Inverness County Cares

Esnart Mwila was born totally blind. When her mother noticed that she was blind, she immediately denied her and wanted to throw her into the pit latrine, but the neighbors rescued her. At the age of 6 months her mother ran away and left Esnart with her grandmother who is still alive. Esnart has been staying with her grandmother, when she is in her home village, from that day to now.

Esnart started school at St Mary’s, in Kawambwa, at the age of ten. Today she is at Kasama College of Education pursuing a diploma in social studies and she is in the second year. This year from May to July she was doing her teaching practice at St James mission school in Kasama, Zambia. It is a Catholic  mission school for sighted learners, according to the report received and looking at her teaching file, she did well. We are glad to inform you that she formed a school choir and it is the legacy she left. Next year 2025, she will be in her final year (third year) and in December she will be writing her final examination. As a school site we are very much proud of Esnart, stated by Sister Agnes, administrator of the Kawambwa Project.

Esnart is a very determined young lady. Although totally blind she navigates almost like a sighted person. St Mary’s school curriculum has daily living classes where blind students are taught to navigate their environment and become confident and brave enough to travel the school grounds alone and later navigate in the village where there are many vehicles on the road. They also learn how to find their way in the market and go to the shops. A white cane is a great asset, it helps visually impaired persons to find their way around the community but they are expensive and we didn’t see any in use. We did bring ten canes with us on our visit which we hope will support learning for the students.

Esnart’s family are poor farmers who could not afford the school fees for her schooling but the Sisters allowed her to learn free of charge. There are six in her family and she is the  first born. Her home is made of mud brick with a thatched roof. They keep a garden and sell at the roadside market.

From the time she was born up to now, she has lived with her grandma when she was in  her village. She came to St Mary’s when she was 10 and at first it was difficult for her, but as time went by, she got used to living at St Mary’s and now it is fine. St Mary’s is her home since she has spent a lot of time there. Sometimes she doesn’t go home on holidays. She prefers being at St Mary’s, where she gets a lot of jobs and she especially enjoys teaching the lower grades. For her work she is given a small stipend to purchase personal items, plus room and board.

St Mary’s School has helped her a lot both spiritually and physically. When she was at her family home she didn’t know how to how to work properly. Her people didn’t understand  her talents and capabilities. The Sisters taught her a lot and for that she is very grateful. She would like to say, that she appreciates her Chalice sponsor and Inverness County Cares members, for she is benefiting from all the help given. Your support helps her to buy things that her parents cannot afford to give her. May the good Lord bless you that’s what she wants to say and thanks you.

Inverness County Cares (ICC) members first met Esnart in 2020 at the girls’ secondary school called St Mary’s, up the road behind the Kawambwa convent – where Sr. Florence was in charge. The eight blind St Mary’s girls went there after grade 9, and learned to integrate with sighted students. It is a huge, lively and totally unfamiliar territory for our St Mary’s students, full of new experiences, rather isolated dorms, and is initially very lonely and frightening for them. These blind girls were so happy to have ICC members visit and show them how they move about with sighted helpers. We walked with them to the library to see the small collection of braille books. They asked about the friends they left behind, and said it was hard to make new friends or join in games at their new school.
Esnart is quite mature and eager to talk with ICC members as new visitors to Zambia.

She is an eager learner and took full advantage of the teacher training provided by Inverness County Cares as well as music training by Betty Jane Cameron.

Esnart was very anxious to play the violin and attended as many music sessions as possible. She and her sighted companion and friend Susan learned together. The first thing they learned was the shape and function of the violin and bow, how to care for them, and how to listen for the sound. They learned quickly about holding the instrument against both shoulder and chin so as to feel and hear the tones, and then on to learning how to make beautiful sounds. They were both surprised to realize that perfect pitch notes were much easier for blind people who have highly developed listening skills. The violin is an instrument with no physical guidelines to help find notes – such as keyboard notes or guitar frets…in fact the only way for a string player is to listen carefully, bow properly and learn how to place fingers. Both girls were thrilled! The musical instruments were another tool in building their self-esteem.

Esnart is a perfect example of a person who is reaching for the stars. We celebrate her courage, fortitude and tenacity. 

