• FROM left: Lubasi Home coordinator sister Petroneldis Wea SSpS, Francis Kachuzu, Charity Mwiya and Lubasi Home assistant coordinator
Christina Mutikitela (far right). Picture by BRIAN HATYOKA

By BRIAN HATYOKA –

ONE person once said that people should not judge the book by its cover.
Instead of judging the book by its cover, people should read and understand what is contained in a given publication.
Another person also once said that one cannot know what is across the river until he or she crosses the river.
True to the above, there are many prejudices in life and one of them is that orphanages are places for deprived who cannot sustain their lives.
However, there are people who passed through orphanages due to life challenges but they are now better citizens and contributing meaningfully to the country’s economic development agenda.
Francis Kachuzu, 23, from Mukuni Chiefdom in Kazungula District of Southern Province is one of the people who are contributing to the development of the country after he spent his life in an orphanage.
Kachuzu lived at Livingstone’s Lubasi Home for orphans and other vulnerable children for about nine years but he is currently working for a tourism company in Zambia’s Tourist capital.
He came to Lubasi Home in 2003 after facing a number of challenges from a background of being brought up by a single mother.
“I used to have a lot of challenges in terms of going to school, lack of feeding and school uniforms.
“It was a terrible thing and I stopped going to school in grade two in 2001. Fortunately because of the Roman Catholic Church, a certain priest introduced me to the Social Welfare Department and from there I was brought here at Lubasi Home,” he said.
Mr Kachuzu explained that he did not know how to live with others at a new environment at the orphanage and it was hard for him to cope with life as a child.
“I was however comforted by the quality of friends and mothers I met here. When I came here, I was able to eat and go to school and so it made me to cope as well in 2003.
“In 2004, my mother died and it was a bit tricky mentally as a child.
I then realised that there was nothing which could help me besides my education. I knew that I would be somebody one day,” he said.
Mr Kachuzu said he had a dream that he would one day become an electrical engineer and so he ensured to work hard at school.
He wrote his grade seven in 2006 at Christ the King Primary School in Livingstone with the support of Lubasi Home and passed to the next level.
Mr Kachuzu later wrote his grade nine exams and continued to work hard in school while overlooking his challenges.
“With the support of Lubasi Home, I went to do my Grade 10 at Linda Secondary School in 2009 and completed school in 2011.
“Fortunately, I passed my exams and later applied at Livingstone Institute of Business and Engineering Studies (LIBES) and I was accepted in 2013 to study an advanced diploma in tourism,” he said.
Lubasi Home sponsored Kachzu at LIBES in terms of education and food and he later completed his course.
“I could put myself like any other person because I knew what I wanted. I was the best performing student in the course I was doing at LIBES.
“I then went to do my practicals at Livingstone Tourism Association (LTA) for three months. Later, I did my internship at Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) Livingstone Office and now I have found a job and I am working for a tourism company known as Victoria Falls Any Time since March 2015,” Kachuzu said.
He said he learnt a lot while at Lubasi Home in terms of taking care of himself, his body and surrounding as well as on how to live with others in a big family.
Kachuzu also learnt a lot on his spiritual life and academic wise while he grew up as a person who has respect for other people.
“My life is not a life of regrets but a life of gain. My background cannot make me regret because I am gaining currently.
“If a person is facing similar or other challenges, they need to seek help from Social Welfare or move on with life. I am urging young people to avoid drug abuse and prostitution as those things won’t take them anywhere. Instead, they should work hard academically or with life skills and forge ahead with life,” he said.
Kachuzu says he has not stopped dreaming as his vision was to work for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) one day.
“One day, I would like to be the Secretary General for UNWTO. I want to advance in my education and get my degree and grow financially.
“I want to work hard and come back at Lubasi Home so that I help other deprived children,” he said.
He noted that some young people could be coming from well-furnished homes and had everything they need but they still needed to work hard in school and concentrate in their education.
“Early marriages won’t help young people in any way. Marriage is nice when you are fully grown and independent.
“Early marriages are a risk. Young people should work hard in school and time will come for you to get married,” Mr Kachuzu said.
Another young person with an inspiring testimony is Charity Mwiya, 19, of Livingstone District in Southern Province.
