The Rest Was History

Hello from your good friends Mina and Emmy! 

Here is a little bit about ourselves:  We both grew up in the beautiful West Michigan, where we live fifteen minutes away from each other, but still haven’t been to each others house.  Classic.  But we live together both on campus and in Zambia so it makes up for it for now.  Mina loves donuts; Emmy likes donuts.  Emmy loves pizza; Mina likes pizza.  Its always a win win situation.  ….Except for when you are in Zambia with very very few donuts and pizza.  But hey… it makes it all the more special when we do get to eat them, and something to look forward to when we get home.  So if anyone wants to catch us coming off the plane with pizza and donuts we would probably fall to the ground and weep at your feet. 

Other things we love:

Traveling and experiencing new places

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Hanging out in our Enos

The great outdoors

Lake Michigan

Gazing at the stars

The Detroit Tigers

Waking up at 4:45 in the morning to witness the blood moon

Hudsonville Ice Cream

Skyping our homies who are holding down ToHo 504 for us back on campus

The Blood Moon that we saw at 4:45 the morning (Photo Credit: Kara Wise)

Now, to what we did this week!

We are still in Zimba working at the hospital here and taking classes.  This upcoming week will conclude our time in Zimba, and we will be headed on to Livingstone this Saturday. 

Choma:  Every Monday we have been traveling to Choma, Zambia (about two hours away from Zimba) to partner with a mission organization called EMIZ (Elijah Mission International of Zambia).  During our time with them, we spilt into four teams all partaking in different ministry opportunities.  Group 1: Led a soccer ministry where they played games and did a brief Bible study with a group of young boys and girls.  Group 2: Went on house visits in a near by village, visiting the houses of some of the students that EMIZ sponsors for school.  They spent time checking in on the families, praying with them, and seeing what other immediate needs they had.  Group 3: Visited the Shamponde House, which is a house paid for by EMIZ as a transition home to help families get back on their feet and reintegrated into the community.  Group 4: Went to the nearby Secondary school and met with the students there that they sponsor.  Choma is always a highlight of our week and we love working with the EMIZ staff.  We are headed back to Choma today and are excited for the new opportunities that we will get to experience this week. 

Outreach: Each week a group of students is able to partner with Zimba Mission Hospital and go on village outreaches.  We go with the Maternal Child Health department to provide immunizations to children, prenatal check-ups for expecting mothers, and family planning teaching.  These services are provided for the Zambians who live so far out in the bush that they have very little access to coming in to town to receive health care.  Each team has had a very different, yet very rewarding experience.  It was such a unique experience for our group that we were inspired to write a little song on our very bumpy ride home.  

On our First Day of Outreach

(Sung to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas)

On our first day of outreach this is what we saw,

12 urine samples,

11 tetanus shots,

10 tedious notebooks,

9 pounds of nshima,

8 monkeys crossing,

7 hours later,

thirtySIX kilometers,

5 caaaaarrrrrdboarrrrrd boxes,

4 nursing students,

3 bagged turkeys,

2 random ladies,

and a guinea fowl under the seat

If you have any questions about this song or about our experiences on outreach please feel free to email us at Emily.kimes@myemail.indwes.edu or hanneke.veldhuijzen@myemail.indwes.edu.  We will get back to you as soon as possible (Zambia internet pending).

Academics: We don’t really have a strong desire to talk about our academics, but since this is an “Academic Trip” we figured we should cover all of our bases.  We currently have Mama Marcie here with us to teach us about Community Nursing.  We have learned so much through this class and it has applied in so many situations that we have experienced here in Zambia so far.  We just took our final test this past week, and are preparing to take our final exam for Community Nursing this week.  Unfortunately this means that Mama Marcie will be leaving us shortly, but we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Grammy Pammy in two weeks.  When she arrives we will be continuing our “academic studies” with a Leadership & Management of Nursing Course.  In the mean time, some students have been participating in a History of Zambia course, where they have been stretched and pushed to look at things in a new way.  The group of students not in the history class are taking part in a Professional Transitions class where we are preparing to take the NCLEX after graduation.  Okay… enough about that….

The last thing we would like to talk about in this week’s edition of Zambia Team Updates 2015, is the Saturday Fun Night of this week.  It actually ended up being a Sunday Fun Night, due to the very frequent power outages that Zambia has.  This week we took some time to celebrate our engaged sisters, Maureen and Leah!  They are both so precious and so darling and it was awesome to spend a night honoring them.   We had a story time where Maureen and Leah shared their love stories, a marriage question panel with our team leaders, our on rendition of the Newlywed game that we liked to call “The Nearlywed Game”, a toilet paper wedding dress competition, a hashtag game where team members created potential hashtags the brides could use on their big days, a time of prayer over each of the girls and their future marriages, and a toast to them (complete with cake and sparkling grape juice!!).  Overall it was such a fun night to celebrate the two girls and bless them with love and support. 

