Brockton Neighborhood Health Center

Brockton Neighborhood Health Center workers pay for Zambian children to go to school
December 26, 2007

By Kyle Alspach BROCKTON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

In Zambia, an African country hit hard by the AIDS epidemic, 50 youngsters can go to school thanks to employees at the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center.

About 20 to 25 employees of the health center allow a portion of their paychecks to support the youngsters, according to Dr. Richard Bail, a primary care physician who works part-time at the center. The money pays for school uniforms, supplies and fees for the children, who are all orphans who have lost parents to AIDS.

“Zambia has been one of hardest-hit countries by AIDS,” Bail said. “Almost every household is affected.” It costs about $100 per child to send the children to school, he said. They live in Bauleni, a settlement located just outside Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka.

Bail said Brockton health center employees have been supporting orphans there since 2000. The contribution is especially significant because most of the Brockton employees are far from wealthy, Bail said.

Bail, a Whitman native who now lives in Newton and whose physician practice is based in Watertown, was inspired to start the Zambia effort while working as a consultant in the country for UNAIDS, the organization responsible for the United Nations’ response to HIV/AIDS.

Bail said he is continually looking for other community groups to become involved in the effort. He is founder and president of Communities Without Borders, the nonprofit organization behind the project. More information can be found at www.communitieswithoutborders.org.

Kyle Alspach can be reached at kalspach@enterprisenews.com.