July 1, 2013
NewsRescue- it is popularly said, that former US president, Bill Clinton is “Black,” that’s because he setup his retirement office in black Harlem, on 125th street. But from the continuous activities of George and Laura Bush in Africa, one can only by the same analogy, crown the Bush’s African.
Here are some great images and a story from his 4 day trip to Zambia:
Featured image: President George W. Bush signs his name for a young man he sits next prior to the start of a local Kabwe church service that he and Mrs. Laura Bush attend in Kabwe, Zambia, on Sunday, July 1, 2012, during their weeklong trip to Africa to promote Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Mrs. Laura Bush exchanges smiles with a young man she sits next to during a service at a local church she and President George W. Bush attend in Kabwe, Zambia on Sunday, July 1, 2012, during their weeklong trip to Zambia and Botswana, Africa, to promote Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Participating in a moment of prayer, President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush attend a service at a local church in Kabwe, Zambia on Sunday, July 1, 2012, during their weeklong trip to Zambia and Botswana, Africa, to promote Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
A local resident of Kabwe, Zambia participates with President George W. Bush (left), and Mrs. Doyin Oluwole (center), Executive Director, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon Initiative, in the renovations of the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
President George W. Bush uses a roller to the paint the highest parts of the walls of the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center.
During the second day of renovations, local community residents and members of The Bush Center staff work to restore the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. The clinic renovations are in conjunction with The Bush Institute’s Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Mrs. Laura Bush, Brother Marcus Turcotte (center right), Founder, and other school officials of the Julie Anne’s Children’s Home at the Robert Shitma School in Kabwe, Zambia, observe a reading lesson during a tour of the school on Sunday, July, 1, 2012. Brother Marcus established the school in 2001 to serve street children and other disadvantaged children. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center.
Mrs. Laura Bush and Brother Marcus Turcotte (right), Founder, Julie Anne’s Children’s Home at the Robert Shitma School, watch children perform a dance and sing a song on Sunday, July, 1, 2012, to welcome her visit to the school in Kabwe, Zambia. Brother Marcus established the school in 2001 to serve street children and other disadvantaged children. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center.
During a tour, Mrs. Laura Bush, Brother Marcus Turcotte (center), Founder, along with other school officials of the Julie Anne’s Children’s Home at the Robert Shitma School in Kabwe, Zambia, view the hats and baskets hand-made by children of the school on Sunday, July, 1, 2012. Brother Marcus established the school in 2001 to serve street children and other disadvantaged children. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Flanked by students who attend the Julie Anne’s Children’s Home at the Robert Shitma School in Kabwe, Zambia, Mrs. Laura Bush and the children wave to the camera while posing for a school photograph on Sunday, July, 1, 2012. Brother Marcus Turcotte established the school in 2001 to serve street children and other disadvantaged children. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Mrs. Laura Bush uses a roller to the paint the walls of the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. When renovations are complete, the clinic will screen, diagnose and treat women for cervical cancer. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Splattered with paint, President George W. Bush enjoys a moment during a pause in renovating the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. When completed, the Ngungu Health Clinic will screen, diagnose and treat women for cervical cancer. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Mrs. Laura Bush paints a metal door at the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
President George W. Bush hands out treats to local children who gathered across the street from the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. Working with the local community, Mrs. Bush, President George W. Bush, and Mrs. Doyin Oluwole, Executive Director, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon Initiative, are renovating the clinic during the first part of their weeklong trip to Africa to raise awareness for Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, an initiative to save women’s lives from cervical cancer in Africa. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
Mrs. Laura Bush poses for a photograph with one of the patients and her newborn baby girl at the Ngungu Health Center on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center
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Laura Bush gives a boost to women’s farm project in Zambia
By TOM BENNING
Published: 29 June 2013 11:04 PM
NSONGWE, Zambia — For many years, Maitidah Nyemba and other women in this picturesque village 20 minutes outside of Livingstone had to travel long distances on a dusty, rocky road to get fresh vegetables.
But thanks to an innovative agricultural program — funded in part by the U.S. Agency for International Development and operated entirely by the village’s women — Nyemba and others now have enough to feed their families and boost their incomes by selling the extra crops.
“We feel so empowered,” Nyemba, a 43-year-old mother of five, said through a translator.
Former first lady Laura Bush — in Zambia with her husband, George W. Bush, to promote the cancer-fighting initiative Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon — toured the site Saturday before heading into Livingstone to help refurbish a health clinic.
Hailing the farming project as a “wonderful example of how women … can bring money in for their families,” Laura Bush said the concept and others like it will be a key part of the African First Ladies Summit the Bushes are hosting next week in Tanzania.
“It’s really important, worldwide, that women have a chance to contribute to their economy,” Bush said.
Most of the Bushes’ four-day stay in Zambia is focused on renovating the Mosi-Oa-Tunya health center in Livingstone. And both George W. and Laura Bush spent hours Saturday cleaning, scraping and painting the clinic.
The rehabilitated facility will open Monday as the first women in the community will arrive to get screened for cervical cancer.
But the former first lady’s side trip to Nsongwe still tied in with the Bushes’ visit — and the broader vision of the George W. Bush Institute, part of the presidential center at Southern Methodist University.
One of the institute’s biggest efforts is focused on empowering women, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. That initiative includes a women’s leadership and networking program in Egypt and now the African First Ladies Summit in Dar es Salaam.
The two-day summit, sponsored by Irving-based Exxon Mobil, will convene about 15 African first ladies. Other participants include U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Laura Bush said the conference will focus on what first ladies can do to “support their husbands’ policies and especially what they can do to help women.” She said a major topic will look at how women can become more involved in agriculture.
“Once Africa really taps into the great resources they have for agriculture, there won’t be hunger,” she said.
Laura Bush arrived at the Nsongwe farm to the song and dance of the women. She then toured the site, inspecting the plants with the eye of an avid gardener. And she gave the women gifts of spades and seeds.
The project started in 2006 — with support from nongovernment organizations, universities and other partners along the way — to bring more reliable agriculture to a village that’s quite dry, despite being close to the Zambezi River.
The village’s leaders decided to let women take the lead role on the project. And the group has been so successful — with the help of irrigation and other tools — that the farm has grown from half an acre to about 7.5 acres.
USAID has provided about $120,000 to help the women grow indigenous vegetables that are difficult to get year round. The farm is now a major vegetable provider to Sun International, a South Africa-based hotel chain.
And that means more money the women can use to pay for school, clothes and other things for their children.
“The standard of living is very high,” Nyemba said with a grin. “The women are not complaining.”
USAID’s funding will soon end, as most of its projects are jump-starters. And the women still face challenges, such as elephants that sometimes charge through the barbed wire fences to eat the crops.
But Laura Bush expressed hope that the project would be strong enough to keep growing.
“It’s great that women have the chance to have the fields, the resources, the seeds and the other things they need to make agriculture successful,” she said.
For continuous coverage of the Bush trip to Africa, see staff writer Tom Benning’s posts on dallasnews.com/trailblazers.
Images: freerepublic
