The quality of life is improving for residents of the Zambian communities of Simalama and Kabwe. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has found ways to bring practical help there. One is through an improvement project for its Life Skills Training Program that benefits orphans and children living in Kabwe. The second project is the completion of a grain mill in Simalama, which will shorten the distance that women walk to get grain.

In Kabwe, a large central Zambia district, ADRA has finished a carpentry workshop and established increased employment opportunities for the program’s graduates. The Life Skills Training Program is based at the Kabwe Family Health Institute and recruits students from four regions of the Kabwe district. The students in the program learn valuable vocational skills such as carpentry and range in age from 12 to 18 years, most of the students are HIV and AIDS orphans.

Using funds received from ADRA International, the ADRA office in Zambia completed construction of the facility’s carpentry workshop, covering beams, plastering walls, and installing flooring. Carpentry students enrolled in the Life Skills Training Program helped build doors and window frames for the workshop.

As part of the improvement project, 42 students visited two factories and a similar training institution in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital. On the spring 2006 tour, students learned about a variety of career options, such as carpentry, roofing, flower arrangement, and weaving.

“The tour . . . was meant to motivate the students,” said John Kunda, programs director for ADRA Zambia. “It was hoped the trainees would be encouraged to complete their training and look forward to working on their own if the industry did not absorb them,” he continued. “We believe these objectives have been met.”

ADRA also initiated the process of establishing cooperatives to create self-employment opportunities for graduates. The cooperatives will allow graduates to attract more clients than if they worked individually, explained Scott Tembo, monitoring and evaluation officer for the ADRA office in Zambia. ADRA Zambia is working in partnership with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to set up the cooperatives.

In Simalama, ADRA recently completed a grinding mill for residents. Kunda says the grinding mill is already lessening the burden shouldered by women in the community.

“Prior to the project, women used to walk while carrying maize on their heads, or cycle approximately 16 to 18 miles to the nearest grain mill to access milling facilities,” said Kunda. “The grinding mill has drastically reduced the labor demand for processing food and has consequently increased women’s leisure time and improved their quality of life.”

The mill will also provide the community with a source of income to use for future community projects. Nearly 2,000 residents will benefit from the new grinding mill. ADRA also helped train the local committee now responsible for managing the grinding mill.

ADRA first opened its office in Zambia in 1986 and works in the key areas of Food Security, Disaster Relief, Health Care, Water and Sanitation, and Community Development. Since its inception, ADRA Zambia has benefited more than 7 million people.