Victoria Falls and Devils Pool (Day 9)

It would be silly to come half way around the world and not see the famous Victoria Falls.  The local name for it is Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders).  The falls are what separate Zambia from Zimbabwe.  At over twice the height of Niagara and possibly the longest waterfall in the world it is the most amazing thing I have seen in God's creation.  If you ever have the opportunity seeing it is a must...swimming optional.

 

This was from the shore before we took a boat out to the island

Keep going.  Bigger pictures down below.

This was our first view as we came to the other side of Livingstone Island. Zambia on the left. Zimbabwe on the right.

This is the dry season.  Imagine next month after the monsoons.  This will all be waterfall

"Scenes so lovely they must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." -David Livingstone (1855)

 

Swimming at Devils Pool in Victoria Falls from Dion Terry on Vimeo.

Livingstone Safari Drive & Other Animals (Day 8)

Final Observations (Day 7)

The way in which Zambian Christians welcomed us was something I have never before experienced on such a large scale.  Their hospitality and ability to welcome complete strangers into their family is a model many of us could follow.  Through the week many of them would tell me that I was now their brother or say “we are family now.”  Always with a smile (which is something I need to learn better) and with a joyful bounce in their step they made traveling half way around the world feel not so far from home.

One of the biggest things I will take away from this trip is something one of our team members observed and shared.  There is a difference between being poor and being broke.  Many people who are poor might have little or no money but they also have little or no joy in them.  Their spirit can be hopeless or discouraged.  People who are broke also have little or no money but they can still have joy.  Joy that comes from life not from material possessions.  Sadly I think in America we have many poor people who seem to be drained of life and in some way have given up.  Here in Zambia the people are just broke, they have no money but it has not robbed their joy.

Also, here they take care of the little they have.  Many of the homes we went into while installing Biosand filters were well kept, tidy, and as clean as possible.  My guess is this is due in part to the fact that their home is all they have and they probably worked hard on it.  There is no government program giving handouts which takes away a sense of ownership.  The same way that if you were to give some teenagers a car and they wreck it they might wonder when the next car will be given to them.  No sense of ownership.  Conversely, if a teenager works to earn their car there may be a sense of pride of ownership and maybe more care will be given because of it.  It was great to see this sense of care and pride in their homes.

Overall there are things that Americans and Zambians can teach each other.  Americans can share clean water and proper training for maintaining healthy clean water.  This is something I don’t think I can fully express with words.  Many of these communities lack a simple education of how to get clean water and keep it clean.  After being here only 9 days I can tell you it’s something you would have to experience to only begin to grasp.  In 9 days I learned briefly of the challenges even our team had in getting clean water.  It had to be filtered every time.  There did not seem to be any direct source of clean water unless you bought bottled water which might cost you a days wage here.  These are challenges Zambians have all the time, every day, every week, every month and year. 

On the other side of the coin Zambians could teach us Americans how to appreciate what we have.  That our circumstances don’t have to steal our joy. (or love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, or self control)  Sometimes there is an underlying questioning of God during our trials in our life.  “Why God, when God, where are you God?”  Well I can tell you that I have never seen people who have less stuff and more trials than the people I have met around Ndola Zambia.  But instead of why, when, where God, they say “praise you Jesus, thank you Father.”  They have shown me that life is less about the what than the who.  They have shown me that a focus on Jesus can give us joy in any circumstance. 

Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)

Thorn Clothing trip to Zambia from Dion Terry on Vimeo.

Going to church in Africa (Day 6)

Zambian Church Song from Dion Terry on Vimeo.

Today was not a work day.  It was the Lord’s day and we had the opportunity to celebrate that with our new friends at the Vineyard church in the compound of Mapalo.  This was truly an inspiring experience.  There are few people I have seen who worship God with everything they have and Zambians know how to do this with a very genuine spirit.  The worship service was a little over 2 hours which I don’t think would ever fly in most of our American churches.  I have heard many well meaning Christians say they don’t want to put God in a box, but it seems they are OK with putting Him on the clock.  “Spent an hour at church this week God.  Read my bible for 30 minutes today God.  Sorry God, no time left today for prayer.”  I think when we truly worship God in spirit and in truth like John 4:24 says, the clock should not dictate worship. 

