Inverness County Cares

Winfreida was born in 1982 in the Sampa district of Zambia. When she was a child of 10, she lost her sight and at that time no one knew there was a school for the blind at St Mary’s. Father White from Canada came to her community, noted her condition and  took her to Saint Mary’s school in Kawambwa, that was in 1994.

Winfrieda’s condition could be genetic, causing blindness or perhaps it could be cataracts. There were ten in her family but seven have died and the three remaining have the same condition causing blindness.

Winfreida, despite her blindness has courageously completed high school, with very little accommodations for her condition, and continued on to earn a teaching degree.  She is presently waiting to be deployed to a teaching job wherever the government places her. Winfrieda’s story is similar to many others in Zambia. Children are born with conditions that compromise their sight as they mature, with many of these conditions being correctable, with proper eye care. According to a leading local ophthalmologist, it is imperative that all children have access to eye care before the age of 12. Amblyopia (lazy eye) is very treatable and if diagnosed early, the children are much more likely to have improved vision and fewer long-term effects.

Out of the student population of the two schools, 190 are identified as totally blind or severely visually impaired. They all need twice yearly (or more) checkups and follow up. To obtain this treatment they need to travel a great distance at a great cost incurred by transportation, accommodations and food. For most it just doesn’t happen.

Some of the leading correctable causes of visual impairment and blindness, are cataracts and lack of prescription glasses. During their trip to the schools in Zambia for the visually impaired and blind, Inverness County Cares members noted that no one wore glasses, not students, not staff nor sisters. There were no assistive aids such as Fresnel lens or magnifiers. School funds are prioritized to provide food, shelter and education with very little left over for correcting vision.

Winfreida goes on to explain that it is not only blindness that causes her distress, but her eyes hurt a great deal as they are very dry. Sometime she is able to access eye drops that ease the pain, but not always.

Not only Winfreida suffers from eye pain, the children with albinism are very sensitive to light and bright colours, so much so, that when ICC bought new bedding for their dormitories, the sisters avoided bright colours and bought, very muted greys. The people of Inverness County sent many sunglasses and hats to help relieve the suns glare and these were accepted with great joy.

Winfrieda is just one of  many children in Zambia who have lost their sight or have limited and distorted vision. Accompanying  these conditions are great eye discomfort and pain with little hope of relief of any kind. Inverness County continues to work to provide funds which will go toward increasing the scope of ways we can help with eye care.  We thank our supporters who help through donations and filling our refundable bottle and can collection trailers in Port Hood and Mabou so quickly.

 

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   http://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.

 

 

 

Inverness County Cares (ICC) was established in 2012 growing from the former Inverness County Welcomes, an organization created in 2010 to help refugees settle in as new Canadians. The ICC founders were a group of people who wanted to give thanks for our fortunate situation as citizens of Canada and provide assistance for those in great need.

In 2015 we began a partnership with Chalice.ca which was of great benefit to our organization. This partnership gives ICC accounting services and field-staff on the ground at the school sites, who can provide first hand reports on the conditions of the schools.

Our first project was providing support for a school in Nairobi, Kenya for street children. After the completion of the Kenyan project ICC turned to our partners, Chalice Canada, for help finding a new group to support. We were given five choices and after much deliberation a consensus was reached that ICC would support two schools for the blind and visually impaired in the north of Zambia. The two schools were already associated with Chalice.ca and our support would bring them to a new level of development and enhance the support provided by Chalice. St Mary’s is located in Kawambwa and has 110 students, the St Odilia School is located in Mporokoso and has 310 students. Students at both schools are blind, have albinism or visual impairment of varying degrees. St Odilia in addition has 230 students without visual challenges. This integration positively changes attitudes toward students with albinism.

The schools are located in small towns which are surrounded by many rural villages, with most villagers living in mud brick homes with thatched roofs. They provide for their families by subsistence farming where their well-being is determined by environmental factors which influence crop yield.

The students at the schools, especially the students with albinism, have lengthy stories of hardship and difficulty caused by a lack of understanding of their conditions. Most rural schools provide very little adaptations for children with diminished visual acuity or children with albinism who face a lack of understanding of their condition. The fact that albinism is a genetic condition is not understood and the age-old myths where these people are considered bewitched or are ghosts still linger to the present day.  Most alarming is the belief that magical potions containing body parts of persons with albinism can bring success and good luck to those who purchase these potions from witch doctors. To this day persons with albinism must be wary of kidnappers who may maim or kill them to access their body parts for the witch-doctor’s magical potions. In addition, there is misunderstanding of the serious danger posed by the strong rays of the sun. Persons with albinism either don’t understand the danger of the sun or just don’t have the resources to purchase sunscreen, hats and clothing to cover their skin which does not have the natural protection of melanin. It is rare to see people wearing bucket hats or clothing to cover their limbs. On the other hand, it is common to see children with spots on their skin which are precursors to melanoma. 

