Project – 20 Days of H2OPE

20 Days of H2OPE is in its LAST day and we recently
learned of an 11 year old boy living in Ndola, Zambia.

Joseph is his name. His heart is for his people to have clean water.

The School:

The school is named Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe. It is situated in a highly populated area called Masala, in Ndola, Zambia. It has a population of 1,500 and the school currently does not have  a proper source of water. They have been using a hand dug well as their water source. Although, some time back they used to have piped water which was supplied by a local water utility company. However, the company is failing to cope with the demand due to over population in the area. This has created a very stressed water supply.

Furthermore, the toilets are very dirty and so people are failing to use them. As a result, some of the local residents result to using surrounding bushes which are very close to houses. This causes continuous contamination of  the water source as the human excrements and other waste are washed into the water source.

The Dream:

Our friend Annie, who works at Seeds of Hope, recently spoke with three people from this school and discovered the story of an 11 year old boy Joseph Chunda. Joseph is in the 6th grade and would like to become a journalist. He shared that he is motivated by a Zambian journalist named Emmanuel Lukonde who is a news caster at a local television station called Muvi TV. Joseph told Annie that he is encouraged by what he has learned in one of the subjects in school called Civic Education. In this class Joseph shared of what he learned  about the man called Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe who the school was named after.

During Annie’s visit, Joseph took time to narrate to his classmates how the freedom fighter Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe helped Zambia gain it’s independence. He says he will use his profession not as a freedom fighter, but to advocate for the provision of safe and clean water and good sanitation. He developed this interest during the time he has spent at his school because of the hardships he faced in accessing clean water and good sanitation. Joseph lives with his father and mother who are struggling to make ends meet. He shared how he wants to work hard at school so that he can help his parents to come out of poverty.

Above is Joseph’s photo sharing with his classmates on the former freedom fighter, the late Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe. Other pictures are his classmates: Margaret Mwelwa 11 years old and Chilekwa Kabaso, also 11 years old.

Other photos are of the school Head Teacher and the school’s source of water, the hand dug well.

Let’s help give Joseph and his classmates the H2OPE they want to share with their families!

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