Three Weeks in Zambia

Three weeks!! Yet it feels like so much longer. These weeks have been jam packed with so many different events, and so many different experiences. I have been struggling with what to write in this post. Do I share the hard? How do I even put into words the things we are all feeling about what we are learning about life in Zambia. Sometimes there are no words.

One of the first events we had was graduation! What a beautiful afternoon it was. 16 graduates that have worked SO hard to get where they are. There was an aunty at the graduation who had been with some of these kids when they first came to Grace Academy. She was talking with Shannon and shared that some of these kids were so sick when they came and they did not know if they would live, and here they are graduating!! This was the first time it hit us hard of what the reality is in Zambia. Many children don’t get to graduate. Many children don’t get to even go to school. Maybe their families are so poor they need these children to beg on the streets, or to sell things at the market so the family can afford to eat. Many children die of malaria, or starvation. Tears filled our eyes as we applauded these graduates for their hard work and successes, and in thankfulness that Seeds of Hope is here and giving so many a better chance at a different life.

AJ has been busy learning and taking over the construction side of things. He has started a few new projects. The biggest one is the shop and we are excited for this one to be complete. It will open up room for some much needed storage, not to mention a place to fix vehicles, and do woodworking projects. His crew is working hard digging the footings for the foundation.

Another project is the Youth Room. The teens here are VERY excited to have a place where they can go. A place just for them to play games, hang out and spend time together.

His third project is renovating an existing room and making it into a suite for one of our Aunties here. She also is very thrilled to be getting her own home and the pressure is on for AJ to get it done!!

Lucas, Levi and I have been busy getting to know the kids and just exploring what all happens here at Grace Academy. We have learned many games and its so neat to see the different ones they come up with. The girls have been trying to teach me to dance, truthfully there is more laughing then dancing 🙂 We are loving getting to know these beautiful children!

One morning Susan invited me along to go pick up some new kids and bring them to our orphanage. Levi came along and it was an experience I never though I would have in my life. First we went to social welfare. A little boy and girl were sitting on the bench waiting for us and we were greeted with shy smiles and excitement in their eyes. We were then led to a room where a grandmother was waiting with her 6 month old granddaughter. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she rocked the beautiful baby girl, preparing herself to hand her over to us. Her own daughter had abandoned her baby and the grandmother couldn’t provide for her granddaughter. My heart broke watching this. The love this grandma had for this baby, but love doesn’t fill a belly or keep a baby alive.

The next place we stopped was an Orphanage called St. Anthony’s. Many of the kids at Grace come from here. This orphanage is a horrible place for kids to be. They are not loved here, not fed well, not given a good blanket or bed to sleep on. They are beaten and abused. It is extremely hard to hear the stories that come out of there. Susan takes as many kids as she can from there and brings them to Grace. You should see the awe in their eyes as the gate opens and we drive down the driveway to where they are going to live. Again the awe in their eyes as they are given clothing, shoes, bedding, a towel and facecloth and their very own toothbrush. These kids have never owned anything of their own before.

It feels very strange some days seeing what life is like here in comparison to what life is like at home. It is hard to reconcile it in our minds. At home we have everything we could ever need, yet we want more. We want the biggest homes, and the nicest cars. We care about whether our shoes are Nike or Adidas. Our kids are not faced with a life of absolute poverty if they don’t do well in school. We have government programs that will provide for the less fortunate…as far as even giving them the drugs they are addicted to. Here? Maybe they eat once a day if they are lucky. Here their children die of malaria because they cannot afford the medicine that will cure them. Here children raise their siblings because mom and dad have died and there is no one to care for them. Many many people here don’t have access to clean water and live in deplorable living conditions. So, while it is extremely difficult to see first hand the devastation, we are so thankful to be able to, and get a reminder of what really matters in this world. And we are also very grateful that we can be a part of this wonderful organization that is doing so much to change the future of these kids and the future of Zambia!