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Zambians from the village of Mbayi and Canadians from Ontario worked side by side making blocks (bricks) from ant hill soil to construct a Health Post. It was a community experience with women hauling well water from a distance and men shovelling earth and pounding soil into moulds to make blocks. After 8 days over 3,000 were formed—hard, physical labour that our Zambian colleagues were better adapted to than the softer Canadians. The sense of camaraderie and fellowship while working together was an exhilarating experience and each day we walked back to our accommodation in Mbayi tired but grateful for the opportunity to work together.

It was the eve of our departure to Mbayi and I felt droplets of rain, almost as if the sky was sending us a warning of more to come. We all felt it—a light sprinkling—to which Wendy stated flatly, “Rain means poverty.”