Chipapa community

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Where is Chipapa?

The Chipapa community is located in northern Zambia, a landlocked country in southern Africa, about one-tenth the size of Australia. Zambia's neighbours include Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and Lusaka is the capital city. The official language is English, with Bemba, Lozi, Nyanja and Tonga also spoken.

Many Zambians are Christians, while others adhere to traditional beliefs. Agriculture is the main source of income for 85 percent of people, but most farmers have only small areas of land. Many men leave home to seek work in urban areas, leaving their wives and children to look after the farm.

Zambia’s major exports include copper, cobalt, electricity, tobacco, flowers and cotton. Maize (corn) is the staple food, which is ground into meal and made into a thick porridge called nshima.

Community overview

Local environment

The Chipapa landscape is a mix of mountainous and flat areas. The climate is warm and tropical, with average daytime temperatures ranging from 23-31 degrees Celsius. The main river in the region is called the Kafue, which is fed by smaller streams, but these usually dry up in the hot season. Most people are maize farmers, but variable rainfall, poor farming practices and limited access to farming inputs make it hard for them to succeed.

Day-to-day life

Most families in the area live in thatched houses that have two rooms on average. Very few families own cars, so they travel by bicycle or walking. Children love playing football and netball during their leisure time. Around October each year, the community gathers for a ceremony of song and dance that they believe releases a blessing for enough rainfall as they enter a new crop planting season.

Development challenges

When the program commenced in the area, many families were collecting drinking water from contaminated streams far from home and most households didn’t have toilets. Child malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea are major challenges. There aren’t enough schools, so some children walk up to 18km every day to attend classes. Many young children are too tired to walk every day so attend school on and off.

We're making progress

World Vision is implementing an Area Development Program in the Chipapa community to improve the wellbeing of all the children living there by promoting sustainable social and economic transformation.

The program started in October 2011 and is expected to run for about 12-15 years. It aims to benefit more than 21,000 people spread across 24 villages.

Most vulnerable families who can meet education costs without help

Women giving birth with the support of a trained health worker

There’s still much more to do

Great things have been achieved in the Chipapa community, but there is still much to do before all children living there have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Through your partnership with the community, you will support a range of development activities. The current focus is on improving access to education and clean water. In the future, the program aims to address needs in health and livelihoods.

Education

Working with Parent Teacher Associations to improve education quality.

Raising awareness about the value of education, especially for girls.

Raising awareness about child rights and child protection.

Health

Improving access to healthcare and training health workers.

Working with the Ministry of Health to educate families on child nutrition.

Community education on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment.

Livelihoods

Training farmers in crop production and business skills.

Supporting the development of community savings groups.

Improving farmers’ access to financial services so they can expand their businesses.

Water

Community education on hygiene and sanitation.

Building the capacity of local committees to repair and maintain water facilities.

Join us in creating real change

Visit the Chipapa community fundraising page to add your support.

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Find out more about Chipapa

In this overview you can learn more about the Chipapa community and how your support will help them achieve their development goals.

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