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Letter
from Zambia
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Dear
Noreen |
Greetings!
It's time for our family to kick the ball over to your side
with some news. We are well, given normal ups and downs,
and hope you are also.
Besides
giving our minds to our work and family, there's still
a little left over. We continue running, and
even started yoga! Our youngest, Alea, is 8, singing,
reading, and growing like a weed. Chloe is 18, her last
year living with Mom and Dad. Her recent
non-academic highlight is breaking her foot whilst riding a
quad bike on a friend's property(!?) She is
otherwise very ready for the big world of college. Of
course, we resist imagining our lives without her special
personality around us.  |
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Elizabeth
Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation |
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Susan
writes, "Greetings to all. It was a busy 2009
and I was quite ready for the Christmas holidays.
This picture shows my colleague Ruth and I leaving for a new
project in the south of the country. Getting out into
communities is what I love to do, but unfortunately get
to do less and less. Most of my time is spent in the
Lusaka in meetings and
technical working groups. This chance to start a new
project was a nice change.
I
can't say my smile conveys how I really felt right then.
It was a rainy morning and our flight was already delayed on
account of the weather. Getting into a 6 (really 4) seater
airplane didn't seem very wise to me. But, to my delight the
one hour flight was smooth with beautiful views of the
Kafue River. We have
started this new project to help a very rural mission improve
children's care as well as to strengthen links between rural
health centers and the mission hospital."
There
have been many successes over the past years in the care and
treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS. Life
extending treatment is now widely available, stigma and
discrimination are reducing although still present, and people
are moving foward in productive ways. Now, we must look
at models to sustain this level of chronic care while
continually working to strengthen district health systems and
basic primary health care services. It is indeed a big
challenge.
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Protecting
Childhood |
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As
you know, I work with the Lutheran Church in Zambia in
growing leaders. This indigenous church began their
first outreach effort in 2009, a preschool for vulnerable
children in Lusaka, called Hope for the
Heart. Here I am with the teacher Bertha
Bwalya and a close friend, Laurie Senter, from northern
California. |
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Challenging |
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Congregations
often tell me that they want a proper building to worship
in. Well, with otuside support, these congregations
are now challenged to take the initiative first. Now,
those who complete the foundation, walls, and windows of
a church or pastor's house will be supplied roofing sheets and
trusses. Kamwala (seen above) & Mupitanshi
congregations have already risen to the challenge, and are now
building. In the process the congregations are
strengthened internally as
well. |
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Church
Development |
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A new
church in Zambezi was opened
on October 1 with a great celebration with hundreds of
people. Here we all wait outside, and once
seated, the multiple choirs enter, singing and
dancing. The purpose behind my involvement was not only
to establish a spiritual centre for 15 rural
congregtions, but to provide experience for the church leaders
in construction and
planning.
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Micro-credit
Program |
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The
church also administers a micro-credit program for income
generation. After two years, I am thankful that almost
half the micro-credit groups (450 persons) are able to
sustain their funds through viable small businesses. In
November a number of groups (see photo) were using available
capital for plowing, for seeds and fertilizer, as farming
season is upon all Zambians.
We
are excited to have established a partnership with Lehigh
University in 2010,
who will send a team of students and a professor on two
trips here for a program assessment. They aim to
improve our methods for regular group financial data
collection, entry & analysis, group monitoring &
scoring, and project reporting, incorporating better
technology. They my also provide financial literacy and
small business development workshops. Stay
tuned. |
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Leadership
Development |
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My
focus is also leadership development. That is,
identifying persons with potential and providing them training
or experiences to advance their capabilities. Let me
introduce you to a few...
Harrison
Tuntu is the Church's volunteer AIDS Resource person. In
order to write good small project grant requests and perform
better project monitoring, his skills will be upgraded in
written English and social research methods through a training
course available locally.
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 I
also mentor Floyd Kambita, a 25 year old lay pastor in Mumbwa
district who has demonstrated thoughtfulness and commitment to
his congregation and ministry. A rural farmer, and very
good theologically, he is hopeful to be able to finish his
grade 9 studies and then advance perhaps higher. Floyd
is one of 20 participants in my September ten-day
ministry course, many of whom we aim to upgrade with high
school equivalency, at a minimum. 
Susan
and I also support four women studying medicine in
neighboring Zimbabwe, through
our partners, the JF Kapnek Trust. Rejoice Mapfumo, 24,
comes from a rural village, and has no father. She is a 4th
year medical student at the University
of Zimbabwe and has
demonstrated her sustained commitment to this difficult degree
course.
I'm
sure you agree that competence is critical for reducing
poverty and for building sustainability into civil
institutions in Africa. With
your support, we build up people like
these. |
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Proud
Parents |
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 Our
daughter Chloe writes, "Because of the success building the
two playparks, I'm now the student team leader
planning a Global Issues Summit, for 200 students
across Africa
to be held
here February 25-27, 2010. The theme
is sustainable development in Africa. There will be speakers,
discussions and off-site participatory experiences. Click here
Student
Summit to learn more. I'm very excited and will
have photos and stories to share in our next
communication."
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Some
days Susan and I debate the difficulties in our work here and
other days we simply thank God for electric
fans.
With
this letter we also remember the reasons we are connected to
you. Your passion for making a difference matters to
us. If you want to contribute to any of the initiatives
above, just ask us.
 Receive
our best wishes. Peace be with you and those you
love. |
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From
both of us with affection,
  Arden and Susan
Strasser
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