City Trip

Kerri's mom wanted to do some shopping before heading back to the States. So, we headed to Lusaka this morning. Whenever we're here, we try to do a laundry list of chores.

On the top of today's list: car maintenance. I try to do as much as I can myself. But I just don't have the equipment for tire alignment. When your home is 45 minutes off the paved roads, it pays to have them aligned every so often.

Hopefully this will last us a while.

A Bit of Nourishment

Below is information on a nutritional program that our ministry is starting at a nearby clinic.  Take a few minutes to read.  Awesome stuff!

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I want to introduce you to Syvolas Musonda, Chilala Habeena and Iness Kabwata respectively. These three young children are all under the age of two and will be the test group for a nutrition program we launched this morning. All three are extremely malnourished.  To give you some perspective Syvolas (first picture) is five months old and weighs 9.2 pounds.  That is just almost one pound more than our daughter Avery who is just two weeks old. Syvolas is HIV postive and his mother, who has AIDS, is too frail to care for him. 


The program will consist of distribution of a daily nutritional supplement called Phytomatrix which is manufactured by MannaRelief out of Texas. We are highly expectant that all three of these children will show immediate signs of improvement during the course of this study. 

To follow their progress please visit our blog at: www.whitfieldwateringhole.blogspot.com. For more information on Phytomatrix you can visit MannaRelief's website at: www.mannarelief.org.

Some More Visitors

Mimi and Papa are visiting us for the first time in Chikankata.  It's been a great visit so far.  Their arrival was like Christmas in March because of all the stuff they brought.  Tomorrow morning they will get to be a part of our field day where we are teaching composting to local farmers.  And then on Wednesday night, they will go with us into the village for a Jesus Film outreach.

It's so nice having family here!

Want to Help?

Meet Cynthia.  Cynthia has been working for us for about a year now.  In addition to teaching the kids Tonga lessons every Friday, she has been running a small shop on the back of the property as well as doing translation work for the women's outreach events.  We're so thankful for her honesty and hard work, but it's time for bigger and better things.

This past week, Cynthia was accepted into an Early Childhood Teachers diploma program.  And this program isn't easy to get into.  Not only did Cynthia complete grade 12, which only about 20% of all Zambians do, but she did so with high marks.  The only problem is that Cynthia doesn't have the money to attend this university.  Her father is a cook for one of the local farmers and only makes enough to support his family with the essentials (food, shelter, etc.)  So, that is why we are asking for your help.

The program is a 2-year program and when completed it will give Cynthia a diploma and a much needed advantage in finding work as a school teacher.  Considering that only a very small percentage of Zambians complete a university degree, it's easy to understand the value of such an education.  A degree like this can literally change her life and the life of her family.

The basic cost of this degree program is $1,500 per year for two years, which includes boarding and education.  So, we are basically trying to raise $3,000 to send Cynthia to school.  Would you be willing to help?

Donations can be made online by going to:  http://www.cten.org/brentroberts.  When making your donation, please comment, where appropriate, that the donation is for Education Assistance.

Thank you for your consideration!

Welcome Avery Elizabeth Whitfield

This morning a little after 7 am our friends and ministry partners, Luke and Elise welcomed their 6th child into the world.

Little Avery weighed a little over 7.5 lbs and is completely healthy. Mommy is doing fine as well!

Back to the Third World

This morning I arrived back in Zambia after spending a few days in Johannesburg. It was nice to experience some of the comforts of a first-world country again, but I'm glad to be home again with the family.

Now, back to work!

Home Cooking

I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa for a few days and got to experience some good-ole Mickey-D's. I know it probably doesn't mean much to you, but when you don't get it for nearly 2 years, it is a treat.

This being back in civilization kind of makes me miss the States!

Local Markets

One of the ways we try to help out with our tonga neighbors is to try and create jobs. At our house, we've started a small shop for the farm workers. This small shop provides them with much needed household goods, but it also provides work for Cynthia. Cynthia has completed grade 12 and is trying to find the money for university. So, she comes to the house Monday thru Friday and runs our store.

In addition to the money that the store is providing her, in terms of salary, we also will use some of the profit to help hire other workers. This is just a small way that we have found to be helpful in the community in which we live.

The picture above is of one of my friends in the local suppliers market in Mazabuka. This market is where we buy the goods for our small shop. This lady sells me beans and fish weekly. She was kind enough to let me snap a picture to share with you.