2011 Update
Dear supporter of PRIMACH
I have just come back from a trip to Zambia to visit the PRIMACH programs running there. We had a very busy couple of weeks in Choma, where we were rushing around to catch up with everyone, gather reports and visit government offices to try to source funding.
Prisca and Cyrus Mfula, who run PRIMACH, have moved back to Zambia from South Africa after Mr. Mfula lost his job there. This has made life very difficult for the family, who has lost their only source of income. However, their commitment to their mission with PRIMACH has not changed, and they continue to work closely with the children who are being sponsored through school and the Support Groups for those living with HIV/AIDS in both Kabanana and Mwapona compounds. It has been a lot of fun to catch up with the family again, and to spend time in Choma, which is looking beautiful and green after the rain season. The grass is tall and the town is busy, as now is the time the villagers travel in to sell their maize and buy things like clothes, blankets and salt.
Even after long days of meeting government officials and walking through the town and compounds in the dust and sun, I always looked forward to meeting the Mwapona Support Group. Their enthusiasm and commitment to the cause of supporting one another and teaching the community about HIV/AIDS has lasted for more than 3 years since the group started, even when funds have been very little or even non-existent. The adult literacy class is doing brilliantly, students are motivated and serious about learning while the teachers are determined and driven to see them succeed; a significant challenge when they severely lack books and resources. What is really remarkable is that these teachers work completely voluntarily. We continue praying that we will soon have funds to be able to appreciate them even in a very small way, as in fact they are not so unlike the people they help; but also struggle to make ends meet in a country which offers little opportunity.
We held a meeting with the whole group to discuss the projects they had undertaken. We had already heard from the leaders of the group that the sugar cane they had planted at their land had been eaten by grazing cattle and their herdsmen, and that the bricks they had made to build a security house at the land had cracked, as the soil from which they were made was of too poor a quality. But we wanted to hear what the group as a whole agreed to be the way forward. The conclusion was that a security house where someone would live to guard the land was vital, but that the land was too water logged to build. A water pump would be needed to irrigate the land, and would also help the members as they water crops, which can prove difficult for people who are often very sick. However, we simply cannot afford to buy a water pump, which would cost around 400 pounds, at this point.
Instead the group suggested that they start a poultry project, and keep the chickens at someone’s house, as the other support group in Kabanana compound did. This would generate some much needed income for everyone in the group and is a good way of supplementing their diets. This is really important as the medication they take can be extremely strong, so it is imperative that they have enough food to eat when they take it. More often than not they don’t, which means they are left exhausted and ill. The group also stressed the need for individual loans to start small businesses. Some had ideas of selling charcoal, others of exchanging grain bags for maize in the village, and then coming to town to sell it, while still others talked of growing tomatoes to sell. We agreed to look at this program more closely once they had successfully worked together to run the poultry business. I have known this support group for some time and am even more convinced now than when I first met them of their determination to be pro-active in improving their own lives and the lives of their children, which is why I am convinced that we in the UK need to help them help change things for themselves, by donating funds for projects such as this one.
We also spent time catching up with the children on the sponsorship program, to find out how they were getting on at school and at home. There is a group of boys who were all 16 - 18 when I met them, and were very behind in terms of the grades they should be in, their schooling having been disrupted when other needs took priority over school fees, such as paying medical bills of a parent or even simply buying food for a growing family. One boy now on the program had been orphaned suddenly, and found himself struggling to eat, let alone pay his school fees. Now, thanks to hard work of people here in Zambia the generous support of those in the UK, these boys are back in school and on their way to completing. Meeting them again now when they are grown makes me wonder how difficult it must be to be 20 and in a class of mostly 16 year olds. Like Winter, one of the boys I used to teach, who just passed his Grade 8 exams and is now in Grade 9. People here are impressed that he has continued with school because of all the problems at home. His family is big, and poor. The father drinks beer and doesn’t bring in any money. The mother is often very sick, although when she can she does try to find food. When we visited her at their home she was just coming back from the bush where she had gone to collect a certain type of vegetable root which she hoped to sell in order to buy a small bag of mealie-meal, barely enough for everyone she has to feed. She told us that they had recently been robbed at home. Thieves had kicked down the door and taken everything, including their blankets and clothes. Primach found Winter on the streets, when he had run away from the poverty at home, and maybe people expected to see him run away from it again. Instead, I have seen him grow even more determined to finish school, and like his cousin Michael who has come to live at their home and is also helped by Primach but doesn’t have a permanent sponsor, his reason is simple: I want to be better and educated, so that my parents can be better.
These ones have grown now and tend to be more serious than the younger ones. There are some on the program who don’t enjoy school, or appreciate it, which often seem to be pre-requisites when it comes to being sponsored by organizations or individuals anywhere. The need is so great that it’s tempting to say that if a kid stops going to school we should give the opportunity to someone else who really wants it. But how many 14 year olds don’t have to be persuaded to go to school in the UK? Apart from the fact that here the explanation is often that hunger is so great that children are sent to find small piece works to buy food, education is a child’s right. Not only that, but children also have the right to be forced to go to school. As you read this, please consider sponsoring a child, not because that child is a little angel and wants to become a doctor, but simply because he or she is a human, and needs to be educated for his or her own good and for the good of his or her community. That is how we will see development in Africa.
