More health checks!  Katie has continued to lend her skills to those in Murundu and has been able to document information that will hopefully lead to improved health children.  She also took one girl who is paralyzed for a specialist visit after discovering that she still had some feeling in her legs.  We will be following up and start a therapy plan for this special young lady, Violet.  Please be in prayer about the best course of action for her treatment.

Jim finished up the volleyball courts.  He also held a meeting for the women on the benefits of moringa, how to grow it and how to use it.  He also started some cuttings. 

Tannen continued meeting with the different leaders around Enfys.  Many plans were made and will be put into action in the coming months.

Tomorrow they will finish with a few meetings and then board the plane home.

The work continues at Enfys.  The team doesn't have easy access to a computer anymore, so I am getting shorter text updates.

This is a picture of some of the women and Earn It students leveling the area to put up some new volleyball nets.  They plan to have a tournament when this work is done.  Just like in the US, sports can be a great outreach to the community and be an instrument to get youth to come hear the gospel.  We pray that God's glory will come though this area.


The leadership has also been having meetings to continue with planning and administrative decision making.  These in person meetings are

Thursday
Mark - More health checks and Abbi and I were invited to speak to a local school club (run by Fena Chibesa) on a TBD (to be determined) topic. We were ushered into the principal's office (oh boy, flashbacks of me getting in trouble in grade school went through my mind), where I had to explain that I was talking to some kids about something useful (even though I didn't know what just yet). She seemed to like us (I was grateful for Abbi's presence), so we passed the first test. We were then escorted across the school grounds where I was expecting to meet the kids, but our next stop was the school staff meeting in the school lounge, minus the smoke billowing out. We passed the second test - screening from all the teachers so they luckily called us into the classroom. The "club meeting" ended up being half the school, so I figured I better come up with a topic fast. Fena Chebesa suggested we talk on staying in school, so I acting like I knew what I was talking about. It seemed to be a hit and Kangwa translated for me. 1 hour later we finished up, and took pictures, but not before one of the students asked Abbi out (after raising his hand), so I picked up a machete (true story) from a boy in the front row and ran after the student. The kids rolled in the floor laughing, and they enjoyed asking Abbi questions about school in America. We were then sent back to the principal's office for a final debrief, and she asked us "what's next?" -- probably in the context of whether we were going to be a continual presence in her school - and I responded with "we're going to eat lunch next" (true story). I guess she figured out we weren't wanting anything in particular from the school. We did discuss HIV/AIDS prevention and that we could partner with this club in some way similar to how we used to partner with their STS club. We had a great time. 
Friday
Mark - More health checks and we headed through the bush to Kangwa and Fena's house for Lunch. As always, we had a huge entourage of village kids escorting us. Lunch wasn't ready, so they decided to bring it to us at the orphanage a little later. The walk was so nice, and the countryside was beautiful. We bought Mr. Maxwell (our head teacher at the Debbie Joy School) a new bike, and he was as appreciative as anybody I've ever seen receiving a gift. He fell to his knees in tears, and shook with excitement. He has to ride 2 hours on his bike every day to teach, and his old bike was missing most of the vital parts - including peddles. What a champion he is for our children!  We taught a Health and Hygiene Workshop to the caregivers group in the afternoon, and the women were so fun to work with.  
Saturday
Mark - We hit our 100th kid on the heath checks, so we have a nice process going here in the village. Tannen and Hildah manage the flow of kids, and Abbi and others help process the kids (name, age, grade, mosquito net status, weight, height, etc.), and I do a fantastic job taking pictures of the kids (someone has to do the dirty work). Katie (our nurse and quick-study doctor) and Martinz have done all the heavy lifting of checking the kids, and they are the reason these health checks have been so successful. We are following-up on all the kids that are in need of more care, and the Bwalya's have been so responsive in caring for the kids. Chawama (excellent!!!). We met with all the leadership and discussed the current state of the ministry, how we're doing compared to our vision, areas of strength, and areas of improvement. We ended the day a couple hours earlier than normal, and we ate at a real restaurant (Copper Cabana) - very appropriate name for us being in the Copperbelt of Zambia. We went downtown to get ice cream, and we finished it off with a cup of coffee at Dr. Thinus' house. It was a great day.

