News

Twins Jen and John, who were in Beatrice's class, are now in Grade One at Future Matters School here in Kantolomba. The twins are the last-born in a family of six other children who are sets of twins, too. Here in Zambia one is considered lucky to have two or more sets of twins.

Edna and her friend smile for the camera after lunch and school. Edna, on the right, is our very own Natasha's daughter. Edna and her parents live here at Living Compassion and take care of the place when we are not working.

Majority and other students from Twatemwa School line up to get their share at lunch. Majority is eight years old and is the fifth-born in a family of seven siblings. She is the daughter of Charity, a volunteer here at Living Compassion.

The women at the kitchen area sorting the nuts in readiness for Friday's peanut butter rice. One of them is our very own Euginia, who was in hospital a week ago but is back to work and feeling much better.

John, son of the late Ethel, doing some painting. He volunteers with Living Compassion, and the stipend he gets helps him with his brother's school fees.

Charles's class smiling for the camera.

Ann during lunch break. She is mother of six and is taking care of her sister's four children. Her sister Benadette was a volunteer but fell sick some years back, and Ann had to take up her place in order to take care of the children. Today Benadette is in the village with relatives and uses a wheelchair. Ann is a very good mum to the children, hard-working and a big help with tutoring.

Some of the writing that the little ones do in Memory's class. They are taught basics, and when the time is right they go to Grade One at Twatemwa School here in Kantolomba.

Busy drawing using the floor as a desk. The little ones in Beatrice's class enjoy drawing and coloring.

Memory in class helping her student Joyce read some English words. Joyce is now seven years old and is ready to go to Grade One next year.

Natasha in the kitchen area cooking soup for the rice and egg meal.

Younger Foster pounding nuts for Friday's peanut butter rice. The dish is good and nutritious.

Prepared nuts and eggs.

The most wonderful and cute smile of the week, from little Stella, who is Memory's class.

Juliet with a smile on her face, carrying eggs to be boiled. She is a mother of two and is taking care of her grandmother Margret, who retired. Juliet is hard-working, just like her grandmother.

Blessing posing for a photo at Theresa's house. She loves visiting Theresa on weekends.

Little Bony smiling for the camera in class. He is one of the best students in his class, and we hope that when he goes to Grade One, he continues to be the best.

Natasha sitting at the tap rinsing her chitenge in clean water. She is now the caretaker here at Living Compasion. She's the mother of two, a boy who's in Malila's class and a girl who's in Memory's class.

Zilo and Regina preparing nuts. They pound and seive them, then they pound them into peanut butter. It is used on Fridays, which is peanut butter rice day.

Grade Four students from Twatemwa School. Theresa's namesake with her friends pose for a photo after their meal.

Our cute little faces of Kantolomba for this week are from Beatrice's class.

Playing the game of Pick Paper Pick. The little ones scramble to pick up any piece of paper they find lying around the grounds. This teaches them the lesson not to throw paper on the ground.

Brenda singing as she pounds the nuts in a mortar. The women like to sing when working in the kitchen area.

Bruce having his lunch. He is so cute and loves hanging around Living Compassion and playing.

Ann helping the little ones in Susan's class. She has been of great help, especially in English.

Susan in action in her class. She imparts the knowledge she got from Sister Phil and is good at teaching Genki.

Our cute little faces of the week from Teacher Susan's class. They look adorable!

Reciting the alphabet. Little Chilando is trying his best to get everything correct.

Wednesday's English work in Teacher Beatrice's class.

Beautiful smiles from three friends in Malila's class.

A huge pot of beans boiling in readiness for lunch. Beans are cooked every Wednesday. The women wake up as early as 0500hrs in the morning to start the preparations.

Some of our team members preparing nuts and sorting beans in advance. The nuts and beans need a lot of attention to remove twigs, stones, and grass.

The little ones enjoying their lunch of egg and rice. This meal is their favourite meal of the week.

Taking a breather. Carrying the huge, heavy, hot pot from the kitchen to the dining hall takes two people. It's good exercise!

A group of boys displaying team work as they carry a table to one of the classes.

Margret carrying a bucket of nshima on her head.

Here in Zambia we are taught how to carry things on our heads at an early age. This is normal and easy for us, and some even balance a load without holding it. Here Prisca balances a bucket of nshima on her head.

Audria, a mother of eight and grandmother of five, still looking cute and beautiful.

This week's faces of Kantolomba, the little ones from Memory's class.

Racheal helping out in the dining hall. She rewrote her Grade Twelve exams and is waiting for her results to come out at the end of this month.

Grade Three students from Twatemwa School pose for a photo.

