Luyando Women Foundation seek aid for Chibloya centre

LINDA SOKO TEMBO writes  THE building that the children are using to learn is in a deplorable state and we are appealing to well-wishers to come on board and help us improve the learning environment, Luyando Women Foundation director Jonia Mwanakambowe has said. Ms Mwanakambowe said apart from the building the foundation had many other challenges making it difficult for them to change the livelihood of vulnerable women in the community. In an interview with the Sun, Ms Mwanakambowe said the foundation that was based in Lusaka’s Chibolya compound started in 2010 aimed at empowering vulnerable women and their children in the community but was struggling because they received little support from stakeholders.  She said the foundation started in 2010 working with women so that they could help them have a livelihood and that they had to incorporate their children because they were struggling taking them to school. Ms Mwanakambowe said most of their members were widows and they had no source of livelihood making it difficult for them to take care of their families because they had not been empowered with skills.   “Apart from trying to empower the women we thought of providing the children with education and sport activities so that they don’t engage in illicit activities such as becoming prostitutes and dunkers, “We have a challenge the building we are using as a school and meeting place for the woman and youths is a rented place and is not conducive for human habitation we need a new structure or to work on the very building,” she said.  Ms Mwanakambowe said the foundation had sowing machines but they needed people to come on board and teach the women skills on how to use them so that they could be able to make a difference in the lives of women and youths.  She said the idea was not only to train women how to sow but also the youths so that they would not loss focus in life.   Ms Mwanakambowe so urged stakeholders to come and aboard and help them financially so the community schoolteachers who were volunteers would be empowered.  Meanwhile, one of the members Faides Moyo appealed to the wishers to come on and assist them with materials for tailoring so that they could be making uniform for the pupils who were in school. The Sun