 Yesterday the team had a workshop with the caretakers of the children.  The lessons focused on health and hygiene. 

They also continued on with administrative meetings.  Jim helped to lay out plans for a new school building to be built.

They started to level off an area for four new volleyball courts. 

Today they continued with health checks.  Here is child 100.  What a little blessing!  The checks have been very well received and the information gained should help lead future programing.  Martinz has begun to feel that he should take additional classes in health.  He has been working closely with Katie as she completes these checks.

Tomorrow morning Mark and Abbi will be flying home.  Pray with us for safe travels.

From Ian:I am sunburned.

From Jonathan:Today and yesterday were very good days.  Yesterday Uncle Jim, Dad, and Tom finished putting the roof on the feeding center.  It looks Great!  Katie, Tannen, Mark, and Abbi, continued to do health check ups on the kids.  Dez and Ian did a good job entertaining the kids and helping with the check ups.  I spent the day speaking at the church plant school.  Today was a day where we assessed projects that could be worked on in the future.    
From Tannen:I'm super impressed with this year's team, and also the work that the Bwalyas, Martinz, Kangwa, Fena and the Enfys staff have been doing.  It's a blessing to be part of such a strong team with a variety of gifts/talents.  Katie and Martinz have done an excellent job with the health checks and we are the majority of the way through checking the Enfys kids.  Both of them have a passion for helping people that shows in the attention that they give to each child that comes through the door. It's exhausting work for them, though, and the cue keeps growing at the end of the day with others from the village as we are trying to finish with those who are on the Enfys roster.  Dez, Abbi, Mark, and I have been support staff trying to keep things organized, provide a drink/snack, and collecting bio, height/weight, and other health-related information before each child goes in for their health check.  Abbi and Dez are both very focused and consistent in their work and are really getting to know the kids and noticing some trends.  They also both seem to thrive when they are nurturing, caring for and playing with the kids on the side when they have a little bit of free time.
In addition to the health checks we had "career day" at the Debbie Joy School.  Fena and Maxwell had a very well-organized program where all of the kids were involved in singing, dancing, and poems. The leadership within LRPI and Enfys got to say a few words to the kids and their care-takers.  Each child (K-5th grade) stood up and told us in english their name, how old they are, and what they want to be when they grew up.  A few of them were even dressed up in accordance to their chosen occupation.  Mark, Katie, Kangwa, Maxwell's wife, and Maxwell shared a little bit about their professions and what the children should focus on to be able to make it in their area of interest.  
Most of kids have been sporting their new shirt and shoes that had been provided to them and it is SO GOOD to see these kids with shoes.  The roof looks amazing, and was finished in the afternoon.  Joseph suggested that the Enfys crew build the brick for new school buildings and we come in and build the roof - so basically the recruiting for the next trip has begun.  Everyone seems to have appreciated their time here and the relationships that have been built.  We each have something to learn, to give, and to receive regardless of which side of the ocean we come from.

It must have been a busy day.  We got just a short text.

"We had another amazing day. The roof is done. Johnathan taught at the church plant school. It went well. Lots of meetings and medical work. Tomorrow we go to the farm."

As some reference information, the roof is covering the feeding area that they also use as classroom space for the Debbie Joy Memorial School.  It was covered by plastic before.  The new steel roof is a big improvement and should provide shelter for many years to come.  The church plant school that Jonathan taught at is run by Dr. Thinus (who graciously houses our ministry team) and takes in students (adults) to train them as pastors.  It is not directly associated with the orphanage where the other work is being done. 

From Abbi-It was a successful day of roof building and health check-ups. I think that the people were appreciative of the new roof and we identified that some of the kids had fevers and helped to further treat that. Some of us walked down to the village and prayed over a girl named Violet who is paralized. That was very touching and emotional. I was able to walk to the Murundu school to watch the kids play soccer and race around the track (all of them were barefoot). They are certainly athletic and very fast! We ended the day with a discussion about adoption.