The school catchment area is large and many children live in areas where the bus (donated by Chalice and ICC) cannot navigate.  This February we hope to purchase a Toyota Tacoma truck to help the sisters access remote areas, ensuring even the most distant students can come to school. The 28-seater bus is now used to collect groceries and building supplies. The truck will ensure the bus lasts much longer and the truck will be much more economical to drive. 

Inverness County Cares is a close-knit organization with members finding their niche and working together for the good of the children. We are a society with a board of directors as well an honorary board of directors who support us with their approval of our projects. ICC meets once a month either in person or online. Minutes are kept and opportunities explored to enrich the lives of the children. We are thankful for both our regular members and our associate members who keep our society running.

We are so grateful for the donations provided by so many caring people. Your support has allowed us to surpass our original goals and enables us provide more than we ever expected. In addition to our annual donation of $30,000 per year for education, food and shelter we are now able to add items that enhance the quality of life at the schools. In December 2024 two local donors donated a total of $7,200 to dig a well in Mporokoso. This was a major event in the lives of the people who needed a clean, dependable source of running water.

 

ICC is very grateful for the support of our bottle and can collection sites. Every refundable bottle and can, you drop off in our collection trailers in Port Hood and Mabou, makes the world a better place for the students at our two schools.

We gladly accept:

drink boxes, plastic, glass or tin juice containers 

soft drink and alcohol containers 

water and flavoured water containers 

any other sealed drink container except milk and milk products

Please NO tin food cans or milk containers.

 

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.

 

Mporokoso Convent is the home of the Sisters of the Child Jesus. The sisters have lived with an unpredictable and unsafe water supply because they were not connected to the city water utility company. They and the pupils they care for at St. Odilia School for the blind, have had numerous health problems due to the contaminated water in the shallow well where they obtained their water. Sr Auxilia Mwansa, the head teacher for St. Odilia in Mporokoso, attests to this truth, that safe water is scarce. 

This tainted water and unhygienic conditions, posed significant threats to the health of the community. The sisters had to collect rain water in barrels or draw water from a shallow unreliable well on their property, both which needed to be boiled for human consumption.  Inadequate access to safely managed water and sanitation facilities led to the spread of waterborne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhea problems. These illnesses were affecting the school and convent population and frequently resulted in more medical costs. 

When Inverness County Cares (ICC) members visited Mporokoso in the winter of 2024 they noted that the sisters did not have clean running water in their convent. Upon their return they shared this information and two donors offered the $7,200 needed to dig a well in their compound.

The sisters had asked many times for a well to provide them with an ample supply of clean water. It was with jubilation they received the news that a well would be dug in the convent compound. The well drillers hit water at a depth of 51 meters. As the fountain of water gushed high into the air, resounding shouts of delight were heard, accompanied by enthusiastic dancing and celebrations by sisters, students and the many people who will have access to the water.  

A 5,000-liter water holding tank was positioned high on a platform to produce water pressure. A pump was installed to pump the water up into the tank from the well. A full tank of water should last 3-4 days. Plumbing will be installed in the convent after Christmas to supply water to taps and toilets. 

Because of the ongoing drought in Zambia and surrounding areas electricity which is supplied by hydro dams is rationed daily. The water tank pump will have a three-hour window where water can be pumped to the holding tank. 

A huge burden for the sisters has been lifted. They are happy to say that from now on, they will have water 24/7 at the convent and school pupils can access it at their convenience. The well supplies an uninterrupted source of clean fresh water for drinking, washing, household activities, especially since all school and convent washing is done by hand in tubs. The sisters routinely attend mass each morning, and they rise early (5:00) to prepare water for bathing. The much more available water is much less labor intensive and allows them more time for other tasks. 

The water borehole at the convent has helped reduce the demand placed on the school supply.  The school water was used to supplement the domestic water use at the convent. Borehole water will be used to maintain crops and gardens and water livestock. The sisters now have a reliable supply of water without the worry of watermain problems or lack of water from the water utility. 

The borehole water is rich in naturally occurring minerals and hasn’t been treated or altered with any man-made chemical additives. When you drink the water straight from your personal groundwater source, it has been filtered and cleaned for you by mother earth herself, while leaving behind all the good-for-you minerals unlike the  water supplied by the water utility company which is treated by chemicals!

