thanks for the memories

Goodbye Zambia, I'll be back...

My time in Africa gave me the opportunity to connect with real people instead of numbling statistics. Listening to stories of those who have faced tremendous challenge, but who have also demonstrated incredible courage. I’m humbled by the two charities that I worked for over my 9 month stay in Zambia -- learning that it’s not about us going in to do all the work, but simply empowering others to do the work themselves.

People ask me, “Isn’t it emotionally hard to walk so closely and intimately with those suffering?” If I’ve learned anything from my time in Africa, it’s that though the suffering is overwhelming, so too is the hope.

Hope makes itself known in different forms. For the many communities, it is found in clean water. No longer having to walk for miles, grandchildren are able to go to school because they are not needed to carry water.

Those with HIV are living longer and stronger lives because opportunistic diseases are no longer present and ARV’s have been provided to prolong their lives. Their clothes are cleaner, their crops are bigger, their hearts are stronger, their hope is higher.

I have personally grown on this 9 month journey in Africa and ready for my next challenges ahead. Thank you for listening and a HUGE thanks to those who donated to the projects and my work while in Zambia. I couldn't of done it without you!

Go well, my friends & hope to see you soon

Love, Tracey xoxo

Give and you shall receive

Counting down the days until I return back to Canada. It has been sad visiting some of the compounds, saying my 'goodbyes' but heartening in a way to know that I will be back and there are so many other volunteers coming through this project with lots of hope & love for the people of Africa.

I've spent the last week handing out clothes, toys, hats, even shoes off my feet for the needy. It's hard to explain how rewarding this work is over here in Zambia. But all I can say, is it's made me realize how blessed we are to live in a western world but also how many parts of that lifestyle is tainted by greed and money when others are starving as we turn a blind eye to it.

I hope my time in Zambia has opened your eyes and hearts to just a small part of the african world, and maybe you too can take some time to help these people who have more hope and happiness than I see back home...

Thank you Zambia!

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

Lontia - an inspiration

Lontia has lost all but 1 of her 7 children. She cares for 3 of her grandchildren and only has support of Isubilo. She has been burdened with leprosy so as you can see her hands & feet are only stumps, this is the least of her worries, her house is falling apart from the termite infestation and she has very little food to feed her family. She always has a smile on her face and is thankful to be alive & kicking.

Now this is an inspiration!

Be alert, stand firm in faith, be brave, be strong.
Do all your work in love. Amen

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Boys will be boys...

Hold a true friend with both your hands
-- Nigerian Proverb

My favourites

Home at the Buzzards!

My girls: Rachel, Emelda, Milley from Orphan Street

Helen from Kaloko
Joseph & Nicolas from Kawama

(Nico was our "Day in the Life of a Zambian Orphan" boy)

Jimmy's family from Chifubu

My boy David -nice shirt!!

Mary, Presley & Stevie at home in Kawama

Mable Melenga & David Daka

Robbie at Gomes

Precious Milley

(Product) Red

(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Website: http://www.joinred.com/products

The campaign hopes to all relate to the same place and the same idea: that Africa is the proving ground for whether or not we really believe in equality.

For example, we are witnessing a general desire and drift toward action on climate change, a very positive thing. But imagine for a moment that 10 million children were going to lose their lives next year due to the earth's overheating. A state of emergency would be declared, and you would be reading about little else.

Well, next year, more than 10 million children's lives will be lost unnecessarily to extreme poverty, and you'll hear very little about it. Nearly half will be on the continent of Africa, where HIV/AIDS is killing teachers faster than you can train them and where you can witness entire villages in which the children are the parents. All over the world, countless children will die as a result of mosquito bites, dirty water, and diarrhea. It's not a natural catastrophe—it's a completely avoidable one. Diarrhea may be inconvenient in our house, but it's not a death sentence.

The One Campaign to Make Poverty History is an umbrella group of different NGOs and grassroots activists from across the political spectrum who believe these issues are about justice, not charity.

In the project's first nine months, $25 million has gone directly from (Red) partners to the Global Fund, which grants money to health-care organizations around the world to fight aids, tuberculosis, and malaria. That is more than Australia, Switzerland, and China contributed last year.

From here, what's needed is a leg up, not a handout. Targeted debt cancellation and aid mean 20 million more African kids are in school, 1.3 million Africans are on lifesaving drugs. Amazing!

See Bono's message: http://www.joinred.com/red/bono.asp

Inspi(RED) ideas for the world
The statistics say it all: 33 million people worldwide currently live with HIV and Aids; 4,100 people die of Aids-related conditions every day. And that number is growing. Yet Aids is a preventable and treatable disease. It costs just 20p to fund the two daily antiretroviral pills needed to keep alive someone with HIV, but 70 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than £1 a day and cannot afford them.
That's where (RED) comes in. (RED)'s primary objective is to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate Aids in Africa (http://www.joinred.com/). Companies whose products take on the (RED) mark contribute a significant percentage of the profits from the sales of those products to the Global Fund, the world's leading provider of programmes to fight Aids, with a focus on the health of women and children. The fund also supports counselling, testing and education activities based on agreed performance targets, and disburses money in response to proven results.
Since 2006, more than $112 million has been generated by (RED), benefiting 2.5 million people. (RED) has already helped provide more than 93,000 people in Africa with life-saving antiretroviral drugs. If enough consumers buy (RED) products, those with Aids will stay alive longer and be able to take care of their families, contribute to their communities and live a fuller life.

Buying (RED) products saves lives: it's as simple as that.