I am thrilled to be in touch with you. I feel blessed to have had numerous opportunities over the last 30 years to do work that helps people in communities here in the United States but more especially in Zambia in Southern Africa. Since 1969 when I was in 9th Grade or Form 3 at Chizongwe Secondary School in Chipata in the Eastern Province of Zambia, I have been involved in numerous volunteer and philanthropic non-profit organizations and projects.
I have been involved in faithfully spending or executing more than $157,000 of publicly donated funds for the the Nkhanga Village Library Project and the installation of 52 borehole pumps for providing clean drinking water to 52 villages in Lundazi, Zambia. All of it has been so gratifying that you will never know how good and proud I have felt about your support and contribution to this work over the last 5 decades.
Now, I need your help in this latest project: the Mwizenge Sustainable Model Village.
In 2016, I bought 123 acres, or 50 hectares, of land with my own limited funds to create a sustainable model village on a piece of Savannah Wilderness in Chongwe, about an hour’s drive East of Lusaka, Zambia. The college where I’m a professor has just awarded me a precious sabbatical research leave for 6 months starting in December 2020; the rainy season in Zambia. In order to conduct this research, I need $10,000.00 and would appreciate any contribution. The funds will be used to build 6 huts and conduct valuable ethnographic research at the model village.
The goal of the village and upcoming research is to create a community where residents live a life in line with the traditional Zambian/African/Tumbuka philosophy and principles known as Kufwasa, which translates to human social closeness and serenity. Additionally, one of the sustainability goals is to have residents grow their own organic foods. This includes a wide variety of the same foods grown by my grandparents and parents when I lived in the village in the 1950s as a child. Some of the foods include corn or maize, peanuts, red kidney beans, peas, cassava, and up to 30 indigenous greens from the delele group of vegetables, just to mention a few of the dozens of food varieties.
The current challenge I have is to build 6 huts on the land between May and July of 2020. The 6 huts will provide accommodation for the 6 to 10 people who will be carefully selected or volunteer to live at the village from December 2020 to June 2021 during the entire growing season of crops. This is perhaps the most exciting and promising project I will ever be involved in. The successful completion of the research will provide a model or blueprint for how people can live a sustainable and gratifying lifestyle of Kufwasa, full of serenity and connection to other people, while also contributing to the exploration and documentation of sustainable agricultural practices, providing a resource for current and future generations to thrive rather than just survive or grow crops for profit.
Attached, I have given you the budget for the construction of the 6 huts and other research expenses, my sabbatical leave research proposal, my resumé, and my CV. Kindly forward these to anyone who you think may be able to help us with the $10,000. There is also a possibility of YOU visiting me and the village residents when I will be living there with as many as 10 other residents from December 2020 to June 2021. The model village is also available for tours at any time, as well as additional research projects.
Thank you for your time and support,
Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.