FAQ #3

 Why an orphanage?

As I said in one of my other FAQ posts, we moved to Zambia to work with a community school. Our line of thinking at the beginning of our time in Africa was that we would work to enable those already working in Zambia to do their jobs better. So, rather than being a teacher in one class, we wanted to help give all the teachers the tools to do their job. “Teaching others to teach others”.

We worked hard with the first school and helped to give them new buildings, a library, a small job for extra income, and plenty of training. It was a success! We knew though that as long as we stayed there in Lusaka, the leadership of the school would always depend on us to meet their needs. We made the decision to move to a town a few hours away. We were still available for training classes, to raise awareness of financial needs should they need it, or to help. But, we weren’t right on their doorstep.

And, as we knew they would, the community school thrived! They found donors, built new buildings, and today they have not only a school serving over 600 children, but residential care for orphans, a hospice clinic and a church! Fantastic!

In our new town, we kept busy working on teaching and training. We held leadership seminars, Bible courses and Tom took many trips out into the bush with Campus Crusade to shows  the Jesus film.

The kids and I wanted to spend some time working with children so we began volunteering at a local orphanage. It was a ‘transit home’. Only for children below the age of 3 years old, the orphaned babies would either be reunited with their fathers or other relatives or taken to another orphanage. Rarely, they would be adopted.

That house for babies broke our hearts. Poorly funded and even more poorly supervised, this institution (and it was firmly an institution) was not a home where children were loved and cared for. 

Desperate to do what we could to help, Tom and I decided to approach the board about becoming consultants. We would come in several times a week, teach the staff how to better care for the kids, identify needs and find ways to meet them, and best of all, fill those babies with love.

Sadly, although the board welcomed us with open arms, the director was less thrilled. Immediately we began to find problems with apathy, laxness, and even greed. The children had ragged clothing, but though there was a shipping container filled with new clothes, the director dragged her feet about opening it and taking anything out. The children had no toys to play with. “They’ll fight over the toys”. Again, there were plenty of toys in storage, but we weren’t given access.

There were wonderful babies in that house. I loved every one of them. Little James who had inquisitive eyes and clung to Tom every time he saw him. Baby Agnes who had severe mental issues and ended up tied to her crib. The other little babies who crawled around on the floor, largely ignored until visitors came to scoop them up.

My heart broke more and more every time we worked at the orphanage, but there was so little I could do to improve things without the support of the director.  One day I sat down and felt such heaviness on my heart. I just knew that nothing would be right in my world until I had done all I could for the babies who had no one to take care of them. 

Tom felt the same way and before we knew what had hit us, we were consumed with the calling. Now we just had to figure out how to make it happen.

Exactly One Year Ago: This is Africa--Computer Edition
Exactly Two Years Ago: Lend Me Your......Opinion

Yesterday:
Exactly One Year Ago: Spooky and Uncanny

Exactly Two Years Ago: Theresa

FAQ #2

I started this series last week with Question #1--Why Africa?

Next question:

Why Zambia?

Now that we knew we were heading to Africa, we just had to narrow our choice down to one of the 53 nations of Africa. Some were automatically ruled out because of the danger: Somalia for instance. Another criteria was that we really didn't want to have to learn a new language. We'd been there and done that. We were ready to go to a country where we could immediately jump in and get to work. Though we both speak Spanish to some degree (Tom is fluent) that wouldn't help us on the African continent.

We ruled out South Africa because we felt there were many misisonaries and mission works operating there already. And, there was the crime rate to consider. We took the fact that we were taking a large family overseas very seriously. That's not to say we let fear rule our decisions but we did look at all the options while seeking for God's Will for us.

There were a few countries we were interested in: Nigeria, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia.

Tom had built a website for us so we could show future sponsors our past work and what we wanted to accomplish in the future. We were contacted by two different missionary couples in Kenya and Zambia. Both projects looked interesting. Both worked with children. The main difference was that the Kenyan project was going to be a private Christian school for wealthy students where the income would allow humanitarian projects to go forward. Tom and I would be teachers in the school. 

