The average age of Zambians is just 22. The country's population has doubled since 1994 and now stands at 20 million citizens. However, too fast development also has its negative consequences – there is a shortage of schools, hospitals, jobs....

80% of the people live very poorly and are mainly engaged in agriculture. Official unemployment oscillates around 15%, but those working in agriculture are also counted as employed in their small home fields. It's as if someone working in our garden is included in national employment

- Fr. Andrew Leśniara, a Jesuit missionary and parish priest in Chinkui, reports.

When Father Andrew arrived in Zambia in 1994, there were only a few schools in the villages in the parish area. There were no libraries, no newspapers, not to mention Internet access. The lack of education in various areas of life was overwhelming. And yet, it was under these conditions that the idea of a radio station was born, which still broadcasts daily programs on various topics, prepared by nurses, catechists or teachers. At the same time a radio educational program for grades 1-7 was also created.

Today, while the radio education system is doing very well (seventh grade graduates as many as 700 children, adolescents and adults annually), the missionaries have come to face another problem – hunger.

In Zambia, the rainy season lasts only four months, with drought for the remaining eight. The water deposits are very rich, but to reach them, one has to drill to a depth of 60-70 meters. Unfortunately, this year's rainfall in Zambia is the lowest since 1905.

People have lost everything in the fields. That's why I want to resume feeding children in schools in the parish, and we have as many as 5,000 students. There is an urgent need to help families in our parish, especially children, before they start to die of starvation

- the missionary does not hide his emotions.

For example, at Himukululu School, out of 112 enrolled students, only about 10 attend lessons every day, because parents know it's safer to keep malnourished children at home... After a sixth-grade student collapsed at school due to starvation, class attendance dropped even further, as children fear the same thing will happen to them too.

In Zambia, the staple food is nshima made from corn flour. For additional nutritional value, are peanuts, some sugar, and moringa (leaves from trees with lots of vitamins) are added. From these ingredients something like oatmeal is cooked. The cost of one such meal for a child at school is only 8 cents! Thus, a week's feeding of a student at school costs 40 cents, and for a month – 10 $/€. The school year lasts 9 months in Zambia, so the annual cost of meals for one child is 90 $/€.

Bank account numbers for money transfers are:

For $: PL 52 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0009; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
For €: PL 41 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0013; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
For others: IBAN: PL 79 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0008; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The child nutrition project in Zambia demonstrated the enormous strength of the Dehonian Missionary Family, sensitive to the suffering of children, innocent in their injustice and most vulnerable. Several months of our intensive assistance allowed Father Andrew to save children living in the Chinkui mission area from starvation. Although we are closing the fundraising campaign for this purpose, we will continue to support our missionary for a few more months in his struggle for a good crop and security in case of another drought. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for the great good that has happened tkanks to you, dear Donors. And here is a letter from the missionary, in which Father Andrew summarizes our action from his and his parishioners' perspective.

Chikuni, March 7, 2025

Dear Missionaries (yes, because you are them!),

I am writing on behalf of all the children and their parents and guardians, sincerely thanking you for your wonderful response to our appeal for child nutrition in Chikuni. Your help exceeded our expectations, and a true miracle of bread multiplication happened before our eyes.

It is with deep gratitude and joy that we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for your irreplaceable help in providing food for the children in our Chikuni parish and in our "Taonga" radio school during this difficult year when there was no harvest.

Thanks to your support, we were able to provide essential meals for:
~ more than 5,000 children attending radio schools who received a hot meal every day for those months,
~ 2,529 children who are not in school yet; for these families we provided corn flour, peanuts, sugar and salt, among other things,
~ more than 70 children with disabilities who attend school in Choongo received food and sanitary supplies each month,
~ more than 80 children (mostly girls) who received food and sanitary supplies every Saturday in Mukanzubo.

As of today, we have purchased:
~ 225 tons of corn flour,
~ 45 tons of peanuts,
~ 16 tons of sugar,
~ 6.5 tons of salt.

And these are just some of the many other products, such as cabbage, soybeans, chicken pieces, peas, capenta and others.

Transportation over difficult terrain and during the rainy season was required to deliver this amount of food. Where possible, we rented trucks, and where only off-road vehicles could pass, we used two Land Cruisers and a trailer.

Currently, the rain is good and we hope for a rich harvest. We will continue to help until the end of April, but soon our people will be able to enjoy their own crops, such as corn and melons.

Without your generosity and support, many of these children would not be able to receive the necessary meals that are the foundation for their physical development and educational success. Working together for these children gives them hope for a better future. Any help, no matter how small, is invaluable to us.

We are happy to count on your support in these difficult times. Your kindness not only improves the quality of life for children, but also sets an example of compassion, commitment and solidarity in our community and exemplifies a Christian attitude and the proclamation of the Good News.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for all that you have done and ask you to pray for the children who benefit from this assistance every day. May this emphasis help them find the touch of the Triune God in this gesture.

Then he took the child, set it before them, and, putting his arms around it, said to them: "Whoever receives one of these children in my name receives me." (Mk 9:36-37)

TWALUMBA KAPATI! (thank you very much!) BÓG ZAPŁAĆ!
With expressions of gratitude, respect and prayers of gratitude +

Fr. Andrzej Leśniara, SJ Chikuni, Zambia