here !) - and where the health post is based. Only about 8km each way so not the furthest distance to travel. We commandeered a classroom for the day and saw just over 100 children, working without a break until we got through everyone. (This zone supposedly has about 250 children under 5 so the turn-out was fairly low.)

Weekly Update - June 15

2008-06-15T12:51:00.002-06:00

Pastor Louw Ronquest, a South African evangelist who we had originally met three years ago at the Lighthouse Church in Stony Plain, arrived late on Monday afternoon. The plan had been to arrive on Monday morning but his vehicle had broken down in Livingstone on Saturday so he had to catch a ride up to Kakulu.

The service for Monday evening went ahead as planned at Green Leaf farm which is on the main highway and chosen as an evening venue because it has electricity. The farmer kindly allowed the use of his tractor shed and we had about 30 people turn out for a very powerful time of worship and teaching. On Tuesday there were two services at Pastor Justin's church - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - with a break for lunch. During the morning service Louw blessed Justin and Yaliwe's baby girl, Jennifer, now three months old. (As some will know she is named in honour of Jenny so it was an honour to be there for the dedication.)

Unfortunately Louw had to cut his visit short - we had plans for him to spend the whole week and have services and prayer meetings at several other venues throughout the community - to get back to Livingstone with the necessary spare parts to get his vehicle fixed and back to SA. So we were all up at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning and left for Lusaka soon after 5:00. A smooth drive there and we were able to deliver him to the bus station soon after 8:00 to catch a bus to Livingstone - another 7 hour journey for him. Since we were already in Lusaka Jenny decided that she and Cai would fly to Zimbabwe - again a few days earlier than planned - so we managed to book them on a flight for later in the day. We did some errands around town then I dropped them at the airport and drove back to the farm.

The rest of the week was quite uneventful although with it usual challenges and frustrations. The main generator had needed an overhaul and took much longer than expected - five days instead of two. Although we have a small back-up generator it is only powerful enough to run lights but not charge the batteries that we use for running the satellite internet and fridge so it was tough managing those two things. Also I succumbed to a stomach bug followed by a sore throat - over four days - so, on top of being on my own, rattling around this big place, I was feeling quite low and lacking energy.

This afternoon Mr Banda and I went for a drive to check on the progress of bricks for the house. Found one batch ready now so that's good news as we can resume the work on Monday.

Teacher Aides

2008-06-06T00:56:00.001-06:00

Jenny has spent many hours producing basic colour and number charts and flash cards for some of the teachers in the community; which she has also used in some of the lessons she has taught. Her plan is to hold several day sessions with the teachers so that they can make more charts and cards themselves rather than her doing it all !

Clinic Help

2008-06-02T08:49:00.000-06:00

This old man arrived at the Chilunga outreach clinic with a chicken tied to the back of his bicycle. It later became stew for the lunch that was served to the workers doing the clinic, including Brennan and Bronwen

Bronwen with staff and volunteer at the Kakulu health centre

On-line - at last !

2008-06-01T08:06:00.001-06:00

Today is an auspicious day. We finally have our satellite internet at the farm in Zambia connected and operational. We will now be able to communicate and blog on a more consistent basis.

March to May News

2008-05-30T12:59:00.000-06:00

Milt Marchiel (who had been in Africa with me last year) and I arrived in Zambia on the same day - March 19. I had been in London for a few days and he came straight from Canada. We spent a couple of nights in Lusaka getting some things sorted out, including picking up a vehicle which we (Poultney Family) had managed to buy. A great deal from a friend of ours who is moving back to the States and it has been wonderful to have the independence of our own wheels.

We received a great welcome (back) when we arrived in the Kakulu community a couple of days later and began re-connecting with everyone. The first few weeks here - late March and early April - were very busy getting everything ready for the first team from Taylor University College in Edmonton. Milt focused on getting the building site and materials ready for the project that the Taylor team was going to work on - the construction of a new staff house at the school. My main work was getting the accommodation, transport and food sorted out. Typical Africa - things take far longer than expected by us super efficient first-worlders so there was much frustration as deadlines passed without things being even started and supplies not being available. Many lessons in patience ! I also had to take a trip to Livingstone to work out some logistics for the teams going there for their tourist activities. This tied in well with me meeting up with a small team from the Lighthouse church in Stony Plain soon after their arrival in Lusaka and being able to give them a ride to their orphanage project near Choma, en route to Livingstone. I spent a night there with them and had a chance to see what they are working on. A couple of nights in Livingstone enabled me to sort things out and again it worked out well for me to meet another Canadian friend - Elaine Duchesene - who had been at a conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and wanted to come and see our project in Zambia. Elaine was with us for five days and thoroughly enjoyed her time in the community.

Milt left on April 20 and I was only on my own for a few days before the Taylor team arrived on 24th. Quite a buzz to have 13 people filling up the place and wonderful to have Bronwen and Brennan here as part of the team. Their time here was a whirlwind of activity with full, busy days. The general schedule was up by 7:00 a.m., breakfast and then to construction by 8:30 ish. Back to base for lunch and then off to afternoon activities - some did children's outreach ministry and some went to play sports - soccer (football in Africa), volleyball and netball (a type of basketball but with no dribbling and only played by girls) in the community. One of the team was a nurse so she spent most days at the clinic helping out and other team members also spent time at the clinic helping with record keeping and paperwork. They also donated a lot of basic medical supplies that had been brought over. There was time spent at the school - some team members actually teaching in some classes - and handing over the piles of supplies and materials that had been brought for the school. Both Sundays they were here the team did the services at the small church which we have connected with - Glad Tidings Pentecostal - and did a great job with singing, drama skits, testimonies, prayer and a sermon.There were many other opportunities to connect with people in the community and the team had a huge impact overall. They set a high standard for other teams to follow and have really helped bring awareness of SPF, and what we are trying to do, to the community.

One of the highlights, amongst many, was team members going to spend the night and next morning with people in their villages - sleeping, eating, washing, working etc - just like the local people do.The trip to Livingstone during their last few days was very long and tiring in the small bus - a full day's travelling each way. The road is hilly and winding and driving terrible here so it takes forever to get anywhere. The last 60km stretch into Livingstone is tarmac but completely potholed so it takes over two hours to do that stretch alone ! Anyway they enjoyed their tourist activities and it was incredible to watch two of them do the bunjee jump off the bridge spanning the gorge and 100 meters above the water !

The day they left Zambia - May 13 - Jenny and Cai arrived having had a great time in France at her high school reunion and then in England with friends. It was wonderful to see them again and they, especially Cai, were pleased to see everyone again too. For the next couple of weeks we had various family members and friends coming and going. In between work in the community we've had some fun activities so a busy time as always. Jenny has enjoyed getting to know people in the community and focus on some specific tasks, especially in the area of education.