Posted: 24th September 2018
Peter & Cathy Nicholls with Team 1 in Zambia 30 June-15 July 2018
We are safely back from Zambia, in fact 3 weeks ago now. It was a most profound and amazing experience and Mission Direct really does “do what is says on the tin”. We were able to lay the foundations for the new classroom at Kumbayah Community School in the Chaisa compound and the builders laid the slab as we left, ready for Team 2 to start on the walls. √ Bricks and cement used! We completed painting the inside of the multi-purpose room at the Vision of Hope transitional home for street girls, ready for Team 2 to paint the outside. √Paint used!
Peter with the Re-wired Team installed 40 computers in partner schools around Lusaka and ran a training day for teachers. √Computers in place! Then in the afternoons we had the privilege of visiting street children at the Chisomo drop in day centre; feed 500 children at Kumbayah School; play games with children at Cry Community School, meet boys living on the streets of Lusaka and help one of them return to his family in the Copperbelt.
What remains with us are the inspirational people we met who are passionate about living our their Christian faith and helping the most vulnerable in their communities. Vasco and his team who visit the streets to help find children who want to go back to their families; Amos and Ketty who started a community school and a home care outreach in one of the many shanty towns; Josephine and Aaron who began the drop in day centre for street children; Chitalu and her team who look after street girls and their children, until they can go back to their families; Agnes and her team who run a one-room school shared by 4 classes with about 250 on the roll.
There is so much more to tell and we are gradually working through our photos and our stories and hope to put together a presentation we can share with others. But we wanted to come back to you with our huge thanks for your support, your prayers, your interest and to let you know that what you contributed actually arrived and has been put to work providing children with facilities they did not have before and – through the Zambian partners on the ground – opportunities to thrive and hope for the future. To God be the glory.
Our trip ended with 2 days in the Livingstone area seeing the overwhelming Mosi oa Tunya (Victoria Falls), game animals in the wild and sunset on the Zambezi. The whole trip was a huge privilege and we prayerfully seek how best to take this forward into the future.
With our thanks and love,
Cathy and Peter
