Darren LeBlanc

A couple weeks back, as I was sitting in the airport heading off to Africa with a crew from Forgotten Voices International, I explained that my trip had two purposes:

1)  VIDEO: First I was the camera man. I manned the video and audio gear, getting the footage we needed for a short film/video.  We wanted to tell the story of someone who has been impacted by Forgotten Voices. In telling that story we felt we could effectively depict just what his group does. They, by the way, come alongside local leaders in Zimbabwe and Zambia and they provide funding, training and leadership to help existing ministries reach MUCH further. Much of the donations we send to countries like Zimbabwe don’t get used as effectively as they could…in fact, many of these donations cause more problems than good. This seems like a hard pill to swallow, but its true. We throw money at something so we feel better, but money doesn’t fix everything. FVI wisely works through local leaders rather than showing up with a new (and often western) agenda. Anyway, the absolute highlight of the trip was the 3 day slot when we finally got out into the very rural area of Mtshebezi. There we met a young girl named Neatness. Many of the names there are interesting English names: Davine, Desire, Trustworthy, Devotion, etc. And while English is the national language, when in the rural areas, its more common to speak tribal languages (in this case it was Ndebele, which is much like Zulu). So communication is a chore…but a beautiful one. Neatness spoke English well compared to her peers and she has been supported by FVI for a handful of years now, so she was a great subject for our story. Her 14 years haven’t been so easy. Her mom has AIDS, but is managing well much of the days. Her uncle is also HIV positive, but was so sick that he laid on a mat outside the entire time we were there (for days). I didn’t get any medical prognosis, but it didn’t seem he’d be with us much longer. Getting tested for HIV is a normal part of life. Unfortunately, Neatness’ little brother was positive as well. He was only a few years ahead of my Olivia…I can’t imagine growing up with that on my plate as a kid. Her dad died a few years back…she was devastated. Still tears up as we talk about it. Her aunt died as well…and, well…that’s as far as we got with the questions. But, that part of her story is pretty normal. That’s much of Africa.  Neatness is special though. She is top of her class in her studies, and does much of the work to take care of her family. At 14, she is charged with waking before dawn (we got there at 4:45am!) and making breakfast for her siblings, then dressing them and getting everything ready for school. She walks them 5km to their school and proceeds to her own. After a long day in class, she takes them home, cleans the dishes, sweeps up, does her homework, irons her uniform and a bit more. There was an incredible beauty in the simplicity of this life though. There is no electricity, so ironing means taking coals from the fire and filling a cast iron tool with a flat bottom and pressing the clothes on a blanket. Doing dishes means heating water on the fire and cleaning with that, then emptying your bowls away from the homes. Being able to be there at sunrise and stay till sunset, just watching life…well, this was one of the highlights of my life. As Americans, we MIGHT get an opportunity to visit a country like this…and if we are really luckily maybe even meet someone like Neatness. But getting to spend days observing life there was an extraordinary experience. I spoke with Steve (the editor who traveled with us) and he said the footage is working out and he thinks it will be good.

2) RESEARCH PROJECT: Secondly, I mentioned that I was putting on my Anthem of Hope hat and exploring the spiritual needs of AIDS orphans and kids whose parents are sick or dying. This was a very interesting endeavor. As I said, I am not so naive to think that we were going to fix a problem in a week…but actually, I was very happy with the progress we did make. Basically, we identified that kids their respond very differently than kids in the US and the only way we are really going to be able to help with that is if we do a serious research project to explore it. SO…Anthem of Hope will be heading up a major Research Project over the next couple years. The trick is to do this so the development of our products isn’t impacted by even a week…and I think we can do that. The initial plan is to have the research collected by bright students right there in Zimbabwe. To my knowledge, nothing like this has been done. If you know otherwise, speak up. Anyway, I’m very excited about this.

Ok, that’s all for Africa for a while. In case you want a bit more on the trip, here are some of the twitter updates we posted for the 11 days. And no, twitter was not a purpose…just for fun!

3) TWITTER

i am slightly intimidated by the scope of work i need to accomplish by 5am to leave for the airport.7:14 PM Jun 9th

 

We are safely in south africa, now boarding for zimbabwe! :) breakfast (omlet, sausage, and mango juice) was yummy. All are well.2:19 AM Jun 11th

 

Darren & steve stunned by strength of insecticide spray before takeoff. darren: “that’s a tweet moment, ryan” hence the tweet. Taking off!2:55 AM Jun 11th

 

Great morning with james and the Rock church. Met a 16 year old named Yvonne and 14 yr old Ruth. Inspiring stories that we’ll share.3:52 AM Jun 13th

 

Picking up Matt from airport. Drinking a coke with the guys. James is with us. Pray Matt and medicine gets through fine.3:53 AM Jun 13th

 

I see Matt! Back of the customs line, but here! Yah!! Will tweet when we have Matt. Ps Cokes were delightful. Darren stole a bottle from 1995! 4:06 AM Jun 13th

 

Pulled over by zim cops – pray this goes well…4:31 AM Jun 13th

 

Ok – we are on our way again. $20 bribe and we are back on the road. Picking up local pastor fibion for lunch now4:40 AM Jun 13th

 

slept in a thatched hut built into a cliff….with the most beautiful view I’ve seen. Can’t wait to post pics. In city today for few hrs2:25 AM Jun 17th

 

just found a cool street where tons of people were selling food, but as darren was negotiating over some bananas everyone packed and ran off. Apparently, the police come and take what you are selling. Steve was in the middle of yelling at a guy for stealing a pregnant womans food… and the guy showed him a badge (which looked fake), so we left. Anyway, we are safe and hopefully will tweet couple times today.2:23 AM Jun 17th

 

Great meeting with the president of the theological seminary…and off to dinner now with the bishop – senior man in brethren of christ …8:33 AM Jun 17th

 

Just saw a woman walking with three duffle bags stacked on her head…we are basically amazed by this.8:34 AM Jun 17th

 

just found out that a 16yr old girl in Fibion’s church here just died of meningitis. Kinda down this morning about that – praying for them.11:25 PM Jun 17th

 

Highlights of day: latch on truck broke and luggage (steve’s) thrown into street; 1 hour later we were off with help of rubber band. :-)10:28 AM Jun 18th

 

Game drive was incredible. 20 elephants surrounded our truck and roared. Saw monkeys, zebra, ostrich, hyena, jackal, 3 hippo, wildebeast …10:30 AM Jun 18th

 

Sitting in a safari lodge, eating ostrich while watching elephants & impala eat in dark. Then late drive back to find some game. 530am rise.10:35 AM Jun 18th

 

Will is doing pushups on a lawn near the falls. I love this guy. Dinner at 7. Warthog and crocodile tail. Peace till then.8:28 AM Jun 19th

 

Boarding plane. Goodbye, Zim. My home, my heart,& my hope for a better way of life. We just met 2 canadians that climbed mt kilimanjaro.wow!2:41 AM Jun 20th

 

Safely in south africa. Goodbyes to darren & steve. Matt & I tour a church providing shelter for Zim refugees & stay the night in Joburg.4:43 AM Jun 20th

darren and steve are home safely into new york – and all the bags made it too. unfortunately customs made them dump the kudo and ostrich jerky!6:09 AM Jun 21st