Zambia visit helps young people

MEMBERS of Hillsborough Presbyterian Church recently returned from working with the Oasis Village Trust project in Zambia.

The Trust is a charity run by husband and wife team, Nicky and Ziso Moyo, long-term missionaries in the Ndola area of northern Zambia. Their most recent project involves the building of an orphanage for 60 children of varying ages, including those who have been orphaned by Aids.

The team from Hillsborough Presbyterian's Young Adults Group headed out to lend their support to the project, while at the same time delivering essential supplies to the community.

Small hand tools, mosquito nets and educational materials were provided by the Hillsborough congregation through a Christmas gifts programme.

These were distributed to those most in need, along with baby clothes and blankets provided by some Rathcoole Primary School parents. Team members reported it a wonderful and humbling experience to be able to provide simple items which brought such pleasure.

The team began building at 6am each day and by the end of two weeks they had built a large section of the orphanage perimeter wall and two brick kilns (of some 1000 bricks each).

Their hard work and dedication to the task saved the project many hours of manpower and around one 1,000 in cost.

The team spent long hours on the project, working 10 hours non-stop on their first day on site.

Their work was made all the more difficult as the building site didn't have any of the machinery we would see here at home; instead cement was mixed with spades, bricks transported by hand and safety measures were not even in the equation.

As well as the physical labour the team were taken to two local villages, Sakania and Mackensie, as well as a variety of schools, in order to spread the word of God to the young people through song, dance, drama, crafts and games.

A spokesperson said, "The impact that the team had on the young people was immediately evident as they scrambled over each other to make sure they got the craft the team had made for them, and joined in with the songs with clapping and smiles on their faces.

"This trip to Zambia was a culmination of over a year of fundraising and hard work with help from family, friends, church members and the community at large.

"The team is very grateful for all the support and encouragement received and members thank all their sponsors and both Laurelhill Community College and Marks and Spencers for allowing them to hold events."

Hillsborough Presbyterian church members pictured during a recent visit to Zambia