Learning As We Grow

The need to build capacity in the people of Zambia is vital for transformation and sustainability. We are working closely with the indigenous people of the poverty-stricken Western Province, which covers 17% of the total area of Zambia. Hands of Hope initiatives include:

Agriculture
Working with 1000 rural farm families from training through post-harvest activities to include bio-fuel production, intercropped fields, vegetable gardens and animal husbandry. 

Economic Development
Developing agricultural business services to create markets for farmers’ crops and providing microfinance loans to access credit and financial services to minimize risk, increase accountability and maximize return to farmers.

Education
Providing educational facilities which are in short supply throughout the Western Province. We have funded the construction of the Limulunga Community School, as well as supplying educational materials, to serve 600 orphans and at-risk children.

Health Care
The distribution of existing healthcare centers is uneven, distant and difficult to reach. At the end of 2004, the Western Province had 112 health centers with a total capacity of 1,928 beds to serve 765,000 people. The added burden of the HIV/AIDS pandemic makes health care a critical concern. Hands of Hope plans to address these needs by:

            •           Building a community medical clinic
            •           Addressing the nutritional needs of school-age children.

Water
Clean, fresh water is one of the biggest challenges faced by the people of Zambia’s Western Province, particularly those living on the dry uplands. Even in the floodplain areas to the south, residents draw their drinking water from shallow wells polluted with numerous water-borne diseases. We are currently planning to provide 10 wells and irrigation systems for local farm families.