MWAMBEZI VILLAGE is located 12 km south-west of Mbala town, Northern Province, and 1000 kilometers from Lusaka the capital city of the Republic of Zambia. You may not have the opportunity to visit Mwambezi village. Nevertheless, imagine a place where a woman fetches water from a stream six to eight kilometres away, fetches firewood from the forest, lives in a mud house with no power, her children have no access to school. Sure, in this day and age, it is simply appalling and sheer injustice. It is unacceptable. Someone has to do something just, merciful and kind for the people of Mwambezi village.

Map of Zambia with a shading of Mbala District

The people of Mwambezi village are peasant, that is, subsistence small scale farmers. That means each family grows their own crop for consumption. As a result, each family is only able to grow enough for consumption and does not have extra for sale to generate some cash. Consequently, the people need money every season for purchasing inputs especially fertilizer for their crop. Fertilizer is the main input. If a family does not have fertilizer, guaranteed, they will not have a crop to harvest, and they will face a year without food.

The second challenge the people of Mwambezi face is taking children to school. In order to attend school, children have to walk 12 km to the nearest school. 12 km does not seem too far for an adult. But for a child it is not easy. Consequently, this is a barrier to education for most children at Mwambezi village. Further, before a child can attend school, they must pay a school fee, buy new uniform and have school supplies. This is a nightmare for most families. Most families do not just have the money to afford taking children to school.

As a result, there are generations of children, teenagers and adults growing up without formal education. This leads to hopeless and helpless lives. For anyone who knows the value of formal education, it is not easy to see people wasting their lives because without formal education they cannot get any gainful work, in turn they are not able to take their children to school down the road. A vicious circle of poverty continues from generation to generation.

Thirdly, Mwambezi village people, especially single women, do not have decent housing. Most families live in mud huts with grass thatching. For some huts owned by such families as single mothers, when it rains the roofs leak. And if there were a flood, the mud huts risk falling and being carried away. The village people need help with building strong and enduring houses made of durable building materials - burnt brick or concrete blocks, cement flooring and iron sheet roofing.

In order to lift the people of Mwambezi village out of poverty, there is need to build a school at the village and establish an endowment fund for education. In addition to building a school, there is need for  a medical clinic, a grain storage facility, sinking boreholes, bringing electricity to the village and constructing low-cost houses for single women.

Ntungo Noble is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the people of Mwambezi village. Ntungo Noble’s mission is to lift the people of Mwambezi village out of poverty. Ntungo Noble fulfills its mission by sending children to school, providing fertilizer for crop production and building enduring homes using burnt brick, cement floors and iron sheet roofing.

Ntungo Agricultural Co-operative Society is a member operated grassroot organization at Mwambezi village dedicated to mobilizing the village community for economic development.

CANADA

Building a precious stone foundation for lifting the people of Mwambezi village out of poverty

Ntungo Agricultural

Co-operative Society

MWAMBEZI VILLAGE

Focus on Mwambezi Village Community Development