During Inverness County Cares’s visit to Zambia, we met many remarkable individuals who worked very hard and did the best they could with the opportunities available to them.
Alice Chongo is one of these people. She is a mother, a farmer, a government worker, and nurturer. She also works for Chalice.ca in a role where she aids in communication between the sponsored children and their supporters in Canada. She is a single mother of five wonderful children, three sons and two daughters.
Quoting Alice, “From the moment I held my first born, I knew my life would be a journey of love and labor. Raising five children alone in Zambia was not easy. There were days when the weight of responsibility felt overwhelming, but my children’s future kept me going. I taught them early, ‘Education is your ladder, climb it no matter how shaky it seems.’
While nurturing my family. I also nurtured my country. I worked as a caregiver, combining my skills in secretarial duties and administering medicine at the St Mary’s school, for the blind. Every pill I counted, every report I typed, was a step toward providing for my children. In 2015 November, I retired from government service, but my hands were never still. Family has always been my backbone. I grew ground nuts, beans and crops that filled my children’s plates and paid their school fees. The soil taught me patience. A seed planted today will feed you tomorrow. Even now my farm reminds me that growing takes time just like raising my children into thriving adults. Today I stand proud of the people they become; a doctor who heals others just as I once cared for my patients; a teacher who shapes minds like I shaped theirs at our kitchen table; a driver who steers his own path, mirroring my resilience; two more waiting deployment, their future bright with promise. (Waiting for deployment in Zambia is when a student has finished their higher education, they wait for the government to call them up for their first job.)
My children are now 43, 39, 33, 27, 22. I raised my children alone. No one helped me. I used to get loans from lender institutions and I started a small business of keeping broiler chickens. The money I raised was used for my children to go to school, buy school requisites and to purchase food stuff. At the same time, I started building a house and cultivated land to grow different crops. I sold some of the crops to the government and kept some for my family. I used just a hoe for cultivation of the garden (no machinery of any kind). With the little money I got, I used part of it to buy fertilizer to make the soil fertile. Sometimes I added chicken manure to make the soli richer. I would spend two hours walking to my garden and one hour and 30 minutes working in it in the hot sun. Then I walk back home for two hours.”
Life is always a challenge in rural Zambia. Recently Alice’s clay brick home sustained serious structural damage due to heavy rains. The bricks of her home absorbed water and became uninhabitable. She is now in the process of rebuilding.
Alice is resourceful and focuses on the positive. According to her, “I’m happy my children and I worked hard, hand-in-hand in the garden. My biggest challenge was when growing crops, sometimes people I employed, failed to do the work nicely.
My most difficult situation was when I lost both parents and had to remain here in Kawambwa without a mother and a father. The good people of my community were always on my side, especially my fellow Christians. When I want to do something, I have to pray to God to give me directions and strength, for in God everything is possible.
My proudest moment is to see that all my children are independent and they’re taking care of their lives. Thanks to the Sisters of the Child Jesus for encouraging me to continue working with them and for showing me different types of work. I always pray for them.”
While in Zambia we visited Alice at her home. Her house is surrounded by lush gardens, as lawns surrounding many Zambian homes are productive not decorative. Alice’s yard was profusion of large squash leaves with sizable fruits as well as groundnuts, sweet potatoes and other crops to feed her family. Alice is an example of resilience. She represents the many strong women in her country, including many who are mothers of children with albinism. They were abandoned by their partners because of the perception that albinism brings shame to their families or that the mother has been unfaithful, because of the whiteness of their child’s skin.
Thank you to supporters of Inverness County Cares for assisting those in need, by your monetary donations and by filling our bottle and can donation trailers with refundables. Your goodness is much appreciated.
Also, many thanks for purchasing our garlic. We have sold out!!
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: invernesscountycares@gmail.com or send a cheque to Inverness County Cares, 5414 Route 19, Judique, NS, Canada, B0E1P0. Taxation receipts provided.
