News

Marian with her little sister Eunice, who she had brought over for feeding. Marian is improving in her health. She is fit and always goes to school. Months back she used to be constantly sick and missed classes, which resulted in her going back to Grade Five. She was supposed to be in Grade Seven this year.

Meet little Irene Musonda. She is five years old and is in Georgina's class. She loves singing and most of the time when they sing in class she is on top. She lives with both Mum and Dad and has a little brother who is six months old. Her Dad works for the Council.

Violet with her granddaughter. Her daughter, who is the mother of this baby, recently lost her husband. Now Violet at her age has the responsibility to take care of her daughter and two grandchildren until the daughter is able to stand on her feet. The late husband used to drink a lot and left nothing for her.

Cheri showing off her new set of teeth after two front teeth were pulled out.

Loveness Chilambwe reading the little book during extra lessons at the property.

Blessing having his lunch after class at the property.

Marjorie, one of our students, reciting a poem entitled "Mama Cheri." The poem is very popular among the older students here at Living Compassion. It tells how much Mama Cheri has done for us here in Kantolomba.

Monica trying out reading with the help of Josephine. The counting of words is becoming popular at the property and no one wants to be left out.

Rose and Queen demonstrating reading the words on the board to the other students in class. When she has free time from doing health work, Rose helps the students go through extra lessons at the property.

The Stay in School team busy reading together.

Taking care of the lawn at the property. This time of the year everything is turning brown and most plants are not growing well. Here at the property we are making sure that we tend the surroundings to beautify them.

Reading. Grade 7 students going through an English book together after extra lessons.

Susan making sure that the coming month's All Stars charts are done. Here she is preparing an All Star chart as some Grade 8 pupils behind her put up their stars on one of the charts on the wall.

A grateful parent came out three days this week to help out at the property. He is Mr. Chitundu, the father of one of the children in the program. He says he is very grateful to the Living Compassion staff, both here and in the USA, for the good work that we are doing, especially feeding the children and giving them extra lessons free of charge. He was saying that his son has improved in his lessons at school because of the English lessons he is receiving and this prompted him to come out to the property to volunteer.

Joy and Isaiah. He was asked what colors were on his T shirt. Joy is teaching about colors and the children know what color when asked. Isaiah is a very smart boy and knows all the colors.

Living Compassion has a group of girls who have vowed to "Stay In School" no matter what. This program is helping these young girls to get good grades. After they have their lunch they get into class and have extra lessons in English.

Living Compassion has helped even the team members to improve in their English as they teach the young ones.

Mervis, a student in Charles's class, sits and listens to her teacher as he reads from the reading book. She is one of the many girls in Kantolomba who did not get a chance when young to go to school. With the program here at Living Compassion she now has a chance to learn English.

Reading together. Let's support these girls—they are the next Theresa Kapendas!

Loving and compassionate, the USA team helped Violet, who had bad teeth, with a set of new ones. She now is able to chew much better.

Clean water for all. Karen carries a bucket of the commodity for her mum. At Living Compassion we have a well which is the only one in the community. It provides clean water for the whole compound and most households depend on it.

Sister Rose with Susan going through her work after classes. Susan is improving in her class work. She did not know anything about schoolwork before she came to the property.

Veronica helping out. She shows that stirring nshima is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

A government school student leads her friends in reading the simple English book "Sara and Robert." Reading is becoming very popular at the property.

Giving extra lessons to Government School students is one of the most important projects that Living Compassion here in Kantolomba is undertaking in order to help these students improve their English.

Living Compassion puts smiles on faces of children in Kantolomba. Little Sheba and her friend look healthy and strong. It's all because of the good and nutritious meals that are given to them as lunch after classes.

Natasha, one of the girls in the Stay In School program here at Living Compassion. The program helps these young girls to stay in school by providing them with school requirements like books, school fees, etc.

Eugenia demonstrating to the students that learning has no age limit. She shows that she too is learning how to read and write English while she volunteers at the property. She told them that she is lucky to learn how to read here, unlike others who just sit at home. She is now able to write her name and can understand some simple English words and sentences. She encouraged the children that this is the right time for them to learn and study hard while they are still young, for it is very easy for them to understand.

A television set and educational DVDs were given to the property for use by Rose. The DVDs are of ABCs and how to pronounce the letters. We set the TV in Veronica's class for each class and they follow the proceedings, then after each program the children repeat the alphabet. Children here are enjoying every minute of the program.

Meet little Comfort. He is in school here at the property. He is the brother of Clive and Hector and is the youngest in a family of all boys. These guys are very bright when it comes to school work, and Comfort is no exception. He enjoys counting and drawing.

Comfort with a friend during break time.

Meet Victor Mulenga who is in Grade Six at Government school. He is in the Living Compassion program and comes for extra lessons everyday at the property. He says though he comes from a very poor home he will work very hard to finish school and make his grandmother proud. She has been looking after him for the past eight years after the death of both his parents.

Natasha in her new uniform. It was bought for her by three teachers who put together some money aside, a true gesture of compassion.

The little faces enjoying TV time at the property. There is unusual quietness when they listen to the teacher on the screen.

This is Mr. Banda, who has been selling us the little English books. He came round today in the morning with two new books that we do not have in our library. Here teachers Joy and Veronica check out the books.

The small truck that delivers the eggs to the property. Good news is that the egg company is from within Ndola and it is easy to have them delivered fresh from the farm. We call them every Monday and they come on Tuesday.

Theresa and her two friends smile for the camera as I went round all the classes to say hello to them.

Veronica chatting with Joy, who is helping carry the eggs. Wonder what they were discussing! Check out the T shirt that Veronica is wearing—is it not coooool?

Peanut butter for our rice being prepared. It is easy to make and very nutritious. Let me tell you the recipe: For three people, 1 cup of rice, 5 tablespoons peanut butter, pinch of salt. Boil the rice until tender, add the peanut butter and salt, stir until well mixed. Serve either hot or cold. Try it, it's yummy!

Teacher Joy preparing work for her students.

The sales lady checking the eggs just to make sure that she does not deliver cracked ones, as here at Living Compassion our eggs are boiled.

Nshima cooking. Susan and Pauline stir the thick porridge to make it ready for lunch. It takes two people and a lot of strength to prepare it.

Reading time. Some of the Grade 7 students read with teacher Joy during extra lessons at the property.

Some of the older students now know how to operate the laptops, though under very strict supervision. Here Marjorie and her friend point out the words on the computer.

Genki time. Some of the Living Compassion students sing a Genki song from the computer.

Grade 1 students doing their extra lessons at the property.

Lunch time is over and it is time to go home. Having left some lunch for their siblings, they carry their boxes on their little heads to take it home to share.

Meet little Theresa, a student in Joy's class. She was named after Theresa because a few years back her Mum, Melody, who happens to be the daughter of Euginia (one of the staff members), was helped by Living Compassion when she was very sick. She had TB of the stomach and Living Compassion helped by bringing Dr. Obi to attend to her. Proper medication was given, and after six months her health had changed completely. Now she is married and is a very healthy and proud mother of two.