Zambia

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• December 2, 2007
• August 28, 2008
• April 4, 2009
• November 30, 2009
• February 23, 2010

Beracah Orphan Care

Orphans & Vulnerable Children,
Training / Education

Partnership Overview

Children waiting for something to happen

This project is holistic in nature. The orphans and vulnerable children are supported to stay in their extended families. Over 200 orphans have been identified in the region directly surrounding the Beracah orphanage and development programme. The goal of this project is to care for as many children as possible. Orphans are assisted with purchasing uniforms so they can attend school. They are also provided with other items such as blankets, small scale food supplements, a little cooking oil, salt, sugar, soap, and Vaseline. The leaders are very concerned for the individual needs of the children. All of the orphans are known to the community because the leaders and volunteers visit them regularly.

History Of Partnership

In 2001 the BHW team were at a conference and met Gershom Kasongo. During the conference the team visited his place and saw the work he was doing. Not long after that Gershom sent in an application and BHW began to support the children that Gershom had identified. The number stayed around 100 until 2005, then the number jumped to the current 184. The number of children in the programme has increased and there are many others wanting to be enrolled. The number of orphans is still increasing.

At the same time a grinding mill was installed to encourage people to grow their own grain rather than depend on others. This has also contributed small amounts to the care of the orphans. This needs refurbishing and is to be shifted to a better location in 2008.

In 2007 the guardians of the programme were given pigs and goats from KERO farms and a small garden trainer was hired to encourage and train the guardians to grow their own vegetables to feed their children and supplement their income.

A Board of people was selected, one person from each church to provide accountability and representation. They meet regularly to oversee the work. From this Board each year a committee is chosen as an executive.

Beneficiaries

Orphans and vulnerable children in the churches that Gershom Kasongo oversees. There are 184 currently in the programme and many more waiting to join.

The community also benefits from the increased financial activity that surrounds this programme. The guardian families benefit with animals and training.

What We Like About The Partnership

We like this partnership as it has a good leadership structure and it is owned by the local churches. There is a clear process for engagement and for joining.

Relationship To Other Partnerships

Related to KERO Farms ZAM01c.

Key People

Leadership Profile

Gershom and Jenipher, leading the team

The leader of the project is Gershom Kasongo. He is married to Jenipher and they have eight children, some are adults. Gershom was trained at GLO Zambia in 1986 and since that time he has been church planting in the Kawambwa District. Over 20 churches have been planted. He is now overseeing some of these churches. He visits them all regularly and talks about the need for churches to care for the children that are in their churches and communities.

Gershom has been responsible for establishing Beracah Orphan Care as well and has developed teams of people to lead these ministries. He has pulled together a team of 20 church representatives and they meet to oversee the development of the work.

Vision And Annual Strategy

The vision is to care for the children in the churches by giving them access to education and by supplementing the income earning capacity of the guardian families.

Each year in August an annual plan is developed and budgeted for.

Typical Zambian family - grandparents  caring for 5 grandchildren

Annual Budget

This partnership is now funded directly by Bright Hope International in the USA.

Personal Testimony

Real "Life Change" Stories

Joseph lives with his grandmother or one of his two aunts because his parents died. When he was just a young child, he was dropped and his spine was damaged. He struggled to walk from that time on. Joseph has never attended school because he could not walk well and lived 7 km from the school.  

Once the leaders of Beracah learned about Joseph, they bought him a bike so that he could come to school. A second seat was added on to the back of the bike and now one of his friends takes him to school each day. 

The church leaders are taking Joseph to a medical specialist to see if there is anything that can be done for him. Now that Joseph is in school, he will be given the opportunities to have a better future and hopefully the specialist will help him to walk better.