The purpose of this year’s sponsored walk is to help combat
child labour in Zambia. Over 600,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 are
forced to work – about half of them full-time. We want to raise £22,000 - seems like a lot, but last year you raised an amazing £18,800! So it's possible!
See the project details below.
THE PROJECT
THE NEED:
In Zambia over 600,000 children between the ages
of 5 and 14 years of age are forced to work – about half of them full-time. Tearfund, together with Jesus Cares Ministries
(JCM), wants your help to combat this.
THE PLAN:
500 vulnerable children currently being exploited
through child labour will be given vocational skills and access to good education.
2000 ‘at risk’ children will be prevented from
entering child labour through Life Skills Training.
400 caregivers will be taught skills to improve
their income.
100 local churches will raise awareness of child
labour and awareness will be raised in 4 local communities, impacting
approximately 150,000 people.
THE COST: The direct costs, for 12 months, come to £22,000
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Education support for children (school materials & uniforms)
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6,000
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Vocational Skills training
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3,000
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Life Skills training
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2,000
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Empowerment of
400 caregivers
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2,000
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Formation &
training of 20 Self Help Groups
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4,000
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Church & Community Mobilisation Programme
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1,000
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Awareness Raising activities
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2,000
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Quarterly
monitoring visits
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2,000
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THe location
This
project addresses poverty, lack of education, sensitisation on issues of child
labour, and empowerment of vulnerable households affected by child labour and
HIV & AIDS.
making a difference?
Below is the story of Josephine Phiri, a mother whose life has been transformed by the work of Jesus Cares Ministries.
My name is Mrs
Josephine Phiri. I am 41 years old and married with 7 children. I live in
Chibeteka Village in Chiparamba Community, where we are all peasant farmers.
I sent my
daughter Maureen (12 years old) and Alpha (8 years old) to JCM Transitional
School for early childhood education and now they are at Chiparamba Primary
School. Maureen is in Grade 5 and Alpha is in Grade 2. Their school performance
is very good.
I am so grateful
to God for the empowerment I received through JCM. I was trained in baking to
sustain the livelihood of my family. My husband helped me build a traditional
baking oven, which I use to bake buns that I sell to the community. With this
money I can support my children with their school needs such as uniforms,
books, pencils and school fees.
My baking
business earns me K50 (approx. £5) every day and I am able to make a saving of
K20 (approx. £2) everyday to boost my profits. With the remaining money, I buy
more ingredients for my baking business. With the surplus I have also
diversified into a charcoal business. I do this with my family, which enables
me to meet all of our needs - I never run out of money to meet the needs of my
children and the family.
Last February (2014),
I decided to join a Self Help Group (SHG) called Yamikani SHG in Chibeteka
Village. The 20 of us meet weekly and make a contribution of K5 (approx. 50p)
monthly, which is loaned to the group members who pay back with an interest of 10%. I managed to get a loan of K20 (approx. £2), which I used to buy baking
ingredients (flour, salt and yeast). This
earned me K53 (over £5), which enabled me to paid back my loan with 10%
bringing the total amount to K22 (over £2). I had a balance of K31 (over £3),
which I put back into my business and also used some of the money to meet the
needs of my children.
I thank God that
this has transformed my life and mind set. I am now aware of our locally available
resources, which I can use to help meet the needs of my children, my family and
the community at large. To God be the glory.
What impact will this have?
Since Jesus Cares Ministries began this
project in 2007, they have seen the number of children enrolled in community
schools and formal schools increase. There has been a reduction in cases of
child marriages, child pregnancies and child labour and more of the existing cases
of child labour and abuse are being reported. Children are more aware of their
rights and responsibilities towards education.
Thanks to Church & Community
Mobilisation, the Church have understood their role as the salt and light of
this earth and are addressing the way they meet the spiritual and physical
needs of their communities.
Community participation is key. Communities
work alongside JCM wherever possible and are more aware of their potential and
locally available resources.
As the Self Help Group concept has now been
adopted amongst caregivers, transformation in households and communities is highly
evident, with 90% of children in the target communities now attending school.
Who is doing the work on the ground?
Jesus Cares Ministries (JCM) Zambia was
founded in 1995. Tearfund have been
partnering with JCM since 2007 and supporting them in their work with children
and women through education, health services, social mobilisation, awareness
raising, research and advocacy.
The vision of JCM is a better world for all, where the poor
and less privileged are empowered and their human rights protected and
promoted. JCM is guided by the values of Christ-centeredness, love,
servanthood, teamwork, excellence, hope, faith, transparency, accountability,
integrity, non-partisanship and gender sensitivity.
what can you do to help?
Giving
The project needs financial support to run. We would like to raise the £22,000 required to meet the direct costs of the project in Zambia for one year. Last year we raised £18,800 so our target is achievable.
please continue to Pray
·
Thank God for the success of the
project so far – in particular for people like Josephine mentioned above, who
have experienced such positive change in their lives as a result of JCM’s work.
·
Please pray that JCM would find the
funds and people resources required to cope with the numbers of children who
are being withdrawn from child labour.
·
Please pray for a change in cultural
practises (such as childhood marriage) and statutory laws that are still
governing the land and making it difficult for JCM to intervene.
