143 children were in residence at St Anthony Children’s Village during the year. In October of the same year Dominican Sr Philomena Schwejman who coordinates work in this area for the Ndola Diocese wrote: “Since the beginning of the year, we have had only a few children dying and this gives us hope that our work and the support we receive are bearing fruit and that these make a difference to the quality of the life of children.” Majority of the children at St. Anthony are HIV infected, their mothers having died from AIDS. By October, 38 boys and girls had been tested and were benefiting from anti-retroviral treatment while “six of the children who have never received this new treatment are now non re-active. This must be largely due to good food, healthcare and a big dose of TLC”. Noted too was that many of the toddlers had started to attend play school and would be able to start pre- school in 2007, available at the Village. Older children who are able to go to primary school are transferred to Twapia transient Home (ii), which is closer to a public school.

St Anthony Children’s Village is located in Masala Compound, Ndola, and is one of the activities run by the Dominican and Franciscan sisters, Ndola Diocese. Built with funds from Caritas-Italy, the village opened its doors to infected children in May, 2003. The village has aimed to provide both physical and emotional support to the children in a family setting. To accomplish this, the village enjoys the services of fourteen care givers, ten of whom are physically disabled girls from the Cheshire Home in Ndola. During the year, a nurse, who visited the Village on a regular basis to offer her services, moved into residence.

The positive physical, emotional and spiritual difference St. Anthony is making to the life of the children may be summed up in this child’s prayer, translated from the local language Bemba: “Dear God, I am Mary. You remember that I was very ill when I came to St. Anthony’s Village. My mother had died and I missed her so much. I could not speak to anyone about my real pain. But you always listened to me and now I have friends and kind people. All the sores on my head have gone and even my hair has grown again. I take medicine every day and that really has me feel better. Thank you Jesus and all the kind people who pay for our food, medication and education.” In 2006 ZOA provided funds to this Children’s Village for the third year. St Anthony Children’s Village is one of the two of ZOA’s projects that St John the Beloved Catholic Church, McLean, Virginia, USA, supports on a regular basis. It has also received support from the International Monetary Fund, through ZOA. Other donors such as the World Food Program and Global Funding have contributed to the Village.

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Twapia Transient Home, also run by the Dominican Sisters, has been operating since 2000. It was conceived of as a transient home, for orphans to stay while their relatives were being sought. In 2006, some of the children who had come as toddlers when the Home opened were still there, attending the nearby school. The Sisters acknowledged as they had done in 2005 that most of the children at the Home would remain there until old enough to live on their own. In 2006, ZOA received a donation from a Zambian member who wished to give something to children in need in memory of her mother, who grew up in Ndola and was committed to finding solutions in support of such children. This transient home was one of the two projects assisted in this way. The funds went into the pool for school supplies for the children.

Children of school- going age attend a public school close to the Home. This also gives them an opportunity to meet and make friends with other children from the neighborhood. A pre-school nursery for the younger children was added to the Home while the garden started in 2003 continued to provide fresh vegetables. In 2006, ZOA also contributed some clothes for the children from well wishers in the United States.

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Ndekeleni Development Foundation is situated in Ndeke Township of Mazabuka town. It was established in 2002 and registered in 2003. The HIV infection rate in Ndeke township has been rising, and more than 50 per cent of children Ndekeleni services are HIV positive, some on anti retroviral treatment. The Foundation aims to address multiple HIV/AIDS- related concerns and target three major groups: orphans and other vulnerable children, individuals who require home based care, and widows. Thus, it services the Ndeke communities in many ways:

1. it provides formal education to orphans and other vulnerable children, through a community school it runs;
2. it trains orphans and other vulnerable children in life skills and provides counseling to those who are HIV positive;
3. it supports the sick through the training of home-based care-givers, some of whom are child house hold heads;
4. it helps widows by offering training in various skills e.g. knitting, sewing basket weaving, doormat making

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In February 2007 a ZOA member from the United States visited some ZOA supported projects, among them St. Mary’s. She was impressed about the activities there and enthusiastic about the growth of the enterprise, initiated by the school, with ZOA’s help, in 2001. Then, the school had identified a maize grinding activity as the most desired in the area around the school. ZOA had assisted with the purchase of a grinding mill and a maize huller. Proceeds assisted orphaned boys at the school, then just under 40% of the student population. By 2006, the school had acquired two additional machines, one out of proceeds from the project, and had expanded the space for the machines and built a shelter for the users, extensions that ZOA supported in 2004. The ZOA visitor observed many activities going on and many end-users waiting for their turn to be serviced. She noted that the school had acquired an oil pressing machine, fed by sunflower seed from the school gardens. In 2006, ZOA provided an additional grant to replace some of the worn out equipment. The visiting ZOA member judged this as an active and potentially growing enterprise, meeting the school requirements of the orphaned children and others from very poor families.

