Key people: Faidess Cheyasu, Leonard Kapenda, Sandra
After recent discussions with them in May, we visited Kamatepa in June to gain more information about the overall situation of the partnership.
It has been a difficult farming season for the area with drought causing a failure of many crops. There was some rain in late October, then a little in early December and not much in January meaning the cob development on the maize was very poor. Many people in the area have not even bothered to go to the fields to harvest.
Given the dry, there has also been the increased pressure of insects. Sweet potato, which normally grows very well, has been attacked with all the greenery destroyed meaning no tubers have developed.
For the orphan's field, they planted both maize and a little cassava, with the orphans coming to help in the field when they could. They are yet to harvest but are not expecting much.
They have decided to plant some cabbages for the orphans for winter vegetables to grow some for relish for this upcoming difficult time where there will be a severe lack of food.
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Leonard Kapenda continues to grow in this position and is now in charge of keeping the accountability records. He has such a heart for this area, given he was an orphan who went through the Kamatepa programme.
Currently he is having a few struggles with wider family members concerning his use of the Foundation for Farming methods. They don’t like it, so have chased him from the family fields close by the village. This has caused him to secure some land for farming “a bit more distance” away.
Sandra (pictured) has been added to the group as well, to replace Evans Ndoje. Sandra is a young woman who also was a beneficiary of the orphan’s programme at Kamatepa. She has a heart for helping children, especially regarding education.
Currently there are 12 orphans on the programme, with two boarding at secondary school in Chingola town. They meet all the orphans once per month to encourage them and to provide a feeding programme.
We checked through the financial records, and the missing pieces were explained. Leonard and Faidess will get together to provide the details in the finance book, as this was the first time Leonard had kept the records.
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We sat with the orphans, and they presented us with their speeches about the programme they are receiving:
Robert says “Thanks be to God, we are honoured, grateful and just ok. We pray to God that the drought will stop next year, or we will all starve and die”. He then gave a short sermon based on Ecclesiastes 3:1, time and seasons. “Joy may be in the past as things have changed but God is still in control and knows the seasons that are coming. Don’t cry to man, but cry to God who is in control. God knows what is best in the time under the sun”.
Noah says, “God bless you for your work, but please continue the programme for the younger ones who are coming up behind us”.
Freda says “It is not easy to help someone you don’t even know. Thanks to Auntie Rebecca and Faidess for helping with the school requirements. I didn’t even have any hope that I would go to school”.
With farming being the main activity for people to provide for their families in the area, they are considering starting an agricultural supply shop. Currently most people have to travel to town to buy inputs which costs them both time and money.
Currently they are collating information as to what products they will sell and prices they may be able to charge to see if this is financially viable. The profits from the shop would be used to help fund orphans' programmes.
Sandra told us the story of her being an orphan in Kamatepa, and how even though her school requirements for education were provided for, the level of education was very poor. Teachers in the area “are not good” and they don’t care about the children’s education.
Those that finish up to grade 4 still cannot read and write which mean they have no foundation to build on.
Currently Sandra is already volunteering at a preschool that the local CMML brethren church has started to try and address some of the issues of education for children. It is Sandra’s vision to extend this programme to become a community school, catering for grades one to four.
Given the drought, they are thinking about other crops that they can grow in the area that are more resistant to drought and will provide more food security options. There is a cassava variety that matures in one growing season that they can source from Peter Bobo in the Chaba (ZAM16) Bright Hope World partnership. They are following up the options and will request some funds for sourcing the stick seeds and transport when they understand the costs.
It was great to see Leonard and Sandra becoming more involved in the partnership and to hear their ideas for the future. We will wait for the potential proposals to come through in regard to the cassava project, agricultural shop and community school.