Communities Without Borders

Background 

Fumbelo is an unplanned settlement of between 5,000 and 10,000 residents on the outskirts of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. The village is located in the northeast part of Lusaka, about 14 kilometers from the city center. In addition to poor accessibility, Fumbelo struggles with poor sanitation, insufficient clean drinking water and lack of social services such as health and education facilities.

Communities Without Borders (CWB) identified Fumbelo as a potential partner community two years ago. At that time, CWB began to sponsor projects through Society for Women and Aids in Zambia (SWAAZ) to improve the social and health status of the community and to sponsor formal education of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children.

Communities Without Borders matched the Wellesley Village Congregational Church (Wellesley, Massachusetts) as the U.S. partner to the village of Fumbelo. Friends of Fumbelo at the Wellesley Village Church have initiated programs to address the many needs of Fumbelo’s citizens, which are being executed with help from SWAAZ (see Wellesley’s page).

SWAAZ, with the support of CWB/Wellesley, runs a primary school in the village of Fumbelo, which currently serves children up through grade three and will ultimately serve children through grade seven. The partnership also underwrites feeding projects and mobile medical clinics aimed at the children of Fumbelo.

SWAAZ reported a 100% pass rate in 2010 for Fumbelo children who sat for the government entrance exam to enter grade 8. Results for those sitting for the grade 10 exam were nearly as high. SWAAZ, CWB and Friends of Fumbelo are extremely proud of the efforts and hard work of all of Fumbelo’s children and are committed to a tutoring program that they believe contributes to the students’ success.

Newsletters

Fumbelo October 2009 Newsletter (pdf download)