You helped provide clothes and toothbrushes to over 90 kids this year!

Recently, two Temwani Officers, Regan Murray and I , made the trek to Lusaka, Zambia to check on our projects and meet face to face with our key partners.  We want to report that your donations are having a real impact on children there!

Our objectives for the trip were ambitious — we squeezed in meetings and volunteer opportunities in the mornings, afternoons and evenings!  We intended to give real-time updates during our trip, but our busy schedule and short times at the internet café just did not give us the opportunity.

We have so many stories to share that we will feature them in depth over the next few months.

I know many Temwani supporters are anxious to hear about the trip , so here are some brief highlights with photos of the Angel Project, Kachele School, Blanket Project and the Braille Printer!

Angel Project 08

Luckily, all of our baggage arrived (after a few days) and we were able to distribute over 100 pounds of shirts, pants, socks, toothbrushes, crayons and other supplies to all 90 children at the Kondwa Day Center for Orphans and their teachers.

We are grateful to the students at the University of Zambia Service Learning Center and our friend Paul Schwengels for helping us that day!  Dressing the children, taking photos and getting it all done in a few hours was quite a challenge, especially since a member of the Zambian Parliament also visited that day too, complete with news crews.

The clothes for the appropriate ages were big for many of the kids, emphasizing that even thought they are fed well at Kondwa, they still come from impoverished backgrounds and need all the help we can give.

Regan Murray and the Kachele architect.

Kachele Primary School

Construction has begun! We were very excited to visit the land of the new Kachele Primary School, meet the construction Site Managers, and take photos and video of the building in progress!

The first 5 classrooms, dining hall and bathroom foundations were dug, and a block of three classroom foundations were built.

Workers at the Kachele land site build classroom foundations.

Assuming construction proceeds on schedule, a special group of 1st graders being schooled by teacher Sheila at the Kondwa Day Center for Orphans will move into Kachele this Fall and start 2nd grade there in January 2010.

The building will be completed in phases, and funds are still needed to complete the school buildings for next year and all 7 grades!

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Bevin Dunn greets families during blanket gifting.

Singing praises for the blankets.

Blanket Project 09

On our first day in Lusaka, we went to a shopping center where we could purchase warm Zambian- made wool blankets. The shop keepers gave us a volume discount and we purchased 200 blankets with money from blanket fundraisers.

We met the guardians of the 90 children at Kondwa Day Center and gifted two blankets to each family. Many guardian women were dressed in colorful chitenge fabrics and their beautiful African songs filled the air at the end of the day.

Other blankets were given to the teachers at Kondwa and to a special home for abused girls.

Braille Printer for HAITA

Over the past year we have been fundraising to help buy a business speed Braille embosser (printer) for a special group that translates HIV/AIDS materials into Braille for visually impaired students and adults in Zambia.

We were impressed that many of the HAITA (HIV/AIDS Info Tech Africa) staff are also visually impaired. They answered our questions about learning Braille and the need for the printer was evident, as a simple one page pamphlet takes upwards of 30 12×12 printed pages when translated!

Not only that, the printed materials need to have covers added and be spiral bound.  We hope to finish this project soon with the purchase of a new and much faster printer and help them purchase a paper cutter and binder as well.

by Marie Vagedes, LCSW
A little less than a year ago, I had the opportunity to join with a group of primary school teachers working in Lusaka, Zambia through the Kondwa Children’s Foundation volunteer trip.  This opportunity for connection took on the form of a 6-day workshop that my dear friend and colleague Leah Berger and I facilitated at the Kondwa Day Centre for teachers working at area schools within N’gombe compound. 

The workshop focused on grief and loss issues in children.  The material for the workshop was drawn from our combined personal and professional experiences. By drawing on my past work with Hospice, and Leah tapping into her expressive arts training, we were able to develop a well-rounded and culturally-sensitive workshop that surprisingly benefited not only the Zambian teachers, but ourselves as well.

Grief and loss are universal.  I believe this is why whenever discussion is opened on this topic that people begin to relate on a deep and intimate level with one another.  I have seen this to be true no matter the culture, religious belief, gender, ethnicity, or age.  Of course, just as anything in life, there are many individual differences in the human response to grief. 

Just as we can say that a leopard and a tiger are both cats, it is also true that there are many differences among them.  Similarly, all people of the world experience grief and loss, however, the expression it takes on can have many distinctions.  Because of this truth, Leah and I were able to connect with our group of teachers on a deep and meaningful level.  And although much of the material was intended to be educational in focus, it was not surprising that the emotions of joy, sorrow, anger, and fear were to some extent felt and expressed throughout the workshop.  With our words, we were able to elicit the deep emotions of grief and loss and then to normalize these emotions by offering healing and understanding.

Leah and I balanced traditional classroom teaching with experiential activities.  The teaching topics included wanted and unwanted changes in life, our reaction to change otherwise known as grief and mourning, developmental stages of children and how this affects their experience of loss and expression of grief, and practical interventions that can be used with children. 

One activity that stands out in my mind took place near the end of the workshop.  We split the larger group of forty people into smaller groups of about six people.  Each person was asked to think of an issue that the workshop material brought up for them, particular issues faced in the day-to-day life of each participant.  Then one by one each supporting member of the group was asked to provide feedback about how they would handle the situation.  Each supporting member would begin by stating, “If I were in that situation I would . . .” and then offered his or her suggestion.  The small group discussions were very interesting but they also served the purpose of letting the teachers know that they were not alone in the challenges they faced and that by coming together and talking of the difficult situations, they could help and support one another.

I was so very impressed with the dedication and commitment the teachers displayed.  After working their regular school day, each would arrive at Kondwa Day Center with smiles and a readiness to learn.  Through their willingness to take this time and to be open to listening to what is a difficult topic for most of us, they showed strength and courage.  I am confident that because of these qualities, they will be able to take what they learned and give understanding and hope to the children with whom they work in the community.  I saw not only an intellectual understanding of grief and loss occurring, but also an emotional learning.  Through their willingness to talk about their own experiences with loss and death, they begin to give children the permission to speak of it as well.

Knowing and accepting that “change is truly the only constant” is the only thing we can count on happening in life.  As long as we tip toe around the topic of grief and loss, we are not accepting life on life’s terms.  We are not accepting ourselves.  Alternatively, when we can face it and accept it with courage and strength, we learn how to take care of ourselves and to support each other through life and death.  It is my wish that this message is being spread through the teachers of Ngombe compound that attended the workshop.  I thank the Kondwa Children’s Foundation for providing me with this awesome opportunity to join with them.  I thank also the teachers and ask them to remember, “Laugh when you can, cry when you have to”.