Projects
Community Projects
Education:
In both Kasongo and Maposa we have an Education Committee.
In Kasongo we have been able to work
with our Bridge Committee, the community at large, school officials,
and government to implement the construction of a three room school
block, which enabled them to go beyond a basic school to include
eighth grade.
Also in Kasongo in March 2007 we began
Ubulalo Community School with three volunteer teachers from the
community. We currently have 85 orphans and other vulnerable
children enrolled.
Health:
In both communities we continue to have workshops and teachings both from in-house, as well as from other organizations, on any subject they feel is important to improving their quality of life.
To date we have trained peer educators and psychosocial counselors in both communities, as well as the Health Committees in both places have had First Aid Training, HIV/AIDS and other prevalent diseases within the communities (malaria, cholera, TB, etc.)
In an effort to involve the youth, we
meet with them on a regular basis to train, and hold various
contests and sports programmes in order to give them alternatives to
a more positive lifestyle.
The Health Department participates in
World AIDS Day each year, in a city-wide initiative to educate and
encourage people to be tested to know their status.
Agriculture:
In both Kasongo and Maposa the Agricultural Committee has been successful in registering a cooperative.
We have brought in professionals from
I.D.E., Ministry of Agriculture, etc. to teach them new and improved
gardening and field crop methods.
Women:
We currently have four operating Women’s Committees - one in Kasongo, and in three branches of Maposa.
The one in Kasongo has been a bit slow
to do any project, but those in Maposa requested pigs to raise. They
were subsequently given pigs and classes on how to take care of
them.
The women of Kasongo have instituted
an annual Women’s Day – a 48 hour event during which the older women
teach the younger abstinence and faithfulness.
We do have, as a future project, the hope of a rotating start-up capital to enable them to venture into a small business.
BYDS (Bridge Youth Discipleship Studies):
Bridge obtained permission from school
authorities to speak to grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 about HIV/AIDS on their
level. As an outcome of these talks, such positive response came
from the 7th and 8th graders that we began
BYDS. This is a two-year programme which is comprised equally of
Bible Study and Life Skills. We began in April of 2007 with 25 youth
and to date it has been extremely successful. We consider this to be
a spiritual outreach to the youth in the communities in which we are
working.
Ubulalo Drama Group:
Ubulalo is the Bemba word for bridge.
The drama group was started in June 2007. Drama is very much
appreciated by the people of Zambia, and they have worked very hard
to learn the various techniques involved, make sets and come up with
costumes. Their first performance was for Independence Day (October
24th) 2007.
Prisoners:
In April 2007 Bridge partnered with
Prison Fellowship to bring encouragement, teaching, and integration
back into society of prisoners living within our communities. In
Maposa they meet once a week under the supervision of a local
pastor. This not only involves those who were once incarcerated, but
their families as well.
OVCs - Orphans and Vulnerable Children:
Practically everything we do in some way or other will benefit these children. However, specifically we have been able to partner with CHAZ, a Catholic charity in Zambia, and they have enabled us to purchase uniforms and necessary materials, plus pay tuition and school fees for many children within the communities where we are working.
As you read above in Education, we were able to begin Ubulalo Community School for 85 OVCs in Kasongo in March 2007.
As a part of our developing our
national headquarters, we plan to build ten homes which will house
six orphans each with a caretaker.
Advocacy:
As a part of our process, we do wish to work within all systems and structures already in place, in order to bring about redemptive influence on behalf of the poor where oppression and injustice occur.
Inasmuch as the people of Maposa were living illegally within a Forest Reserve, we worked with them, the Forestry Department, the Luanshya Council, a motherboard comprised of members from all 14 branches in Maposa, DECOP, the Copperbelt Land Rights Centre, and a drama group called Mutende to advocate that the land be given to the people.
At one point we staged a peaceful
demonstration where hundreds walked from their homes (some as far as
20 km) and were prepared to walk even further into Luanshya to see
the Mayor, but we were stopped by the Police and told to go back
home.
Learn to Earn Skills Centre:
We are in the process of building our
national headquarters. It is in our plans to offer the residents on
the job training in various areas. This will be established to offer
men and women the tools to improve their quality of life. The vision
of this skills center is to enable, equip, and empower people of all
ages – particularly in areas with a high degree of unemployment, or
where such training facilities are either non-existent or
unaffordable.
We know that God has put various gifts, talents, and abilities into everyone. The goal of the skills center is to unlock the potential within people so that they can become self-supporting and gain a sense of worth and purpose.
Yet our desire goes beyond teaching skills. We also want to help them psychologically and spiritually, and to enable them to recover the dignity that’s been lost in the past.
We not only want them to be able to earn a living, but learn a better way of life. To not only secure a better future for themselves, but for the next generation as well. We wish to empower people with a hand up…not a hand-out.
Some suggested courses are Adult
Literacy, Animal Husbandry, Carpentry, Gardening / Farming,
Parenting and Family Life, Principles of Leadership, Sewing and
Tailoring, etc. We are currently looking for someone to work as the
Centre Director. This person or couple should be self-funded.
Applicants may apply.
Zambia Life
The following photos will give you a bit of flavor of what it takes to live in a bush village. The work is hard and everyone from children to adults are pressed into service to make it work.
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