The Story of Mapalo.
Profound loss and intractable poverty combined to name a small area of Africa “Worthless.” There, in 2005 in a village called Chipulukusu (meaning worthless) in northern Zambia, in the city of Ndola, we found 300 children living a life of bare — if any — sustenance, attending school in a building the size of a 2-car garage.
Orphaned by AIDS/HIV and other illnesses (which has claimed more than 15 million lives in sub-Sahara Africa the last 20 years), and with no support, they had no nourishment, no clothing, no school, no medicine, no clean water — no one, it seemed, to care, nothing to provide hope for their lives.
We cared, though. And we believed we could provide hope for life. So, in 2005, we created this organization, Hope for Life. We are, simply, a group of concerned individuals committed to helping the children we met build sustainable lives — one child, one meal, one teacher, one water well, one life at a time. And using the nonprofit organization we formed, we can invite you to join us in making a very tangible difference in these 300 individual lives. None of them is worthless.
Already, we have been able to give enough that the village was renamed Mapalo, which means “Blessing,” and the new school, which was constructed in 2006, Mapalo Morning Glow Academy. We have identified very basic needs: Children cannot concentrate or learn if they are starving; we supply each student a meal of 2,200 calories every day. And we have completed specific “capital” projects: building the new school; constructing a kitchen; digging three fresh water wells; furnishing the school; clothing the children; hiring teachers (there are nine now); even setting up a soccer field with goals.
One of our longer term goals is to establish on going relationships with these children and to provide scholarship funds to enable them to go to college, gain meaningful employment and work to reverse the devastation of disease and poverty in their homeland. We have embraced the African model of non-residential orphanages to keep from institutionalizing children and keeping them with their caretakers in a paternalistic culture.
How can you help? At base, to donate to Hope for Life is, literally, to Give Hope for Life. It is that simple. Every dollar you give provides aid to these children of Mapalo.
We offer a number of giving options to serve a variety of charitable visions and styles — from sponsoring the children of Mapalo with a monthly stipend that will feed, clothe, educate, and/or care for him or her; to making a capital donation to one of the on-going projects — the clinic, a well, building a wall for safety, and a block making business. We have also scheduled service trips to Ndola, Zambia to let you meet the children and work there on their behalf.
No child is worthless. Please join us. Give Hope for Life.
The Story of Hope for Life
By Peter DeBaun, Executive Director
In 2003, while teaching at Northrise University in Ndola, Zambia, I discovered that one of my students, Emil Mukuka, had been trying to help over 300 orphans suffering from the curses of intractable poverty in a squatter’s compound, called Chipulukusu (meaning worthless). Plagued by HIV, dysentery, TB and other illnesses, these beautiful children eagerly poured each day into a mud-brick edifice no larger than a two-car garage, sang “Natotela”, at the top of their lungs, (meaning “thank you”), devoured a small cup of boiled grain and sugar, and sat quietly for an English lesson.
My part in this daily rodeo was to pay the monthly food bill, which I quickly realized was similar to what I earned as a fly-fishing guide - in a day! After telling my other guiding friends, we decided to have a fundraiser, called it Fishing For Life, and with the tagline; “fish with your favorite guide for a day and feed 300 needy children for a month!” It was a great success. Soon after, the non-profit organization Hope For Life was born.
The mission was simple: To restore Zambian orphans through education, proper nutrition, and healthcare. By providing these basic elements, we would restore basic human dignity to those victimized by one of the worst orphan crises in the planet, place them in a position, through gainful employment to live outside of a debilitating poverty cycle, and enable them to do the same for others for generations to come.
The very tangible and positive impact the community witnessed was just one of the reasons the name Mapalo, meaning “blessing”, was chosen for the school and care center. Moreover, the 2,200 calories a day of nutritious food, clean water, caring instructors, a new school building, monthly medical check-ups, counselors, uniforms and shoes, and routine medicine are just some of the reasons why the Ndola City Council chose to officially change the name of the compound from Chipulukusu (Worthless) to Mapalo (Blessing). To date, 1550 children have been rescued and restored by Mapalo Morning Glow Academy through Hope for Life.
Taking advantage of a paternalistic culture, Mapalo embraces the Afro-centric model of a non-residential orphanage, which keeps children with their caretakers in order to avoid some of the pitfalls associated with institutionalizing children who have been traumatized. It is also extremely cost-effective and allows us to extend our mission to many more children for the same price as a dormitory-style orphanage would. Accordingly, a relatively small contribution can transform a child’s life!
Zambia’s staggering annual death toll, mainly as a result of AIDS and malaria, has created huge challenges for our organization in a country in which 1 in 10 are orphaned. A long-term commitment to restoration through education is the only remedy. As Nelson Mandela once said; “The only hope an African orphan without education has is death.” Here’s how you can help!