The school benefited in other ways such as improved library facilities. It purchased the necessary books, earmarked for the orphans and other vulnerable children, but in reality other children also accessing them. Zambia Orphans of AIDS has been encouraged by this project. It seems to be running profitably enough to meet its objectives of providing assistance to orphaned children, and has broadened its support to include other vulnerable children from very poor families; it has helped the school generally in some ways, and equally important it is meeting the needs of the nearby communities, in particular lessening the burden of labor for women from the surrounding villages who would otherwise grind the maize by hand.

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Located in one of the poorest townships in Kabwe, Tangata Community NGO runs this community primary school for between 160-200 orphans. One lady from within the community was moved by the plight of orphaned and other vulnerable children so visible in the township. She mobilized a few others and together thought of a school that would both provide education to equip the children for their future and in the short-term provide them with much needed nutrition. Many guardians are themselves so poor that they cannot afford to provide meals for the children.

Six residents, males and females, got together and formed an NGO that in turn established Tangata community school. The six were qualified enough to provide the education and to mobilize then necessary support. The school became functional in 200X . The team started the school with very little capital, renting an old vacated house. In January 2007, when ZOA US chairperson visited, children simply sat on the floor since the school could not afford desks; and only a few wore uniforms, as this is an expensive item for most families in the township. But the children looked happy to be at this school and were eager to share what they learn through song and poems. Observed too was the dedication and cheerful commitment of the volunteers.

In 2006, ZOA provided funds for a poultry project that would enable the school to purchase school supplies and supplement the food needs of the children, on a more sustainable basis.

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A Catholic school run by the Sisters of Mary Immaculate, Angelina Tembo Girls School is located in Bwacha Township, Kabwe. The school has a high number of orphans across all grades. In 2005, it opened a pre-school facility for orphaned and other vulnerable children from the community. At the end of 2006 it had recorded 121 half and 140. full orphans out of 1063 girls in the school (excluding pre-school). The school takes in other vulnerable children but is open to non OVCs. Recognizing the poverty of most of the foster families, while acknowledging its own limited financial resources, it arranged for a facility to provide food for the orphans and other vulnerable children. A dining room has been set apart for them where food is provided to them free; others pay, nominally, for their lunch. The orphans also have dinner. Pre-school children get three meals a day.

To help itself in the provision of food for the OVCs, the school has a vegetable garden and a maize field. After a market survey, the school decided to also run a poultry project to raise income for school supplies and meet other needs of the orphans. A certain percentage of the chicks would be set aside for consumption for the children. In 2006, ZOA was approached for support. After a careful assessment including a visit by ZOA Z, ZOA agreed to fund the poultry project. A parishioner with training in small livestock offers technical advice to the project.

This is the second project ZOA US chairperson visited in January 2007. She was very impressed by the activities aimed at sustaining the orphans and other vulnerable children. The poultry and maize projects seemed to be run very well, while the children especially those in the pre-school looked very happy. In 2006, two high school girls were in residence at the Convent. The alternative for them could have been the streets.

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This community based organization runs a community school to serve children from three remote villages outside Mongu, the provincial capital. It first sought help from ZOA in 2005. Then, it received assistance for school supplies for the newly opened school, and to purchase second hand clothes for the children. In 2006, the group requested seed capital for a rice growing project. Proceeds would be used to cover school supplies. Zambia Orphans of AIDS, Zambia entered into a partnership with Project Concern to monitor the project on its behalf.

A Ministry of Agriculture extension worker visited and commended the rice field.

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Located in a remote part of the Western Province near the Angola border, the association first received help from ZOA in 2005 when a small grant was provided to help it purchase school supplies for the children at its newly founded community school. The association got back to ZOA in 2006 when it received a grant to enable it purchase a hammer mill. Included were transportation and installation funds. The 2006 grant included funds for school supplies for 2007. With the hammer mill enterprise, Sepiso hopes to, in future, cover the school requirements of over 100 children from the proceeds. Rapids, an NGO that operates in the area will monitor the project’s performance on behalf of ZOA Z .

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