Mirriam Chipasha

Name:  Mirriam Chipasha
Gender:  Girl
Reported birthdate:  September 5, 2012 (currently 10 years old)
Favorite food:  Rice and potatoes
Favorite activity:  Playing handball games with her friends
Child is happy when...  She is cracking jokes with her friends
Child wants to be a...  Police officer
Home information:  Mirriam is growing up in the rural town of Luanshya in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The Haven of Hope school reports: “Mirriam stays with her auntie on her paternal side. Both her parents are dead, and the child was brought in by a good Samaritan neighbour, who was concerned about her welfare. Mirriam has 3 siblings—2 sisters and a brother—and they are all kept by their auntie and her husband. The family supports themselves by selling pigs that the husband goes to buy from faraway farms and comes to resell in the compounds. The challenges are that business is not always as anticipated, and as such the family at time fails to meet the needs at home.”
School information:  Mirriam has not previously attended school. 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). Mirriam’s family resides in Maiteneke. 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 God will bless Mirriam’s family in everything they do.

Mirriam 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.