Inverness County Cares (ICC) is a local charitable organization, founded in 2012 and based in Inverness County, NS, Canada. ICC works in partnership with Chalice.ca, a Canadian charity, based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Chalice provides guidance and assistance to help ICC provide a better life for the children at the Kawambwa schools. The Kawambwa Project involves supporting two schools for albino and visually impaired students, in Northern Zambia. Inverness County Cares always welcomes new members. Individuals who wish to donate, can use the donate button on our website   https://invernesscountycares.com When using E-transfer, please include your mailing address for CRA tax receipts and a thank you message.   E-transfer address:  [email protected] or send a cheque to Inverness County Cares, 5414 Route 19, Judique, NS, Canada, B0E1P0. Taxation receipts provided for USA and Canada.

 

Three years ago, Inverness County Cares made their first foray into farming. We grew potatoes and vegetables in John MacInnis’ field. It is a lovely piece of land, a flood plain with very few rocks and lovely loamy fertile soil. The weather cooperated and a bountiful crop was produced with great profits due to the support of our community. However, the potato bugs located us and keeping a large organic garden entailed the arduous task of hand picking the bugs and grubs for a good part of the summer. Our decision to discontinue the potato crop was a fortunate one for the next year was not a good potato year.

In late November of 2021 we planted out first test crop of garlic. Garlic is a crop that most gardeners enjoy planting, for with good preparation of the soil it can produce a good yield and get a fair price for the effort.

Garlic likes full sun and a well-drained location with a lot of rich compost, (rotted manure).  We selected a sunny hillside at MacLeod’s on the Lower Shore Road and began to prepare the site. Plentiful compost (thank you Alex and Justin Sutherland), was tilled in using our Troybilt Horse tiller, until the soil was fine and well mixed and no commercial fertilizer or pesticides were used.

We always use last year’s crop as seed for the following year. In late November we planted the largest cloves which gave the new crop a good start. Planting this late discourages the bulbs from sending up their green shoots in late fall. Each garlic bulb needs to be broken apart, leaving the papery skin intact. We plant a white large clove variety with about 4 cloves per bulb and a purple striped variety with more cloves per bulb, with the names of both lost over the years. We plant them about 4 inches apart and 2-3 inches under the soil with the pointy end up. Next step is to sprinkle a layer of straw to protect the garlic during the winter. We secure the straw by placing spruce boughs over the straw and this also collects and captures an insulating snow blanket, preventing the freeze and thaw cycle we are experiencing more often these past years.

Point of interest: Last spring in early March we noted that our personal stash of garlic had many sprouted cloves/bulbs. Rather than waste them we planted them. These spring bulbs grew well and some developed into ‘Solo’ garlic, which is a very nice one clove bulb.

In early spring the spruce boughs are removed but the straw remains to discourage weeds and retain moisture.  The garlic shoots are a welcome sight as they are some of the first signs of spring in mid-April. They grow quickly as the sun warms the soil and in July they produce scapes, which are the flowers of the garlic. Left unclipped they will grow into small bulblets and take the energy from the bulb and possibly reduce the garlic clove size by 30%. The scapes when picked early are tender and can be used in many delicious ways. We harvest garlic in August and when the 30% – 50% of the leaves have turned brown.

The bulbs are dried for a few weeks and then the tops are cut off and the roots snipped, but the bulb is left intact. This is where we are now.

OUR GARLIC BULBS ARE READY FOR SALE. The garlic proceeds will go toward providing sunscreen for the albino children.

We store our garlic in a ‘cold-room’ over the winter where it does well until some start sprouting. These we use for our spring planting.

Our garlic comes in many sizes. Since small garlic are harder to prepare, we peel the small cloves and put in a food processor with some olive oil. We portion this in convenient sizes, vacuum seal and freeze to provide an easy portion of garlic for cooking.

CONTACT US TO PURCHASE GARLIC. 902 227 5425 or [email protected]

$15 per pound.

