Zambia Info.

Here is some general information on Zambia as well as the specific work of Partners Worldwide in Zambia.

While Zambia is a beautiful land – home to the largest waterfall in the world, beautiful lakes, and amazing wildlife – it is also struggling under the burden of poverty. High unemployment, frequent drought, and the pandemic spread of HIV/AIDS are all barriers to prosperity.

Partners Worldwide(PW) has been working in Zambia since 2001. They have several projects or affiliates located throughout the country. They support two business associations located in Lusaka and Chipata, which enable Christian businesspeople to work together to improve their businesses resulting in increased family income as well as job creation. One of our main tasks will be to work with these two business groups by increasing their organizational capacity through staff and board training as well as client training if necessary. A major thing we would like to pass on to the businesspeople is the idea that their business is their ministry and they are to use it to make an impact for Christ in the marketplace.

PW also works alongside a Christian School in Chipata where the only other private school is led by local Muslims and project called Villages of Hope-All Kids Can Learn (akcl.org) that trains orphans to be followers of Christ and to be entreprenuers. PW also supports a farmer to farmer program which assists small scale farmers on best practices and nutrition among other things. The North American Affiliate of the Chipata projects is a team from Sunnyside, WA. They have been involved for close to ten years and have had a significant impact on the Chipata community.

The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC.org) is a sister organization of Partners Worldwide. They have assisted PW work by providing staff and resources in many countries including Zambia. As Partners' staff we will relieve the CRWRC of the responsibilities of the Christian School in Chipata and the two business associations. The CRWRC has been working in Zambia since 1990 and is addressing the issues of poverty by working alongside Zambian churches and organizations to transform communities. Two of CRWRC’s partner organizations are church diaconal ministries reaching out to the needs of the rural pour in the communities in and outside the church. These outreach programs focus on the long-term chronic needs of the most impoverished Zambian people. A large focus of the work is improving the agricultural skills and health of those that struggle just to grow enough food to feed themselves and/or find health care nearby. More recently, in response to the AIDS pandemic, AIDS awareness has been integrated into all ministries. As well, many children orphaned because of the disease are being assisted with the skills and resources they need to survive.

Zambia Facts:

Population: 11,669,534

Area Comparative: Slightly larger than Texas

Literacy Rate: 80.6%
Life Expectancy: 38.6 years
Population below poverty level: 86%
Gross Domestic Product per Capita: $1400
Religions: Christian 50-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24-49%, Indigenous Beliefs 1%
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/za.html

Here is an article written last year about Zambia from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/07/world/africa/07zambia.html