August 2026

Hello and welcome to our summer newsletter! Hope everyone’s summer is going well and you’re coping with the temperatures in this latest(!) heatwave. There’s something to be said for being in the (cooler) North East of England…

In Zambia this week voters have been going to the polls to choose a president and a new parliament. It’s thought to be one of the most unpredictable elections in years and we’ll be watching the results with interest. Meanwhile, the Project Committee in Chipata has had a busy few months. First of all, they made sure school students had everything they needed for the start of Term 2 on 11 May. This is Agness and Leah collecting their exercise books and menstrual pads.

The Committee also arranged places at teacher training college for Jessy, Maxwell, Jerad and Ethan, who left school in December 2025 after completing their Grade 12 exams. We were delighted to hear that Paul is now doing pre-school teacher training at college. Long-standing supporters might remember the story of Paul, who was born HIV positive after his mother died in 2007. He has been looked after by his sister (with financial help from one of our supporters and lots of help from Naomi) and we were thrilled to see him looking really well when we visited in 2024. Four other school leavers elected to do skills training, and Margret, Lucy, Esther and Idah have headed to Chipata School for Continuing Education to do a course called ‘General Hospitality’.

We’ve just received some lovely photos of Mercy who’s recently completed skills training in catering and has found a job in a Chipata hotel. A single orphan, she was living with her mother, who couldn’t afford to keep Mercy in school, when she joined the Project in 2022 (in Grade 10 at Chipata Skills Secondary School). After finishing school in December 2024, Mercy did a catering course which involved doing practical work at Crystal Springs Hotel.

Her hard work impressed the management and she is now employed at the hotel, enjoying a very varied job.

Global events are also very much in the minds of the Committee! While Europe and other parts of the world struggle with extreme heat and wildfires, the World Meteorological Association is warning of a strong El Niño developing in the Pacific, with sea temperatures already above normal and continuing to increase. This has direct implications for countries in southern Africa in terms of water, food and energy security. You’ll remember we wrote about the devastating drought in Zambia in 2023/24 (the last El Niño event), which was Zambia’s driest agricultural season in over 40 years and led to crop failures, power shortages and high food insecurity. There are now fears for the coming 2026/27 farming season in light of the predictions of a “super El Niño”.

Subsistence farming is a way of life in eastern Zambia (most people have a smallholding where they grow crops, usually maize, to feed their own household) and the Government has been keeping everyone informed about the risk of delayed rains and drought, urging people in Eastern Province to take what action they can to boost resilience.

In response, the Project Committee put forward a proposal to rent a field during the rainy season (October to March) so that, with the children, they can plant early maturing maize. They worked out how much it would cost to rent the field and buy seeds and fertiliser and concluded that it would be a lot cheaper than buying food at market prices. Our trustees approved the plan and a field has been rented. We’re very admiring of the Committee’s energy and enterprise (as always!) and wish them all the best in the growing season.

They have already been grappling with water issues on a local level this year, as the supply of water to the student accommodation at the site of our original house dried up – not a great situation for the students living there! When it became clear that the local water supply company wasn’t able to restore water quickly and fearful that colleges might be reluctant to send students in future (which would affect the Project’s sustainability plans), the Committee decided that sinking a borehole might be the answer. We approved this plan, the work was completed in June and a pump was installed.

The resident students were much relieved!

On the subject of student accommodation, we wrote in our last newsletter about the new boarding house which the Project was building behind the shops that we own, situated close to the DMI-St. Eugene University. We heard last month that they’ve now started receiving new students at this boarding house and that they’re hoping to accommodate 16 - 18 students if all goes well. This will mean another income stream for the Project in Chipata and another step on the road to self-sufficiency.

Leading the Committee in Chipata is, of course, Naomi Thawe. We recently received a photo of Naomi in her Mothers’ Union uniform and thought we’d share it with you.

Coincidentally, we’d recently been giving a talk to a local Mothers’ Union and had been showing them photos of the Mothers’ Union in Chipata in their colourful outfits. Thanks, Henshaw MU, for your hospitality, your interest in the Project and your generous donation – much appreciated!

Speaking of donations, Malcolm recently gave a talk to a group of youngsters at Hexham Abbey. This group, called TAKE THIS, is an activity group for children aged 7 to 12 which meets monthly on Sunday mornings.

After hearing about St Paul’s Children’s Project, they produced their own leaflet about us, held a competition to find Chipata on a map and raised £520 in donations at coffee after the Sunday service in March. Amazing work, you talented group!! Thank you so much.

And a huge thank you, on behalf of everyone who’s had their lives transformed by St Paul’s Children’s Project, to all of you who’ve been so wonderfully generous with your one-off donations and your monthly and annual donations this year. We couldn’t do any of this without you.

Malcolm and Elaine