In June and July of 2012, PWOB President Steve Szablya led a group of 17 students to Zambia along with PWOB VP Joyce Allen and other members of the PWOB team. This was PWOB’s fourth trip to Zambia, and our biggest yet!
The Seattle U student volunteers were on the ground for two weeks; half of them left for Zambia in mid-June and returned at the end of the month, the same day the second group left, resulting in one month of work total in Zambia from PWOB volunteers.
The team had met since January 2012 to plan for the four ambitious projects they undertook in Zambia this year. Joyce Allen led the first group of students to install shelving in the Mukanzubo Cultural Center that PWOB worked with last year; they also documented and stored the center’s collection in order to preserve the heritage of the Tonga people. This group ended their trip by building a brick security wall around the clinic constructed last year at Chipembele. The clinic was recently certified by the Zambian government and should open soon.
Steve Szablya and his team recommissioned two large water towers in Chikuni, the site of past PWOB projects, to provide water to the hospital. This will allow the hospital to open their new natal clinic and surgical theater. Steve and his team continued work on the brick wall in the Chipembele community, as well as removing the cross connect between the reservoir and the well at Mukanzubo. 
Finally, Fr. Bert Otten, SJ will deploy the final wind turbine design started in 2010.
This was PWOB’s biggest Zambia trip yet, and it couldn't have gone better! For a first-hand account, check out Cal Ihler's journal entries in our blog.