Report from BHW Zambia Partnership Facilitator Following Visit

Key people: David and Nanna Lukama 

Recent Events

GAP Year

Currently there are 12 students in the GAP year course, six of whom are on a Bright Hope World scholarship for the course. 

The week we were there they were involved in visiting a number of local orphanages, some for the disabled. The students helped out by cleaning up areas and then hanging out with these vulnerable children. They were able to express that there are so many people in the world that need our help and maybe I need to stop just thinking about me and focus on others and the needs around me.

Community Programs

They are still running programs for extra lessons and a sports ministry, seeing 42 children come most days for sports. Many of these children do not go to school so this event is the highlight of their day, they even come on days when there is no program just to hang out.

They are also running children’s camps in the school holidays, around 200 plus are expected to come to the next camp.

Church Based Training

There are now six centres where church leaders and elders come for training one Saturday in each month - Ndola, Kitwe x2, Lusaka, Mfwura, and Chilibongwa. Volunteers co-ordinate the meetings and then teachers are used from the Advanced Leadership Program to train churches.

The change in the view of GLO has been significant in this area. Churches are looking at ways of even helping to fund GLO and in many ways leaders are open to change which brings the local church into relevance for Zambia people in 2019.

Advanced Leadership Courses

This program currently has 40 leaders coming to have training. The government of Zambia is now passing laws to make sure that church leaders are trained and this course from GLO is working towards having this accreditation. GLO has produced an 80 page document showing how all the government requirements are being met. This has been a way that GLO has been able to partner with the local church to help them meet these requirements.

Women Empowerment Ministry

A desire to see the voice of women heard more in churches has meant a course of three sessions over the year are to be held at GLO with around 70 women coming.

Camp Reality

Last year GLO ran three courses for schools who came to hire the facility and go thru the Camp Reality course. This has proved a good source of income to help pay for other costs at GLO. It also allows GLO to interact with students and show them Christian values. 

Current Staff 

Yves and Irina; Community ministry and GAP year mentoring
Walu Chioni; GAP year coordinator and IT
Maria Mwape; GAP year involvement and mentoring
David Lukama; Director (photo)
Nanna Lukama; mentor and children’s camps (photo)
Chisenga Nkasu
Chalwe and Olis; ex GAP year students helping out

The big struggle as always is the staff, keeping good people who are volunteers and who have to fund themselves somehow has proved difficult. There are ongoing discussions as to how to make this work, i.e.
• Use of funds from Camp reality, church based training and leadership courses
• Rental of the facility
• Local church donations
• Friends of GLO idea where individual Zambian church members are contacted to become people who support GLO in prayer and finance. So far there are three people who have committed to this ongoing support.

Maintenance

There is a need to upgrade some of the buildings. So far they have managed to re-floor the dining and kitchen areas which has helped but there are a few things to finish off.

For the dorms, they want to paint, put in ceiling panels, buy new mattresses and build some permanent bunk beds in each dorm. This would enable them to be able to meet the requirements of more organizations who want to come and use the facility.

They are going to come back to us with a proposal for how upgrading the facilities would look.

Personal Stories

Martha Chambanenge

Martha is 18 years old, her parents passed away when she was 6. She went to stay with her grandmother but her mother’s side of the family rejected her so she was sent to live at a local orphanage that her grandmother found.

Things there were pretty tough and it was difficult but she did learn a lot, “not everything happens the way you want it too”. She really loved school as it was a good distraction from all the hurts that she was facing.

She came to hear about GLO GAP year by attending a holiday camp there and then her older brother who was also from the orphanage completed the GAP year. She was surprised at how her brother’s behavior changed as he never used to take any interest in her at all but after he attended the GAP year he was a real friend and brother to her, looking out for her. “He used to have a really bad temper but now he just tells me how much he loves me”.

She came to GLO on the 4th Feb and found all the activities very interesting. Meeting other people her age from different backgrounds and characters has been teaching her that it’s not all about herself but about those around you and relating to them. Some of the time she finds it hard if they are all punished as a group because one person made a bad decision but it is teaching her that her decisions can have consequences for all those around her as well.

The main thing she wants to get out of GLO GAP year is help with decision making as she struggles to make decisions. Life is not just about being rich or poor but about Jesus and relationships with him and with others around you. She wants to make sure that she is helping other people as she thinks that maybe one day in the future they may come to help her.

She loves the mentoring program, meeting with her mentor each week to discuss life and be able to lean on someone for encouragement.

The one big question she has is "how does God talk to me?"

Kabaso Flavious

Kabaso was born in 1999 and has a large family of seven brothers and five sisters. He was born in Samyfa and finished school last year, Grade 12, although he has two subjects that he has to re-write.

His dad passed away when he was 6 years old and his mum passed away when he was in Grade 5 so he stayed with his grandma. His older brothers who have carpentry businesses in Samfya helped to fund his schooling. He did some work for his brothers in their workshops as well.

While in Samfya he was playing football which is his passion. He joined a team that played at Samfya Bible School and here he heard about GLO from Anthony a youth worker at SBS. He attends the Jehovahs Witness church in Samfya and says he is thankful that he has good friends who just want to play football, not drink and smoke.

He has learnt many things about God at GLO, mainly theology, stewardship and responsibility for his actions, that help him walk with God. He has learnt how to study the bible. When he leaves GLO GAP year he would like to go and study art.

Current Issues and Challenges

1) Staff support
2) Getting more staff to help out

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Praise for the changed lives that are still happening in the programs at GLO
2) Praise for the relationship GLO now has with the local churches through the Church Extension Program

Comments

GLO is to send me a financial report on last year plus the projections for this year with the aim to start looking at reducing the amount Bright Hope World sends each year. They will also send through potential ideas on the upgrade of the facilities.