ST. THOMAS MORE PARISH, BROOKINGS, SD HELPS ZAMBIAN FARMERS

THANK YOU ST. THOMAS MORE!!!!!!!

When I left my ministry as Youth Formation Director at St. Thomas More parish in Brookings, SD...the parish gifted me with a donation of several thousand dollars to help the people of Zambia. Right now the greatest need for the people is food. Everyday people tell us that they have nothing to eat, so a portion of the STM donation has been used to purchase maize (corn) seed and fertilizer for some of the local farmers in Kalomo, Zambia. The maize seed is ground into mealy-meal (flour) and from this they make nshima, which is the staple food of the Zambian people.

This is part of a sustainable farming project that was begun to help local farmers produce enough food to meet their needs. This group of farmers in a a small village near Kalomo have had poor crops the last two years because of drought the first year and floods the second year of the program. However, they still returned 100% of the seed they owed back to the project to keep the program going. I was saddened to discover that even though they returned their full share...there was no seed or fertilizer available for them. They had plowed their fields by hand and were waiting with much hope that some how they would get seed to plant. And thanks to the generous people of St. Thomas More the people of this small African village have planted their crops! The people were overjoyed when we went to them and announced that we brought seed and fertilizer for them.

All of the farmers benefiting from this donation of maize seed are living with aids. They are part of a support group that gathers regularly with Home Based Care workers. They support each other in their illness and in life survival skills. Sr. Teresa Malloy, PBVM is a nurse and gathers with several support groups each week to consult with them about their health and survival needs. I've been going with Sr. Teresa to meet with the support groups around Kalomo for several weeks.

A large portion of the STM donation will go to the village of Kaoma to build a mill for grinding maize seed. This will create a new business in the community and the people can grind their maize seed locally.

LIFE IN KALOMO

I've been living in Kalomo for a couple of weeks and really like this spot in the world! I'm living with two Presentation Sisters. Sr. Teresa is an Irish nurse and works with homebased care. Sr. Numba is a Zambian in temporary vows. She teaches in a school and has helped some widows begin a farm project. Both sisters are involved in various projects to help the people become sustainable.

I've mostly been going around with Teresa to the huts of people living with aids, TB and various other illnesses. She checks on their health, gives out some meds, checks to see if they have something to eat. The hunger situation right now if very bad and many are struggling to find something to eat everyday. Some have plowed their fields by hand for the growing season, but have no seed to plant.

One of the women we visited in a compounds was so sick that she was unable to stand. She was on the dirt floor of her hut crawling to get around and she had two young children. Her husband abandoned her when she got sick.

We also had a young woman stay at our house for a few days. She traveled with her severely handicapped sister and her little girl from the home for disabled children in Mongu. She was so sick when she arrived that we couldn't take her out to the village. She slept on a mattress on the floor in our house for several days and Teresa treated her. When she was well enough to go to her family's village we drove them much of the way. At one point there was no more road so she had to walk the rest of the way a long way into the bush. She had bags, her four year old daughter, and her 10 year old physically disabled sister (who had to be carried the whole way). Some family members walked from the village to help her carry her load.

There are two Zambian priests in the parish and they have persuaded me to help out with some youth programing while I'm here, so I'm helping with advent retreats, etc. The youth are beginning to drop by the house now looking for me to visit with them. The ability of even the younger children to sing, harmonize, go into parts, dance, etc...is amazing!!!!! They lift the rafters off the roof!