My new friend, Pam (short for Pamu) has been working on building an orphange for quite a while, along with her husband Menda. She explains, in a video on YouTube and on the orphanage website, that there are so many children orphaned because of the death rate in Africa... mostly due to AIDS. You can read about the orphanage and watch videos by visiting the Mulunda Miaka website.
We wanted to help Pam and Menda and see the orphanage. Their car broke down that morning, SO, we took a taxi about 20 km (about 12 miles) to get there. Some of the road was paved with tarmac and the rest was a newly made dirt road full of bumps and holes and whatnot.. it was a rough ride. This first photo that you see below is Pam and Menda, on the orphanage campus, in front of the house where they will live.
When we first arrived we toured the grounds and were able to see the chicken coops (currently 400 chickens, 500 more are coming soon), the buildings, and the gardens. Below is Pam showing us the water pump.
And after all that hard work of touring, it was time for lunch! Pam made meat pies... and they were delicious! A meat pie (pictured below) is pastry-ish dough filled with spices and meat and deliciousness! Can you tell I'm hungry right now?? ;)
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| Photo from http://www.musingsfromamadmozart.com/journal/2009/9/4/empanadasandmeatpies.html |
After lunch, it was time to work! JJ and I went to the chicken coop to "gather" the eggs. I put "gather" in quotations, because moments before we walked over there, the caretaker of the farm had already gathered them, but JJ and I still wanted to go in there, so we did! We each found ONE egg!! Notice the footwear...
JJ, Beth and I carried the eggs (I could only take 5 trays without fear of dropping them) to the "room" where we ate lunch. I say "room" because there was a ground, bricks, and a roof... no windows or anything. But there were chairs, so we worked in there!
Our next task was to clean the eggs.. and it took forever with 6 people working! Each little egg had to be cleaned off so they would be ready to be sold! If I remember correctly, there was close to 2300 eggs!
When the painter arrived, JJ and I were off to paint! It was a crazy ordeal in itself, but those details are not necessary here... Take notice the very, very strong ladder that JJ had to stand on and take note the hand brush that JJ and I used as opposed to the roller that the painter is using. :)
After painting, it was time to go back into town to the BOMA (market-type area) to sell the eggs. Pam opened the trunk of the taxi and the eggs were sold in less than five minutes!
Here is a video from YouTube about the orphanage. It was made a few years ago, so things are different now, but I thought it was cool to see how they do construction in Zambia... It also has some good African music!
So, they made their own cement bricks...wow! What were the walls made of?
ReplyDeleteHow fun for you to be part of this...How much more work has to be done? As of when you were there, that is? =)
And the thing about the eggs was wild? No running water? Each individual egg...phew! I am so glad you had an amazing and life changing experience sweetie pie! Can't wait to SEE ALL THE PICTURES! Next time you visit?
Oh, and how WAS the food? Marie said the food in Columbia was "okay" but she was REALLY glad to have a hamburger!
ReplyDeleteHow aobut you?
They have to get the final touches on the buildings of the orphanage, but they have moved into their house. Pam said she and the kids are adjusting to life in the "bush."
ReplyDeleteThey had some trouble with the next batch of chickens that they purchased, so egg sales will not be good.
Lots of work to be done, but they are patient!
The food was GREAT! I actually miss it, but I was glad to have normal food, too. I actually went for sushi when I first got home!!