Mazabuka

All of the children currently available for sponsorship live in Mazabuka, so I will tell you a little about it. It is called the sweetest part of Zambia because it is the place where the sugar factory is located. When travelling from Lusaka, it is 124 kilometers away (headed southwest). In the year 2000, 35,000 people called Mazabuka their home.

The area is mostly farmland, so farming is the business of choice for most residents. They farm their land and use most of what they grow for their own household food. The rest, they sell at the market to earn money to support their family's other needs.

The people of Mazabuka are from the Tonga tribe. There is an annual Tonga music festival held in Monze, and thousands come from all over to hear and see the rhythm of the Tonga Tribe. Tongan people make up 15% of Zambia's overall population, and their language is called Chitonga or just Tonga. Their language is part of the Bantu language family (which includes Bemba). That means that they have words similar to other Bantu languages. The children do learn English in school, and are usually speaking both English and Tonga by grade 4.

It is important to the Tonga tribe that as parents, they have many children. Since they are agricultural, the children are helpful when farming their land and herding their cattle. The children, also, bring the parents a sense of security because there will be someone to care for them in their old age. Family is very important and extends past just a mother, father and children. The Tonga family includes grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, all helping each other as a group.

Having Fun in Mazabuka

Doesn't this look like fun?!

A boy and his hut in Zambia

Here is a video of a typical home in Mazabuka. For those of you who already sponsor children through Child Hope Zambia, I would like for you to imagive the family you sponsor in this home. The typical family consists of a guardian (mother and father) and 6.5 children! I am not sure how they all fit in a home such as this one. Wow!

5 Special Sponsors Needed- URGENT!

Name: Denie Muloba. Child #241
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 06/18/08
Grade: ECCDE1
Wants to be a Doctor
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: Tonga
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Hachikoko with Grandfather, 1 Brothers and 7 Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

Name: Joyce Muloba. Child #240
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 10/19/05
Grade: ECCDE
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: Tonga
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Sport: Netball
Lives in Hachikoko with Grandfather, 1 Brothers and 7 Sisters
Chores: Housecleaning
Health is Fair

Name: Nebie Muloba. Child #237
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 09/11/00
Grade: 2
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: Tonga
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Chikambwe with Mother, 3 Brothers and - Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

Name: Kelvin Muloba. Child #235
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 11/09/94
Grade: 7
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga/English
Favorite Subject: Social Studies
Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Chikambwe with Mother, 3 Brothers and - Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

Name: Justin Muloba. Child #234
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 01/31/95
Grade: 6
Wants to be a Driver
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: English
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Chikambwe with Mother, - Brothers and 1 Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

This is a very special family, and they need some super-special sponsors!! The reason I am singling out this family is because they are in a desperate situation. The children are dealing with much more than other children their age normally go through. Some of them have already lost their parents, and others of them are watching their parents die. They need a friend that they can rely on and offer words of comfort and support. The good news is that 2 children from this family group have found sponsors. I sponsor one boy from this family, and another person in our group sponsors one girl from this family. Please help us show our support and open arms to these children! They really need you!

I will be sending out a second package of Ty beanie bears to the children sponsored from now until May 31st. You can choose the bear you would like to send your sponsored child, and you can even send them a letter! To see the teddy bears available, click here

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. I look forward to having a group of us lift this family up and show them how much they are loved!!

Meet the Mweemba Family!

Name: Chipo Mweemba. Child #216
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 04/04/04
Grade: ECCDE4
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: English
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Chatika with Mother, 4 Brothers and 2 Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

Name: Hardson Mweemba. Child #220
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 01/04/04
Grade: ECCDE6
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: Mathmatics
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Chatika with Mother, 2 Brothers and 1 Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

Juma Mweeba- 11 years old Child #4
\*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: January 4, 1999 Sex: Female
She is in the 5th grade and speaks English and Tonga.
She lives with her mother and 3 sisters in Moonga.
Favorite Subject: Math
Future Career: Teacher
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Pastime: Netball
Chores: Washing dishes
Health: Fair
Name: Rhodah Mweemba. Child #176
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 03/07/97
Grade: 6
Wants to be a Nurse
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: English
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Sport: Netball
Lives in Chatika with Grand Mother, 7 Brothers and 1 Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair

