Zambia (MNN) — Urgently-needed medical equipment and medical supplies, along with school equipment and educational supplies are now in Zambia. That's the word from Doctor James Chipeta with Kids Alive Zambia.
The contents of the container (valued at approximately $260,000) will be used in the town of Mongu in western Zambia, where Kids Alive has four Children's Homes and two Community Schools.
With little financial or material support from the government, Doctor Chipeta says the school is almost totally managed by the support of Kids Alive International. The 172 students in this elementary school are mostly orphans and vulnerable children who live in that community. They can't afford to attend the government schools where they are required to pay fees and to buy uniforms. Most of these children live with extended family relatives and grandparents who have been left to look after them after the death of their parents. Along with providing them with an education, Kids Alive also provides these children with a much-needed cooked meal each day.
The classrooms of the school currently consist of reeds and are covered with iron sheet roofing. A few benches have been made for the children to use.
Kids Alive was able to deliver desks for the school and will make the environment more conducive to learning. During the next five years, Kids Alive hopes to improve the quality of the buildings, increase the number of children, and develop the educational programs.
The district hospital, where Kids Alive takes the children for medical treatment, will be one of the major beneficiaries of this project. The hospital is a 250-bed hospital in Mongu. It serves a vital role in the community as it is the referral hospital for the six district hospitals and rural health centers in the province. All complicated cases from the other districts and health centers are referred to this hospital for further management and care. The lack of hospital supplies limits the effective service delivery. Dr. Chipeta says the local hospital is also better off. "The hospital is inadequately supplied because of our poor economy. So, the medical supplies that have reached Mongu have equipped the hospital so that the medical care definitely is much better now."
The supplies are answers to prayer for Christians, providing encouragement to their faith. As Kids Alive homes are helped, it's a witness to non-Christians, says Chipeta. "When they visit these children in their homes, see the community schools homes that we run, and see how much love is being poured on these children and the gifts they're receiving, it's a great witness to unbelievers."
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