For me sitting in that pew in Mapalos I truly didn’t care what time it was, even with the hot African sun slowly turning that church building into an oven.  The praise and worship (singing) part of the service must have lasted around 1 hour and only 1 song was sung in English with the rest being sung in Bemba.  But even the language barrier didn’t effect our desire to be there.  The Lord was moving and we were all too willing to drink in whatever His Spirit had to offer. 

A missionary gave the message since the pastor was away that day.  He is a native Zambian who has spent the last 5 years in Somalia as a missionary sharing the gospel.  He is now committing to the next 3 years back here in Zambia with a heart and focus of sharing the truth of the gospel with Muslims.  His message was awesome!  No notes and completely on task the whole way through.  He shared that believers in Jesus Christ need to be reproducing other believers.  The reasons they might not be reproducing is the same reasons people do not physically reproduce.  (you know..babies) 

1.) If we are immature we will not reproduce.  The same way a child does not, and should not, reproduce.

2.) When we have no relationship with Jesus we can not reproduce.  The same way a non married person does not (should not) reproduce.

3.) If we know Jesus but have no intimacy with Him we can not reproduce.  The same way a married couple can be married but if they don’t share an intimate relationship they will not reproduce.

I should mention be the way that I did not receive the gift of tongues and suddenly understand Bemba, thankfully they had a translator so that the message was shared in both tongues. 

At the end of the service an elderly woman stepped forward and prayed for our team from America.  This was in Bemba but we were still very honored and humbled to have that church cover us with prayer.

This was an incredible way to end our stay in Ndola.  Having our last full day there be a Sunday meant a lot to me personally as we were able to worship corporately with those we had been working with all week.  Also having gained some perspective of the life in Zambia made us feel less like outsiders and more like family during this worship service. (More on that tomorrow)  Overall I would say that if you ever find yourself in Zambia and specifically in the area of Mapalo, make sure you go to church.  It is incredible refreshment for the soul.

Drilling a Well (Day 5)

So far in my observation Seeds of Hope seems to have 3 major ways to provide water for the people here.  One is hand pump repair that we witnessed already this week.  The second way is Bio-Sand Filters like we did yesterday.  The third is drilling new wells for areas that desperately need water.  Today we had the chance to be part of one of the drill teams.  We drove out to a drill location in an outer lying area of Ndola.  The drill team had already been out there drilling for 8 days and still had yet to hit water.  They were expecting to hit the depth of the water table in the next day or so.  The drill team basically lives at the site until the hole is drilled.  The days are long and at night the teams sleep camping style on the ground or in tents.  This particular drill team probably isn't what you would think.  Instead of a twisting drill, it is much more like a metal head on the end of a steel beam that gets dropped over and over and over slowly chipping away at the ground.  They say they can dig 5-10 meters a day depending on the geology of the ground.

After spending some time at the drill we were invited by the "head man" to see the current water source that his village is using.  The head man is the leader over that small village.  Then you have a Chief that rules over the villages that constitute his kingdom.  These Chiefs are separate from the democratic republic and voting process that Zambia has for government, but are still a big part of the Zambian culture.   So the head man and some other villagers lead us down to their water source which was a hand dug well that's gets its water from what looks like a stream or maybe more accurately a marsh.  

Jake trying to retrieve water from the hand dug well

This water did not look good at all, and many of the children in the village had eye infections and swollen stomachs, most likely the result of the water.  

Kirk mentioned that the swollen stomachs are probably from worms and parasites in them.  Today was yet another visual example of how much need there is here in Zambia.  Seeds of Hope has done a lot in the last 7-8 years but there is still so much more to be done.  They have provided water to over 400,000 people and saved so many lives, but there are still so many people that need our help.  

I'm very happy to be involved with Jake and Thorn Clothing because they are a great company that points to the more important things in life, like helping others.  And I am glad to now be involved with Seeds of Hope who are in the business of saving lives and doing it in the love of Jesus name.  I love witnessing first hand how our donations are going directly to the efforts here in Zambia.  I was amazed to learn that SHIP has only 2 staff members state side, which means that the money we give really is being used here in Africa.  It's amazing how effective a few dollars can be here.  

