Vaida Phiri is a widowed mother and grandmother living here. She works very hard to care for her child and five orphaned grandchildren. Vaida also participates in the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program run by World Renew’s partner, the Reformed Church of Zambia Diaconia – Diaconal Development (RCZ-DD). Through this program, she is better able to care for the children's needs. The RCZ-DD staff train her on how to grow more nutritious food and increase her crop yeilds. The OVC group also provides group members with support and encouragement as they all work to care for orphaned children in their community.
When asked what her hopes are for her grandchildren, Vaida says, “I want them to have a good life and to have good jobs.”
Currently Vaida is worried about the future of her grandchildren. Since the making of the film above, Pethias and Maggie have stopped going to school. Since there are few educated people in the community, Pethias and Maggie lack adult role models who can show them the value of an education. They would prefer to work in the fields or earn an income right now. Vaida is heartbroken. She does not want the children to end up like her: illiterate and uneducated with few options. Josephate, the RCZ-DD development facilitator who works with the Phiri family, is planning to visit soon to encourage Pethias and Maggie to go back to school.
On the flip side, there have been some positive economic developments for Vaida and her family recently. Vaida's OVC group recently received goats from World Renew and RCZ-DD. They, in turn, decided to give the goats to the men and women of their group who are the most vulnerable economically. Vaida was one of the people selected. She received a goat – worth fifty dollars, or fifty days of work on other people’s farms. This was given as a loan. Vaida must pay the group back for the gift of the goat. Fortunately, there is a built-in way to do that. Vaida’s goat was pregnant when she received it and has since had a kid. Vaida was able to pay back her loan by giving the new, baby goat to another group member. She now owns her goat free and clear. When her goat has two or three more kids, she plans to sell one so that she can buy more seeds for planting and increase her family's harvest.
World Renew’s Free a Family® program helps families like Vaida's overcome poverty through community programs in agriculture, health, nutrition, literacy, and more. The Phiri family in Southern Africa is one of five regional representative families that Free A Family® reports on each quarter to give North American supporters an idea of how their prayers and financial gifts are beign used. By using these representative families, Free A Family® keeps administrative costs low. This means that more of every donation can be used to help people in need.
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