Teddies for Zambia Part 2!

The Ty beanie baby donor has agreed to offer the teddies to more CHZ children!!! This is awesome! That means from now until May 31st, any child sponsored will get a teddy bear! Take a look at the children, and if you find one you want to sponsor, e-mail me. Then, tell me your bear choice, and send a note to the child. All of these new bears will be shipped at the beginning of June. Thank you for helping these children!!

Where Does Your Drinking Water Come From?

This morning, when I got up out of my cozy pillow top bed, I walked across my carpeted flooring to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, I turned the knobs on the shower until I felt the water get warm (bordering on hot). I stepped into the warm shower and felt the clean water run through my hair and down my back. I instantly felt cleaner. I, then, reached for my good smelling body wash from Bath and Body Works and lathered up. In a matter of minutes, I had turned myself into what smelled like a coconut! It is truly amazing how that simple act can lift my spirits and invigorate me!

Then, I sat down at my computer to decide what kind of post I would share with you all. There are so many great things that Child Hope Zambia has already done, and little by little, I will be sharing it with you. What to share grabbed me when I looked at the picture of the children carrying the jugs of water.

First, I will share the statistics with you. Did you know that in Zambia 20% of the deaths of the children under five are due to diarrhea!? It is hard to believe that they could die of something so preventable, but it is a reality in the poor parts of Zambia. The people in the communities get diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera all from drinking water!

It brings me back to the beginning of this post when I told you about my clean shower experience. I would like you to now picture something different. Instead of living here in the USA, I live in the southern province of Zambia. I get up in the morning and fold up the feed sack that I slept on (on the dirt floor). Then, I walk to the creek to bathe. The creek is so dirty, you can not see what is in the water, but it is my only option. So, I "clean" myself in the creek. Then, while there, grab a bucket of the water to take home for consumption.

It is no wonder that people wind up with these intestinal problems when you think of it! The water they are drinking is the same water that they clean themselves in. Children may even use the restroom in the water. Anyone who is sick is now passing on the sickness to whomever decides to drink the water. Even if they boil the water, can you imagine drinking the water? I wouldn't be able to get it down my throat!

Now, this is what CHZ has done. If you look up at the picture above, you will see something that looks like a tank. This is a borehole. A hole was dug deep into the ground until fresh water was found. Then, the water is pumped out of the well whenever it is needed. There is enough water available in each borehole to provide water for the surrounding community. All CLEAN water! This is saving children's lives every day! The clean water is used to drink, cook with, bathe in, and clean dishes and clothes. The clean water can be heated, and they can get a nice warm clean bath- I can't even imagine how this must feel for them after years of using the other water!

As supporters of Child Hope Zambia, you are supporting great changes like this!

Meet Manyando Kaumba

This is the person on the Zambian team responsible for taking care of the money. He is the one who goes to the bank to pick up your sponsorship payments and get them to the children's accounts. Here are his responsibilities:

Accountant
 Preparing and presenting financial reports and guide programme team in formulation of the CHILDHOPE budgets
 Processing all requests for payment;
 Programme financial data management and production of accurate, timely complete and reliable periodical financial reports for programme decision making.
 Verifying and managing all incoming invoices and review the classification of all vouchers/ receipts.
 Monitoring accounts payable/ receivables and give monthly feed back to the Co-ordinator/CEO.
 Providing input for all kind of contracts, their fulfillments and initiate payments.
 Preparing project monthly and annual budgets, as well as tracking variances for payments.
 Any other duties as may be assigned by the co-ordinator/CEO

First Care Package to Zambia

For the picture above, from left to right and top to bottom these are the bears for child numbers: 7, 10, 18, 39, 45, 55, & 58
For the picture below, from left to right and top to bottom these are the bears for child numbers:
72, 91, 99, 101, 103, 137, 142, & 143

For the picture below from left to right and top to bottom these are the bears for child numbers:
146, 148, 150, 160, 199, 202, 264 and the last one is for a child that currently is without a number- Clive.

As you can see, all of the bears are set and ready for their journey to Africa!! I put them all in these ziploc bags in order to keep the letters with each child's name and number together with the bears. I am waiting on the response of one last minute sponsor from yesterday. Once I have their letter and bear selection, I will seal up the box and send it on its way. When I weighed the box this morning without a couple of the bears in it, it weighed just a little over 7 pounds. I am expecting the final package to be close to 8 pounds (I got a donation yesterday for $12 toward the shipping costs- THANK YOU!!!)

