A Student Success Story

I have spent the last few days sending out letters to the 100 plus sponsors who fund the education of 150 students at Namwianga Christian Secondary School and George Benson Christian College.  The motto of the US Sponsorship program is Building Leaders, Changing Lives.  The story of Gift is an ideal illustration of how the sponsorship program does just that.  I interviewed Gift last summer during our trip to Zambia.  It was a tough interview for me, because I was so touched by this young man's story that I had to hold back my tears.  I hope that Gift's resilience and faith will encourage all of us to have faith in difficult times.  

Gift is an impressive young man.  Articulate, smart, and confident, it is not surprising that he was chosen to serve as NCSS Headboy , the highest leadership position in the school.  The title of Headboy is respected in Zambia, and for the rest of Gift’s life, it will be something that shows his excellence and leadership.  Americans would compare it to having “Eagle Scout” on a resume. 

When you hear Gift’s story, it makes his achievements even more remarkable.  At age 13, Gift lived in the capital city of Lusaka with his parents and 5-year-old sister.  His father managed a supply company for the government, and they lived in a comfortable, modern house.  Gift attended a private boys’ school. 

All of that changed in an instant when his parents were killed in a car accident.  A week after his parents died, Gift was sent to live with his grandmother in a remote village in the bush.  He had never met his grandmother, nor had he ever been exposed to village life.  He was separated from his sister who stayed in Lusaka, and he was also separated from the only lifestyle he had ever known.  He went from a house with electricity and running water to a thatched hut shared with his grandmother and four other orphans she is raising.  Instead of the private boys’ school, he attended a rural school with other village kids. 

Gift tells his story without emotion, but one can imagine how hard it must have been.  At first he was miserable, refusing to go to school or to cooperate with his grandmother.  Eventually he decided that he had to make the best of his situation.  He worked hard in school and became part of his village family and community.  The transition, he knows, was made easier by three George Benson Christian College graduates who were teaching at his village school.  “They called me over to their house to watch TV,” he recalls, and their friendship and influence helped him adjust.  Gift excelled in school and became a student leader.  His GBCC mentors made sure that he applied for sponsorship at Namwianga Christian Secondary School and gave him good recommendations.  Gift knows that sponsorship changed his life:  “I would be sitting at home in the village if not for my sponsorship.  There was no one who would have paid for my high school fees.” 

Gift is very grateful for the opportunities he was given, and he has high hopes for the future.  He wants to become a doctor.   Gift’s remarkable story is another example of how the sponsorship program is fulfilling its mission of Building Leaders and Changing Lives.  

There are hundreds of other young people like Gift waiting for sponsors so that they can go to school at Namwianga.  If you would like more information about how to sponsor a student, please reply to this blog post with your contact information.  I will answer you personally and will not post your  reply or information.  

Orphans in Zambia

Linda’s note:  My thanks to Meagan Hawley and her blog for the poem and for inspiring me to write about the plight of orphans.

A few years ago I didn’t know any children who were orphans. Then I moved to Zambia and became sponsorship coordinator.  And that’s when I met orphans.  One afternoon I interviewed each sponsored student individually.  I was dazed as I walked home.  I threw myself on the bed and sobbed.  How else do you respond to story after story of death, desertion, and desperation? 

That particular group of students has moved on, but three of the current sponsored students have similar stories.  Grace’s mother died when Grace was 13, and her father died five years later.  At the funeral, an uncle that Grace had just met was assigned to be her guardian.  Grace tells about how this affects her:  “My uncle provides me with shelter and food, but I can’t ask him for anything else because he is looking after 16 other people.  I have no one to confide in.” 

At age nine, Kenny was sent to live with an aunt in a remote village when his parents died.  His aunt is unable to provide him with any financial support beyond food and shelter.  When Kinny found out he had a sponsorship at Namwianga, he walked 40 miles to enroll in high school.  Without sponsorship, Kinny would never have left the village. 

David is an eighth grader at Namwianga. He lived with an aunt for three years after his parents died.  She was not caring toward him, and life was miserable.  David left that home and lived on the streets of Lusaka for a year.  A relative found out about David and took him to Namwianga’s orphanage.

 “Some relatives just pretend you do not exist, no matter how much you might be struggling,” says David.  “The worst thing of being an orphan is not receiving love from parents. Anyone can love you and care for you, but no one will ever love you like your mother would.” 

