Why I went to Zambia:


When a group of lawyers in Ottawa wanted to build a school in Africa in memory of a young colleague, they called a church. The church, Emmanuel United, then called the General Council office of United Church of Canada for advice.

Staff at the General Council Office helped Emmanuel connect with the United Church’s partner, the People’s Action Forum (PAF) in Zambia, a small but highly-effective non-governmental organization working with rural communities. When communities want a school, PAF uses its international partner network to finance the construction and negotiates with the Ministry of Education to supply the desks, books and the teachers.

This particular school is in memory of Iain Beaudoin, a young Ottawa lawyer who died suddenly at the age of 28. His parents, Claudia and Robert Beaudoin, are members of Emmanuel United.

In eight months the church and legal community raised over $60K, enough for a school and teachers’ housing. In spring of 2012, two groups from Emmanuel United Church and Ottawa’s legal community travelled to Zambia to help with the final construction of a two room school in a rural area where children often walk several kilometres to and from school.

I was there in Zambia with my Producer Catherine Rodd form United Church of Canada to document this beautiful project. Our journey took us from Capital City of Lusaka to various communities in Zambian countyside and back again to Lusaka where I spent few days at the end roaming the streets and getting to know the people and lthe city.

Images on following pages were created when I was not running my video camera..