Students enjoying a healthy lunch

Amazon Prime Days are nearly here!

Online shopping has become a necessary part of our lives, but by shopping through AmazonSmile, your deals send smiles to Zambia!

Make your purchases and make a difference during the Amazon Prime Day deals on June 21 and 22, or anytime you shop on Amazon! Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/27-1115162 or with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon Shopping app and AmazonSmile donates to HealthEd Connect.

It's said that there's no such thing as a free lunch, but we disagree...your shopping provides lunches for orphans and vulnerable children attending HealthEd Connect schools. Combating hunger improves health and concentration in classes, empowering our students to succeed!

Thank you for ensuring that we can provide nutrition and support to women and children throughout the world. Keep shopping and keep smiling!

Kasompe teachers and board members in front of the new ablution block under construction

At the Kasompe Community School of Peace, the new ablution block is nearly completed thanks to a generous Rotary grant. In addition, the sponsored iWASH (integrated Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) curriculum has begun! Students from grades 5-7 and teachers are being taught the basics of water contamination and how to prevent it, safe water collection and storage, and maintaining the new and improved sanitation facilities on campus!

Student curriculum also emphasized the importance of turning taps off to conserve water, cleaning and caring for the new block, and leading by example for younger grades. This addition to campus is a wonderful opportunity to foster responsibility and community, while providing safe and accessible sanitation facilities!

New water storage at Kasompe Community School of Peace.

May 15 was recognized by the UN as International Day of Families. On this day we recognize the impact of family on how we view the world and communicate with others. We also want to recognize that family can look very different to different people!

Our Zambian colleagues see blended families often, with grandmothers, aunties and non-related caregivers taking care of orphaned children after the heartbreaking loss of their parents. They are the reason we have community schools in three Copperbelt communities. Caregivers advocated for the children to be educated, seeing a brighter future if they could have a chance to learn. The schools now serve over 1,400 orphans and vulnerable children, and the PCSC (caregiver and teacher group) meetings are highly attended! Students’ families are still invested, involved, and inspired when it comes to education! Orphaned children attending our schools are also invited to join the Kafwa-led “Isubilo” (meaning hope) grief support group, where they can share their feelings with other children in a loving environment, play, and create a whole new type of family together. We are proud to have programs that celebrate and uplift families in Zambia! 

Let’s celebrate the diverse nature of families - related or created - and the love that is shared!

Volunteer cook serves lunch to young student at Kasompe Community School of Peace, 2010

"You cannot learn on an empty stomach." It's a simple fact, verified by numerous research studies. This is why it is a priority for HealthEd Connect to provide lunch to all students at all three of our community schools every school day. For some, this may be their only meal of the day.

Recently, Emmanuel Mumba, our head teacher colleague at Mapalo Young Peace Makers Community School, shared this note about the impact of the school lunches:

“First of all on behalf of the children we are so grateful for the meals being provided to learners during this difficult time of our times! You may wish to know that meals have impacted learners attendance and performance in general positively and consequently the good performance at grade seven level...The hunger situation in our country is pathetic and receiving food like this is a huge relief on the side of the family.”

Mapalo Kafwa, Joyce Ngosa and Joyce Songwe echoed the importance of lunches for their learners, saying:

“We had a very good exercise to weed our garden to prepare it for the healthy growth of vegetables which in turn has a positive impact on our learners…Thank you for being our effective partners in an effort to provide support to initiatives that allow learners who are most vulnerable to access a decent meal while at school.”

Thanks to your support, students are nourished in body and mind, eager to learn and play! On behalf of the more than 1,400 orphans and vulnerable students at our three schools in Zambia, we share a sincere and heartfelt "Twatotela sana!" (We thank you!)

In Zambia, a shocking 10% of it’s population are orphans. In the wake of this devastating reality, grandmothers, aunts, and neighbors have taken up the parental mantle, raising the children as best they can.

Our Kafwa health worker colleagues in Luapula province are there to support both the orphaned children and the caregivers. The Kafwa have facilitated support meetings for the caregivers and began Isubilo (meaning “hope”) programs for the children. The Isubilo group provides a welcoming environment to share feelings among peers, engage in fun activities,  and build lasting friendships.

Developments are underway to build a community center in this area, where there will be expanded opportunities for activities supporting orphans, caregivers, facilitating health education, and weighing/monitoring infants and children, led by the Kafwa and other community volunteers. There’s great potential for sports activities and group events that will promote teamwork and connection.

Community health workers are the nurturing foundation of everything we do. And with your support, combined with the health workers’ time, effort, and love, women and children are uplifted and empowered!

Luapula coordinator, Jane Chibwe, with Isubilo group

Video by: Zero Malaria Starts With Me*

April 25 was World Malaria Day, and we think it’s incredibly important to recognize the impact malaria still has on our world. While some countries in South America are being declared malaria-free, our colleagues in Africa can see the devastating effects of the disease too close to home. One of our health worker colleagues in Zambia lost a grandson to malaria last year. Children are among the highest-risk in regards to malaria. 

"...it is still a huge problem in Sub Saharan Africa where it kills around 400,000 people annually - the majority of them children under the age of five."  -Anne Gulland, Global Health Security Deputy Editor for The Telegraph**

Hope is strong and action is being taken to end malaria. The pan-African campaign “Zero Malaria Starts With Me” empowers communities to advocate for and take action in regards to preventing malaria. Local impact close to our friends in Zambia include the establishment of an “End Malaria Fund” and awareness marches in the capital city of Lusaka. With continued collaboration and consistent action, malaria could potentially end within this generation! 

*”Zero Malaria Starts With Me” Website: https://zeromalaria.africa

** Telegraph Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/el-salvador-becomes-first-central-american-country-declared/

The Kafwa volunteers in Zambia are amazing in every way! Whether it’s visiting clients at their homes to provide basic health care and support, facilitating the Isubilo (grief support) group for orphans at the school, leading Girls Achievement Program (GAP) activities, or serving lunch to students, the Kafwa are beacons of hope in their communities, and the backbone of our schools. 

Often on Fridays at Mapalo Young Peace Makers Community School, these amazing women go one step further in their labors of love: while one group goes out to visit clients in the community, another group stays to clean the school. They sweep, mop, and dust the school, ensuring it will be clean and ready for another week come Monday! 

We want to uplift the efforts of the Kafwa! Volunteers who choose to make their communities, cleaner, healthier, and safer. Join us in thanking our friends!

Mapalo Kafwa visit client homes using their new umbrellas

“April showers bring May flowers”...many little drops of rain come together to create something beautiful - something that we’ve seen practiced in HealthEd Connect! We want to celebrate all of the people who come together to make our uplifting work possible. Your donor investment in our programs provide access to education and health services for underserved communities. Our board members provide leadership and vision as we deepen our programs and consider new opportunities. Our health worker colleagues continue to identify community needs, comfort and heal clients, and empower women and children in a myriad of ways! 

In Zambia, the first few months of the year are the rainy season. Our health workers still go out and walk to their client’s homes during this time of the year! In order to make these trips easier, funds are provided in their team budgets to purchase umbrellas, providing shelter from the rain, but also from the sun in the dry season. Something as simple as an umbrella makes a big difference as the Kafwa walk to visit ill clients. 

To all of the people who help make HealthEd Connect great - we thank you! Everything you do, big or small, makes a big difference in the lives of women and children. With hearts full of gratitude, we send our thanks!