Jen and Cheri met with JoAnne and Marcie for breakfast. This was our first opportunity to discuss a low-income housing development project they're following in South Africa and meetings they will attend in Nairobi with people from the U.N. and other government agencies to work on a similar project there. We plan to do a project like that here in Ndola, near Kantolomba. Because we know nothing about how such things are done, the conversation was an education.
Today was Purity's first time to come to the clinic for treatment of the large, infected wound on her leg. It was a horrific experience. Fortunately, she understands that without the treatment she would die. Without benefit of anesthesia, she endured the cutting away of the surrounding skin and scraping out of the infection. Her cries were heart-rending.
The nurses clean out Purity's wound.
Later we stopped by the apartment. Over coffee and smoothies, Marcie and JoAnne wrote up the information for a pre-pre-application for a partnership with Cities' Alliance. Marcia will assist us in getting the applications through the right channels to the right people. While with us, Marcia got a call saying Bill Clinton would be at the gathering she was attending in Johannesburg on Thursday. She promised to put one of our Kantolomba brochures in his pocket.
Marcie typing up information for the proposal.
From the apartment, we walked the few blocks to catch Steve for a quick check-in before our meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Jennifer Musonda. Permanent Secretary is not an elected position; she is a civil servant, and hers is the highest office in the province. We were very fortunate to have a meeting with her.
Marcia and JoAnne explained to her and Steve what they have in mind for a coalition among all the parties to create successful, sustainable housing solutions for Ndola. Jennifer, as she graciously asked us to call her, knew all about our work in Kantolomba– it was she who instructed Steve to shepherd us through the building of the community center and medical clinic! It was a good, productive meeting, leaving us inspired and excited for next steps. The more we see of the powers that be in Ndola, the more impressed we are. These are hard working, sincere individuals, doing everything they can to make a difference in the community. It's a thrilling time to be here, participating in this life-changing work.
Left to right: Steve, Jen, Cheri, Marcie, JoAnne. Jennifer in front.
As is more often the case than not, we were behind schedule. Fortunately, we have two taxi drivers, Moyunda and Stanley, who take very good care of us. Moyunda rolled up with a second taxi in tow to speed us out to Kantolomba for the medical meeting that was a follow-up to Dr. Heather's visit. While Dr. Heather was here, it became obvious to us that every child, woman, and man in Kantolomba has a medical need. This meeting was an attempt to get a clearer picture of just what those needs are. Might they fall into categories? Might we be able to discern which individuals need immediate care, which can wait a bit, and which can be handled with some eye-drops or Head and Shoulders shampoo or a simple ointment?
Jen taking notes at the medical meeting.
As the medical gathering continued in the palapa, Tracey was meeting with Sam to continue hammering out sewing issues. Communication is very, very difficult. At the best of times, communication isn't easy, and when we add a different language, culture, and in Sam's case, religion, to the mix, it can get complex! We start with ambitions to come back to the U.S. with pants, skirts, bibs, bags, placemats and napkins, and after a few conversations realize that if we can come home with a few bags and a plan we'll have been wildly successful.
Tracey meeting with the sewing team.
The medical meeting took far longer than we could have imagined, and we decided to postpone the micro-finance meeting for a day. As we all stood around outside, Violet was told that she would go into town the next day to visit the dentist and find out about her teeth.
Violet finds out she is getting fitted for new teeth.
On the walk through the village, JoAnne and Marcia asked to stop by to see Beauty's new house. Beauty and her husband, who has a job at one of the mines, are building a new home to accommodate themselves, their new baby, and ten dependents. With three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room, we suspect it's the largest home in Kantolomba. We have been discussing the possibility of making a home-improvement loan to them so they're sure to get a good roof on the house before the rainy season. It's not so much that they can't afford to buy the tin for the roof--we don't know if they can or can't--it's that they are a high-profile, successful family, and the larger community could learn about savings, loan-making, and repayment through watching how Beauty and her husband handle the process.
Beauty's house under construction.
As we walked through the community to get a taxi, Marcie and JoAnne got a warm Kantolomba welcome. Children surrounded us, families called greetings, pigs and chickens wandered across the road, and the late afternoon light turned the whole countryside a soft orange-pink. As we moved toward the hills and out of the compound, unbeknownst to us, some of the women ran ahead to arrange taxis for us.
Some of our escorts to the taxi.
Waving goodbye.
A beautiful end to the day.
Back at the apartment, the "old folks" gathered for dinner and the sharing of impressions.