Story 2: Clara the Hero Project Assistant  

“A story of loss and resilience, Clara used her own grief and struggles to support the founding of BFZ and ensure the continued evolution of our projects.”  

From the beginning, there was Clara − a tireless advocate for the children, who has worked relentlessly to support and steer BFZ to achieve the greatest impact. Clara assists with a network of community groups who have joined forces to raise the prospects of children in their care. BFZ began supporting this network in 2011. 

Roll back to the 1980s and you will find Clara working as an administrative assistant at the government grain store, making the most of her prized education to write reports and work accounts. Clara is married and about to start a family that will bring her six children. Twenty years later, Clara’s story became one of a series of losses – first her job (the grain store closed down), then her husband, then three of her children. This left Clara alone, raising her last-born teenage sons − twins who are as different from each other as chalk and cheese, but united in facing enormous challenges alongside their mother.  

Clara knew so many women in her community whose situations were similar to her own. Many did not have the benefit of education. Many were left caring for their grandchildren. But all shared a determination to make things better for the next generation.  

Clara founded A’tugwasyane (in the local Tonga language this means ‘let us help one another’) community group, which brought together women caring for orphans and vulnerable children. Clara used her administrative skills to support a network of community groups working together to improve the lives of the children in their care.  

Since BFZ joined forces with this network in 2011, the groups have grown to cover seven different communities. Clara still works tirelessly within her own community, hosting and supporting the weekly BFZ Wellbeing sessions and keeping a watchful eye, offering counsel and support to all the households in her group.   

When she is not busy in her group, helping care for her grandchildren, sewing stars or planting maize, Clara supports our BFZ Coordinator to run our projects − from paying school fees to purchasing food for pre-school meals to writing budgets and reports. Clara is the ultimate grafter, full of compassion and humour, hope and love.   

Clara and women like her are BFZ, they embody our mission to create a better present and a brighter future for the children who need it most.   

10 Years, 10 Weeks, £10K!

To mark our 10 -year anniversary, members of our trustee board and other supporters have embarked on an ambitious challenge to walk/ cycle/ swim or even kayak the length of Zambia and raise £10,000 to continue to expand our life changing work. This week the team have virtually followed the Zambezi river for an impressive 157km to reach the town of Sesheke on the Namibian border.   

If you would like to support their efforts and help us reach our target you can donate here. 

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Story 6: Clementina

“My way of living is not comfortable. I’ve got so many orphans to look after sometimes I even struggle to feed them. Even sleeping is a problem — the house is just too small. We have to squeeze when we sleep. I do piece work to try to clothe and feed them. Like in the rainy season I work in other people’s fields.” 

Clementina met Brighter Futures Zambia through the Buntolo Orphan Carers group back in 2011. She is a widow and, after the death of her sister and children, she is raising her orphaned grandchildren and niece alongside her own children. The story is sadly a common one in Zambia. However, being part of the Buntolo Orphan Carers group has helped Clementina, practically and emotionally. 

Caring for nine children is hard, but being part of BFZ has brought support and hope for the future. 

Clementina has supplemented her income with group farming, making BFZ Christmas star decorations and through our Good Goat project.  

Counselling training made possible by BFZ has enabled Clementia not only to help those in her care to manage their grief, it has also helped Clementia address her own. Clementina is very close to the other caregivers in her group. 

Clementia’s eldest grandson completed his education through the BFZ sponsorship scheme. He will graduate college next year and Clementina hopes that his younger brother will also gain a place on the sponsorship scheme to enable him to follow his big brother’s example and achieve a brighter future.  

10 Years, 10 Weeks, £10K !

To mark our 10 -year anniversary, members of our trustee board and other supporters have embarked on an ambitious challenge to walk/ cycle/ swim or even kayak the length of Zambia and raise £10,000 to continue to expand our life changing work. It’s another exciting week for our challengers as they have collectively travelled the 195km to virtually arrive in Zambia’s capital city Lusaka.  

If you would like to support their efforts and help us reach our target you can donate here. 

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Story 8 – Charity the BFZ Wellbeing Champion

“We really want them to uplift their lives, these are the ones that will be the future leaders of tomorrow and we really want to support them”

Charity has been with BFZ since our beginnings, as a founding member of Twaabane group, one of the first community groups that we worked with.

Charity wanted to join forces with other single women looking after orphans and vulnerable children. At the time, she was looking after two orphans, Joshua, 7 and Boyd, 5. Charity’s dream was for her boys to have an education and a better life after school, but the challenges were many. She was alone and struggled to earn money in her rural home. She was traumatised by grief and loss following the deaths through HIV/Aids of so many of those she loved, she worried about how she could parent the boys and support them through their own journeys of grief and loss.

Charity helped us to shape projects to tackle some of the problems she and her group were facing. She was one of the first Good Goat herders, enabling her to make a small income. Charity helped us to develop our Wellbeing programme, she was one of the first caregivers to train in child counselling and has led weekly sessions in her community group ever since.

With the support of annual refresher training, Charity has become expert in supporting the children’s wellbeing and this year has started a new role as a BFZ Wellbeing Champion, travelling to other community groups to support new counsellors and share effective practice.

“The challenges facing children in Zambia are many– education, food and clothing, the vulnerable families are lacking these things. Many of these children and young people are orphans and they have been moved from home to home and are suffering grief and loss and problems of belonging. Wellbeing sessions help our children to express whatever they are going through. If a child is not given the time and chance to express, it will affect them in every angle of their lives. Where you talk about education, they will not be performing well at school, where you talk about the social life, they will not be able to interact with other young people, where they are supposed to contribute to the nation they will be failing at this. These sessions, they allow the children and young people to open up, to learn to interact and it is helping them to avoid challenges in the future.”

Counselling training

 

BFZ run weekly Wellbeing sessions across seven communities. The sessions offer one to one counselling and group learning given by BFZ trained community caregivers. Around 12 children and young people attend each session where they also enjoy a nutritious meal and take part in activities and games.

Want to help?

It can cost as little as £2 per week to fund a child to attend a Wellbeing session. If you would like to support a child please visit the BFZ webpages to donate or contact xxxx if you would like to make a regular donation.

10 Years, 10 Weeks, £10K! 

 

To mark our 10 -year anniversary, members of our trustee board and other supporters have taken on an ambitious challenge to walk/ cycle/ swim or even kayak the length of Zambia and raise £10,000 to help more children like Isaac. After ten exhausting but exhilarating weeks across 1500kms of Zambia’s beautiful (virtual) landscape, the team have reached their final destination of Mgapi on the Mozambican border. Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, they have raised over £6000 which will go directly to supporting more children like Isaac to reach their potential. It’s not too late to donate and help the team to meet their final target you can donate here. 

 

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