Maureen receiving her custom fit toilet paper wedding dress.

The Brides to Be with one of our hosts, Gertrude, who made them a cake for the special night!

The whole team at the end of the night!

So this is what we did this week, and when we weren't doing these things the rest of the time was spent in History class (hence the title: The Rest Was History) We will be so sad to leave Zimba come Saturday, but we are excited for the future experiences that God has for our time here in Zambia.  It’s crazy to think that we have already been in this beautiful country for a month, and as we try to slow the time down, it seems to just keep speeding up on us.  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support from home, they truly mean the world to our team.  Please continue to pray for good health and safe travels as we move on to our next location on Saturday. 

Our last Sunday at Pilgrim Wesleyan Church of Zimba! We will miss worshipping with these wonderful people!

Much Love to all of the family, friends, faculty, homies, and facebook users that just like to read random blog posts that they come across on their news feed,

Mina and Emmy

History & Other Shenanigans

Muli Buti!

This week’s blog post is coming from the one and only Tracey Mamerow. Only one person this week, due to the academic chaos that has befallen us since the arrival of our dear history professor, Dr. Carla Lovett. Tracey is a closet dancer who loves to bust a move and then discuss the profound meaning of life. She harkens from the great state of Wisconsin, eats a lot of cheese, and her favorite thing about Zambia so far are the bright stars at night, and the sweet spirits of the Zambians.

This week was quite eventful, so I’ll try to give you all the highlights.

On Monday, we visited Choma and were introduced to Elijah Mission in Zambia (EMIZ). They welcomed us and described to us the wonderful ministries we will be able to participate in the next couple weeks. These include sports ministries, home and school visits, and gardening, all with the purpose of making connections with vulnerable families and children.

Following EMIZ, we made a pit stop at an orphanage, the Nest. Although we were sad to only be able to spend 20 minutes with the children, their bright smiles and beautiful singing cheered us up, and we have arranged our schedule so we can find more time to visit and spend time with their joyful spirits. It was also a great reminder that sometimes God uses short spurts of time to touch people’s lives. Even though it was only 20 minutes, it was 20 minutes we were able to use to pray over the children and bring smiles to their faces. God doesn’t always ask us to do big things; instead, he asks us to be faithful in the little things and be obedient in every moment—not just in the big things.  

Tuesday was our second clinical, and first day of outreach. Clinical consisted of seeing births and surgeries, practicing blood draws and working in the pediatric wards. Outreaches consist of participating in (and sometimes running) under 5 child checkup clinics, and going out into the bush with just a couple students and a couple nurses and ministering to different villages. Although these outreaches are challenging and long, we have learned a lot not only about nursing skills and recognizing what we do know, but also learning how much responsibility nurses have here in Zambia. One clinic we did outreach at was run solely by nurses. Due to need, they diagnose, prescribe, admit, and discharge patients—roles doctors normally hold. I think I can safely say our respect for the nurses here has skyrocketed this past week.

Wednesday was a day full of history (6 hours!) as well as continued outreach. Although Professor Lovett has raised the stress level of students here, we are SO grateful for her arrival. She helps us see Zambia in a different light, and asks probing questions that teach us not only to observe, but also to analyze and process what we’re encountering. We’ve been confronted with the culture, education and healthcare of Zambia, and through discussions with her we are learning to reconcile where we’re from and the resources we have, with what we’re seeing in Zambia. She is teaching us to look at Zambia’s way of life as not wrong, because it is distinct from America, but as beautiful, unique and something we can learn from. Although most of us are stressed from the many assignments (I say most because there are 8 of us who are not actually in the history class), I know we all appreciate the effort and the growth we are experiencing through the class.

Thursday included a history filled morning, followed by tours of the local primary and secondary school. We were asked to observe and contrast what we see here with what we know at home. Although resources were limited, the teaching was magnificent, and the students were the most well-behaved, respectful students we have ever seen. We learned that to enroll a child in primary school it costs about 20-30 kwacha, which is about 3-4 dollars a semester. Yet some parents cannot even afford that. That was a hard fact to face, especially when we realized that what we pay for chocolate here could send a child to school. These tours also helped us realize the privilege we have in school being a given in the USA, and in college being affordable. Every complaint we have had about classes and homework was wiped away in light of the fact that so many people desire our education but are unable to have it. We, as people with the privilege to have an education, have a responsibility on behalf of those who cannot gain an education, to not waste it but utilize it and work for education globally.

