ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN

Our Orphan and Vulnerable Children's (OVC) programme goes from strength to strength here at Chikankata. It's a great project and yesterday we received the good news that funding will be forthcoming for the next year from UNICEF. I have been so touched at some of the places I have visited with regard these activities. It really forward thinking and majors on the idea of community. All the community members are taking responsibility for the most vulnerable of children and I wish some of the spirit of community could be captured in the West. What a difference place the world would be.

Last week with the group from Lurgan we visited our second OVC camp. Deep in the hills of Mabetubwa, there were 90 children camping under the stars (literally). In the morning they undergo some intensive counselling (both individual and group) with our expert team here and then in the afternoon they play games together. The idea is that orphans rarely get time to greive and rarely get time to be children and just play. When their parents die the children usually go and stay with family members, often grandparents. The family are often unable to send them to school so they are quickly sent out into the fields to work. Note this -Every single person that is Zambian and living in the Mission has at least one orphan living with them. In some cases it is as many as 6-8. It's a huge issue in Zambia and a whole parenting generation are being wiped out by HIV/AIDS leaving behind innocent young children.

The day I was at the camp, I played football barefooted - which I regretted the next day when I could hardly walk. Not one of the young football players had shoes and I felt it was a bit much playing in my Timberland boots. Besides it would have been a bit sore on the kids if my big size 11 came thumping on their toes (as if they didn't have enough to worry about!) We played for nearly an hour and no one scored. The centre back trio of The Big Man, Big Ian and wee Chipo kept a very tight ship.

Yesterday, we were asked to do a comprehensive write up of our activites (monograph) which will be published. We are grateful to the many people who sponsor this programme both directly and through corps. It really does make a difference to children's lives. Hopefully we have a good document which will send out the details of this programme so you can read for yourselves the full extent of the programme.

God is good!