Community Development Projects
Empowering Communities – Eradicating Poverty
Stories
Featured Stories
Story of Violet & Abe
Our names are Violet and Abe Mwangila and we live in Kenya. We are married with 8 children. Before the community development training our life was very difficult. It has made such a tremendous difference in our lives. We learned the importance of working together with a group to be able to put our ideas into practice faster. We are making concrete items – poles, ventilations and culvert castings. We also have a small chicken project at home.
We are now able to feed our children and to help pay for their education as we supply to the community concrete work necessities. We can now tithe and give offerings at church. We plan to use the business to build houses. It is now a family business as we have introduced 2 of our children to the business. We also plan to buy goats for resale.
I just want to thank God for HCDP and this training. It has given us a hope and a future.
Story of Ethel Mrunde
My name is Ethel Mrunde and I live In Kenya with my grandchildren. (Many grandparents have the responsibility of bringing up their grandchildren due to AIDS). Before I got the training I was unemployed for many years without any means of earning. From the training I learned the importance of self-employment and working hard.
I am now doing dressmaking, have a small market stall and sell charcoal. I am able to provide for my grandkids now. I plan to enlarge my tailoring business and to build a better stall to avoid the sun’s heat and rain.
My life has changed dramatically and for this I thank God and HCDP.
Story of Justin Samba
The Community Development Program was first introduced in Zambia, Ndola area by Marie Irving (founder of Community development Projects, Australia), Bishop Martin and Bishop Steve from Kenya in 2016.
I was one of the trainees at that time and I had to put the training into practice. From there the program has changed my life and that of my family and community. With the community development materials left with me by Bishop Martin, I needed to let others in my community know what I have learned and therefore I started training other people within my community and outside my communities which has brought great impact and change in Chipulukusu community.
Successes
In 2018 we started table banking GROUP and from our first loan I started a small carpentry business which has since then been sustaining my life and family. I was doing carpentry and joinery / wood carvings. Below are some of the products I make.
In 2019 I started saving the money in a saving group to buy a piece of land for the community development projects, being a carpenter and an artist, I wanted to buy a piece of land and make it a skills center to help people in my community and from the share out of 2019 I managed to buy a piece of land. In 2020 the saving group program continued and from my 2020 savings I made some burnt bricks for the community development project center. In 2021 I started building a small shelter at the plot. This year 2022 I have started building a 6 by 8 classrooms block for the skills program within my community and neighboring villages. Some of the skills I am trying to put up are tailoring, metal fabrication, carpentry and shoe making program all ideas I got from the CDP training where we were encouraged to use God’s open door principle, because for me I already had thee skills that I could train and impact my community and so the only thing I needed is a facility where this training would be taking place.
My challenge at the moment are toilets, tools for carpentry and tools for metal fabrication and water. I need to build some toilets and dig a borehole to access water also buy some tools for the program to start. The moment this program starts it will have a great impact in many lives in my community. It will reduce high levels of poverty, early marriages and drug addiction among the youths. I really want to thank HAAPNET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM and Bishop martin for bringing the program to Zambia. Our desire is for the program to reach every poor community in Zambia by God’s grace.
