Zambia - Kids

I left Budapest completely bogged down with children's clothes, toys and treats and full of excitement. I did do some wise shopping for myself and picked up a cheap white hoodie sweatshirt in Hungary (which I have worn everyday because Africa is so cold at night - who would have thunk?).

Again, I was a points whore so had an unfortunate Star Alliance routing of Budapest - Munich - Johannesburg - Lusaka. On the last leg, from Joburg to Lusaka, I sat next to an African woman and started chatting over sandwiches. I was a bit nervous about going to Africa alone, and excited about visiting my sponsor kid, so . I asked the woman if she lived in Joburg or Lusaka and was surprised when she answered Pittsburgh! I unzipped my hoodie to show her my Pittsburgh Steelers tshirt I was wearing and we became instant friends. Juliana is originally from Zambia, and was in Swaziland visiting family and coming to Zambia to pay respects to some deceased relatives.

Juliana lives in the Burgh with her Botswanian husband who is a counselor at Duquesne. And guess where she lived? In an apartment complex off of Crane (Down from Banksville pool but up from Eat'n'Park). To anyone not aware of this, it's about .5 miles as the crow flies from my parents house. After I tell her about my sponsor kid, she tells me the real real reason she is coming to Lusaka - to pick up a one-month year old baby from an Orphanage and bringing her back to the Burgh. She organizes lots of used toy and clothes donations for this orphanage. They even purchased as shipped several washer and driers over! (italics) On a philanthropic note, if you are in Pittsburgh and have any children's clothes or toys in decent condition, please private message me and I'll coordinate something with Juliana.

Juliana invited me to the Orphanage to visit her daughter and while I have every intention of taking her up on the offer, I'll admit I am not confident in my ability to go there and leave without putting my name on the "list" and getting on my way to becoming the poor man's Angelina Jolie.

That night I had a hard time sleeping, and made friends with the hostel receptionists enough that they let me jump on the computer for a quick facestalk. A couple weeks earlier, one of the funny English guys in Croatia had made a joke that I initially laughed off, but then got a bit paranoid. While I was telling these guys about my upcoming trip to visit Esther, they asked the usual questions about what my monthly donation goes towards...one asked if it paid for internet for her, and if I was inadvertently funding her facebook addiction. He made a comment, "I can see it now on your news feed - 'Esther has checked in at the well.' " While extremely inappropriate, and very hilarious, I did do a quick facebook search for Esther to confirm, in fact, that she isn't using my sponsorship dollars for facebook.
Esther has NOT checked in at the well, Jimbo Kimbo...


I woke up bright and early (still wearing the white hoodie) to go visit Esther and her family. Joan from Children International took me in the van to the Chibolya compound where Esther lives. I have been in poor areas, ghettos, favelas, etc before but this compound was unreal. Garbage everywhere, pigs wandering eating it and barefoot kids in tattered clothes playing on the dusty paths that pass for streets.











The 4x4 vehicle pulled into the Children International facility and I received a great tour of the facilities and where my money really goes. I am pretty sure I am the only sponsor to ask so many questions about their healthcare records and pharmacy operations. I saw the African version of Stock Cards and Par Locations, minus fancy PeopleSoft or Motorola Scanners.







Then it was time to visit Esther!

We pulled up and the crowd of neighbors dispersed so the family could come greet me. It was lovely to meet her - I had absolutely no idea what to expect and neither did they! I me Mirriam, the mother and siblings Kyombo (11), Wisdom (3) and Catherine (6 months). Dad was at work as a plumber, but his monthly income of $40/month barely covers the rent so he obviously had to prioritize work over my visit.

I was invited into their spotless house to open presents.





I also have a funny feeling that they dressed up a bit for my arrival too. After the Children International representatives took photos like papparazi outside of Katsuya, the family surprised me with a gift from them to me. It was a sieve for sifting grains and a basket to catch the sifted grains. Now this was absolutely touching and thoughtful. It even breaks my heart a little bit to think that they got me something useful so that I can sift the pebbles out of my rice (and of course Joan looks at me and says, "How are you going to get that huge thing home???"




After presents and pictures, us females went shopping for minimeal (a 25kg bag at under $10 lasts the family a month). Then we we went to a small shop for lunch. This was Esther's first time eating out, and I think she enjoyed her first restaurant meal!




As I was preparing for this visit, a lot of people asked me, "i want one too...how can I get one?" I go through an organization called Children International, based in Kansas City. I picked it primarily because it is not strongly affiliated with any religion and they have a good ratio of funds that go directly to the kids. You can look through profiles and photos and pick any kid you want. I saw first hand how grateful these families are to have even one child who is sponsored. At risk of sounding like Sally Struthers, a small donation every month really CAN change a child's life.