Partnership Ref.:	ZAM31
Commenced:	8/08/2021
Funding Status:	Completed - No Funding Required
Partnership Type:	Community / Agriculture Development, Humanitarian, Orphans & Vulnerable Children
Funding Size:	$0 - $2,999
Annual Budget:	US$ 550

Partnership Overview

Antony Ranjan is a Sri Lankan New Zealander who lives in Livingstone, Zambia and is the senior partner of an accountancy firm. His family lives in New Zealand but he feels a strong sense of call to be in Zambia and while there has established numerous Christian ministries which are outlined below. This partnership initially seeks to train key people in Foundations for Farming, so they can train others and help develop the various pieces of land that are available. The primary focus is vulnerable young people, especially women and children. 

Once Antony sees a problem, and Zambia has plenty, he grapples with what can be done to address the issue. Most of what he has now seen established started with nothing and continues to be a walk of faith with no regular donors. The first project was an old people's home as due to HIV the elderly often have no family to care for them.  

Next a community school was started for children unable to attend school because of poverty, and many of their parents had died because of HIV. This school quickly grew to 700+ children initially meeting under the trees. Unemployed youths who were grade 12 graduates became the teachers on the condition they would be supported through teacher training.  Both these very successful programmes have been taken over by the Government.

Lubasi Home, now running for 20 years, was a derelict property and is now restored to house up to 60 at-risk orphans. Currently they have 45, with a policy to re-establish the children back into the community once suitable family or guardians are identified. The walled area is of significant size and grows most of their own vegetables and chickens. There is also plenty of space for children to play. Spiritual development is a high priority for both staff and children.

Lushomo Trust is for girls who have been sexually abused and who are not safe in their own homes. The youngest of these was only 3 years old when she came into this programme. They stay until their court cases are finalised which can take years. They are then transferred to the Lubasi Home while a suitable community placement is established. The staff of these two homes do a fantastic job led by Aunty Christina who has worked with Antony from the beginning. Staff are called aunties, uncles and mothers to help create a family environment. 

Grace Centre, Kazungula is 65 kms from Livingstone. This purpose-built centre runs skill programmes targeting girls at risk of sexual abuse or trapped in the sex trade. The Zambezi River is the boundary between Botswana and Zambia and trucks can be delayed up to two weeks waiting to cross. This has resulted in many girls being trafficked into prostitution with sometimes families even selling their own daughters. The Grace Centre's main skills programmes are computer, tailoring and catering, and the sponsoring of vulnerable children through their local school education. The Centre has become a community hub with surrounding village headmen all fully supporting this work. Since COVID-19 everything is much more difficult running these programmes.  

Village Ministry: Charity and handouts in Africa, while helping in the short term, have done substantial long-term harm in cultivating an attitude of dependency. Antony's strategy for change: have someone responsible to put up collateral as a guarantee that seed money invested will be paid back. This is a signed business agreement to make everyone treat the contracts very seriously, with set dates for repayment. 

The village is divided into three groups with money allocated to the first, once paid back it is then paid to the second group, followed by the third. In this way two thirds of the village are watching that no one wastes their money. Regular investment training is done to further upskill and guard against the seed money being spent on other costs like funerals. Also, each time the money is fully repaid the capital fund is increased before advancing to the next group which enables the villagers to be lifted out of their poverty if they will put in the effort. The goal is to establish this programme, including spiritual development, through 100 Southern Province villages, each with an average population of approx. 400 people.  

Kwenuha Women's Association: This is a programme for former sex workers in Livingstone that combines spiritual development with new income producing initiatives to create a viable alternative. Without this the financial burden holds the ladies trapped. Nine active clubs have been established in the surrounding areas, each with their own business projects. Currently there are approximately 100 members who are also mobilised to reach out to other sex workers. Kwenuha also has 25 hectares to be developed as a self-sustainable farming project.

Child Sponsorship: At-risk children who are dropping out of school, often because parents or guardians are unable to fund school fees and other requirements, are offered sponsorships. Ongoing monitoring and additional tutoring are given to these selected children but if the child does not apply themselves, they will be removed from the programme. The older students are expected to voluntary support younger children on this programme so that they learn to have an attitude of giving. Periodically there are gatherings of sponsored children and parents/guardians for feedback, spiritual input, relevant training, and encouragement.    

