7/21-7/23 Victoria Falls
On Tuesday July 21st, the team split into two. Glynn, Melissa, and
Bianca and I left to Victoria Falls, while Kevin, Bryan, Curtis, and
Rhonda stayed in Bulowayo. Immediately arriving to our lodge, Melissa
and I were dying to get some exercise after hours of sitting and
traveling, so we decided to go on a 2 mile jog down to the Gorge of
Victoria Falls. While running down the street a bystander yelled at
us, "Watch out for the elephant on the left!" We were shocked to see
a massive elephant with giant tusks only 50 yards in front of us. He
definitely was not happy to see us as he flapped his ears and stomped
the ground warning us to stay away. We hightailed it out of there and
thankfully were completely safe. Talk about an exciting welcoming to
our new destination!
Later on that night we stopped by Cyprian Shumba house,
the man running Smart Choices in Victoria Falls. He is 37 years old
with 1 four-year-old daughter, and a very nice wife. He is currently a
pastor of Liberty House Church with a congregation of anywhere from 40
to 60 people on a given Sunday. He says he goes to bed around
midnight and gets up at 4AM every morning. So let me reiterate
that... Cyprian is a Pastor of a church, has a family, and
volunteering countless hours to teaching HIV/AIDS. Talk about feeling
like I need to step up my game! The reason he chose to volunteer his
time to teach Smart Choices to the schools is because of his
compassion for those who have been lost unfairly to AIDS. He said
that this generation still has an extremely high HIV rate, with 70% of
childrent in the area testing positive for HIV. We had a candle light
talk about our schedule, how we'd be getting power, and all the minor
details that go into teaching Smart Choices. It was such a humbling
experience seeing Cyprian's dedication with him being the only one
leading the charge in Victoria Falls.
The following morning was the big day. We arrived at
Sizinda Secondary School, and were ready to teach to 95 children. We
got through half of the curriculum and the kids seemed receptive for
the most part, and extremely appreciative of us teaching Smart
Choices. Cyprian had to translate into endabelle several times for
some of the younger kids who were having trouble understanding some of
the material we were teaching.
Day two at Sizinda Secondary School was AWESOME. We still
had a lot of material to cover but the teachers allowed us to teach
through part of their lunch and a little after our allotted time.
During the lunch hour, I made sure to teach the kids how to play
ultimate Frisbee. They loved it! By the end we took a survey and had
over 40 people give their life to Christ for the first time and about
70 of them wanted more information regarding the Smart Choices. I got
to chat with several of the students after. The student with the
frisbee and the certificate is Farai. He and his brother Nyasha (in
the picture with me in the middle) walk 10-12 kilometers to and from
school each and every day. Sometimes they are able to ride a bike,
otherwise they have to literally walk over a mountain. On top of
that, sometimes while walking they encounter elephants and even lions!
These students are dedicated and extremely hard working people. It
was such an awesome experience being able to hear their stories and
joy in their lives.
Other pictures below you can see:
1: Glynn, Cyprian, his wife and daughter.
2: The graduating class for Smart Choices.
3: The Jesus film being shown in class.
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