The First Distribution

It was exciting to see the trucks arrive at the warehouse in Mwandi Village throughout the week before the first distribution. In the end, the warehouse was full of enough food to share with 2,000 households. The food came from the northeastern part of Zambia, where unlike the Western Province, the drought is not being experienced.

Local men from the village were hired to offload the trucks and carefully stack the food commodities in the warehouse.  The following week these men loaded the food onto the trucks that would drive to the recipient communities. Each truck had the specific quantity designated for that community.

The household ration provided in this project, based on what an average family of seven would eat, includes two 25 kg bags of maize meal, 10 kg of beans, 2.5 L of cooking oil, and 500 g of salt each month over a five-month period. This ration equates to approximately 54% of the family's daily energy needs.

What a privilege it was to watch food being delivered to communities where there is such a great need for food. The most challenging part of the food distribution however, was knowing that there was not enough food for everyone.

During the first day of our distribution, I met a man who had not been chosen as a beneficiary. He reminded me of how God always provides for us. Here is one of the passages that he shared with me and later with the whole community.

A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said.
"How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked.
But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: 'They will eat and have some left over.'" Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD. II Kings 4:42-44

I was reminded that there are numerous times in both the New and Old Testament when there was not enough food and yet through God's amazing power the food multiplied. It is our prayer that God will multiply the food that has been delivered in the Mwandi district.

Another beautiful thing that we saw at the distribution sites was people sharing their food. Women poured beans into "chitenges" (large wraps used as skirts, baby carriers, and to wrap things in that we would typically put in a bag) so that they could be strapped on another women's back and carried home. People even brought their own plastic bottles so that cooking oil could be shared.

In many communities, carts pulled by donkeys or cows were used to take the food home but it seemed that most people carried their food home. Women would carry 25 kg bags on their heads with their babies still strapped to their backs. Men would carry the bags on their shoulders.                                                                     


The food that is being provided through this project is bringing relief to the hunger that people are experiencing.

In addition, we have come to see how this project is also providing an opportunity for communities to have meaningful conversations around women's roles in the community. Communities are talking about how to give women increased leadership opportunities. Through these difficult conversations, people are growing in love and respect for each other, despite the differences that have created historical divisions.

Please pray that God will continue his good work here in Zambia. Pray that positive transformation will continue and that the food that is being delivered over the next five months will multiply and feed all those who are hungry.