Looking back up at the bears, it looks like some of them are waving goodbye! LOL!! 24 children sponsored in 3 weeks! Thank you for offering your love and care to the children of Zambia!

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)

Who is your family?

This is a simple post to kind of explain the typical Zambian family. Above you see the photo of my family (minus myself of course). My daughters are sisters, everything makes sense so far, right. Now, here is where it gets a little tricky...

In Zambia about 20% of children are not living with their parents. Their family is not the typical mother and father and 6.5 kids. Instead, it may be grandmother and one sibling as well as cousins in one home. Then, the mother and father may have 3 other children at home with them. The family is actually an extension of the immediate family we are used to talking about.

Look back at the bios of your sponsor children and you may see what I am talking about. The terminally ill woman and her husband for example:

They have 3 boys and on the boys' bios, it states they have 3 brothers and 0 sisters. However, these boys actually have a sister! The sister lives with the grandmother. Her bio says that she has 1 brother and 7 sisters. In actuality, these may be cousins that the grandmother is raising along with the sister. The cousins that may live in the home are treated the same as biological children.

This is something to look at when you are looking at your child's information. The children listed as brothers and sisters means that those are the children currently living in the home where the child lives. I wish I could live so close to all of my family. It would be nice most of the time :o)

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

Hanantonga Malambo

I would like you to meet a sweet little boy named Hanantonga Malambo. He is very excited to be a part of the sponsorship program. He is unable to walk, but he made it out to the meeting place to sign up for sponsorship.

He attends one of the preschools that was set up by Child Hope. In order to get to school, he must ride on his sister's back or in his wheel chair.

Here is what he is saying in the video:

He is at the pre-school i.e CHILDHOPE supported.

He says he lives with his mother and he is 8 years old.

He uses a wheel chair to go to the pre-school.

He says he would like a sponsor that could send him a toy car to play with at home.

According to the sister who brought him for registration, Malambo can not walk on his own.

If he is not using a wheel chair he is put at the back of someone to reach a certain destination.

Hanantonga does not have a sponsor. To sponsor him for only $9 a month, click on "sponsor primary student" on the upper right hand corner of this blog.

A Message for you from the Zambia Team

Money was sent yesterday for 16 sponsorships + an extra donation. The accountant (who I will introduce later) picked up the money from the bank today. Here is the message I received on the behalf of the Zambia team by Chim:

"We got the money today. Thank you and the US team for the work you are doing with us in meeting the needs of the vulnerable children in Zambia. Without you all our work would have been very difficult. We say thanks to you once again. To the sponsors we say, may God add more [money] where it has been removed.

God bless you all.

Regards,

Chim"

These are the children whose payments were sent (another wire will be sent at the end of the month for the children that have been sponsored since yesterday):
Sponsorship payments for 14 primary children:
10
18
39
45
72
91
99
101
103
142
148
150
160
202

and 2 Secondary children:
55
58

Extra donation= $70 (pictures will be taken of the items bought with the extra donation and be shared with the group once received)

Meet Solomon Mweemba!

This is a new staff member for Child Hope- His name is Mweeba Solomon and he is the person in charge of child sponsorship.
 Providing strategic input and direction on all CHILDHOPE Programme related child sponsorship.
 Data collection and management involving child sponsorship.
 Taking child sponsorship pictures and other materials sent by the sponsors.
 Responsible for the day to day administration of the child sponsorship Programme.
 Assisting, as needed, with the development of promotional materials on child sponsorship.
 Spearheading new program development including budget review and analysis on child sponsorship.

UNICEF's visit to Child Hope Zambia

UNICEF is one of the supporters of Child Hope Zambia. Above you can see what the Early Childhood Education Centers look like. There is an article about their visit with Child Hope, that you can enjoy here: http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org/2008/08/talking_walls_in_zambian_schoo.html

Child Hope Zambia Sponsorship

Here is one of the videos taken in the community during child sponsorship registration. You can see how well the program has been received in Mazabuka. It is a situation where mothers had to escort their children for registration. In the video, that is Chim talkng to one of the children during registration. The boy is saying he is in Grade 3 at Naleza basic and needs a sponsor for the purchase of a uniform, books, school bag and a bicycle. (bicycles have been provided to the communities in the past, and I will post about that in a later post)

The Early Childhood Education Program

These cute little water-carriers above are old enough to be a part of the ECCDE program.

Above is the land that was cleared by one community to make room for an ECCDE center which Child Hope Zambia provided for them.

