Zambia. A country the size of Texas with 12 million people, 5 million of which are under the age of 14 years of age, and of those, 800,000 are orphans. Of those, according to government sources, only 60,000 receive any help to survive the sufferings they must endure.
Malaria, malnutrition and poverty, compounded by an HIV rate of 16%, has dropped the life expectancy to 32 years of age. It is not unusual for a head of family to be a child under the age of 16, often responsible for finding food and living needs for 5 or 6 siblings. Grandparents, often in remote villages, become care givers for their grandchildren as their children die and the grandchildren are sent back to the village.
Today, quietly the people of Zambia endure this overwhelming burden that destroys the health of a nation, and their productivity. In light of this, Zambian churches have taken on a role of caring for orphans.
Mbala Christian Leadership Training Centre has taken up the challenge and developed a Life Skills training program for at risk orphans that are heads of homes. Part of this has been developing a place of refuge and rest, called Tupoze. Through an arrangement with Kansato Estate, a grower of coffee, a house was rented through which ministries to those at risk can be implemented.
25 children are presently in the program, all of whom are full orphans. Often resources are not sufficient to meet all the needs, but, our national partners have been faithul in getting them into school, providing clothing and school uniforms, and giving them a place of refuge. It is not a full orphan care center. The children remain in their villages with relatives, but, part of the burden is taken from the overwhelmed families that live at poverty levels.
