Holiday Celebrations on Christmas Eve
We are also delighted to inform you that Kitwe District Health Office managed to fulfill its pledge and distributed a total of 40 face masks and 40 hand sanitizers to our organization as a contribution to this gathering on Christmas Day. We are now enjoying a cordial working relationship with them. And they have also pledged to continue to work with us in combating TB, HIV/AIDS, and COVID 19 virus in the community especially among our vulnerable TB/HIV/AIDS clients this year 2021. Christian Aid Ministries – CAM is one of the organizations in Kitwe that has had a longstanding working relationship with KDHO and we really thank God Almighty for this privilege.
We had a wonderful time as an organization on Thursday 24th December 2020. We were able to meet together with our 30 TB/HIV/AIDS patients and shared a meal together with them at our home in Riverside. Our clients were so grateful to us and to you our dear sponsors for supporting this wonderful program. It was such a long time since we last shared a meal together with our clients on Christmas Day. We last had such a special day at the center on 24th of December 2011, almost 10 years ago, with the first group of our TB/HIV/AIDS clients that we were supporting and have now been cured of TB and it has always been a memorable day to us as an organization and to our beloved clients in the community!
KDHO has reaffirmed its commitment to continue to collaborate with us to continue to combat TB, HIV/AIDS, and COVID 19 among our clients this year 2021, joining a wonderful collaboration with organizations like CHEP, AFLA, Heartbeat International, Life International, ARASA, PEPFAR, and many others! So many patients are visited by CAM and are taken to the hospitals for TB and HIV/AIDS treatment and are shown love and are provided with nutritional support like on Christmas day.
Distribution to our 50 TB/HIV/AIDS clients
December was full of activities and joyous at the same time. On Monday 28th December 2020 barely 4 days after the Christmas celebration with our clients, we were distributing face masks, hand sanitizers, and washing pastes to all our 50 TB/HIV/AIDS clients in the community. These face masks, hand sanitizers, and washing pastes were graciously donated to us by Kitwe District Health Office to donate to our 50 clients in all the 7 communities where we operate from such as Buchi, St. Anthony, Kamakonde, Mugala, Kamatipa, Kapoto and Chantete communities and our clients were so overjoyed to receive these donations from CAM that were donated to us by KDHO. We are so grateful to report to you that so far no one of our beloved clients have caught the coronavirus in the community. Thanks be to Kitwe District Health Office that has been so committed in combating the spread of the coronavirus among TB /HIV/AIDS in Kitwe by the help of face mask, hand sanitizer, and washing paste distributions to organizations like-minded organizations like CAM in Kitwe that provides care and support to people suffering from TB and HIV/AIDS in Kitwe. And our overjoyed clients could not hesitate to utter their sentiments to appreciate both CAM and Kitwe district for their unwavering care and support to prevent them from COVID 19.
On Wednesday 30th and Thursday 31th December 2020, we were in all our 7 communities distributing food such as 10 Kg bags of mealie meal, beans, kapenta, and cooking oil. Before we could start giving them this food, we were able to start sharing them with the:
(i) HIV/AIDS and TB treatment and prevention message
(ii) COVID 19 protection and prevention messages
(iii) Distribution of the COVID 19 brochures to our TB and HIV/AIDS clients that were donated to CAM by Kitwe District Ministry of health.
(iv) Distribution of the COVID 19 Hand sanitizers such as JIK and tablet soaps to our TB and HIV/AIDS clients that were donated to CAM by Kitwe District Ministry of health.
(v) Distribution of the COVID 19 Face masks to our TB and HIV/AIDS clients that were donated to us by the Kitwe District Ministry of Health that our TB and HIV/AIDS clients should be able to wear to protect themselves and others from catching the coronavirus in the community
(vi) Distribution of food such as mealie meal, beans, kapenta, and cooking oil to all our TB and HIV/AIDS clients that you were able to support us buy for them during this COVID 19 period in the community.
Our clients were so grateful to CAM and to KDHO for all the wonderful gifts of food such as soya, mealie meal, beans, kapenta and cooking oil, COVID 19 Hand sanitizers like Jik and tablet soaps, Face masks, and brochures with bulk information on TB, HIV/AIDS and COVID 19 prevention and protection in the community. It was such a wonderful time for us and for our clients in the community. COVID 19 is spreading like bush fire in Zambia now and it is killing a lot of people. So food, protection, and prevention is vitally important in the life of our clients whose immune systems and health conditions are already compromised.
Food distribution for the month of January 2021
On Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th January 2021, we were busy in Chisokone Market in town buying different kinds of food for all our 50 TB/HIV/AIDS clients in all the 7 communities in readiness for distribution on Wednesday 27, Thursday 28th, and Friday 29th January 2021, we bought 50 (10kg bags) of mealie meal, 25 kg bag of beans, 10 liters of cooking oil and 25 kg bag of Kapenta (small fish).
Previously we used to distribute food to all the 50 TB/HIV/AIDS clients in all the 7 communities in one or two days. However, in order to reduce fatigue and great body and mental tiredness during this period, we have stopped. We are now doing food distribution to our clients in 3 days instead of 1 or 2 days.