 
Imagine if you sacrificed one cup of coffee from the coffee stand.  That $4 could provide water for 4 people for 1 whole year!  Now imagine if you did that once a week.  You would be able to save 15-20 lives a month!  Most of us don't value $1 very much.  But here in Africa it is the difference between sickness and health.  




 Many times in the bible God tells us to not forget what He has done for us.  What He has done for me is shown me that I was put on this earth to love Him and love others.  And His love for me is not passive, but active.  It was active in that He went to the cross and gave His life for me.  In the same way my love for others must be active.  In Matthew 25 Jesus said whatever you do for the least of these you have done it unto me.  Therefor God expects us to act and not stand by, to love and not ignore.  I for one will keep looking for opportunities to love others and help the least of these.  Will you join me?  Together we can change the world, even if its 1 person and $1 at a time.

Installing Bio-Sand Water Filters (Day 4)

Today was incredible.  We began our morning by taking off the molds on our Bio-sand filters we made yesterday.  The good news is they look like bio-sand filters and they didn't leak when we put water in them, so I would say that was mission accomplished.


****Update
One of our the two bio-sand filters we made wound up leaking by day 2 and needs to be patched.  But it will still be used after the patch job.
****


After that we loaded up 20 bio-sand filters to go install them into homes in the Nkwazi compound. 

 It was different than the rural areas we were in yesterday that were mainly spread out homes and many of the homes being hut type houses.  Nkawzi is more urban and all homes are made of brick and clay as well as all the homes are built very close together.  Nkwazi has more than 2,000 people all living in a very dense area.  We spent the next few hours installing these 20 filters for 20 families in the area.  We had 10 workers (5 Americans from team Thorn and 5 Zambians from SHIP) so we split up so that each team had one member of team Thorn and a member of Seeds of Hope to install 4 filters per duo.  

Paddy getting the job done.  Uphill no less!

I was teamed up with a very inspiring young man named Peter.  Peter is a musician and leads worship in his church in the compound of Mapalo.  This was the high point of being here so far.  For me it was very emotional being part of this.  I was hit full force with what we are a part of here.  We were giving life and health to these families.  We were giving them a better chance to live.  The words from yesterdays devotion time kept playing over and over in my head.  “Water is life.”  In a couple of these homes Peter was   able to encourage them by discussing the importance of water.  They were talking about how water was one of the first things that God created and how important it must have been if God made it one of his first creations.  It was awesome to watch Peter turn what we were doing back to God and give credit and praise to Him.  Of course Peter did all this in Bemba (the local language) so he explained it to me afterwards.  This was the evidence of what we have been sending our money to and supporting back home. 


After our 4 filters were installed we met the others back at the truck.  Then we tried to have a little organized chaos, but it was pretty much just chaos.  We had planned to hand out toys and candy to the kids in the compound and word traveled around fast so kids were coming from everywhere and rushing the truck. 

It got to where we had to climb back into the flatbed so as to not be mobbed.  It was fun even if it was a little out of control. 


A little side note on our time with the kids.  At one point the kids saw tattoos peeking out from Jake and my sleeves.  Suddenly we became even more popular, if that was even possible.  All the kids wanted to touch them and show their friends the colors and pictures of tattoos.  

Because Jake and I both have tattoos that express our faith in Jesus it was a great opportunity to communicate Jesus through pictures of the cross, the crown of thorns and crucifixion nails.  It seemed obvious that they know who Jesus is, but it was great to have that commonality even if the kids spoke Bemba and we didn’t.  It has been great each day to see a different layer of Africa.  Maybe it was the chance to see and interact with so many of the people, but it was just an amazing day over all.