CHZ works directly with the members of the community to build the centers for the children to learn.

Similar to the USA, the Zambian government does not provide preschool education. However, Child Hope Zambia recognizes the importance of early education. Since the government does not provide the communities with this, CHZ does so with the community's help.

The ECCDE program is extremely beneficial in helping the children whose parents have HIV/AIDS. The children of these parents would usually be at home caring for themselves while their parents lay in bed suffering from the horrible disease. Instead, they go to school where they play with their friends and get a head start on learning!

The classes work like this:

Children aged 2-4 are in day care

Children aged 5 to 8 are in preschool

Generally children in Zambia begin primary school when they are 7 years old. However, in the rural and poorest areas, children will sometimes start school much later. This is why there is such an age variance in many of the grade levels. With the ECCDE program, more parents are starting to see the value of early education, and their children are able to begin primary school on time.

The ECCDE centers that have been set up lack a lot in way of materials. This is due to the lack of funds. The sponsorship program will be bringing them educational materials that are vital to learning. I will post more about this in a later post. In the meantime, check out the cute little preschool children on the left hand side of the blog! To sponsor one of these little ones, it is just $9 a month!

Meet Charity Minsula!

Not only can you see Charity in the picture, but you can, also, get a feel for what the Child Hope Zambia office in Lusaka looks like. Charity is the administrative assistant there. Here are her responsibilities:

 Preparing payment request forms for processing by Finance Department.
 Managing and handling all petty cash requests including reconciling petty cash.
 Photocopying, Filing, Sending, retrieving and distributing fax transmittal's and printing electronic documents as requested
 Ordering office supplies as required by the office/individual staff members.
 Assisting in obtaining quotations for conferences, events and procurement of office supplies and goods when necessary as well as completion of all accompanying documentation.
 Assisting with maintaining general office tidiness.
 Providing logistic support for both domestic and international meetings and workshops.
 On request, take accurate meeting notes and ensure circulation of the notes to participants in a timely manner.
 Drafting general correspondence.
 Managing receipt, recording and routing of all incoming and outgoing correspondence for the office including pouches, faxes, letters, and packages and email messages in accordance with Program office procedures.
 Receiving and directing incoming/outgoing phone calls.
 Maintaining an accurate record of all staff requesting outgoing international calls.
 Regularly updating the internal extension list and distributing to all staff.
 Tracking staff movements for message purposes.
 Receiving visitors at reception for the department

*Special note: The salary the staff receives does not come from the sponsorship donations. They are paid when individual donors decide to include staff payment in their donations.

Helping Them Help Themselves

One of the faucets of Child Hope Zambia is teaching familes how to grow the food their family needs to survive, and giving them the seeds they need to do it. This is an example of one of the gradens set up. The families use about 80% of the food grown to feed their families. The other 20% is sold at the market to earn income to pay for other necessities. The soil in much of Zambia is rich in nutrients and makes it easy to grow your own food.

Meet Chim Mvula!

“The happiest people I have known have been those who gave themselves no concern about their own souls, but did their uttermost to mitigate the miseries of others.”

—Elizabeth Cady Stanton
(1815-1902); social activist
Here is Chim! He has been helping children and their families since 1998! Check out the posts on this blog to see some of the things he has been able to accomplish in the past 12 years. He is still helping children, and hasn't lost his drive to change the country. He is one of those people that sees a problem and does something about it and then some! I can't wait to show even more of the things he has done for the poorest of the poor. For now, I just wanted to introduce him to you, and give you his actual job description:

1. National Co-ordinator
 Responsible for conducting the full range of activities required to prepare, submit and manage grant proposals to foundation and corporate sources.
 Supporting and co-ordinating the overall Programme Management of CHILDHOPE Country office.
 Performing prospect research on foundations and corporations to evaluate prospects.
 Working with finance team to gather information necessary to report to funders on current and/or completed grant programs.
 Complying with all grants reporting as required by foundation/corporate funders.
 Providing regular written updates/reports to current and past foundation/corporate funders.
 Coordinating arrangements for on-site visits and tours for foundation/corporate funders.
 Preparing grant award summaries for internal tracking and coding purposes.
 Maintaining current records in database and in paper files, including grant tracking and reporting.
 Identifying donor prospects through suggestions from staff, past and current Board members, advisory council members, existing donors and colleagues.
 Preparing introductory mailings to prospective donors, and coordinate follow-up activities.
 Coordinating house parties and other outreach events to strengthen donor relations, and introduce prospective donors to CHILDHOPE.
 Coordinating direct mail solicitations.
 Developing/coordinating ongoing communications program for current and prospective donors, including electronic communications.
 Preparing acknowledgment letters.
 Maintaining both electronic and hard-copy donor files.
 Responding to queries, electronic and otherwise, from prospective donors.
 Participating in professional development activities to enhance knowledge and skills, including subscribe to and read fundraising periodicals, journals and e-newsletters attend, professional development conferences, and other related activities.

