Misisi
Encyclopedia
Misisi Compound is a shanty town
, which is located in Lusaka
, Zambia
. Misisi has been identified as one of the five worst slums in Sub Saharan Africa. Due to a lack of resources there has been poor record keeping, but according to best estimates, there are between 80 and 90,000 people living in the area.
There is also a prevalence of many other diseases in the area. Cholera remains a huge problem, due to a lack of clean water. Malaria is also a major issue during the warmer seasons of the year. Health problems related to poverty, such as malnutrition create huge problems in the day to day lives of the people.
.
works. Much of the work takes place in the adjoining St Lawrence's Centre, which houses the Home of Hope, an outreach programme removing street children from Lusaka and offering them a safe haven and attempting to reunite them with their families, a Community School, bakery, Agricultural Project for a few examples, but a significant amount also takes place in the compound itself, such as the provision of clean water.
Project Zambia also works in the St Catherine's Centre, in the middle of Misisi; it is a school offering education to local children of Misisi. Project Zambia's continued work in the St Catherine's Centre, with the work of Mr Peter Tembo, the co-ordinator of the St Catherine's centre, has seen its expansion from a few buildings acting as a temporary school, to a walled compound that has continued expansion with each year that Project Zambia continues its involvement.
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
, which is located in Lusaka
Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
. Misisi has been identified as one of the five worst slums in Sub Saharan Africa. Due to a lack of resources there has been poor record keeping, but according to best estimates, there are between 80 and 90,000 people living in the area.
Health
The average life expectancy is around 32 years. HIV and AIDS remains a huge problem in Misisi, as with many areas in Africa. Education into prevention and removal of social stigma is a major aim of the Home Based Care unit. More than 50 percent of children living there have lost at least one parent to the HIV/AIDS.There is also a prevalence of many other diseases in the area. Cholera remains a huge problem, due to a lack of clean water. Malaria is also a major issue during the warmer seasons of the year. Health problems related to poverty, such as malnutrition create huge problems in the day to day lives of the people.
Language
While the official language spoken in Zambia is English, the people of Misisi tend to speak a number of local languages, in particular Nyanja and BembaBemba language
The Bemba language, ChiBemba , is a major Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups, including the Bisa people of Mpika and Lake Bangweulu, and to a lesser extent in Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the...
.
Project Zambia
Misisi is one of the main places in which Project ZambiaProject Zambia
Project Zambia was initiated by St Marys CBGS Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2002.It was a response by a school in Belfast to the cry of the poverty-stricken people of the compounds of Lusaka, Zambia. Since then the project has grown, spreading to communities throughout Belfast...
works. Much of the work takes place in the adjoining St Lawrence's Centre, which houses the Home of Hope, an outreach programme removing street children from Lusaka and offering them a safe haven and attempting to reunite them with their families, a Community School, bakery, Agricultural Project for a few examples, but a significant amount also takes place in the compound itself, such as the provision of clean water.
Project Zambia also works in the St Catherine's Centre, in the middle of Misisi; it is a school offering education to local children of Misisi. Project Zambia's continued work in the St Catherine's Centre, with the work of Mr Peter Tembo, the co-ordinator of the St Catherine's centre, has seen its expansion from a few buildings acting as a temporary school, to a walled compound that has continued expansion with each year that Project Zambia continues its involvement.