African mission for former Clydesdale MSP Karen Gillon

A groundbreaking project which helps teenage mums is the main reason former Clydesdale MSP Karen Gillon is travelling to Zambia next month.
A hand up, not a hand out...for the young mums of Kanyama who are given support to make the most of their lives by the Journeying Together project.A hand up, not a hand out...for the young mums of Kanyama who are given support to make the most of their lives by the Journeying Together project.
A hand up, not a hand out...for the young mums of Kanyama who are given support to make the most of their lives by the Journeying Together project.

Karen, from Carluke, is looking forward to seeing first-hand the “inspirational and empowering” work being carried out near the nation’s capital, Lusaka.

The Church of Scotland Guild, of which Karen is now the associate secretary, has donated more than £40,000 to the Journeying Together project in Kanyama which is run by the United Church of Zambia (UCZ).

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It supports 50 girls who live in the high density area – with a population of more than 365,000 people – which is often struck by severe flooding during rainy season.

Up to 10 people on average live in a house and very few have toilets. The lack of proper drainage and sanitation often leads to outbreaks of cholera and dysentery, with babies and small children most at risk.

Run by Deaconess Mable Sitchali, the project provides training in essential skills such as nutrition, parenting and sexual and reproductive health education, building confidence in the girls and challenging social injustice.

Mums are given the opportunity to return to school to finish their education or provided with vocational training in a skill to enable them to make their own money.

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The Church of Scotland Guild has raised money for the project since 2018.

Karen said: “I am really looking forward to visiting Zambia with a group from the Guild to see first-hand how money raised by our 17,500 members has been used to support this project.

“The United Church of Zambia is doing fantastic work to tackle the vicious cycle of poverty by providing opportunities for people who simply want the ability to help themselves.

“Some of them are victims of domestic violence or rape or simply fell in love with a boy, got pregnant and he then disappeared.

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“It is about giving young women a hand up, not a hand out because what they really want is the chance to finish their education, get a job and give their child the best possible start in life.

“Whatever their circumstances, the project is about showing these girls that they are valued and loved by God and equipping them with the skills that they need to thrive.”

More than 50 per cent of the population in Kanyama are under 18 and there are only five primary schools and one high school.

Karen, an elder at St John’s Parish Church, said she could relate to many of the challenges teenage mothers face in Zambia.

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“I was brought up in Jedburgh in the Borders by my mum; my dad left when I was seven years old,” she explained.

“She wanted me to get the best chance in life and I got that because she worked hard and made sacrifices.

“Life was not easy for her and I see a lot of my growing up in the young mums I have previously met in Zambia.”

The nine-day trip to Zambia is being organised through the Church of Scotland’s Faith Impact Forum, which has partnered with UCZ since it was established in 1965.

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Karen is proud that The Guild, which supports six projects, has raised so much money for the cause.

She said: “Scotland has always been an outward-looking, caring country and our connections with Zambia go back a long way to the days of the missionaries like David Livingstone.

“Today we are proud to be walking alongside Zambians, learning from and sharing with each other.

“I know from previous visits that we have so much to learn from the people we meet and I am sure this visit will be no different.

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“Without any doubt we will be challenged and changed by the people we meet and the discussions we have.

“As Scots we want to do right by people, whether it is our neighbours here in Scotland or in Zambia.

“As Christians we are brothers and sisters and in families you talk to each other, learn from each other and take care of each other.”

The United Church of Zambia was formed from a union of the Church of Central Africa, Rhodesia (a mission work of the Church of Scotland), the Union Church of Copperbelt, the Copperbelt Free Church Council, the Church of Barotseland and the Methodist Church.

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The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rt Rev Colin Sinclair, is also visiting Zambia at the same time.

He worked in the country as a training officer for Scripture Union in the 1970s before training for the ministry and lived in a car for three years.