Thanksgiving

This year, I have a new understanding of what it means to be thankful.

I saw it in the smile of a 2-year-old orphan who is beyond grateful for a sticker.

I saw it in the eyes of a patient dying of AIDS who just needed someone to talk to.

I saw it in the welcoming arms of every Zambian I met.

I saw it in the families who had to wear the same clothes every day but were happy they had any clothes at all.

I saw it in the lives of the nuns at the hospice/orphanage who dedicate every day to their patients.

I saw it in the people who received a simple bag of maize but knew it would feed their family at least for the next week.

I saw thankfulness in a completely different way while I was in Africa. I was hit in the face, not with a comparison of what I have that they don't, but with a realization that I have SO much to be thankful for in my life. Not just for things like clothes and food but for my family and friends - all of the things that I now know what it really means to take for granted. And rarely do I have show half of the thankful heart that I saw in those lives in Africa.

That's my thought of the day. :) 

Well, I'm back in America. Really happy to be home but also left little pieces of my heart with people there. To be expected, I guess. We spent our last few days in Livingston on a safari and at Victoria Falls. Here are a few pictures from the end of our trip.

Rachel and I in front of the Falls

We got the closest to the giraffes on our safari

Holding a baby crocodile!

Haley, Rach and I at the lake for dinner - I'm so grateful for these girls!

Thank you all so much for following my blog, my adventures, and my life a little bit while I was away from home! I really appreciated all of your support!

HBC & OVC

Last week on Thursday and Friday we were able to go on OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) and HBC (Home Based Care) visits. These programs are both run by WHIZ and are really incredible programs. The first day we visited families who have multiple orphans and vulnerable children living in one poverty-stricken household. We made sure that they had clean water to drink, a toilet (more of a hole in the ground with a brick structure built up around it), and food for their children. We were able to provide them with some clothing and food – a bag of mealie meal, oil, sugar, salt and kapenta.

This was the first family we visited. These children were not orphans but were extremely vulnerable because of their poverty.

This is how one of the families gets their drinking water. This hole is about 3-4 feet in the ground and and is completely muddy.

On the second day, we were able to do home visits of patients who are HIV+. We were able to hear their incredible stories as well as give them words of encouragement and pray with them. We were also able to provide them with some food and clothing. This man was the second one we visited that day. He was so happy to have us there and said that he was praying just the day before that we would come visit him. He lost his wife about 5 years ago and has also lost 5 of his 8 children. I can’t even imagine – yet he was still happy and beyond thrilled that we came to see him!

This is a picture of the patient (in the middle) with his 2 caregivers who live in the community and visit him nearly every day.

The testimonies and experiences of these families are absolutely heartbreaking and raise so many questions in my mind. How can I be so fortunate while this family of 5 just lost their only cow to help them with all of their farming, which is their only source of income? Why should this family have to worry every day of their lives if they are going to have enough food to feed their children? How can I even begin to be a part of the solution? How can I effectively share the hope of Jesus Christ to these people in the midst of the most severe form of poverty I have ever seen?

God has definitely stretched me and I know that when I get home in one week, I will have so much to continue to think through, process, learn from and act on. 

I’m sad to be leaving this beautiful place but am excited to see you all very soon!

“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

These beautiful children completely captured my heart.

I'm adopting all of them and bringing them home with me in 12 days.

Anton

Ruthie

Joey

Joyce

Tom

Happiness

Godfrey

Malvin

Bright lights, big city

We spent the last 5 days in the capital city of Lusaka. I loved it.

One of the things I loved most was a visit to the Mother Theresa hospice and orphanage right in town. I was expecting a small hospice center much like the one Choma but was blown away by everything this place had and stood for. There are 7 Catholic sisters who work in both the orphanage and the hospice center. Too much work for 7 people in my opinion – there are over 100 children (45 babies) and probably around 100 or so adults struggling with HIV-related illnesses. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see, but when we listened as 20 men and 20 women sang to us about how God was healing their bodies, it was incredible. And we found out that nearly all the work around the place, including gardening, cleaning and cooking, is done by the people who used to be patients in the hospice and are now doing much better. Its really inspiring to see their desire to give back to the place that nursed them back to health.

It was also heartbreaking to see 45 babies all in cribs in 2 different, but connected, rooms at the orphanage. They were crying and reaching out for anyone who walked by, yearning for physical touch. Unlike the orphanage I went to last week, these babies were all very young and many of them not in the healthiest condition. For me, it brought the picture of orphans to a whole different level. And my heart broke even further when I realized that those babies who are HIV+ are more than likely going to remain at that orphanage until they turn 18 years old. The stigmatism makes it nearly impossible for them to be sent to grade school with other kids and their diagnosis makes them undesirable for adoption. Incredibly heartbreaking, but sadly true.

We were also able to visit another community school in probably the poorest part of Lusaka. It was incredible to have about 100 children chase after the bus as we rolled into their village and another 200 join to greet us when we stepped off the bus. Hands were grabbed immediately as we made our way to the school for a presentation from them. I was overwhelmed by how happy they were to have us there and really enjoyed spending a little time with the kids afterwards. I hated be torn away from them when we were leaving as the blessed me with tightest hugs I have ever had in my life.

I had them make funny faces – which all turned out to be the monkey face that I was making.

We did so many other things but I can’t even begin to describe everything on this blog. A few of my other highlights would definitely be visiting the American Embassy (even though it was because we were taking photos that we weren’t supposed to be taking), seeing A Christmas Carol at a movie theater while it was nearly 100 degrees outside, bartering (which I love to do now, by the way!), eating real pizza and drinking a coffee shake. No doubt about it, it was a taste of home in  many ways.

With the nurses at St. John's Medical Center in Lusaka

Classy dinner at Four Corners of the World - La Triumph Dolphin

The name pretty perfectly describes the evening we had.

LOVE.

I’m constantly blown away by how loving everyone is in Zambia. And surprise surprise, I fell in love with 21 more children today. I got to spend the day at one of the orphanages here in Choma and was completely torn emotionally. Children fighting for my attention because they craved it so badly. For 6 hours I had kids on my lap constantly – believe me, I wasn’t complaining. I loved the hugs but my heart broke a little each time the kids hugged me. They have no parents to give them the love that they deserve every day of their lives. And every time they called me Aunty Heether (not Heather), I thought about how they have no one to call Mom and Dad. The desire for love is there but they don't get nearly enough of it - its heartbreaking.

This is Tom. He is a total sweetheart and I want to bring him home!

One of the kids took this picture and I really love it. 

Little boy #2 that stole my heart is Malvin.