One afternoon, while in northern Zambia, our team was invited to visit the homes of the people in a small bush village. We delivered blankets (it is winter in the southern hemisphere right now - in Zambia temperatures will drop into the 40’s at night on the coldest nights) and food parcels (corn meal, dried fish, oil and other necessities) as we visited. In this village many of the men and women ages 20 to 50 had died of AIDS. Many of those who remained were infected by AIDS and everyone in that village had been affected in some way by AIDS. The men were working in Solwezi, walking the dirt roads perhaps 40 minutes each way to work. The homes are built of bricks made of mud and termite dung, and have thatched roofs. They vary in size from 30 square feet (5′ by 6′) to perhaps 120 square feet (10′ by 12′).

There are common toilets for all in the village - a kind of community latrine - with a thatch fence around it - easily set up and moved when one latrine is full. Cooking is done over open fires outside the huts. There is a common well - nothing more than a hole in the ground with a rope and a plastic bucket attached.

I went into the home of one of the older men. He lived alone in a 5′ by 6′ hut. He had a makeshift cot and a box with his possessions. All of his life possessions (aside from his bed) would fit in a grocery sack. He was grateful for the gifts of food and a blanket. I also visited and prayed with a young man and his son - both infected with AIDS - his wife and other children had already died.

The children in the village were like children anywhere - they played, and laughed. They were particularly interested in seeing photos of themselves shot with our cameras. After each picture we would show them the photo on the LCD screen on our cameras and they would giggle. Many had never seen what they look like.

Several things that stood out to me on my visit to this village: 1. The entire village raises the children - with older women acting as grandmothers to all. This is particularly important where so many homes are headed by children who are caring for younger children since the death of their parents. 2. Most of us devote a fair amount of time thinking about the future - what we hope to do, have or be in the days ahead. This is a foreign concept to many living in the bush where the primary concern is whether one will have food for their family for the next few days. I learned that this plays a key role in the spread of AIDS in Africa (more on that in a subsequent post). 3. There is dignity and hope in giving people meaningful work and providing the means for them to do for themselves as opposed to simply giving hand outs. Hand-outs can be important, like the blankets, shoes and food packs we distributed, but we found that the people who were working at Lusa making bricks, cultivating crops, teaching and serving, even if they were only paid with meals and education, had a joy and sense of hope others did not have.

Here are a few photos from our visit to the bush village: 1. The elderly man I visited, sitting in front of his home - 5′ by 6′. 2. A woman at the community well - the only source of water for this village. 3. The children of the village, many infected with AIDS who will not live to their 18th birthday.