All Here, Safe and Sound!
Our Partnership Trip started yesterday, and all of our trip participants arrived safe and sound! For the most part, everyone’s flights seemed to have been on time and smooth, though after traveling for a day and a half, the group was still a bit worn down. We had a chance to drop off our bags and get a bit of rest at the lodge before heading to dinner in the new home of Charles and Margaret Mumba, our partner directors. The trip participants got to hear straight from the founders of Hope about how the organization started based on the need Charles and Margaret saw in their community, and Rich pitched in to tell about how Spark began its partnership with Hope.
While the trip participants were getting the full story on Hope and Spark, we enjoyed a huge and lavish meal of chicken (straight from Hope’s farm!), meatballs, cabbage, spinach, rice, noodles and much more. The trip participants even got their first taste on nshima, the local staple here that looks like mashed potatoes but is firmer and made of cornmeal. Everyone seemed immensely grateful for the beautiful meal after a day and a half of airplane food! It’ll probably be another few days, though, before the trip participants will try eating nshima the Zambian way: with your hands!
We headed back to the lodge fairly early, and after some arrangements for mosquito nets and whatnot, everyone managed to get a good night’s sleep. (It was no wonder after the long trip over and the huge meal we enjoyed!)
So now we’re at the office, getting a great culture, history and Bemba lesson from Charles. The kids at the school and orphanage will no doubt get a kick out of all of us trying to speak Bemba, and I’m looking forward to getting the trip participants to the school and orphanage to see the work we do. Here’s to a fun and productive day!