TEAM MUTOMO AND WELLNESS FOR AFRICA RETURN TO ZAMBIA

On June 7, 2023, TEAM MUTOMO (a 14-member student/faculty group from Convent of the Visitation School) and two members of the Wellness for Africa team traveled back to Ndola, Zambia, to volunteer alongside the Dominican Missionary Sisters.  This return was long-awaited due to the COVID-19 pandemic - it had been four long years since we were able to make the trip!
 
The goal for the trip is two-part: first and foremost, to provide support for the Dominican Missionary Sisters wherever they identify the most need across their community. Additionally, the Sisters and their teams take great pride in educating the team of volunteers on their Zambian culture and lived experiences. With the Sisters' input, planning for the trip prioritizes each. We're excited to share a bit more about how these days in Ndola were spent.

To provide a broad perspective of Zambian culture and day-to-day life of the community the Sisters serve, the group first set out on a walking tour of the neighboring community. Residents of this community, referred to as "the compound", have no access to running water or electricity.  Their homes are made of clay bricks with dirt floors and often lack glass or screens on windows to prevent the rampant spread of malaria. Women wash clothes outdoors in buckets in water they carry more than half of a mile to access. Clothing dries on makeshift clotheslines or is draped over outdoor shrubbery.  Vegetable and community gardens, maintained and shared by all, provide greens, root vegetables, melons, maze, tomatoes, and an abundance of other shared produce.  Children run free and play with toys handcrafted from items such as milk cartons, string, and lids.
 
The cohort also visited the "Barefoot Community School" run by the Sisters. This school's purpose is to provide education for students unable to afford the school uniforms and shoes mandated by all government-run schools. Students are placed in one of two classrooms all based on academic level and lasting through grade eight. Much to their surprise, the TEAM MUTOMO student volunteers saw many familiar faces here, as most of the students attending live in the compound they'd already visited.  
 
The Sisters suggested amazing projects for the TEAM MUTOMO volunteers to complete for both the school and St. Dominic's Hospital. The group painted a beautiful, colorful mural showing the alphabet on a wall of one of the classrooms at the Barefoot Community School. Similarly at St. Dominic's Hospital, they painted murals on the walls of a pediatric room to bring joy to young patients and re-painted exterior walls of the hospital that the Sisters have not had the time or resources to put towards for years.
 
The TEAM MUTOMO volunteers then accompanied hospital staff to Outreach Clinics and aided in doing well-baby checks, observed malaria testing, and saw the distribution of HIV and AIDS medications.  At St. Dominic’s Dental Clinic and St. Anthony’s Home for Vulnerable Children, a home provided by the Sisters for 85+ children, abandoned for various reasons. They also assisted Dr. Grutzner in performing dental examinations and applying fluoride treatments at both St. Dominic's Dental Clinic and St. Anthony's Home for Vulnerable Children (a home that the Sisters run for 85+ orphaned children).
 
At the end of our stay, the TEAM MUTOMO volunteers made their way home filled with gratitude for their comfortable beds and refrigerators full of food to return to and with profound memories of the faces and community in Ndola who touched their hearts. At Wellness for Africa, we believe so strongly that the power to impact changes lies in the hands of the youth. We are so proud to join this group on their journey to lend hands in Ndola and we hope they will continue to support our work for this community in the future. 

In the meantime, we at WFA will continue our mission to improve lives by providing access to quality healthcare and education for those served by the Dominican Missionary Sisters. We remain forever grateful for the opportunity to work alongside them in support of their community in Ndola.