We now have 2,843 names collected for our training sessions. These are in 5 different files, for 5 of our 15 trainers. Still a long way to go, but that is a lot of progress. I am told the 30 sites for test plots have been identified, and I have coordinates for two of those - at some point I hope to be able to share a map with the 30 laid out. I expect them to be laid out as follows:
Four sites in and around the Solwezi area in Northern Zambia.
Four sites in and around Chongwe in Central Zambia.
One site each in the Livingstone and Chikankata areas in Southern Zambia.
Ten sites in the Petauke area where these trainers were trained near their homes last growing season.
Six sites in and around the Chipata area in Eastern Zambia.
Four sites in the Mambwe area north of Chipata near one of the large national parks.
We finished September impacting more than 3,400 Zambian families with a bag of maize to grind and add to their food intake. We continue to believe that these additional 39,000 calories can be enough to really impact the quality of life for each of these families.
Today's cover photo is from the intersection of the training program and the feeding program. How is that? The leader of this community has been with us from early on in our presence feeding people in his community and continues to do so. Today there are 95 50-kg bags of maize stored at his church to be distributed over the next nine months. He also was one of those that volunteered to spend four months of the last growing season in Petauke being trained in some more effective growing techniques, and during the coming growing season he will be one of our 15 trainers.
It has been so beautiful to see how the development/training program we began at such a basic level four years ago now became a catalyst for growth in the feeding program at the heart of our mission in Zambia.
We believe in development! We are partnering with ZIAP in the current development/training program! But we also believe in caring for the immediate needs of our brothers and sisters living in deficit.
In America we often quote the "Golden Rule." Jesus is reported to have said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Here that is often thought of more from a negative perspective. Like I wouldn't want someone to steal something from me -so I shouldn't steal anything from someone else. But I like to think of it as relates to our feeding program as this: "If I were hungry, I would certainly want someone to feed me." One problem in our free and very economically driven society is that we expect our neighbors to feed themselves. And here in America, they largely do. And when they struggle, there are MANY "safety nets" built into the system to give a hand. This is not true in much of the rest of the world, including in Zambia, where colonialism, corruption and a changing climate have left millions struggling to eat with no net whatsoever.
If I were hungry, I would want someone to feed me. If my children were hungry and I was struggling to feed them, I would want someone to help me. The Golden Rule suggests the only way that happens is if someone desiring to do good in this life hears of my hunger and answers the call. This is happening all over the world in organizations large and small. And in Zambia, Shoulder 2 Shoulder is working to do our part. We would love to have you join us in that effort.
