Empower Grace Banda: Healing and Education

***Grace's fundraiser UPDATE: Thanks to the donations Grace has received, she was able to get the ultrasound she needed to find out why she has been bleeding so long. They confirmed my suspicion--she has uterine fibroids, and now she needs surgery to remove them.

If they are not removed, she will not make it. We've had to change our plans and try to get her the surgery in Zambia, instead of in the US, because the donations are not there to get her to the US, yet, and her life is in danger...

Thank you for your support. Any donation will help! She also needs support for food and daily living since her job teaching English was abruptly ended by the Trump USAID cuts.

Please share so more eyes can see...

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the donors!***

Hello. My name is Grace Banda. I live in Chipata, a country town in Zambia. I am the 3rd born in a family of 8, and I am 26 years old. Growing up, life was hard, as a result, I, and my siblings did not have a proper education. My mother was a victim of early marriage, and by the time she was 24, she was divorced with five children, and our father never supported us.

Later, my uncle took me in. I was excited, but all the excitement vanished when he started touching me inappropriately. I ran away to the streets, where I ended up being sexually abused.

Education is one thing that I really wanted because I believe that I may get better afterwards. Since I had no one to pay for my school, I homeschooled myself by reading.

My goal is to go to University and get the education I need and want so much, to get a better job, build a business and start a non-profit, charity program to help other people and children that are experiencing poverty and hardship in Zambia.

Thank you from my heart for any support, or help you can give me.

Sincerely,

Grace Banda

To Whom It May Concern:

Things I have learned about Zambia through my 3 1/2 year friendship with Grace:

They have “starvation recovery hospitals”--but they are costly.

They have health centers set up just to treat malaria--but you also have to pay money.

You can easily die for lack of affordable medicines for everyday illnesses.

Locals refer to the month of February as "starvation month" as that is when most crops run out.

Grace was born sometime in 1998—she thinks. No one in her family or small village in Zambia thought to write it down. She’s a very petite, quiet woman who smiles and laughs a lot, in spite of her problems.

We have invited Grace to come to America to live with our family and attend college here in the state of New Mexico, so she can support herself and her extended family in Zambia, and start the charity she mentioned. Her maternal grandmother, mother, siblings and extended family—with many small children—still live in a small, Zambian village. They are farmers and often do not have enough money for food.

Since I have known Grace, she has faced serious, life-threatening health challenges, including female problems leaving her with (untreated) anemia, infections, and malaria, multiple times. Right now, the bleeding she has experienced off and on for nearly a year has left her weak, and caused her to be dizzy and faint, and hit her head, twice. She has lost a lot of weight. She needs an ultrasound, and perhaps an operation to stop the bleeding before she can begin to heal from all the blood loss.

In spite of the trauma she has experienced, Grace is a remarkably upbeat, positive, hard working, spiritual person. She’s a devoted Christian and lives her values of integrity, kindness and honesty. She worked at a small, primary school in a Zambian village teaching English--that is, until the recent US budget cuts stopped the school's funding. Her situation is now dire due to these circumstances beyond her control.

Grace speaks 3 languages and has worked very hard to get her education.

Grace needs someone to step up for her, to help her pay for the medical care she needs to physically heal, and then to actually fly to America to settle here and begin her education. Although my family and I have been supporting Grace for more than two years, we don’t have the money required for a plane ticket to the U.S. We would also appreciate some help covering her health needs and bills, for the period after she gets to the US.

Fundraiser cost breakdown:

Plane ticket and travel costs - 4000

Healthcare and surgery (w/o insurance) in US - 18,000

Health needs in Zambia, to regain health enough to travel - 1000

First 2 months bills in US to heal before getting a job - 7000

I firmly believe in the power of prayer. Grace and I both feel our relationship was a Godsend. It’s been a pleasure getting to know her. We met on Facebook in Dec. 2021. I had been praying to find someone to help, while Grace had been praying for some help. She has been a blessing in my life.

Grace is like a daughter to me. She calls me “Aunty Joy.” (Joy is my middle name.) I love that.

My family and Grace’s family would appreciate any help you can offer to Grace.

Thank you,

Tamlyn Jordan