Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM000223A
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00:07 Child Impact International is an organization giving hope,
00:11 previously called Asian Aid. 00:13 Child Impact International is an organization 00:16 fostering permanent positive change in the lives 00:19 of disadvantaged children and their communities. 00:22 Child Impact is committed to making a difference 00:24 in the lives of children and those who are in need, 00:27 serving communities in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, 00:31 Myanmar, and will soon expand to other countries. 00:35 For the last 50 years, Child Impact has invested 00:38 in the futures of people, 00:39 and their investment has proven infinite returns, 00:42 driven by the dedication to helping 00:44 those who have the least. 00:46 Child Impact is an organization 00:48 focused on the welfare of children, 00:50 implementing diverse development projects 00:52 and sponsoring thousands of children. 00:54 Their outreach spans from child rescue operations 00:58 to providing an education for orphans, deaf, 01:01 and the blind children giving them 01:02 a sense of place, a home. 01:04 But above all, 01:06 Child Impact is an organization giving hope, 01:09 giving hope to children, giving hope to communities, 01:12 giving hope to the ones who need it the most. 01:15 This is Hope in Motion. 01:50 You look out over the field that will provide 01:52 you and your family with food for the coming year 01:55 and seed for the next. 01:57 But all you see is miles of sun-baked ground, 02:00 and withered plants. 02:02 Welcome to Zambia. 02:04 Last year, we had a partial crop failure here in Zambia. 02:07 And this year, there's been a complete crop failure. 02:10 If you go and talk to the oldest people 02:11 in the villages, 02:13 they'll tell you this is the worst famine drought 02:17 that they've seen in their lifetime, 02:19 which is saying something we've had some extraordinary 02:21 famines and to the period of last 15 years. 02:24 And so we're seeing that need, 02:25 that hunger translating into people's demand 02:29 for work, just general need. 02:33 Riverside Farms began with the mission to reach 02:36 the needs of the people in Zambia, 02:38 located 70 miles south of Lusaka, 02:40 which is the capital of Zambia. 02:41 They started this mission in the early 70s. 02:44 Greg Harding is the executive director 02:46 for Riverside Farms. 02:48 Our mission is to reach the needs 02:50 of people here in Zambia. 02:52 And that encompasses both their physical needs, 02:55 which are huge in Africa, 02:57 and also the spiritual and education. 03:00 One of the ways that Riverside Farms 03:02 is helping the people of Southern Zambia 03:03 is through farming. 03:05 Food is a resource that many of us take for granted. 03:08 But for the poor villagers, 03:09 it is something that they struggle 03:10 to get enough of. 03:12 While Zambia's economy is growing 03:13 and doing better than many other African countries, 03:15 it still isn't enough. 03:17 So the farm is something I personally really love, 03:20 love being on the farm working on it. 03:22 We grow, bananas is our primary crop 03:25 through about 34 hectors just over 80 acres of bananas. 03:30 And those produce about 03:33 170 truckloads of bananas every year. 03:45 About 60% of Zambians 03:47 live under the nation's poverty line 03:49 with rural poverty standing at almost 78%. 03:52 And in 2007 study, 03:54 Zambia was ranked 117th out of 128 countries 03:59 on the global competitiveness index 04:01 because of many factors 04:02 that have negatively affected them economically. 04:06 Most Zambians spend 60% of their income on food, 04:09 which leaves them with no resources 04:11 to send their children to school. 04:13 Not only that, 04:14 but when your income also depends on growing food, 04:17 you are left with a huge problem. 04:18 Lack of food is not the only issue. 04:21 More than one out of six Zambians 04:23 is currently suffering from HIV or AIDS, 04:26 making it one of the most 04:27 severely impacted countries from this disease in the world. 04:30 These factors have had a devastating effect 04:32 on life expectancy, 04:33 which is currently around 40 years. 04:36 Many children are left orphaned 04:37 and without hope for the future. 04:41 Following Zambia's independence, 04:42 there was a major focus to build hospitals 04:44 and improve the healthcare of those in remote rural areas 04:48 through the use of doctors that would fly in. 04:50 The founder of Riverside Farms was one of those doctors. 