Senanga was chosen for the partnership for several reasons:
1) It's about the right size - Senanga has a population similar to that of Kelowna - roughly 100,000 people.
2) There is great need - The people are very poor and there are high rates of HIV/AIDS, as well as several other major challenges to overcome.
3) There are few resources - few NGOs are working in this rural region.
4) We have contacts - Women for Change, an indigenous NGO has been working to establish groups of men and women interested in improving health, families and community.
5) The people are ready and organized to take the next step to improve their well being
While Sheila, Lynn, Gene, Joel, JoyAnne are in Zambia they will explore opportunities for collaboration with various groups doing important work in Lusaka and in Senanga. These include training health workers, training teachers, community development, improving gender equity, improving water quality and establishing microenterprise. They also hope to connect with athletes, artists and student groups. Even politicians from the city, provincial and federal governments are getting involved!
1) Art Exchange - Claire de la Salle has been in charge of coordinating the art exchange and her efforts combined with the efforts of a 4th grade classroom at Aberdeen Prep School have created beautiful results. Our Zambia crew will be bringing art supplies to Senanga to engage a number of children in an art project. Their creations will, in turn, be brought back to the Aberdeen Hall classroom to complete the exchange.
2) T-Shirts for Zambia - Mary Weston, head of fundraising, has been working alongside other group members to gather donations from local businesses and organizations in Kelowna for t-shirts with a "Kelowna" logo on them somewhere. Currently we are sitting at 100+ beautiful, colorful t-shirts to distribute at a much anticipated town-hall meeting. This will be a great way to initiate a friendship with the people of Senanga!
3) Medical Supplies - Magali, the outreach coordinator, has been working on a project to gather badly needed medical supplies from a number of family practitioners within the city. Items gathered include: latex gloves, bandages, acetaminophen, syringes and other basic medical necessities. This project is an extremely basic first step into understanding and addressing the health needs of the Senangan community.
In this blog we'll follow the developments of each of these projects and enjoy our team's pictures, stories, and experiences along the way.
Photographs are courtesy of Liz Morrison a VIDEA intern who has recently spent 7 months in Zambia. Feel free to comment and ask questions - we'll do our best to answer all your questions!
