Ardnacrusha volunteer gives hope to Zambian children

THE plight of a young Zambian mother sitting on a pile of rubble in a schoolyard breaking stones with a hammer, watched by her three children, will remain in Mary Cunningham’s memory for a long time.
Instead of being in school, the oldest boy, at eight years, is helping his mother. The Salesian Sisters give the woman a little money for her efforts and she is pleased with the dignity attached to having a job.
This is not an unusual sight in Zambia. Most schoolchildren have unrealistic expectations for their future, hoping to be doctors or lawyers, even though they have no financial means or support.
Mary decided to go to Zambia as a volunteer with an international charity run by the Salesian Sisters callled Vides after loosing her job at home. Having worked for most of her life, Mary found being at home and listening to all the doom and gloom in Ireland depressing.
Married to Gerry in Lakyle Heights, Ardnacrusha, with two grown-up sons, Mark and Kieran, instead of feeling sorry for herself, she decided to do something worthwhile and spent a couple of months fundraising before she arrived in the City of Hope, Lusaka on May 19 last.
The City of Hope contains an orphanage for girls and an open community school catering for the poorest children. Up to 450 children attend the school from 8am to 12.30pm, while another 450 children attend school from 1pm to 4.30pm.
They are all given a bowl of porridge and for many of them, that is the only food they get for the day. The complex also has a Skills Training Centre, which runs training courses for young adults teaching cookery, dressmaking and information technology skills.
Mary’s work is varied from teaching the younger children basic maths to cookery for prospective chefs in the Skills Training Centre. She started a small project selling homebaking to the local shop and to other religious groups to raise funds.
She has also set up a Child Protection Policy for the City of Hope. She insists you cannot compare life in Ireland to Zambia – you can only contrast.
“There are many wealthy Zambians but the poverty is much more striking. Poverty is a mother living in a shack and not knowing where she will find the next meal for her children, her husband probably having died from AIDS. There may be a number of extended family living in the same shack or if they are lucky they may have a tiny little house,” she says.
“Social welfare benefits don’t exist and many people barely exist. Due to HIV and AIDS, life expectancy is only 35 years. Many parents in the 30 to 50 age group have been wiped out and grandparents are left to bring up children.
“Life in Zambia is very difficult for very many people but I have found them to be extremely welcoming and kind. Life moves at a much slower pace here than it does at home,” she notes.
“Time is not that important and people do not look too far ahead. On one occasion when I complained about people being late I was told ‘in Ireland you have watches but in Zambia we have time’.”
When she returns home this Saturday, she hopes to be able to spare some time to remember those poor, vulnerable and friendly people and continue more fundraising for them.
The Salesian Sisters do not receive funding from the Zambian government but run the orphanage and school from charitable donations.