Partnership Overview

In 2010 Sarah Nyirenda was challenged by the number of deaf children in the community where they live who were being dumped by their parents. They decided to adopt some of these children as their own because they had nowhere else to go. This extended family started off with just a few children but has grown to many more. They say that every child has a history, some of them have parents that have died, others have parents but they have been thrown away. They look after children who have many different challenges.

The vision of Ukusenaminwa Child Foundation is to see the children grow so that they can live independent lives. This involves sending all the children to school so they can get an education, as well as providing them with a safe place to live.

Its amazing to see some of the older children who have been with Sarah for a number of years have now managed to become self-sustaining in the community. Running businesses, school teaching

Sarahs property is 15 hectares of land in the rural outskirts of Kabwe where they have a house that looks after the children. They are very active in the community running farming trainings, community training programs to teach about the value of children, football teams, womens corner, and youth programs.

History of Partnership

BHW's Zambia Partnership Facilitators met Sarah in 2009 while they were living in Zambia and since returning to live in New Zealand in 2012 have continued to keep in contact. 

In early 2015 a decision was made to commence partnering with Sarah to assist them.

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries here are the vulnerable children being cared for by Sarah. 

What We Like About The Partnership

Sarah has such compassion for the vulnerable children and have given so much of her own life to helping these children. 

Key People

Leadership Profile

Sarah is a trained trauma and healing counsellor.

Other People Involved

The Ukusenaminwa Child Foundation Board currently consists of:
• Chico and Edna Nyirenda (Sarah brother and sister)

Vision And Annual Strategy

The vision of Ukusenaminwa Child Foundation is to see the children grow so that they can live independent lives.

The strategy has three components:
1) To send the children to school so they obtain as good an education as possible
2) Use Foundations for Farming training for all the surrounding community so they can become self-sustaining
3) Run community courses to help communities understand how to look after vulnerable children 

Annual Budget

The current budget here is US$12,640. Of this, $2,640 will be used to run community courses and the rest is for operational costs of the home and to get the secondary children to boarding schools that have the capacity to take deaf children.

Personal Testimony

Real "Life Change" Stories

Knight Saasa
Knight is 18 years old and is in Grade 9. He first came to the deaf house in 2009, he was the first child that Roy and Sarah took in. Before that he was living with his mother. His mother had written a letter to Grace Church saying her son was actually just a neighbour, and because they were moving they could not take Knight with them. But the truth was she was getting remarried and they just wanted to dump him.

Knight actually passed Grade 9 last year, but due to the fact there were no funds to send him off to the secondary school in Lusaka he has stayed in Kabwe and is doing Grade 9 again at Broadway school.

He likes staying at the house, and loves to play football as a goal keeper. Each week they play for fun at Lukanga School with some other deaf children. They occasionally manage to arrange to play against other deaf teams from other towns (in fact they beat a team from Lusaka once).

He helps around the house by doing dishes, especially after Sunday lunch, and also earns some money through piece work. When he finishes school he wants to go to Lusaka and be trained in carpentry.