Day 4: Lusaka Begins

The real work begins tomorrow. We have had an incredible time exploring the beauty of Zambia's natural world, however it is now time to experience the beauty of its people.

We left Livingstone today, boarding a small prop plane for Lusaka. Those of us used to flying on larger aircrafts were a bit nervous but it was a smooth flight and we landed safely.

When we arrived at the airport we were soon greeted by several smiling faces in orange World Vision shirts. The Lusaka team had come to gather up its most recent visitors. Kathryn exclaimed how glad she was to see her family, and that she felt she was home.

What a gift it was to be greeted by such kind and happy faces, committed to incredible work. Chris, Max, Mutinta, Jonas and DJ helped us with our overwhelming array of luggage (half of which is filled with gifts for sponsor children and the young women at the ERE Safe House which we get to distribute tomorrow!) and drove us to our home for the next 5 nights at a cozy hotel not far from Lusaka's City Airport.

Evening's dinner hosted brilliant World Vision leadership who shared some meaningful insights about the roadblocks that prevent those without resources from becoming the people they are meant to be. Sometimes it is easy to look at the services and outreach that World Vision provides as only medicine, education, or advocacy, but it is so much more than that. By providing clean water or sponsorship or localized medical clinics, you are removing serious barriers for individuals to fulfill their dreams, to nurture visions and hope for the future.

So many matters were touched on by Dr. Emmanuel Opong, head of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiative, who sat at the center of the table, and humbly introduced himself, a doctor of psychology, as a simple village boy. He said of the WASH program, that we are not merely providing water, we are "liberating a woman, empowering a woman." He went on to explain that when a woman is freed from the daily role of gathering water, she has space to dream, to invest in herself, to become a part of a savings group or to go back to school. She has time for herself, to be the mother, wife--the woman God made her to be. 

Chikondi Phiri was the only other man at the table tonight alongside Dr. Opong, and both men, both amazing leaders for a world-shifting organization, shared that it was due to the strong women who raised them that they were able to become strong men. The main message: empowering women ultimately benefits the entire community, it is just a matter of changing perceptions, working with the community, and providing the education and implementation needed to allow them to thrive. All are matters World Visions is working in nearly 100 countries to address, something we get to see first hand tomorrow as we visit the Kapululwe Area Development Program.