craigdailypress.com

When Debra Lueck, a Craig resident, left for a two-and-a-half year trip to Zambia in 2004, she knew she was headed in the right direction.

Lueck left America to help form an orphanage run from within a rural community school about 45 miles north of the Zambian capital of Lusaka. The Zambian landscape wasn't foreign to her. Lueck had visited the country earlier that year during a missions trip, she said.

Lueck took two suitcases with her on her first journey to Zambia, which is nestled in the south-central region of the African continent.

She sold nearly everything else before she left, she said, including her house, her car and a business she had owned for 24 years.

Leaving her life behind "wasn't that hard," she said. "I knew this was what I was supposed to be doing."

Lueck held a hand over her heart as she spoke, her eyes welling with tears.

"Now, it's here," she said, her voice quiet with emotion.

After finishing her associate degree in graphic design from Westwood College Online in December, Lueck plans to repeat her trip across the Atlantic.

For this trip, however, Lueck is taking only one suitcase, she said, and the duration of her stay is unknown.

"I promised my family last time I'd come back in three years," she said, adding that she stayed true to her word.

"I don't want to make that kind of promise again because I don't know," she said.

Lueck plans to use her education on her return visit by doing graphic design work for Zambian nongovernment organizations.

However, she expects her work at the orphanage to take up most of her time, she said.

Lueck isn't expecting it to be an easy task. Life in rural Zambia comes with no running water, no sanitation and few modern conveniences.

"It's like camping 24/7," she said.

Still, Lueck said, her work at the orphanage and school was rewarded during her first trip when she saw an elderly woman write her name for the first time and gave food to children who otherwise might have gone hungry.

Some of Lueck's family and friends questioned her decision to take up temporary residence in Africa in 2004, she said.

Lueck can understand their reluctance.

"Until you've been there, you have no idea," she said.

Even the Zambian people she plans to serve have a difficult time understanding Lueck's choice, she said.

Lueck said leaving Craig won't be an easy move.

"My kids are here," she said. "It's really hard to leave them, and it's hard for them to understand that I don't love them any less."

Yet, by pulling up stakes to follow her convictions, Lueck said she's living up to standards she's set for herself.

"That's one thing I've always said - you've got to live a life of significance, making a difference in the world for someone else," Lueck said. "Whether you do it here, at home, or you do it someplace else, you need to make your life count."