February 2024
Alison and I arrived in New Zealand on 24 January, and expect to be here for two months. It has been good to reconnect with family and friends over the past week. But some duties continue for me as usual, thanks to the internet.
Christmas music with The Kafakumba Singers at the Garden Court Hotel in Kitwe
Opportunities
The weekend before we left Zambia we had succeeded in getting two of our young girls established in rental accommodation in Ndola so that they could start a trial period of training at a clothing factory there. Both had completed a course in Fashion and Design at TVTC, a big college in Luanshya. Sadly, the one-week trial period has ended and, for whatever reasons, they have apparently not met the standard. So now we are back to square one with them, and they will be pounding the streets of Ndola this week to find other work.
All our young people face the same challenges in securing employment, no matter what level of education they have reached, and no matter how well they have done in their exams. The present Government has done a lot to improve educational standards generally, and one of these initiatives has been to make more bursaries available for tertiary courses. But when they have finished their training, employment opportunities for young people are still as scarce as ever.
The Onesimus Fund
We are very proud of Mabvuto Phiri, who has achieved straight A passes in the ECZ Grade 12 exams at Chiwala Secondary School in Ndola. This has been despite several significant health issues at various times during his teenage years. Mabvuto finished Grade 9 at Limapela Cedric’s then went on to board at Chiwala under the Onesimus Programme. He is an obvious candidate for University, so now he is looking at his options.
We are also looking for a sponsor for Joy, a bright young lady of 12 who has been offered a place at Chengelo School, one of Zambia’s top secondary schools. She is a pastor’s daughter who lives with her parents in a very remote place in the North-Western Province.
Let us know if you would like to contribute to the Onesimus Programme.
Schools
Just as we were about to open for the new school year a cholera epidemic closed all schools countywide. This has been too stark a reminder of the COVID lockdowns that we would all rather forget! As things stand at the moment, schools will open on 12 February.
We were pleased that all but three of our Grade 9 pupils at Limapela passed the National ECZ Grade 9 exams. Head teachers at Limapela and Luyando are now finalising the enrolment and class numbers for 2024.
Limapela increased all salaries by 10% in December and our employees are all grateful. Many thanks to those existing fee sponsors who have increased their monthly giving in order to help us with increased costs.
Warm greetings and thanks to you all for your interest, support and prayers.
— Matthew and Alison Raymond
Sponsor Emmanuel Sakala (14) for NZ$ 35 (US$ 30 or £18) per month. More details