How will you “Break the Bias” this International Women’s Day? We choose to celebrate the achievement of the women we work with and bring awareness to the inequalities the next generation of women face. 

In all 4 countries where we serve, community health workers educate girls about their menstrual cycle and hygiene in an environment where they feel comfortable and unashamed. Women are taught family planning so they can have more control over the number of children they have. Children are weighed and monitored throughout their first five years of life, making sure they are developing on track and have the chance to thrive. These are things that often can be taken for granted, but can make a world of difference.

In Zambia, our Girls Achievement Program (GAP) for grades 5-7 directly addresses the education bias by teaching about female development and hygiene, emphasizing how important it is for girls to stay in school and avoid early marriage, and promoting leadership development. After completing 7th grade, HealthEd Connect provides GAP scholarships for girls to continue their education through 12th grade, while offering academic and emotional support from a life coach. The Keeping In Touch (KIT) Club connects the two programs, giving younger girls the opportunity to connect with and be uplifted by the older girls who have continued on to pursue their high school certification. This cycle of role models helps to encourage GAP students that their education is important and worth the effort. 

We are grateful for all of the strong women who make HealthEd Connect an organization that actively works to “break the bias” and empower women!

For more resources on International Women’s Day, click here.

Students at Mapalo YPM after their meeting with YCMO. Image shared with permission from Youth Changing the Mindset Organisation.

Young Peace Makers Community School was recently featured on the national news in Zambia! This was through collaboration with a community-based organization, Youth Changing the Mindset Organisation (YCMO). YCMO raises awareness among youth about avoiding early marriages, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and substance abuse while encouraging youth to focus on education. Through ties with local government offices and community schools, YCMO meets with teenage students to discuss the hard topics faced by children in the community and the importance of reporting abuse.

At all three sister schools, the Girls Achievement Program (GAP) and Keeping in Touch (KIT) Club engages in these important lessons and conversations primarily with female students. As head teacher Emmanuel Mumba shared, YCMO provided a helpful backup to what they are already doing at the school and sees potential for further partnership.

The importance of sharing this information and encouragement should not be understated. As explained by Mumba, children who are educated will make good decisions that will go on to benefit their communities. By empowering these boys and girls, their futures and that of their community will be brighter!

To see a video highlighting the work of YCMO and a short interview with Mumba, click here!

Our friends in the D.R. Congo are preparing for a community center in Kikungu! A project of this magnitude takes a great deal of planning, and team leader, Josephine, has the process well underway. From surveying community needs, to gaining community support, donation of land from village chiefs, drawing plans, finding contractors, and preparing for programs, it takes time and patience for each center to take shape.

To see what the planning and building process looks like, Josephine took a trip across the Luapula River into Zambia to visit the new community center in Mulundu! After this visit, additional ideas are flowing and plans continue to be developed. The primary objective of the Kikungu center will be to support orphans and vulnerable children through skills training and counseling, led by the Wasaidizi volunteers.

We are excited to see how the Kikungu center grows, and grateful for all of the support and hard work that will make it happen!

Everlyn Kase (left) and Carol Chisenga (right)

Friday is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and we’re thrilled to support bright women in health sciences on their journey to becoming professional nurses!

Through the Professional Nurses Scholarship, HealthEd Connect is currently supporting nine students in their training to be capable health care workers with hearts for their communities. Some have been volunteer health workers before starting their nursing courses. Others were students at our sister schools in Zambia, and recent graduates of our GAP high school scholarship, like Everlyn and Carol (pictured above). Having strong, educated women in the scientific and healthcare industry is hugely important, as they become agents of change in accelerating gender equality and economic development. We are so grateful to the many supporters who make this scholarship possible, as these nursing students will uplift their communities and future patients alike!

To learn more about International Day of Women and Girls in Science, recognized by the United Nations, visit: https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day/

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!