South Africa Newsletter, October
Since joining EMI South Africa as Communications, most of my understanding of our projects had come through the stories of staff and volunteers, project debriefs, photographs - the struggles, and the wins. Over the past few months, I'd regularly written about our projects and shared what our teams had seen and experienced through our various channels. I knew the work, I knew of the incredible people involved, but this project trip would be the first time I wouldn't be waiting for the story to reach me through someone else.
Above: Never missing an opportunity to capture a moment along the way, Jenni Keiter (EMI Global), left, with her camera at the ready.
Going into this trip, I was terrified. It had been a busy month trying to get ahead of everything so that I could step away for the week and be fully present, and by the time we left, I was exhausted. With the logistics handled, and the itinerary shaped around Jenni and Raquel's Inside EMI feature coming in March 2027, I didn't need to arrive with a predetermined angle of my own. I had my notes, previous articles and post-project trip debriefs to draw from, along with my phone and dinky digital camera, I was free to remain open to where God led my curiosity and what unfolded from there.
It was our first evening at Minga Mission Hospital after roughly six hours on the road from Lusaka and, impressively, only one punctured tire. As we gathered for the evening, Sister Asperanza and the sisters began something I'd seen countless times in photographs and videos from previous project trips to Minga.
Whenever new visitors stay at Minga Mission Hospital, the sisters have a tradition of welcoming them before dinner. Led by Sister Asperanza carrying a freshly baked cake, the sisters entered the dining room singing songs of welcome to the rhythm of a steady beating drum played by Sister Mary. One of the new visitors is then encouraged to cut the first slice, which, this time, was EMI Global photographer and videographer, Jenni Keiter. Sister Asperanza takes a small piece of cake on a toothpick and feeds it to the visitor before making her way around the room to welcome each of the new visitors in the same way.
Above left: Jenni Keiter (left), all smiles after her welcome bite of cake, while Sister Asparanza gets ready to share the tradition with Raquel Eduardo Nunez (right). Above Right: Mutinta Kaula, Niza Chewe (EMI South Africa Fellow) and Raquel EduardoNunez walk back from Sunday Mass beneath the Jacaranda trees.
At first, I wasn't included, not on purpose obviously, Mutinta Kaula, EMI South Africa's resident construction manager at Minga whispered to me that it was because I fit in so well that the sisters didn't realise that I was also new. Hiding under the radar didn't last very long, as Abraham Lourens, our Project Manager, so graciously reminded Sister Asperanza that it was also my first time visiting. Next thing, I was ushered out of my chair, leaning over and biting a piece of delicious cake fed by Sister Asperanza.
That was it; I got to be part of something I'd only watched through a screen for the last few months. And from there, I slowly began connecting the stories I'd heard and the pictures I'd seen for so many months with the people and places now in front of me.
Minga itself carried a real sense of hope and anticipation. Walking through the hospital, there was a clear energy about the space. There were new buildings being built and worked on, there were new roads connecting various buildings and spaces, and there was an excitement amongst the staff and patients about the improvements that were happening around them, and also for what was still to come.
From Minga, we travelled further through Eastern Province, visiting hospitals and meeting the doctors, healthcare leaders and communities we had come to hear from.
Above left: Sister Asperanza spending time with family members and companions supporting expectant mothers at Minga's Mothers' Village, encouraging them to share a song with us. Above Right: Dr Raymond Kasaka walking Jenni Keiter and Raquel EduardoNunez through Petauke District Hospital, sharing stories, challenges and firsthand examples of the work happening within its walls.
For months I'd heard about Dr. Raymond, and the work he is doing at Petauke District Hospital, but now I was walking through the hospital beside him, watching him engage with staff and patients and seeing for myself the care, unity and togetherness my colleagues had spoken about.
Mpanji Sinkala, EMI South Africa's Healthcare Specialist, I'd technically met before, but mostly through a staff retreat, and the occasional email and LinkedIn post. In Zambia, he became the hilarious colleague sitting beside us as we travelled through the Eastern Province, seemingly connected to everyone in the healthcare sector, guiding us from place to place and even taking us on one or two side quests that may or may not have landed us in a little bit of trouble.
The sisters at Minga Mission Hospital were no longer familiar faces from photographs, they were the women we shared meals with, giggled with in the background, who made sure we were well fed, and whose singing and prayers from the chapel near my room put the good old rooster to shame every morning.
Above left: Jenni and Raquel in their natural element, going the extra mile for the sake of good content.
And then there were people I'd never known about at all, like George Banda, who Raquel met after Sunday Mass. George was working on the construction site at Minga, saving towards his tertiary education, with the hopes of becoming a doctor one day, working at the very hospital he grew up around, and now, helping to build.
I think that's what kept happening to me throughout the week. The more I saw, the more I wanted to know. The more someone spoke, the more questions I had. How had God led them there? What was their story?
I've always boiled it down to being nosey, I ask a lot of questions because I'm curious, but over the years I've started to recognise that curiosity as something God placed within me. I want to know the person standing in front of me, the human behind the work that He created.
I think that was also how God chose to meet me in Zambia. There wasn't a big moment where I suddenly thought, "God is here!" Instead, it felt like He was taking me by the hand and showing me His people and the work they were doing in His Kingdom, like a father proudly showing his child around a flourishing garden.
Above left: Raquel EduardoNunez and Jenni Keiter chatting with George Banda (centre), hearing more about his life in Minga and his hopes of one day becoming a doctor. Above centre: Dr Paul Mwale (left) and Mpanji Sinkala (right) catching up after a long day on the road for our team and a busy day at the hospital for Dr Mwale. Above right: Abraham Lourens, Niza Chewe and André Olwagen tackling our second punctured tyre of the trip, while Mpanji and Raquel discuss the best approach from the sidelines.
I saw Him in Dr. Raymond and the way he cared for his staff and patients, in Mpanji and the relationships he has built across the health sector, in the sisters and the joy with which they serve, and in George and his hope for the future. But I also saw Him in the smaller moments throughout the week: the stories shared with us, the meals around tables, patients waving as we walked through hospitals, district leaders giving us their time, the sisters praying and singing in the mornings, and tired colleagues continuing to show up after long days. There was so much care, story and life around me, and I was getting to see a little more of the bigger picture of what God is doing in Zambia.
There is so much more I could say, and so many more people I can't wait for you to meet through the stories I'll get to share over the months ahead. People who are serving, shaping, and impacting healthcare across Zambia, and who gave me the privilege of seeing a little of what that looks like right now.
This may have been my experience of the week I spent there, but it sits within something much bigger than me. For a little while, I got to walk through God's garden, meet some of the people He has placed within it, and witness a small part of what He is already doing Zambia.
And now, I get to share a little of that with you.
Be part of what God is doing in Zambia.
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