Kondwa Day Centre for Orphans - Lusaka, Zambia

 
The name KONDWA means BE HAPPY in Nyanja, one of the local languages widely spoken in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. And this is the goal of the Centre: to bring happiness into the lives of the orphaned children who live in one of the most deprived areas of Lusaka. The Ng’ombe Compound, one of the highest density neighbourhoods of the capital, has a high rate of unemployment and poverty, and the many social/economic hardships have worsened by the spread of HIV/AIDS. “Kondwa is a light in the dark, a stepping stone from despair to hope”,  as founder Angela Malik puts it in a few words.

The Center, founded in 2000, arose from the need to care for orphaned children identified by the Roma/Ng’ombe Community Home Based Care Program, a community based volunteer program caring for the chronically ill in their homes. The founder and administrator, Angela Malik, is a trained psycho social counselor specialized in orphans management, and a very active volunteer of the Home Based Care Program. Many of the patients being cared for under this program have died consequently leaving behind orphans, whose numbers grow at an alarming rate. It was this urgent need to care for these orphaned children that led to setting up the Kondwa Centre for orphans.

Over 60 children attend school daily at the Center. where they receive pre-school education, two nourishing meals, recreational facilities and most importantly the care takers’ love and attention. The Center also attends to the children’s medical needs, as a doctor comes weekly to examine them, often providing medication. Kondwa has also facilitated access to formal education of many children, and continue to support their ongoing education. It has also succeed in placing many other children into residential orphanages.

Mwana Bermudes while living in Zambia for 3 years was directly responsible as a volunteer for the administration and implementation of five successful projects in Kondwa such as the construction of four new ventilated pit latrines with showers, construction of septic tank and installation of back up water system, rehabilitation of the Center's kitchen, library and sickbay.

The main funding for the ablution building originated from Angela's several local and international friends. The rehabilitation of the Center's kitchen was financed by our friends of the J.Kirby Simon Trust. Our friends Jeffrey and Marylin Keating from the USA provided most of the books for the Center's library, and Judy Meeker of Quilts for Peace provided over 10 hand made quilts to be used at Kondwa's sick bay. Various other friends such as Cynthia Nystrom and Heather Donovan sent plenty of used clothing, toys and other school supplies. A big "Thanks" from Kanimambo Creations to everybody for all the financial and material contributions!

The Seko Home project - Lusaka, Zambia

After years of volunteer work with the Kondwa Day Centre for Orphans, Angela Malik and colleagues decided to expand their program for orphaned children. Her view is pragmatic as she well knows it is practically impossible for someone to take care of all the orphaned children and their needs. However, she strongly felt that if a few of us could help a handful of these children by providing them at least with shelter and food, together they could make a difference. With the financial assistance of several donors, Angela and colleagues purchased a small piece of land and built a transit home for some of the most needy children in Ng’ombe community. It is called SEKO Home.

The need is overwhelming, and as much as they would like to help a lot of children, they believe in quality rather than quantity. There are many young girls living on the streets who need a safe stable environment to have quality of life. The number of girls staying at SEKO Home will be no more than 10, between the ages of 7 and 14. During their stay they have been placed in local schools as well. The Home has a House Mother to provide guidance, love and support.

During the first meeting with Angela about the Seko Home project, Mwana Bermudes took again his voluntary role of project coordinator. Kanimambo Creations also assisted with fund raising for the project, and as a result substantial financial originated from Plenty Canada, J.Kirby Simon Trust (USA) and from Switzerland.

The construction of an ablution building containing flush toilets and shower units was proposed. This basic structure was built including a septic tank as waste disposal. The back up water system included a water reservoir mounted on a steel tower inside the home premises.

We at Kanimambo Creations are very grateful to be part again of this exemplary community development project in Zambia.

The Mother Teresa Orphanage - Lusaka, Zambia

The Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity have established a Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, that provides an orphanage, school, and hospice care for the poorest of the poor, approximately 180 orphans. The orphanage also provides education for over 400 children. After my first site visit to the Missionaries of Charity’s project, Kanimambo Creations focused on fund raising for an immediate improvement in the sanitation area of the orphanage. As the number of existing toilet facilities for the children’s dormitory was rather limited, we decided on the construction of a basic annex building containing two flush toilets and hand washing basins, thus immediately improving the sanitation standards. We are very grateful to the J. Kirby Simon Foreign Trust (USA) for its kind financial assistance towards such important program in Zambia.