The Zambian project was a school for underprivileged or orphaned children. Our main role would be equipping the teachers. We would have the chance to reach out more to the community. 

Zambia seemed like a better fit, but we wouldn't know for sure until we took a closer look. Tom took off on the 35 hour journey to Africa. I could fill at least one whole post with his experiences over the next two weeks. He fell completely in love with Zambia and its people, crying on more than one ocassion (he's gonna love that I mentioned that) and remarking to his mom on his return that he had never felt so much in God's Will.

To top it off, one of Tom's heroes, David Livingstone lived and worked in Zambia for many years and eventually died here. (Side note: David Livingstone actually died just a few hours from where we live now) It felt like all the pieces in the puzzle of our life were coming together. It felt right.

Tom returned from Zambia thrilled with what we would be able to do as missionaries to Zambia. In his short, two-week trip he had helped out at the fledgling community school, encouraged local pastors, and taught several Bible studies to college students. The possibilities seemed endless--perfect for someone who loves to be busy with many projects.

I was excited about working with local teachers to give them the tools they need to do their job, as well as assist the school in building and expanding in order to help even more children.

Now that we had a country chosen, all we had to do was raise the funds. and what a job that would be. Regular support as well as the initial cost of flying 8 people halfway around the world. We were ready to get busy, work hard and see what God would do.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

I want to set up an FAQs page on this blog to help answer some of the very common questions people have about what we do here in Zambia, how we got here, what our mission is for and to the people of Zambia, etc.

A high school student wrote me saying that she wants to do a class presentation on our family. This gives me the perfect opportunity to compile some questions and post them in a series and eventually get them onto a page at the top of the blog. 

Please let me know if you have any questions to add to my list or if I can further clarify answers I give here.

Why Africa?

In the late 90's Africa was entering the news more and more. Story after story highlighted the problems the continent faced with warring tribes and factions, poverty and lack of development and worst of all, HIV and AIDS which were sweeping the continent leaving behind a trail of orphans. 

In 1996, I had been reading accounts of missionaries who were working in Africa and it sounded really interesting. After working in Mexico as missionaries for three years (our first three children were born during this time), we had been in Texas for 4 years. While we hadn't been idle and had always kept busy with many different mission projects, I thought there might be more out there for us to do still.

When I broached the subject with Tom, he brought up the very valid point that we had five small children (and another on the way) and was Africa really the right place to take such a large family?

I shelved the idea and carried on with the big job of raising my family, supporting my husband as he worked two jobs and learned a new craft. I was homeschooling my oldest three and nursing a newborn and taking care of two toddlers as well. Life was full and busy.

A year later, Tom took a job in a town across the state and went out there ahead of us for a month. When the kids and I moved out with him, I found that he had had a life-changing moment somewhere there. He told me he felt that God was calling us to be missionaries in Africa.

We've often talked about why God called us at different times and I feel that part of it was so that when we encountered trials and troubles there would always be a sense of teamwork and shared vision.--We had both been given the direction and purpose. We were in this together!

Tom and I are both from missionary families and had lived in four of the 7 continents. Adding Africa to that list would be an exciting new challenge.

Now we knew which part of world we were headed to. We only had to choose which of the 50+ nations would be our new home. And what we'd be doing, and how we'd support ourselves. And were we crazy to be even considering this at all? Details, details. 

Stay tuned for the next question next week.

Exactly One Year Ago: Travel Fun

Almost Exactly Two Years Ago: Henry

Your Questions Answered--#4

It's time again for Ask Amy. If you missed the previous Q&As you can find the links below.

Questions Vol. One

Questions Vol. Two

Questions Vol. Three

Mimi wrote:

I'd love to know more about your orphans & how they come to you. 

 Nearly all of our children have been brought to us at our door. Families who have lost a loved one will bring the newly orphaned child to us. Our intake age limit is 2 years because children below the age of 2 are the most vulnerable. Not getting the right food or care can negatively impact their life permanently.

Setting the age at 2 years and below keeps us from being overwhelmed with all the children who are orphaned in this community. There are hundreds if not thousands of orphans in our area--1 million total in Zambia. That's 10% of the population.

