Hello, my name is Jonas.
I am a 8 year old boy in grade 1.
My birthday is November 28th.
My favorite subject in school is math.
In my free time I enjoy soccer.
I live in village of Mtendere East and attend school at
African Vision of Hope in Kabulonga, Zambia.
$37.00 per month |
Meet Jonas
Jonas is an 8 year old boy from the village of Mtendere East which is in Lusak Zambia. At home Jonas’s duties include many household chores such as sweeeping, washing, and fetching water. He also has responsibilities in caring for his younger siblings and “extended” family. Jonas really enjoys learning about English in school and in the limited free time he has, enjoys Football / Soccer.
Daily Life
Daily life for Jonas and his friends is very difficult. The majority of his friends from Mtendere East, his home, are not able to afford to go to public school and survive on a single small meal per day. This meal is primarily made of nshima – a staple that is made of ground corn flour boiled in water.
Making An Impact
By being in school at African Vision of Hope Kabulonga, Jonas is not only having his mind “fed”, but he is benefiting from a nutritious meal each day he is in school. The majority of these children live with a single parent or relative. Others have been forced to live with whomever will take them in, and being forced to the streets by the age of 6 is not uncommon.
Jonas and his friends not only have physical poverty but they a poverty that can’t be seen. They have lost hope and do not believe that their life matters or that they matter.
Jonas desires to know that someone cares for him , thinks he is of value, and needs someone to encourage him, that there is truly a Hope for a better tomorrow. Jonas’s story can begin with you.
African Vision of Hope – Kabulonga
The school in Kabulonga a community inside the capital city of Lusaka, is the first school built by African Vision of Hope nearly 15 years ago. The campus is central to many compounds and currently is home to nearly 800 students from grade 1 through grade 12.In Zambia the school year runs from January through December. The children will have short breaks during April, August, and December.The school day begins around 8:00am, lunch runs in shifts starting around noon. As classes wrap up during the afternoon, some children will stay at the campus to study or help classmates with studies while others must hurry off to perform “piece-works” which we would call odd-jobs. These “piece-works” are a necessary part of many of the children’s daily survival and are how money is earned to pay for living expenses at home such as rent, food, and clothing.
Kabulonga School
Mtendere East
Mtendere East is within walking distance to the school in Kabulonga and is one of Lusaka’s 37 “informal” settlements with an estimated population of 50,000+. The local people refer to these informal settlements as compounds or a village. The streets are comprised of gravel and dirt paths that weave their way through the area like rickety vines sprawling through a garden.
Home
Most of the homes are rented properties. Each house is generally a single room measuring 10′ x 10′. These houses will be constructed of hand made blocks, tin roofs, and crudely made doors. A home as described will rent for about 400 Kwatcha per month. The average income for a family in the compound would be close to 500 Kwatcha per month. Once the rents are paid, the family will struggle to survive on the remaining 100 Kwatcha (about $9.00) for the entire month. Without African Vision of Hope these children would have no hope of attending school.
Living & Economic Conditions
- The houses are packed in tightly together.
- Front or back yards do not exist.
- Standard construction is considered very poor.
- For most the tasks of cooking, laundering, bathing are all tasks completed outside.
- Unemployment is rampant – most work is “piece” work or day laboring.
- Even though there is a very high death rate for children under 5 in these conditions – children are abundant and a never ending product of these environments.
- It is not uncommon for fathers to prostitute out young children for the price of a meal.
Sanitation & Water
There is no public sanitation, simple crude pit latrines scattered throughout the homes and shared by multiple families within the proximity. As well water is provided by taps positioned in various locations throughout the compounds. Use of this water is not free and it is not uncommon for the water to simply be turned off for extended periods of times at various taps.
Mtendere East Area
Struggling To Survive
Day to day survival for the vulnerable and orphaned children of Zambia is very difficult. A land locked country in southern Africa, Zambia suffers greatly due to the continuing pandemic of HIV/AIDS, starvation, and the inability to offer free education to its children.To quote Mary, one of the African Vision of Hope students,
Without education you have no voice, without education you have no future, without education you have no hope.
Empowerment through education is the key to these children being lifted out of these dire living conditions. You have the opportunity to shine the light of Jesus into the hearts of these desperate children. A blessed opportunity through your relationship and the writing of letters to speak hope into a world that has become hopeless to them.
$37.00 per Month
