Partnership Overview 

Rosemary Daka and her late husband Lonard have been church planting in this area of Zambia for about 35 years. As they developed churches they were swamped by the needs of the vulnerable children and their guardians. They started 'Chifundo' to care for the children, to resource and encourage the guardians, to get the children into school and assist the community.

The Daka’s son, Steven, is the lead role in the partnership. He is a local church elder, and lives in Chipata with his wife and two children but spends most of his time in the village where he sustains his family through farming.

History Of Partnership

In 2003 Bright Hope World first visited this area of Zambia at the invitation of Lonard and Rosemary Daka. They had been known to Bright Hope World for many years and we observed their church planting programme. They worked very hard to establish a number of small rural churches in this area. Their conviction is that local churches would be the most effective agents of change in the community.

In the village from which they operate, Mchacha, there is now a church of over 130 members. This is a large percentage of the population of the village. As the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic moved with full force into the rural village, the church was not able to cope with the numbers of orphaned children. They did not have the resources to deal with the numbers or the degree of poverty. This is also a drought prone area although with the introduction of Foundations for Farming yields have shown significant increase.   

Beneficiaries

There are now 17 children and their guardian families in the Chifundo catchment area who directly benefit from this partnership through school fees, a higher education programme and farming programmes.

What We Like About The Partnership

There are many things Bright Hope World appreciates about this partnership. Steven and Rosemary are well known to us and are well regarded in the community

Key People 

Leadership Profile

Steven Daka, along with his mother Rosemary, is now managing the partnership. Steven has trained in accountancy and business and has his own business buying and selling goods from Malawi. Steven attended the OM missionary training school in Kabwe in 2017.

Steven and Rosemary will regularly visit with Norman Tonga (ZAM23) and discuss the issues they face in the partnership. 

Other People Involved

Steven Daka and Norman Tonga form the executive team that oversee the daily operation of the Chifundo partnership. This team also oversees the Chipata Rural OVC’s (ZAM23) programme.

Vision And Annual Strategy 

Sending the children to school is the major component of this partnership. There are also small and irregular food and household supplements including blankets given from time to time to those in need.  

The leadership team have started agriculture training based on the "Foundations for Farming" system. They have been achieving very good results by discipling people to improve yields. Setting a fine example, Lonard was often seen bent over with his hands in the ground explaining farming principles. Steven has now taken on this mantle, focussing on soyabean production as a cash crop to train and help families have a more sustainable income. He has also started a fishpond programme, where the team hope to create sustainable income for the partnership ministry activities, and to train others.

School leavers can find it difficult in the area in regard to what to do next. The leaders have assisted school leavers in a variety of activities from shop keeping, farming, small scale manufacturing of goods and becoming teachers. 

Personal Testimony 

Real "Life Change" Stories

Abraham Phiri
Abraham is one of the orphans who finished Grade 12 in 2011 and then went onto teachers training course. He funded most of his teachers’ training by farming.

After finishing his training, he was waiting to be deployed by the government, so he continued to farm. His first crop was tomatoes, which he secured 8,000zmk profit. This he reinvested into maize and soybean crops. After harvest he ended up with a profit of 22,000zmk which he then purchased his own motorbike.

Finally in 2022 Abraham was deployed as a teacher and started teaching at secondary school.

This year, when the big floods in Malawi happened, the storm also came across the Chipata area, although it was mainly wind and less rain. The wind destroyed the iron roof of the CMML brethren church in the village, which has been a big problem. Everyone was very astounded when Abraham came to the church and donated 19,500zmk to buy all the materials needed to fix the roof. No one had seen a church member be so generous. The members provided the labour and now the church roof is fixed.

Abraham told the church that God has been so faithful to me with my schooling requirements and the farming that I needed to be faithful with my resources when I see a need in His kingdom.