 

Inverness County Cares (ICC) is a local charitable organization, founded in 2012 and based in Inverness County, NS, Canada. ICC works in partnership with Chalice.ca, a Canadian charity, based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Chalice provides guidance and assistance to help ICC provide a better life for the children at the Kawambwa schools. The Kawambwa Project involves supporting two schools for albino and visually impaired students, in Northern Zambia. Inverness County Cares always welcomes new members. Individuals who wish to donate, can use the donate button on our website   https://invernesscountycares.com When using E-transfer, please include your mailing address for CRA tax receipts and a thank you message.   E-transfer address:  [email protected] or send a cheque to Inverness County Cares, 5414 Route 19, Judique, NS, Canada, B0E1P0. Taxation receipts provided for USA and Canada.

 

 

In 2019 Inverness County Cares (ICC) was searching for a new fundraising idea. Ted Van Zutphen suggested collecting refundable beverage containers.  Zutphen Construction provided us with two used box truck trailers and our new fundraiser was in operation.

One trailer is located in Mabou by the Freshmart and the other is in Port Hood by Ted and Hermina Van Zutphen’s lane, (at the Corner in Port Hood). We thank Ted and Hermina, Wayne and Karen Beaton, for allowing us to use these prime locations to park the collector trailers.

The proceeds from the refundable beverage containers goes to support the Kawambwa Schools in Northern Zambia. These schools provide an education and shelter for children with visual impairments and Albinism. In the past six years, since Inverness County Cares began to support the schools, many improvements have been made and the children’s standard of living has improved greatly. Chalice and ICC have worked in partnership to provide better living accommodations, satisfying amounts of good nutritious food, clothing, personal hygiene items, medical care and educational supplies, including laptops and braille paper. Beverage refundable funds have been used to provide running water and repair sewer lines to the schools. The renovation of several buildings was funded by the beverage container collection as well. The biggest beneficiaries of your generosity are the grateful students at St. Mary and St. Odilia schools in north eastern Zambia.

We accept soft drink cans and bottles, alcoholic beverage containers, water bottles, juice bottles and cans and Tetra packs. We cannot use milk containers or any other containers that did not contain beverages. Charlie mentions, that removing the bottle caps helps to make sorting much easier.

This operation involves a lot of teamwork. In Mabou, Stanley Beaton and Raymond Debont arrange the beverage containers and stack the bags to provide maximum space. In Port Hood Ted Van Zutphen monitors the load in the trailer and he Michael MacDonald and Brendan Moloney stack the bags.

When the trailers are full, they are towed (often by a Zutphen truck) to the Enviro depot behind the Admiral Tavern in Port Hood. On arrival, a combination of Charlie MacDonald, John MacInnis, John Gillies, Archie MacLeod, Colleen MacLeod or Francis MacIsaac spend about 40 minutes transferring the containers to the Enviro Depot where Charlie MacDonald spends approximately 10 hours sorting the beverage containers.

We are very thankful for the amazing support of our community members who donate their beverage containers. Each year our collection numbers increase.

The six Inverness County members who travelled to the Zambian schools in January and February 2024 saw with their own eyes the improvements which have made life so much more pleasant for staff and students. Every bag of recyclables you contribute brings in some way a smile and a “Thank You” from an appreciative child in these schools. Your continued support is valued by Inverness County Cares.

Inverness County Cares (ICC) is a local charitable organization, founded in 2012 and based in Inverness County, NS, Canada. ICC works in partnership with Chalice.ca, a Canadian charity, based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Chalice provides guidance and assistance to help ICC provide a better life for the children at the Kawambwa schools. The Kawambwa Project involves supporting two schools for albino and visually impaired students, in Northern Zambia. Inverness County Cares always welcomes new members. Individuals who wish to donate, can use the donate button on our website   https://invernesscountycares.com When using E-transfer, please include your mailing address for CRA tax receipts and a thank you message.   E-transfer address:  [email protected] or send a cheque to Inverness County Cares, 5414 Route 19, Judique, NS, Canada, B0E1P0. Taxation receipts provided for USA and Canada.

 

 

Orphanages in Nova Scotia are a thing of the past, The last NS orphanages closed their doors in the late 60s and early 70s. The children were then transitioned into foster care replacing the orphanage setting. 

There are over 1.2 million orphans in Zambia. These children cannot adequately get their basic needs met because there is a lack of government funding and support for these children.-” The Orphan Crisis: Zambia by Kaylin Schlonski.