We take in children who are either single or double orphans. This means they have lost either one or both of their parents. Generally, if the child still has a mother, we won't need to take in that  child because the mother can still breastfeed or look after the baby. For those who only have a father, the likelihood of that baby dying is much higher. Also, most men will remarry very quickly after their wife dies (they often already have a mistress standing by) and the new wife usually doesn't want to take on the responsibility of a little baby.

For individual stories of our children and how they came to be with us, you can click on the following link. I've arranged them in order of arrival to our home. I hope to finish this list one day with a post for each child.

Chola

Queenie

Janet

Henry

Theresa

Jennifer

Moriah

Peter

Sara

Do they get adopted out to locals, or people from other countries, or both. 

 Our vision for the children we look after is that they will grow up with us and eventually go off to college. We are investing in their future and the future of Zambia. There are so many orphans here that local adoption is not so common. If someone has a job and makes a decent living (many times even if they don't and aren't) they will be looking after several of their orphaned relatives and so would not seek out other orphans.

As far as international adoption, it is not very easy to do in Zambia and also, as I stated above, we want to raise children who will grow up and make a real difference right here in their home country.

That is not to say that if someone came to visit the orphanage and had a real connection with one of the children that had no parents at all, we wouldn't consider adoption as an option. We can't say what God's plan might be for each of these children and we are open to all possibilities.

Are most of the HIV infected?

 As of now, only one of our children is HIV positive. We recently tested all of them and were pleasantly surprised to have so many HIV negative children. From their medical histories, the parents' deaths, and the state that some of them came in, we expected much higher positive results. But, God is very very good. 

How many of them do you usually have? 

Because we don't send away any of our children the number just continues to increase. Sadly we have lost some children to illness--they are often brought to us in a really sad state and nothing we can do makes a difference. 

From the time we opened in October 2007 to today November 2010 we have grown to look after seventeen children. If we take in around 5 children per year, we will be looking after 100 children when the first are ready to head off to college. Scary thought! 

Mimi, I hope that answered your questions. 

If anyone else has questions about life in Zambia, our work here, or anything else really, don't hesitate to ask your questions here in comments or send me an email at amymorrowinafricaATgmailDOTcom (replacing the capital letters with symbols).

Exactly one year ago: Wacky Wednesday

Your Questions Answered--#2

For the first volume of questions and answers click here.

Countess Laurie had several questions. They made me stop and think. Way to go, Laurie!

1) What is your favorite time of year in Zambia?
I'd have to say April or May. This is because the rains are wrapping up, the days are getting cooler, and everything is green and gorgeous. Kinda like a combination of spring and fall. Fall is my favorite U.S season and this has the same kind of feel to it and yet things are green instead of turning brown. This is also before everyone starts burning their fields so the air is fresh.

2) Considering that you are kind of rustic sometimes out there, if you could bring one thing to Zambia, what would it be?
Deciding on just one thing is really, really hard. We moved over here with nearly everything we owned and made it all fit in 16 suitcases and 15 pieces of hand luggage. One of the few things that I brought with me was a 2 quart ice cream container with all the little handmade ornaments my kids had made to date. I threw a string or two of beads in there and miraculously they fit. I also had an envelope with Christmas cards we'd received over the years. This made us feel much more at home in Africa.

Another one thing would be a Kindle now that they've been invented. One small device with tons and tons of books? Absolute heaven! I don't yet own one but a girl can dream!

But, I would have to say that one of my most useful things is my headlamp. It has saved me over and over again. I not only use it during  power failures and long bus rides but also at night when Tom asks, "Are you gonna turn that light off??", I turn off the bedside lamp and burrow under the covers with my book and headlamp--exactly as if I'm ten years old.

I posed this question to my kids and Tom and without hesitation they all answered--A knife! 

Of course Tom also said that the one thing he would bring to Africa is money since that disappears here at an alarming rate. 

