Cameron’s Orphanage Project

Amanda Jayne explains a remarkable link between Sussex and an orphanage in Zambia.

What has a tiny orphanage 7000 miles away got to do with Sussex?

Cameron Forster was a Sussex boy. Born in Danehill and raised in Burgess Hill, with an easy charm and mop of ginger hair, he bore more than a passing resemblance to the character Ron Weasley. Embracing life to the fullest, he played rugby for Haywards Heath Colts and was the lead oboist for the Brighton Youth Orchestra. After leaving Hurstpierpoint College, he went on to fulfil his dream of becoming an RAF fighter pilot.

And this is where the fairytale ends, and Cameron’s Orphanage Project began. At the age of just 21, Cam was tragically killed, along with a colleague, in a flying accident.

Nothing in life can prepare you for the death of a child but, from the ashes of such gut wrenching loss, I was compelled to do something positive in his name, and Cameron was not the sort of person you could commemorate with a tree.

That summer I travelled to a remote Zambian village called Mkushi. Several thousand people lived there, in simple brick huts with tin roofs, with no electricity or running water and living off the food they could grow or forage. In Zambia two thirds of the population lives on less than £1.60 a day, the international poverty line. You really need to read that sentence twice, it’s unimaginable.

Whilst there I helped repair a tiny charity-run school, which provided a free education to over 400 orphans or vulnerable children in just six simple classrooms. With nothing more than a chalkboard and a few desks, most children sat on the floor. Some shared a treasured pencil stub and wrote on scraps of paper. Having walked barefoot for up to two hours to attend, what struck me was how much they valued an education and how happy they appeared; with their filthy clothes, empty bellies and evidence of much sickness and untreated injuries, they were making the most of an opportunity, without a hint of self-pity.

Orphans are the norm in much of rural Zambia. Diseases go unchecked and abject poverty puts a price on human life; some children are simply abandoned as parents migrate to seek work. As I stood watching the huge red sun fill the entire sky with the deepest pink as it slipped in silence over the dusty scorched horizon, it felt like the easiest and most natural decision I have ever made; to donate Cameron’s estate to build an orphanage for the village and to help the school in whatever way I could. To many, this may sound like a ridiculous fantasy. I was, after all, nothing more than a teacher, but I believed it was possible and couldn’t just walk away from such a desperate situation.

Over the following years  I took several teams of volunteers to Mkushi to help with construction projects; students, colleagues and philanthropic adventure seekers. In 2021, Cameron’s Orphanage opened, with 12 children in a building designed for 8! 

Living in Poverty

The aim of course, was not to throw money at a far-off problem and then walk away; Third World countries are littered with the ruins of well-meant, but unsustainable, intentions. Local communities need to feel ownership, and benefit in some way too. So along the way, we have drilled boreholes for water, expanded and equipped the  school, built toilets, a pre-school, teacher housing, a small shop and a chicken farm. We have provided employment to many local people and a committee of local volunteers manage the orphanage and school.

The task now is to develop projects that provide an income for the orphanage so it finances itself. One of these is our farm venture. We have a small plot of land and will be growing crops for food and the excess will be sold at the market. Projects like this will mean long term security for the children who call Cameron’s their home. Most have heart-breaking backgrounds. Our newest resident, Nema, had been sold to an older man. Like some of the others, she had never been to school and Cam’s Orphanage has provided their first sense of family, a chance to feel loved and cared for, and means no longer going to bed hungry.

The gang at Cameron’s Orphanage

More importantly, they finally have a chance to dream of a better life and hope for a fulfilled future, as we are committed to breaking the poverty cycle. Through education and appropriate nurturing, it is intended to enable these children, and those who follow, to become successful adults; teachers, nurses, etc, with a sense of community and responsibility.

It costs £60 per month to care for each child. To help meet these costs we offer sponsorships, and encourage sponsors to take an active role in their beneficiary’s upbringing. The children are keen to provide sponsors with regular updates and also send messages via the orphanage phone. Not only does this improve their English, but helps to develop their self-esteem.

We understand that giving to charity  can feel impersonal and so we tell our donors exactly how their money will be spent.  We also pay any bank charges or administrative costs ourselves, so that we can guarantee that every penny raised goes directly to the orphanage projects. By donating money or  joining us on an expedition to Zambia, our supporters can get personally involved with projects that will make a massive difference to some of the poorest people in the world.

In Zambia, a few pounds goes a long way, so everyone has the power to make a real and positive change.  And for me, Cameron’s Orphanage is my final gift as a mother to my beautiful boy Cameron. Because a life that touches others goes on forever.

For more information and to follow our progress, please visit www.camsorphanage.org.