Esnert Mweemba-8 years old Child #116
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: January 15, 2002 Sex: F
She is in the 2nd grade and speaks Tonga
The child lives with her granfather, 2 brothers and 1 sister in Mwanachabwa
Favorite Subject: Mathematics
Future Career: Nurse
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Pastime: Net Ball
Chores: House Cleaning
Health: Fair

Name: Racheal Mweemba. Child #266
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 01/03/96
Grade:
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga/English
Favorite Subject: Tonga
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Sport: Studying
Lives in Block - E with Uncle, 2 Brothers and - Sisters
Chores: Dish Washing
Health is Good

Name: Ancient Mweemba. Child #221
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 02/04/01
Grade: 3
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: Matmatics
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Sport:
Lives in Chatika with No, 4 Brothers and 2 Sisters
Chores: Soccer
Health is Fair

Name: Kembo Mweemba. Child #253
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 01/15/97
Grade: 4
Wants to be a Police
Speaks: Tonga
Favorite Subject: Science
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Sport: Soccer
Lives in Hachingala with Father, 2 Brothers and 1 Sisters
Chores: House Cleaning
Health is Fair
Name: Kelvin Mweemba. Child #138
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: 12/19/91
Grade: 5
Wants to be a Teacher
Speaks: Tonga/English
Favorite Subject: English
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Sport: Studying
Lives in Makkuka with Father, 5 Brothers and 3 Sisters
Chores: Studying
Health is Fair
Favorite Subject: Mathematics
Future Career: Teacher
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Pastime: Soccer
Chores: Laundry
Health: Fair



Coilard Mweemba- 14 years old Child #94
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB:March 12, 1996 Sex: Male
He is in the 6th grade and speaks English and Tonga
He lives with his grandfather and 1 brother and 2 sisters in Mwanachambwa
Favorite Subject: Social Studies
Future Career: Police
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Pastime: Soccer
Chores:House Cleaning
Health: Fair
Laudy Mweemba- 9 years old Child #9
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: June 1, 2000 Sex: Male
He is in the 4th grade and speaks English and Tonga.
He lives with both parents, 2 brothers and 2 sisters in Mbozi.
Favorite Subject: Math
Future Career: Policeman
Favorite Pastime: Soccer
Favorite Color: White
Chores: Weeding
Health: Fair

Stephen Mweemba- 13 years old Child #15
*NOT SPONSORED*
DOB: Feb 1, 1997 Sex: Male
He is in the 7th Grade and speaks English and Tonga
He lives with both parents, 2 brothers, and 2 sisters in Mbozi
Favorite Subject: Mathematics
Future Career: Police
Favorite Colour: Green
Favorite Pastime: Soccer
Chores: Cleaning house
Health: Good


I wanted to feature one extended family all in one post. The benefit of doing this is that you can see who is living with whom, and can sponsor children in the same family, or even share a family with a friend. A lot of the children live with relatives, but that is all completely normal in Zambian life. The family is not just the mother father and children. The family includes cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. It is interesting to note that in most cases, they do not differentiate between cousin and sibling/ father and uncle/ mother and aunt.

I will be sending out a second package of Ty beanie bears to the children sponsored from now until May 31st. You can choose the bear you would like to send your sponsored child, and you can even send them a letter! To see the teddy bears available, click here

Thank you, Child Hope Sponsors

This video is an appreciation of people that are sponsors to the children in the Child Hope program. The lady is thankful to the sponsors for helping the orphans and vulnerable children. She is thanking every one for the support that is coming. She is encouraging more sponsors to get on board in helping these children in order to reduce the suffering of the children in the rural areas.

Reminder Regarding Gift Distribution

There has been a lot going on these past few days. We have many new sponsors, so I just wanted to remind everyone of the gift distribution schedule. This sponsorship program is pretty cut and dry... Meaning, when you pay your sponsorship payments it goes to something for that child. You can see exactly where your money is going. For the primary children, this is the gift distribution schedule:

Month 1: money saved to put toward month #2's gift

*Month 2: uniform bought and given to child
Month 3: money saved to put toward month #4's gift

*Month 4: hygiene kit bought and given to child
Month 5: money saved to put toward month #6's gift

*Month 6: school bag, exercise books, pencil, eraser, ruler
Month 7: money saved to put toward month #8's gift

*Month 8: school fees paid
Month 9: money saved to put toward month #12's gift
Month 10: money saved to put toward month #12's gift
Month 11: money saved to put toward month #12's gift

*Month 12: shoes and socks bought for child

There is a balance carried over each month to cover the purchase of medication for malaria, worms, and other ailments that the child may have during the year.