Older Foster busy cooking, preparing soya chunks outside the kitchen. Inside the cooking area, nshima is being cooked on other braziers.

Our cute little faces of Kantolomba.

Our little ones wait patiently as the food is being dished out. They can't wait to fill their little tummies with nshima, soya chunks, and veggies.

Lining up for lunch.

The huge pot of soya chunks being carried to the dining hall by our two strong ladies of the team.

Stirring a huge pot of nshima. Cooking the nshima is done by two people.

Little Nono, who is in Malila's class, smiles for the camera just after having her lunch.

Pauline preparing the veggies.

Natasha at the tuck shop buying some sweets for herself.

Josephine in the dining hall, which has been repainted. We changed the color from blue to green, and it looks lovely.

Natasha clearing cobwebs in one of the rooms. Overall cleaning is done every Friday. Cobwebs are removed, windows are cleaned, and much more.

This week's beautiful cute faces of Kantolomba are from Teacher Malila's class. Wonderful and cute smiles!

Some of our girls in the program pose before going into their respective pods. Karen Ngandwe is in Grade Nine at Twabo school, Olina Luchembe is in Grade Eight at Twabo school, Memory Luchele is in Grade Eight at Twabo school, and Bwalya Mwenya is in Grade Nine at Lubuto Primary School.

Anne cleaning windows.

Susan giving Peter a hand as he prepares the new green paint for the dining hall.

This week we received a visit from Joy, who left us a few months ago to go to the Eastern province for teaching work. She came to visit us as she is on holiday at her place of work. She is a full-time teacher and she gave a talk to the girls. The team were so happy to see her and they all hugged her. She will be going back on Monday.

Martha and Older Foster sharing a light moment. Older Foster is the oldest team member and we love the advice she shares.

Rechael with her friends during lunch time. The girls are on break from school and are with us in their respective pods.

Little Jen gives her best smile. She is in Malila's class.

Simon singing after having his lunch. He is in Grade Four at Twatemwa School. He loves to play football and enjoys being around Living Compassion with his friends.

Our photo of the week: the girls' team with Joy after classes.

Doreen just finished her teaching practice and passed with flying colors. She will be going back to college the first week of September, and while she is on hoilday she is at Living Compassion helping with the girls.

Cute faces of our very own girls in the program.

Marian with her siblings, baby Andrew and Peace. Marian brought baby Andrew strapped on her for his feed.

Older Foster carrying a bucket of water. She fell sick with malaria a week ago and is feeling much better after taking medication.

The girls in class before going into their respective pods. Schools have closed and the girls are here in the morning. Those in examination classes are at their schools in the morning, then later in the afternoon they come here.

Charity and Zilo fetching water at the tap. They are the newest members of the team. Zilo is our old Angela's daughter.

Girls in Doreen's class.

Monica cleaning the huge pots.

Some of the team members working together arranging some rocks. They were singing the Happy Song as they were working.

Marget dancing to the songs that the other team members were singing whilst working. A happy mood indeed!

Remember little Debora, who was in Joy and Sister Phil's first English class? Theresa knows that Sister Phil would be overjoyed to see her now that she has grown so big. She is now in Grade Three at Chiluba Primary school in Lubuto. She no longer sucks her thumb, as she used to do when she was three years old. Debora lives with her grandmother (Younger Foster), her mum, aunties, and an uncle.

Richard Bwalya, a student at Future Matters, waiting for his lunch at Living Compassion. Richard is an orphan who lives with his grandmother and older brother. The grandmother does odd jobs like washing peoples clothes around Lubuto, while his older brother goes out each day to Masala market to do pieces of work like carrying loads for people.

Malila with some students from Twatemwa pose for a photo after library time.

Our little Bupe singing to us. She is four years old and is in Susan's class. She has a very cute voice and loves to sing.

Pauline fetching water for her home use at the Living Compassion tap. Lately water from the community taps in Kantolomba has been coming out greenish and smelly. The residents are lucky and have been coming to fetch drinking water from Living Compassion.

Joy and his friends after playing football. The boys like to hang around Living Compassion. Tests are going on at their schools and the children come here as early as 0900hrs, just after finishing writing.

Happy faces of Kantolomba. They are happy, they look healthy, and they love running around Living Compassion.

Our beautiful cute faces of Kantolomba.

Little Nora enjoying a plate of nshima with beans.

Ruth preparing veggies. After her mother passed away years ago, she has grown up taking care of her siblings and taking them to school. She misses her mother but is happy that life has been made easy because she has a family to look to and they encourage her every day. She says the Living Compassion team is her pillar as she goes on each day taking care of her brothers and sisters.