Portraits

Posted by Emily Loewen on June 6, 2013 · 3 Comments 

A number of you have been asking where the stories I wrote over the last few months will be appearing. I’m sorry to say it will be a while before they’re all out. It takes time for the stories to work their way through MCC, and we don’t want to dump too many stories from a region all at once.

But thankfully I got permission to share some of the photos from my trip. I’ve selected a number of portraits of people who stuck with me, with a short description of where or why I met them. Hopefully this will quench at least a little bit of your curiosity.

Click on the images to get the full captions.

Nellia Mudenda is a client of the Brethren in Christ HIV Caregiver program which receives funding from MCC. She says it is only because of the caregivers that she got tested and is alive today.

Lengelihle Moyo holds her youngest daughter Menzile, outside their home in Nyandeni, Zimbabwe. Lengelihle is HIV positive and was part of a program to prevent transfer of the virus to her daughter.

Doris Hakoola, Hellen Chikalamu, Jessica Kanta and Susan Mulela run Mulela School for the Disabled in Lusaka, Zambia. Many parents in Zambia choose not to educated children with disabilities and these women (three are disabled themselves) have made it their mission to help those kids.

After Rachiel Ngwenya was attacked by an elephant while walking 36km to school, her community mobilized to start Simatelele Secondary closer to home.

Violet Mudimba used to walk an hour to get water. Now that there’s a dam close to her house she has extra time for gardening and other work.

Virginia Mpofu is one of four women who volunteered her time to cook as part of the MCC feeding program at Tinde High School. After cooking for students all day she goes home and makes meals for her family.

Naison Ncube is a client of the Brethren in Christ Church’s program for people living with HIV. While bedridden he has been visited by caregivers and received an supplies such as toothpaste and soap from MCC.

Kwanele brought her son Brandon (I think, it might be Brendan) to the hospital in rural Zimbabwe for care. MCC provides the doctors allowance so that the hospital can have two full-time doctors.

Miriam Mungombe, Emma Mupande and Selena Mungame use water from the new dam to do wash. Selena used to have a six hour round trip to collect water.

Grade one student Daniel Musunga is eager to answer a question from his teacher Racheal Ngongola. Daniel’s class is part of a trial for iSchool, a program that uses technology to make the Zambian curriculum more interesting and effective.

Beatrice Hamilandu was part of a small savings and loans program in Zambia. She used a loan to increase the amont of vegetables she could sell and with the extra money she earned she bought this bicycle.

Givemore Nyoni became the head of his household when he was just 20 years old. He took four years off school because he couldn’t afford it, but he returned to classes after an MCC program agreed to pay his fees. Because of his good grades he was made a prefect, and he’s going to graduate from high school this year.

Gloria Musonda is a grade one student in Lusaka being tested as part of a baseline study so that MCC can see the results of a new curriculum.

Lukundo Nyondo (left) and Frank Simensi demonstrate one form of corporal punishment their teachers used on them. MCC did a workshop with teachers at their school to decrease the level of physical punishment.

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