What Does Eric Do In Zambia?

Our Dad at Work!

Last week I sent my crack team of reporters to the field to document Eric's work for World Vision.

"Mom, I thought when we were going to the 'field', we'd be going to a green grassy place, not driving forever in the car to the middle of nowhere,"  Alex told me later.    

Yes, instead of manicured lawns, I dispatched my kids into the bush, which let's be honest,  looks quite lush and green compared to photos from August.  It's amazing what a lot of rain does to this place.

Zambia in August

Zambia in February

The journey down to Choma is around four hours by car. That's equals about three Ramona Quimby audio books. 

Greetings.

Mom: What did you do while dad was working?

Alex:  I took photos of the kids singing songs and showing me how to play games.  They had "London Bridges Falling Down", but with different words.  

Mom:  And how about you, Isaac?

Isaac:  I threw dirt at the goats with the other boys.

Mom:  Really?  Whose idea was this?

Isaac:  It was mine. 

To his credit,  they were going to throw mud at each other but realized that wouldn't be a great idea.   It's good to know my son has his limits.  Eric claims that he had something to do with that...

Don't worry: no kids were injured by my kids.

Isaac's highlight was picking up a baby goat.  "But Dad made me take a shower when we got back to the hotel," Isaac sighed.  Then he added, "Oh, and I saw a cobra on the trail."

Wait.  A What???

Eric nodded.  "Yeah, I had just asked the staff, 'Where are all of the snakes?  I never see any when I'm out here.'  One of the guys says, 'We just saw one a minute ago--Isaac saw it too--but we didn't make a big deal, because we didn't want Isaac to get all scared.'  Apparently it was about a meter long and as thick as a man's arm. It didn't want any trouble though."  Those are comforting words for a mother to hear...

Mom:  Ok, so Isaac what does dad do at his job?

Isaac:  He told some World Vision workers that he'd give them a medal if they could answer a question correctly.

Eric laughed and clarified.  "You know my World Vision 60th Anniversary brass medallion?  I gave it to someone to be "King/Queen for a Day" based on stellar performance from the day before.  Other people have to serve them tea and they get to be the meeting moderator."   Then he stage whispered, "It's actually more of a responsibility than a reward, but don't tell anyone."

Mom:  Alex, what do you think Dad does?

Alex:  He helps people get clean water by building wells.

Isaac:  Oh yeah!  Remember that yucky water hole?  The animals poop in there and the kids died from diseases like diarrhea.

Alex:  But then World Vision built a well where they could get clean water.

The former water hole

Alex demonstrating the new water pump.

Alex told me a story about the borehole.  "When I went with Isaac down to see the goats, I got stuck in the mud by the stream.  I started crying, because my feet were all muddy.  One of the women helped me.  She pumped some water from the well, took off my shoes, and washed my feet."

I love it that my kids got to see the work of World Vision, but they did a terrible job describing their father's job here.   I can't blame them though, because so have I.  This is my first blog about his work--after 11 months in the country.

In a nutshell Eric is here to innovate.   Sending reports and photos by snail mail is not only cumbersome, expensive and outdated, but it isn't taking advantage of the amazing technology our donors expect.  

Take one project for example: Eric went to Choma to test out the new software he helped design for smart phones.  World Vision's goal is capture and catalogue videos of projects and beneficiaries and Zap! that content to donors across the globe.

That way donors can see that their money is building wells that are changing lives.  And most importantly, there are families in Choma who are very grateful for the gift.

Granted, that's easier said than done.  More on that later.