The water borehole has been properly constructed with geophysical testing beforehand to determine the best place to dig. A well-respected borehole drilling/servicing company was hired to drill and maintain the borehole with routine checkups and service work if needed. 

To understand the delight felt by the sisters, we can just go back to our last long term power outage and think of the thrill we experienced seeing the Nova Scotia Power trucks hooking us back up to the electricity grid.

A joyous thank you to our generous donors. 

Many thanks to our supporters who donate bottles and cans at our drop off trailers in Mabou and Port Hood. 

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   http://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.

 

I am Paul Kachela and I have Ocular Albinism, which is a genetic condition that causes lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes and is often accompanied by visual impairment. A young person with albinism has great difficulty because often their family doesn’t understand the need to use protective clothing to shield them from the sun and the importance of sunscreen. Persons with albinism are thought of as abnormal or evil spirits. My own family had problems handling my situation, I was even failing to go to school, because of their lack of knowledge of my condition.  

Working in the sun is difficult because my skin cannot accommodate the light so I can’t work at farming and fishing like my family. My parents are farmers and despite knowing I was an albino, they sometimes forced me to work in the fields, but…this is what my family understands. I need to do other jobs out of the sun that do not put me in danger. Some friends have similar experiences with their families who even stopped them from wearing caps, not understanding this is to prevent melanoma. 

People laugh at us, call us names and say threatening things. They should understand that we feel bad when they mock us. Our greatest fear is of people who think of us as a possible source of income. Some desperate and immoral people consider maiming or killing us for our body parts and selling them for huge amounts of money. This  actually happens in Africa! We look different but we are intelligent and not Ghosts as some people believe.

They fail to understand us and blame persons with albinism for bad luck, however we know we are exceptional beings and realize people just don’t recognize this because of ancient cultural beliefs.

Sr Agnes remarks, “After Paul went to school, his aunt (sister to his mother) took him in and he started staying with her during holidays. Sometimes he was kept by house parents during holidays. His father never bothered to know where he was.”

I am now in a very good and happy time, for I can understand myself as God created me. Albinism is a challenge especially because of visual  distortions and poor sight. Sometimes I find it a challenge when it comes to seeing things which are distant, and sometimes I find it a challenge to see something which is at a short distance.  My vision is constantly changing and is very sensitive to bright colours and light.  It is easier for us to see bright colours, for it helps us to locate places at a distance. Our school is a joyful environment and it has landmarks which are painted yellow and black, which are very easy for us identify and show where we are going.  Sometimes when I rise from sleep, brightly colored objects and bright lights makes my head very painful whereby even the tears come out of my eyes. I like wearing dark clothes, for it does not reflect light, and protects my eyes from the pain.

 

When I was growing up, some in my community understood me but others were afraid of me and thought maybe I was a ghost.  I wondered to my Mother, “Why do people run when they see me?” My mother explained saying, “They just feel scared when you go near them because they think you may hurt them. I know you are  a human being like everyone else.” People believe when a woman conceives a child with albinism, she has done something wrong to the society, or maybe to the spirits. I am upset when people call me bad names, then other times I feel very good associating with people with different skins who understand albinism is genetic not supernatural.

 

When I came to school St Mary’s School, for the visual impaired I was seven years old and the youngest. I learned to associate with others easily because St Mary’s is a community of people with visual impairment. I feel normal here where I understand myself and the community understands me. The people in this school family are very kind and the students at the school are very comfortable here.

 

Betty Jane says, “Paul was very articulate and full of stories, and quick to learn how to care for the instruments – stringing, repairing, tuning, and simple chording. He was a good coach for the blind students as his own sight is very poor, and he understood their challenges. He always wore a red cap, tilted his head and squinted through almost closed eyes that looked infected and were painful. His face and hands were rough and full of sores. He has a huge smile.”

 

John and John were impressed to see Paul join the volunteers who slashed the grass to prepare the grounds for the student’s arrival. At a farewell party for ICC members, he acted as DJ and MC. We saw him modelling leadership for the many students in the school who were dealing with the same challenges that they had to cope with at a similar stage and age.

 

I’m very proud of myself because I’m now able to do productive work as a teacher. The Canadian organizations, Inverness County Cares and Chalice have supported my education and given me a chance to become independent. Many thanks to the Canadian people for their contributions to my education. Without the St Mary’s Special School in Kawambwa I could not have achieved what I have. At St Mary’s School I have learned how to navigate our community and the outside world.

 

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   http://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.