"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phil. 4:8
Kamanga Lifeway Christian Academy is one of Family Legacy's 17 private schools that are the in compounds around Lusaka. The children who attend these schools are sponsored, but they still live at home. Their sponsorship pays for them to go to school, have a uniform, and be fed lunch every day at school.
Kamanga is a newer school. A lot of the schools used to be old bars, buildings, or houses, but Kamanga was built from the ground up, so it is a nice facility with a great courtyard for them to play in and to have assemblies. The classrooms are all decorated nicely with posters made by the teachers. We tried to show the teachers how to use the posters intentionally instead of just having them up, though.
front of the classroom
Class "library" before I helped him reorganized it
Grades 1 through Grade 7 attend school there. Grade 7 goes a full day, 7:30 to 4:30, but everyone else comes for a half day session, 7:30 to 11:30 or 12:30 to 4:30. They have break time at 9:45 and at 2:45. The kids sing and dance and play games. I tried to join in a few times, but it turned into them piling on top of me! They just want to be around you, to hold your hand, to touch your hair, etc.
playing a game during break
playing with Hildah and Beatrice at break
The boys "ringing the bell" for break time. (Sorry the video is sideways!)
Lunch is served from 11:30 to 12:30. There are some sweet caretakers who take turns cooking for the children.
Kathryn said that this community is very close and special. There was a group of caretakers who felt so proud to have a new school, and wanted so badly to be able to share their appreciation, that they formed a group to do things for the school, such as come in and clean the bathrooms. I can't imagine what our PTO members at schools in the states would say if we asked them to come clean the bathrooms! These ladies do it with such an appreciative spirit.
Each session of school began with an assembly. They sing and dance, say the Lord's Prayer, recite their One Way pledge (John 14:6), and march to class. It is such a great way to start the day for these kids!
One of my favorite dances they did at assembly :)
Also, I love how in sync George and Chewe are leading the dance. George was his mini-me.
There are 5 teachers at the school. My teacher was Chewe Tungati. He teaches grade 6 in the morning and grade 2 in the afternoon. He was great with both ages! This is his first year teaching. He said he went into the army for a year after he finished Grade 12, got a 2 year business certificate after that but could not find a job, so he went back to get a 2 year teaching certificate. He wants to continue to go to school to add his certification to teach P.E. and Art. He was great with both ages - grade 2 and grade 6. He could go from helping the little ones tuck their shirts in at assembly to joking and connecting with the older ones.
The teachers at Kamanga are very close and work together as a team so well. Chewe said that if he ever needed anything, he could ask any one of them. When we asked them things like, "Who helped the children learn this song?", they would answer with things like "We all did. It was a team effort." They never wanted to take credit unless it was for the team. They were all incredible to work with! They were hungry to learn and to soak up any knew strategies they could in the 2 weeks we were there. We were all encouraged by how much they seemed to learn and put into practice in such a short amount of time.
Saturday:
After unpacking a little, we went to dinner at the Legacy Center with the other Camp Life people. After dinner, we went over to the girls' house to help them paint canvases. The Grade 7 kids at FCA have started a "business". They painted canvases and put their handprints on them to sell at the market. We just added words like joy, peace, love, etc. The profit is going towards taking them on field trips. It's a great idea and such a good opportunity for those kids! They need to get out there and be able to experience the world around them.
Sunday:
Sunday morning, we went to church at the Tree of Life. I sat with a little girl named Jennifer who had just moved into a house the day before. She had been at Chelstone, the transitional house they move into before moving into the Tree of Life. She told me her mom had died last week but that she loved being at Tree of Life.
with a sweet new friend, Jennifer
so good to see sweet Paulina again
There is something about worshiping next to rescued orphan children, holding their hands, hearing their beautiful voices singing praises to God. There is nothing like it! They sing from their hearts, and they are not afraid to dance and move around. They just radiate joy for the Lord!
After church, we had lunch on the hilltop and shopped at the market. Many vendors gather on the hill each week to sell beautiful items which make great souvenirs. I ran into Teacher Edna from last year! She works at Faith Christian Academy, and Amy was her Teach ONE teacher last year. She sells things in the market on the weekends to make more for her family. She is so sweet, and it was great to see her!
me with Teacher Edna at the market
Teach ONE team overlooking the beautiful view
We then had our Teach ONE meeting that afternoon. I found out I would be with a male teacher named Chewe who teaches Grades 6 and 2. Our focus would be on literacy and teaching them how to use the basal readers. As a teacher in Coppell, we have it so ingrained in us not to use textbooks and to create all of our own units and ideas, but that is not an option for these teachers. They are very behind in their strategies and ways of teaching, and these textbooks are GREAT resources for them. They have had them in their classrooms for awhile now, but they needed more instruction and modeling on how to use them effectively.
