Meet The Children

These are the just some of the stories of the children who will benefit from your generosity. One hundred percent of the proceeds from our charity events is used to help educate these children and empower them for their future.

Lovemore lost both of his parents to AIDS when he was around 5 years old.  With no home and no one to care for him, Lovemore began to live on the streets. Life on the streets can be rough.  For protection and survival the youngest boys join together in packs.  During the day they constantly search for means to get food.  Sometimes the hunger becomes so severe they resort to selling themselves for money in order to eat.  At night, in an attempt to ward off the chill, the children seek out drains and ditches to sleep in because the air is warmer.  The youngest orphan boys climb to the tops of trees at night in order to protect themselves from older boys while they sleep. 

After surviving several years on the streets, Lovemore made his way to Mothers Without Borders Children’s Resource Center last year.  He was 8 years old.  Many children arrive from the streets reserved, withdrawn, and very cautious.  Once Lovemore felt confident he was in a safe place, his began to bless everyone with his comedic antics.  He loves to make people laugh.  Lovemore dreams of becoming an actor and a lawyer.  He wants to someday help children like him.

Kennedy lost both parents to AIDS when he was about 4 years old.  This left his 13 year old sister to care for little Kennedy and his two siblings.  Child-headed households are very numerous.  They often try to stick together to survive in unsafe shanty compounds were they are always scrambling for food, basic necessities, and avoiding predators.  When Kennedy’s oldest sister got sponsored by a non-profit organization to go to school, his 10 year old sister was left in charge of the family.  Another non-profit organization
contacted Mothers Without Borders to see if there was space for the three siblings.

Mothers Without Borders noticed that there weren't many pictures of Christ with the people of Africa.  They commissioned an artist to come to Zambia to paint pictures of Christ with African children.  As the model playing Christ approached the children at the Children's Resource Center, Kennedy’s reaction was particularly strong.  He ran over to the model, climbed into his arms, and fully believing this was the real Jesus Christ said, “Have you seen my mom, do you know my dad?”  The man portraying Christ graciously replied, “I’ll let them know that you are looking for them.”  Kennedy put his head on the model's shoulder and hugged him, creating the image you now see in "The Worth of a Soul" by Liz Lemmon Swindel.

Ethyl was born into a very loving family.  Her life changed when she was around age 4 and her father passed away from AIDS.  Her mother worked very hard so no one in her family was forced to “find food the bad ways”.  With ingenuity and hard work, Ethyl’s mother protected her as much as possible from the baser elements of their surroundings.  However, she had contracted AIDS from her husband and her health began to decline.  It was as Ethyl nursed her dying mother that she developed a love of medicine and caring for the sick. Just before her mother passed away she held Ethyl’s hand and told her, “You have a healer’s gift.  Be the best you can.  Go to school.  Help the people of Zambia, and don’t ever do anything that will give you this deadly disease.”

After her mother passed away, Ethyl came from the compound to Mothers Without Borders.  She continues to have a strong resolve to empower herself and gain as much education as possible.   Because there is no school close by, Ethyl walks the five miles (one way) to elementary school.  She holds her head high as she passes brothels and endures jeers and taunting.  Her dreams and ambitions give her courage.  Even with the commitment of such determined students, there are many days that the teacher never shows up, or he/she comes with no prepared lesson.  Mothers Without Borders is building a school for students like Ethyl—students who recognize that education is one of the few things strong enough to break the spiral of poverty, hunger, abuse, neglect, and lack of choices.  Ethyl dreams of becoming a doctor to help those in her country that are suffering.

Bwalya lost both of his parents to AIDS when he was young.  His older sisters looked after him until he came to live at Mothers Without Borders.  The children who come to live at the center never really think they will get a chance to leave the slums.  Worrying about things like food and safety are such pressing and all-consuming concerns that it doesn’t leave a great deal of time left over for something as simple as a “dream”. 

One way Mothers Without Borders works to make the children’s worlds larger and open up the window of dreaming is through field trips.  When the volunteer teams come in the summer, many of them take the opportunity to travel around Zambia and see the Zambian sights.  If someone on a team sponsors a child, Mothers Without Borders allows that child to go with them.  Upon returning from a trip to see Victoria Falls, a team leader handed Bwalya a pack lunch which included a bag a peanuts.  Bwalya reached in the sack and said, “Is this for me? I’ve never had a whole bag of peanuts before.”  The team leader replied, “Yes, it’s just for you.  We all get a bag of peanuts.  You get one too."   A short while after receiving the bag of peanuts he walked from the back of the bus to the front and handed the bag of peanuts to a little boy seated in the front.  When he returned to his seat the team leader said, “Bwalya,  did you just give that little boy your bag of
peanuts?”  Bwalya shrugged and said in a matter of fact tone,” Ya, he didn’t have a bag of peanuts.”

Contrary to how one might imagine human nature, always wanting more and more, the children in Zambia continually display an incredible ability to be satisfied with the barest of “enough”.  There's no such thing as "wanting more" in Zambia.  Even with barely enough, they actively look around to assist, lift up, and feed those around them.  Educating the mind of this sort of earnest soul will be what changes the future.

Bwalya dreams of becoming an accountant someday and , "Helping people keep their money so they can take care of their families".

Bridgette grew up in a shanty town made up of square cinder block 10 foot X 10 foot houses.  There were no windows, no locks, and rarely roofs or doors.  By the time Bridgette was 10 both of her parents had passed away from AIDS leaving her and her 13 year old sister Bernadette to care for their little three younger brothers.  A concerned aid worker who understood the dangerous nature of being unprotected children at night in a shelter with no locks, contacted Mothers Without Borders to see if there was any available space for this family.

Mothers Without Borders helped send the older sister Bernadette to school, placed the youngest sibling, a sick infant into a safe house, and brought Bridgette and her brothers Kennedy and  Bwalya to live at the Mothers Without Borders Center.  Bridgette loves to sing, babysit, and she enjoys watching movies.  When asked what her favorite thing to do was she answered, “Washing dishes”.  I was surprised and asked, “Why do you like washing dishes so much?”  Bridgette replied, “Well, I haven’t always had dishes or food.  When I see a dirty plate it makes me happy because it means that we have food.  I enjoy making things clean, and . . . I really love the bubbles.”   Bridgette dreams of someday becoming a teacher at the Mothers Without Borders school!

Alice has been HIV positive since birth.  When both of her parents passed away from AIDS, she was sent to live with an aunt.  However, the AIDS epidemic had already considerably impacted their family and the aunt’s house was bursting with orphaned nieces and nephews.  Because Alice’s aunt possessed neither the means nor ability to care for an
additional sick baby, Alice wasn’t receiving  any medical care. With no medical treatment for her HIV infection, her teeth were rotting, and she had developed a miserable skin condition.  A concerned social worker contacted Mothers Without Borders to see if there was any space for little Alice.  Once there, Alice’s health improved because she had someone to take her to her doctor appointments and ensure that she was taking her medication.  She’s now a tiny 2 ½ feet tall 6 year old who loves to dance.

Mothers Without Borders works to provide a safe, stable environment where children have the basic necessities of live.  However, food, clothing, and shelter aren’t everything.  In addition to medical treatment, Alice needs someone to hold her when she’s hurting and to care for her when she’s sick.  Alice dreams of becoming a princess!