04:55 Zambia is located in South Central Africa 04:58 and has a population of over 16 million people. 05:03 First contacted by European explorers 05:05 in the late 18th century, 05:06 it soon became a British colony. 05:08 A prominent European visitor came in the 19th century, 05:12 David Livingstone. 05:14 He hoped to end the slave trade in Africa through the three Cs, 05:17 Christianity, commerce, and civilization. 05:22 He was the first European to see the beautiful waterfalls 05:24 on the Zambezi River in 1855. 05:28 He named them Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria, 05:31 saying that "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed 05:35 upon by angels in their flight." 05:39 In 1964, 05:41 Zambia gained its independence from colonial rule. 05:43 And in 1991, it became a democracy. 05:51 Colonization has a great impact 05:53 on the current issues that Zambia is facing. 05:55 In 1895, Frederick Russell Burnham, 05:57 an American scout discovered rich deposits of copper. 06:01 This discovery led the British to force native Zambians 06:03 through heavy taxation to work the mines, 06:06 while Europeans were given the most fertile farmlands. 06:09 This push some Zambians to violence, 06:11 though there was never a large scale revolt. 06:15 Because of the focus on mining, 06:16 Zambia's economy is heavily dependent on copper, 06:19 which became a problem in the mid 70s 06:21 when the value of copper dropped to half. 06:24 This pushed Zambians to diversify their economy, 06:26 mainly focusing on increasing agriculture. 06:30 The Zambian government is promoting agriculture 06:32 through the development of farm blocks 06:33 in all 10 provinces 06:35 for large and medium commercial farming, 06:37 fish farming, and livestock production. 06:40 Agriculture contributes about 19% to GDP, 06:43 and employs three quarters of the population. 06:46 Domestic production is comprised of crops 06:48 such as maize, sorghum, millet, and cassava. 06:52 Well, exports are driven by sugar, soybeans, coffee, 06:55 ground nuts, rice, and cotton, 06:58 as well as horticulture produce. 07:00 The people of Zambia are working hard to improve 07:03 not just their lives, 07:04 but also the lives 07:06 of those around them through farming. 07:07 Her name is Regina, and I have got to know her 07:11 because whenever this piece work at Riverside, 07:13 you see Regina here. 07:15 And she's one of the hardest workers. 07:17 So each department they all want to hire Regina, 07:21 because she puts everything into her work. 07:24 She has nine children 07:26 and five dependent grandchildren on her. 07:29 And the thing that I like about Regina, 07:32 you never see her not smiling. 07:35 And she just takes life as it comes, 07:37 she does the best she can and she goes forward. 07:42 Regina's hard work ethic 07:43 is shared by a majority of Zambians, 07:46 but many factors have kept them from progressing. 07:48 One of those factors is that only a few areas use irrigation 07:52 while the rest rely only on rain, 07:54 which is led to many failed crops due to drought. 07:57 The other issue is that most of the farmers 07:58 are not able to afford farm equipment. 08:01 So they have to do everything by hand. 08:03 This greatly decreases the amount of land 08:05 that they can farm. 08:06 Even though there are limitations, 08:08 Zambia is not lacking usable farmland, 08:10 58% of Zambia is classified as medium to high potential 08:14 for agricultural production. 08:16 However, only 15% of this land is currently under cultivation. 08:22 Well, this is pretty tough, 08:24 but I'm right here in the village near Riverside. 08:28 And this is Regina. 08:30 And this is one of Regina's three fields. 08:33 Now normally, 08:34 she gets 86 of maize from this field. 08:38 And that's what she really lives on. 08:40 That's what she educates the children with. 08:43 But this year, 08:44 she hasn't got one cob of corn from this field. 08:48 So this is going to have a dramatic impact, 08:51 not only on Regina, 08:52 but on her village and across the whole of Zambia. 08:56 Now I have to say we've just visited the village. 08:59 And this is going to be very, very tough on these people. 09:03 So just in one small way, 09:05 the fact that we can help 09:07 sponsor Regina's children bring some relief. 09:11 But I'm really scared of what the future holds 09:14 for families like Regina's in Zambia in the future. 