It was this time last year I was making arrangements and plans for my upcoming trip to Zambia. What excitement! Everyday brings a little memory of the trip back to me, everyone of them a precious moment in time. Memories are still being made though, as I find more and more of my friends from the World Vision Kalomo ADP office signed up to Facebook and get to 'talk' with them again. There is even one of my friends from the World Vision KMP office (my 2009 trip to South Africa) on Facebook. Some of volunteer group I traveled with, are discussing having a one year anniversary conference call, which I'm sure will have a few of us crying into our teacups. You have to love this 'new' technology; if I had to write letters to everyone, no one would hear from me.
Speaking of memories; one of the best I have from this past year arrived by email a few months after I arrived home. In the rush of the final day of our visit to Kalomo a few of us managed to take Godwin, the ADP manager aside and discuss the matter of leaving some monies to be spent on our children and some of the children we had met. Godwin arranged for us to sit down with the ADP finance manager to say how much, for which child and what we would like for them, and then to get receipts. I assumed that would be the last I would hear about it. To my surprise, I received that email I mentioned, forwarded from the Kalomo ADP to World Vision head office, then through our Vancouver Volunteer Coordinator and on to me. In it were pictures and copies of receipts for what was bought for the children!
Little Juston ( who I was able to find a sponsor for when I got home) and beautiful Jane, the sponsor child of my friends Claudia & Moe, each received a new school uniform, shoes, socks, and the paraphernalia needed to look after these items, along with a nice warm blanket. All that for a little more than 1 month's sponsorship. What a small price to pay for the looks of joy on these childre
n's faces! BUT - I save the best for last.
n's faces! BUT - I save the best for last.
My Velody and his family-
I admit, I left slightly more than one month's sponsorship fee, but look at what it brought the family! With these few animals, this family now has a way to move beyond simple substance farming and has the ability to actually earn an income, whether from selling eggs or chicks from the chickens, to milk, meat and kids from the goats. One healthy dairy goat can yield up to 250 litres of milk annually to provide essential protein and life-changing income. Two goats can be bred to produce from 2 to 3 kids a year and eventually multiply into a whole herd. Fertilizer from the goats will help the gardens to produce a healthier crop and all this leads to Velody and his family having better nutrition, along with that income they'll be earning, that will allow Velody's parents to pay for his schooling and other essentials themselves. What a sense of pride and accomplishment that will hopefully bring them.
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