Oliver called a meeting of the guardians to discuss some issues and encourage them. They discussed cost sharing to make sure that the guardians are paying for some of the costs of the orphan’s school requirements. The following verses were used as encouragement:
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Hebrews 12:5-10 “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
.jpg)
There had been some issues with behaviour at school so Oliver held a meeting with the teachers and some of the orphans who were misbehaving. After discussions with the guardians two orphans have now been removed from the program.
There are currently 44 orphans remaining in the program. The Saturday morning program is going well, and there are two teachers who are teaching maths and English to the orphans. They are wanting to employee a third teacher to run a program for the primary school grades. The children are now setting up their own lunch and washing all the dishes.
This program has now finished as the last two orphans on the program have finished school. Neilson, who we interviewed last year, is awaiting his exam results and in the meantime Oliver has employed him for some piece work in the village cleaning up some pine trees. After this he is wanting to join the army.
Oliver has 6 hectares of land in the Katembula area called Lufwanyama that he wants to use for Foundations for Farming but is still to find the right person to start this program. Sebastian, the pastor, is still in the village but has not at this stage shown any signs of becoming an example trainer.
This is going very well with the Government contract from last year now completed, and many other orders for blocks. There are currently five workers employed to make blocks six days per week.
Agnus has now left, meaning there are two new staff on a six month probation, to see who Oliver will employ at the end.
Charles Phiri has now been with Oliver for over a year and has shown himself to be a trustworthy employee. Oliver has now given him the responsibility of paying for the orphans school fees and is currently getting him set up to have signing authority at the bank.
Oliver has employed an accountant Juma Kanyimbi who we met to talk with. He is an elder of a church in Kitwe and is very tough on Oliver. Oliver says ”he makes me keep all of these pieces of paper…” This has to be the best thing to happen for Oliver ever, as he now knows what money goes where.
Charles is now the supervisor of the block making business and the orphans program in Kalulushi. He completed Grade 12 in 2008 and then worked in sales on a commission basis selling household goods for Global Industrial. In 2012 he completed a six month course in basic computer studies including Word, Excel, Power Point and Internet. He started to work with Oliver in February 2014.
He likes to see that the blocks they are making for the customers are of very high quality so they will continue to come back to buy more.
He lives with his family, his father is an office worker and is mother cooks food for sale. His four sisters also live with them.
He goes to the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) and helps out with boys brigade. Of Jesus, he says he has saved me from my sins and was sent by his father so we can know the word of God. He is motivated through church to be helping the orphans in this program.
Home: Maybell is 16 years old and lives with her two aunties. Her father has died but her mother is alive and lives in another town. She does see her sometimes. Children in Zambia often move between family members, to help older members or to move to where the opportunities are. She likes Kalulushi (the town where she lives) because it’s a cool place, but there are problems with people drinking beer.
School: Maybell is in Grade 10. She would like to study medicine when she leaves school. With her friends she likes to study and listen to music, she likes to sing but says she can’t sing. If she could do anything in the world it would be to help vulnerable children.
Program: PCM has been helping Maybell for five years since she was in Grade 5. She likes to come here on a Saturday when she can come, play games and study. She thinks the tutoring is helpful and the teachers understand what the young people need to learn. PCM also helps with the uniform, school fees and shoes.
Church: Maybell sees church as a holy place and talks to God. She knows that Jesus has saved her.
Home: Newton is 18 years old and has lived with his grandmother, sister and brother since he was 7 years old. The most important thing he remembers his mother teaching him is to be humble and treat others well.
School: Newton is in Grade 12, which is the last year of school in Zambia. He studies English, maths, biology, chemistry, physics, geology and religious education. When he finishes school he would like to become a heavy duty engineer. Newton lives in an area where there are a lot of mining opportunities.
Partnership: Somebody came to Newton and talked about the orphan program and the opportunity to have sponsorship through school. He thought it would be good so they then talked with the grandmother and put him on the program three years ago. The program has helped with school fees, uniforms, shoes and tutoring in maths and English every Saturday. Newton says that his friends have a lot of problems with having no funds to go to school; he tries to encourage them through this struggle.
Oliver is wanting to start a micro-loan program with some of the guardians, as they have been requesting it as many of them are traders in the markets. His aim is to start small, with the help of the accountant and Charles Phiri to manage the program.
Key elements are:
• Start with five guardians
• Participants are to save an amount each month for six months
• Present a business plan of a currently running business, the capital is not to start up a new business
• The loan will be up to 10 times the amount of savings (capped at certain amount yet to be decided)
• The savings will be held to cover for any missed repayments
• Repayments with interest to be collected every month
We have asked Oliver to work through the details and after six months will see if the guardians have saved.
1) Pray for Oliver to find the right person to demonstrate Foundations for Farming in Katembula
2) For Oliver to mentor and disciple Charles in the business and orphans program
3) Praise for the accountant Oliver now has helping him
4) Pray for the micro-loan program
It was great to catch up with Oliver who seemed to be in a very good head space. His business is doing much better and he has a handle on it.
He would like to add more orphans to the program but wants to give the micro-loan program a go in the first instance, and will continue to look for a good Foundations for Farming rep, probably someone local from the area.