Beanies for Zambia Part 2

The Beanies for Zambia drive is still in full swing. I decided to take new pictures of the bears so that you can see all of the bear choices available. I had several bears that I did not photograph the first time, and those who have already sponsored a child have had their bear picks taken out. These are the Ty beanie bears I have left. I have sorted them by color, so that they will be more recognizable.

Sponsor a child from Child Hope Zambia from now until 5/15/10, and your sponsor child will receive a bear with a special note from you!!! I am going to try to get the package to Zambia in time for the June uniform distribution. By the time you have paid the 2nd sponsorship fee for your child, the volunteers will go out with the uniforms to take them to the children. I can't wait to see the picture of the children's faces!!! This is very exciting!!!

To sponsor a child for $9 a month, you may choose between a primary boy or girl or an early education boy or girl (they are listed as "little boy" "little girl" "boy" and "girl") To sponsor a child for $15 a month you may choose between any of the young men and young women that are in 8th and 9th grade. All of these choices, pictures and bios can be found on the upper left hand side of this blog. Thanks for helping these sweet and deserving children!

*If you already have a sponsor child with Child Hope, please send me your bear choice, and a small letter to be included with the bear to your child. I plan to get these out in the mail on Monday, so I would like to have some of them already ready to go before then (instead of last minute).

Happy Birthday to Ollen and Keneth!

Wishing a happy birthday to two of our boys with May birthdays. Ollen (bottom) is turning 19 years old today, the 12th of May. Keneth (top) will turn 9 tomorrow, May13. Both are available for sponsorship (found under the "sponsor a boy" link to the left). What better present could a person give these boys than the benefits of sponsorship?

Keeping Disease at Bay

As you know, in the poorest of areas, toilets are a luxury! The lack of toilets and sanitary facilities leads to the spread of diseases and leaves the already weak children extremely vulnerable. It is because of this that Child Hope Zambia has set up pit latrines like the one shown above in the communities where our sponsor children live. Not only does this help stop the spread of disease, but it, also, provides much needed privacy for vulnerable women and children.

Can you put a price tag on these children?

It is hard to imagine the daily struggles that the families and children in southern Zambia face everyday. The reason we can't imagine what it is like is because we are tucked away in our little corner of the universe- when we get hungry, we pick up the phone and order food to be delivered to our home, or we get in our cars and load our grocery carts up with enough food to feed 20 people. When we need a snack between meals, we go to the vending machine, stick our coins in and out pops a high-priced candy bar.

I would like for you to imagine just for a minute that you have no car- that you have no money, and you have no food. Now imagine that you have children depending on you for food and an education. What will you do? Where will you go to feed your children? How hopeless would you feel and what would you tell your children?

This is what the mothers, fathers, aunt, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers of southern Zambia face every day! Their despair is unimaginable! Yet, they still believe in God and believe that he will provide for them.

Child Hope Zambia has set up a sponsorship program to help these children get an education, and continue in their studies. They receive breakfast and lunch, uniforms, school supplies, hygiene kits, life-saving medical treatments from malaria and other diseases.

The great thing about this program is the hope it brings to the children and their families. Imagine the joy and elation they feel when they get told they have a sponsor and someone cares about their child and their family!

To sponsor a primary child, it costs only 30 cents a day! Only 30 cents to give a child hope for their future? Is your child worth 30 cents a day? Are these children worth it to you? Can you put a price tag on a human life? Can you close your eyes and pretend these children will survive without you?

Children Sponsored in May- Uniforms in June

We now have 193 children anxiously awaiting sponsors! These children are so excited- Nothing like this has ever happened to them before! The children in this region and program have never had a sponsorship program before. Now, they are just a few steps away from getting to know that someone far away thinks they are special! All of the children sponsored in May will be getting their new uniforms in June (after the sponsor's 2nd payment)! They will, also, be writing their FIRST letter to their sponsor. I plan to have a nice surprise for them on letter writing day- The field will purchase enough colored pencils and pens for the sponsored children. The secondary students will write their letters with their new pen, and the primary students will use their brand new box of colored pencils. Then, they will take their writing utensils home with them!