Friday was relatively mellow, except for the four girls who had night clinical (Natalie Theriot, Ashley, Hanneke & Emily). They had a night clinical in the maternal ward. Although it seemed like a slow night, they prayed for a baby and God answered. They were able to witness and participate in the birth of 5 different children, including an emergency C-section and working to resuscitate a blue baby (she lived!). Although frightening at times, they had a great experience and were reminded of God’s provision and care, even over tiny babies. And as anyone who has witnessed a birth knows, their lives are now changed from that experience.

Saturday was event day of the week. We had the chance to join a village in a bush and learn about their way of living. They welcomed us with open arms, calling us sisters, and taught us how to make a traditional Zambia meal (nshima, rape, roasted peanuts). We carried water from the well, and were shown the layout of the village and homes. The Reverend graciously let us tour his home, and let us ask questions about his corrals, goat and chicken pens, and showed us how they make nshima sticks—one man actually grabbed a hatchet and chunk of wood and started chopping one for us. Overall, it was one of the most fulfilling experiences we have had. We got to really immerse ourselves in Zambian culture and become part of their family. Our gifts to the village were insignificant in comparison to what they were able to give us through their love and grace.

In total, this week we have been completely submersed in Zambian culture. We are working to process and learn from our experiences, and are so grateful to finally feel like we’re here to stay in Zambia, rather than just touring the country. This upcoming week we look forward to starting our ministry with EMIZ, visiting the orphanage, continuing outreaches, and being overwhelmed with history classes and deep ponderings of life.

We appreciate your prayers. We ask that for this week you could pray to multiply our minutes so we can  finish our history work, for grace to extend to each other as we are starting to get exhausted, and for eyes to continue to see God’s work here in Zambia through outreaches.

We love you and miss you!

ZamFam 2015. 

Hello from Zimba!

Hello from Zimba!  Kasie and Natalie here!  

Kasie is from Fort Wayne, Indiana and is enjoying her first time out of the country!  She is a chocolate-loving, hug-giving, joy-filled individual, and we are all so happy to have her here!  Natalie is from the beautiful state of Michigan and sends love to her family. A highlight of her time in Zambia has been learning from the team’s leadership (Mike and Cindy Helvie, Marcie, and Anna), as well as from the people here.

This week, we have settled into Zimba and have begun to feel comfortable.

Here are a few highlights from our first full week here!

We had our first clinical at Zimba Mission’s Hospital.  During clinical, we were fortunate to learn of specialties ranging from ART therapy for HIV-positive patients to experiencing the pediatric ward.  We are all learning so much from the excellent hospital staff!  Communicating with patients through language barriers has been challenging, but we are doing our best to encourage them despite our limited Tonga. Eight students were able to witness births this week, which we were all very excited about!

In our week here, we have already become frequent shoppers at the local market.  Chitenges have been a hot-ticket item for our group, and we also enjoy visiting Juliette, a seamstress who creates everything from aprons to dresses.  We were touched when she told us that the Lord wouldn’t like it if she raised her prices because we were American. Her kindness blesses us a lot. 

Our team and leadership have all been striving to stay spiritually and prayerfully focused and unified.  Yesterday, we participated in a structured hour of prayer. It was a good time to reflect on different aspects of what we have been learning throughout this experience.  Honoring the Lord together as a team has been very encouraging and vital for each of us.

This morning, we attended Syanankanga (Mount Zion) Pilgrim Wesleyan Church.  The congregation was small, but so incredibly welcoming. We were able to really worship freely with them, despite language barriers, as a body of Christ. Their singing is absolutely beautiful, and their choir is so talented. Worship included dancing and singing with the congregation, and it was unlike anything that we had ever experienced before. The Zambians are so loving and bold in the way they worship the Lord, and a lot of us admire that about them!

The Lord has been so good to us. We have been experiencing Him in ways we couldn’t ever have imagined. He has definitely answered prayers for peace and adjustment in being away from home. We would really appreciate continued prayers for a constant state of peace and rest in God. For some, being away from the States is a difficult adjustment, but we are so thankful for every single person in this year’s Zam Fam!

We are ready to take on another week in the good old Zimba, Zambia!

Much love,

Kasie and Natalie

The beginning of our African Adventure!

