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.
posted by Sister Deb Nelson at
3:15 PM
7 Comments:
Great donation of corn to plant. This should help them out alot. Hopfully some good growing wheather so they get a crop this year. It's is -7 below zero here today. Windy and cold!!! The boys had a BB game last night and won so they are 2 and 0 so far. We play Roncalli next week. Thats always a good game. Do you have Fr. terry's address? Is it 106 King treet Saint Paul,MN. I would like to send him a card but dont know how to mail it to him. I almost called him in Michell when Garry had his heart attack but didnt know if I should. I figured he know where we are. Are you missing snow, holidays, home yet? You'll be home before you know it. This school year is going so fast. Well, I'm going to bake christmas cookies today so I better get going. Talk again soon..Lori Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you in Africa............
By
Anonymous, At
December 20, 2008 at 2:14 PM
hey, How was your Christmas??? We had a nice time with lots of my family around. Daline is engaged, I dont know if I told you that, she and Jay and their 5 kids just left this morning. We undecorated the the house and put everything back and CLEANED up. What a great feeling to have things back in order. It's really nice here today 40 degrees and we cleaned vehicles and scraped ice from the driveway. Garry's sister and family are coming tobight sometime. They will leave Wed. Everyone is tired and ready to unwind. Hopefully tonight we can get to bed early. Well, I have to go to a 50th birthday party for Gayle Vrooman so will talk to you later. Take CAre...Lori
By
Anonymous, At
December 28, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Hey Sr. Deb!
It's been a while since I've checked out your blog. I was very busy preparing for our Christmas program! Did you have a Merry Christmas? It was different for us this year, not having you at our house. We still made the wild rice soup...but with pheasant instead of chicken. It was good. I'm glad to hear that the money from STM helped the farmers! We have one more Wed (Jan 7) to collect money for our "KIDS HELPING KIDS" project. So far, the elementary students raised enough to sponsor two children. I'm hoping that we can raise enough on Wed. to sponsor at least one more! (Our goal was for each grade to sponsor a student in Africa...but we are falling short of that). It's been hard because of all the breaks. We have been sending email reminders to the parents though. Rachel & Esther are collecting from the older students too. We'll let you know the grand total after next week.
Take Care and Happy New Year!
deb gilk
By
Anonymous, At
December 31, 2008 at 3:47 PM
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2009 can you believe it? We went to play games and eat (what else do we do during the holidays)at Jerry and HoniAnns. Home before midnight. We are all very tired adn wore out. To much company and running. The boys had BB games Tues. adn we play Roncalli tomarrow night. Jordan had a great game Tues. 24 points, 11 rebounds and just played great. We lost, but he had a great game. Hope all is going go with you. Not much new around here. Seems wierd that you're gone. You usually stop over during the holidays. We'll have to try to meet up inbetween your home and gone again trips. Just alittle over a month left. Hope you got to do everything you hoped to do and see. Well, I'll talk to you again soon. Take care and know we're thinking about you. Lori
By
Anonymous, At
January 1, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Great to hear form you. Glad to hear the package got there. I bought those peg game in Sioux Falls and they are fun and addicting. I thought the supplies wouldbe useful to you. Wish we could see the kids when they got the sool stuff to use. We sure take things for granted dont we?? the simple things that we have to use everyday is pricless to them. I was wondering about soap and stuff like that. I bet that would have been great too. The kids go back to school tomarrow, sad day at this house. We'll be back to the grind again. I guess a schedual will be good for all of use. Garry is feeling better, but end of the year is always alot of work. Will be glad when thats done for him. He goes back to Sioux Falls doctor Jan. 22nd. Just wish we knew what really caused this and hopefully can know what to do to prevent it again. Well take care and talk again soon. Great to hear from you....lori
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Anonymous, At
January 4, 2009 at 3:09 PM
Ok, I thought Garry was feeling better. He was at cardio rehabyesterday {Wednesday} and didnt feel well. They made him stop walking and did a ekg. walked him to the ER and thought he should go back to Sioux Falls. Another Ambulance ride for us. They gave him one nitrogycerin pin and the pain was gone. They didnt find anything in SF either. He passed the stress test with a 98%. And we came home that night.
I just wish he would get end of the year work done and then he could relax. Its always alot of extra work for him. Not muck else new, I better get going. See ya...Lori
By
Anonymous, At
January 8, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Sr. Deb,
What an exciting experience of mission and this blog is just terrrific! God bless you always for your witness and your God be with you in your continuing mission discernment.
Bill & Joyce Kubat
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Anonymous, At
January 10, 2009 at 6:56 PM
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