This past January 2024, six Inverness County Cares members travelled to Zambia. In these six weeks we came across many cultural experiences. One of the most heart wrenching encounters were our visits to two orphanages. 

We spent a day at the Kacema Musuma (Good Shepherd) Orphanage administered by the Sisters’ of the Child Jesus, the same order of sisters who direct the Kawambwa and St Odilia Schools. There are 48 children at the orphanage age 2-18. Many of these children were abandoned in horrific ways. There is a set of twins, triplets and twins who were conjoined at birth, but surgically separated later and a baby rescued from a drain pipe whose hearing was destroyed by mud impacted in her ears.

The younger students go to school on site and the post-secondary students attend technical or trade programs and return ‘Home” to the orphanage for holidays. The orphanage is their only home and there is almost no hope of adoption. Although they are cared for and loved by the sisters, it is hard to process the fact that these wonderful children will never have a loving home where they are cared for by their extended family, as is the norm in Zambia.  

The orphanage is situated on a sprawling piece of land with huge gardens which the children help care for and run free as they play with goats, chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, rabbits and guinea pigs…all a source of food. Two dogs are on site as guard dogs. They have maize, sweet potatoes, beans, groundnuts, casava, squash, canola, orange trees, mango, banana, avocado trees and more. The children are taught how to care for a garden and are proficient in naming many plants and discerning the difference between a weed and a vegetable. Washing is done outdoors in a big tub and hung to dry in the yard. The sisters and children all participate taking some time to play with bubbles and water splashing. They are involved in cooking their meals, cleaning their living space and in general are very self-sufficient. 

They are one big family. We asked a girl if she had any brothers and she gestured to the other children and remarked, “They are all my brothers.” They care for each other and provide love and support. The sisters working there and other caregivers are amazing and are able to provide for the children the best semblance of a happy supportive family possible in their situation. There is a lot of loving care, and we heard the little ones calling the sisters mama, and we saw older kids carrying babies and toddlers everywhere. The atmosphere of the complex is of happiness and security. 

Children from this orphanage have become successful teachers. We met one blind young lady, a former resident, who was teaching at the primary school near the convent. We were told about how orphans are helped when they want to get married. The sisters spend a great deal of time trying to locate relatives who would act as family for wedding arrangements and general support so they could really feel they are part of a caring family.

The children are encouraged to join in community activities as they get older and many walk to the local church each Sunday afternoon to be with their peers in small Christian communities and little children playgroups.

We also stopped in to see the sisters’ at the Tetekela Convent School near Kasama. It is a school which takes in children from vulnerable families, feeds them and enables them to go to school every day.  Some children are street kids without a family to support them. They come to school each morning, have a shower, eat breakfast and attend the Tetekela school. John MacInnis met with Fr Alan MacMillan’s sponsored child, 14-year-old, Robert. John gave him gifts from Fr Alan and took him to buy school supplies. He was a very happy young man. 

Tetekela is a private school which also takes in fee paying students as well. Chalice has 33 sponsored children at this school and many more needing sponsors. This is a feeder school for the local secondary school.

We six ICC members were impacted tremendously by these children and their cheerfulness and courage in their situation. The Sisters of the Child Jesus must be commended on their incredible work with these children. The impact of this visit will be long lasting. We need to take stock of our comfortable way of life and appreciate the homes we have, where our children have all they need. 

Inverness County Cares (ICC) is a local charitable organization, founded in 2012 and based in Inverness County, NS, Canada. ICC works in partnership with Chalice.ca, a Canadian charity, based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Chalice provides guidance and assistance to help ICC provide a better life for the children at the Kawambwa schools. The Kawambwa Project involves supporting two schools for albino and visually impaired students, in Northern Zambia. Inverness County Cares always welcomes new members. Individuals who wish to donate, can use the donate button on our website   https://invernesscountycares.com When using E-transfer, please include your mailing address for CRA tax receipts and a thank you message.   E-transfer address:  [email protected] or send a cheque to Inverness County Cares, 5414 Route 19, Judique, NS, Canada, B0E1P0. Taxation receipts provided for USA and Canada.