Hopefully, the schedule is easy enough to follow. I am still working on the gift distribution for the ECCDE children, but the majority of the children sponsored so far are primary students.

The letters and packages that the sponsors have sent will be distributed to coincide with these gift distribution schedules- The Zambia team will be going out to the Mazabuka area once a month for now. The children whose sponsorship starts in June will get their uniforms in July.

Thank you to all who have stepped up to sponsor a child or two!! I can't wait to see the pictures and video of the kids that will be taken in June!! By the way, isn't Tebby the cutest! (the child above)

Child Hope brings hope to the sick in Zambia

Estimates are 1 in every 6 Zambians are HIV positive. This number is astounding! Especially with what we know now about AIDS that we did not know in the 80's. Why is the incidence so high in Zambia? A big part of the problem is lack of education about HIV/AIDS. Instead of learning more about how HIV is spread, many Zambians prefer to not think about it at all. Child Hope Zambia is educating the communities in an effort to stop the spread of HIV. (More on this later)

Many who are sick in Zambia refuse to go to the clinic to get the medications they need to live. The reason for this is because they fear what their neighbors will say about them. Which is why this woman's statement, declaring her status is so profound! Her only concern is that she gets the word out for her children to get the help that they need.

This is a video of one of the mothers of 5 of the children that are part of the Child Hope Zambia sponsorship program. In the video she is telling the group of her HIV positive status. She says she went for an HIV test last year and the results were positive.

Thanks to the support that CHILDHOPE has given her, she now has the energy to do house chores and other community activities. She started with taking septrin before taking ARVs. She says she is very thankful for the food that she has been getting from CHILDHOPE.

She says the mealie-meal, cooking oil, sugar, soya meal and beans she has been receiving from CHILDHOPE have sustained her life. Now that CHILDHOPE has, also, provided her youngest child with the opportunity to attend preschool at the ECCDE centre, her burden has lightened.

She is happy that the sponsorship program will also include the ECCDE children as well. She says her child likes goats and having some would help sustain the child`s future.

Her husband is also HIV positive and bedridden. She is asking for sponsors who can help her care for her 5 children. Since neither she nor her husband can work, the children need help with school supplies, school fees, uniforms, etc.

She says, she would appreciate if any one could help in getting a bed, mattress and beddings. Since her husband is confined to the home and laying down, a bed would be more comfortable for him.

If you are interested in sponsoring one or more of her 5 children, please contact me for details. There are 4 boys and 1 girl. macandmic@gmail.com

More Children!

Late last night (while I was in bed), I received pictures and bios of over 100 additional children! Now, I am working 11 hours today, so I won't be able to get them up as fast as I would like to. You can see some of them up already. I have put just their picture and child ID. I will add the bios as I get a chance. I can't wait to see all of the pictures!!

Getting to Know Mazabuka

All of the children currently available for sponsorship live in Mazabuka, so I will tell you a little about it. It is called the sweetest part of Zambia because it is the place where the sugar factory is located. When travelling from Lusaka, it is 124 kilometers away (headed southwest). In the year 2000, 35,000 people called Mazabuka their home.

The area is mostly farmland, so farming is the business of choice for most residents. They farm their land and use most of what they grow for their own household food. The rest, they sell at the market to earn money to support their family's other needs.

The people of Mazabuka are from the Tonga tribe. There is an annual Tonga music festival held in Monze, and thousands come from all over to hear and see the rhythm of the Tonga Tribe. Tongan people make up 15% of Zambia's overall population, and their language is called Chitonga or just Tonga. Their language is part of the Bantu language family (which includes Bemba). That means that they have words similar to other Bantu languages. The children do learn English in school, and are usually speaking both English and Tonga by grade 4.

It is important to the Tonga tribe that as parents, they have many children. Since they are agricultural, the children are helpful when farming their land and herding their cattle. The children, also, bring the parents a sense of security because there will be someone to care for them in their old age. Family is very important and extends past just a mother, father and children. The Tonga family includes grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, all helping each other as a group.