I had a chance to meet some of the little children who have recently been put on the sponsorship program.
We sat under a tree in the compound while women washed clothes in the sun. The kids drew pictures and told me their grade and schools. They were mostly shy and embarrassed to speak English, except Akan: short for his age and bold, he bossed his friends around and beamed at me when I asked questions, even when he had little idea of what I was saying. The kids wore dirty clothes and all had bare feet. But they do have freedom; they can run around all over the compound with their friends amongst mothers who to an extent all consider themselves mothers to all the children. Most of them concentrated well on the task, except one girl called Anisha, who kept stopping to stare into space and bite her nails anxiously. She looked desperately worried, and I was told that her mother is very sick. Later we went to visit their homes and found that Maibin, a boy of 12 years old (but in Grade 3), was living in a house made of a wooden sticks with black plastic wrapped around. It’s hard to imagine how someone could cope living there, let alone a family of 5, especially now when the cold season is coming and the ground is still a little damp from rain season.
There are a lot of initiatives going on in Choma to try to empower the poor communities, but having come back to Zambia a couple of times now, I have learned that the most effective way of helping Zambians, is to go through Zambian organizations. Primach is run by people who understand how the community works and have very real relationships with everyone they help, and that is why I continue to support them whole-heartedly.
I would like to thank you for reading this report, and encourage you to consider how you can help this worthwhile cause. You may want to sponsor a child, which costs 5 pounds a month for a child in primary school and 20 pounds for a child in secondary. Perhaps you could donate money to the organization or even to a specific project we run, or perhaps you could organize a fund raising event. More details about PRIMACH can be found at www.primach.org
Thank you again
Yours,
Rose Bewick
I have just come back from a trip to Zambia to visit the PRIMACH programs running there. We had a very busy couple of weeks in Choma, where we were rushing around to catch up with everyone, gather reports and visit government offices to try to source funding.
Prisca and Cyrus Mfula, who run PRIMACH, have moved back to Zambia from South Africa after Mr. Mfula lost his job there. This has made life very difficult for the family, who has lost their only source of income. However, their commitment to their mission with PRIMACH has not changed, and they continue to work closely with the children who are being sponsored through school and the Support Groups for those living with HIV/AIDS in both Kabanana and Mwapona compounds. It has been a lot of fun to catch up with the family again, and to spend time in Choma, which is looking beautiful and green after the rain season. The grass is tall and the town is busy, as now is the time the villagers travel in to sell their maize and buy things like clothes, blankets and salt.
Even after long days of meeting government officials and walking through the town and compounds in the dust and sun, I always looked forward to meeting the Mwapona Support Group. Their enthusiasm and commitment to the cause of supporting one another and teaching the community about HIV/AIDS has lasted for more than 3 years since the group started, even when funds have been very little or even non-existent. The adult literacy class is doing brilliantly, students are motivated and serious about learning while the teachers are determined and driven to see them succeed; a significant challenge when they severely lack books and resources. What is really remarkable is that these teachers work completely voluntarily. We continue praying that we will soon have funds to be able to appreciate them even in a very small way, as in fact they are not so unlike the people they help; but also struggle to make ends meet in a country which offers little opportunity.
We held a meeting with the whole group to discuss the projects they had undertaken. We had already heard from the leaders of the group that the sugar cane they had planted at their land had been eaten by grazing cattle and their herdsmen, and that the bricks they had made to build a security house at the land had cracked, as the soil from which they were made was of too poor a quality. But we wanted to hear what the group as a whole agreed to be the way forward. The conclusion was that a security house where someone would live to guard the land was vital, but that the land was too water logged to build. A water pump would be needed to irrigate the land, and would also help the members as they water crops, which can prove difficult for people who are often very sick. However, we simply cannot afford to buy a water pump, which would cost around 400 pounds, at this point.
Instead the group suggested that they start a poultry project, and keep the chickens at someone’s house, as the other support group in Kabanana compound did. This would generate some much needed income for everyone in the group and is a good way of supplementing their diets. This is really important as the medication they take can be extremely strong, so it is imperative that they have enough food to eat when they take it. More often than not they don’t, which means they are left exhausted and ill. The group also stressed the need for individual loans to start small businesses. Some had ideas of selling charcoal, others of exchanging grain bags for maize in the village, and then coming to town to sell it, while still others talked of growing tomatoes to sell. We agreed to look at this program more closely once they had successfully worked together to run the poultry business. I have known this support group for some time and am even more convinced now than when I first met them of their determination to be pro-active in improving their own lives and the lives of their children, which is why I am convinced that we in the UK need to help them help change things for themselves, by donating funds for projects such as this one.
