Report from BHW Zambia Partnership Facilitators Following Visit

Key people: Martin Kawina and Stanford Mufwata

We met with Martin and Stanford in Chingola. They had bused down from Chisasa to stay with us for a night.

Martin has moved through three schools since we last saw him in 2018 prior to Covid. His current school is in Mumena, but his wife and children are still living in Chisasa as the new school has no housing for them. Martin has been having some issues with his health, including losing his voice for some time, but he has healed from this now.

Stanford has joined the overall governance of the group, as Martin is around less. He has been a coordinator for some time, helping to mentor the orphans and pay for school fees.

Recent Events

Orphans Programme

Currently there are 52 orphans receiving support on the programme. School fees are now all funded by the government, so the funds are used to help students buy uniforms and books. All the orphans are in Grade 8 to Grade 12, with seven of them in Grade 12 due to graduate at the end of the year. The partnership is wanting to add more students as these ones graduate.

All the students are in weekly boarding schools, meaning they leave home on Sunday for school and remain until Friday afternoon.

The orphans are selected for the programme by the coordinators from the partnership, who have the responsibility of mentoring them and having a relationship with each school to identify those who are in need.

Whenever the funds are sent, the leader of the CCC Gabriel (as pictured) comes to ensure accountability, overseeing that the coordinators are distributing the correct funds to each orphan for buying the school requirements.

Some of the orphans who have completed school have gone on to various employment. 

Sustainability Farm

The Christian Community Church (CCC) decided last year that they needed to start a project to help with the sustainability of helping the orphan children in their area. They have secured a 7ha farm, and the members of 21 of their churches have cleared and stumped the land. 

Last season they planted 1 ha of soyabeans, which yielded 10 x 50kg bags. This was sold at the local market and the funds were then held to plant 1 ha of maize this season. 

All the work on the farm continues to be completed by the local church members who are showing a heart for their communities.

When the maize is sold, they intend to reinvest into a chicken run. 

Mumena Area

Where Martin is now teaching is about 50km away from Chisasa, in the Mumena area. The teachers at the school are wanting to start a programme in this new area. We received a list of vulnerable children from both the secondary school (34 children) and primary school (65 children). We encouraged Martin to ask them how the community could make a start themselves to help these orphans.

Personal Stories

Stanford Mufwata 

Standford (pictured on the right with Martin Kawina) has completed a three-year theology course in Kabwe, from 2012 to 2015. He got involved in the partnership in 2022.

He has eight children and six grandchildren, that have all been brought up in Chisasa.

For his work as a coordinator in the partnership, he visits the children at the school to see how they are doing. His mentoring role includes teaching the word of God and encouraging the students to work hard and to avoid distractions and peer pressure. 

Comments

It was great to see the partnership involving the community of churches to think about sustainability and going ahead with the farming project. We discussed if anything could be done to help with this and they are going to present some budget proposals in the near future.