Kathryn, Alicia, and Kenley came to our meeting and told us a few stories that put things into perspective. Kathryn said that they had a professional development for the teachers earlier this year, and she tried to do a scavenger hunt with them. The first clue was "Please sit down. Someone will be with you shortly." They were supposed to go to the room where the receptionist sits. Instead, they all read it literally and sat down to wait. :) Those were the teachers! They have just not been exposed to a lot of experiences and critical thinking. Another example was trying to get them to get into 2 groups using puzzle pieces. They walked around confused for 20 minutes, and the lesson turned into helping them work a puzzle, learning how to identify edge pieces and put it together. They are smart people, they just have not had the same experiences we have had.
After our meeting, we headed to the Legacy Center for a quick dinner and then came back and played a game with our group. It was a good time to laugh with the girls and bond. I could already tell it was going to be a great group and loved seeing friendships form.
We left DFW at 12:30pm on Thursday. I traveled with Diana, Mariah, and Amanda. When we got to the airport, Diana and I noticed that our seats weren't together anymore. She said that I would soon learn that her motto was: "It never hurts to ask!" She went to the desk and asked about us switching, and we lucked out. He moved us so that she had the aisl seat, I had the window seat, and no one had the seat between us! It was so nice to have more room! We flew on Emirates, which I had never flown before. It was fine, and everyone was very friendly. I did not sleep much on the plane because I could not get comfortable, but overall it wasn't too bad considering it was 15 hours long.
new friends!
We landed in Dubai at 12:30 the next day. We were already jet-lagged, but we knew we had to stay up. We dropped off our stuff at the airport hotel and made our 3:30 time to the Burj Kalifa - the tallest building in the world.
We were a little underwhelmed by the top of the building experience. It was hard to see much because of the dust/smog. (hence why you can't see much in the pictures) It was okay and kept us entertained for a couple of hours, and we checked it off of our bucket lists.
Top of the Tallest Building Selfie!
Too bad it looks like a bunch of nothing behind us! :)
Afterwards, we wandered around the Dubai mall for a bit. It was huge and very international. There were so many stores and restaurants that we have at home.We headed back to the hotel for dinner and tried to stay there talking and playing a game of Charades, but we didn't last long. We kept checking our watches every 2 minutes. We finally called it a night about 8:00.
We left the next morning at 9:30am, and the 7 hour flight seemed so short compared to the day before. It was so nice to actually land in Zambia after a long 2 days of travel. Tia, Kathryn, and Alicia came to pick us up. It was good to see them! :)
We drove to "Am Com" (American Community) where we were staying for the 2 weeks. Amanda and Taylor live there full-time, but they were in the states having their 2nd baby, so we got the whole house to ourselves. It was so nice to be able to stay there, to have room to spread out and to lesson plan at night, and to be together. Amanda, Mariah, and I shared a room. Patty and Diana shared a room, and Tia had a bed in the dining room! :)
When you look at the children at Kamanga Lifeway Christian Academy, it is easy to notice their precious uniforms, the smiles and faces of joy, the laughter, the dancing, and the singing. These are blessings from God, signs that these little souls have been restored and redeemed and are loved by their God. Their school is their second home, their safe place.
Step outside the walls of the school, however, and go through the gate. Enter their every day lives, the compound in which they live, the situations they return home to after school, the stark contrast to the hope found at school.
While I was there, I never wanted to forget where they come from, the situations they endure every day. They all have stories, reasons they are there. Though teaching these children academics is undoubtedly important, loving on them, making them feel protected and valued, and instilling them the belief that they can be something is vital. In a place where orphans are usually shunned and forgotten, the teachers at Kamanga have decided instead to be a light, to love on them, to invest in their lives.
Meet Mary.
I could not get over the cute little bonnet she wore to school or the entire outfit ensemble. She was too precious for words. She does not wear a uniform to school because she does not have one. Mary is new to Kamanga LCA because she just took her sister's place. Her sister died in March. Death at a young age is common and something these children are sadly used to. So many are dying of disease, malnutrition, AIDS, and many preventable or treatable diseases. Thanks to Family Legacy, many children are now getting nourishment from lunch at school every day to help them build an immune system that is able to fight many of these diseases.
Meet Espina.
