As the first line of advocacy and health education in their Zambian communities, the Kafwa understand the importance of nutrition on overall health. Since 48% of people in Zambia cannot meet their required calorie intake, malnutrition is something the Kafwa women see often.

To combat this, the women went around their community to distribute much-needed food! Joyce Ngosa and Joyce Songwe detailed this trip, saying:

“Last Friday as Kafwa women we were visiting our clients and distributed food stuffs to them...
We gave out mealie meal, fish and groundnuts. Our clients were very happy for the blessing of food.”

We are so grateful to our colleagues for addressing immediate needs and providing equitable access to advocacy and health education!

Emmanuel Mumba, head teacher at Mapalo Young Peace Makers Community School, knows how important it is to be a force for good in someone’s life. After becoming a double orphan, Mumba had siblings and cousins to care for. He turned to his pastor for guidance, who told him that the school was looking for teachers and he should apply.

We are grateful that this connection led Mumba into the calling of a teacher at one of our sister schools!

A leader in many facets, Mumba spends each day advocating for vulnerable youth and empowering them to be their best and work towards brighter futures! Read more about Mumba in his own words here.

To support the uplifting work of our teachers and school programs in Zambia, you can make a donation here. Thank you for empowering leaders like Mumba!

As the school year begins, we want to celebrate the ones who lead our sister schools in Zambia! Pictured are head teachers, school board members, and Kafwa leaders who help feed, nurture, and empower students each school day. 

Many of our teachers grew up near the communities they serve today and were orphans and vulnerable children themselves. Several have graciously written their stories, highlighting their journey to teaching, challenges they see the students facing, and what they love most about serving at the schools. As we share these over the next week, we hope you will read their stories and leave comments of encouragement.

To support their work and the education of vulnerable children at our schools, you can donate here.

Thank you for uplifting our teachers, community health workers, and students!

As we start to close on summertime and look to the upcoming back-to-school and fall seasons, we invite you to also look "Toward the Peaceful One" with Dr. Sherri Kirkpatrick!

This podcast episode was part of an ongoing series done by the Community of Christ Church and focuses on volunteer community health workers and lessons we can learn from their experiences. Sherri talks about HealthEd Connect's community health worker colleagues, their servant leadership, and the joys and challenges they face in their work. This is a special opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from one of our founders, and we hope you enjoy a deeper look into HealthEd Connect's history!

P.S. Unfortunately, since this episode was recorded, the COVID situation at our program sites has worsened and is directly impacting some of our health workers and putting a few programs on temporary hold.

Project Zion episode with Dr. Sherri Kirkpatrick:

http://www.projectzionpodcast.org/361-toward-the-peaceful-one-sherri-kirkpatrick/

Article written by Dr. Sherri Kirkpatrick:

https://www.cofchrist.org/mission-stories#/356/toward-the-peaceful-one-a-path-less-taken

Construction worker clearing trees.

Over the last two weeks, work at the Mulundu community center (in the Luapula province of Zambia) has taken off!

From digging trees out to make room for the foundation to clearing a path for trucks to bring in supplies, the construction workers on the job have made huge progress as this center starts to take shape in a big way! The coordinators of this project include the team lead for the Luapula Kafwa, Jane Chibwe, and volunteer, Leo Musans A’kapend. Both have put hours of preparation into seeing that Mulundu will have a beautiful new Kafwa community center.

With hard work on-site and your support, new progress is made each day. Thank you for making these life-changing projects possible!

Bricks, sand, and gravel have all arrived on site!

Baby Jane

Our Kafwa team lead for Luapula, Zambia, Jane Chibwe, recently shared some joyful news with us!

After caring for a local mother throughout her pregnancy, Jane and a fellow Kafwa helped deliver a sweet baby girl last week. While the parents were choosing a name for their daughter, they decided to honor the woman who had helped them so much during their experience. Now, there are not one but two Jane Chibwes in Luapula!

Our friend Jane is delighted to have a little girl named in her honor and is excited to look after this sweet baby as she does so many others in the community! Here is a quote from Jane sharing her joy:

“[I] am very happy that I have my namesake now in our kafwa HealthEd Connect program. I hope you will be happy too!”

Your support makes these special moments possible- may you share in this joy as well!

Faith Songwe, BSCN

We are so proud to announce that one of our PNA nursing scholarship recipients, Faith Songwe, has graduated and passed her licensure exams! She is officially Faith Songwe, BSCN.

When notifying us of her achievement, she had this to say:

“I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you and the team that I have completed my studies at the Lusaka apex Medical University and I have passed my exams am now a confirmed degree nurse. I don’t how I can say thank you to you, had it not being for you I would have not completed my study. I thank God for you people, thank you so much.”

Join us in celebrating Faith’s accomplishment! She is joining the ranks of compassionate, healing nurses around the world!

In Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo, coordinator Josephine and her team of Wasaidizi have been chipping away at local misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine. Concerns regarding efficacy and safety have spread quickly. Many families in the area believe that the vaccines being distributed in Africa are meant to kill them; a rumor that would make anyone think twice before voluntarily taking it.

Josephine and her team have visited 325 local families in the last month in order to combat these rumors. While assuring that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe, the Wasaidizi also encouraged the families to watch news stories about other African countries that are vaccinating.

Times like these are when it is most important to be grassroots-led. When local communities fear the worst, people they know and trust can work with them through misinformation and doubts. We are proud to partner with advocates like the Lumbumbashi Wasaidizi team!