Welcome to the Mechanics For Africa Website.
The new students, photo taken January 2008.
Profiles of all the students, new and old, can be seen by clicking the "Students" button.
NEWS
Sharonne writes:
As
I was jogging this morning I passed Noble, 
one
of our graduates. He graduated just this Feb. Not our brightest student, he
always seemed to struggle academically and I must admit that at times I wondered
if he would ever be able to work as a mechanic? It seemed much more likely that
he would just continue with his old job as a night guard.
I
must say that 6:30 am is not the prime time for my memory to fully function. From a distance I could see a familiar face but
could not put a name to it. In January 2003 when we first opened the college I
remembered ALL the names of our students, and where they come from etc, but now
after 5 years and just under 100 new and old students, remembering names is
somewhat of a challenge to my old brain.
Anyway,
as we were passing each other, Noble greeted me with great enthusiasm! Good
morning Mrs. Watt, with a big smile on his face. I
asked him “where are you going to?” So
proud of himself he replied “I am going to work!!!”
I
was surprised (but did not want to show it!) so I asked “what work? What are
you doing now?” With complete
confidence he said “I work as a Mechanic!! At
Jaco Motors” ( a well know workshop in town).
It
reminded me once again why we are here!! MFAZ is still making
a difference in the lives of these young men and women!!
Day
of graduation
All
those of you that get our newsletter (let us know if you don’t receive it, but
wish to – details below) have read about the tragedy that struck on our last
graduation.
We
were all outside after the ceremony when lightning struck the uncle of one of
our graduates. He died on the spot, although we did try to resuscitate him; it
was too late as the lightning hit him directly.
Ephraim
Muwowo, who lost his uncle in that tragic incident, has since then found
employment as a mechanic in town and manages to support not only his family but
also his uncle’s widow and her 5 children too.
New
additions to the family (no don’t get exciting it’s not a baby)
Our
new Land Rover (although it is second hand)
In
the beginning of February we all flew to South Africa to find and buy a new
vehicle for the project. The plan was that Charlie and his brother, Jim, who
flew out to SA from England, would drive it up to Zambia while the boys and I
(Sharonne) returned home by plane.
Charlie
& Jim started the journey back about (3,000 km) 2 and half days later then
planned due to delays getting the right SA export papers. They arrived in
Livingstone, Zambia, on Saturday 16th Feb, hoping to continue the
journey to Lusaka on Sunday, just to find that according to new laws and
regulations at the ZRA (Zambia Revenue Authority) they have to leave the new
vehicle in Livingston till all the right papers are done!
Between
Livingstone and Ndola there are 800km by road! Thank God for good friends!
Pastor Leonard, and his wife Ines live in Livingstone, and he was willing to do
the long journey all the way to the Copperbelt in order for Charlie and Jim to
be back home, Jim had only 4 days left before he was flying back to UK from
Ndola.
To
cut a long story short, a month later after spending many hours on the phone and
going back and forth to the right government offices, we drove to Livingstone in
our old Land Rover, and two days later drove back with both vehicles.
We
praise the Lord for his blessing and safety all through the many km that we
drove, and for allowing us to have a better (newer) vehicle.
Please have a look on the button “Follow Up” to the left, as we have updated our Graduates' whereabouts with the latest news.
We have also UPDATED OUR
PERSONAL PAGE: "wATT 4"
For Charlie and Sharonne, or any MFA or MFAZ business in Zambia, the address is:
PO Box 250016, Ndola, Zambia
Telefax: 00 260 (0)2 681124
Cell: 00 260 (0)97 878381 or 00 260 (0)96 742670
E-Mail: charlie@mfazambia.com
"Mechanics for Africa", or MFA, is a UK charity, number 1086333.
"Mechanics for Africa (Zambia)", or MFAZ, is a registered Charitable Trust in Zambia.
Site updated 16th April 2008