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.

Statistics of Zambia

Every day 65 people die of AIDS in Ndola alone
One in every 6 adults in Zambia is living with HIV

Zambia has the highest number of aids orphans in the world

The average life expectancy in Zambia is 34 years

50% of the population is under the age of 15

Live Life to the fullest...

"It is what we make of what we have,
not what we are given,
that separates one person from another."
- Nelson Mandela

New Isubilo OVC Centre

The OVC Centre is up and ready for some organization. Here are photos of the progress being made by our great team!

Although the work is tedious, sorting through boxes in very hot containers and stinky cardboard infested by rats - it's nice to see the toys, games, sporting equipment all out and being used.

The Centre is made up of a Learning Room, Computer/Library, Counselling Room, an office and a very organized Store Room with school supplies & sporting equipment for the 260 children in the OVC program. We are currently painting the large hall while we wait on the library shelves being made by our carpenter, Oswald.

It has been wonderful to be part of the process here at Isubilo. Good luck to everyone getting ready for the launch!

17 days & counting...

Well, it’s been 8 1/2 months since I arrived to work/live in Zambia and I must say time still flies when dealing with the underprivileged in a charity NGO capacity. I doubted this, knowing I’d be on my own living at Lifespring Farm w/o my friends & family whom I rely upon so heavily. Plus, the African pace is much slower than corporate work in busy Toronto but I sit here with only 2 ½ weeks remaining and can’t believe I’ll be home the first week of June.

See, I’ve always had a house-mate since I left home after school in 1988 so I thought I’d be lonely here but not with 8 UK’ers around. The Benns & Burn family that live, run the farm & the charity/foundation have kept me busy plus socializing with the many amazing visitors who travel through this place that I’ve learned to call home.

Since December, I have made many friends in town and tried to get over to Chifubu once a week to help at the Isubilo charity and visit the children that you see posted all over my walls from my previous trips in 2003 & 2005.

As of April 10th, I moved off the farm and into Ndola to work at Isubilo Community Centre and live with 2 wonderful girls – Kristi from St. Catherines and Julia from Sussex, England. So I have housemates once again!!



I have so enjoyed my work at Isubilo as I speak more & more bemba every day and I have built stronger relationships with the staff & clients alike. My time with the Zambians has taught me so much about life struggle, dealing with disease/poverty & seeing how hard it is for the orphans to have practically no guidance from any elders therefore, leaving them with little self-worth and no discipline.

Just think what it would be like not to have parents to raise you and only be able to go to school for 3 hour periods so basically not enough time to be truly mentored by your teacher.

This is why I believe in these charities that have hired wonderful local people to help these children and to have a comfort stable place to visit and play with other children who are experiencing the same. It fills my heart to see the children rely on their friendships that they’ve made over the past 7 years as Isubilo clients. I have seen death of all ages,

I have recently seen some of my kids tested and are positive for HIV,

I had two of the boys steal from me and had to discipline accordingly (one of my saddest days here),

I have seen grown men beat women on the street,

I have seen young street boys get high by sniffing petrol from a coke bottle,

I have seen teenage girls sell their body for money,

I have seen children drinking water from the Mushili road ditch

and although all very hard to see-- this is life in Africa.

I now count my blessings that I was born in a country with opportunity and that I had my parents to teach me life lessons that children here miss out on. We are all God’s children and nobody deserves to live in such poverty.

I can only hope that my time with these children has been somewhat of a benefit to them. These precious people have certainly taught me a thing or two about simple living. Wherever my next path shall lead, I will walk with them in my heart and I will live a different life because of my experiences here.

Thanks for listening & keeping up on my blog.
Love, Tracey xox

Nelson Mandela says,

Our greatest glory in living lies not in never falling,

but in rising every time we fall.

Lifespring Farm Update

Happy Mothers Day to all!!

I’m sorry that I’ve been neglecting my blog lately. I have very little access or time for internet, but I’ve jotted down some notes to share with you about normal day-to-day activity at Lifespring Farm:

- Sue has grown a tree called Marenga which provides nutrients through the leaves which are grounded and then placed into their staple diet. This helps give nourishment to the HIV/AIDS patients and the underweight babies in our Isubilo program

- I take time to appreciate nature on the farm -- there was a beautiful yellow-billed eagle flying down into the banana plantation

- 15 people were sitting at the dinner table the other night (3 sets of visitors)

- Morgan, one of our many guards brought in an 8 foot king cobra snake (dead, of course)

- All six vehicles were broken down due to the crazy pot-holed road caused by rain and lack of maintenance. Luckily, we have 2 mechanics who worked 12 hour days to get them back up & running. ‘Way to Go’ / ‘Good Job’ which I say all the time, everyone laughs at our Canadian phrases – ‘well done’ is the more common UK term

- The sky is SO big!!! Lots of amazing stars (different hemisphere), fluffy dreamy clouds, HUGE moon and GIGANTIC sunsets. I realize that we are 1500m above sea level but it truly is amazing!

- I had a 4 year old visitor named Nala teach me how to pick a Guava off the tree, bite the skin, spit it out, then eat the juicy passion fruit inside – how delicious, wish I could bring some home!!

- The local market vendors/ladies show up at our gate before 6:00a.m. to purchase our bananas to sell for only 20,000 kwachas (which is $5) for a huge crate!

- I had a blister beatle spray two of my toes on my left foot – so a few weeks of ‘mangy’ pusey toes and some love & tender care from nurse Sue – fine now

- Orange wild flowers called African lilies are one of my favourite flowers here on the farm – others think them to be horrible weeds! They remind me of our expensive gerbers at home

- We had a power cut tonight but something about candle light that makes such a lovely ambience – quite a nice change

- The rain can be beautiful but the sound it makes hitting the tin roofs is something else, you can hardly hear yourself think. To watch the rain storms come over the African plains from a distance is a sight everyone should see!

- Our Farm Volleyball team is getting better with much practise – I can’t believe the difference. We try to play Mon.-Wed.-Fri.’s pending on weather and bike loans to get home. They miss out on catching the 5:00p.m. truck ride home so if they’ve had a tough/tiring day, no shows occur.

- Lawnmowers do not exist – slashing is the form of cutting grass – yes, cutting with large machete by hand! Also, new grass is often laid by hand - piece by piece, not rolling sod.

- Bracken, our African Ridgeback had a cyst growing on the back of her neck so surgery occurred in town at the local SPCA. Now, she’s ripped out her stitches and we are all trying to keep her neck covered with all types of head dressings/T-shirt fittings/cup contraptions, etc. No luck, she still has a gaping hole on the back of her neck!
Boy, am I going to miss this place...
Gotta run, till next time. Go well…

Congratulations Kearns Family!!

Welcome Olivia Grace Kearns

born Friday, May 9th @ 12:16a.m.

7 lbs. 13 oz.

The Hebrew poetry of Psalms has meant a lot to the loving parents -- they picked this verse for little Olivia:

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you. Psalm 76

I can’t wait to get home and meet your beautiful baby girl.
Love, Tracey xox

Congratulations Rachelle & Steve!

Train a Child

Train a child in the way he should go

and when he is old,

he will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Happy 5th Birthday Ellie!!!

Happy Birthday, my dear little Ellie!
Miss you lots!!
Love, Auntie Tracey xoxoxo

Theodore Roosevelt said,

Do what you can

with what you have

where you are.

-Theodore Roosevelt