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Zambia

Population: 13.3 million

Life Expectancy: 44.5 years

GDP: US$1248 per capita

Unemployed: 16.0%

81.5% earn less than US$2 per day

Zambia, Africa

ZAM17 - Patience Child Care

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Partnership Overview

On the border of Zambia and the DRC, near to the city of Ndola, lives a solo mother who has been trained in orphan care and how to set up care programmes. Doris Nkausu has identified 24 vulnerable orphans who live in this border area and who come to her church. The plan is to send the children to school, give them a meal once a week and run a programme with them, and ensure they are being well cared for. Her extended family will help her with this work.

History Of Partnership

Doris Nkausu attended Teen Mission Training in 2004. On graduation she wanted to go to a rural area to care for children but could not raise the required funds to do so. She therefore returned to her father's house in Kaniki, Ndola. She became aware that in the community around her home there were many vulnerable children and she had compassion for them. Doris began helping a family that were destitute. 

After talking to the Bright Hope World Africa Director she realised she should look a little closer to home in terms of identifying vulnerable children to care for. She now has 24 children she is already having some input into, these children come to the local church she attends. She has started by assisting these children herself, she gets them together on Saturdays and helps them grow a little garden. The plan is for them to gather each week for a programme at her home and assist them to go to school.

In 2010 Doris and her father Lemon attended a Foundations for Farming training course at Maplehurst farm. Since then they have been learning and using the techniques in both their own and the orphan's field. In 2012 they ran a training course for 16 guardians of the orphans and provided them with small plots on Lemon's farm for them to start using the techniques. It is hoped that the guardian families will be empowered to increase their household income to enable them to fund the orphans into school.

Beneficiaries

24 vulnerable children

What We Like About The Partnership

Doris is very keen to assist these children, in fact she was already doing this before we got involved. We imagine this project will grow in the future.

 

Key People

Leadership Profile

Doris Nkausu attends the  Baptist church at Kaniki and is a Sunday school teacher and choir member. She lives with her father (Lemon), mother, sisters, and nieces. She has a 18 year old son named Chisenga whose father died when he was just five months old.

Chisenga’s father died before he and Doris were able to get married. Doris passed through a very hard time having a small baby to look after and no income. It became increasingly difficult for Doris when Chisenga started to go to school. She said that she cried a lot because she couldn’t manage financially. At that stage in her life she didn’t know God very well.

Doris attended teen missions for three years. This gave her sound Bible training and a lot of practical experience working with children and farming.

"I like God a lot, I love to sing. I am a business lady and have had small businesses in the past. In my life I would just like to be a mother to children who have no mother. I want to have a house and keep them. This passion started with my son. I saw how he felt not having a father. Then at teen mission I saw how children were even worse off with no parents. They were so poor and I felt compassion, I wanted to help them. God put this burden on my heart. When I think of my son with no father I feel bad. It is hard to lose parents."

Other People Involved 

Grace Nkausu
Grace attends the First Baptist Church and is the treasurer for the ladies Bible study. She trained as a tailor but is currently unemployed. She lives with her mother, father, sisters, nieces, nephews and two children.

Grace likes to play netball and likes to sing. She is proud of her two children Yambala who is fourteen and in grade eight and Chalwe who is six and in grade two.  Grace didn’t know that she would have the opportunity to go to school. A friend of hers just sponsored her and blessed her in this way. 

She wants to help orphans because she likes them and feels compassion for them. She likes to talk to them and befriend them. Her father taught her how to read and understand the Bible and Grace would like to pass this on to those children who will never be taught. She feels like she has had a privileged life and would like to help those who aren’t so blessed.

 

Vision And Annual Strategy

The vision is to care for the vulnerable children in the Kaniki community that are connected to the Baptist Church there.

The strategy is to assist the children to attend school and to get them together regularly to teach them and train them in basic farming so they can look after themselves.

 

Personal Testimony

Real "Life Change" Stories

Progress Musonda 
Progress is 13 years and in grade 7. He lives with his mother, three brothers and grandma. His father died in 2006. Progress is a twin. 

School is free for grades 1-7. They teach in English. Progress can read some words in English. He would like support to finish school and college. His brother has finished grade 12 and is not doing anything, he is just at home. Progress can speak good English and I didn’t need a translator at all. 

Progress likes playing football with his friends. They make a ball from plastic bags and string. He would like to be like Ronaldo when he grows up, or a lawyer.

They eat nshima once a day. They have chibwabwa as their relish. They have a small field for growing some maize. To pay for food his mother borrows money from friends and pays them back when she sells some maize. The boys do small jobs when they can and give the money to their mother. His mother gets water which is an hour away.

They go to church and also to a Bible study on Thursday mornings which he finds interesting.

Their home is made from bricks, it has glass windows and an iron roof which leaks. There are two beds which his mother and grandmother sleep on. The children sleep on the floor on woven mats. They have blankets but not enough.

Progress has a uniform and the clothes that he was wearing, his other clothes are too small. He has one pair of shoes which he wears to school.  Progress said that things are hard but not as bad as 2005, his Father was sick and they weren’t getting any income.

Prosper Musonda 
Prosper is thirteen years old and in grade 7. He and his twin brother go to Kaniki Basic School where his favourite subject is English. When he grows up he wants to be the president of Zambia. He says that he has good teachers who come to school everyday and treat their classes well. In Prosper's class the teacher has a text book but there are none for the children. Prosper needs ten exercise books every year but can only manage to buy five. He says that there are 80-90 children in his class. The teachers struggle to keep control because many of the kids fight and make noise.

Prosper doesn’t have many friends at school. He says that the kids fight and cheat too much and so he doesn’t like to hang around with them.

Prosper lives with his mother and four brothers. His father died in 2006. There are five people in his house. Two of his brothers are doing grade 12. In Kaniki the children receive free education up until grade 7. Prosper's brothers where doing grade 12 last year but have not received their exam results because they weren’t able to pay the school fees. Even if he passes his brother won’t be able to go to college because there is no money.

Prosper helps his mother by weeding the garden, digging and planting maize. Prosper loves to play football. He plays position two or five in defence.

The family has a field to grow food. They cannot afford to buy fertiliser. They do grow maize, rape, sweet potatoes and ground nuts. Most of the food is just grown for the family to eat. The family manages to eat two meals a day. They eat sweet potatoes if they do not have any relish. If they don’t have sweet potatoes then they just don’t eat at all.

Prosper says that his main problems are he doesn’t have shoes, books, socks, uniform or spare clothes. This is because his mother can’t manage and they don’t have enough land or fertiliser.

Prosper says that Doris comes to visit him at his house and share the word of God. She also encourages children who drink and has seen some stop and go back to school. She goes to his church and he enjoys coming to visit at her house as well.

Prosper wants to be sponsored until he finishes college. He wants to study accounting, engineering or he would like to be a professional football player like Ronaldo.