Photo-A-Week #13: Our Students in Zambia

This year we travelled to Zambia again to visit the school that we have been supporting. It is our fourth time already. Therefore the teachers and students did not consider us as strangers. When a teacher asked the students whether they could remember us, they responded by saying out all the names of those who visited them before. In the eyes of the students, we are a special and caring team of Chinese who came to help them.

My heart was very grateful when I saw how the children could go to class and enjoy themselves during the activities. Indeed, the resources were very limited; there were over 300 students in total from grade 1 to grade 7 sharing the only 3 classrooms they had. Nevertheless, the teachers tried their best to organize various arts and sports activities with what little was available. In this class, the students designed and made their own pair of glasses with just metal wires. Even the teacher was wearing his proudly. Perhaps, not one of them had worn real glasses before. 

Look at the boys in the picture. How do you feel when you see them wearing their brightly-coloured glasses?

今年再去探望在贊比亞我們所支持的社區學校，老師和學生對我們都不陌生，因為已經是第四次了。然而老師問他們是否認得我們，他們的回應卻十分有趣，他們把曾探訪的義工的名字一個個的說出來，卻不是按貌辨人。在他們眼中，我們是幫助他們的中國人。

看他們上課、活動和表演，為他們有學校的生活感恩。他們的資源有限，七個年級、超過300名的學生共用三個課室，但他們仍為學生預備美勞、體育等各種課程。學生們以僅有的物料，製作自己的設計，看見同學們戴著不同款式的「眼鏡」上課，就連一位男老師也戴著「大大的闊邊眼鏡」，好不有趣；反而好像沒有一個戴真的眼鏡。你看他們的造型，覺得怎樣？

- Violin

Photo-A-Week #6: A Ball Made of Rags and Plastic Bags

Every football fan is following the Euro Cup 2012 this season. But did you know who won the Africa Cup of Nations this year? Neither did I until I started writing this photo-a-week entry. It was Zambia after beating Ivory Coast in a dramatic 8-7 shoot-out in February.

Football (or soccer for those in North America) is the most popular sport in Zambia. It is common for children to begin playing football at a very early age and continue well into adulthood. Despite its popularity, however, finding an actual football to play with is a rarity in this poverty-stricken country. Instead, children typically make their own balls by tying together discarded rags and plastic bags.

I still remember how happy and grateful the teachers were when we donated a simple football to their school. I could only imagine how much more excited the children were when they started playing with it. Perhaps for many of them, it was the first time in their lives touching a real football.

A missionary team will be setting off to Zambia later this month. Please pray that we can bring these children more than toys and games, but also true happiness from God's love and salvation.

- Joe

Photo-A-Week #5: Sad News from Zambia

Last Wednesday, I learned that two of the Grade 7 boys studying at the Chalubemba Basic School in Zambia were hit by a bus and died at the scene. Earlier this year, another girl in the same class died due to abortion and lack of proper medical treatment. Because I have visited the school two years ago, these news especially struck me at a personal level.

They were so young yet their lives were ended so prematurely. In fact, due to numerous diseases, lack of medical facilities, malnutrition, illiteracy, and various other social problems, death is a lot more common than what you would expect in most other countries. According to the World Factbook in 2011, the average life expectancy of a person in Zambia is 38.63 years old, ranking it at 221 out of a total of 223 countries listed. Comparatively, the average life expectancy of a person in Canada is 81.38 years old (approximately 2.1 times more than Zambia).

Canadians, Zambians, and wherever you are from, though we are located in different parts of the world, we are all humans. We all deserve the right to live our lives to the fullest. Therefore, I consider such growing disparities in life expectancy as our collective tragedy. Through the education programs from Light and Love Home in Zambia, I sincerely hope that we can help more people to attain the knowledge, skills, and morals to improve the quality of their lives.

- Joe

去年探望在贊比亞我們所資助的學校，與學生們活動，其中七年級的學生，英文程度稍為好，可以溝通。看他們上課，看他們做話劇（為我們表演），與他們玩隊長球。預備今年六月再去，相信他們興奮地等著我們，我們也開心去見他們，因為不再是陌生人，全不相識，然而這星期聽到其中兩名學生在上學的路途中被公車撞倒，當場死亡，連同早些時候因嘗試墮胎而死亡的女生，這七年級的學生已不再一樣。原來再見不是一件易事，因為他們的見識、生活條件、資源……威脅著他們的生命。希望六月中探望時，將永生的盼望帶給他們。

- Violin