Kantolomba… four square kilometers… eleven thousand people… more than three thousand children

The people of southern Africa face life-threatening challenges every day. Among the most severe are HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and starvation. Children are especially affected. Even if they themselves do not sicken or die, children are likely to lose one or both parents to disease.

Kantolomba is on the outskirts of the city of Ndola, Zambia. It is a desperately impoverished slum in one of the poorest countries in the world. Houses range from cardboard shacks with plastic roofs to mud huts with tin roofs. There is no running water or electricity. Sewage flows through the dirt streets. Diseases flourish in the water and are transmitted readily to the children.

Everyone is hungry. There is one community school, but few children attend. They are too hungry or sick to make the journey and to do schoolwork. Kantolomba needs everything: clean water, food, education, health care, employment, safe housing, jobs…everything.

Living Compassion is working with the people of Kantolomba, taking action together that will directly improve their lives and move the entire community toward a vibrant, sustainable future.

Let us show you how.

In Kantolomba there are no wells. Children play in open sewers. Disease is rampant.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Drill wells and install solar-powered pumps to provide clean water
• Install a gravity feed water delivery system
• Install kiosks to dispense the water throughout the community. The small fee charged will be used to maintain the wells.

In Kantolomba everyone is hungry. No one has enough money to provide adequate food for their family.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Provide lunch as part of all Living Compassion school programs. We are feeding over 300 children and counting. The vision is to feed all the hungry children in Kantolomba.
• Establish food programs for children who attend school elsewhere and do not receive lunch there. Usually, this is their only meal of the day.
• Encourage production of locally grown food through community gardens

In Kantolomba there is no safe housing. Houses are made of dried mud on dirt floors. In the rainy season roofs leak, walls disintegrate, and houses collapse.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Involve international partners to upgrade current housing, using renewable building materials.
• Bring in electricity and solar power
• Provide adequate roofing
• Put in concrete foundations

In Kantolomba there is no medical care. The closest clinic is several kilometers away. On average, five people a day die of various causes.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Build a medical clinic and train staff for the clinic
• Bring in international medical volunteers
• Provide education on HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, dehydration, nutrition
• Ensure that every person in the community sleeps under a mosquito net

In Kantolomba most children do not go to school. There is only one school for the entire community. Parents cannot afford uniforms, books or school fees.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Build schools to serve all primary grade children and provide lunch for all students so that they receive at least one meal during the day.
• Train qualified teachers

In Kantolomba there are no jobs. Unemployment in Zambia is 80%. Unemployment in Kantolomba is 100%.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Create job training programs for residents
• Support micro-businesses
• Establish a community bank
• Bring in high-speed internet as a tool for education and new business

In Kantolomba there is no garbage collection. Kantolomba is buried in trash. Mosquitoes breed and carry malaria. Cholera is common.
Living Compassion is working with the community to:

• Employ residents to collect garbage
• Work with the city of Ndola to transport garbage to a local landfill

Together we are making a difference. In Kantolomba, starting from the worst conditions imaginable, we are laying the groundwork for profound, sustainable, community-based change that can be replicated anywhere – in the 24 other neighborhoods of Ndola, the other eight provinces of Zambia, the other countries in Africa, around the world. Please join us.