Who are the children of Ubumi ?

These are the children of Ubumi, cared for by the Ubumi Children's Project in Kitwe, Zambia. Orphaned by AIDS, abandoned, some of them neglected and abused, they were brought to Eddy and Simone Mulangala by welfare workers, knowing they would not be turned away. Here they found a new home and family. At the Ubumi Transit Home, they receive food, clothing, shelter, education, gentle and loving counseling, spiritual direction, and healing from their trauma. They have no idea that their beloved “papa” wrangles everyday to get them food and to pay the bills

The Mulangala’s try to normalize the children’s lives as much as possible. They live in a home in the Riverside area of Kitwe, play with kids in the neighborhood, and maintain contact with their extended families and their villages. Just recently, Eddy was able to enroll them in the local government school, but it's a struggle. Education is free, but books and uniforms are not.

Unlike many other AIDS orphanages, the Ubumi Transit Home lacks the financial commitment of European or American founders. As a native Zambian non-profit, it has no regular source of outside income. The provision of basic needs can be a major challenge—but Eddy wants more than just subsistence for these children. As he struggles to feed them, he also works to improve the lives of the communities these children come from. He is building a hammer mill for grinding maize to meal, the staple in the Zambian diet. The mill in Musonda, one of the poorest areas of Kitwe, will provide low cost meal for the area's residents, who in turn will give some of their meal to the orphanage. He hopes to build a residence behind the orphanage to house volunteers, who now must find and pay for their own lodging. He would like to buy land for tenant farming to benefit the Musonda community and provide vegetables for the orphans. He would like to see the orphanage self-sufficient, and the children given the assistance and training they need to become self-sufficient as well.

All dreams---Eddy is a dreamer. “But dreams” he says, “give shape to vision, and vision to action. Let us not be afraid to dream.”