The Blessing Ceremony of the AIDS Orphan Village took place on January 17th, 2001. There were many children present for the occasion, as you can see. It has been decided to call the AIDS Orphanage Village after St Nicholas, the Patron Saint for Orphans. Fourteen little buildings were blessed, i.e. ten residences for orphans, the kitchen/storeroom, the common/dining/recreation room and the Tuck Shop, which is a continuous fund-raising project fo
r the Orphanage.
Thanks to the amazing generosity of donors, we have been able to pay off the debt of K85 million on buildings, K17 million on the dining room, K22 million on furniture and equipment.
As of January 23rd, 2002, thirteen children had been identified for adoption and inclusion in the project, ranging in age from a girl of 12 (one half of a twin; the other was sold into marriage — see what happens when there is no one to take care of these little ones?) to a baby. The legal processes are under way and we hope soon to be able to send you e-mail photographs of the children in residence. Three staff have been engaged to run the project, that is Mrs Judy Passmore (Day Housemother), Miss Grace Phiri (Night Housemother), and Mr Alfred Mulenga (Gardener/maintenance worker/to be trained also as driver)
