I apologize for not writing about my time in Zambia sooner. But better now than never, right? I will tell you first off of my admiration for my cousin, Cary Rasof.
He is an amazing and compassionate man, full of so much courage and determination. Not only is he hilarious and very loving and kind, but he is intelligent and graceful in the way with which he works in the communities here. He moved from his original location in Mansa Zambia to an area just one hour north of Lusaka. He moved projects because the people were stealing from him and he couldn't continue to work with them. Although it dampened his spirits he was still able to speak highly of them and say how nice they were and find a place in his heart where he could understand why they stole. Yet he had to move because he couldn't trust them. He is now working with 3 new communities. The projects he works on all have to benefit orphans, caregivers, or people with AIDS/HIV and be community driven, be for the people and by the people and sustain the land. He works closely with a conversational farming research group. He believes in building the community up first so they learn right from the start how to be sustainable, how to make profit as a collaborate whole (mostly from farming to start) where they can then take that profit and put it on a communal bank that they can use to either do another community project like goats or chickens or they can separately (if they've raised enough) take out micro loans and start individual projects where they will then pay back the pot. . Or he helps them to realize they can act as a community bank and loan other individuals or communities money with interest. His work is different than H4k because he works with them from the start to teach them how to live on their own two feet without donor support. The process takes longer, but the self-confidence that they build is amazing. Cary tells them right from the start that he doesn't except beggars and that he wants them to think as a community and workout their problems with the resources they have first before asking for outside help. He says if he can trust them and see that they want to work hard to help themselves then he will invest his time to work with them. He finds local donors to donate seed and chickens and goats but still makes each person in the community see the value in each thing. He doesn't want to rise up a community with all of this outside funding and then make them try and sustain something they can't afford so that they are always relying on NGOs or outside donor support. It has been so eye opening and I am learning so much from watching him work.
This part of the trip was the most difficult to arrange, the part I was most fearful and unsure about and yet it has been the most educational for me and rewarding in a brand new way.
I hope to come back and be able to see how each community tackles this challenge. This kind if communal work is not common in Zambia because the people are very individual based and so the farmers we are working with and the established communities are very hesitant in what Cary is trying to do. Yet so far two of the three communities have already taken the initiative and prepared and planted their communal land with soya beans that GART (an agricultural research group) donated. One of the communities met us in front of their land at 7am and planted for 7 hours straight with NO break (oh and most of the women had BABIES on their backs). Then they decided all together that instead of lunch they just wanted to be shown how to build the fuel efficient stove that Cary makes a requirement for every family in the project to have in order to participate. They loved making the stove and worked so beautifully together. They worked until 6pm in the hot African sun with no complaint. They are an awesome group of people and I wish I were there long enough to see their crops grow and their individual projects take off.
We also took an entire day to walk around a few of the compounds to meet and talk with those infected with AID/HIV. Most are widowed and responsible for a large number of children, not all their own. It is awful to see the children who are infected. They had no choice, it just happened to them. And yet most, even the ones that are sick have a look of determination on their face. I pray for their families, that by teaching them a more sustainable way of life and teaching them to work hard to live better, they in turn will instill in their children the same skills. It is a hope that these children will lead their generation and the ones after out of poverty and away from disease.
Like Uganda, Zambia too is full of beauty. However; it is not as densely populated and the land is very flat. Sadly the forest is becoming sparse as they cut down so many trees and do not replace them. Cary suggests to each community that they just each plant three trees to help bring back the richness of the land. He tries to make them understand that it is for the future. I have Cary’s month end report to the organization he works with (Heart & Hands for Africa) that goes into further detail about each community and his projects. If you are interested in reading it, please email me and let me know. He writes with as much passion as he works.
Thank you for being such a huge part of my trip! And thank you for letting me share my story with you.
Peace & Blessings,
Heather
PS. I added a few more photos at http://gallery.me.com/heather13 (ending weeks highlights)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
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