A poem of unknown origin circulates in Zambia: 

My heart bleeds when I see an adult pass by.

I look in the face, hoping to see my lost father and mother.

Hoping to hear their comforting voices, hoping for a hug.

But nobody has time for me since my parents died.

I have become a scavenger.

I must roam the streets to look for food.

I have nowhere to sleep.

I cannot go to school.

When my relatives take me in I must be beaten because I am naughty.

I must do all the work because I am lazy they say.

I must be given little food because I eat too much.

If I laugh, I am making noise.

If I cry I am not grateful.

O God, it’s terrible to be an orphan.

Almost half of the sponsored students at Namwianga are considered orphans in the Zambian culture because they have lost at least one parent.  And twenty percent are full orphans because both of their parents are dead.  Many others are de facto orphans because of parental desertion or neglect.  It is easy to feel powerless in the face of such need.   And yet sponsorship is an important way to help orphans.  Students who attend Namwianga have their needs met in a caring environment that helps them grow academically, socially, and spiritually.   For most, it is a life-changing experience. 

If you are interested in changing a life, consider sponsoring an orphan or needy student in school at Namwianga.  High school students need $140 per month, and college students need $150 per month.  Partial sponsorships of $25 per month or one-time gifts are welcome. 

Sponsorship payments may be made by check, automatic debit, debit/credit card, or PayPal.  Checks should be made payable to Zambia Mission Fund and mailed to Zambia Mission Fund, Box 3393, Abilene, TX  79604. Automatic debit requests should be sent to the same address.   Paypal or credit/debit card payments may be made on the Zambia Mission website:  www.zambiamission.org.  Click on Donate and be sure to specify that your donation is for student sponsorship.  If you have questions, please post them as a comment and I will get back to you.  Your comment will not be posted unless you request it to be. 

GBCC Graduate Ministers in Northern Zambia

One of the first sponsored students I worked with at George Benson Christian College was Steward Chiradza.  He was quiet and reserved in class, but his grades were always high and his work was always excellent.  

            Steward finished his classes in 2008 and volunteered for Northreach, a program that places GBCC graduates in areas of Zambia where the church is weak. He was sent alone to Nakonde, a border town with all of the challenges and turmoil associated with border towns.  He did a very effective work with the congregation there before being posted to Luwingu in northern Zambia. 

            Recently Steward contacted me by e-mail.   He teaches high school English and religious education at Luwingu High School.  He is married and has twin daughters.  Steward works with a local congregation in preaching, teaching, and evangelism.  Under his leadership, the congregation now has 40 members and is in the process of building a brick building to replace the thatch enclosure they meet in now.

            Steward says that GBCC prepared him for his roles of teacher and evangelist by giving him courage, Bible knowledge, and leadership training. He is another success story who demonstrates the effectiveness of preparing self-supporting church planters.    

            Steward would not be teaching and serving today without the US Sponsorship program.  Both of his parents had died, and without sponsorship Steward could not have attended George Benson Christian College.   Many other orphans and needy students are waiting right now to hear whether or not they will have a place at Namwianga when the new school year begins in January.  If you would like to make a difference in someone's life, consider sponsoring a student or making a one-time donation to the sponsorship program.  

Sponsorship payments may be made by check, automatic debit, debit/credit card, or PayPal.  Checks should be made payable to Zambia Mission Fund and mailed to Zambia Mission Fund, Box 3393, Abilene, TX  79604.  PayPal or credit/debit card payments may be made on the Zambia Mission website:  www.zambiamission.org .  Click on Donate and be sure to specify that your donation is for student sponsorship.  If you have questions, please contact me at dlgregersen@mac.com.

Gifts

I really wanted to be in Zambia this June!  We had made plans to make the trip with two couples from our congregation and were looking forward to being at Namwianga and also doing some touristy things with them.  Then one couple found out their daughter was expecting a baby in late June. . . and we found out our daughter was expecting a baby in late June, and that ended our plans for a trip this year.  Of course we are thrilled about having more grandchildren and look forward to spending the rest of the summer loving on them.  

So now I am planning Namwianga events via e-mail and phone calls.  One of those events is the sponsorship reception.  There will be over 100 Americans at Namwianga in July for the annual Zambia Medical Mission.  Many of them sponsor students at the high school and college, so there is an afternoon reception planned for the sponsors to meet and interact with their sponsored students.  

