Good morning, again! Communication from Zambia has been a bit sporadic. Here is an update from the group dated June 12.
This is Mary Sicoli. Yesterday, I was part of a
group that went to St. Anthony's Orphanage. It was a bittersweet day; on one
hand I was happy to see the many improvements in the orphanage. Physically, the
orphanage upgraded in supplies and equipment. The staff also seemed to be more
interactive with the children. In all, the quality of life for the children
seemed to have improved compared to last year, but at the same time, there is
still a lot left to be done. From talking with the sisters and staff, I learned
that the number of children inhabiting the orphanage has increased. The
children are still numerous and starved for attention. Sadly, the overall
health of the children seems to have decreased. For example, I was holding the
cutest baby that was only six weeks and was notified by Dr. Johnson that the
baby would suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome for the rest of his life. With
this information, I could not help but feel upset and angry for the preventable
handicap this boy would have to live with for the rest of his life. All in all,
my visit to St. Anthony's Orphanage was eye-opening and life changing. It is an
experience that is never to be forgotten.
Hello, this is Nick Goldman. Yesterday Maddy, Rachel, Maura, Julia, Kayla, Mrs. Mattson and I went to the Barefoot school to paint a mural of the alphabet and numbers inside one of their classrooms. I measured out the dimensions of the mural while the others drew sketches of what it was going to look like. Then Kayla and Maura drew the pencil outline of the mural on the wall, and we finished by painting over it all. As we were painting, we were joined by many students of the school who helped us paint, taught us phrases in Bemba, and took many pictures with our cameras. The student who was most helpful was a boy named Peter. He constantly would enter the room and paint with us and would gather supplies that we needed. Altogether it was a rewarding experience, and we left our mark, literally, on the wall.
Hey, this is Abbey. Today Katie, Caity, and I went to Natwange School. While we were there, I had the opportunity to help Dr. Johnson take down measurements to figure out the general nutrition levels of the students. The results ended up being a little shocking. The vast majority of the students were about two standard deviations below what's considered normal (in other words, really bad). It was very depressing for me to see because, having interacted with a lot of the students, I knew that they were very kind and intelligent, and it was hard to swallow that they would never reach their full potential on the physical level. After spending the morning taking down the measurements, the three of us played volleyball with a group of kids from the school. While none of us will be going professional anytime soon, we had a lot of fun and it was really great to spend time with the students. On our way back from Natwange, we decided to stop by a couple of the orphanages we went to last year. There was one boy who I remembered from last year, and he became really excited when I told him that I remembered him. That really made me realize just how much we can impact the lives of some of these children, even if it may not feel like it at the time. Today ended up being an extremely eye-opening and rewarding experience, and I'm so grateful for the time I have spent here and my remaining time here.
From Ann Mattson:
Good night to all! We will continue to work with our connectivity issues as we attempt to blog! All is well and we are blessed to be here!
Hello, this is Nick Goldman. Yesterday Maddy, Rachel, Maura, Julia, Kayla, Mrs. Mattson and I went to the Barefoot school to paint a mural of the alphabet and numbers inside one of their classrooms. I measured out the dimensions of the mural while the others drew sketches of what it was going to look like. Then Kayla and Maura drew the pencil outline of the mural on the wall, and we finished by painting over it all. As we were painting, we were joined by many students of the school who helped us paint, taught us phrases in Bemba, and took many pictures with our cameras. The student who was most helpful was a boy named Peter. He constantly would enter the room and paint with us and would gather supplies that we needed. Altogether it was a rewarding experience, and we left our mark, literally, on the wall.
Hey, this is Abbey. Today Katie, Caity, and I went to Natwange School. While we were there, I had the opportunity to help Dr. Johnson take down measurements to figure out the general nutrition levels of the students. The results ended up being a little shocking. The vast majority of the students were about two standard deviations below what's considered normal (in other words, really bad). It was very depressing for me to see because, having interacted with a lot of the students, I knew that they were very kind and intelligent, and it was hard to swallow that they would never reach their full potential on the physical level. After spending the morning taking down the measurements, the three of us played volleyball with a group of kids from the school. While none of us will be going professional anytime soon, we had a lot of fun and it was really great to spend time with the students. On our way back from Natwange, we decided to stop by a couple of the orphanages we went to last year. There was one boy who I remembered from last year, and he became really excited when I told him that I remembered him. That really made me realize just how much we can impact the lives of some of these children, even if it may not feel like it at the time. Today ended up being an extremely eye-opening and rewarding experience, and I'm so grateful for the time I have spent here and my remaining time here.
From Ann Mattson:
Good night to all! We will continue to work with our connectivity issues as we attempt to blog! All is well and we are blessed to be here!
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