Repairing Hand Pumps (Day 3)

Today we got an early start and headed for the SHIP base of operations, and I am so glad we did.  Every day before the SHIP workers have a group devotions.  This consists of singing prais and worship to our God and then one of the workers shares a message of encouragement through scripture.  When the singing began the 5 of us were blown away.  If you ever wanted a soundtrack for your trip to Africa this was it.  Some songs were sung in Bemba, their tribes language, and some in English, but it was the spirit and heart of the songs that would give you chills.  Then a young man began to share from 1 Corinthians 13 and telling all present that we must be about love.  He encouraged that SHIP can help the poor and needy (for the record many of the workers at SHIP would be classified as very poor) but if they don't have love they are as Paul said nothing but a clanging symbol.  

For me it showed another aspect of Seeds of Hope, that even though we as Americans are here to help and many back home are helping, here is the fruit of our giving.  That we can give so that Zambians can help Zambians.  For the most part I am a faceless contributor to this cause of providing clean water in Africa, but the people here are the real difference makers.  The hands that God uses to touch and save lives.  The face of love and hope to those that need it most.

Team Thorn with Seeds of Hope Staff

After devotions we spent the next 2 hours making Bio-sand filters with our teacher Sampson.  This consisted of hand mixing the concrete and pouring it in the molds with the shovels.  

I have a feeling we were incredibly slow as new recruits, but Sampson was kind enough to humor us and just keep smiling as we worked.  The job of making the filters is normally done by the women workers and those women could run circles around us in filter making that's for sure.  In the end we ended up making 2 filters.


Speaking of the women, the amount of work and the strength of Zambian women is very impressive.  Something I still watch with awe is they way many women carry things on their heads, many times without the use of their hands.  Baskets of supplies, boxes and most impressive is the carrying of water containers.  I mean how do you do that while the water is sloshing around?  Just amazing skill.

When our work was done  with the filters we hopped in the back of a flat bed along with yesterdays pump repair class and headed for the rural areas to fix a couple of hand pumps that were out of commission.  Both of these pumps had not worked in a few years.  One village had lost all their surrounding crop.

Seeing as how this was continuing education for the class team Thorn hung back and just observed.  This however gave us a great chance to interact with the curious children that had come over from the surrounding huts and homes.  We had a bit of a realization as we handed out balls and frisbees and that's that these kids might only have one toy at home if any.  All of these children were shoeless and only one of them had a toy with them.  A beautiful little girl with a big smile and an infectious laugh had a chipped up dirty rubber bouncy ball.  

 
 I hope I never forget her.  Not because of the rag dress she wore or how poor she seemed to my eyes, but for her spirit, her joy, her laugh and her eyes that seemed to tell us about her even though we did not speak the same language.  

 After repairing each pump there was a great celebration from the workers with singing and applause.  Seeing the water flow from a previously broken pump was  a emotional feeling for me.  I think one of the workers said it best when he called out, "water is life". 

 Overall it was an incredible day of work and interaction with our new friends, the kids in the villages and the students that we rode in the truck with.  Sitting 2-3 hours in the back of that flat bed truck accomplished 2 things, hurting butts  and lots of time to interact with the students.  I think they were as curious of us as we are of them.  Hopefully tomorrow brings as much as today.

Seeds of Hope (Day 2)

 Today we were taken to the Seeds of Hope base of operations.  This is the location of the main offices as well as where much of the work is done and materials fabricated to be sent out into the communities.  Our timing was great because they were conducting classes on pump repair for volunteers from the compounds around Ndola.  They always refer to their individual villages or towns as compounds.  This is a great way to empower communities to take ownership of their pumps as well as have someone local in the compound that can help fix the pump if need be.  

Teacher for class

Students learning the pump parts

Class getting hands on with a pump

Tomorrow we will go out to the villages with one of the foreman Joseph to see this in action.  We did get involved in some of the class we hopefully will get involved too.  From the hand pump repair, to the construction of Bio-sand filters there is a lot going on here.  Seeds of Hope employs around 65 people from around Ndola.  These include laborers, metal workers, drillers, office staff, and so much more.  Kirk's vision is to make Seeds of Hope a model organization so that it can be duplicated all over Africa.  My feeling is he is very close to doing that.  A current project we helped with was setting up a retail area where products can be sold to help fund the work that SHIP is doing.  