History of Partnership

BHW's New Partnership Facilitator has known of Antony for two years but has not been able to visit him in Zambia yet due to COVID related travel restrictions. He did meet him in Auckland early in 2021 as he was about to travel back to Zambia from visiting his family in New Zealand. Antony will be in New Zealand for some months from September 2021 and several meetings have been organised between him and BHW team members. 

The key person based in New Zealand is Mike Porteous who is part of the pastoral team at Grace City Church (GCC), Auckland. He regularly communicates with Antony, usually weekly, to encourage and strategise with him. Mike is well known personally and by reputation and has visited Antony in Livingstone on numerous occasions. He brought this opportunity to Bright Hope World and is very keen to act as a liaison person. 

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries are numerous:
1) Directly, those who are trained and who get out and about training others.
2) Those who are trained by the trainers. These will be young people in various locations but all of whom are not well educated or those whose education has been stymied by poverty.
3) The local villages where the training is conducted. There are many villages that are practising old methods of agriculture that are failing them. This area of Zambia is prone to drought and very dry.  

What We Like About The Partnership

Antony has something good going on in Zambia with a huge network of contacts in a very vulnerable part of Africa. He can deliver what he promises.
He has a very clear spiritual vision for these people. It is not just about farming, development or rescuing vulnerable young people.
Antony has a strong team of people that have already been mobilised. These are from his work, from local communities and leaders of villages.
He has put a lot of his own resources into this already and he is committed to making it work.
He has a very keen person in New Zealand encouraging him and keeping him on track. This is important as he has many things on the go, and it would be possible for him to lose focus without this person on his case. 

 

Key People

Leadership Profile

Antony Ranjan has lived in Zambia for 30 years and is the managing partner of PKF Zambia with a staff of 130 in three different city centres. He meets with his Livingstone staff each morning for prayer and bible reading, committing the business to God for His blessing. Other firms are now following his lead. Antony also involves his accounting staff in the community support projects he has initiated. 

Due to his own struggles as a child in Sri Lanka, made worse after his dad died when he was only 12, he feels very deeply when children suffer. His mother always stressed the importance of a good education, and this has had a profound influence on him. He has a deep devotion for Jesus and to see His kingdom established on earth. This all culminates in one highly motived and focused servant of God giving everything he has to making a difference. He is extremely strategic and able to mobilise others to join him take on challenges most would consider impossible, with the programmes he has instigated testimony to his effectiveness.

 

Vision And Annual Strategy

Vision 

The vision is to see vulnerable young people and the people of rural villages become economically self-sustaining and to change the mindsets of whole communities. 

Strategy

Antony has recently purchased a 50-hectare farm about 50 kms north of Livingstone on the Lusaka Road. His intention with this land is to:
1) Set up a Prayer Mountain Retreat Centre where Christians from the surrounding areas can gather to seek God in a peaceful setting.
2) Establish a village settlement. This would be for farm staff and older Lubasi children with no family to take them in.
3) His own personal retreat and accommodation. 
4)  A Training Centre and Farming Enterprise. The vision behind this is to equip the increasing number of villages he is working with to understand best practice farming methods especially applicable for Southern Province conditions. 

There are potentially many steps ahead that BHW could become involved in, but the best initial phase is to facilitate the training of some key leaders in Foundations for Farming. Antony has connected with a South African man working with Overland Mission who has purchased some land in Choma and established a centre where he does Foundations for Farming training. This has been operating for four years and he runs two types of course: a 2-week course and a 3-month course. 

The plan is for BHW to fund the training of a group of trainers who will work in Antony's various projects to train people in Foundations for Farming. Between 5 and 10 of Antony's people will be selected and their training for the 2-week course will be funded. After they have gone back and applied their training, 3-5 will be selected to attend the 3-month course. There may well be further training opportunities for more people as well as time goes on. This programme would see many people trained and become self-sustaining and then several people training others formally and informally. 

 

Annual Budget

Initially US$550 is required to send the first lot of 10 key people to attend the 2-week Foundations for Farming course in Choma. Subsequently US$2,750 will be needed for five people who have applied the initial training to attend the 3-month Foundations for Farming course. This will probably be about 12-months after the initial course.