Charity went to Lubasi Home she was 11 year old in 2007 and she was doing grade five at that time.
The challenge she faced was with growing up with the single parent and she never saw the love of the father.
Her father died when she was six months while her mother had to seek for sponsorship for other children and herself from the Catholic sisters.
The Catholic sisters take her to Lubasi Home after passing through the Social Welfare Department.
She says her background was a humbling and desperate where sometimes she did not have food to eat and also lacked shoes and uniforms for her to go to school.
“At Lubasi Home, I found a home I will never forget. When I came to this home, I did not know how to read and speak English but I am able now.
“They taught us how to read, write and how to live with other people. I found different people with different characters and all the mothers and uncles I found because like my mother and my father and it was a happy family that I joined. I excelled and wrote my grade seven at Christ the King Primary School in 2009 and passed to St Marys Secondary School from grade eight to grade 12,” Ms Mwiya said.
Lubasi Home sponsored her from grade five to grade 12 and she completed her grade 12 at St Marys Secondary School in 2014.
She says she was not intimidated by the challenges she was going through as a young person.
“I am a type of a person who is a fighter and hard worker. I was one of the best speakers in debate clubs and I was a prefect and I beat people who came from comfortable homes.
“This should be something to encourage people who come from challenging background like myself. All I believe is that I can do what others can do,” she said.
Ms Mwiya says the most important value she learnt from Lubasi was love and care from the caretakers.
“If you are living in a home where there is love, even if you have everything, you will be uncomfortable if there is no love.
“Once you have love, you get care. Even in class, you will learn well when you are cared and supported by teachers,” she said.
Ms Mwiya later studied an Information Communication course at Youth Community Training Centre (YCTC) in Maramba Township in Livingstone.
She is currently planning to go to College in 2016 and become a teacher as she already attended interviews at David Livingstone College of Education (DALICE).
“I hope I can be picked so that I study to be a teacher of English and Civic Education. I love current affairs and like things happening around.
“In terms of future plans, I would love to start up my own television show or newspaper column or fashion magazine to give an example to girls,” she said.
Ms Mwiya has also counselled fellow young girls against early marriages.
“For girls who are school dropouts, I don’t think school is the only thing you can rely on if you don’t have the courage to concentrate.
“They can also do crafts and you can learn by yourself and venture in doormats making, poem can touch someone and give you money. Others can sing and make money. Use your talent and ability instead of going for early marriages,” she said.
She urged young people to work hard at school and concentrate despite the challenges they were facing.
“Orphanages are best places compared to normal homes in my view. I can have everything but I may not concentrate in school but that person in an orphanage will concentrate because he or she knows the troubles of the land
“I think you have to judge a book by its cover. You need to read the book and understand what it is all about. Come and see the living testimony. An orphanage is the best place that promotes good morals and Christian values as well as education for inmates because they live with different people,” Mwiya said.
Lubasi Home assistant coordinator Christine Mutikitela says taking care of deprived children was a passion and not about money.
“You cannot look after someone’s child without a passion. It encourages us to assist more when we see children grow.
“It makes a different to change the life of child as that child will change the life of others. You won’t know what is across the river until you cross it. These children are not talking about hearsay. They are talking about real life experiences they faced and for us we are very proud,” she said.
Ms Mutikitela says her Home had a skills training where it was teaching children about crafts, poultry and gardening.
“It is not all children who are able to go to colleges and universities. For those who cannot, we are giving them life skills to sustain their lives and contribute to the economy of our country.
“So far, the Home has 40 children now. Over 240 children have passed through Lubasi Home with more than 50 from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 10 from Tanzania since we started in 2002,” she said.
Ms Mutikitela said the Home, which was founded and started by Livingstone based business executive Anthony Ranjan, also had challenges.
“Mr Ranjan was involved in a number of Community Schools in Livingstone such as Linda and Mwandi.
“One of the reasons for setting up a number of Homes, including Lubasi, was that one child collapsed at one of the community schools and when the child was taken to the hospital, the reason was that of hunger,” she said.
Indeed Lubasi Home is doing a good job to supplement Government efforts in improving the lives of vulnerable children.
Clearly, the Home is not only providing education to children but it is also looking at the holistically way of addressing challenges affecting children.