'Chikondi' means 'love' in Zambia, and there is certainly a lot of it here. This Centre provides short-term residential care for some of the worst cases we come across in Zambia, where it is simply too unsafe for the child to go home. 

Victims of sexual assault are referred to us from our Care and Justice project. Children who have been abandoned or neglected when their mother and baby sibling were sent to prison, referred to us by our Babies in Prison project. Heart-breaking cases referred to us by the authorities, some involving young children left on a street corner by their family, who then ran away from them and literally left them abandoned, now living on the streets.

Chikondi takes care of all of these precious children, as we try to locate their family and work with them so they can take the child back, and if not, find relatives in the wider family who can. 

In the meantime, we provide the child with food, residential care, clothing, trauma counselling and spiritual input, an education, plus lots of love, with our staff working hard to make sure every child knows they are an important part of the world. Organised play time helps them to develop well socially, and Bible studies teach them about God’s great love for them.

We also have our Lusaka head office based in the Centre.

Looking ahead, our most important goal is to locate family members of our kids, with the hope of reunification and reconciliation after careful evaluation and training. It can be a long and painful process, but it is definitely worth it.

"God sets the lonely in families..." Psalm 68: 6