Discover

Our Mission

THE EBENEZER MISSION

The Ebenezer Child Care Trust aims to provide a caring, empowering environment and an opportunity to every vulnerable child in our care to live life in all its fullness.

OUR VISION

We aspire to holistically develop the underprivileged children of Livingstone, that they may receive God’s love and freedom, and thereby become responsible citizens of Zambia. We strive to achieve this in three ways:

• To rescue and raise orphan children in our orphans’ home when called upon by the social services in our community.
• To educate impoverished children in our community who lack the resources to attend public school due to inability to afford the fees required. We also feed our students healthy meals twice daily so that can learn and grow.
• To raise healthy food on our farm so that the children we serve can have healthy food, and so we can help to earn an income to support our operations.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

We are Christians who believe that the Bible is our final authority and who respect the laws of Zambia.

• We value all people as individuals
• We are stewards of all that God has put in our care.
• We are committed to the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable children of Livingstone.
• We are a team, committed to the vision, mission and core values of the Ebenezer Child Care Trust.

Explore

Our History

“Dear God, break my heart with the things that break your heart…” Ranji Chara

The work of the Ebenezer Child Care Trust began in 2001 by Mrs. Ranji Chara, a Sri Lankan woman married to a doctor working in Livingstone, Zambia.

One day, coming out of the grocery store in town, she noticed children hiding under a pile of cardboard. It was apparent that these children had no homes and were hungry. She purchased a bag of rolls to hand to one of the children. He let out a loud whistle and soon there was a pack of hungry kids, sharing the bread together. Her heart was broken by the sight of such dire poverty. At that moment she knew that she had to do what she could to help.

“For four months,” Ranji said, “I gathered all these kids under a tree, cooked them a hot meal and taught them Sunday School lessons. But every night they went back to the streets to sleep. I felt strongly led to start a mission with street kids and orphans. My husband and daughter joined me as I launched out in faith in March 2001, with no money, but trusted God to see me through every situation I faced.”

Ranji’s first donation was $300 from a friend in Sweden, encouraging her vision of helping these kids. Little by little, others became aware of her work and through donations from individuals, foundations and church groups in Zambia, Sweden, Australia, the U.K., Switzerland and United States, she slowly began to not only feed and teach these children, but house them as well.

“Every child has a right to a healthy and happy environment so that he or she can grow into a wholesome person,” Ranji said. Slowly and painstakingly, she was able to increase care for the orphans. As donations grew, she rented a house for the orphans in June 2001. The children now had a stable home environment and a sense of family.

Today, located just on the outskirts of Livingstone, the Ebenezer orphanage is a modern facility with houses for babies, girls’ and boys’ houses, a chapel, and a bright and cheerful atmosphere. More than 50 orphans are fed, clothed, taught social skills, family values, Christian values and are most importantly, loved. Local house parents live in these homes with the children and parent them. It is a place to call home, where these children can now live a normal life as any child should. In addition, the orphanage often finds itself taking in additional abandoned or neglected babies on a moment’s notice.

Ebenezer has also founded a primary school where qualified teachers educate the orphans as well as more than 450 of the poorest children in Livingstone. The school also feeds these children twice each day, since many receive little or no food at home.

A few years ago, a nearby farmer worked with Ranji to sell his farmland to Ebenezer. After much prayer and many fundraisers, she was able to raise enough money for Ebenezer to take over the 40-acre farm. Ebenezer farmers now grow food for the orphanage and school and sell surplus crops to generate much needed income for operations. The farm not only creates jobs for many vulnerable local people but will also help the children who are not on an academic track to learn a trade.

What started as a one-person feeding program for street kids grew into an orphanage, then a school with a wider feeding program, and a farm to sustain the orphans and school children in our care.

“The vision of Ebenezer is to raise a generation of children who will grow up to be responsible citizens in this nation,” Ranji said.

In August 2016, our beloved founder Ranji Chara passed away suddenly in her sleep, leaving the children, staff and donors heartbroken. Since that time, the ECCT has worked tirelessly to carry on with her mission to protect, educate and raise the vulnerable children in Livingstone. The ECCT is governed by a board of directors including local Zambian leaders and representatives of the international donor groups who support the ECCT financially, and it is managed by a Zambian Executive Director who runs the orphans’ home, the school and the farm. We continue to celebrate Ranji Chara’s legacy of commitment to the neediest children in Zambia, and our mutual respect for each other’s contributions to the mission we all share.

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TODAY