The Story of Maranatha Community
The remote community of Maranatha faces many challenges, including a lack of health care and education. There is one government school in the surrounding area, and those school-aged children whose families can afford the tuition must travel 10km to get there. In 2007, a local pastor, seeing the situation in his community, had a vision to bring change. He partnered with local church members who shared this vision of a community coming together to support the most vulnerable children through education. The Maranatha Community School was born. Run by volunteers, it offered an opportunity for children to receive an education in a loving environment, who would not have been able to access school otherwise.
125 Children currently supported
15 Care Workers coordinated by Elias
Basic Services Started in 2010
60 km from the Luanshya Local Office
In 2010, Hands at Work partnered with the Maranatha Community School and shared the vision for the local church to care for the children who were the ‘poorest of the poor’. Through this partnership, the school evolved into the Maranatha Community Based Organisation (CBO), while continuing to ensure that the most vulnerable children had access to the community school – a free non-governmental school set up to care for the most vulnerable children and run by community members, teachers or Care Workers. Together with the local Hands at Work team in Luanshya, they mobilised three community churches in Maranatha and, from those churches, created a group of volunteer Care Workers. The Care Workers began serving the most vulnerable children in Maranatha, ensuring that they received a hot and nutritious meal daily and were supported with their education and basic health care. Since then, the number of children being cared for has increased to 100 children.
Visiting orphaned and vulnerable children in their homes is the foundation of everything that Hands at Work does. Regularly, Care Workers visit the children in their homes, building strong relationships that allow them to support the children’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Additionally, by visiting their homes, the Care Workers can accurately assess each child’s needs and plan for how to best support and provide sustainable care.
The Luanshya team worked hard to invest in the Care Workers and set a good example of what it means to care holistically for the most vulnerable. In 2018, Elias was identified by the Care Workers as someone who would be a good fit as coordinator of the Maranatha CBO. The Luanshya team can see the fruit of the new leadership and are encouraged by the new life and momentum that Elias is bringing to the Care Point and the other Care Workers.
Over the years the Maranatha CBO has built a relationship with the district education board, seeking government support to improve the quality of education that the children receive in the community school. Through such relationships the CBO has received support from government teachers. Wishing to continue its focus on the holistic care of the most vulnerable, the Maranatha CBO has now released control of the community school to the government, with the understanding that the most vulnerable children will have free access to education. The Care Workers, with support from the local Hands at Work team in Luanshya, are in the process of moving the Care Point to a new plot of land that was purchased at the end of last year. The Maranatha CBO will operate from the new building once construction is complete.
The local Hands at Work team in Luanshya currently supports ten Community Based Organisations, which exist to care for the most vulnerable in their communities. The office provides training, networking, and encouragement to those Community Based Organisations like Maranatha. It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors.
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