Accomplishments
2009/2010
- Donated a laptop and plenty of children's
educational software to the local rural school.
- Built a swing set and see-saw for the
children
- Held a 2-day retreat for the local church
focused on the God's love and getting to know Him
Sept 2011- early 2012
- After a year and a half of gathering
donations, we shipped a 20ft container from Canada to Zambia. It was filled
with a combination of one-time donations, like clothes, and items for long-term
projects, like sewing machines, music equipment and books
- For three weeks we distributed clothes to
the community and gift bags to the school children
- With bicycles that came in the container,
we were able to help four children to
get to school to reduce their walking time from hours (4-6) to minutes (45-60).
We provided peer support to these kids and some continue to use their bikes
today
- We started the knitting program and our ladies
finished their first projects
- As part of an afterschool program, we
opened one of the classrooms to the children so that they could have a safe
environment for play and development
- We started a bible study once a week for
all ages
- On the ground, "we" consisted
mostly of Misheck and I--the project helped create local jobs and training
- We renovated an old room into an
office/library that was open to the local children to come and have access to
books that they would never see otherwise
2012-2013
- For most of 2012 to early 2013, we focused
on managing and fine-tuning our programs
- Our kids got better and more regular at
attending piano and drum lessons
- We spent time reading to kids and helping
older kids with their literacy skills in the library
- We had multiple, daily play sessions--for
different ages and genders so that everyone could get a chance
- Misheck was able to spend more time
coaching and mentoring the boys in the football program
- We converted the shipping container into a
building that was intended to be a resource centre or a sewing school. It was
beautiful
- Our knitting program thrived, not only with
improved skills but with the ladies communicating together, helping each other
and learning basic business skills
- My dad visited and while there I put him to
work restoring the swing set for the kids
2013
- The latter part of 2013 brought on some
major change. I changed NGOs and thus changed the community I was working with.
But change can lead to good things if we let it so here are the highlights.
- It was the year of the bunny and income
generation! As well as continuing with my original group of knitters, two new
knitting groups were started so we all worked on the same project--little
bunnies. These bunnies were sold in local shops and abroad. It also helped the
ladies to learn more business skills and recognize local
opportunities
- We started three English classes and
brought on a local teacher to help with the beginner level. This generated a
job and educational opportunities for adults. I taught the two advanced level
classes
2014
- By this time it was good to see the
knitting programs doing well on their own. Each time I would came back to
Canada, I collected donations of needles, wool and other tools the ladies could
use. This always boosted their income as they could sell the stuff made of
Canadian wool at a higher price
- I continued to mentor and check in with the
knitting groups but little was needed. Mostly these were opportunities to get
to know what personal challenges they might be facing and pray with them or
share wisdom
- One of my friends in Zambia was a highly
skilled knitter so I organized classes to teach the ladies to read patterns.
This was both a good opportunity for them to practice their English skills and
take their knitting to the next level
- Conducted bi-weekly personal development
sessions (a form of counseling)
- Talent Revolution was born and launched in
2014. My desire was to see this business impact the Zambian workforce by
teaching leadership skills and values. I spent time setting up this business,
creating a web site, building training
modules and meeting potential clients. It was met with very positive feedback
as many business owner's saw a great need for values and integrity training
