Leaving Kasompe

By the time we left Kasompe, 50 caregivers had volunteered to be trained as community health workers, social workers, or TB counselors while others stepped up to form soccer and Young Peacemaker’s Clubs. Everyone indicated they wanted more classes on Income Generating Activities introduced by the Graceland students. At first glance this might appear a bit like a typical involved PTA group anywhere in the world. In actuality, however, their personal stories are quite different from suburbia U.S.A. AIDS has decimated the family structure leaving over 900,000 orphans scattered throughout Zambia. In many cases elderly grandparents have heroically stepped up and gone to amazing lengths to care for their grandchildren. Unfortunately, some children suffering from deep depression over the loss of their parents were at the same time being marginalized, deprived of school, forced into the sex trade or otherwise taken advantage of by caregivers.