Hopefully the start of a good retail area

 These products would include Bio-sand filters, plants, vegetables, things fabricated in their metal shop, and sanitation concrete lids.  Basically it's a toilet lid made out of concrete with a hole in it where you go to the bathroom.  The basic need of separating feces from water sources is a challenge here and it is one of the many things SHIP is trying to teach out in the communities.  Jake, David and I were able to do some setup for this retail area which made us feel useful after getting educated and shown around the SHIP grounds in the morning and seeing everyone else working in various areas.  Paddy and Ben found a great need to help with as well.  They worked with the drilling team to help them operate more efficiently by using check list and just overall organization.  Something a couple firefighters probably know a thing or two about.  


We ended the day back at the SHIP guest house and had our first Zambian cuisine experience.  It consisted of stew, a vegetable I did not recognize, and nshima.  Nshima looks like mashed potatoes at first glance, but it is actually made out of corn.  Traditional etiquette is to take the nshima and roll it in your hand making it a round ball.  Then flatten it enough to use it as a grabbing tool for the other items on your plate in this case the veggies and beef.  By itself it has no apparent taste, but when mixing it with other foods is pretty tasty.  The whole time I was thinking if only Payton and Ailin could see me playing with my food after all the times I make them use utensils.  But you know what they say, "When in Zambia do as the Zambians do."  

Arriving in Ndola Zambia (Day 1)

Well, it took almost 43 hours of travel but team Thorn Clothing has finally arrived. Thankfully the trip went very smooth. It was just very long. I hope my body remembers how to sleep tonight. For the last 2 days I have only managed to sleep in short spurts of 20-30 minutes here maybe an hour there.

This visit to Africa almost stopped before it got started.  Right after landing in Lusaka we were waiting for our ride to arrive and were standing out front of the airport when our photographer Ben started snapping pictures.  One particular picture almost landed us in a Zambian jail.  Apparently you are not supposed to take pictures of government workers or government buildings.  Ben did like anybody might do and took a few photos of a policeman.  Not any policeman.  A policeman holding an AK-47.  

Thankfully he let us go with a warning after watching us delete the photos with an understanding that we take no more pictures.


It's is about 9pm here in Ndola so there is little to see tonight. Kirk, the director of Seeds of Hope International Partnership gave us the tour of the guest house. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 bunk beds per room, which may be tight considering all the stuff we have, but I am so thankful for the rooms and especially a bed! Kirk told us that the Catholic church next door likes to ring their bells every morning (6am I think) which I kind of like. I hope it will be just one of the many memories I keep from this place.


I want to share my brief observation before ending this day. After landing in Lusaka we had to drive about 5 hours up to Ndola and that gave us the opportunity to just observe the land and the people as we drove through various towns and villages. The land is beautiful. Many areas are like pictures of Africa come to life. The people here intrigue me. From their traditional African clothes to the way the women carry baskets of supplies or containers of water on their heads. It seems people walk here the way we in America drive cars. Meaning walking is their most common form of transportation. During the 5 hour drive, rarely did we not see people walking on the side of the road. Sometimes we drove for miles without a break in the traffic of walkers along side the road. I assume they are walking home from whatever activity they had that day, be it work or school. Many of the children with out shoes which leads me to my observation that is somewhat of a question.


Do we apply our own standards of quality of life when we look at other cultures and nations? To see the living conditions or kids without shoes seems to us to be viewing extreme poverty. Now Zambia is a poor nation economically to be sure, but compared to what? Do we as Americans use our American microscope too much when we look at others? 100 years ago if we saw Africans living in grass huts and walking around with no shoes we might view it as cultural differences. Today we seem to apply our standards on other cultures and then make the judgment about whether they are rich or poor. 

Now obviously if a child not having shoes prevents him/her from attending school, the need is clear. My question is not about shoes, but whether we unfairly ascribe our standards to others. Who are we to say who is rich and who is poor, and don't those words go beyond our financial circumstances?


My prayer today is that we can look past this and just see people. God, give us your eyes so we may see Zambians and all people the way you see them.
-Amen