Good Morning. My name is Dick Bail, and I am the President of Communities Without Borders.
Muile Bwanji! This is how we say “Good Morning. How are you?” in Nyanja. And, if you wish to say, “I am fine and how are you?” , You would respond, Bwino Bwanji. So, let’s try it a couple of times. Here goes: I say, ”Muile Bwanji” and you respond, “Bwino Bwanji”….and once more….
The next phrase I want to teach you is “Tuli Bamwi”. This means “We Are One”, and it is the theme we have chosen for this morning’s service. I experienced this “We Are One” principle in a very powerful way in the Zambian village of Simukanka this summer when I saw first- hand how everyone in the village helped the least fortunate in the hard times of famine. I think “We Are One” is a most appropriate theme for this morning’s service, because we here at the First Unitarian Society of Newton, FUSN for short, have been working on a similar sense of unity with the community of Chawama in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia thousands of miles away. We have done this through e-mails, phone calls, pictures, videos and pen-pals and by actually traveling there. FUSN members have come to know and understand our friends- indeed, our brothers and sisters- in this utterly impoverished squatter compound, highly impacted by AIDS. Shortly after the shock that we all experienced of 9/11/2001 at a service here in this sanctuary we passed around pictures of the children of Chawama. That day many of us felt ourselves looking directly into the eyes of poverty. Since then, we have gradually learned about the stresses and challenges faced by this African community stricken by AIDS, and together we have been able to lend a hand.
The relationship between FUSN and Chawama is one of a series of similar projects initiated by Communities Without Borders. CWB is an idea that Pete Smith and I had in 1999 after I had had the opportunity of consulting in Zambia for the United Nations organization UNAIDS. In the course of that consultation I visited a number of very hard working community-based organizations, struggling to help AIDS orphans and vulnerable children impacted by this horrendous epidemic. We thought that there would be value in linking American communities with these community-based projects in Zambia. We, in America, would learn about the struggles experienced by the care-giver, usually an exhausted grand-mother or aunt, in trying to overcome immense obstacles to feed and educate these children, who were still grieving and confused by the passing of their parents. We would learn about the heroism and the persistence and most importantly the hope of which our human species is capable. And, we, in America, would bring where we could some useful benefit to these children. So, the notion of Communities Without Borders was born, and FUSN was one of the first communities to enter a partnership with its designated community in Chawama, nearly eight years ago. Since that time, CWB has nurtured 10 community-to-community pairings between the US and Zambia. Our core mission is to provide quality educational experience for these children who otherwise would not go to school. We think this is the most fundamental and basic need that must be addressed if Africa is to recover from the impact of AIDS. Now, collectively, across all of our projects, we, in CWB have supported about 1000 children to enter formal education. Many of the children have now graduated into secondary school, and we are even supporting 3 at university level. One of these is Senge Zulu who is a double orphan from Chawama, and who served as a volunteer teacher in our community school in Chawama for three years. Senge is now number one in his class at the National Resource Development College. African children really appreciate educational opportunity and work very hard to succeed!
CWB has also provided food and some health care for these orphans. We have purchased and developed 2 buildings for community schools. We have built a substantial health clinic in Simukanka, where there had been no facility for many miles. We have constructed a feeding center for children and an improved latrine, where children could, for the first time, wash their hands. This past spring we collected and sent 140 cartoons of books to Zambia. Many of you contributed to this effort. As of Friday, we have been informed that the books have cleared customs and distribution will begin very soon. But, perhaps the most important thing we have brought is hope itself. Many of us have been asked as we are leaving Zambia, “Please, do not forget us!” That rings often in our ears, and we will not forget.
By now substantially more than 50 persons have joined us in traveling to Zambia in the summer, including many youth. In preparing for these trips we stress three principles:
1.
Make new friends
2.
Bear witness to what you have seen, and,
3. Bring something of benefit to our Zambian counter-parts. In just a few minutes you will hear brief vignettes from some of these travelers about their most poignant experiences.
This past summer trip to Zambia in 2008 was special. We focused more clearly on education, and we were able to bring with us 10 very competent, full-time teachers from Newton and Lexington. Some of these teachers worked every morning teaching English and math and art skills in the community pre-schools. In these instances a seasoned, professional teacher was paired with an American youth as an “apprentice teacher”. Everyone, Zambians and Americans, learned and benefited from these experiences. Other American teachers forged relationships with Zambian secondary school teachers and arranged learning conferences. Others still, prepared and carried out formal training for Zambian primary school teachers. Building on this experience, CWB is developing on-going teacher training programs. We will be supporting 10 of our Zambian teachers to receive 2 years of formal training. We are also collaborating in the establishment of a “teacher resource center”, where our teachers will be able to borrow books and other teaching materials for their classes and have access to the Internet. We are committed to doing all that we can to provide the best quality education for our children!
Now, in order to re-inforce the principle of Tuli Bamwi or We Are One, I would like to have you participate with me in a brief exercise. First, I would like to ask to stand and remain standing, please, the people on the Board or Staff of CWB. I would like to recognize the special contribution of Sharon Sisskind, a FUSN member who has donated a significant amount of her time and energy and considerable expertise as volunteer Executive Director for CWB. Sharon is currently at a parent’s weekend in Michigan with her son. Next, I would like all of those people who have traveled with us to Zambia to stand and remain standing. Next, I would like to request to stand and remain standing all family members where penpal relations have been started. Next, I would like to ask to stand and remain standing all those who have participated in any way in our tremendously successful “Coffee House” events to benefit Zambia, and I would like to cite especially the tireless efforts of Meg Holland and others in organizing these events, Finally, I would like to ask to stand and remain standing any others who may have contributed money or clothing or books or eyeglasses or school materials or who have helped the travelers in order to benefit the Zambian children.
So, I think as you look around yourselves, you can see directly that we as the community of FUSN, are indeed one in our efforts to support these children, and we manifest many layers of participation.
Finally, I want to invite everyone to the parish hall immediately after this service to see pictures and videos and to see some of the crafts made by Chawama artisans. Also, at noon you are invited and to an informational program in the Children’s Chapel to learn more about our work.