In Chitanda and the surrounding villages, the maternal death rate while in labor has been historically and dangerously high. Additionally, infant mortality was similarly high due to the distances involved and lack of transportation for pregnant mothers to reach the 8 existing clinics in the region. The death rates are also due to the lack of doctors at the current clinics, as doctors are only stationed at hospitals, which could be a day’s journey away on foot. Fola’s ambitious plan for a Chitanda Rural Hospital was designed to allow the 8 rural clinics to refer patients to a new hospital facility offering the following services: Administration, Dispensary, Maternity Ward, Delivery Room, Isolation Ward, Pre & Post Natal, Paediatric Ward, Latrines and Showers, Nurses Station, and Labs.

Chitanda Lumamba Hospital is Fola’s largest construction project, completed in October 2022 at a total cost of $500K. This is the first hospital in the Chitanda Chiefdom and will serve more than 70,000 people in the Chiyuni area and surrounding communities. On October 21, 2022, Fola handed over the hospital to its operating partner, the SDA Church of Northern Zambia who will provide medical equipment and supplies along with administration of the facility. The Zambian Government (through the Ministry of Health) has committed 35 medical staff–including doctors, nurses, and midwives. The facility will be fully operational and open to the public in May 2023. The government is also providing the funds to build staff houses at the facility.

Mukunkwa is one of the most remote rural communities Fola has ever partnered with. It is accessible only by an ox-cart or four-wheel drive vehicle along well worn footpaths and through the bush, situated approximately 2 hours from Chitanda town, southwest of Lukanga swamp.

We learned of Mukunkwa Community School through the volunteer head teacher, who visited our project at Chowe (now Muluulu Primary School, located 20kms away). Upon arriving at Mukunkwa, the Fola team discovered over 800 students who had been learning for the past 5 years in a thatched structure, a former piggery, as well as under the trees. The only water source for the teachers and children was a shallow, hand-dug, unsanitary well.

Fola quickly negotiated with a drilling company that was willing to access the site, to drill a 50m-deep, clean-water borehole to serve the school and community. With transportation being a major obstacle, Fola was able to mobilize the community and find construction suppliers willing to risk the challenging journey with their trucks, to build a new 1 x 3 classroom block and equip them with 90 desks.

The building was completed and was handed over to the community in November 2020. Despite this remarkable progress, the need remains great for additional classroom blocks and teacher housing.

With the nearest health facilities in Chibombo town (15km) and Kabwe District (35km), the community of Mukalashi must travel long distances by foot to access basic health services. The breadth of the Mukalashi community consists of 26 villages with an approximate combined population of 10,000. It is close to the main Great North Road, a major transportation artery that stretches from the Zambian capital of Lusaka to the Copper Belt in the North, and beyond to the Congo. It is easy to understand how regular road traffic accidents drive an incremental need for health services in this area.

Fola's plan for and development of a Health Center facility in Mukalashi is now providing a range of valuable health services including: Clinical and Diagnostic Services; Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health Services; and Health Promotion and Education. With its completion, it has become a life-giving and life-saving solution for 10,000 in the immediate catchment, and undoubtedly benefiting a much wider population of up to 35,000 citizens that are being referred from other communities.

The project's primary building construction was completed in December of 2021 and handed over to the government and made operational in November 2022.

Situated approximately halfway between the main Great North Road and the rural township of Chitanda, Malambanyama has the largest government primary and secondary school with over 1,800 students enrolled. Originally constructed in 1954, this school has had little to no investment over the past 6 decades and has fallen into disrepair. When you add to this the impact of the annual rains and the school being located in a declared flood zone, it is no wonder that the foundations and walls are crumbling -- leading to dangerous structures still being used for classes.

Beyond the deteriorated structure, the overcrowding has also resulted in many of the students learning outside and under trees, sitting on concrete blocks, or crammed together with four learners to a single desk. This makes for impossible circumstances for children to learn.

Fola has constructed a new 1 x 3 classroom block, with 100 desks in the three classrooms, to accommodate secondary school students and relieve the overcrowding of the existing classrooms.  

Nonetheless, with so many students, there is an outstanding need for an additional 1 x 3 classroom, more desks, and new staff houses.