She was a cutie, and from what I heard from Diana, who taught Grade 1, she was a little mess in class, too. She had quite a personality. Wouldn't you, though, if you were only 6 years old and walked a long distance to and from school every day, went home to no one and had to cook and wash your uniform yourself?
Meet Bridgett.
I don't have a picture of Bridgett because I actually never met her. Her name was called on the roster every day, yet she was never in class. When I talked to Chewe, the teacher, about her he said that she often liked to drink beer and "have fun" with the men in the community. He had recently seen her out around 9pm one night as he stopped by the store, and she saw him and ran. She had not returned to school since. He said that she was probably embarrassed and ashamed to see him again at school. This lifestyle, unfortunately, is reality for many young girls. They are taken advantage of and led into lifestyles such as this for money, to feel worth, etc. Please pray with me that Bridgett will not feel so ashamed that she cannot return to school. Pray that the discipleship leader can reach out and speak to her and her family, to guide her, and that she will see the importance of her education.
Meet George. (and settle in for a long story!)
There are not enough words to explain what George meant to us these 2 weeks. From the very first day, we all recognized George's leadership, his bright smile, and the spark in his eyes. He is a Grade 7 student, and he often leads the school assembly, engaging the kids in song and dance with his vibrant personality and natural leadership abilities. I think at some point we had all hugged George tightly and told him how great he was, how we felt he was going to be something great for Jesus!
On Tuesday of the second week, we heard news that George's stepfather was arrested for stealing and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. With no way to provide for the family, George's mother told him that she would be moving him and his siblings back to the village as soon as possible. George was devastated. This meant he would not be able to attend school anymore. Education is the key to getting out of poverty for these children. George also knew that he would have a big responsibility for caring for his family. He already did piece work every night after going to school 7:30 to 4:30.
While eating lunch, and discussing the situation, we noticed sweet George out the window standing by a pole alone, his head hanging down, while the other kids played in the courtyard. He slowly walked across the courtyard and sat down, still within our view. His head was in his hands. We immediately all looked at each other and said, "I can't take it! Bring him in here!" Diana went to get him, and we brought him in to pray with him. As we prayed for God to provide a way for him to stay at Kamanga, George's tears streamed down his face and onto the floor. We were all in tears. Our hearts were broken and hurting for him. We hugged him, told him we loved him and that we were continuing to pray for his situation. We encouraged him that God would use him in mighty ways, even if it was in the plans to return to the village. It was a special moment, one I will never forget.
We left that day not knowing if we would see George again. We didn't know how quickly his mom would take them away or what could be done for their family. The discipleship leader was looking into it, and we brainstormed, as well. We were pretty sure Diana was about ready to adopt him if she could have! :) The Tree of Life was not an option since he is over the age of 13. His only hope was finding a "well-wisher", a neighbor or friend in the community who would take him in. Because most people are struggling so much themselves, having an extra mouth to feed is not usually something they want to take on.
George came to school on Wednesday and Thursday, and we saw more of his smile, as he seemed to be more of himself again. We still did not know what would happen for him, but we continued to pray. On Thursday, we had just had our morning devotional and had prayed for our day and for George. Diana got out her ipad to video our drive to school through the compound. Just as she did, she said, "That's George!". He was walking up ahead of us. We pulled up beside him and said, "Get in the car!" Mariah jumped into someone's lap, and we now had 5 people in the back seat. We told him we had just prayed for him, and his smile was bigger than I have ever seen. When we drove up to the gate at school, he beamed as he waved to the children. You could hear them saying, "George???" when they noticed he was in the car. Who knows if he has ever ridden in a car before. It is such a blessing that Diana got the whole thing on video on her ipad. She looked at him and told him to say good morning, and with the cutest grin on his face, he just said "Morning!!!!" After we parked, we tried to take a group selfie in the car, and we laughed so hard as Diana and Tia could not figure out how to get their finger out of the picture. George was all smiles, laughing at us, too. It was truly such a special moment. God put him in our path that morning. We needed that, and George needed that. It was such a sweet reminder to me of his faithfulness.
On the last day of school, at the assembly, Tia asked the kids to share any "happy thoughts" from the week. This is unusually hard for the students. They are not used to verbalizing things they are thankful for or coming up with positive phrases. George raised his hand, though, and ever so sweetly said, "I want to thank you all for your advice." Oh my goodness....tears!!
God may have used us to give George "advice" that week, but I am pretty sure he used George more for us. Through him, God reminded me how much he takes care of his children, how he has plans we cannot see or even imagine, and how everything is working together for his purpose and glory.
