More Meetings And On The Road To Livingston

We had meetings with two Rotary clubs from the Lusaka area that gave us an opportunity to not only learn about the projects they have decided to pursue but also get to know their members on a personal level. We as Rotarian are always looking for meaningful projects that are both impactful and reasonably attainable and sustainable. One such project involves helping equip a neonatal care unit in a large Lusaka hospital. It appears to be a well thought out project. The other involves construction to improve a local school. Between meetings we had the opportunity to meet with Martha Lungu the Executive Director of Malaria-Free Zambia. This project was recently showcased in an issue of Rotary Magazine. The project was the first recipient of Rotary’s project of scale grant. The work she is doing will save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering. Our evening meeting was with a high energy club from Lusaka. It followed much the same theme as our earlier meeting that day. The meeting closed rather late and we still had to pack for our trip to Livingston with a 7 AM scheduled departure. A long and interesting ride has brought is to the Town of Choma for a nights rest before finishing the journey to Livingston. Along the way we experience an interesting change in scenery, many small mountains and many small Townes. Local commerce was evident the whole way. Numerous bicycles laden with charcoal intended for cooking fuel. That’s another problem in itself. Too many trees are cut down and a great deal of carbon is released back into the atmosphere. We had a refueling problem of our own. When our driver pulled into a gas station we asked if they took credit cards. Yup. Turned out their machine was broken and they would only take Kwacha the local currency. Richard spent an hour at a bank trying to change dollars to Kwacha. Before arriving in Choma we visited several local schools that have instituted the Healthy Learners program. These schools have enthusiastically embraced the program. They feel it has not only helped the Learners academically and medically but also strengthened ties between the school and the local community. Despite the evident poverty the staff of the schools were incredibly dedicated to their work. The learners at both schools put on a great show demonstrating their appreciation for the Healthy Learners Program. The last school, Mbabala primary and secondary, a school of 1700 students supported by only 40 educators provided all of us with a home made meal along with a spectacular show put on by the Learners.

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