2007 Project:

In 2007, our goal was to raise enough funds to build a medical testing lab and voluntary counseling center in Sinazongwe, Zambia.  The target amount to construct the lab, install the necessary equipment and build the counseling center was $197,000 USD.

We exceeded our goal by raising over $210,000.  With the additional money, we were also to provide 1,000 caregiver kits to the medical lab, and furnishings to the 2006 Johnathan Sim Legacy School in Twatchiyanda, Zambia. (See 2006 project for details) 

The lab is currently under construction in Sinazongwe, Zambia with an expected completion date of November 2008.  Check out the most recent update by clicking here.

Thank you to all who participated in the event and all who gave so generously.  You've helped change the lives of thousands of people in this small community in Zambia.  In the end your help will prevent children from becoming orphans.

Update October 2008 - The lab is almost ready to open. 

 

From Austin - October '07

Hi everyone, I just returned from Zambia and was able to see the impact of Hoops of Hope first hand.  What you guys are doing is incredible.  These people need our help.  I was able to visit the site of the lab this year in Sinazongwe and it was amazing.  Right now, there is a mother-baby clinic where they have carved out a small 6' x 8' room to use for HIV/AIDS testing.  They can only send 7 samples off a month to get tested.  As a result, they're only open on Wednesdays and you have to get there early to get in line to get tested.  Then they take a blood sample and it goes into a queue to be sent off for testing.  This could take weeks and months.  If you are found to be HIV positive (months later), then you need to find your way to either Choma or Maamba to go to a clinic with a CD4 count machine so they can prescribe ARVs which will help keep you alive. 


The problem is, people can't make it to either of these cities.  They need to walk 25 or more miles while they're sick.  We were told that most people just die because they can't do this.  The lab we're building this year will allow a dad or mom to walk into the clinic, get tested, find their blood count with the CD4 count machine, and receive ARVs to keep them alive all in a few hours.  This lab will be saving hundreds of lives every week!  I can't think of a better way to help orphan children than to keep their parents alive. 


If you're reading this, please sponsor someone doing Hoops of Hope. 

In Him,

Austin

This is the nurse who runs the clinic.  She told us that the next day people from the village would be bringing sand and stone to the site of the lab because they believe it will happen.

This is the mother-baby clinic where they have carved out a 6'x8' room to use for HIV/AIDS testing.  It's not helping, they need a lab.


Background of Sinazongwe ADP, Zambia

World Vision began working in Sinazongwe, located in SW Zambia, in 1998. World Vision is committed to long-term sustainable, transformational development in Sinzongwe through 2013. Like the rest of Zambia, Sinazongwe is highly affected by HIV/AIDS. The disease leaves many hopeless and shortens the lives of productive mothers and fathers, who often leave young children as orphans when they pass away.  Most children in Sinazongwe have one meal a day if they can.  There are over 6,000 orphan and vulnerable children in this area.  If you're interested in sponsoring a child from this area through World Vision, please contact us at info@hoopsofhope.org and we can send you a packet.

World Vision is committed to increasing access to voluntary counseling and testing so that people in Sinazongwe can know their HIV status and their CD4 count levels so that they can access life-prolonging drugs. We believe that this will leave less children as orphans and allow more productive lives to continue in Sinazongwe.