We also spent time catching up with the children on the sponsorship program, to find out how they were getting on at school and at home. There is a group of boys who were all 16 - 18 when I met them, and were very behind in terms of the grades they should be in, their schooling having been disrupted when other needs took priority over school fees, such as paying medical bills of a parent or even simply buying food for a growing family. One boy now on the program had been orphaned suddenly, and found himself struggling to eat, let alone pay his school fees. Now, thanks to hard work of people here in Zambia the generous support of those in the UK, these boys are back in school and on their way to completing. Meeting them again now when they are grown makes me wonder how difficult it must be to be 20 and in a class of mostly 16 year olds. Like Winter, one of the boys I used to teach, who just passed his Grade 8 exams and is now in Grade 9. People here are impressed that he has continued with school because of all the problems at home. His family is big, and poor. The father drinks beer and doesn’t bring in any money. The mother is often very sick, although when she can she does try to find food. When we visited her at their home she was just coming back from the bush where she had gone to collect a certain type of vegetable root which she hoped to sell in order to buy a small bag of mealie-meal, barely enough for everyone she has to feed. She told us that they had recently been robbed at home. Thieves had kicked down the door and taken everything, including their blankets and clothes. Primach found Winter on the streets, when he had run away from the poverty at home, and maybe people expected to see him run away from it again. Instead, I have seen him grow even more determined to finish school, and like his cousin Michael who has come to live at their home and is also helped by Primach but doesn’t have a permanent sponsor, his reason is simple: I want to be better and educated, so that my parents can be better.
These ones have grown now and tend to be more serious than the younger ones. There are some on the program who don’t enjoy school, or appreciate it, which often seem to be pre-requisites when it comes to being sponsored by organizations or individuals anywhere. The need is so great that it’s tempting to say that if a kid stops going to school we should give the opportunity to someone else who really wants it. But how many 14 year olds don’t have to be persuaded to go to school in the UK? Apart from the fact that here the explanation is often that hunger is so great that children are sent to find small piece works to buy food, education is a child’s right. Not only that, but children also have the right to be forced to go to school. As you read this, please consider sponsoring a child, not because that child is a little angel and wants to become a doctor, but simply because he or she is a human, and needs to be educated for his or her own good and for the good of his or her community. That is how we will see development in Africa.
I had a chance to meet some of the little children who have recently been put on the sponsorship program.
- Chipo Machoma – Grade 3 – 8 years old – lives with his mother who ran away from his father as she couldn’t get along with his other 2 wives
- Akan Hanoombe – Grade 3 – 11 years old – lives in a family of 7 and both the parents are sick
- Gloria Hachipola – Grade 2 – 9 years old – she is an orphan and lives with her aunte and 4 other children
- Dorkas Siloka – Grade 2 – 9 years old – the sister to Gloria (above)
- Ellie Lubasi – Grade 3 – 9 years old – lives in a family of 10 with her mother and stepfather
- Sandra Mudenda – Grade 5 – 12 years old – lives in a family of 6
- Anisha Kalimina – Grade 5 – 12 years old – lives with her mother and 4 other children
- Mafuken Hakumbila – Grade 5 – 13 years old – he is orphaned and lives with his stepmother and 4 other children
- Maibin Haamaundu – Grade 3 – 12 years old – lives in a family of 5
We sat under a tree in the compound while women washed clothes in the sun. The kids drew pictures and told me their grade and schools. They were mostly shy and embarrassed to speak English, except Akan: short for his age and bold, he bossed his friends around and beamed at me when I asked questions, even when he had little idea of what I was saying. The kids wore dirty clothes and all had bare feet. But they do have freedom; they can run around all over the compound with their friends amongst mothers who to an extent all consider themselves mothers to all the children. Most of them concentrated well on the task, except one girl called Anisha, who kept stopping to stare into space and bite her nails anxiously. She looked desperately worried, and I was told that her mother is very sick. Later we went to visit their homes and found that Maibin, a boy of 12 years old (but in Grade 3), was living in a house made of a wooden sticks with black plastic wrapped around. It’s hard to imagine how someone could cope living there, let alone a family of 5, especially now when the cold season is coming and the ground is still a little damp from rain season.
There are a lot of initiatives going on in Choma to try to empower the poor communities, but having come back to Zambia a couple of times now, I have learned that the most effective way of helping Zambians, is to go through Zambian organizations. Primach is run by people who understand how the community works and have very real relationships with everyone they help, and that is why I continue to support them whole-heartedly.
I would like to thank you for reading this report, and encourage you to consider how you can help this worthwhile cause. You may want to sponsor a child, which costs 5 pounds a month for a child in primary school and 20 pounds for a child in secondary. Perhaps you could donate money to the organization or even to a specific project we run, or perhaps you could organize a fund raising event. More details about PRIMACH can be found at www.primach.org
Thank you again
Yours,
Rose Bewick
