As many of you know, we recently launched our Warm Up Wiphan campaign to keep our children warm this Zambian winter which starts in May. Thank you to everyone who participated-this was an amazing success. In less than 45 days we raised the funds necessary to buy 450 blankets and 450 sweaters for our children! We had over 100 families donate towards the cause and we thank God for his faithfulness!! Since winter is an annual event, we are going to keep the campaign open to get a jump start on next season. Although we believe that the blankets and sweaters should last more than one year, there will be a need to replenish and buy new blankets and sweaters for the incoming class. Thank you so much for all your support and love! Please watch our thank you video to all that contributed.
*If you are interested in involving your school, church group or organization in this drive, please let us know.
In February 2010, we received this heart wrenching email from our social worker which inspired us to work to provide warm blankets and sweaters for our children. Please read the email below and click the banner at the top to donate.
Davison Njovu (15), Mambo Phiri (11) and Gibson Kumwenda (13) are all related. They are double orphans who come to wiphans sinia center in grades 6, 4 and 6 respectively.
Just yesterday Davison who is the oldest of them all came to school to report that he was quitting.
This is their story.
Davison, Mambo and Gibson are cousins who found themselves under the care of their grandmother after each one of their parents died. Their grandmother is old but has a small farm 3 hours walk from sinia where she said she would go. She has since been gone since October and left the kids to fend for themselves. The kids know where the farm is but have never found her there. A few times they have gone, desperately looking for something to eat. They do have one meal when they come to school but that’s as far as it goes. After school, they go home and sleep to get ready for school the next day. They sleep in a tiny mud house which has holes in the roof and since its been raining pretty hard lately, they just sit in a corner and hug each other for warmth because also, they don’t have a bed or mat to sleep on. After living this way Davison has totally given up and so a few days ago he came to report that he was quitting school so that he could go to Lusaka (4 hour car ride) where he hopes he could find some relatives that can take care of him and his cousins. We were overwhelmed and encouraged the boy not to leave. Wiphan has since put them under the care of a Wiphan lady (who is a neighbor to these boys and has been helpful with giving them meals). Wiphan has also given a bag of mealie-meal, beans and cooking oil to the same Wiphan lady to make sure they eat something other than the meal they have at school. Wiphan also bought blankets for the kids which were presented to them by the Administrator (as shown in the pictures). For now, they will have more than one meal and they will be able to keep warm at night.
Update: The children continue to be monitored and cared for by their new care-taker and the Wiphan administration.
* Wiphan is a 501c3 non profit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Posted: 4/07/10 by:Wiphan Admin
Q. Are you going to purchase the blankets and sweaters in Zambia?
A. Yes, we have arranged with local blanket and sweater suppliers to purchase the products. These goods are made in Zambia by local Zambians.
Q. Why can’t we donate blankets or sweaters for Wiphan to ship over?
A. This question has multiple answers. First, it is about the quality of the blankets and sweaters. We not only want to give the children warm items, we want them to last for a long time. The items we have selected are made of high quality wool that is the warmest solution for our kids. Also, the products we have chosen have been proven to be the most durable products available to weather the harsh conditions of the compounds. Lastly, the cost for us to ship only 450 sweaters and 450 Blankets would prove to be the least efficient way for us to keep our kids warm. Furthermore, we like the idea that we are helping the local economy by purchasing the items locally!
