The Story of Mutaba Community

Mutaba is a rural community, isolated from secondary schools, hospitals, shops and other amenities, where traditions run deep and cultural beliefs are tightly held onto. Witchcraft, prostitution and the abuse of alcohol are clearly evident in Mutaba, deeply impacting the most vulnerable children and their families. Additional challenges in Mutaba are a lack of clean water, food shortages, and unemployment.

100 Children currently supported

22 Care Workers Coordinated by Christopher

Basic Services Started in 2021

5 km from the CHISAMBA Local Office

In 2000, local Pastor, Peter Mulenga, was attending a Bible School in Luanshya that was connected to Africa School of Missions (ASM) in South Africa, where George and Carolyn Snyman had been students. Peter heard the vision of Hands at Work when George and Carolyn came to visit and shared the Biblical mandate to care for the vulnerable. At this time, George Snyman, co-founder of Hands at Work, began mentoring him in what it means to be a Care Worker. In 2003, Peter felt called to Miswa, and was shocked by the devastation that the HIV/AIDS epidemic was having on the community. Having been neglected as a child himself, the suffering Peter saw impacted him deeply and he knew that he needed to act immediately. In 2007, with the support of Hands at Work, Peter cast the vision to the local church: to see them unite as Christ’s body to care for the community’s most vulnerable children.

As a result of Peter’s mobilisation of the local church in Miswa, people from the community wanted to start a school, and so in 2008 the Community School began. Initially the children and teachers met under a tree but, with the community’s help, a thatched classroom was built and then a more permanent structure was constructed. In 2015, Hands at Work began officially partnering with the Miswa Community Based Organisation (CBO).

Within Miswa there are two Care Points operating under the umbrella of the Miswa CBO – Miswa A and Miswa B. The purpose of having two Care Points was to limit the distance that the children have to walk from their homes. In 2021 the Care Workers, together with the local Hands at Work team in Chisamba (supported by the Zambia Regional Support Team), decided to split the Miswa CBO into two official CBOs with their own leadership and team of Care Workers. Miswa A became known as Mutaba and Miswa B as Miswa.

Meet Ester

Ten-year-old Ester* stays with her mother and her younger brother. Ester’s father died when she was very young, and with her mother struggling to find piecework, and land conditions being poor for farming, Ester and her family were left very vulnerable. Thankfully, Ester and her brother were identified by the Mutaba CBO, and they joined the Care Point in January of this year when the CBO went from supporting 50 to 100 children. The siblings were very thin when they were identified, but in these 10 months, there has been a noticeable improvement in their health and happiness. The meal they receive at the Care Point is usually their only meal for the day, so, when possible, the Care Workers send a bowl of food home with Ester that they can share with their mother. Wilson, Ester’s Care Worker, visits the family regularly and brings food when he can.

The local Hands at Work team in Chisamba currently supports five Community Based Organisations, which exist to care for the most vulnerable in their communities. The office provides training, networking, and encouragement to those Community Based Organisations like Miswa. It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors. 

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