St. Peter Claver Society
for
African Orphans
Sponsored by St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, McLean, Virginia
Mission Statement:
Giving orphans a chance to grow and a have better and safer future.
In 2003, a group of parishioners started talking with the pastor, Father Edward Hathaway, about the possibility of the parish supporting efforts by the Church in Kenya and Zambia to care for the many orphans resulting from the AIDS scourge. The pastor encouraged this. In early 2004, the St. Peter Claver Society was formed as a parish organization to assist African orphans and other vulnerable children cared for by Catholic institutions, initially in Kenya and Zambia. Later in 2004, SPCS held its first fund raising dinner.
Against a backdrop of high levels of poverty, Africa remains the region most affected by HIV and AIDS globally. 68% of the world’s infected people reside in Africa. 61% of the world’s infected women are in Africa; and women carry the greater burden of caring for children and the sick. 90% of the 14 Million AIDS orphans globally are in Africa. Africans subsist on less than $2 per day. The death of parents poses children. Many of them become enormous nutritional, health, educational, social and economic challenges to Africa’s heads of families at a tender age and must leave school to care for their siblings.
THANK YOU, GENEROUS DONORS & FRIENDS!
With your purchases of See’s chocolates, Christmas amaryllis, Zambian coffee, participation in our fundraisers, and many, many donations over the years you have helped hundreds of orphans, disabled children and disadvantaged youth in Africa live fuller, safer and healthier lives.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION
The SPCS has no paid staff, and its only expenses are the costs of advertising and Maintenance and Evaluation fees to our sister organization in Zambia which monitors some of our projects; thus, nearly 100% of donations go directly to its projects which are closely monitored and regularly visited by SPCS Committee members. Currently, St. Peter Claver Society supports tw0 projects in Zambia:
St Anthony Children’s Village, Ndola Diocese, Zambia
Funds to build the orphanage were mobilized by Franciscan Sisters, who handed over its day to day management to Dominican Sisters. The orphanage cares for between 90-120 children at any time, ranging in age from a new born to seven years, the majority born to mothers who have died of AIDS. In July 2015, SPCS donated $4000 to upgrade the preschool on the premises.
As the AIDS crisis subsides, fewer babies are being born to infected mothers; however, St. Anthony’s is also home for over 66 children and young adults with special needs, most having cerebral palsy. They regularly receive rehabilitative care from a physical therapist. In addition, several older children with severe chronic diseases are cared for at St. Anthony’s.
Cardinal Mazombwe Agricultural and Life Skills Centre
relocated to the Makunka Parish in the Livingstone Diocese
Who was Cardinal Mazombwe? He was Zambia’s first Cardinal who had a lifelong devotion to promoting education. In fact, during his 53 years as a priest, he established many universities, nursing schools, hospitals and education centers.
After observing the alarming number of orphans of AIDS in Zambia, the cardinal obtained 200 acres of land near a hospital and nursing school he had founded. His aim was to interest orphans and very poor young people to live at the farm and raise crops and livestock for their own consumption and to earn money to put themselves through school. Since 2002, this enterprise has been very successful in helping almost 200 young adults graduate as teachers, nurses, priests and more efficient farmers who are now self-sufficient and able to help their siblings. Cardinal Mazombwe wanted to stem the flow of orphans to the cities where they are generally unemployed, and too often resort to crime and prostitution, in order to survive.
After observing the alarming number of orphans of AIDS in Zambia, the cardinal obtained 200 acres of land near a hospital and nursing school he had founded. His aim was to interest orphans and very poor young people to live at the farm and raise crops and livestock for their own consumption and to earn money to put themselves through school. Since 2002, this enterprise has been very successful in helping almost 200 young adults graduate as teachers, nurses, priests and more efficient farmers who are now self-sufficient and able to help their siblings. Cardinal Mazombwe wanted to stem the flow of orphans to the cities where they are generally unemployed, and too often resort to crime and prostitution, in order to survive.
For several years the St. Peter Claver Society (SPCS) has had the mission of fulfilling the late Cardinal Medardro Joseph Mazombwe’s vision of a rural center that would train young Zambians in agricultural skills, so that they could support themselves and their families and avoid migrating to urban areas. As is the case in so many developing countries, migration in Zambia from rural areas to the cities has led to joblessness, violence, drugs, and other social problems. Cardinal Mazombwe dreamed of stemming the tide by providing young people in those rural areas the skills they would need to make their lives there successful.
Initially, the SPCS hoped to build an agricultural training center on property within the Diocese of Lusaka. Problems developed at that location, however, and as of 2020 plans are moving forward to build an agricultural skills training centre in the Livingstone Diocese. The CARITAS director, Father Klemens, was put in charge of the project. A local committee of priests, parishioners, and community leaders has been formed to guide development of the project. A water expert has been engaged to assess the possibility of repairing a collapsed well or sinking a new one to assure a dependable source of water. Detailed plans had already been prepared for building two classrooms, two dormitories and a teacher’s house. A contractor has now been engaged to advise on the budget and the most cost-effective approach to construction.
After many unanticipated, but understandable, delays we are encouraged by the progress and optimistic that construction of the Cardinal Mazombwe Agricultural and Life Skills Training Center (CMTC) will begin in the not-too-distant future.
2020 Tuition and Fees
Besides the two projects, SPCS pays tuition for college and skills training for six of the CMC students who spend their school holidays at the Mazombwe farm in the Lusaka Province. In addition, we pay the examination fees for Mulele Mwana Skills Centre students studying various courses such as Tailoring, Auto Mechanics and Food Service.
SPCS COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Shimwaayi Muntemba
Mary Beth Kustra
Charles Heeter
Maricel Heeter
Robert Jansen
Gabe LaMonica
Agatha Massery
Fredericka Wall
Margaret Yamamoto
Where we serve:
SPCS is partnered with Zambia Orphans Aid (ZOA). ZOA-US and ZOA-UK concentrate on raising funds to support the projects identified and submitted to them by ZOA in Zambia (ZOA-Z). ZOA-Z also monitors and evaluates the projects and helps with capacity-building in simple business management and in proposal writing and reporting. In 2004, ZOA-US offered SPCS two of its projects it had been supporting: Mulele Mwana and St. Anthony Children’s Village. ZOA-Z has its office on Mulele Mwana grounds in Lusaka. ZOA-Z transfers SPCS funds to these projects and monitors them as well.
Our sister organization is Zambia Orphans Aid (ZOA-US) website: zambiaorphans.org
