Lenganji Nankonde

Name:  Lenganji Nankonde
Gender:  Girl
Reported birthdate:  March 31, 2016 (currently 6 years old)
Favorite food:  Beans and nshima (a staple food in Zambia)
Favorite activity:  Skipping with friends
Child is happy when...  She is playing with friends
Child wants to be a...  Nurse
Home information:  Lenganji is growing up in the rural town of Luanshya in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The Haven of Hope school reports: “Lenganji has been staying with both her parents. The mother sells repacked small bags of charcoal and vegetables, while the father is a fishmonger. However, the father has been gone from their lives since December 2021, and his whereabouts are not known. Lenganji has a twin brother named Niza, who is also joining the sponsorship program. She is the first twin. The mother has been struggling to support her children and to further put them into school. Lenganji helps with cleaning dishes at home.”
School information:  Lenganji was able to attend preschool at a community school (for underprivileged children) but has had no further education. Through sponsorship, she will be able to start grade 1 at the Haven of Hope Luanshya Primary School in May 2023. There, she will learn and play, be taught about God, and receive meals, medical care, and clothing. In Zambia, primary school lasts for seven years and is followed by five years of secondary school.
Community information:  Haven of Hope's students in Luanshya live in a number of compounds (densely populated communities). Lenganji’s family resides in Freedom Fighters. In the compounds, unemployment and poverty rates are high, and people primarily depend on menial jobs for survival—working, for example, as garden hands, maids, and small-scale farmers. Families tend to be large and live in small houses. The compounds have been greatly afflicted by HIV and AIDS, leaving many children without one or both of their biological parents. Orphaned children are often cared for by their grandparents, aunts, or uncles; other children live in child-headed homes. Living in poverty, most families struggle to meet their basic needs and afford school fees for their children.
Prayer requests:  Please pray that Lenganji will have good health.

Lenganji will start school in May 2023. Any financial contributions made toward her sponsorship before then will help her school open a new grade 1 class and ensure that she has everything she needs for school.