Story 7 – The Water Pump 

This is the life changing moment in May last year when fresh water came to our Makangala Preschool in the Miyoba village in the Southern Province of Zambia  – thanks to a new borehole being drilled and a hand pump installed there for the first time. 

The community has since benefited from training relating to the WASH programme (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) covering the essentials of water sanitation and hygiene as well as measures to prevent the spread of COVID19. This has provided really useful guidance around how to keep the borehole and handpump in good working condition, keeping waterborne diseases at bay and preventing the spread of COVID19. 

 

Having the borehole means that almost 30 households now have direct access to a clean and reliable source of water for the first time. Those households add up to a population of 128 people. They, alongside the school community of 80 children, 2 teachers and a rotating team of pre-school community helpers, are able to use the borehole for their own hygiene purposes but also to prepare and cook meals. 

 

This has had such an impact on the lives of the community and they are now developing a vegetable garden for everyone to benefit from.  

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

Story 9 – A Supporter Story

We had the chance to live and work in Zambia for many years, teaching in secondary schools first in Mazabuka and then Lusaka. Our children were so lucky to have grown up there, to have had that life experience, and they have such fond, happy memories of their childhood.  

 

Jim and Veronica had the wonderful opportunity to live in Zambia for 16 years from 1969 to 1987. They left Derry in Northern Ireland as a newly married couple, to go and work as teachers in a village not far from Monze, called Mazabuka. 

At that time there was a small but vibrant Irish community of newly qualified teachers in Mazabuka who had grabbed the opportunity to travel abroad and teach. Jim taught Woodwork, Metal work and Technical drawing at St Edmunds Boys Secondary School and Veonica taught English and PE at Mazabuka Girls Secondary School.  

A few years later, they moved to Lusaka the capital where they lived until 1987, before moving back to Ireland. 

Jim and Veronica arrived in Zambia at a time of change, almost 6 years after Zambia had gained independence from Britain. They never expected to stay for 16 years. Those years were some of their happiest. 

“Supporting BFZ helps us feel connected to the country that we still love. We cherish the stories of the children and young people that BFZ is helping to support. Our eldest daughter was born in the Monze mission hospital, which makes our connection to the place even stronger. “

 

Want to help? 

Want to join the Herron family in supporting this incredible charity? By donating to BFZ you can help many more children to achieve a brighter future. 

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.