Hello family and friends!!!

Mwabuka Buti (Good morning)! Thank you all so much for your prayers and support this past week as we started our 3 month long journey to Zambia.  Because we know just how much you love us we are going to kindly keep you updated on what is going on in our lives, half way across the world.  

This week Natalie Theriot and Ashley Showerman are reporting live from Zimba, Zambia.

Hello and welcome to an insider scoop of Zambia 2k15, my name is Natalie Theriot. I hail from the great land of Carmel, Indiana. My hobbies include consuming large amounts of queso, admiring sunflowers, and talking in accents.  My name is Ashley Showerman and am from the beautiful state of Michigan.  I enjoy all things that have to do with fall, long naps, and breakfast foods.  In all seriousness, we are both super excited to be here in Zambia.  We have already been extremely blessed in the brief time that we have been here and we look forward to growing closer as a team, forming relationships with the Zambians, as well as deepening our relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading about the beginning of our amazing African adventure.

Day 1/2: Travel Days

On this day we all met at the circle in front of the nursing building where we said goodbye to our professors, families, and friends. After a few tears were shed we loaded up two fifteen- passenger vans, made a pit stop at Panera (we needed some comfort food), and were on our way. As you can imagine getting eighteen girls through security is not an easy task especially since half of us had to take items out of our checked bags (stupid 50lb weight limit), but we boarded with no hiccups and were Washington D.C. bound. We arrived in Washington and immediately boarded to Ghana. Ten short hours later we stopped for fuel and then flew six more hours to South Africa. Arriving in South Africa turned out to be quite the ordeal considering our plane landed late and we had to go through customs and security again. We literally had to run through the airport and made it to the gate as they were closing it. They had to hold the plane for us, oops. Two hours later we arrived in our temporary home, Lusaka, Zambia.  At that point we had been traveling for over 24 hours and could not have been more thrilled to have our feet on Zambian soil.

Above is the guest house that we stayed in for a week while we were in Lusaka.

Day 3:

After a long day of travel, we were thankful to have a slow and restful morning the first day that we were in Lusaka.  We were thankful to have stayed at a beautiful guesthouse, with Wi-Fi, a pool, and amazing food that made us feel as if we were still in the States…it was definitely a good transition period for us.  Once we were all awake and ready we headed out to meet Bishop Reverend Dr. Kilembo, who is the bishop of the Wesleyan church of Zambia.  It was truly an honor to meet him and hear all about what his dreams and visions are for the country of Zambia.  After meeting with him we headed out into one of the villages where the Wesleyan church is building a clinic.  Although this clinic is unfinished due to inadequate funds, it is exciting to see the vision of healthcare being provided to those who otherwise would not have it.  As we were driving through the village, children would see us and start chasing after our bus.  Once we arrived at the clinic there were about 30-40 kids outside of the bus wanting to play with us, I think this was one of the biggest blessings of our first day here.  These children were radiating joy and it was contagious.  We played tag and made handshakes with them.  It was cool to see that even though there was a language barrier and we couldn’t communicate with words, that we were able to develop relationships based on joy, smiles, and non-verbal communication. 

Day 4/5:

These days we spent time in Zambian hospitals and we were absolutely blown away. The nurses were so knowledgeable and passionate about nursing. We learned so much from them even though we only were with them briefly. The first day we visited a private hospital called St. John’s and we left having so much respect for the staff and for how the hospital was run. The next hospital was called Beit Cure and they only offered surgical interventions to children with disabilities like hydrocephalus and clubfoot. We were able to spend time in the wards as well as interact and pray with the children and their mothers. Both hospitals were so beautiful. 

Day 6:

On our last day in Lusaka we went to the market, which was quite the experience.  At the market they sell clothes, bags, wood figurines, jewelry, as well as many other things.  We went from nursing students to business people, as we had to barter for all of our items.  Bartering was very interesting and new to many of us…as it is not quite appropriate to do it in America.  Often times, the vendors would increase the prices because they knew that we were Americans so we had to respectfully barter down the price. 

This picture shows just two of the huts at the market that we traveled to.

Day 7:

We traveled for hours to get from Lusaka to Zimba, our new home.  We will be here in Zimba for four weeks and finally get to start our clinical experiences.  The place that we are staying is very comfortable for us and feels like home.

We want to thank you once again for your continued support and prayers.  We have already been stretched emotionally and spiritually and have grown stronger as a team.  We miss you and love you all! 

With much love from Zimba, Zambia,

Natalie Theriot and Ashley Showerman (and the Zambia 2015 team)