Summer ( Winter in Zambia) has flown by and there is so much to update and so much to do! RHO Appleseed was closed for Winter break during the month of July and part of August. Ken and I returned to our hometown of Davis, California for 4 weeks and had a wonderful time visiting friends and family. We also held our first ever fundraising event. It was very successful, raising about $5000! We have also started our Sponsor an Orphan program. So far, there are 7 lucky children who have been sponsored!
We’ve been back in Lusaka for 1 week and have hit the ground running. We are very fortunate to have 2 UC Davis students, Emma and Angela, with us. They are here to volunteer at Appleseed and will begin at the school on Monday morning. While the jet lag from the extremely long flight is still affecting us all, we have been busy! On Wednesday, we made a wheelchair delivery to a woman who could barely stand up. She was very grateful and was able to push herself in the chair right away. It was the first visit to the compound for Emma and Angela. They were incredible with the children who naturally gathered them. We feel so fortunate to have them here with us! Upon arriving back in Lusaka, we found out that we have lost 2 of our teachers. Newlyn, our former math teacher has begun accounting school. We are so happy for her. Newlyn will continue to volunteer at the school when she is not attending classes. Our reading teacher, Rebecca, has begun nursing school. We are so happy for both of these young women! Mary spent much time in July interviewing prospective teachers for these 2 positions. We are very happy to have John and Vincent join us at Appleseed. On Friday, we held a teacher meeting and John and Vincent our ready to begin teaching this Monday. While I know that the students will miss Newlyn and Rebecca, I think it will be very good to have these male role models in our school. Today (Saturday) we went to the local shopping market, Kamwala, to buy more school desks. Unfortunately, the store was out of stock on the desks. So, instead we bought a few more tables and chairs for the Early Childhood Development classroom and 2 carpets for our library. Tomorrow (Sunday) we are all very excited because we get to attend our very first Zambian wedding. Farai, who runs St. John in the Matero compound is getting married. This is a new and exciting cultural experience for us. Ken and I started back to work full time at the American School last Monday so we have been extremely busy. There is so much to do at RHO Appleseed, it could be a full time job for us both. We love the work that we get to do in Bauleni, and with the new sponsor and orphan program. With everything that needs to be done, I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed. But, when I see our beautiful students and the people of Bauleni, I know that it is well worth our efforts and even though things don’t always happen as rapidly as I would like, I know that we are always moving forward and improving the lives of many children and adults in Bauleni.
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AuthorsKen and Joy Hoffman. See the'Who We Are' page. Archives
February 2017
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