Travelogue 7: Gayle*

While we shouldn’t, inevitably, every teacher has a favorite student. In Zambia, mine is Gayle. First, she is beautiful. Like many Zambian women, she has perfect coffee-colored skin, pearly-white teeth, and high cheek bones. Gayle also has an inner light, the love of God, which illuminates her physical beauty. Simply put; she glows.
Gayle is whip-smart. She gets it. She understands the mission of Seeds of Hope. She will vehemently argue, in Bimba, with her classmates if they don’t “get it.”
Gayle is spunky. On the day we poured the concrete slab, she worked harder than anyone on the team. She put the men to shame. Like most Zambians, she is excruciatingly polite. When a teammate got in her way as she tried to lay concrete, she tersely but softy in her Bimba-lilted English said, “Unet. Move. Please.” Unet moved quickly out of her way.
Life, while it could have, has not worn her out. She grew up in the Ndola compound as the child of a copper miner. She attended primary school, secondary school, and completed 3 units of a secretarial program. When the Ndola mine closed, her father lost his job. Unable to pay the tuition, she dropped out of school. One unit short of a secretarial certificate, Gayle was unemployed for eight years.
How can someone be unemployed for eight years? It’s simple. Ndola is dying. Homes were started and then abandoned. Stores are closed. The roads are unpaved and deeply rutted. The average income per person is $380.00 US dollars. Don’t be fooled. The cost of living is not lower here. We’ve found the prices for food, construction materials, and personal items are comparable to those in the States.
All of northern Zambia is stripped. Except for a few cows on our way from Lusaka, we’ve seen few animals. I’m told we won’t be seeing monkeys, zebras, or antelopes. Game is food. I asked Gayle why they burn the grass. She said the grass is burned to flush out the rats which they catch and eat.
At 33 years old, death has visited Gayle often. Her father has passed. Of 8 children, only she and her younger brother remain. This is another reflection of Zambian culture. The average life expectancy is 38 years old. Two deaths have occurred within the Seeds of Hope family just this week. Years of poor health takes its toll at an early age.
Through all of this, somehow, Gayle held out hope for a future.
Gayle came to Seeds of Hope** as a volunteer for her community. She was then hired as an intern, finished her probationary period, and is now a Seeds of Hope staff member. Staff are paid a low salary but it has helped Gayle, a single mother of three, eke out a living.
Finally, Gayle loves the Lord. In the short time I have known her, I have seen her demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit. She is kind. She is always the first to stop and interpret something for me. She has so much joy. She laughs. She dances and leads the songs. She prays fervently and reverently to the Lord.
As I’ve confessed in earlier blogs, I am not a naturally loving person. One of my most earnest prayers for this trip is I would come to love the people of Zambia. Gayle has found a special place in my heart. While I know it is easy to love the lovable, this is a beginning.

*Name changed to protect her privacy.
**Seeds of Hope is a commercial and a compassionate organization. They do well-drilling, construct bio-sand filters, as well as other humanitarian efforts. They provide much-needed employment in Ndola. To learn more visit http://www.seedsofhopecm.com/

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