I do not know will happen to George, but I know the God that does. Please pray with me for George and for all of the other children who have stories of their own.
Thank you, Jesus, for blessing us with George and his contagious smile and personality. Thank you for allowing us to be a very small part of his story. Thank you for gentle and sweet reminders of your faithfulness and love.
My team of teachers this year was all new to Teach ONE, except Tia, our leader. When I signed up for for the trip this year, I was more anxious about not knowing any of the girls than I was last year, even though I had been before. We became close last year, so it just seemed weird to be going with a different group. (Missed you Allison and Amy!!!)
My God knows I am such a people person, though, and he heard my prayers. One of my very favorite ways God demonstrates his faithfulness to me is through new friendships. I absolutely love to see how he crosses paths and lives, connects people, and develops relationships in his perfect timing. Over the 2 and a half weeks together, I grew to love and respect these girls so much, and I am thankful God chose each one of us to serve together.
Tia was our leader. She is on staff with Family Legacy stateside and works with education. She used to be a 1st grade teacher, and her gift for teaching reading shined brightly this trip! Though we gave her a hard time for hitting the bumps and pot holes with speed, she was really great at getting us everywhere we needed to be, all the while driving on the "wrong" side of the road! We also would not have known what to do without her bag full of essential oils to keep us healthy and her constant "I have an oil for that!" :)
Her heart for Jesus is evident, and I am thankful God chose to use her leadership for Teach ONE.
Superstars!
Diana and I met at the meeting for our trip in May. After a few text messages back and forth, I could tell we would become quick friends. Diana LOVES life. She is so full of the JOY of the Lord, and her passion for children just radiates from her. She is a 1st grade teacher at home, and her gifts and talents were used mightily by God on our trip. We bonded over our ability to cry at the drop of a hat. She reminded me of me last year....so overcome with emotion. By the end of the trip, we had all picked up on her many "Diana-isms". "Sister!! Oh my stars! and Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" What a blessing it is to call her friend!
Diana and me
Amanda and I recognized each other from Baylor and decided that we probably had some education classes together. This is what I love about God! Our paths had crossed before, but it was in God's timing that we would meet again and get to serve together. Amanda is a high school history teacher, so teaching reading at the elementary/middle school level was far outside of her comfort zone. I am proud of the way she still allowed herself to be used by God! It didn't take her long before she was reading children's books to us at night and using a puppet! :) She tells the best stories, and she definitely kept us all laughing for 2 weeks.
God has given her a gift for working with young people, and her Grade 7 students were so lucky to have her at Kamanga.
Roomies: me, Amanda, Mariah
Patty is a librarian in Austin. To sum it up, Patty was our mom for 2 weeks. She took care of us, prayed for us, did our laundry, and cleaned up after us in the kitchen....all because she was given such a servant's heart. In return, we taught her how to take selfies and post pics on Instagram. ;) What I love about Patty is her strong faith in Jesus and how she turns to Him so quickly. As soon as anything was mentioned, Patty would already be praying for us aloud. You would never know that she hasn't taught in a classroom before! I know she was such a blessing to her Zambian teacher and students.
Patty and me
Mariah has been going to Zambia for several years, but this was her first time with Teach ONE. She recently graduated, so she hasn't had a classroom of her own just yet, but she is a natural teacher! She truly radiates Jesus around those children! Mariah was our DJ on the trip, and our resident Nyanja expert. We got each other's stupid jokes, and I loved her constant interjection of song lyrics! :) I loved getting to share a room with her and getting to know her heart for the orphan and vulnerable children. God is going to use her in big ways (maybe even moving to Zambia!), and I cannot wait to see his plans unfold for her.
me with Mariah overlooking the beautiful view at the Legacy Lodge
Kenley, Alicia, and Kathryn all live in Zambia year-round and work in education for Family Legacy. Kenley was on my trip last year and moved to Zambia shortly after. She is now the principal at Faith Christian Academy, Family Legacy's private school for the kids in full-time care. Getting to see the school again this year was amazing . God has used her to transform it, and so much change has happened in a short time. There is more structure, more training for the teachers, and more opportunities for the students. I am so proud of her, her heart, and her willingness to move halfway around the world and serve our God.
me and Kenley
Alicia moved to Zambia at the same time as Kenley. She had also done the Teach ONE trip, but a different one than I did last year. She is the deputy for several schools in the compounds. It was great to see her again and to see how she is being used, as well! The next group is going to be at one of her schools, Mtendere, and I can't wait to see pictures and to hear how it is going.
