Where's Our Borehole?

Today's post is about both work and play. Yes, we do actually get to enjoy the many wonderful things in Zambia. One in particular - the wildlife! But first let me tell you about Chazwe Village...

Some of our dear friends contacted Jacob a while back and were interested in helping raise funds to give a village(s) clean, safe drinking water. They have lived in Zambia for a few years now working with CRS (Catholic Relief Services) and CIDRZ (Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia). While we were in Eastern Province we took them to Chazwe Village so they could meet the people, ask questions, and make a short video. They traveled back to the states during July-August and presented the video to their church in hopes that the members would want to partner with Water 282 to provide a borehole in this village. And, they've already raised a couple thousand dollars! We are super excited :). But, there's more to this story...

One of the more difficult things for us is communicating to the villagers that after our initial visit, we have to travel back to the states to raise funds for the well, which takes TIME. There's usually about a 9 month period from our first village visit until the borehole is actually drilled. And, there's no way to know how much money will be raised each year. So it's pretty much a guessing game when it comes to deciding how many new villages to survey each year. During our Q&A time one of the elders said "But you (Jacob) came a few months ago and still we have no borehole. How do we know that you are not just coming here to take our pictures and video us?". My heart sunk. I'm sure these villagers have been promised so many things and then find themselves no better off than the year before. This part of the job is tough! Luckily, we have a wonderful partnership with the PWC, and the DS in Eastern Province knows exactly how to handle these questions. Also, Jacob has been doing this for some time now so he answered the question as best he could and hopefully eased their concerns. Still, I just wanted to sit there in tears. These people are so desperate for some help, and they are clinging on to hope wherever they can find it. Can you imagine how difficult of a job the church has in a developing country? The physical needs of their people are so great while the church here isn't equipped to provide for them both spiritually & physically. This is where Water 282 (and YOU) comes alongside the church  - to help provide the physical needs so the church can provide the spiritual. And we can rejoice because God is providing! Below are a few pictures from our visit to Chazwe Village.

Our "team" in Chazwe Village.

Don't they just make you want to smile?! I absolutely love our time in the villages. It really nourishes my soul :).

Now on to our "play" day. The Saturday before we visited Chazwe Village we spent the day in South Luangwa National Park. It's only about an hour drive from where we had been working all week so we had to take advantage of being so close to the park :). Here are some shots of the spectacular wildlife we saw there:

Just an ol' leopard hanging out in a tree. 

We did a self drive and followed these lions for a few hours. 

Probably my favorite animal. They are so beautiful!

All of you should come visit us sometime, and we'll take you on an African safari as well!

Love,
Libby

Also, get in the habit of commenting on my blog so that I know you are actually reading it. In fact, if you read this post, just go down to the bottom and leave me a little "I love you". And write a comment for the first five or so posts so it feels like everyone is engaged. After that, you only have to comment on the ones that speak more to you. Thanks!!

Lessons in Thankfulness

So I am still trying to catch everybody up to what's going on currently with us in Zambia. I've got a lot to try and recap for you all so this post is going to cover a few days (one in particular) while we were out in the field. Also, as you can see, the blog got a little makeover ;).

Our first day in the villages was spent going to see boreholes that were sponsored/drilled last year by CUMC and Water 282. We were introduced to a lady in Msambo village who had been harvesting maize (aka corn). Sidenote: I have never in my life seen so much maize. It was incredible, and you could see it was HARD labor! You couldn't help but notice the never-ending smile on this woman's face. She seriously may be the happiest person I have ever encountered in my life up to this point. We spent some time there with her discussing what life was like before & after having clean, safe drinking water. The story goes that the drillers came and couldn't find water. After hearing this, Rev. Mbewe, the DS for Eastern Province, had a dream that the drillers should drill in the middle of the field behind this ladies house. He called them the next day as they were about to move on to another location in hopes to find water and told them they should try in the middle of the field. After some deliberation, Rev. Mbewe was able to convince them to try one more time. And they struck water!!! It's stories like this one when you just know God's at work. HE WILL PROVIDE! But the "awesomeness" doesn't stop there. Do any of you remember seeing this picture posted by W282 on facebook a few months ago?

This is why we do what we do. This should not be happening in the world today. 

Well, guess what? This lady I've been telling you about...this lady with the smile I will never forget. She's the one in the above picture who had been drinking quite possibly the dirtiest water we have seen in Zambia. So thanks be to God for providing clean, safe drinking water and for allowing me to meet such an incredible woman. Oh, and she's the one who gave me a chicken as a gift since we couldn't stay for lunch. One of the most precious gifts I've ever received. She was an absolute joy to be around. I'm reminded daily here how much I have to be thankful for even though I fail miserably in actually being thankful on a daily basis. There's a lot I (we) can learn from this beautiful, generous woman.

So very happy to have clean, safe drinking water! 

Told ya it was A LOT of maize! And that's only about half of it...

The next few days were spent meeting with chiefs and visiting villages with new boreholes. We also attended a celebration in Samyele Village. Instead of recapping every day, here are some pictures from the rest of our time out in the field in Eastern Province.

Traditional tribal dancing at the celebration in Samyele Village. 

Some of the precious children in Samyele Village. They were pretty curious about the mzungus :).

The kids LOVE to chase the drone while it's flying!

One of the villages we visited that had a borehole drilled last year. 

Our time in Eastern Province was amazing. I hope you've enjoyed the pictures and stories from our trip there. And, I hope you have a better idea of what our lives are like here in Zambia. There's never a dull moment!

Love,
Libby

Also, get in the habit of commenting on my blog so that I know you are actually reading it. In fact, if you read this post, just go down to the bottom and leave me a little "I love you". And write a comment for the first five or so posts so it feels like everyone is engaged. After that, you only have to comment on the ones that speak more to you. Thanks!!