Cooperative member Audria and her granddaughter having breakfast while sitting in the sun. If the weather in the morning is chilly, a cup of tea is good!
Karen, co-op member JoAnne’s daughter, has been with us since she was very small. She is all grown up and looking beautiful, and she came to have lunch and to help out with chores.
Esther, one of our Grade 6 students, eating her lunch. She is sponsored to attend Oremus School and proudly wears her school uniform. Our whole community is so proud of these girls—our future!
See how time flies--Felistus and Onester have just graduated from Grade 12! Felistus, daughter of co-op member Charles, did very well on her exams, and her ambition is to be a doctor. Onester is still waiting on her results. Here they pose in their uniforms after having their lunch, back in December.
Peter is a long-time cooperative member. He lost his wife a few years back and was left with the responsibility of taking care of his children on his own. He says his co-op stipend has allowed him to take good care of his family. He also has all of us behind him to help. Here he is with Ester, his first daughter, in their home.
Co-op member Doris has an infectious smile! She, too, says the stipend has changed her life. She did not have a proper home, but now her living standard is changing, with safe housing and proper nutrition for her whole family. Much to smile about!
Co-op member Charity is a mother of six. The last-born Mildred, in front, is one of sponsored Oremus Grade 2 students. Mildred is doing extremely well in her school studies, making Charity a very proud Mum.
Climate change brought unusually heavy rains to Zambia again earlier this year. This caused an outbreak of cholera, and we have stepped up health measures. Here are our little ones use clean water to wash their hands before eating. That smile!
Our clean water here at Living Compassion serves a lot of people in Kantolomba. The community appreciates it very much, especially in these times. The water is collected in containers such as these.
Many in the cooperative grow some of their own food. Here is Younger Foster prepping her maize grain she harvested from her little piece of land. The maize will be taken to the hammer mill to be ground into mealie meal. Foster is lending her farming expertise to the new garden project at Living Compassion.
Guess who? It’s Emmanuel, one of Josephine’s sons, all grown up. He’s a big boy now and takes care of his siblings. Here he is carrying his baby brother Joshua.
Serving lunch is a huge part of what we do every day at Living Compassion, Kantolomba. We never get tired of seeing the happy faces taking their lunch boxes off to a nice spot to eat. We hope you don’t either!
More happy faces!
This young fellow is about to get in line with his friends to receive his lunch.
Yup, pretty excited!
Making huge pots of nshima keeps us staff in good shape! Here Veronica is taking her turn stirring the pot.
Malila takes a turn.
Foster shows off some of our nutritious greens that are eaten with nshima.
Co-op member Martha and her daughter Mary. Martha had not been feeling well the past week, and Mary came to visit her. This is not just your average visit of a daughter visiting her Mum, as Mary is one of our young women in nursing school! Imagine the thrill to have your daughter visit AND be able to check up on your health!
Our very own co-op member, Eugenia, feeling better and back for a visit after not being well. We as Team Living Compassion are happy that she is okay now. She will soon retire, and her daughter will take her place in the cooperative. We will introduce her to you when the time comes!
One of the aspects we co-op members love about the work we do is getting to see that kids get to be kids-- safe, happy and fed, playing in the community. Here some boys are playing football around the grounds. Just behind them are two different types of roofs: the type on the right was used by almost all the homes in Kantolomba until people started putting up sturdier roofs like the one on the left. This was made possible by the Living Compassion roof loan program.
Little Sandra shows off her best cute smile for the camera. She is in teacher Beatrice’s class.
A big brother heading to Living Compassion for school and for lunch with his little siblings.
Another big brother with his little brother, Stain, who usually tags along when his brother comes here for lunch.