Passing the Torch

The Isaiah team (Bazak family) arrived yesterday and we all spent the night at Eureka Park so the Heroes team were able to connect with them and share some of the stories of their time in Zambia. This morning the Heroes team did their final packing for the trip home and loaded up the bus for the airport.

But not before passing the torch on the "My Pony" song which the Isaiah team will have to use in their children's outreach activities !

On Safari !

The last two days were spent on safari in the African bush. We stayed at Mukambi Safari Lodge on the banks of the Kafue River in the Kafue National Park, reputedly the second largest national park in the world.

Above - the outside of one of the safari tents where we stayed, two people per tent
Below - the inside


The highlight of the trip was an afternoon game drive during which we saw a variety of animals but most excitingly two lionesses and their four cubs

Final Day in the Community

On their final day in the community the team and clinic staff celebrate their efforts in painting the place.


We visited one more family with an orphan to give them a care package of food, clothing and mosquito nets.

Visiting Orphans

The team went to visit three of the most needy families who are looking after orphans. The families were given food, clothing for the orphans and mosquito nets for the entire family to use.

Above : a care package. Below : the bed of one of the orphans. Blankets are next on our list !

Mosquito Nets

Some of the 120 mosquito nets we were able to purchase with the money raised by the Muir Lake Stony Creek program. Thank you to everyone at Muir Lake who so generously donated to make this possible.

School Donations

This morning Chris and Anita went to visit Ndili Basic School - another school in the area - where they made donations of school supplies and teacher resources and soccer uniforms and equipment which the team had brought from Canada. Thank you to the community of Devon and the Spruce Grove Minor Soccer Association for your generosity to provide all these items.

Students and staff show appreciation for the donations - above school supplies largely from the Devon Community - below soccer uniforms from Spruce Grove Minor Soccer

Paint and Outreach

Day three of painting - the application of the cream paint to the top half of the walls

while Beth continued with her masterpiece

and the rest of the team did outreach with young children of the community

Clinic Mural

Beth Loates continued to make progress on the mural that she is doing in a corner of one of the clinic porches

Let the Painting Begin

The painting project at the Kakulu clinic began with the application of the primer

Chilunga Visit 2

The day continued with presentations by the Canadians to the Chilunga students about various aspects of life in Canada

After some time playing sport and games with the students it was time for the Canadians to learn African versions of X and O's (above) and checkers (below)

The visit rounded out with a presentation of a set of soccer uniforms to the school which had been donated by Spruce Grove soccer association

Chilunga Visit 1

Today we visited Chilunga Community School with the team. The morning started with a gathering of the entire school for the singing of the Zambian national anthem and some traditional dancing by some of the pupils.

The Canadians sang "O Canada" in return

Matt Brisebois then entertained the crowd with his acrobatic abilities

Community Familiarization

The day was spent walking through several villages to meet families who are taking care of orhpans. Also an ideal opportunity to get to know the surroundings and become familiar with the community.

Unpacking

Team members unpack the duffel bags that they brought with them packed with a variety of donated items from Canada

Heroes Team Here - Finally !

The Heroes Team from Spruce Grove finally arrived in Lusaka this afternoon after a 36 hour delay along the way. It started with a flight from Denver to Washington being cancelled and the next flight arriving too late in Washington to make to make their connecting flight to Johannesburg. Then due to communication problems - and delays at security - they just missed a flight to Heathrow which would have kept them somewhat on track.

They ended up spending Thursday night at a Hilton hotel in Washington and having time the next day to take in some sights of the capital during Independence Day - a bit of a bonus in the scheme of things. On Friday night they caught the flight to Heathrow where a few of them took the opportunity of a few hours lay-over to go into London and see some of the sights there. Last night was the overnight flight to Johannesburg and a final flight from there to Lusaka this morning. There was a further delay at Lusaka airport as some of the luggage had not arrived with them and claim forms had to be filled in.

The final leg of their long journey - a 4 hour bus ride from Lusaka to our base - went well and everyone was pleased to arrive at the final destination - to be able to relax and unwind and have a decent home-cooked meal.