On Wednesday 27 January 2021 we managed to give part of the mealie meal, beans, cooking oil, and Kapenta (small fish) to a total of 15 households of our TB clients in 2 communities only namely Buchi and St. Anthony.
On Thursday 28th January 2021, we managed to give food supplies to other 15 households of our TB clients in 2 communities only namely Kamakonde and Mugala communities.
On Friday 29th of January 2021, we managed to give the remaining 20 vulnerable households of our TB clients in 3 communities namely Kapoto, Kamatipa, and Chantete communities and all the patients were so so happy to receive the food supplies from our team.
Food distribution for the month of February 2021
On Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd February 2021, we were busy in Chisokone Market in town buying different kinds of food for all our 50 TB/HIV/AIDS clients in all the 7 communities in readiness for distribution on Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th, and Friday 26th February 2021. We bought 50 (10kg bags) of mealie meal, 25 kg bag of beans, 10 liters of cooking oil, and 25 kg bag of Kapenta (small fish).
On Wednesday 24th February 2021 we managed to give part of the mealie meal, beans, cooking oil, and Kapenta (small fish) to a total of 15 households of our TB clients in 2 communities only namely Buchi and St. Anthony.
On Thursday 25th February 2021, we managed to give food supplies to other 15 households of our TB clients in 2 communities only namely Kamakonde and Mugala communities.
On Friday 26th of February 2021, we managed to give the remaining 20 vulnerable households of our TB clients in 3 communities namely Kapoto, Kamatipa, and Chantete communities and all the patients were so so happy to receive the food supplies from our team.
The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday! January
We are also glad to inform you that we are working well with the Mwansa family and their organization Association for the Life of Africa - AFLA.
Pastor Edward Mwansa and his wife Madam Barbra Mwansa through their organization AFLA wrote a letter to invite us to attend a program called The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday at their church, Church on the Rock in Nkana East on Sunday 31st January 2021 that we gladly attended. The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is a very important program that is commemorated every year by organizations such as AFLA, Heartbeat International, Life International, ABANON/SAVANON, and many other international Life Affirming and pro-life organizations and foundations globally every 31st January of the year.
We were delighted to meet Pastor Edward Mwansa and his wife Mrs. Babra Mwansa and their AFLA organization working team such as Niza, Joseph Sinyangwe, and other officials from Advocates for Life International and many other Pro-Life organizations in Kitwe district. Mrs. Mwansa gave a passionate keynote address on the sanctity of human life and said that Life is sacred and it is a gift from God. She said that God knew us before we were conceived in our mother’s womb and set us apart. He has good plans for us, plans not to harm us, but to give us hope and a good future. She said life begins at conception and regardless of the circumstances in which we are conceived or born we are still loved and cherished by God and abortion is an abominable sin in the sight of God. Then Pastor B.A. Mulenga who is the Director and Founder of Advocates for Life International gave a speech and brought a young man who was born in very difficult circumstances from a mother who wanted to abort because of the ectopic pregnancy that threatened her life before he could be born in 2001, 20 years ago. The boy is very talented at singing and he is a graduate from the University of Zambia in the school of Law. After he sang and spoke about what he has done in life, we were all amazed. The boy is a gifted singer and an intelligent Lawyer that the world would have lost to the enemy (the devil) in 2001 due to abortion! Abortion is an abominable and detestable sin that has robbed the world of gallant, talented, and intelligent people who would have become pilots, doctors, Lawyers etc to serve this world like this young man. He therefore reiterated Mrs. Mwansa's sentiments that no matter what circumstances in which we are conceived no one not even the mother or the father or the doctor has a right to terminate the life of an unborn baby through abortion, it is a sin!
After this program, Pastor Mwansa shared with us about their vision as AFLA and how they have partnered with many organizations locally and internationally in promoting the sanctity of human life. Mrs. Mwansa also shared briefly with us how their partnership works and the befits that are there for affiliated organizations.
She also stressed that it is vitally important for affiliate organizations like CAM and many others to open Pregnancy Resource Centers at our organizations besides the work that we do, and start offering pregnancy counseling and testing and ultrasound services to pregnant women and girls in need in the community. She said AFLA and its network organizations are ready to provide CAM and other affiliate organizations with:
- Free capacity-building training to aid new organizations that intend to open pregnancy resource centers in their organizations.
- Free pregnancy test kits every month.
- Free Ultrasound Machines for scanning of pregnant women and girls in their centers.
- Free resource mobilization linkages to like-minded pro-life supporting organizations and networks globally
- Free registration and Accommodation for international training globally.
- Free return air tickets to affiliate organizations to attend international conferences and training in the network.
Mrs. Mwansa shared with us how other Organizations like Advocates for Life International, Khumi, Seed of Change, Bwafwano Care, and many others in Zambia and in other African countries have benefited from the support of this international pro-life network and we were so encouraged.
We would like to raise this money and pay to this network and begin to receive the kind of support that they offer to affiliate organizations above. we will be so delighted. This will really help us as CAM in critical times such as this one. We really need many partners to support us technically, materially, financially and otherwise for us to grow into an organization that we have to be and begin to support as many clients as possible.