A Letter From Our Founder

Community. Remembrance. Love.

Dear Friends,

Chikumbuso means remembrance. Our mission statement encourages us to: 

Remember those who have died, 

Remember where we came from, and 

Remember to do for others. 

We are a grassroots nonprofit organization in Ng’ombe, Zambia. We started as a $3,000 idea to help seven women, meeting weekly in a one-room church. In 2005, we purchased a bar and brothel and transformed the darkness into a vibrant, light-filled community center and school where each day,  500 students, single moms and widows meet to learn, love, and serve each other. 

As our impact has grown, we have shifted from responding to immediate needs to building long term resilience through education, micro-enterprise, skills training, and asset-building programs. 

Today, we run several programs, all with the goal of building brighter futures for the women and children of Ng’ombe. We believe that by focusing on the deep transformation of individual lives, we can change the course of our community and world. In the words of Richard Rohr, we are advancing a “vision of mutual service, mutual responsibility, and peaceable neighborliness…”

We accomplish all of this through the help of our donors and sponsors who commit with us to create a community of mutual aid and kindness, where each feels responsible for the other and the whole. Our message of hope and empowerment resonates even outside our compound walls, to our Ng’ombe community and our donors stretching across the globe.

Sincerely,

Linda Wilkinson, Founder