Our Mission was to help build a school/church in Swaziland, Africa. There were 18 Iowans from all over the state who went on this mission, three of us from St. Marks, Keith and Holly Scherff, and Lydia Brown. We spent most of our days making block that will be used in the building of the structure. The orphans and vulnerable children that attend the school became regular visitors to the work site and offered us a break from the hard labor with their beautiful songs and the joy of their laughter and smiles.
We also had the privilege to travel to the southern portion of the country to deliver and teach the people how to use a water purifier that the group from COE College in Cedar Rapids had brought with them. These people drank from a farm pond, water that would kill most people. The water looked like chocolate milk and was full of debris, plus whatever the cattle and goats left behind. The water purifier took the bacteria out of the water and made it safe to drink, but it still looked like chocolate milk.
Click on the thumbnails below to view a larger photo.
Lydia Brown with some of the children.
Keith Scherff with some of the children.
Children in front of the storage building.
The existing school.
The people’s only drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing water.
This is the same water the cattle wallow in.
Using the kit to purify the water.
This is the purified water.
Read all about the trip to Swaziland
and view more photos on these blogs:
Parish Office:
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
1007 First Avenue South
Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501
ph. 515-576-2019
fax 515-576-0632