3) Not counting the Bible, what is your favorite book and why do you love it so?
Still trying to nail me down to just one thing, Laurie? I don't think it can be done! The first book that popped into my mind with this question was The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I read that book when we first moved to Africa (found it in a dusty bookstore) and I'd never read anything by Nicholas Sparks before. I absolutely fell in love with it (and him.....) and read it eight times in the next few years. Not owning a Kindle and being short on reading material may have had something to do with that. But, truly I loved the story and the devotion the married couple had to each other. The sequel The Wedding is equally amazing.

I can't leave well enough alone. A few other Top Ten (or Hundred) picks:
Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Shack by William P. Young


Just a side note: if you've ever seen the movie for any of the books listed above and didn't care for them--give the books a chance anyway. Thanks!

What I'm reading right now is The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. It's mostly a memoir of being a small child in the fifties. Mom and Dad, I think you'd have so much fun reading this. I wasn't even a twinkle in my daddy's eye in this decade but I've had a silly grin on my face nearly the entire time. Check it out. *

Okay, I could go on all day. So I will stop.
Wait, just one more. If you could be any Disney princess, who would you pick and why?
Right away, my mind went to Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I'm not sure she is even counted as a princess but she married a prince so I say she counts. 
Now for my reasons: I guess one big reason is because she didn't wait around for a prince to come save her but took action and control of her own life. Reason number two, she left home and family to go to a strange place to save a life. And, lastly but best of all, she loved books. Remember that incredible library? Oh, my goodness! Even better than a Kindle!!!
  
This has been so much fun! I'll be back next week with another person's questions. Remember, you can jump in at any time by leaving your questions in the comments on this post or emailing me at amymorrowinafricaATgmailDOTcom. 
 


* A little note--I used Amazon to link with all those books but only because it was convenient. I am not an affiliate.

Your Questions Answered!

Since asking for your input last week, I'm so happy to have so many great questions already submitted.

Your questions are very important to me and will be answered in the order in which they were received. Thank you for playing!

CardiffScott wrote: Will your kids at the orphanage go to out to school in the community or will you do school in house when the time comes?

We already teach the kids a lot using Montessori and other preschool educational tools and so we will be continuing to teach them at 'home'. Sadly, there are no good schools in our area. The only schools in our area are poorly run government schools. The schools don't have good books, the classes are over crowded, the English being spoken is poor, the teachers have very little training--I could go on and on. It breaks my heart not to be able to do more for the schools.

  I often say that if I were cloned into 5 or 10 people I would still stay busy with all the passions I have for helping Zambia. There are the schools, the needs of the antenatal (prenatal) women, the needs of the new mothers, the youth who have no direction, the local clinic which is not worthy of the name. But, God has given me these 16 (and counting) children and our staff and I have to keep my eyes on my primary tasks.

Sorry, I got carried away! Back to the question:

The goal is that we will be setting up a Christian school within the orphanage using a variety of teaching styles and books. The main curriculum we're planning to use is ACE--School of Tomorrow which uses a PACE system so each child can be studying at a different level and a teacher or two can supervise a whole room of children at different grade levels. 

I also want to supplement this with several labs such as a science room, an art room, one on one spelling and reading practice and hands on mathematics activities as well as educational games on the computer.  And, of course, oodles and oodles of books!

I'm a firm believer in the fact that each child is unique and learns in a different way. Keeping our school small and simple will enable us to give the kids the best possible education. Our vision for the children in our care is that they are going to grow up to be the future leaders of Zambia. We are going to do everything in our power to give them the tools for success.

Now, the question that many will ask is what we will do about socialization. I'm not so worried about that because we are going to have so many children growing up together as well as visitors from all over the world that they are going to be well used to interacting with people from every walk of life. Already, visitors comment on how well adjusted the kids are. We have volunteers coming through, others stopping by for a tour and the kids just walk up and say hello. There is no fear or timidity.

In the future, when our kids are a bit older and we're more settled and well-staffed, I'd love to do a community Sunday School where we could invite each church in the area to bring a selected number of children on a Sunday (or Saturday) morning for Bible stories, songs and activities. This will allow the children in our care to reach out and give back to others.

 I hope this answers your question, CardiffScott. 

I look forward to even more questions. Leave them here in comments or email me at amymorrowinafricaATgmailDOTcom.