I met Busiku at the Mama Bakhita School in 2017 where she worked as an assistant teacher. She shyly approached me one day to say that she wanted to study to become a physiotherapist. The Mama Bakhita School has had a physiotherapy room since 2012, but there was never money to pay a salary. Happily, the AACDP found a worthy couple who agreed to sponsor her education at the University of Zambia. In 2018 Busiku bravely embarked on an educational journey that stretched her spotty childhood...

15% of all Zambians are people with disabilities. 1996 a group of Franciscan Sisters convened in Livingstone to focus on this widespread problem. After visiting health clinics and interviewing families, it was clear that hte need was there.They bought an Indian merchant's house and 5 acres in the town and began to offer simple physical therapy and education for parents with disabled children. They worked hard to dispel the common myth that these children were the result of the parents sins....

In 2004, my family decided to spend a year living in Florence, Italy because I was determined to try to learn another language before it was too late. I was already over 50. My husband was able work as a teacher there, so the three of us, myself, Paul and Nora who was 15, moved to Florence. It ended up taking me a very long time to become conversational in Italian. I tried to return every year for a stay because being among the Italians, some of whom had become friends, was by far the best...