Bob and Bridget never intended to dedicate their lives to charitable activities in Zambia. They just wanted to be good neighbors and help out when they could. It started with Hank whose mother was Bridget’s niece but he had no father. Bob took on the role and when Hank’s mother got a job in town Bridget took over the role of mother. When six month old Doras needed parents Bridget and Bob again bec
ame Mom and Dad. Helen was only 5 when she came to live with them. A year later her 7 year old sister Kachana also came to live on Bob and Bridget’s small farm in Nsongwe Village. A neighbor Ina Hendricks had given birth to a girl named Flo. Flo suffered from cerebral palsey. She was constantly crying and Ina Hendricks became desperate and asked Bridget for help. Bridget agreed to transport mother and child to the hospital but when they arrived, she realized Flo’s mother had no idea what to do. Bridget spent the day getting Flo registered, shuffling from one doctor to the next and getting lab work done. Bridget helped Ina Hendicks come back for follow up visits. She explained to the bewildered mother exactly what was happening and explained her options. Flo was able to get expert help and medication. Instead of despair, reasons for optimism appeared. Soon other families who felt hopeless about their medical situation approached Bridget for help. Refusing to help didn’t seem to be a reasonable choice of action. Bridget felt she should get involved. Bob agreed that they would set aside a part of their income to pay for fuel, medicines and food to help those in desperate need. One day they were stopped by an old man on a bicycle as they went to town. He was taking a young boy to the hospital and pleaded with Bob to let them ride in the car. The boy had diarrhea and had been vomiting. He was dehydrated and was so weak he couldn’t stand up. His grandfather had put him on the bicycle and was pushing it to town. They rushed to the hospital in time and the boy was saved. Bob asked the grandfather why they had not taken the child to the Nsongwe Rural Clinic. Surely they could have given him oral rehydration salts and prevented such a serious condition from occurring. “We had done that” replied the old man “ but the clinic had no medicine to give him.”. Bridget and Bob followed up by talking to the clinic’s head nurse. They were told that the story was true. Patients would come to the clinic only to be told that the medicine which they needed was not available. The nurse voiced her frustration at being unable to give the assistance which she was supposed to provide. She prepared a list of essential medicines that the clinic was supposed to have and gave it to Bob. He found a place in their budget to start buying medicines and other supplies for the clinic. Bridget had long envisioned that night school for adults would be offered. When she was the head of the school board parents had expressed a desire to attend school so they could learn what their children were learning. They wanted to be more involved in their children’s education. She had worked for many years to get electricity to the Nsongwe Basic School so that adult classes could be offered at night. However, the idea was never taken up by the school’s administration. Bob had organized and taught class to students from the farm when school was closed due to Covid. He was able to utilize young high school graduates to assist him. Flush from the success of this temporary school, Bridget asked him to offer a night school to adults. Several young men and women had asked for an opportunity to learn English, the official language of Zambia. Miss Petronela had been an effective teacher with the children. She took on the challenge of teaching English 5 nights a week to adults. The students are enthusiastic about this chance to improve themselves. Maria Meyer was impressed by her parents efforts and offered to organize a non profit company registered in California. She would be in charge of compliance, fund- raising and marketing with a title of CFO. The funding which SHZ has been able to raise in 2021 has allowed SHZ to have impact for good.
