So Much Happening ...

Well ... the week starting 19th September when Malo, my son, was doing a blog makeover and reporting on the great success of the fundraiser (complete with photos - wish I could have been there - it looked like lots of fun!) I was locked in my home because on Sept. 20th Zambia voted. It just wasn't safe to venture out into a community tense and sometimes turbulent as day after day there was news of riots, looting, and roads being blocked in the cities throughout the Copperbelt province where I live. Results trickled in slowly but by the end of the week the candidate, by far the most popular in this region, was declared the winner and a collective sense of euphoria broke out as people hit the streets in celebrations that lasted from the early hours of the morning throughout the day. In the end peace prevailed and Zambia emerged a powerful example of brotherhood and unity for the whole continent.

It was just a week but how I missed my friends in Mbayi!!! There were more blankets and sweaters to distribute and I was particularly touched when one of our senior men, proudly donning a new sweater remarked 'now I can go to church!'. Paulinah needed to be collected from the Eye Clinic Inpatient Ward where they had to remove her eye in order to relieve the pain, comforted to have a mother, as she refers to me (she's 70!) to care for her. One of our goats had babies - a boy and a girl! There were plans to be made for fish farming and the health post. There were cabbages and pain killers to be given out and what a joy it is to deliver mealie meal to the needy now grown and ground in Mbayi!!!

How can I even adequately begin to thank all of you who make these things possible? Please know that my heart is bursting with joy as I continue to work in Mbayi with the knowledge that I can STAY (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU) and proceed with plans for growth, sustainability and to care for those in such dire need. God bless you all !!!!!