Mapalo 2022 GAP and General Scholars with teachers

In Zambia, students are just beginning their school year, and for our students who are moving into new stages of their education journey, this is especially exciting!

Our friends at Mapalo Young Peace Makers School hosted the 2022 GAP and General Scholars to gather their high school supplies and prepare them for the upcoming year. Thanks to heartfelt generosity, these high school scholarships provide their school fees, uniforms, shoes, books and supplies, backpacks, and wrap-around academic support through our Keeping In Touch program.

Head teacher Emmanuel Mumba shared:

“This was an exciting moment for the learners as they received their requisites with gratitude and the student representative thanked the HealthEd Connect partners for the support…Thank you once again friends for the unwavering support in an effort to uplift life.”

Seeing our students empowered and excited to grow their knowledge makes our hearts sing!

Though we’re several weeks into the new year, we’ve been receiving the year-end reports from our colleagues in the field and wanted to extend our gratitude! Seeing the sheer number of lives touched because of the generosity of supporters and volunteers alike makes our hearts sing! We invite you to share in this joy as we celebrate just some of the many ways women and children were uplifted in 2021!

61,862 Babies weighed and monitored to ensure they are growing and developing

58,623 Mothers taught about nutrition, sanitation, and the importance of immunization

40,465 Immunizations given to protect infants and children as they grow

208,736 Nutritious lunches served to orphans and vulnerable children at our 3 sister schools

4,500 Books checked out of school libraries

1,446 Orphans and vulnerable children educated with love at our 3 sister schools

Amazing things are achieved because of the wonderful effort and heart of supporters, teachers, and community health workers alike! THANK YOU to all who make HealthEd Connect’s mission possible!

Ruth Banza with the children from the first orphan support group

We want to share a bit more about the orphan support group in D.R. Congo! To read the first part of our story, click here.

As we rang in 2022, we heard from the D.R. Congo team lead, Josephine, about their own New Year’s celebration with the orphan support group in Lubumbashi. Dressed in lovely matching outfits, the children had a wonderful time at the party put on by the Wasaidizi.

When we asked about the beautiful outfits and who had made them, Josephine explained that they were hand-made by the first orphan support group!

“Yes the Wasaidizi paid for the fabric but it is the former orphans who sewed for them…They are the orphans of the first group of 2018. Ruth Banza supervised them and also taught them tailoring.”

The orphan support groups are special because they create a space for new connections and familial bonds to be built between the children. How special it is to see the older group come together to make something beautiful for the younger ones to enjoy!

2021 Lubumbashi orphan support group, dressed in the clothes made by the older 2018 orphan support group. Wasaidizi volunteer and group leader, Jenny, standing in back.

Lubumbashi orphan support group, gathered for a New Year’s celebration!

In the D.R. Congo, our team leader, Josephine Kipampe, hosts an orphan support group with the Wasaidizi health workers in the city of Lubumbashi. A group that fosters joy, community, and healing, the support group met for a New Year’s celebration! Josephine shared the above photo and sweet message:

“This is the group of orphans in Lubumbashi… we invited them to come and celebrate with us today. the children were very excited and they said thank you to the Health Ed Connect team for the wonderful work they are doing and also to the Wasaidizi team. We are also saying thank you to the Health Ed Connect team for their support during the year. May God bless you all and we are wishing you all the best and a happy new year 2022.”

We are wishing a wonderful new year to each and every person we partner with and serve!

Luapula team lead, Jane Chibwe

We are thrilled to share that as we move into 2022, the Mulundu community center in the Luapula province of Zambia is nearing completion! The roof has been framed and covered in tin sheets, and the community is helping to finish the final phases of the project!

Luapula Kafwa team lead, Jane, shared her joy with us, saying:

“Hello friends!!!!! Wow Mulundu center has just come out like flying colours. I am so happy, how I wish you were in Zambia today.”

Project coordinator, Musans, shared this sentiment regarding the help from the community:

“People of Mulundu are also fantastic to contribute voluntarily like you see in the photos. I'm so happy.”

Soon, the Mulundu center will be filled with people of all ages, coming together for empowering programs led by community health workers. We share a big “thank you!” to all who have generously shared time and resources to help this project come together in a spectacular fashion! We’re excited for the new year!

The roof is nearly complete!

Little helper, Gift Chabala, helps to move stones for the floor of the center.

Happy students at Zamtan Community School of Peace

Each December, our sister schools in Zambia are alight with excitement for the year-end party! Kafwa volunteers lovingly prepare a special meal and treats as a celebration for the completion of the school year!

When the students arrive, many times the Kafwa have already been up for hours cooking. By lunch time, wonderful aromas of frying chicken or sausage can be smelled all around campus, and tummies are rumbling! As you can see, the joy on the students’ faces makes the day well worth the effort!

Friends, you make smiles like these possible! Even more importantly, you help provide long-lasting blessings of health and education for those who would otherwise lack access. Thank you for blessing others so generously!

Svoyamsevaka explaining how a mask should be worn to be most effective

COVID-19 waves have hit one after another and our friends in Nepal are making sure that community members are prepared and protected! Nepal team leader, Pinkey, and local community health workers are distributing reusable masks for people in the villages where they volunteer. Well-known and well-trusted, the Svoyamsevaka (Nepali community health worker volunteers) make sure that each person who receives a mask also has clear knowledge of how to use it effectively. They also use the opportunity to teach other healthy practices for virus prevention, including hand washing. Below is the message Pinkey shared:

Thank you HealthEd Connect for your kindness, giving re usable mask to community people. It’s small help but very important thing in current situation. Trying to cover more areas and villages where our volunteers are working. More work to do!  -Pinkey Malla Adikhari, Nepal team lead

COVID-19 is not in the past yet, and we are grateful to our supporters, local leaders, and community health workers for their vigilance in keeping communities healthy!

Pinkey speaking with community members while distributing reusable masks

Mavis Mubanga, teacher at Mapalo, shared “I couldn’t hold my joy!”

As our schools in Zambia begin to prepare for the new academic year in January, we were excited to announce pay increases for teachers at all 3 sister schools! These were happy surprises, and our friends put together small celebrations for the occasion. Afterwards, we received these uplifting messages:

“I am so pleased to write you this mail on behalf of all the teachers and School board. There was excitement during our party as letters were presented to teachers and read them.
Teachers appreciated the increment which has come at a time when life is seemingly becoming so difficult due to covid-19 pandemic. The gesture is a motivation which is an indication to us that our partners care so much about our economic well being as the case may be we entirely rely on this appreciation for our survival. This is very sustaining and you have done it in the most transparent manner! Thank you!

In undertaking the party, all the 8 teachers were around and one representative from the school board ( vice treasurer) Joyce Ngosa who encouraged the teachers to put in their level best in the education of the orphan and vulnerable child under our guard. Teaching transforms life completely and so what we do is important and the more reason why all these efforts from friends to help us transform the lives and future leadership of Zambia and the world as a whole.” - Emmanuel Mumba (Mapalo head teacher) and Joyce Ngosa (Kafwa leader and Mapalo School Board Vice Treasurer)

“We are all excited about this wonderful development and it is a huge motivation for the teachers. Thank you very much and please pass this message to entire Health Ed Connect team.” -Jackson Manjai (Zamtan School Board Treasurer)

We are so grateful to YOU, our supporters, for making this possible!

Happy teachers at Zamtan Community School of Peace