Katryn has been in Zambia for awhile as the Superintendent of Schools. She has the HUGE job of running and overseeing 17 schools in the compounds. I am always amazed her her humbleness, her patience, and her leadership. Pray with me that God will send her amazing Zambian teachers who love those children, as well as American teachers/leaders who can help in the education realm.
All three girls took us in while we were there. We stayed at a house beside theirs in the American community, and they welcomed us with open arms. They came over to hang out several times, went to dinner with us, and were just a great source of encouragement. I loved spending time with them and learning more about what they do day in and day out.
The whole group on our safari:
Amanda, Diana, Mariah, Tia, Kathryn, me, Kenley, Patty, Alicia
God bonded our team together quickly! We never complained about having to stuff 4 people in the backseat of the car every day because we loved the togetherness! :) Telling the girls bye at the airport was hard, and I already can't wait for a reunion!
All in all, I could not have asked for a better group of women with which to share this experience. Thank you, Jesus, for new friends.
These are those "had to be there" moments, but with my infamous terrible memory, I want to have a place to go back to read them and smile. :)
-Diana telling the flight attendant her "partner" wanted a pear
-trying so hard to stay awake in Dubai and fight jet lag, trying to play the charades game, and checking our watches every 2 minutes to see if we could go to bed yet
packing in our car "Zambian style", deciding who was going to be the "up" person so 4 people could fit in the back seat :)
-Catholic church speed bump where we went airborne and hit our heads on the ceiling
-trying to take the power outage selfie in the kitchen and the funny shadows that were a result
-Diana's constant "Where's Amanda?!" despite her being the tallest one
-discovering that there is an oil for everything and laughing so hard as Diana gargled one of them
-Amanda re-telling her basal reader story "A Bed Full of Cats"
-Tia's "Superstar" move and having all the children at Kamanga do it on the last day
-Mariah trying to fit through the window at the Family Legacy office when Kathryn forgot the key
-the extremely bumpy road on the way to Chaminuka safari and the bump where we literally paused and sat silently for 5 seconds afterwards, thanking Jesus we were still alive
-naming ourselves the Cheetah Girls after our cheetah walk, and Patty deeming herself Captain, "I'm the Captain, you know!"
-Mariah leading Camp Life songs out the window on the last day with the kids
-putting George in our car on the way to school (a whole blog post on this later!) making it now 5 of us in the back seat, then trying to take a selfie while George just laughed at us
-Diana's constant "Sister!!!" and how she has a story for literally everything
-Chewe playing Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" in class as his example of a modern song
-Mariah's teacher: "No, no not crap. Clap!!" (They get their l and r sounds backwards.) :)
-passing by a corner where someone was selling brooms and Diana saying, "Is this art??"
-Mariah's note from her teacher on the last day: "I wish you could stay longer so I could suck more knowledge."
The first few days back my heart feels like a huge part of it was left behind. It is a hard feeling to describe because it entails so many emotions.
I feel so blessed to have spent 2 weeks with precious vulnerable and orphan children and their teachers, to hear their stories, to see their joy despite struggles, and to love on them daily. I am humbled that God chose me to go and to play a small part in His bigger plan for their lives. It was truly an amazing trip, and I can't wait to share more about what God is doing in Zambia!
Prayers:
-that I will adjust back to life here but continue to be sensitive to what God is teaching me
-that my eyes will be open to ways to serve the poor and the fatherless around me, not just in Zambia
-the Zambian teachers we mentored - that they will continue to grow as educators and love on and nurture those precious children
-the children we taught - that they will feel important, valued, and loved by their Creator
-the ladies that are still in Zambia and will do the 2nd Teach ONE trip - that they will have renewed strength and rest, that they will develop relationships with their teachers quickly and that the teachers will be receptive to the knew knowledge
2 Weeks. I can hardly believe it has been a year since I was in Zambia, and I really cannot believe I leave again in 2 weeks. God has truly started working to prepare my heart more in the last few weeks. Seeing this picture Tia posted tonight brought tears to my eyes. The girls that went with me last year know that I cried every single day I was there. I am a pretty emotional person anyways, but seeing those children and hearing their stories just brought out so much emotion.
I am so excited to be able to return. I cannot wait to love on the teachers and the children. I am looking forward to hearing their sweet accents and their precious singing voices. Though they have been through much more than we can imagine, they are filled with the JOY of the Lord.
Please pray for me as I wind down the school year and prepare to leave for Zambia. Pray for our team and the teachers and students we will work with in Zambia. I look forward to sharing pictures and stories of what God is doing there and how lives and hearts are being changed.
"I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you."
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