If you can help any of these children, please view the photos and bios on the top left hand side of the blog. Once you know which child you want, you can send a paypal payment for $9 (primary student) or $15 (secondary student) to macandmic@gmail.com Don't forget to state which child the payment is for, and mark the payment as a GIFT. This will be a moment your child will NEVER forget!

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!!

How Child Hope Came to be:

The inspiration of establishing Child-Hope Zambia came from the community in Chief Mwanachingwala`s area in Magoye, southern province, Zambia. They realized that most of their children were vulnerable and the number of orphans was increasing without knowing exactly the main cause of deaths for the parents.

The community also realized that most of its children lacked education, health, nutrition and protection. It was during the first weeks of mobilization when the community realized that most of the children’s parents were dying as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, most of the children in the community became AIDS victims.

The community desired to support orphans and other vulnerable children but did not know where to start from. One day Mr. Chim Mvula, (who is now known as the coordinator of Child-Hope), was in this community with his brother, who normally went into different villages spreading the word of God.

One day, Mr. Mvula decided to take a walk around to see how one of the villages looked like. As he was walking around, he met some old men who were talking about the vulnerability of children in the villages. Mr.Mvula just listened to their conversation as he was following them behind. When these men realized there was somebody following them behind, they reduced their step and greeted Mr.Mvula as per culture in the rural areas. One of them said, “It looks like you are the one who came with those men preaching the word of God. I mighty have seen you organizing things.” Mr. Mvula responded saying they were right.

Another one said, “You could be the right person to talk to.” We are discussing how we could get some help from somewhere in order for us to help the orphans and other vulnerable children because there are a lot of problems affecting them.

The one who had approached Mr. Mvula first said again, “I thought of you because I believe with what you are doing currently, you meet a lot of people and it could be easy for you to talk to some people that could help.” Mr. Mvula said, “I heard your conversation as I was following you behind, I equally have a passionate for the children.”

Mr. Mvula went on to say several times he had visited different villages and had seen that rural children were really in need. Most of the community members when asked said a number of children had one or both of their parents die due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Mr. Mvula went on to say, most of the time he traveled to the rural areas, he equally saw children with big bellies, swollen faces and most of them looked hungry. Mr. Mvula also narrated a story of one family he had visited in the village which had not eaten for two days. When he heard the story of the family and how children looked like, he was prompted to go to the nearest market to buy some dry fish (kapenta) and pre-packed mealie-meal for the family to prepare something to eat.

Mr. Mvula also discovered that the children in that family did not have blankets and covered themselves with sacks in the night. He could not believe that some families went without food and covered themselves with sacks until when he sew this. It reminded him how some people in town had excess food and blankets which could help the orphans and other vulnerable children.

He told the old men that they were sharing the same vision. He assured the men that he would go to different places to look for support for orphans, AIDS victims in Zambia and other vulnerable children especially those in the rural areas.

When the men heard this from Mr.Mvula, they embarked on community awareness campaign. The community responded very well and formed a committee that looked at the activities that were taking place. Mr. Mvula went a major campaign of soliciting for donations from individuals, businesses, churches and well-wishers in and out of Lusaka. The response was good.

With the assistance from individuals, well-wishers, churches, charities, foundations, volunteers, donors, other charitable organization and the Government of Zambia, Child-Hope has been growing and spreading to other villages. Because of this, a lot of children’s dreams have been realized. We are thankful to all who have joined us in fulfilling the work of Child-Hope Zambia.

Having fun with the Language of the Tonga Tribe

Here are some useful words that you may want to use in your letters to your sponsor child:

How are you?: Mwapona

Fine (as in the answer to how are you): Kabotu

What is your name?: Nduwe ni?

My name is: Ndime

Thank you: Twalumba

Good Morning: Mwabuka Buti

Good Afternoon: Mwayusa

Good Evening: Kwasiya

Food: Chakulya

Water: Meenda

Nothing: Takwepe

I: Ime

You: Iwe

We: Iswe

Yes: Iyii

No: Pepe

Today: Sunu

Tomorrow: Junza

Talk: Ambula

Bye: Mucaale kabotu

Mother: Bama

Father: Ndende

Child: Mwana

Once I become fluent in the language, I will publish some letters you can use to write to your sponsor children that only speak their Tonga language. However, the field staff will help the children write their letters, and English is the official universal language of Zambia.

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.