 From Mark- The team worked hard in the African sun alongside our partners to almost dry-in the school/church, and the roof looks incredibly professional. Way to go guys! I provided a steady supply of water and sun screen to the team, but mostly stayed inside to assist with the health check-ups. As far as the check-ups, the team worked together to identify and help with a variety of illnesses: malaria-related 105 fever, sickle cell anaemia, HIV kids with bad reactions to the ARV drugs, and other suspected health issues. It was a humbling time of learning and helping. It felt good to give back in a tangible way. We will continue tomorrow with the health check-ups, roof building project, church planting school education, meeting with the district commissioner, and an career day at the Debbie Joy School with all the kid's guardians invited to join us. We are all eating and feeling well. 

Des,Today when we woke up and went to the village, Grandpa, Dad, Dr.T,and Uncle Jim were pulled over by the immigration officers.  They wanted to see our passports, but we had left them at home so Dad, Grandpa, and I had to stay with the officers while Uncle Jim and Dr. T. ran back to the house to get them. Today at the village we did some heath check ups on the kids. I felt like a real nurse. I have made lots of new friends.The kids here in Africa are so easily entertained I brought some snow in a bottle where all you have to do is put in a bucket and then put some water in it  and BAMMMMM there is snow. The kids here are really good at mostly all the sports they are better than me.

Ian,Hey there, today we woke up, got dressed then went to Shoprite to get groceries. Then we got on the mini bus and went to Murundu. There, Katie did Health checks and I went to the place where the orphans live(in mud huts). After that I went to play with the kids we played baseball and no hoop basket ball very fun. Uncle Jim, Dad, Grandpa and Doctor T got all the trusses up for the roof. I made a new friend JJ Joseph's son, he can speak real good English. It was fun. and see ya!

From Ian (9):I like it here.  I met Meshack and Frank today.  The people are more friendly than American people.  I played baseball and basketball with all the kids.  I really really like Joseph's kid JJ (Joseph Junior).  I would rather live here than in America.  Is grandma worried to death about us?  I love the food.  They have the best chicken.  Ian wants you to know that he didn't actually do the typing, he just said the words so if there are any mis-spellings then it is Tannen's fault.  South African airlines is actually really good because the give us actual fool meals and a packet of stuff to play with.  We have walked a lot.  My new favorite pop is now Miranda Orange pop.  


From Dez (13):  I met Karen.  They have the best chicken here, it is better than KFCs.  I watched them pluck the chicken.  Tell Peyton that we turned really really really red but we didn't turn black.  I've met like 5 friends.  I got 4-5 marriage proposals.  They call us "Muzungus".  My first plane ride was pretty scary because I've never been in a plan before.  I played volleyball, basketball, and soccer.  Tell Grandma that we are all fine and she doesn't need to worry.  There was a gecko in the sink.  The kids loved the easter egg hunt.  They all loved their new shoes and shirt.  Tell mom that I want to live here.  I am going to hide in the bushes so that I can stay here for longer.  


From Tannen and Katie:Hey everyone.  It's been a great trip so far.  Everyone is acclimating well and we don't have any sick team members.  Today was the first day in Murundu village for those of us who arrived yesterday (Saturday).  Uncle Jack preached in the morning.  Hildah summarized his last 2 sermons (from previous years) which was pretty impressive.  Jonathan and Kangwa led the youth retreat. Katie, Mark, Abbi, Tannen, Hildah, Fena, and Maxwell and a few others who were in and out throughout the day spent the afternoon organizing and passing out the shoes and t-shirts that were donated (yes, we took pictures!).  That was actually quite a task and kept all of us busy until about 6 pm. Most of the kids didn't have any shoes and were really excited to receive them.  Every child got at least one shirt and we were able to find shoes that fit almost all them.  We plan to give more shoes and shirts out at the Debbie Joy School on Tuesday.  It's been cool how welcoming everyone's been and that they are excited to have us here.  Also how hospitable Dr T has been.