Most sponsors want to give a gift at this reception, so Rajiv and I came up with a list of suggested gifts that sponsors can present to their students.  I thought you might be interested in what Zambian students like to receive.

Here's the list.

1. NIV Bible (Whenever I have offered gifts to students, this is the first thing to be selected!)  
2. T-shirt - Any color or logo is fine (You can often get freebies left over from an event) 
3. ball cap  for guys - gimme caps are great
4. Tote bag (for carrying books)
5. Socks, especially for high school students.  The boys have to wear gray dress socks with their uniforms, and they can also use other kinds of socks.  Girls wear white knee socks with their  uniforms, but they also like other kinds of socks (consider colorful, fun patterns or solid color knee socks).  College guys can use dress or athletic socks.  
6. For high schoolers, scientific calculators are a BIG help.  They need to have sine, cosine, and tangent functions, but do not need to be graphing calculators.  
7. Zipper pencil pouch and ink pens
8. Composition notebooks  
9. Sheet set for twin bed
10. Bath towel and washcloth
11. Sunglasses  

We are also offering to purchase pre-paid phone cards ($5.00) or blankets ($20.00) in Zambia for sponsors to give so that they do not have to make extra room in their luggage.  

Students love to get school supplies.  

Sponsored Student

I'm still very involved in the US Sponsorship Program at Namwianga. This week I've been writing up bios of the new grade 10 sponsored students. I haven't met many of them, but I do know a few from interviews I conducted last October. Gift Kabali is one that I remember well because he was so impressive.

I interviewed Gift Kabali at Sinde Basic School last October. I knew immediately he was the kind of person that the sponsorship program is designed to help. Both of his parents died in 2006, and since then he has lived with his grandmother at Sinde. She is also raising his brother and sister and some other orphans.

Gift had one of the highest qualifying scores I've ever seen -- he scored more than 100 points above the minimum cutoff point on the high school entrance exam. He is also a leader and last year was the Headboy at his school, the highest leadership position available.

Helping students like Gift is what the sponsorship program is all about. I'm glad I can be a part of it.

High School in Zambia

After five years in Zambia, I am still trying to understand the intricacies of the Zambian educational system, but I have finally mastered the basics of getting into high school . Here's what it takes: A student attends a Basic School for grades 8 and 9. At the end of grade 9, the student (called a pupil here) takes a government exam--actually eight exams, each lasting for two hours or more. It consumes over two weeks of the school term just to take the exams. Then the pupil goes home--usually in November--and waits for his "results." These come out in February. In 2008 and 2009, the results weren't sent out until mid-February, but this year they were ready by February 1. The results of the grade 9 exam are extremely important. Only those who make above the "government cutoff point" are guaranteed a spot in a boarding school. Those who make below cutoff must either wait for an opening or accept a spot in a day school. For those in remote villages, a day school education means staying in town and living away from family in a rented hut alone or with a friend or two. It also means doing all your own cooking. (My friends who have done this tell me they had to spend hours every day searching for firewood and trying to find odd jobs just to buy their food, leaving little time for studying.)

High school is not free in Zambia, so those lucky ones who earned a place in boarding school now have two weeks in which to "report" by showing up at school with their fees and school supplies.

So right now all over Zambia there is a mad scramble to get the money together for fees and supplies. Pupils go to their relatives, their neighbors, aid programs, and their friends asking for help. I have hopeful pupils at my door from 7:00 in the morning until late afternoon. All come with a slip of paper showing their total test score--for some, that will be the number that seals their future. Some of those who come are accepted on sponsorship at Namwianga. Some are referred to other programs. And some who have low scores are advised to repeat grade nine and try for better results.

Some have the money for school fees, but need school supplies. School supplies here are far more than just notebooks and pens! Boarding pupils must bring their own mattress, sheets, blankets, buckets for taking baths and carrying water, a garden tool for campus maintenance, toiletries, and a school uniform which includes black shoes. And of course a trunk or suitcase to lock up your belongings is helpful too. The costs for school supplies can easily be almost as much as a term's tuition. My spare bedroom is full of mattresses, uniforms, school supplies, and toiletries to help out those who are sponsored at Namwianga, and usually I can provide a little for those who are going to other places.

What happens after the two week "grace period"? Those who didn't report to school within the two weeks will lose their places--and their chance to go to high school and be in boarding this year. Now some of those who had lower scores will be offered places, and the scramble for fees and supplies continues.