Our Kawambwa site in Zambia strives to provide care to the local blind and partially sighted children with no other place to turn to for support. Our site’s Sisters partner with two specialized schools for the blind in Zambia that help children access quality education and life skills in a safe, warm, and loving environment. Blessings, who was born blind, never would have had access to an education without the support of her loving sponsor and the dedicated teachers at her new school.
Blessings is the youngest child in a busy family of five. Her father worked as a bricklayer, while her mother took care of the home. Her parents unfortunately didn’t have the means or knowledge to look after a child living with blindness, and struggled to manage Blessings’ disability.
Since Blessings couldn’t be left to wander and was unable to attend local daycare, her parents would lock her in a room when they would leave the house or were otherwise occupied. They didn’t have any training or knowledge in how to raise a blind child to become self sufficient, so this was the only way they knew how to keep Blessings safe. Her motor skills became delayed, and she fully relied on others for walking and eating.