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Current Partnerships

Hope Fellowship Ministries - Ndola, Zambia
Spark Ventures partners with Hope Fellowship Ministries in Ndola, Zambia. Hope has established an orphanage, a community school and has recently purchased land on which to expand their work.

History
Rev. Charles and Margaret Mumba began to reach out to orphans in Zambia through their local church in 2003. They provided food and school fees to children who had lost their parents from AIDS, but soon they could not meet all of the needs.

Through a series of events, the Mumbas were connected with Hope Ministries, Inc. in Kenoza Lake, New York. Since 2003, this organization located in upstate New York, has provided critical funds and the support to help expand the ministry in Zambia. Hope House Orphanage, a four-bedroom house, was purchased and has become home to more than 15 orphans. The Hope Community School also was launched, which now provides education to more than 200 children who otherwise would not be in school.

In 2005, Hope Fellowship Ministries of Ndola, Zambia officially began operations as a small non-governmental organization reaching out to vulnerable children in their community.

Future of Hope Fellowship Ministries
Hope recently purchased five acres of land to build a complex that will house about 60 children. Hope’s staff is currently researching government requirements, building codes and architectural design options.  A wall is being built around the perimeter of the property, with the intention that ground will break on the new facility in 2008.

Hope House Orphanage
In the neighborhood of Ndeke in Ndola, Zambia, Hope has opened an orphanage for vulnerable children, many of whom have lost parents and caretakers to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Currently, it is a small house where about 15 children live with house parents. These children receive food, clothing and education, along with support for their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

The staff of the orphanage includes 24-hour-a-day house parents and a social worker, who monitors the health and progress of the children helping to ensure that the orphanage meets with government standards.

Hope Community School
Hundreds of children in the Twapia neighborhood in Ndola, Zambia are too poor to attend school. With even the public/government schools requiring students to pay for uniforms and books, those children who come from poor families or whose family members have died of AIDS are not able to afford this.

In 2006, Hope Fellowship Ministries opened Hope Community School to serve the children of Twapia. Currently more than 200 children between the ages of four and 18 attend. With the assistance of Spark Ventures, Hope Community School has hired a staff of four dedicated teachers and one administrator.  These passionate educators teach English, math and reading from pre-school to a 7^th grade education level, at which time the children are tested to gain entrance to a government school. Hope is in the process of acquiring school supplies, text books and even uniforms for the students who attend this school.

With hunger and poor nutrition being a serious problem for most of the children at this school, beginning in January, 2007 a meal program was started. Through funding from Spark Ventures, this food program provides meals four times a week for the children of Hope Community School.  Twice a week the students receive a hot meal, and twice a week they receive a snack of buns and juice. For many of the children, these meals are their main source of nutrition.

About Zambia
Zambia, one of the countries formerly part of Rhodesia in south-central Africa, has an estimated population of 11.5 million people with the median age of 17 years and life expectancy of 38. More than 85% of Zambians live below the poverty line (less than $2USD/day) and an estimated 1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. The spread of HIV/AIDS in Zambia is significant due to lack of education, constrained infrastructures of healthcare systems in rural areas, and limited financial resources. In 2005, the number of children orphaned by AIDS was estimated at 710,000, and that same year, 86,000 children died before reaching the age of five. Around 130,000 children (0-14 years) in Zambia are infected with HIV/AIDS.

The major exports of Zambia are copper and maize. The vast majority of working residents have occupations related to agriculture, though Zambia’s unemployment rate hovers around 50%. Zambia is a democracy with English as its official language. In 2006, President Mwanawasa was re-elected to his second term as President.