By Goodson
Chishimba Mathews is a young man with low vision and he was born on 12th February 1998 in Kapatu Village of Northern Province of Zambia. He is the second born child in the family of 3, where they are (2) ladies and one (1) man who happens to be himself. He was born from a very poor family with no acceptance by the society and that made his mother to live unhappy life. He was rejected by his community because of traditional superstitions where people believe that the bodies of Albino people have special powers. Because of this they are in great danger of abduction by believers in witchcraft. In 2023 kidnapped albino people are killed or maimed by unscrupulous people who harvest their body parts for the black market where they sell their bodies to create potions and spells. People actually still believe that this will bring them great wealth and luck. The life of a blind albino person is filled with terror and uncertainty.
As result of the above situational, the parents had to seek guidance on where the child can learn and stay safe without stigmatization, so at the age of 9 Sisters of the Child Jesus helped his parents by giving the information on where Mathews can go and learn, which is St. Odilia special school for the visually impaired in Mporokosa, in Northern Zambia.
He was very young, and he started learning how to write and read Braille, he started from pre-school so that he can be used to Braille writing. Fourtunely, the boy started doing well in all the subjects and moved from pre-school to grade 7 on a faster pace that he wrote his grade 7 national examination and passed well at the early age.
Currently, he is studying at the teaching college in Kasama and he is in his second (2) year, he is studying social studies and religious at the college, every year he performs extremely good at school in that CHALICE is always helping with financial support that is boosting him to spend much of his time studying so that he can complete his course of becoming a teacher.
Our profound gratitude to Chalice and Inverness County Cares for the spiritual and financial help that they always give to Mathews Chishimba for him to continue with his education and become a responsible person in the society and contribute positively to the wealth of our mother Zambia.
Inverness County Cares (ICC) is a local charitable organization, founded in 2012 and based in Inverness County, NS, Canada. ICC works in partnership with Chalice.ca, a Canadian charity, based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Chalice provides guidance and assistance to help ICC provide a better life for the children at the Kawambwa schools. The Kawambwa Project involves supporting two schools for albino and visually impaired students, in Northern Zambia. Inverness County Cares always welcomes new members. Individuals who wish to donate, can use the donate button on our website https://invernesscountycares.com When using E-transfer, please include your mailing address for CRA tax receipts and a thank you message. E-transfer address: [email protected] or send a cheque to Inverness County Cares, 5414 Route 19, Judique, NS, Canada, B0E1P0. Taxation receipts provided for USA and Canada.
