Annabel is volunteering with Tearfund Go for three months in Zambia, before she embarks on a career in healthcare. The contrast between medical care and facilities in the UK and rural Zambia couldn’t be more stark. However local churches and Christians are stepping into the gap...
As we get off the bus into the afternoon sun, we hear cries of, ‘Mzungu, Mzungu, Mzungu!’ – an affectionate local term for white people. We are greeted by an abundance of young, gleaming smiles – word has spread that there are visitors in the community.
Children run and shout from all directions, multiplying as they draw closer. Their hands reach out and trace the lines and freckles of our skin. We have been in Zambia for just over a month now and we are becoming accustomed to being followed around by crowds of excited children.
We are on our way to meet Esther*. Esther is a patient at the local clinic run by the Jubilee Centre, the Tearfund partner I am working with for three months. My mind is whirring with questions and words of encouragement that I want to share with Esther, who is living with HIV.
