Meeker students talk about Africa trip

By Allie Willey
Special to the Herald Times
MEEKER | This last summer eighth-graders Hadley Franklin and Zagar Brown, high school junior Charlie Day and Day and Franklin’s grandmother, Mary Grady, returned from Zambia, Africa, from a trip with the Moms without Borders program.
This was Franklin’s second year going to Africa. Most of the kids learned of the program through her. This entire program is run by volunteers and funded through donations. All the kids did various things to help pay for their trip. Day went and worked on his grandma’s property to save up for the trip.
While they were in Africa they took care of homeless kids. They lived on the property with the kids and spent a lot of time with them, teaching them and playing with them every day. They built toys—such as a swing set—for the children to enjoy.
“The kids were always happy and had a smile on their face. They were always willing to give anything that they had even if they had nothing at all to give. Everyone was self-sufficient,” Day said.
They stayed with the kids for two weeks before going out on a safari.
Asked if they would go again they said yes because of the experiences they had while there.
The Moms Without Borders mission statement states: “Our Mission is to offer hope to the orphaned and vulnerable children of our world by nurturing and caring for them, as if they were our own. Our work is focused in Zambia, Africa.” They work to strengthen families who agree to care for the orphans in their community, empower women and protect and provide for the needs of vulnerable children. Kathy Head Lee started Mothers Without Borders in the early 1980s to show people the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children throughout the world.