Staff Blog

Rainy season’s come late and hit Zambia with a vengeance. We’ve just experienced a 24-hour downpour, with rivers flooding and roads becoming impassable by the minute. Even traveling between Rapid 14 Base and Livingstone town is a challenge. The Maramba River (which one has to cross to reach town) is flooded, with water threatening to take out the bridge. We’ve had to cross three new rivers today on dirt roads that had none two days ago!  Driving out to Rapid 14 Base was interesting to say the least.  Nsongwe River is in full flood, running 200 m wide where there’s normally very little to no water whatsoever!  We took the chance of crossing the river (having been told that it is only waist deep), and had our Landcruiser’s bonnet covered with water for a little while!

The rains and floods have had serious repercussions for our LIFE project. We had to cancel the past two training sessions due to heavy rains. Roads to villages are completely impassable and there is no way for us to get to villages to collect data, evaluate schools, run clinics, etc. Villagers are struggling to cope with the rain. One can imagine what the downpours do to thinly thatched roofs, mud-walls and dirt floors. Most villagers sleep on grass mats, which means few have the ‘luxury’ of dry sleeping quarters. Yes, these are challenging times! As a LIFE team, we are working to make the most of this time, catching up on administration and strategizing   to running the projects effectively and efficiently

during the remainder of the year.

Please remember the people of Zambia in your prayers - having to cope with these conditions under ‘normal’ circumstances are hard.  It becomes even harder when your very home and/or existence is threatened.

Thank you for praying for the safety and protection of the OM team on the ground!

Once again, thank you for your prayers, love and support, we appreciate it!