A Note and Some Facts

Glad you have visited my blog! It is so kind of Sarah to set this up for me, and I look forward to communicating to family and friends through it. With one week to go, I have mixed emotions....much anticipation of this amazing opportunity Matthew and I get to experience with my parents, but at the same time, there is an ache in my heart as the time approaches when I will be separated from Ken for 10 weeks. We are holding each other longer and closer than ever these days and it's quite sweet! I love Ken so much and will miss him terribly! God has been so good to give him to me.

However, I have a wonderful few days ahead to get my mind off the sadness - Hailey, Justin and Ryle will be with us from Tuesday evening until Friday evening, when the whole gang will get together at Ryan and Hollis's for a family gathering. Being with my grandchildren always makes me smile, so I know it will be a fun few days. I am basically packed and ready to go, so now I can enjoy my family for this final week before we fly to Africa. We're also looking forward to celebrating with the Miller family as my nephew, Jeff, gets married this Saturday, so it should be a fun week ahead!

In case you wanted to know, we will depart from Baltimore 9:05 PM Tuesday June 12 and arrive in London 9:25 AM June 13. After a 10 hour lay-over there, we leave London 7:15 PM June 13 and arrive in Lusaka 6:15 AM June 14. I am truly looking forward to stepping out onto African soil and meeting the dear people my parents have loved for so many years!

Zambia:
- the size of Texas
- 11 million people
- English is official language, but there are 36 different languages and 82 ethnic groups
- 2/3 of primary school age children go to school, but only 10% of 1st graders graduate from grade 12
- Life expectancy is 37
- 600,000 orphans out of 4 million children
- one sixth of adults are HIV positive; main cause is unprotected heterosexual activity
- 2/3 of people earn $1 / day; $1390 is the average income per year