Communities Without Borders

Background

The Union Church of Waban became a Communities Without Borders U.S. Community Partner in 2009.

The Union Church in Waban first got involved with Communities Without Borders (CWB) in 2007.  That year Brita Gill-Austern, a Union Church member and board member of CWB, returned from Zambia with a mission and strong commitment to help the community of Simukanka build a health center.  The rural community of Simukanka had virtually no health care.   The Union Church of Waban gave a substantial amount of money to help build the clinic.          . 

As members of Union Church learned about the mission of CWB, to help AIDS orphans get an education, the Mission Outreach Committee wanted to get more involved.  The Church decided to support the AIDS orphans in M’tendere, one of the compounds in Lusaka, Zambia.

Activities

During the summer of 2009, Union Church made its first group trip to Zambia.  The group met the children and caregivers of M’tendere and taught the children English, played games and did crafts with them.   The group also met many community leaders, teachers, college students, and young adults.  Certificates were given to the children who passed exams and moved on to the next level in school. The church was able to assist the caregivers in the community by purchasing needles for their knitting machines, donating yarn and materials and repairing the slide in the yard for the children.  Union Church in Waban is planning its return to M'tendere in 2011.

CWB and SWAAZ’s M’tendere program supports 43 children in the family support home (community pre-school), 90 children in primary school and 1 child in secondary school for a total of 134 students.