Where We Serve

You can see the map above is the squashed peanut shape of the country of Zambia. I will direct your attention to the southern part of Zambia in orange. This is where Child Hope Zambia is. At the very top of the orange, you will see Mazabuka. That is the area where all of the children we are currently signing up for the sponsorship program live.

There are approximately 3,600 children served by Child Hope Zambia. However, none of them have ever been sponsored. The sponsorship program is something new that will provide them with school fees, uniforms, hygiene kits, among other things (see older posts to see exactly what each child will receive).

Because there are so many children, and the sponsorship program is just starting, we have to start somewhere- We are starting with the children in Mazabuka (only because Mazabuka is the closest to Lusaka). Once all of those children have been photographed and added to the sponsorship program (over 1,000 children), we will begin adding children from Monze. Once all of the children in Monze are added, we will begin adding children in Choma.

We only have 80 children signed up right now, so as you might imagine, there is a lot of work yet to do in the field. There are people on the ground in Mazabuka working on getting the children photographed and documented.

We will be adding the youngest children to the program shortly as well. There are children attending early childhood centers that need sponsors. They are between the ages of 2 and 8. Keep checking back because there are a lot of great kids looking for a friend and mentor!

50 More Children Added to the Sponsorship Program!

Yesterday I received an additional 50 bios and photos of children who would like to have a sponsor! I have been frantically trying to get them all posted on the sponsorship pages, but it will take some time. I know I have about half of them up as of right now, and I will be posting more as I can. Also, later today, I should hear back from the Zambia coordinator Chim regarding sponsorship fees. I know there will be two different fees: 1 for primary students and 1 for junior secondary students, but I am not sure what the fee will be. I have sent a recommendation to Chim based on their budget, and he is presenting it to the board today. Stay tuned for that! Meanwhile, check out all of the cool kids that are already posted!

The 3 Areas Helped by Child Hope

Child Hope Zambia works in 3 areas in the southern region of Zambia. These can be seen on a map on the Zambian.com website. If you would like to see where the 3 areas are, look here. They are in Mazabuka, Monze, and Choma.

Like I stated before, we are focusing on Mazabuka for now because there are 1,200 children waiting for sponsors there. However, we will get to Monze and Choma as well as soon as we can. The power is in your hands- spread the word about the Child Hope program, and help us get them all sponsored!!

The families in these communities are mostly peasant farmers.

From December to April, they experience their rainy season. It can rain for just an hour or so, or it can rain for days on end during this time.

From May to August they will soon see the cool dry season. Temperatures during the day are in the 70's (Fahrenheit), but drops down to the 40's at night.

From September to November it is hot. Temperatures can be in the 100's!

29 Children from Mazabuka

There are now 29 children available for sponsorship, and more children will be available shortly. The Child Hope program has been around for over 10 years, but this is their first chance at a child sponsorship program! The children and families are super excited! There were actually 30 children photographed and interviewed for this first round, but I am missing information on one of them (it will be here shortly). The families were notified that Child Hope would be coming into their area to sign up children for sponsorship. When the Child Hope team arrived, families were packed in the agreed upon location waiting to get their children in the program!

This is only a small group of the larger group- There is so much on the ground to do to get these kids enrolled that it will take some time, but it will be worth it. The children and their families will receive many benefits. The whole group is comprised of approximately 3,600 children. Because this is an overwhelming number, I suggested that Chim Mvula (the president of Child Hope) and his team start in one community before moving to the other two.

Mazabuka is the community that is closest to Lusaka, and Lusaka is where the Child Hope office is located. Because a lot of us already have sponsor children in Lusaka, I wanted to start with a community close to there. Mazabuka is south west of Lusaka. In 2000, the estimated population was 35,000 people. These 30 children are all from this community. More photos and bios will be uploaded as soon as I receive them.

28 Children Available for Sponsorship!

Aren't they sweet?! There are 28 children now available to sponsor! You can see their pictures and bios on the left hand side of the blog. They are separated by gender, and you can see if they have a sponsor yet or not.

While we do not yet have it set up officially, you can e-mail me at macandmic@gmail.com and let me know if there is a particular child you would like to sponsor. I am waiting for the budget in order to set up the different kinds of sponsorship that is available. I will let every one know as soon as I have the sponsorship breakdown set up. For now, do not click on the "subscribe" link until this is set up. Stay tuned! I hope to have it later today :o)