09:18 In Zambia, the people grow maize during the rainy season 09:23 because that is their way to get a little bit ahead 09:26 not only with their food 09:28 but with other needs that they have. 09:30 And since Regina is such a hard worker, 09:32 she put in three fields of maize, worked hard, 09:36 you know, got the soil ready, planted it, weeded it. 09:40 And then the rains came. 09:42 And she usually gets between 80 and 100 bags of maize, 09:47 which keeps them through the year. 09:49 And she told us as we went out to see her field, 09:52 it could make you cry. 09:54 She said I did not get even one cob. 09:57 She says, I don't know what this year will bring. 09:59 You've just heard the urgent need of this lady. 10:02 And what you don't know is that she has nine children 10:05 and five grandchildren that she is raising. 10:09 So you can see that this failure of a crop 10:14 is going to have a dramatic impact 10:16 on families like these. 10:18 This is a lady that really works hard. 10:20 She goes to Riverside and gets work when she can. 10:23 And normally, when there's a crop, 10:25 she does three fields on her own. 10:28 So this shows the commitment that this lady has bringing up 10:32 nine children and five grandchildren. 10:37 It is not just survival that keeps Regina going, 10:40 it is also the desire to give her children 10:41 and grandchildren an Adventist education. 10:45 Religiously, Zambia is almost entirely a Christian nation, 10:48 with 75% being Protestant and 20% Catholic. 10:51 The Seventh-day Adventist Church 10:53 has a major presence in Zambia 10:54 with one out of every 18 Zambians 10:56 being an Adventist. 10:57 This is the highest of any country in the world. 11:00 To put that in perspective, 11:01 the United States and Zambia 11:03 have nearly the same amount of Adventist members. 11:06 One of the first Adventist missionaries 11:08 to Zambia was WH Anderson, 11:10 who began his work in the late 1800s. 11:12 At one point, 11:14 his family and two other families 11:15 were living out of an ox-wagon for five months. 11:18 In spite of their hardships, 11:20 they continue to spread the gospel and converted many. 11:23 A quote from Anderson shows why they were so successful 11:26 in spreading the gospel. 11:28 "When a man goes to the mission field, 11:30 he must have love for the people 11:32 if he is to win them. 11:34 If he does not have love, he might as well not go. 11:36 Love is the basis of all missionary work." 11:41 In spite of large Adventist presence here, 11:43 there are hardly any Adventist schools 11:45 with only three secondary schools 11:46 and one university. 11:48 The United States has approximately 11:50 158 secondary schools 11:51 and 14 colleges and universities. 11:54 More Adventist schools in Zambia are needed 11:56 not just to help with their immediate needs, 11:58 but also the spiritual needs as well. 12:00 Adventist schools are an opportunity 12:02 to reach the children of the community 12:04 who can then reach their parents. 12:06 This is why Child Impact is so important 12:08 because it provides children with the skills for life, 12:11 but also a relationship with Jesus. 12:17 Wow! 12:18 I'm just here with Mike the cameraman. 12:20 And we're going to go back to the village 12:22 and then back to Riverside. 12:24 And this has been pretty tough, pretty tough. 12:28 I mean, I'm going back to my air conditioned room, 12:30 and the cafeteria is going to feed me a meal. 12:33 And these people here haven't got any food. 12:36 And that's reality. 12:38 And you really have to come here to feel it. 12:42 And the scary part is it's on such a huge scale. 12:47 But I'm just so excited. 12:48 We can do some little things to help these families. 12:52 And maybe we're gonna have to find a way of helping them 12:54 with food. 13:13 We're expanding our sponsorship program 13:15 to Zambia. 13:17 And we're very excited to be partnering 13:19 with Riverside Farms 13:21 who are well-known Adventist ministry. 13:24 They are opening a brand new primary school, 13:27 and we're going to be sponsoring 13:28 very needy children to help them 13:31 to come to an Adventist mission school. 13:33 We're really excited about it. 13:35 And you can either sponsor a child, 13:38 or if you don't want that monthly commitment, 13:40 you can make a contribution to our unsponsored child fund. 13:45 This is an exciting time for us and our supporters. 13:48 And I just hope that you'll support 13:50 our new outreach 13:52 and our new education program in Zambia. |
Revised 2019-09-12