Sylvia’s mission to help children on the streets of Zambia
A Rotarian has returned from a mission to Africa where she supported a charity which helps children living on city streets.
Sylvia Keris, from Eccleshall, travelled to Zambia with the charity Mission Direct. She was part of a team working with the charity’s established project partners called Footprints, who care for children on the streets of Lusaka.
The project was originally postponed from its 2020 date, due to Covid restrictions, but having been rearranged for the autumn of 2022, Sylvia was keen to help again hands-on in the development work she has a passion for.
“I really wanted to use my skills and volunteer experience from previous overseas work, and in UK schools, to help these children in Lusaka,” she said.
“Besides offering support on the streets, which the volunteers sometimes found very challenging, we also visited outreach project services, offering rehabilitation and safe spaces to street children.
“We donated medical supplies and other aid items we filled our suitcases with. We helped in schools in different townships, including the Mississi compound where I took a lesson and distributed letters to pupils at Eneless Patmoss school.
“They had been written prior to my departure by pupils in Eccleshall. Letters were then written back which I have brought back home and which will help children here to understand more about Zambian culture, its children, and some issues of poverty and development.”
Sylvia is happy to give illustrated talks next year in return for a donation towards her next charity project. She can be contacted at sylviakeris@yahoo.co.uk or on 01785 851005.
