JOANNAS KIDS ORPHANAGE: A CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION

Allan Machakwa

Allan Machakwa was born on August 2^nd, 1984. He is Zambian. He lives in John Laing compound in the capital city of Lusaka. His story is the same as many other youth in Zambia today. In fact, Allan is one of over 2 million Zambian youth and children who are growing up without parents. This is Allan’s story:

Allan lived a relatively normal childhood until he was 10, when his father died. At that point, his mother was also ill and not able to take care of all the children, so the younger ones were sent off to other relatives. Allan stayed at home to care for his mother, who also died a year later, in 1996.

After his mother died, Allan was taken to an uncle’s place in Chaisa, a compound community on the north side of Lusaka. He continued to go to school and was able to complete grade 9 by 2001. This was the year his uncle also died, and he was forced to go out on his own, because no other relative would take him now that he was a young man of 17. He found a room in John Laing compound, on the south side of Lusaka, near town, and began to wash cars and buses for a living, since no one was supporting him. In essence, he became a street youth, living by day doing piece work to survive.

A friend told him about Fountain of Hope, a drop-in shelter for street kids. They gave him blankets and allowed him to come for a noonday meal of nshima (corn meal porridge) and beans or vegetables. When he wasn’t doing piece work, he would come for the noon meal. Sometimes that was the only meal he ate all day. In 2003, a volunteer worker from Canada, Eric Prugh, came to Fountain of Hope to advise on income generation and management structures. Allan approached Eric for help to go back to school, to grade 10, at the age of 19. Eric arranged a donation and Allan secured a place at Thorn Park Secondary School, a 2 km walk along the rail line from his home in John Laing.

The school year starts in January in Zambia. Allan is presently finishing grade 12. It has been a hard struggle. He needs support to continue in school and to feed and clothe himself. Allan has aspirations to be a doctor. This will take considerably more effort and resources than he can cover doing piece work on the streets between classes at school.

In 2004 thieves broke into Allan’s room at night and beat him and robbed him of everything he had – including his clothes, shoes, mattress, and cooking pots. He lives in a very dangerous environment, but it is all he can afford while still going to school. His monthly rent is the equivalent of $20 USD, but this is a lot of money to Allan. He is presently surviving on less than $1.00 a day, while going to school full time.

While many would consider someone like Allan as not eligible for support because he is already 22, and a young man, his story is only one of many such cases of arrested development due to extreme circumstances. In order for him to get past the grip of poverty and have a good and productive future, Allan continues to need support. While it is true that there are millions of children under the age of 15 who are vulnerable, and many on the streets, ignoring young men and women who are late in developing their education due to circumstances is condemning them to a life continuing hardship. We must also be addressing these needs in society. These youth need a social safety net as well.

 

Eve Helms-Manzanares