i have so many to write about (and must, for my own reflection), but only have 6 minutes left on my time in the business center of the hotel, here in lusaka, zambia.

today, the 7 youth workers and i traveled to the kapalulwe ADP to visit a variety of ways one life revolution money has been spent. here’s one story:

we went to a small village, and when we pulled up, the old men and women of the village were waiting for us, singing and dancing. they lead us (still singing and dancing) to a house built with OLR money for a widow with 12 kids (not all hers). then we followed them for a long walk (with LOTS more people joining us along the way) to their new clean-water well, which was built with OLR money. they had decorated the well with flowers, and little strips of a cassette tape (which looked kind of like garland, or “icicles” on a christmas tree). there was a fence around it, and the opening had a ribbon across it with flowers on it. next to the actual pump was a monument, covered in cloth. after several formalities, they had me come up and join the village “elder” (who talked about drinking clean water for the first time in his life from this well), who handed me scissors to cut the ribbon. i asked if he would do it with me, and we held the scissors together (later, we heard they were “the village scissors”), and cut the ribbon, to much cheering. then, we went in and removed the cloth, which was covering a very nice plaque that said “donated by One Life Revolution, USA” or something like that. the old guy and i ceremonially pumped the well together (more cheers), then our whole team took turns. it turned into a big party, with the women teaching our women how to carry water jugs on their heads (more cheers, lots of laughter). it really was a highlight of the day. but there were three other stops, and they were all wonderful too!