Who is Zambian Mission Project? (See also Board Bios)
ZMP-US is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit all-volunteer US based organization that works as a sister organization to an all Zambian board located in Lusaka, Zambia (ZMP-Zambia). We raise funds in support of our sister board who is working to establish an Orphan Care Center that will provide support to orphans and vulnerable children in a rural community west of Lusaka in the Central Province of Zambia.
How did we get started?
In the summer of 2015, a young man named Sandwell Zgambo (Zē am bo) from Eastern Zambia came to Minden, Nebraska to serve an internship at the Minden Evangelical Free Church. The internship was part of his masters program at Moody Bible Seminary. During his time in Minden, he became good friends with several church members at Minden EFree. He shared with them his story of being orphaned at the age of 9 when his mother, who had been divorced and left with 3 young boys, died from HIV. He also shared with them the vision he had of returning to Zambia to start a gospel ministry to orphans in Zambia. Inspired by this vision, in Spring 2016, a small group of these friends formed a non-profit organization and named it Zambian Mission Project (ZMP-US). The founding purpose of this organization was to partner with Sandwell in starting a compassionate care ministry to orphans in Zambia. When he completed his degree and returned to Zambia, Sandwell and a group of his friends started a Zambian Mission Project-Zambia (ZMP-Zambia) that began to partner with ZMP-US to develop a vision of orphan care ministry and a plan to carry it out.
What is the need?
Zambia is a country in Southern Africa that has rich natural resources but significant poverty. In 2014 the average per capita income in Zambia was just over $4,000. This puts the country at the lower end of the low middle category of nations in the world. In other words, it is not among the very poorest countries, but just above the poorest. It has a population of about 16 million with about a million orphans many of those due to HIV deaths. Many of these children do not have access to education and vocational training and are at high risk of perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
What is our Vision?
ZMP (US and Zambia) desires to develop a new kind of compassionate care ministry for orphans and at-risk children in the Nangoma region of Central Zambia. This ministry will help to meet the immediate needs of food, clothing and school supplies. Also, we will also work to address the critical need for quality academic education and vocational training of these children. Our main departure from traditional orphanage care will be that residential care will only be provided by a parenting couple (mother and father) as needed for at-risk children. This will usually be provided on a temporary basis, limited to a healthy ratio of children to adults (~8:2 adjusted as needed). Most of our care and outreach will be to children in the local community. We believe that children who are mentored in the gospel and life skills will be able to grow into self-sufficient adults who can mentor children themselves as productive members of the community. We also believe that is the best way we can help children in Zambia break out of the cycle of poverty and dependency.
How do we plan to carry out this vision?
By establishing and developing a care center for orphans and at-risk children called the ZMP Community Care Center. The center will identify and reach out to at-risk children in the community. This center will develop sustainable conservation agriculture, livestock husbandry, and artisan craft making as a means of becoming a self-sustaining center through entrepreneurial enterprise. To develop the agriculture at the center, we will partner with Agrihope Inc. (agrihope.org), an organization with a proven track record of helping many African farmers develop their land into highly productive farms. The center will be organized and managed by ZMP-Zambia who will care for and provide training for children from the surrounding the area.
Currently we have accomplished the following steps toward developing this Center:
- Purchase of ~17 acres of land about 1.5 hours west of Lusaka, Zambia in Nangoma region of Central Province.
- Installation of bore hole (which is a deep water well) and water tower.
- Installation of fencing completely around border of the property.
- Building a small building to serve as a residence for Center Manager.
- Purchase of generator to provide electricity to power water pump and residence.
- Hired a Caretaker ($400/month) to begin to develop the land agriculturally and protect the assets in place.
Next Steps
- Hiring manager to oversee operations of the Center. Need to raise $500/month for manager’s salary.
- A gate needs to be added to the fencing to completely enclose and protect the land. ($1,500)
- Purchase of reliable transportation (most likely a van) for the transport of people and materials to/from the center. ($12,000)
- Installation of plumbing for residence and irrigation for trees and garden to be planted. ($2,500)
- Building a new larger residential building for the manager and family that would allow the center to providing housing to at-risk children. ($30,000)