Banana Plantation Development: Holistic Support for Hundreds of Orphans in Zambia

Monday, April 30, 2012

Banana Plantation Development: Holistic Support for Hundreds of Orphans in Zambia

Monday, April 30, 2012

bananas2Today, there are over 14 million orphaned children in Africa, many of these children having lost parents to the horrors of AIDS.

In response to this crisis, Bread and Water for Africa® has been partnering with the Kabwata Orphanage and Transit Centre (link to africanrelief page on them) in Lusaka, Zambia for over 10 years by emphasizing holistic solutions so that communities in need are engaged in the solution and have the necessary resources to ensure that the solutions are sustainable.

 

bananaslgToday, there are over 14 million orphaned children in Africa, many of these children having lost parents to the horrors of AIDS. According to UNICEF (2009), there are more than 14.9 million children (0-17years) reported to be AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa who have lost one or both parents because of AIDS. Life expectancy in Zambia is only 52 years and there are 690,000 AIDS orphans in Zambia (2009).

The problem is particularly severe in Zambia, where in 2009; an estimated 690,000 of 1.2 million children – that is one in every four Zambian children – had lost at least one parent to AIDS.

In response to this crisis, Bread and Water for Africa® has been partnering with the Kabwata Orphanage and Transit Centre in Lusaka, Zambia for over 10 years by supporting orphan care programs, healthcare, education, water well development, child sponsorship program, and micro loan programs for youth.

Kabwata

Standing outside the Kabwata Orphanage and Transit Centre

Our programs emphasize holistic solutions so that communities in need are engaged in the solution and have the necessary resources to ensure that the solutions are sustainable. Thus, not only does our work with the Kabwata Centre emphasize accessible medical treatments – but they also educate local villages on the importance of prevention and recognizing diseases in a timely manner. Their child sponsorship program truly epitomizes the importance of the “village raising a child” as it tackles the critically high number of orphans in the area by finding them homes and caregivers.

In 2006, Bread and Water for Africa® funded Phase I of an income generating project that would develop 3 acres worth of a banana plantation that would support the orphan care program through the profits from selling bananas. The main goal for this project was to establish a project that would support The Kabwata Orphanage and nurture them to a stage of self sufficiency – the goal that we at Bread and Water for Africa® strive for in all of our projects.

Since the completion of Phase I, the plantation has been generating $12,000 worth of income per year. That income provides 4 months of food, shelter, clothes, basic medical care, school fees and related needs for the 76 children living in the home and the 350+ orphan children sponsored through the Kabwata community outreach program.

In 2012, the Kabwata Orphanage has created plans to expand the plantation by another three acres for the second phase in this development project. The land itself was generously donated by a loyal supporter for this cause – you too can be a part of their community-wide dream.

Help them make this expansion operational – the more they can produce – the more orphans they can save from a life of solitude and poverty.

Please support these important orphan care programs

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