The Story of Zimba Community

In 1996, Hildah, the identified ‘Mother Theresa’ in Zimba community, was moved by compassion when she saw the needs in her community and started caring for the orphaned and vulnerable. In the same year, George Snyman, the co-founder of Hands at Work, visited Zimba and shared his heart for the poor with Hildah and a few other women in the community. According to Hildah, George’s visit brought so much hope and encouragement into the Care Worker’s lives and inspired them to continue caring for the orphaned and vulnerable children around them. Hildah’s dream for Zimba was to see transformation - especially in the lives of the children who seem to have no hope for the future.

Strongholds within the community of Zimba include witchcraft, alcohol abuse, early childhood marriage and child labour. Another challenge in the community is having access to clean, safe drinking water. Many times, people have to walk long distances to collect the water that they need.

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120 Children currently support

14 Care Workers Coordinated by Esther

Basic Services Started in 2012

90 KM FROM the KITWE LOCAL OFFICE

Eventually, Hands at Work started a partnership with Kachema Musuma Community Based Organisation (CBO) and then in 2012, began supporting them as they cared for the most vulnerable children. Today, 120 of the most vulnerable children are receiving the life-giving services of a hot, nutritious meal daily, and support with their education and basic health care. Yet, the care that the children receive extends far beyond their physical needs. Care Workers are committed to visiting the children in their homes, bringing parental care and love while sharing about the hope of Jesus.

The Care Workers in Zimba fully give of themselves to care for the vulnerable children in their community, though they are very poor themselves, surviving by doing temporary, occasional jobs such as gardening and selling sugarcane. They lead sacrificial lives in order to care for those who are struggling and are examples of true servants who are committed to caring and bringing hope to those around them.

There is a community school in Zimba run by the Kachema Musuma CBO. When the Care Workers and the local Hands at Work team in Kitwe constructed a new building for the community school on the Life Centre land, the Primary Caregivers eagerly involved themselves with the project and helped make bricks. The school, which was completed in March 2019, is now a brilliant place where the most vulnerable children can learn in a safe and life-giving environment.

An amazing testimony of the Care Workers’ commitment is when 31 children from the Kachema Musuma CBO successfully transitioned to the government school in 2019. Despite their own challenges, the Care Workers wanted the best for the children in their care and used money from their own fundraising efforts to purchase the school materials that the children needed.

Meet Winfrida

In Winfrida’s* short three years of life, her mother passed away and her father remarried and moved to the DRC. Winfrida and five of her siblings moved in with their grandmother, while the youngest was taken in by an orphanage. The life-bringing love of the beautiful team of Care Workers is greatly needed in this family.

The Care Workers, particularly Badista, have faithfully supported Winfrida’s grandmother as she cares for her grandchildren, especially Winfrida, who struggles with epilepsy. Veering her away from using traditional practices, the Care Workers have connected Winfrida and her grandmother with the local clinic where they can be educated and given the correct medication.

Winfrida is a part of the Under 5’s program, where she is a ray of sunshine! She is loved, bathed, fed, and as much as a blessing the Life Centre is to her, she is a blessing in return.

The local Hands at Work team in Kitwe currently supports seven 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 Kachema Musuma. It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors. 

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