Maranatha Volunteers International is helping meet the need for quality Seventh-day Adventist education in Zambia by constructing schools across the country. Crews recently finished transforming the Liumba Adventist School in the nation’s western province. The campus was old and dilapidated, but now boasts beautiful, strong buildings. Liumba’s first phase included the renovation of existing classrooms, and the construction of new classrooms, bathroom blocks, and a water well.
“[The upgraded campus] got the attention of everyone in the entire region,” recalled Maranatha’s country director for Zambia, David Woods. “Students started coming out to the school from the town of Kalabo, 30 kilometers away.” The newcomers found accommodations in nearby communities. But, female students especially, didn’t feel fully safe in these neighborhoods with high crime rates.
In late 2023, Maranatha responded to this need by agreeing to construct a girls dorm at Liumba. This building is far more secure and lies within the boundary fence crews installed. It’s also more comfortable. “[Students] are so excited about the new dorm, bunk beds, mattresses, sheets, blankets, and pillows,” said Woods.
After finishing the Liumba campus, the construction crew traversed the nation to begin work on a secondary school campus in the eastern province town of Mwami. This community has a strong Adventist presence. It includes a hospital, nursing school, churches, and two elementary schools, but lacks an Adventist high school. Because of this, families have to send their children far away to expensive boarding schools that don’t provide a nurturing spiritual environment.
To meet this need, Maranatha has agreed to construct a large Education and Evangelism Center (EEC), which will have space for up to 14 classrooms surrounding a central auditorium. The crew at Mwami recently broke ground on a building that will serve as a fabrication shop for the project’s duration. When complete, the school will repurpose the structure into a classroom, administrative offices, or restrooms.
Maranatha worked in Zambia from 2009 to 2015, completing hundreds of projects. In 2018, Maranatha returned to Zambia in response to a request for more churches, schools, and water wells across the country. The Liumba and Mwami campuses are examples of such requests.